Technique for data management in a distributed environment

• US 8,266,221 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kothandaraman, Ramprasadh, Ludwig, Hans-Martin, Ganapam, Ashok
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN, FRANTZ B
• Application Number:
  US11/617,794
• Publication Number:
  US 20080162596A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,083 Days
• Field of Search: 709/205, 709/206, 709/207, 709/223, 705/26.1, 705/26.8, 705/27.1, 705/27.2, 705/26.64, 705/14.23, 705/500
• US Class Current: 709/206
• 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

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and system for receiving a first message and creating a before image of the first message by comparing the first message with a second message stored in a message database. An actual message to be updated in a target device is identified by combining a transaction data and the before image of the first message.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of reconciling sales order messages sent to a target device comprising:

receiving an updated sales order message related to a product;

identifying, by a processor of the computer, an existing sales order message related to the updated sales order message stored in a message database;

comparing, by the processor of the computer, the updated sales order message with the existing sales order message to obtain send bits indicating change between the updated sales order message and the existing sales order message;

generating, by the processor of the computer, an actual message

comprising a transaction data including at least one action to be performed on the updated sales order message, and a before image of the updated sales order message including at least one other action to be performed on the existing sales order message, wherein the at least one action and the at least one other action are determined based on evaluation of the send bits; and

sending the actual message to the target device for reconciling the sales order messages sent to the target device.

2. The computer implemented method in claim 1, wherein the updated sales order message comprises business object instance data.

3. The computer implemented method in claim 1, wherein the actual message, the transaction data and the before image comprise fields selected from a group consisting of before image bit, record identification (ID), the send bits, and value of fields corresponding to the send bits and the action.

4. The computer implemented method in claim 1, wherein generating the actual message includes generating the before image, wherein generating the before image comprises:

setting a before image bit to 1;

evaluating the send bits; and

identifying value of a field in the existing sales order message corresponding to a bit in the send bits field with value 1.

5. The computer implemented method in claim 4, wherein evaluating the send bits comprises evaluating every bit of the send bits by comparing every field of the updated sales order message with every field of the existing sales order message.

6. The computer implemented method in claim 1, wherein generating the actual message includes generating the transaction data, wherein generating the transaction data comprises:

setting a before image bit to 0;

evaluating the send bits; and

identifying value of a field in the updated sales order message corresponding to a bit in the send bits field with value 1.

7. The computer implemented method in claim 6, wherein evaluating the send bits comprises evaluating every bit of the send bits by comparing every field of the updated sales order message with every field of the existing sales order message stored in the message database.

8. The computer implemented method in claim 1, wherein identifying the actual message to be updated in the target device further comprises sending the actual message to a distribution engine.

9. The computer implemented method in claim 8, wherein sending the actual message to the distribution engine further comprises identifying the target device to be updated by querying a distribution database with the actual message.

10. A computer system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor to store program code, the program code comprising;

a receiver that receives an updated sales order message related to a product;

a message database that stores the updated sales order message;

a message comparator that compares the updated sales order message with an existing sales order message, related to the updated sales order message, stored in the message database to provide a message comparison result as send bits indicating change between the updated sales order message and the existing sales order message; and

an actual message creator that, based on the message comparison result, creates an actual message, comprising a transaction data including at least one action to be performed on the updated sales order message, and a before image of the updated sales order message including at least one other action to be performed on the existing sales order message, to be updated in a target device, wherein the at least one action and the at least one other action are determined based on evaluation of the send bits.

11. The computer system in claim 10, wherein the actual message comprises the transaction data and the before image of the updated sales order message.

12. The computer system in claim 10 further comprises a distribution engine that identifies the target device to be updated with the actual message.

13. The computer system in claim 12 further comprises a distribution database which is queried by the distribution engine to identify the target device to be updated with the actual message.

14. The computer system in claim 13, wherein the distribution database comprises data selected from a group consisting of the first updated sales order message, a distribution rule of the updated sales order message and the target device to which the updated sales order message is sent.

15. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a machine readable medium having instructions that when executed by a machine cause the machine to;

receive an updated sales order message related to a product;

identify an existing sales order message related to the updated sales order message stored in a message database,

compare the updated sales order message with the existing sales order message to obtain send bits indicating change between the updated sales order message and the existing sales order message;

generate an actual message comprising a transaction data including at least one action to be performed on the updated sales order message, and a before image of the updated sales order message including at least one other action to be performed on the existing sales order message, wherein the at least one action and the at least one other action are determined based on evaluation of the send bits; and

send the actual message to the target device for reconciling the sales order messages sent to the target device.

16. The article of manufacture in claim 15, wherein the machine readable medium provides instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:

set a before image bit to 1;

evaluate the send bits; and

identify value of a field in the existing sales order message corresponding to a bit in the send bits field with value 1.

17. The article of manufacture in claim 16, wherein the machine readable medium provides instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:

evaluate every bit of the send bits by comparing every field of the updated sales order message with every field of the existing sales order message.

18. A computer implemented method for reconciling sales order messages sent to target device comprising:

receiving an updated sales order message corresponding to a product;

identifying, by a processor of the computer, an existing sales order message related to the updated sales order stored in a message database;

comparing, by the processor of the computer, the updated sales order message with the existing sales order message to obtain send bits indicating changes between the updated sales order message and the existing sales order message;

generating, by the processor of the computer, an actual message comprising a transaction data including at least one action to be performed on the updated sales order message, and a before image of the updated sales order message including at least one other action to be performed on the existing sales order message, wherein the at least one action and the at least one other action are determined based on evaluation of the send bits, and wherein generating the actual message includes generating the before image by;

setting a before image bit to 1;

evaluating the send bits; and

identifying value of a field in the existing sales order message corresponding to a bit in the send bits field with value 1; and

sending the actual message to the target device for reconciling the sales order messages sent to the target device.

19. The computer implemented method in claim 18, wherein evaluating the send bits comprises evaluating every bit of the send bits by comparing every field of the updated sales order message with every field of the existing sales order message.

20. The computer implemented method in claim 18, wherein generating the actual message includes generating the transaction data, wherein generating the transaction data includes:

setting a before image bit to 0;

evaluating the send bits; and

identifying value of a field in the updated sales order message corresponding to a bit in the send bits field with value 1.

21. The computer implemented method in claim 20, wherein evaluating the send bits comprises evaluating every bit of the send bits by comparing every field of the updated sales order message with every field of the existing sales order message stored in the message database.

22. The computer implemented method in claim 18, wherein identifying the actual message to be updated in the target device further comprises sending the actual message to a distribution engine.

23. The computer implemented method in claim 22, wherein identifying the actual message to be updated in the target device further comprises sending the actual message to a distribution engine.