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:
Jul. 30, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 03, 1999
Benjamin C. Chamberlain, Redmond, WA (US);
D. Gordon Hardy, Redmond, WA (US);
Darrin N. Hatakeda, Redmond, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and computer-readable-medium for installing a patch to a computer application program based on the criticality of the patch and the execution format of the computer application are disclosed. An installer program installs application programs. The installer program also-stores related information, including an execution format, in a configuration database. The execution format is either Run-Locally or Run-From-Source. If the execution format is Run-From-Source, the application or features that are designated as Run-From-Source are read-only and are executed from a source, such as from a CD-ROM. Since Run-From-Source executions run from a read-only source, patches cannot be directly applied. When a patch is authored, information as to the criticality of the patch is stored with the patch. Preferably, the criticality is specified based on a feature. When an installer program applies a patch, the installer program queries the execution format. Any features that are Run-Locally can be patched. If a feature is Run-From-Source, a query is made as to whether the feature is critical. If the patch is critical for a feature, the feature is installed, the execution format is changed to Run-Locally, and the patch is applied. If the patch is not critical for a Run-From-Source feature, the patch is not applied. The configuration database is updated during processing to reflect what features have been patched, and what features have not been patched.