Patent ID: 7574516

Claim:
A computerized method for transferring data over a network from a source data structure on a source computing system to a target data structure on a target computing system, the method comprising the following: an act of accessing said source data structure, wherein the source data structure comprises a plurality of data fields; an act of copying over the network at least one data field of the plurality of data fields that is common to both the source data structure and the target data structure from the source data structure to the target data structure; for a given field corresponding to the target data structure, an act of determining that the given field does not have an associated field in the source data structure, and in response, performing the following: an act of determining whether or not it is mandatory that the source data structure supply a field corresponding to the given field in order for the transfer to be successful; if it is mandatory that the source data structure supply a field corresponding to the given field, an act of failing the transfer; and if it is not mandatory that the source data structure supply a field corresponding to the given field, an act of continuing with the transfer; for a given field of the source data structure, an act of determining that there is no corresponding field in the target data structure, and in response, performing the following: an act of determining whether or not it is mandatory that the target data structure have a field corresponding to the given field in the source data structure in order for the transfer to be successful; if it is mandatory that the target data structure have a field corresponding to the given field in the source data structure, an act of failing the transfer; and if it is not mandatory that the target data structure have a field corresponding to the given field in the source data structure, an act of providing the data from the other field of the first data structure into a residual field of the second data structure.