Patent ID: 7979390

Claim:
A method for realigning a database of a server and a database of a respective client among one or more of a plurality of clients, comprising the steps of: copying a subset of at least one table of the database server to a workspace, the workspace having a plurality of records; identifying a set of records among the plurality of records that are to be associated with the respective client after an effective time; modifying in the workspace the set of identified records so as to be newly associated with the respective client; creating an association-rule for the respective client defining the modified set of records as accessible by the respective client, the association-rule having a database view and the effective time; distributing to the respective client the association-rule and the newly associated records; after the distributing step, providing at the respective client a view of the database of the respective client while precluding access to the newly associated records until the effective time is reached; and realigning the database server with the database of the respective client at the effective time with the modifications to the set of records in the workspace, wherein the association-rule enables the respective client to access the newly assigned records.