Patent ID: 8533702

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of software product fix management in a computer system, the method comprising: providing a first data structure including a plurality of fix records, each fix record representing a respective fix of a plurality of fixes collectively pertaining to one or more corresponding software products, the first data structure not including any of the plurality of fixes, the first data structure including a group level comprising a version attribute pertaining to the plurality of fixes as a whole, wherein a more recent version of the plurality of fixes is represented by a higher value of the group level, wherein the plurality of fix records are used as a basis to discover whether the one or more corresponding software products are installed on the computer system; providing a conditional replacement flag set based on received input; upon determining, based on the group level, that the first data structure represents a more recent version of the plurality of fixes than a second data structure previously provided on the computer system, replacing the second data structure with the first data structure, wherein the first data structure is processed in lieu of the second data structure; and upon determining, based on the group level, that the first data structure represents a less recent version of the plurality of fixes than the second data structure on the computer system: if the conditional replacement flag is false, replacing the second data structure with the first data structure despite the first data structure representing the less recent version, wherein the first data structure is processed in lieu of the second data structure; wherein if the conditional replacement flag is true, the second data structure is not replaced with the first data structure, and the second data structure is processed in lieu of the first data structure.