Patent ID: 8185495

Claim:
A method for synchronizing a set of objects between a first node and a second node of a plurality of nodes communicatively coupled via one or more networks in a multi-master synchronization environment, comprising: for a given data scope, exchanging synchronization knowledge between the first node and the second node for a set of objects being represented on both nodes, wherein synchronization knowledge of the first node and the second node includes synchronization metadata representing corresponding versions for the objects of the set of objects represented on the first node and second node, respectively, and wherein representation of the synchronization knowledge is independent of data type; ascertaining whether an object underwent a change to a desired qualitative feature based on the synchronization knowledge exchange, wherein the desired qualitative feature is an incremental quality identified from a plurality of potential qualitative features associated with the object, and wherein the object is receivable by the first node or the second node whichever is a receiving node; and updating the synchronization metadata of the receiving node to include transform metadata that indicates a first knowledge by the receiving node of a first version of the object with a first transform applied and a second knowledge of a second version of the object with a second transform applied; wherein the updating comprises comparing the synchronization knowledge of the first node and the second node to determine a collective knowledge of quality information for the set of objects; and wherein the updating further comprises selecting the object as an object to synchronize based on the collective knowledge.