Patent ID: 7552430
Filing Date: 2009-06-23
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of updating a software product by a plurality of patches, said method comprising: identifying sequencing data from each of existing patches of the software product that have already been applied to a target machine, wherein said sequencing data indicating a portion of the software product of which the patch is a member and a relative ordering between the patch and one or more other members of the portion; at the target machine, receiving the plurality of patches grouped in a family of patches to be applied to a the target machine from a patch author independent of user interactions, wherein said received plurality of patches and the existing patches belong to the same family of patches for the software product; in response to the received plurality of patches, receiving sequencing data of each patch of the plurality of patches from the patch author at the target machine, each patch of the plurality of patches in the family of patches having a defined membership in a portion of the software product and having a defined order in the portion relative to one or more other patches in the family of patches that are members of the portion, said sequencing data being explicitly set by the patch author by creating a sequencing table with explicit values for various sequencing behaviors and overriding the defined order for updating the software product based on the defined membership of the patches in the family of patches; determining a logical order of application for the plurality of patches based on the received sequencing data of the plurality of patches and the identified sequencing data from each of the existing patches in the family of patches; and applying the plurality of patches to the software product according to the determined logical order of application.