The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 22, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 12, 1996
Scott Norin, Newcastle, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for replicating hierarchical data is disclosed. The system and method preferably use one-way, unacknowledged communication messages to transfer data among various servers in a computer network. In many instances replicating hierarchically structured data requires processing the data in a hierarchical fashion even though the data is received in essentially random order. Hierarchically structured data is processed in the proper order by dynamically reconstructing the hierarchy as messages are received and processed. The invention first stores received replication packets in an incoming packet store. The data is processed by creating certain structures in memory for each corresponding replication packet and then processing all entries in the structures that can be processed. Global lists are kept for entries that remain unprocessed. If entries remain unprocessed because of hierarchical dependence on unprocessed data, the structures will remain in memory for a period of time in anticipation that the parent will soon be processed. When parent data is processed, the global lists are checked for child data that can then be processed.