Patent ID: 7647346

Claim:
A method of synchronizing one or more digital files stored on a source device and a target device coupled thereto, said method comprising: receiving a plurality of rules for selecting which of the digital files are to be transferred from the source device to the target device, said plurality of rules assigning priorities to each of the digital files; building a designated list of the digital files to be transferred, each of the digital files on said designated list being ordered according to the priorities defined by the plurality of rules; identifying duplicate digital files on the designated list and removing, from the designated list, each of the duplicate digital files that has a lower priority than its duplicate digital file; transferring a first at least one of the digital files on the designated list from the source device to the target device, said first digital files having a lower priority and a faster transfer time than a second at least one of the digital files remaining on the designated list having a higher priority and a slower transfer time, said second at least one of the digital files having at least one non-transfer operation performed thereon by the source device; and after transferring the first at least one of the digital files and after performing the non-transfer operation, transferring the second at least one of the digital files from the source device to the target device as a function of a defined storage capacity of the target device, said first at least one of the digital files being replaced on the target device by the second at least one of the digital files in order from lowest priority to highest priority, as a function of the defined storage capacity of the target device and as a function of said second at least one of the digital files having a higher priority than the transferred first at least one of the digital files.