Patent ID: 8504519

Claim:
A computer-implemented method in a synchronized file system for determining a preferred modified version of a file from among multiple modified versions of the file, comprising: receiving at the file system a user-generated file from a first client, the first client located remotely from the file system; storing the user-generated file at the file system; receiving an indication from the first client to share the user-generated file with a second client located remotely from the file system; synchronizing the user-generated file between the file system and the second client; receiving notification from the first client of a first modified version of the user-generated file; receiving notification from the second client of a second modified version of the user-generated file; determining a preferred version of the user-generated file from among the first and second modified versions of the user-generated file according to change management rules, wherein the change management rules specify which modified version of the user-generated file is the preferred version based on the sources of the versions, and wherein the other modified version is non-preferred; and supplying the preferred version of the user-generated file, the non-preferred version of the user-generated file, and an indication of the preferred version to an edit-merge tool for merging edits of the two versions to produce an updated version of the user-generated file.