Method and system for programming disconnected data

• US 20050267906A1
• Filed: 08/02/2005
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Della-Libera, Giovanni M., Dengler, Patrick M., Brigham, Robert A., Kuklinski, Paul S. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,000 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A method of tracking data through a multi-tier computing architecture includes initializing a first row pointer of a dataset with data form a database, placing changes to the data in the second row pointer of the dataset, comparing the first and second row pointers, and declaring a state of the data in response to comparing the first and second row pointers. A system for tracking data through a multi-tier architecture includes an initialize module, a change module, a compare module, and a declare module. The initialize module initializes a first row pointer of a dataset with data from a database. The change module places changes to the data in a second row pointer of the dataset. The compare module compares the first and second row pointers. The declare module declares a state of the data in response to comparing the first and second row pointers.

Claims

1. A method of tracking data, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a client computing system for data from a database;

initializing a first row pointer of a dataset with the data from the database requested by the client computing system in response to the request by the client computing system;

sending the initialized dataset to the client computing system;

placing changes to the data by the client computing system in a second row pointer of the dataset;

receiving the dataset with the changes;

comparing the first and second row pointers; and

declaring a state of the data in response to comparing the first and second row pointers.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the first row pointer is null, and if the first row pointer is null, declaring the data to be new data in response to detecting the first row pointer to be null.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the second row pointer is null, and if the second row pointer is null, declaring the data to be deleted data in response to detecting the second row pointer to be null.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the first and second row pointers are equal, and if the first and second row pointers are equal, declaring the data to be original data in response to detecting the first and second row pointer to be equal.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the first and second row pointers are equal, and if the first and second row pointers are not equal, declaring the data to be updated data in response to detecting the first and second row pointers to not be equal.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising committing the data in the second row pointer.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the step of committing includes accepting, rejecting, or merging the data.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein merging includes merging a plurality of datasets from a plurality of client computing systems.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the step of merging includes matching locally unique identifiers between rows of the plurality of datasets.

10. A method according to claim 6, wherein the step of committing includes updating the database with the data in the second row pointer.

11. A computer program product readable by a computing system and encoding instructions for a computer process for tracking data, the computer process comprising:

receiving a request from a client computing system for data from a database;

initializing a first row pointer of a dataset with the data from the database requested by the client computing system in response to the request by the client computing system;

sending the initialized dataset to the client computing system;

placing changes to the data by the client computing system in a second row pointer of the dataset;

receiving the dataset with the changes;

comparing the first and second row pointers; and

declaring a state of the data in response to comparing the first and second row pointers.

12. A computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the first row pointer is null, and if the first row pointer is null, declaring the data to be new data in response to detecting the first row pointer to be null.

13. A computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the second row pointer is null, and if the second row pointer is null, declaring the data to be deleted data in response to detecting the second row pointer to be null.

14. A computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the first and second row pointers are equal, and if the first and second row pointers are equal, declaring the data to be original data in response to detecting the first and second row pointers to be equal.

15. A computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the step of comparing includes detecting whether the first and second row pointers are equal, and if the first and second row pointers are not equal, declaring the data to be updated data in response to detecting the first and second row pointers to not be equal.

16. A system for tracking data, the system comprising:

a receive module that receives a request from a client computing system for data from a database;

an initialize module that initializes a first row pointer of a dataset with the data from the database requested by the client computing system in response to the request by the client computing system;

a send module that sends the initialized dataset to the client computing system;

a change module that places changes to the data by the client computing system in a second row pointer of the dataset;

a compare module that receives the dataset with the changes and compares the first and second row pointers; and

a declare module that declares a state of the data in response to comparing the first and second row pointers.

17. A system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a first null module that detects whether the first row pointer is null; and

a new module that declares the data to be new data in response to detecting the first row pointer to be null.

18. A system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a second null module that detects whether the second row pointer is null; and

a delete module that declares the data to be deleted data in response to detecting the second row pointer to be null.

19. A system according to claim 16, further comprising:

an equal module that detects whether the first and second row pointers are equal;

an original module that declares the data to be original data in response to detecting the first and second row pointers to be equal; and

an updated module that declares the data to be updated data in response to detecting the first and second row pointers to not be equal.

20. A system according to claim 16, further comprising a commit module that commits the data in the second row pointer.