Synchronization adapter for synchronizing data to applications that do not directly support synchronization

• US 8,315,978 B2
• Filed: 06/19/2008
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Suthar, Paresh, Ozzie, Jack, Lees, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Leroux, Etienne
• Assistant Examiner(s): RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD N
• Application Number:
  US12/141,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20090319540A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,615 Days
• Field of Search: 707/612, 707/614
• US Class Current: 707/612
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1794 Details of file format conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication

Abstract

A synchronization adapter is coupled to the application that does not support synchronization and generates the necessary synchronization metadata for all data in the application that is to be synchronized. The synchronization adapter then combines the metadata to the actual data to be synchronized to form a synchronization feed. The synchronization feed is stored in an internal cache (or data store) which is internal to the application, or an external cache (or data store), which is external to the application, or it can be stored in both caches. The synchronization adapter also intermittently determines whether the application data has changed, thus warranting a change in its metadata, or whether a synchronization operation is warranted to synchronization operation is warranted to synchronize the data with data in another application. In either case, the synchronization adapter makes the changes to the data, or performs a synchronization operation.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented synchronization system for synchronizing application data from a first application among a plurality of applications, the synchronization being performed according to a synchronization protocol that uses a data format and algorithm unsupported by the first application, the computer-implemented synchronization system comprising:

a synchronization adapter, external to the first application, receiving an identification of items in the application data of the first application to be synchronized among the plurality of applications and generating synchronization metadata for each instance of the items identified in the application data of the first application and associating the generated synchronization metadata with corresponding items to generate a synchronization feed according to the synchronization protocol that uses a web feed format, comprising the identified items and corresponding synchronization metadata;

a data store storing the synchronization metadata associated with the corresponding items, the synchronization adapter intermittently synchronizing the items in the data store with items in at least one other synchronization endpoint, comprising one of the plurality of applications, using the synchronization feed according to the data format and algorithm; and

a computer processor that is a functional component of a computer and that is activated by the synchronization adapter, the computer processor facilitating generating synchronization metadata and associating the generated synchronization metadata with corresponding items, the computer processor determining whether a deletion, an addition, or a modification has occurred relative to one of the items in the data store, the computer processor deleting the one of the items and the corresponding synchronization metadata upon a determination that the deletion has occurred, the computer processor generating new synchronization metadata and binding the new synchronization metadata to the one of the items upon a determination that the addition has occurred, and the computer processor deconstructing the one of the items into metadata and actual data upon a determination that the modification has occurred.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the synchronization adapter filters items to be synchronized based on filter criteria.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the data store comprises an application data store internal to the first application.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the data store comprises an external data store, external to the first application.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the data store comprises an application data store internal to the first application and an external data store, external to the first application, wherein both the internal data store and the external data store include the identified items and the associated synchronization metadata.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the synchronization adapter is configured to intermittently synchronize the items in the internal data store less frequently than the same items in the external data store.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the synchronization adapter is configured to synchronize the items in the data store by determining whether the items in the data store have changed since a last synchronization operation and, if so, performing a synchronization operation according to the data format and algorithm.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein performing a synchronization operation according to the data format algorithm comprises publishing changed items to the at least one other synchronization endpoint.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the synchronization adapter is configured to synchronize the items in the data store by determining whether the items in a data store at the at least one other synchronization endpoint have changed since a last synchronization operation and, if so, performing a synchronization operation according to the data format and algorithm.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein determining whether the items in the data store at the at least one other synchronization endpoint have changed comprises determining that the at least one other synchronization endpoint has published changed items since the last synchronization operation.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one other synchronization endpoint comprises another synchronization adapter.

12. A method of synchronizing data, using a synchronization protocol that uses a web-feed format, between a first application without native support of a synchronization mechanism that synchronizes according to the synchronization protocol that uses the web feed format, and a synchronization endpoint, comprising:

generating, with a synchronization adapter external to the first application, synchronization metadata for each of a plurality of data items in the first application to be synchronized with the synchronization endpoint, the synchronization metadata including identifiers that identify which of the data items in the first application that the metadata is associated with, the synchronization metadata also including histories that identify when each of the items in the first application were created, last modified, and stored, and the synchronization metadata further including attributes that identify a range of data contained in a collection, the collection including a plurality of the items in the first application that are to be synchronized when any item in the plurality has been modified;

binding the synchronization metadata to corresponding data items to form a plurality of synchronization feeds;

receiving at the synchronization adapter, an indication that a data item in the first application has changed since a last synchronization operation;

modifying, at the synchronization adapter, the synchronization feed for the data item that has changed by;

deconstructing the synchronization feed into the data item and the corresponding synchronization metadata;

modifying the data item based on the change in the data item;

generating any modified synchronization metadata based on the change in the data item; and

binding the modified data item to the modified synchronization metadata to obtain a modified synchronization feed; and

publishing the modified synchronization feed, using the synchronization mechanism and according to the synchronization protocol that uses the web feed format, to the synchronization endpoint.

13. The method of claim 12 and further comprising:

storing the plurality of synchronization feeds in a data store external to the first application.

14. The method of claim 13 and further comprising:

storing the plurality of synchronization feeds in a data store internal to the first application.

15. The method of claim 14 and further comprising:

performing synchronization operations, to synchronize the data items in the internal and external data stores, the synchronization operations being performed in one of the internal and external data stores more frequently than in the other of the internal and external data stores.

16. The method of claim 14 and further comprising:

receiving, at the synchronization adapter, a synchronization feed, published by the synchronization endpoint according to the synchronization mechanism, reflecting one of the data items in the synchronization endpoint that has changed; and

updating the item that has changed in the internal and external data stores with the synchronization adapter.

17. The method of claim 16 and further comprising:

intermittently receiving at the synchronization adapter a plurality of different synchronization feeds, published by the synchronization endpoint, each synchronization feed representing a data item that has changed at the synchronization endpoint, and wherein updating the item comprises updating the items that have changed in the internal data store less frequently than in the external data store.

18. A computer storage medium storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform steps of:

identifying instances of items in a first application that are to be synchronized with items in a second application according to a synchronization mechanism that is not supported by the first application;

generating, at an adapter external to the first application, synchronization metadata for each of the identified instances;

binding, with the adapter, the metadata to the identified instances of the items to form a plurality of synchronization feeds;

storing the plurality of synchronization feeds in an internal data store, internal to the first application;

associating a value with each of the items in the first and the second applications;

incrementing each of the values upon the associated item being changed; and

intermittently performing synchronization operations to synchronize the items according to the synchronization mechanism using the synchronization feeds and the incremented values.