METHOD AND SYSTEM OF SYNCHRONIZING ACCOUNTING OBJECTS BETWEEN A CLIENT AND SERVER

• US 20110173294A1
• Filed: 09/04/2009
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Method Integration Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Method Integration Incorporated
• Inventors: Jackson, Paul Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 8,589,510 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

A method and system of synchronizing accounting objects between a client and server are provided. In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a method for use on a server of synchronizing data between a client accounting database on a client computer and the server accounting database on the server, the client computer and server being connected over a communication network by a persistent connection, each of the client accounting database and server accounting database comprising a number of tables, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the client accounting database and server accounting database.

Claims

1. A method for use on a server of synchronizing data between a client accounting database on a client computer and the server accounting database on the server, the client computer and server being connected over a communication network by a persistent connection, each of the client accounting database and server accounting database comprising a number of tables, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the client accounting database and server accounting database, the method comprising:

detecting one or more records in the server accounting database which have changed since a previous synchronization;

identifying one or more accounting objects to be synchronized in accordance with the one or more changed records; and

sending instructions to the client computer to synchronize the one or more accounting objects defined by the one or more changed records in the server accounting database with the client accounting database, wherein the one or more accounting objects are synchronized in accordance with a synching order defining an order in which accounting objects are synchronized.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the client computer of the one or more changed records using the persistent connection.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a number of persistent connections exist between the server and each of a number of client computers, the further comprising:

identifying the persistent connection with client computer from the number of persistent connections using identifying information associated with the one or more changed records in server accounting database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent connection is a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection between the client computer and server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the server identifies the TCP/IP connection with client computer from multiple TCP/IP connections via a public Internet Protocol (IP) address and port for connecting to the client computer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the synching order is determined in accordance with predetermined dependencies between records in the tables and predetermined business accounting logic rules.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the predetermined accounting business logic rules define predetermined mappings between one or more records in one or more tables in accordance with logical relationships between the one or more records in the one or more tables based on business accounting rules, wherein the synching order is defined so as to preserve the logical relationships of the business accounting logic rules.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the synching order is defined in accordance with the dependencies to preserve forward and backward dependencies between one or more records in the one or more tables.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the accounting objects each belong to one of a number predetermined categories, wherein the synching order defines an order in which the categories of accounting objects are synchronized so that accounting objects defined by the one or more changed records in the one or more tables are synchronized in accordance with a category of the respective accounting objects.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the categories of accounting objects are synchronized in the following order:

(1) independent list objects;

(2) dependent list objects;

(3) transaction objects which do not affect Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable;

(4) transaction objects that debit Accounts Receivable;

(5) transactions objects that credit Accounts Receivable;

(6) transactions objects that credit Accounts Payable; and

(7) transactions objects that debit Accounts Payable.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein each accounting object within a category of accounting objects is synchronized in series, wherein at least some of the records of at least one of the tables are dependent records having dependencies between one or more records in the two or more tables or interdependent records having interdependencies between one or more records in the two or more tables, wherein the dependent or interdependent records are synchronized over a number of change operations, wherein one or more dependent or interdependent records are partially synchronized during each of the change operations and the change operations are repeated on partially synchronized records until all of the dependent or interdependent records are fully synchronized, and wherein the synching order is defined so as to minimize the number of change operations required to fully synchronize the interdependent records.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein interdependent records which are partially synchronized in the change operations are marked with a temporary status flag which is removed during subsequent change operations when the respective interdependent records are fully synchronized.

6. A method of notifying a client computer of a change on a paired server accounting database on a server, the client computer and server being connected over a communication network by a persistent connection, each of the client accounting database and server accounting database comprising a number of tables, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the client accounting database and server accounting database, the method comprising:

detecting one or more records in the server accounting database which have changed since a previous synchronization;

identifying the persistent connection with the client computer from a number of persistent connections using identifying information associated with the one or more changed records in server accounting database; and

notifying the client computer of the one or more changed records using the persistent connection.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

identifying one or more accounting objects to be synchronized in accordance with the one or more changed records;

wherein the notifying includes notifying the client computer of the one or more accounting objects defined by the one or more changed records to be synchronized using the persistent connection.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the persistent connection is a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection between the client computer and server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the server identifies the TCP/IP connection with client computer from multiple TCP/IP connections via a public Internet Protocol (IP) address and port for connecting to the client computer.

17. A server, comprising:

a controller;

a communication subsystem connected to the controller for communicating over a communication network;

a server accounting database comprising a number of tables connected to the controller, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the server accounting database;

wherein the controller is configured for;

causing communicating with a client computer over the communication network over a persistent connection, wherein the client computer has a client accounting database comprising a number of tables, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the client accounting database;

wherein the controller is further configured for;

detecting one or more records in the server accounting database which have changed since a previous synchronization;

identifying one or more accounting objects to be synchronized in accordance with the one or more changed records; and

sending instructions to the client computer to synchronize the one or more accounting objects defined by the one or more changed records in the server accounting database with the client accounting database, wherein the one or more accounting objects are synchronized in accordance with a synching order defining an order in which accounting objects are synchronized.

18. (canceled)

19. A method of synchronizing data between a client accounting database on the client computer and a server accounting database on a server, the client computer and server being connected over a communication network by a persistent connection, each of the client accounting database and server accounting database comprising a number of tables, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the client accounting database and server accounting database, the method comprising:

identifying one or more accounting objects to be synchronized in accordance with any changed records in the client accounting database, server accounting database, or both;

sending instructions to the client computer to synchronize one or more accounting objects defined by any changed records in the server accounting database with the client accounting database; and

sending instructions to the server to synchronize one or more accounting objects defined by any changed records in the client accounting database with the server accounting database;

wherein the one or more accounting objects are synchronized in accordance with a synching order defining an order in which accounting objects are synchronized.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining records in the client accounting database which have changed since a previous synchronization.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the synching order is determined in accordance with predetermined dependencies between records in the tables and predetermined business accounting logic rules.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the predetermined accounting business logic rules define predetermined mappings between one or more records in one or more tables in accordance with logical relationships between the one or more records in the one or more tables based on business accounting rules, wherein the synching order is defined so as to preserve the logical relationships of the business accounting logic rules.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the synching order is defined in accordance with the dependencies to preserve forward and backward dependencies between one or more records in the one or more tables.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the accounting objects each belong to one of a number predetermined categories, wherein the synching order defines an order in which the categories of accounting objects are synchronized so that accounting objects defined by the one or more changed records in the one or more tables are synchronized in accordance with a category of the respective accounting objects.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the categories of accounting objects are synchronized in the following order:

(1) independent list objects;

(2) dependent list objects;

(3) transaction objects which do not affect Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable;

(4) transaction objects that debit Accounts Receivable;

(5) transactions objects that credit Accounts Receivable;

(6) transactions objects that credit Accounts Payable; and

(7) transactions objects that debit Accounts Payable.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein each accounting object within a category of accounting objects is synchronized in series, wherein at least some of the records of at least one of the tables are dependent records having dependencies between one or more records in the two or more tables or interdependent records having interdependencies between one or more records in the two or more tables, wherein the dependent or interdependent records are synchronized over a number of change operations, wherein one or more dependent or interdependent records are partially synchronized during each of the change operations and the change operations are repeated on partially synchronized records until all of the dependent or interdependent records are fully synchronized, and wherein the synching order is defined so as to minimize the number of change operations required to fully synchronize the interdependent records.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein interdependent records which are partially synchronized in the change operations are marked with a temporary status flag which is removed during subsequent change operations when the respective interdependent records are fully synchronized.

28. A client computer, comprising:

a controller;

a communication subsystem connected to the controller for communicating over a communication network;

a client accounting database comprising a number of tables connected to the controller, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the client accounting database;

wherein the controller is configured for;

causing communicating with a server over the communication network over a persistent connection, wherein the server has a server accounting database comprising a number of tables, wherein accounting objects are defined by a group of one or more related records in one or more tables in the server accounting database;

wherein the controller is configured for;

synchronizing, in response to receiving instructions from the server, the one or more changed records with the client accounting database, wherein the one or more accounting objects are synchronized in accordance with a synching order defining an order in which accounting objects are synchronized.

29. The computer of claim 28, wherein the controller is further configured for:

detecting one or more records in the client accounting database which have changed since a previous synchronization;

identifying one or more accounting objects to be synchronized in accordance with the one or more changed records; and

sending instructions to the server to synchronize the one or more accounting objects defined by the one or more changed records in the client accounting database with the server accounting database in accordance with the synching order.