Patent ID: 8407205

Claim:
A computer implemented method for automatically sharing data between subscribers to a multi-tenant database service, the method comprising: receiving a specification of at least one sharing rule from a first subscriber to a multi-tenant on-demand database service, the first subscriber being associated with a first organization that shares database resources of the multi-tenant on-demand database service with a second organization; and automatically evaluating the sharing rule to identify whether a data record of a first data object accessible to the first subscriber is to be shared with a second subscriber of the second organization that does not have access to the data record, and if so, automatically sharing the data record with the second subscriber; wherein the automatically sharing the data record includes updating a second database object of the second subscriber to include a copy of the data record; wherein the automatically sharing data includes: (a) synchronizing the copy of the data record in the second database object with the data record of the first database object: and (b) sending a notification to the second subscriber, and sharing the data record responsive to an indication of acceptance from the second subscriber; and wherein the synchronizing includes automatically updating the copy of the data record in the second database object responsive to the data record of the first database object being modified by the first subscriber.