Patent ID: 7076491

Claim:
A version-compatible data processing system comprising an application program for user interaction with stored data, comprising: (a) means for generating, storing, and retrieving data files, each data file comprising a multi-dimensional array of data objects, wherein each data object includes an object type code and object content, the data files having standard identifications of object types and beginning and end extremities of the object data; (b) the means for retrieving comprising: (i) means for determining recognition of the object type of each object; and (ii) means for retrieving each unrecognized object without processing; (c) means for processing each recognized object; (d) means for indicating unrecognized objects; and (e) the means for storing comprising means for storing unrecognized objects without modification, whereby data files generated and stored by a later version of the application program are processable and restorable as partially processed files by an earlier version of the application program in which not all object types generated by the later version of the program are recognized, the unrecognized objects being subsequently processable upon retrieval of the partially processed files by the later version of the application program.