Patent ID: 7251670

Claim:
In a first content distribution node, a method for maintaining a first catalog, the method comprising the steps of: detecting a modification condition associated with the first catalog of the first content distribution node, the modification condition identifying a potential requirement to modify the first catalog within the first content distribution node; in response to detecting the modification condition, performing a version-based comparison technique on the first catalog based on the modification condition to identify a catalog change condition, wherein the version-based comparison technique compares at least one of: gap version information associated with the modification condition to at least one of gap version information and entry version information associated with the first catalog, and gap version information associated with the first catalog to at least one of gap version information and entry version information associated with the modification condition, wherein a gap is a logical identifier of a boundary between two entries in a catalog, and wherein each gap location has associated version information; and determining that the catalog change condition indicates a catalog modification is required to be made to the first catalog, and in response, modifying the first catalog in accordance with the catalog change condition identified by the version-based comparison technique.