Abstract:
The embodiments of the present invention are a method of reconciling any changes that have occurred in two file trees since they were last synchronized. According to one embodiment, the reconciler takes as input two logs of said changes made in the respective file trees. In another embodiment, the first log resides on a client computing device, and the second log resides on a server computing device. According to another embodiment, the reconciler outputs two sets of changes that need to be applied to the respective file trees in order to synchronize them. According to another embodiment, the reconciler detects and outputs a list of changes that conflict with each other.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/295,987 filed on Jun. 4, 2001, and co-pending United States Non-Provisional Patent Application No.______ , filed on______ claiming priority to the above mentioned Non-Provisional Application, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by references. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to file tree reconcilers, and in particular to a method of reconciling any changes that have occurred in two file trees since they were last synchronized.  
           [0004]    Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.  
           [0005]    2. Background Art  
           [0006]    A way to organize files and folders of a user on a computer is by arranging them in a structure commonly known as a tree. Oftentimes, this arrangement is changed by moving, adding, or deleting files and folders. When this happens, a new tree is generated. It is helpful to find and reconcile the differences between the old and new trees. Reconciling the differences found in the old and new trees is currently very difficult, and will be further explained below. Before discussing this problem, however, an overview of a tree data structure is provided.  
         Tree Data Structure  
         [0007]    A tree data structure is illustrated in FIG. 1. The apex of the tree  100  is commonly called the root. The root is usually a folder that contains all other sub-folders and files of a user. The root is the starting location of all folders and files of a computer user from where links spread out like branches of a tree to other sub-folders and files.  
           [0008]    The nodes (i.e., the actual files) of a tree are denoted by parent, child, leaf, and non leaf nodes. A parent is any node that has a branch leading down to one or more lower nodes. Referring to FIG. 1, root  100  is one example of a parent. A child is any node that has a branch leading up to a higher node. All nodes in FIG. 1 except the root node is a child node. This child node category can be further segregated into left and right child depending upon the location of the child node with respect to its parent. Node  101  is a right child node, while node  102  is a left child node of parent node  103 . A leaf node is any node that does not have any branches leading to lower levels in the tree. All nodes at the bottom most level of the tree (for example,  104 ,  105 , and  106 ) are leaf nodes. In contrast, all other nodes are categorized as non-leaf nodes as they have a child node under them (for example,  100 ).  
         Tree Modification  
         [0009]    When a user makes changes to the folders and files, for instance by deleting or adding a file, or changing its contents, these changes have to be correctly incorporated into the tree. Typically, a new tree is generated every time a change is made. This new tree is then compared to the old tree, and all necessary changes are merged to create one updated tree. This requires that the old state be remembered and compared with the new state in order to reconcile any differences, which is wasteful of resources.  
         File Tree Reconciler  
         [0010]    In order to reconcile any differences between an old and a new file tree, the two trees have to be compared. A utility, commonly called a comparator, compares the two file tree descriptions and generates a sequenced log of changes that transforms the old tree to a new tree. A complete description of the type of file tree comparator is contained in co-pending provisional U.S. patent application “File Tree Comparator”, Ser. No. 60/296,065, filed Jun. 4, 2001, and co-pending non-provisional U.S. patent application “File Tree Comparator”, Ser. No.______ , filed on______ , and assigned to the assignee of this patent application. After the changes have been recorded, another utility, commonly known as a reconciler, takes in as its input the log of changes (if one is available) from both the old and the new file trees and reconciles any changes that have occurred since the last synchronization.  
           [0011]    There are several commercially available reconcilers that find the differences in two file tree structures. One file tree reconciler is called Xfiles. Xfiles allows comparing, reconciling any differences, and merging two file trees over a network. In operation, Xfiles reconciles any changes with the aid of a client/server program (graphical user interface on the client) that traverses a file tree and reports any files that are missing on the server or client machines, or are different.  
           [0012]    The main drawback with Xfiles is that after the entire tree is traversed in order to reconcile any changes, the entire tree (along with the changes) has to be transferred to the other side. If the tree is very large, a substantial amount of time might be wasted transferring large portions of the tree that are not modified. Moreover, if the network connection is slow, or network traffic high, Xfiles becomes prohibitively wasteful of resources.  
           [0013]    A second drawback with Xfiles is that it requires a “diff” command to find and reconcile any differences between the two trees. The “diff” command is a Unix command. Unix commands cannot be used on non-Unix operating systems, and since most operating systems are non-Unix, it prohibits the widespread use of Xfiles. Wrapper programs may be created in order to run the Xfiles utility and have its functions on non-Unix operating systems, but this is time consuming and difficult.  
           [0014]    Another file tree reconciler, termed Teamware, includes methods for reconciling any changes in file trees, with the assumption that the file trees are of a special type—containing only source code control system (SCCS) folders and files-that are directly annotative. Using Teamware, developers may each be assigned a separate sub-directory of a single root directory designated as a parent workspace for the current project. The parent workspace contains the original copies of each project file and records of each set of changes to each file.  
           [0015]    The developers obtain copies of project files for reading and editing purposes within their individual workspaces, and to record any modifications they make in a central location later on. A locking mechanism in SCCS prevents two developers from checking out the same file for editing at the same time. Teamware, is restrictive because it detects file tree changes based on modification times rather than on change logs. Furthermore, since Teamware automatically annotates only SCCS folders and files, it has no application to most file tree systems.  
           [0016]    Another file tree reconciler is called Unison. Unison is a file synchronization tool for Unix and Windows operating systems. It allows two replicas of a collection of files, folders, or directories to be stored on different hosts or different disks on the same host, modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each replica to the other. Unison sends from one side (server or client) to the other the entire log, and makes the receiving side responsible for finding the differences in the files, folders, and directories of both sides and reconciling them. This system works well only because the utility has an indefinitely growing version log for each synced file, which is pruned only when all known synchronizers have seen the pruned versions. There is a time limit (usually a month) when the utility abandons files that have not been synced in order to prune the size of the log.  
           [0017]    Unison, however, creates a log for the entire file tree and sends it across the network. If the file tree is large, the time involved in transmitting the log for the entire file tree can be time consuming, especially if the network connection is slow, or the network is highly congested. Moreover, if a file is not in use beyond the time limit, it is abandoned by the log. If the file has been abandoned, changes made to it may not be reflected in the log that is sent across to the other side. Furthermore, Unison detects file tree changes based on modification times rather than changes in the log. As mentioned earlier, since the entire file tree is sent across, this is a time consuming operation.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0018]    The embodiments of the present invention pertain to a file tree change reconciler. According to one or more embodiments, any changes that have occurred in two file trees since they were last synchronized are recorded. In one embodiment, the reconciler takes as input two logs of changes made in two respective file trees. Using the logs, it generates two sequences of operations. One sequence is designed to transfer the second tree to the first. The other is designed to transfer the first tree to the second. Once applied, the sequence of changes reconciles the two trees. In one embodiment, the first log resides on a client computing device, and the second log resides on a server computing device. According to another embodiment, the reconciler outputs two sets of changes that need to be applied to the respective file trees in order to synchronize them. According to another embodiment, the reconciler detects and outputs a list of changes that conflict with each other.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 is an illustration of a file tree structure.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2A is a flowchart of a file tree reconciler according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2B is a flowchart of a file tree reconciler according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken to compare a server operation against a particular client operation.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken to compare a client operation against a particular server operation.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6 is an illustration of an embodiment of a computer execution environment.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an initial synchronization between a client and a server.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]    The embodiments of the present invention pertain to a file tree reconciler. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a more thorough description of embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.  
       File Tree Reconciler  
       [0029]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, a file tree reconciler receives in as input two logs of change operations made to two file trees. The reconciliation process is illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. At block  200  of FIG. 2A, a first log is obtained. This first log can be obtained from a client as illustrated at block  204  in FIG. 2B. At block  201  of FIG. 2A, a second log is obtained. This second log can be obtained from a server as illustrated at block  205  in FIG. 2B. The reconciler converts each side&#39;s change log into a sequence of changes that can be applied to the other side. The change operations may be one of create, delete, modify, rename, or reparent. At block  202 , the reconciler converts the change log of the first log. If this first log is from the client, the conversion of the client change log is illustrated at block  206  in FIG. 2B. At block  203  the reconciler converts the change log of the second log. If this second log is from the server, the conversion of the server change log is illustrated at block  207  in FIG. 2B.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an initial synchronization in which a client starts with a file, for example, “Status.html” and a server starts with a file, for example, “PseudoRegistryjava” inside a folder, for example, “src”. At block  700 , a client makes a change, for example to add contents to file Status.html. At block  710 , the path of the client change is verified, for example Status.html. At block  720 , a check is made to verify if the path has any sub-divisions. In the example, the client makes addition to a file, which lies in the root directory of the client, so there is no further sub-divisions. At block  730 , if the path has sub-divisions, then the extended path of the client change is verified before going to block  740 , else at block  740  the contents of the change are verified, for example&lt;!doctype html public “-//w3c//dtd html [..]&gt;.  
         [0031]    Next at block  750 , a server makes the corresponding changes based on the client changes, for example to add contents to src. At block  760 , the path of the server change is verified, for example src. At block  770 , a check is made to verify if the path has any subdivisions. In the example src is a directory that contains file PseudoRegistryjava where the additions have to be made. At block  780 , if the path has sub-divisions, for example src/PseudoRegistryjava, then the extended path of the server change is verified before going to block  790 , else at block  790  the contents of the change are verified, for example&lt;package com.sun.PortalSyncServer;impor [..]&gt;.  
         [0032]    An example of a client&#39;s version of its “briefcase index tree” that is used to detect subsequent changes on its side after a synchronization operation described above may look like:  
         [0033]    Objects to check for changes( 1 ):  
         [0034]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0035]    path=/tmp/mirror/  
         [0036]    ContentIndex  
         [0037]    children( 2 ):  
         [0038]    ContentIndex  
         [0039]    path=Status.html  
         [0040]    content signature: OAhokamqGRL01alcS  
         [0041]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0042]    path=src  
         [0043]    content signature: rXARIRMIcOQmcxo4n6  
         [0044]    ContentIndex  
         [0045]    children( 1 ):  
         [0046]    ContentIndex  
         [0047]    path=src/PseudoRegistryjava  
         [0048]    content signature: snMGfFSna01gqZV  
         [0049]    It should be noted here that while /tmp/mirror/ is a container for objects that are in the partnership, the container itself is not in the partnership. In other words, if the container gets renamed, then that change is not propagated to the other side.  
         [0050]    Since there are no conflicts in the above example, the server tree is identical to the client&#39;s tree, except for the path of the synchronized folder. The path of the client in the above example is “Status.html”, while that of the server is “src”. An example of a server&#39;s version of its “briefcase index tree” as a result of subsequent changes on its side after a synchronization operation described above may look like:  
         [0051]    Objects to check for changes( 1 ):  
         [0052]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0053]    path=/home/username/directoryname/ (for example, /home/john/master/)  
         [0054]    ContentIndex  
         [0055]    children( 2 ):  
         [0056]    ContentIndex  
         [0057]    path=Status.html  
         [0058]    content signature: OAhokamqGRL01alcS  
         [0059]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0060]    path=src  
         [0061]    content signature: rXARIRMIcOQmcxo4n6  
         [0062]    ContentIndex  
         [0063]    children( 1 ):  
         [0064]    ContentIndex  
         [0065]    path=src/PseudoRegistryjava  
         [0066]    content signature: snMGfFSna01gqZV  
         [0067]    There is another kind of synchronization report where only the changes are sent, not a fall census of files/folders as in the synchronization process seen above. For example, if a client edits the Status.html file, while a server deletes the PseudoRegistryjava file, then the client&#39;s version of its “briefcase index tree” that is used to detect subsequent changes on its side after a synchronization operation described above may look like:  
         [0068]    Objects to check for changes( 1 ):  
         [0069]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0070]    path=/tmp/mirror/  
         [0071]    ContentIndex  
         [0072]    children( 2 ):  
         [0073]    ContentIndex  
         [0074]    path=Status.html  
         [0075]    Contents( 142 )  
         [0076]    Content signature: U713Jns2PJGVwZ8R  
         [0077]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0078]    path=src  
         [0079]    ContentIndex  
         [0080]    Content signature: 0OwsnMGfFSnaO1gqZ  
         [0081]    Since there are no conflicts, a server&#39;s version of its “briefcase index tree” that is used to detect subsequent changes on its side after a synchronization operation described above is similar to a client&#39;s version of its “briefcase index tree” except for the path of the synchronized folder, and may look like:  
         [0082]    Objects to check for changes( 1 ):  
         [0083]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0084]    path=/home/username/directoryname/ (for example, /home/john/master/)  
         [0085]    ContentIndex  
         [0086]    children( 2 ):  
         [0087]    ContentIndex  
         [0088]    path=Status.html  
         [0089]    Contents( 142 )  
         [0090]    Content signature: U713Jns2PJGVwZ8R  
         [0091]    MappedContentIndex  
         [0092]    path=src  
         [0093]    ContentIndex  
         [0094]    Content signature: 0OwsnMGfFSnaO1gqZ  
         [0095]    According to one embodiment, prior to converting the two change logs, the reconciler removes any conflicting changes from the sequence, and translates the remaining changes so as to take account of the other side&#39;s parallel changes. This embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. At block  300 , a first log is obtained. At block  301 , a second log is obtained. At block  302 , the reconciler removes any conflicting changes, and at block  303 , it translates the remaining changes so as to take account of the other side&#39;s parallel changes.  
         [0096]    According to another embodiment, the reconciler converts the server log which is shown in FIG. 4. At block  400 , for each operation in a server log, the reconciler compares it against the entire client log. At block  401 , for each operation in a client log, the reconciler compares the server operation against the particular client operation. At block  402 , the reconciler checks to see if a client operation semantically conflicts with a server operation. If the client operation semantically conflicts with the server operation, the pair is added to a conflict list at block  403 . At block  404 , the reconciler checks to see if the operation causes two objects to become each other&#39;s ancestors (an unresolvable loop if not attended to). If the operation is found to create the above problem, then the pair is added to the conflict list at block  403 .  
         [0097]    At block  405 , the reconciler checks to see if the client operation is a rename or reparent of the object of the server operation, or of one of that object&#39;s ancestors in the tree. If block  405  is positive, then the server operation is translated to refer to the object using its new lineage at block  406 . If on the other hand there are no conflict, rename, or reparent issues, then the translated server operation is added to the sequence of operations that the client is asked to perform at block  407 .  
         [0098]    According to another embodiment, the reconciler converts the client log which is seen in FIG. 5. It converts the client log by generating a sequence of operations to be performed on the server&#39;s file tree. At block  500 , for each operation in a client log, the reconciler compares it against the entire server log. At block  501 , for each operation in a server log, the reconciler compares the client operation against the particular server operation at block  501 . At block  502 , the reconciler checks to see if a server operation semantically conflicts with a client operation. If the server operation semantically conflicts with the client operation, the pair is added to a conflict list at block  503 . At block  504 , the reconciler checks to see if the operation causes two objects to become each other&#39;s ancestors (an unresolvable loop if not attended to). If the operation is found to create the above problem, then the pair is added to the conflict list at block  503 .  
         [0099]    At block  505 , the reconciler checks to see if the server operation is a rename or reparent of the object of the client operation, or of one of that object&#39;s ancestors in the tree. If block  505  is positive, then the client operation is translated to refer to the object using its new lineage at block  506 . If there are no conflict, rename, or reparent issues, then the translated client operation is added to the sequence of operations that the server is asked to perform at block  507 .  
         [0100]    The only difference in the conversion of the client log as compared to the server log is that all conflicts are discarded since they are the same as those generated from the server log conversion.  
       Embodiment of a Computer Execution Environment  
       [0101]    An embodiment of the invention can be implemented as computer software in the form of computer readable code executed in a desktop general purpose computing environment such as environment  600  illustrated in FIG. 6, or in the form of bytecode class files running in such an environment. A keyboard  610  and mouse  611  are coupled to a bi-directional system bus  618 . The keyboard and mouse are for introducing user input to a computer  601  and communicating that user input to processor  613 . Computer  601  may also include a communication interface  620  coupled to bus  618 .  
         [0102]    Communication interface  620  provides a two-way data communication coupling via a network link  621  to a local network  622 . For example, if communication interface  620  is an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem, communication interface  620  provides a data communication connection to the corresponding type of telephone line, which comprises part of network link  621 . If communication interface  620  is a local area network (LAN) card, communication interface  620  provides a data communication connection via network link  621  to a compatible LAN. Wireless links are also possible. In any such implementation, communication interface  620  sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals, which carry digital data streams representing various types of information.  
         [0103]    Network link  621  typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, network link  621  may provide a connection through local network  622  to local server computer  623  or to data equipment operated by ISP  624 . ISP  624  in turn provides data communication services through the world wide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the “Internet”  625 . Local network  622  and Internet  625  both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals, which carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on network link  621  and through communication interface  620 , which carry the digital data to and from computer  600 , are exemplary forms of carrier waves transporting the information.  
         [0104]    Processor  613  may reside wholly on client computer  601  or wholly on server  626  or processor  613  may have its computational power distributed between computer  601  and server  626 . In the case where processor  613  resides wholly on server  626 , the results of the computations performed by processor  613  are transmitted to computer  601  via Internet  625 , Internet Service Provider (ISP)  624 , local network  622  and communication interface  620 . In this way, computer  601  is able to display the results of the computation to a user in the form of output. Other suitable input devices may be used in addition to, or in place of, the mouse  601  and keyboard  600 . I/O) (input/output) unit  609  coupled to bi-directional system bus  608  represents such I/O elements as a printer, A/V (audio/video) I/O, etc.  
         [0105]    Computer  601  includes a video memory  614 , main memory  615  and mass storage  612 , all coupled to bi-directional system bus  618  along with keyboard  610 , mouse  611  and processor  613 , and file tree reconciler  627  which reconciles two logs of changes made in file trees  628  (old file tree index) and  629  (new file tree index). One sequence is designed to transfer file tree  628  to file tree  629 , and the other sequence is designed to transfer file tree  629  to file tree  628 .  
         [0106]    As with processor  613 , in various computing environments, main memory  615  and mass storage  612 , can reside wholly on server  626  or computer  601 , or they may be distributed between the two. Examples of systems where processor  613 , main memory  615 , and mass storage  612  are distributed between computer  601  and server  626  include the thin-client computing architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc., the palm pilot computing device, Internet ready cellular phones, and other Internet computing devices.  
         [0107]    The mass storage  612  may include both fixed and removable media, such as magnetic, optical or magnetic optical storage systems or any other available mass storage technology. Bus  618  may contain, for example, thirty-two address lines for addressing video memory  614  or main memory  615 . The system bus  618  also includes, for example, a 32-bit data bus for transferring data between and among the components, such as processor  613 , main memory  615 , video memory  614 , and mass storage  612 . Alternatively, multiplex data/address lines may be used instead of separate data and address lines.  
         [0108]    In one embodiment of the invention, the processor  613  is a microprocessor manufactured by Motorola, such as the 680X0 processor or a microprocessor manufactured by Intel, such as the 80×86, or Pentium processor, or a SPARC microprocessor from Sun Microsystems, Inc. However, any other suitable microprocessor or microcomputer may be utilized. Main memory  615  is comprised of dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Video memory  614  is a dual-ported video random access memory. One port of the video memory  614  is coupled to video amplifier  616 . The video amplifier  616  is used to drive the cathode ray tube (CRT) raster monitor  617 . Video amplifier  616  is well known in the art and may be implemented by any suitable apparatus. This circuitry converts pixel data stored in video memory  614  to a raster signal suitable for use by monitor  617 . Monitor  617  is a type of monitor suitable for displaying graphic images.  
         [0109]    Computer  601  can send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network(s), network link  621 , and communication interface  620 . In the Internet example, remote server computer  626  might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet  625 , ISP  624 , local network  622  and communication interface  620 . The received code may be executed by processor  613  as it is received, and/or stored in mass storage  612 , or other non-volatile storage for later execution. In this manner, computer  600  may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave. Alternatively, remote server computer  626  may execute applications using processor  613 , and utilize mass storage  612 , and/or video memory  615 . The results of the execution at server  626  are then transmitted through Internet  625 , ISP  624 , local network  622 , and communication interface  620 . In this example, computer  601  performs only input and output functions.  
         [0110]    Application code may be embodied in any form of computer program product. A computer program product comprises a medium configured to store or transport computer readable code, or in which computer readable code may be embedded. Some examples of computer program products are CD-ROM disks, ROM cards, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, computer hard drives, servers on a network, and carrier waves.  
         [0111]    The computer systems described above are for purposes of example only. An embodiment of the invention may be implemented in any type of computer system or programming or processing environment.  
         [0112]    Thus, a file tree change reconciler is described in conjunction with one or more specific embodiments. The embodiments of the present invention are defined by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.