Method for mapping, translating, and dynamically reconciling data
Contents
1. 395 161 5 261 094 11 1993 Everson et al 395 617 5 272 628 12 1993 Koss 395 764 5 278 978 1 1994 Demers et al 395 612 5 283 887 2 1994 Zachery 395 500 5 301 313 4 1994 Terada et al 395 600 5 315 709 5 1994 Alston Jr et al 395 600 5 327 555 7 1994 Anderson 395 600 List continued on next page HANDHELD COMPUTER 101 zZzOoorr Alfieri The Best of WordPerfect Version 5 0 Hayden Books pp 153 165 429 435 1988 Automatically Syn chronized Objects Research Disclosure 29261 p 614 Aug 1988 Cobb et al Paradox 3 5 Handbook 3rd Edition Bantam pp 803 816 1991 List continued on next page Primary Examiner Heather R Herndon Assistant Examiner Joseph R Burwell Attorney Agent or Firm Fish amp Richardson P C 57 ABSTRACT Traditionally it has been difficult to share data among diverse computer applications and platforms because of underlying differences in data formats Although the mean ing or purpose of the data may be similar or identical for example two appointments entered using separate computer applications the differences in data formats required by the various computer applications and platforms renders such sharing difficult A method is disclosed for the tra2. Field Mapping TEL PARADOX PARADOX HandHeld Fields Field Mapping Field Mapping NAME CUSTNAME NUMBER CUSTNO ADDRESS LINE 1 Remove ITEM ORDDATE ADDRESS LINE 3 ance Add Field New Field Name ADDRESS LINE 7 ADDRESS LINE 8 FIG 5A Field Mapping TEL PARADOX PARADOX HandHeld Fields Field Mapping Field Mapping NAME CUSTNAME QK E CUSTNO ADDRESS LINE 1 ITEM Remove ORDDATE ADDRESS LINE 3 PRICE Add Field ADDRESS LINE 5 ADDRESS LINE 6 ADDRESS LINE 7 ADDRESS LINE 8 ADDRESS LINE 4 New Field Name FIG 5B U S Patent Sep 9 1997 Sheet 6 of 8 5 666 553 Field Update Key Field Name Name John Jones Handheld Data NUMBER Line1 212 111 3333 PC Data Business Phone 212 111 2222 FIG 7 Schedule Update Handheld Data Announcement Date Start Time End Time PC Data Meeting with Jim Date Start Time End Time 02 26 92 09 00AM 10 00AM FIG 8 U S Patent Name HH Type HH Application DT Application DT File Name HH File Name Record Number HH Field Name DT Field Name Multiple Field flag TF Sep 9 1997 Sheet 7 of 8 5 666 553 MAPPING Database Fields Data Format A06 A15 A25 A64 A64 N A15 A25 Number of HH Fields N Field Type Number of Keys A04 N Data format codes nn A string of length nn An integer HHType HHApp DTApp Psion Psion Psion P
3. In preferred embodiments the invention features accept ing data from a first computer application and then mapping and translating the data to the formats expected by a second computer application The user of the translation facility may explicitly specify the mapping of the data fields of the two applications files During the data transfer the user may also choose to be informed of application specific conflicts between data received from the first application and that already existing on the second platform When a data conflict is encountered the user may then opt to accept ignore or change the data before it is applied to the second application s files The invention can also be used to transfer compare and reconcile data between any other pair of disparate platforms even if the disparity is relatively minor as for instance between a Paradox database manager and a dBase database manager running on the same IBM PC The invention provides an effective method of translating data between disparate computer platforms and a wide variety of applications while ensuring that the data need only be entered once and not duplicated The invention also ensures the integrity of the data imported to computer applications through the process of conflict resolution also known as data reconciliation In a first aspect the invention features a method for an interactive user of a computer to dynamically reconcile the information of two dat
4. US005666553A United States Patent Patent Number 5 666 553 Crozier 453 Date of Patent Sep 9 1997 54 METHOD FOR MAPPING TRANSLATING OTHER PUBLICATIONS 75 73 21 22 63 51 52 58 AND DYNAMICALLY RECONCILING DATA BETWEEN DISPARATE COMPUTER 56 PLATFORMS Inventor Keith Crozier Acton Mass Assignee Puma Technology Inc San Jose Calif Appl No 279 201 Filed Jul 22 1994 Related U S Application Data Continuation of Ser No 867 167 Apr 10 1992 Pat No 5 392 390 Int CES ues G06F 17 00 G06F 17 30 U S CL Z 2 2 uu u a ss 395 803 395 619 Field of Search 395 161 144 395 153 200 600 803 347 619 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 432 057 2 1984 Daniell et al 395 608 4 807 182 2 1989 Queen 395 144 4 866 611 9 1989 Cree etal 364 705 08 4 875 159 10 1989 Cary et al 395 619 4 956 809 9 1990 George et al 364 900 5 065 360 11 1991 Kelly 395 800 5 142 619 8 1992 Webster IH 395 161 5 187 787 2 1993 Skeen et 395 600 5 210 868 5 1993 Shimada et al 395 600 5 237 678 8 1993 Keuchler et al 395 605 5 251 291 10 1993 Malcolm 395 146 5 261 045 11 1993 Scully etal
5. 107 DATA 109 and MEMO 111 applications provided by each of the supported handheld computers In some cases the field names are obtained from the actual field names in the handheld computer s implementation and used as the field names for the target application An example of this would be the DATA application in the programmable Psion Series 3 handheld computer In a fourth method contemplated by the inventor but not implemented in the current embodiment a data dictionary of the record structure can be coded into a text file and the mapping step can read and interpret this text file much as it reads and interprets a database s data dictionary Once the mapping facility has acquired an understanding of the fields of each of the two record structures the next step is to establish the actual field mappings for instance to establish a correspondence between a PHONE 103 field of file format 1 and a FAX NUMBER 307 field of file format 2 and to determine the data conversion rule for mapping a datum of field PHONE to a datum of field FAX NUMBER 307 for instance convert 3 2 byte integers to 10 ASCII characters This is accomplished by a user who is pre sented with a list of all the fields of each of the two record Structures and then asked to select corresponding names It is sometimes preferable to not provide a mapping directly from the source application s file format to the destination application s file format but to provide map
6. 2 15 92 PRICE 100 250 75 5000 400 5 666 553 1 METHOD FOR MAPPING TRANSLATING AND DYNAMICALLY RECONCILING DATA BETWEEN DISPARATE COMPUTER PLATFORMS This is a continuation of application Ser No 07 867 167 filed Apr 10 1992 now U S Pat No 5 392 390 REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX A source code listing of the preferred embodiment of the invention is appended in the form of a fiche and 330 pages recorded on microfiche A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduc tion by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclo sure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatso ever BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to programs that share data across disparate computer applications and platforms such as handheld computers and desktop computers Handheld computers typically weigh less than a pound and fit in a pocket Handheld computers typically provide some combination of personal information management functions database functions word processing functions and spreadsheet functions Owing to the physical and memory size and processing power limitations of the hand held computers however these applications are generally limited in functionality and differ in data content and usage
7. NUMBER 307 TITLE 309 COMPANY 311 STREET 313 CITY STATE 315 ZIP 317 and NOTES 319 APPOINTMENT 373 data fields DATE 321 START TIME 323 END TIME 325 ALARM 327 and DESCRIPTION 329 and TODO 375 data fields DESCRIPTION 331 PRIORITY 333 DUE DATE 335 and DETAIL 337 FIG 3 also shows the DTMAP 129 function which provides field mapping for a DATABASE MANAGER 123 The user of the preferred embodiment is allowed to specify the destination field that corresponds to each field in the handheld application database As the translation takes place the fields are mapped according to the user specifi cation into the desktop application database FIG 4 shows an example of field mapping between an application s data 109 FIELD1 401 FIELD2 403 FIELD3 405 FIELD4 407 FIELDS 409 of a HANDHELD COM PUTER 101 and a database manager application s data CUSTOMER NAME 413 CUSTOMER NUMBER 415 ORDER DATE 417 QUANTITY 419 ITEM 421 and PRICE 423 of a DESKTOP COMPUTER 115 FIG 5 shows an example of the preferred embodiment s screen display which allows the user to specify field map ping In this example the translation is between a handheld computer s TEL database and the PARADOX database In FIG 5a the user has selected a handheld field from the TEL column such as ADDRESS LINEA and a desktop field from the PARADOX column in this case QTY The selec tion is made by clicking a mouse or trackball or other pointer device on the two
8. S Patent Sep 9 1997 Sheet 2 of 8 5 666 553 DESKTOP HANDHELD COMPUTER 7101 115 COMPUTER 103 201 NAME 20344 NUMBER 20544 ADDRESS LINE 1 20744 ADDRESS LINE 2 209 4 ADDRESS LINE N SCHEDULE 105 211 21344 START TIME 2 MN COMMUNICATIONS 219 DESCRIPTION S1 RAN SE HON HHCOMM DTCOMM Topo 107 221 223 44 DUE DATE 113 117 22544 DESCRIPTION COMMON FORMAT 200 109 DATA RECORD 1 1237 DATA DATA RECORD 2 1039 2271 FIELD 1 DATA RECORD 3 4241 2294 FIELD 2 2 DATA RECORD N 1243 2314 FIELD N 111 MEMO 23344 DESCRIPTION 23544 TEXT FIG 2 U S Patent Sep 9 1997 Sheet 3 of 8 5 666 553 DESKTOP COMPUTER COMMON FORMAT DATA RECORD 1 DATA RECORD 2 DATA RECORD 3 DATA RECORD N 119 TRANSLATION DTXLT 1297 MAPPING DTMAP 1317 RECONCILIATION DTRECON PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGER 371 DATE START TIME END TIME DATABASE ANAGER 12 USER DATA 1 339 ier pate 37 1041 USER DATA N 343 SPREADSHEET 125 5 345 USER DATA 2 947 USER DATA N 349 WORD PROCESSOR c 127 DESCRIPTION 351 TEXT 353 FIG 3 U S Patent Sep 9 1997 Sheet 4 of 8 5 666 553 HANDHELD COMPUTER DESKTOP COMPUTER DATABASE MANAGER FIG 4 SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 DATE START END ALARM DESCRIPTION 12121991 12151991 1100 1300 0 12161991 0800 1100 0745 MEETING TOM 12161991 1100 0 PRESENTATION 12171991 1400 e U S Patent Sep 9 1997 Sheet 5 of 8 5 666 553
9. in the mapping structure for fields in the handheld computer which have multiple field mapping characteristics In this case multiple mapping records will exist in the mapping structure one for each subfield If a field in the source file has been mapped to multiple fields in the destination the splitting occurs by recognizing tabs as subfield separators in the first file Conversely if several fields in the source map to a single field in the destination the strings of the source fields are catenated together into the destination field with tab sepa rators The danger presented by the above described transfer and translation facilities is the classic consistency problem Once data has been copied to two separate computers different and inevitably conflicting updates may be applied to the two separate copies of the data The user will often update the schedule he carries in his handheld computer and the user s secretary may make changes to the desktop comput er s data while the user is away Dynamic reconciliation allows the user of the handheld computer to make changes to the handheld computer while away from the desktop computer and discover the effect of these changes when returning to the desktop computer The dynamic reconciliation runs on the desktop computer during the translation process from the handheld computer to the desktop computer and usually includes mapping of files of different formats FIG 3 also shows the DTR
10. respective field names In FIG Sb the mapping between these two fields is completed denoted by the field name from the desktop database dis played in the middle mapping column next to the field name from the handheld database The mapping is stored in a MAPPING database which is referenced during the trans lation operation The MAPPING database will be used during the transla tion process to determine where data from each field of the source application record is to be stored in the target application record Each record of the MAPPING database describes all or part of the mapping of a single field of a handheld application s data file In the case where a single field in the source database is to be mapped to multiple fields in the target database multiple records will appear in the MAPPING database for that target field with the multiple field flag set to TRUE Because the mappings in the 10 15 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 8 MAPPINGs database are bi directional i e the mappings are applicable both for handheld computer to desktop computer and desktop computer to handheld computer the appearance of multiple records in the MAPPING database with the multiple field fiag can cause multiple fields from a source database to be combined in a single field in a target database For instance the example of FIG 5 shows a case where one field in the handheld application ADDRESS can be mapped to eight fields i
11. 8 5 392 390 2 1995 Crozier ee 395 335 5 434 994 7 1995 Shaheen et al 395 617 5 475 833 12 1995 Dauerer et al 395 617 5 519 606 5 1996 Frid Wielsen et al 395 209 OTHER PUBLICATIONS IntelliLink Brochure 1990 Open Network Computing Technical Overview Sun Technical Report Microsystems Inc pp 1 32 1987 Organizer Link II Operation Manual Sharp Electronics Corporation no date User Manual for Connectivity Pack for the HP 95LX Hewlett Packard Company 1991 User Manual for PC Link for the B O S S and the PC Link for the B O S S Traveling Software Inc 1989 Zahn et al Network Computing Architecture pp 1 11 19 31 87 115 117 133 187 199 201 209 1990 FRx extends reporting power of Platinum Series IBM Desktop Software s line of accounting software Doug Dayton PC Week v 8 No 5 p 29 2 Feb 4 1991 The Big Picture Accessing information on remote data management system UNIX Review vol 7 No 8 p 38 7 Aug 1989 Logical Connectivity Application Requirements Archi tecture and Research Agenda Stuart Madnick amp Y Rich ard Wang MIT System Sciences 1991 Hawaii Int l Conf vol 1 IEEE Jun 1991 U S Patent Sep 9 1997 Sheet 1 of 8 5 666 553 DESKTOP COMPUTER 115 HANDHELD COMPUTER PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGER 105 SCHEDULE DATA I BASE D MANAGER MANAGER WORD PROCESSING MANAGER FIG 1 U
12. ECON 131 Desktop Reconciliation function which provides optional dynamic reconciliation of application specific conflicts between incoming handheld data and existing desktop data with capabilities to accept ignore or change incoming data If a record from the handheld computer has a key which matches a record in the desktop computer each handheld field of the record is compared to each desktop field If they are different the user is queried for resolution FIG 11 shows an example of data for a database man ager s database in FIG 4 In this case when a translation takes place from the handheld computer database of user DATA 109 with fields FIELD1 401 FIELD2 403 FIELD3 405 FIELD4 407 and FIELDS 409 and a desktop computer application s data CUSTOMER NAME 413 CUSTOMER NUMBER 415 ORDER DATE 417 QUANTITY 419 ITEM 421 and PRICE 423 conflicts would result during the translation of handheld data records 2 and 5 because their FIELD3L2 QTY and FIELD3L3 PRICE fields are different for the same key which is FIELDI CUSTNAME The user would be prompted to choose whether to accept the data from the handheld computer The preferred embodiment allows the user to be option ally notified during translation if any of the existing data in the desktop application are different from the data in the handheld application FIG 7 shows an example of the 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 12 preferred embodiment s scree
13. abase files The method comprises the steps of choosing corresponding records from the two files comparing the information of corresponding fields of these records and allowing the user to decide how to change the data in one of the two files to bring them into agreement In preferred embodiments in which the records of the two files are named by range Keys as in an appointment schedule application the method comprises determining if any sched ule conflicts exist either the time of an appointment has been changed in one of the two schedule databases or there are two different appointments for conflicting times and allowing the user to decide how to change the data in one of the two files to bring them into agreement The invention offers a solution to previously unsolved portions of the data translation problem by providing means to translate data from one record structure to another In a second aspect the invention features a method for translating computer data from a source record structure to a destination record structure The invention offers transla tions that are new in the art by translating between source and destination record structures that differ in field naming field order or one to many or many to one field correspon dence The method comprises the steps of establishing a mapping between the fields of the two record structures and using that mapping to translate the data of a source file into the destination record
14. d and Sealed this Eleventh Day of August 1998 dnd PA Py PU BRUCE LEHMAN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO 5 666 553 DATED September 9 1997 INVENTOR S Keith Crozier It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below Column 2 line 51 U S Pat No 4 966 809 should be U S Pat No 4 956 809 Signed and Sealed this Third Day of November 1998 BRUCE LEHMAN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
15. d of claim 1 wherein records of both the first and second database are translated to a common record structure prior to choosing and comparing actions 5 The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one selected field from each record is a key field 6 The method of claim 1 2 3 4 or 5 wherein the first and second databases are calendar databases and the records comprise records representing appointments or events 7 The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one selected field used for choosing records is other than a date or time field 8 The method of claim 1 wherein the translation com prises mapping of fields of the first database to fields of the second database 9 The method of claim 8 wherein the mapping is specified by the user UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO 5 666 553 DATED September 9 1997 INVENTOR S Keith Crozier it is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below Cover page 2 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS at 5 519 606 Frid Wielsen et al should be Frid Nielsen et al Cover page 2 56 References Cited OTHER PUBLICATIONS at Logical Connectivity Application should be Applications after form delete of a fiche 330 pages should be 328 pages after Keys delete after third occurrence of fields insert Signe
16. de for typical application specific reconciliation of data between the handheld computers and the desktop computer for the SCHEDULE 105 application is shown in TABLE 5 The preferred embodiment s implementation of this is on pages 101 177 178 235 and 284 288 of the microfiche appendix TABLE 5 Pseudocode for Reconciliation of Data for SCHEDULE 105 Application Steps 106 117 of TABLE 5 occur for each record during Translation Step 111 115 in TABLE 4 Establish communication with the desktop application DO UNTIL last desktop Schedule has been queried Read desktop schedule item Add desktop schedule item to SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 END DO for each iteration of TABLE 4 Step 111 115 Look up handheld record s date and time range in SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 IF an item exists with overlapping date and time IF the description is different Ask the user to select Accept Ignore or Change IF the user changes the handheld date or time Restart DO UNTIL 5 666 553 15 TABLE 5 continued Pseudocode for Reconciliation of Data for SCHEDULE 105 Application Steps 106 117 of TABLE 5 occur for each record during Translation Step 111 115 in TABLE 4 112 IF the user selects Accept 113 Add the item to the desktop 114 END IF 115 END IF 116 END IF 117 ENDIF TABLE 5 expands on the reconciliation section of TABLE 4 which describes the translation process for the SCHEDULE 105 application First the existing appoint ments in
17. dheld and desktop between a handheld and desktop applications FIGS 5A and 5B show a sample screen display which enables the user to specify the mapping or correspondence of field names between handheld and desktop applications and platforms FIG 6 shows an application specific reconciliation table used internally by the translation software to achieve data reconciliation FIG 7 shows a sample screen display which notifies the user of conflicts between handheld and desktop data for reconciliation purposes FIG 8 shows a sample screen display which notifies the user of conflicts between schedule data contained on the handheld and desktop applications and platforms FIG 9 shows the field structure of the field mapping database FIG 10 shows a sample field mapping database FIG 11 shows an example of data translated between a handheld computer database and a desktop computer data base DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT S The preferred embodiment comprises several large pro grams with a number of steps that run on the desktop computer and a small file transfer program that runs as a slave on programmable handheld computers The major steps of the main program are 1 Mapping of fields from desktop data formats to hand held data formats if required 2 Transfer of data from handheld to desktop 3 Translation of data to desktop format 4 Dynamic reconciliation of conflicts The mapping step establishes correspondence
18. e handheld would be mapped to the CUST NAME field of the desktop application FIELD2 data from the handheld would be mapped to CUSTNO FIELD3L1 data would be mapped to ITEM FIELD3L2 data would be mapped to QTY FIELD3L3 data would be mapped to PRICE and FIELD3LA data would be mapped to ORD DATE In this mapping FIELD3 of the handheld computer is a multiple field mapping FIELD3 has four subfields which are mapped to four fields in the desktop computer database Pseudocode for typical application specific translation of keyed PHONE 103 or DATA 109 files between handheld applications and desktop applications is shown in TABLE 2 The code implementing this in the preferred embodiment is on pages 65 66 102 106 179 187 203 206 and 237 246 of the microfiche appendix TABLE 2 Pseudocode for Translating PHONE 103 or DATA 109 files 101 102 103 Read MAPPING database Build mapping structure for translation DO UNTIL last handheld input record has been read Read handheld input record DO FOR each handheld input field Perform translations such as conversion from handheld computer binary format to 12 hour ASCII AM PM format specific to each handheld computer Build output field or multiple fields when there are multiple mapping records per field one to many END DO FOR each input field Write output record END DO UNTIL all input data records have been read 105 106 107 108 109 110 In Step 102 of TABLE 2 the mappin
19. epeating appointment record in the source file Schedule conflicts or more generally conflicts between two records with range keys can be of two kinds either an inexact overlap conflict or a difference conflict An inexact overlap conflict is when two range keys overlap but are not exactly the same for instance an appointment in the hand held s schedule database overlaps an appointment in the desktop s schedule database but one begins or ends earlier than the other A difference conflict is detected when the two range keys are exactly the same the appointments begin and end at the same time but the text describing the appointment differs in the two databases A third kind of discrepancy arises when a range key in one database has no overlapping range key in the other database for instance an appointment was added in one schedule database but not the other FIG 8 shows an example of the preferred embodiment s screen display which allows the user to decide what to do about conflicts In this case thc SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 has been searched to determine if there is an appoint ment during any of the time between 9 00 AM and 10 00 AM There was an appointment named Announcement from 9 30 AM until 10 30 AM The user may accept the new appointment ignore it or change the time or date of the incoming appointment and accept If the data is changed it will be re checked for conflicts against the SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 Pseudoco
20. from similar applications on desktop computers Many users of handheld computers also own a desktop computer used for applications that manage data similar to the data carried in the handheld computer In such cases the user normally would want the same data on the desktop computer as in the handheld computer There are a number of programs that transfer data between handheld computers and desktop computers but they all create desktop comput er s data with no regard for prior contents As a result all updates that have been done to the desktop computer s data prior to the transfer are ignored Many desktop computer applications have their data stored in large complex proprietary formats Data transfer to these applications usually cannot take place through file transfer because the data comes from the handheld com puter in a different format and usually is a subset of the data held on the desktop computer In such cases data can only be communicated to and from the desktop application by the use of a database manager or by use of dynamic inter application communication techniques Many handheld and desktop programs work with database files Database files have a file format the set of rules by which data can be read from or written to the file A database file is composed of records some of which are data records with the data of interest to the application program and the user and often some header records Each data record is compo
21. g structure is an internal data structure presenting the information needed for translation from the MAPPING database containing the name format mapping and multiple field mapping charac teristics of each field The process of building these data structures is accomplished by reading the MAPPING data base and storing its data in the structure for reference during the translation The structure is an internal image of the MAPPING database built to facilitate processing in the preferred embodiment Step 105 through 108 iterates through records in the mapping structure Step 105 is performed for each field of the handheld computer s data 5 666 553 11 Bach handheld computer has its own format for its application data files The data translations of step 106 are hard coded into the translation facility of the preferred embodiment for each pair of source and destination data formats as discussed earlier for the HPO9SLX handheld computer An example is the conversion of the three single byte integer fields in the HPOSLX date to an ASCH formatted date of mm dd yyyy The year byte in the HP9SLX format is number of years since 1900 so 1900 must be added to the single byte integer which has a maximum value of 255 In these data format conversions the source bits differ from the destination bits but the information the meaning of those bits in the context of the record structure rules is the same Step 107 iterates through records
22. ield names 5 666 553 9 TABLE 1 continued Pseudocode for Specification of Field Mapping of Data between Handheld and Desktop Applications 103 104 105 106 107 IF mapping previously specified Display previous desktop field mappings DO UNTIL user presses OK button IF user specifies a handheld field to re map Display desktop fields which are eligible for mapping Ask user for desktop field to map Update desktop field table for specified handheld fieid Display new desktop field mappin END IF IF user specifies Cancel Exit END DO UNTIL user presses OK button Write new MAPPING database 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 The preferred embodiment allows the use of one to many field mappings and many to one field mappings One to many means that a single text field in the handheld appli cation s data file can contain several pieces of data delim ited by special characters which will be translated to multiple fields in the desktop applications data file Many to one means that the reverse translation will take place The one to many and many to one relationships are accomplished in the preferred embodiment by specifying multiple mapping records in the MAPPING database for a single field in either the handheld computer or the desktop application These records are marked specially as multiple field mappings for the translation process Multiple string fields are noted in the hard coded description of the reco
23. ix desktop fields in each target record in the desktop computer The first step in the use of the mapping and translation facilities described is to copy data from a desktop computer to a handheld or vice versa FIG 2 shows a handheld computer application HHCOMM 113 transferring PHONE 103 data fields 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 10 NAME 201 NUMBER 203 ADDRESS 205 etc SCHEDULE 105 data fields DATE 211 START TIME 213 END TIME 215 ALARM 217 and DESCRIPTION 219 TODO 107 data fields PRIORITY 221 DUE DATE 223 and DESCRIPTION 225 DATA 109 data fields FIELD1 227 FIELD2 229 FIELDn 231 and MEMO 111 data fields DESCRIPTION 233 and TEXT 235 to desktop computer application DTCOMM 117 which reads and translates the handheld computer data to the COMMON RECORD STRUCTURE 2006 containing DATA RECORDI 237 DATA RECORD2 239 DATA RECORDn 243 Once the mapping has been specified and the data transferred the translation may take place The translation process for PHONE 103 and DATA 109 handheld data to database manager databases is controlled by the MAPPING database Each record represents a field or subfield of the handheld computer s data The mapping is performed to fields in the desktop application s database based on the field names of the desktop s application The MAPPING database for the data in FIG 4 would contain records as shown in FIG 10 In this case FIELD1 data from th
24. lly provided in the pre ferred embodiment Field Type specifies the field type of DT Field Name such as A025 for ASCIL 25 bytes Number of Keys specifies the number of fields in the desktop database manager s database The MAPPING database is created using an off the shelf database manager in the preferred embodiment it is Paradox or C Tree At MAPPING database creation time the above fields are defined Each handheld application is introduced to the MAPPING database by manually entering the HH Type HH Application DT Application Record Number HH Field Name Multiple Field flag Num ber of HH Fields and Number of Fields fields DT File Name and HH File Name are created dynamically during mapping by the preferred embodiment For some desktop applications such as Polaris PackRat the DT Field Name and Field Type are manually entered into the MAPPING database For some other desktop applications such as Paradox the Paradox Engine can be used to query a Paradox database to provide the DT Field Name and Field Type Pseudocode for the specification of field mapping of data between the handheld computers and the desktop computer is shown in TABLE 1 The code implementing this is on pages 60 65 of the microfiche appendix TABLE 1 Pseudocode for Specification of Field Mapping of Data between Handheld and Desktop Applications 101 102 Open MAPPING database Display handheld f
25. mple the preferred embodiment utilizes Windows 3 0 s Dynamic Data Exchange facility to request all schedule items from the desktop personal information manager Polaris PackRat This results in a complete evaluation of all existing appointments in the desktop schedule The resultant data are then used to build the SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 in the memory of the desktop computer The SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 an example of which is shown in FIG 6 is used for comparison during the translation of schedule data from the handheld computer 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 14 Another method of querying schedule information from a handheld computer involves running the schedule applica tion as a slave of the schedule reconciliation program The reconciliation program issues requests to the schedule application and the schedule application presents the appointments one by one to the reconciliation program The SCHEDULE RECONCILIATION facility then requests each appointment from the handheld schedule application by whatever access method is provided by the handheld application and compares each appointment obtained from the handheld to the SCHEDULE MAP TABLE If the handheld appointment is a repeating appointment then it is expanded into multiple records as far into the future as specified by the repeating appointment record This can result in multiple records being produced in the destination file as the image of a single r
26. n display which allows the user to decide what to do about conflicts In this case the key field is Name If a record exists in the desktop application With the same Name the data in each field in the desktop is compared with the data from the handheld If the data in any given field is different the user may accept the update to the field ignore it or edit part or all of the incoming data in the record and write it to the desktop application s file Note that the final result may be to update some fields of the desktop record and not others An example of an application specific technique is docu mented in TABLE 3 for the import of handheld computer DATA 109 to a desktop computer DATABASE MANAGER 123 which contains an earlier version of the data in the handheld computer The preferred embodiment s code for this is on pages 110 111 and 246 248 of the microfiche appendix TABLE 3 Pseudocode for Reconciliation of Data for DATA 109 Application occurs for each record during Translation Step 105 108 in TABLE 2 101 Query desktop application for existence of handheld record key in desktop database 102 IF there is a desktop record with the same key 103 DO UNTIL all fields in the handheld record are checked based on mapping BEGIN 104 IF the handheld and desktop fields are unequal 105 Ask user to pick the handheld field the desktop field or wishes to change the handheld data and use the changed data 106 IF user wishes to change
27. n the desktop application by specifying mapping for ADDRESS LINE through ADDRESS LINES FIG 9 shows the fields for the MAPPING database HH Type specifies the handheld make model such as the Sharp Wizard HP9SLX Palmtop Computer the Casio B O S S and the Psion Series 3 HH Application specifies the handheld application name such as PHONE SCHEDULE or MEMO DT Application specifies the desktop applica tion name such as PackRat or dBASE DT File Name specifies the name of the desktop database file such as CASK2 ADDRESS DB for the Sidekick 2 0 PHONE ADDRESS application HH File Name specifies the name of handheld database file such as CN DAT IL PBK for the name of the file to be used by the PHONE application on the HP95LX Record Number specifies the unique record id of the record in the MAPPING database which is required by the preferred embodiment for record uniqueness from a processing standpoint HH Field Name specifies the name of the handheld field and subfield number for each mapping record such as ADDRESS LINE3 DT Field Name specifies the field name within DT File Name such as BUSINESS PHONE Multiple Field flag is an indicator that HH Field Name is a member of a group of multiple fields to be mapped to from a single physical field Number of HH Fields specifies the number of real handheld fields in the handheld computer which is information needed by the preferred embodiment manua
28. nslation of dissimilarly formatted data between disparate computer applications and platforms The method also provides for the dynamic reconciliation of conflicts in the data for example two appointments scheduled at the same time based on both the content of the data and on specific preferences indicated by the user of the translation facility First the data is translated to a common format based on the user specified mapping of data fields identifying handheld and desktop fields to be translated and considering the characteristics of the handheld or desktop computer application Then if the specific data item such as an appointment telephone book entry or memo entry already exists on the desktop com puter application or platform the user is optionally notified of the conflict and given the opportunity to replace the existing data ignore the incoming data or modify the incoming data The criteria for determining the existence of conflicts is disclosed for updating schedule information and keyed databases 9 Claims 8 Drawing Sheets Microfiche Appendix Included 1 Microfiche 330 Pages DESKTOP COMPUTER 7 7115 1121 PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGER BASE MANAGER PROCESSING MANAGER 5 666 553 Page 2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 333252 7 1994 Brwer et al 395 148 5 339 392 8 1994 Risberg et al a 395 161 5 339 434 8 1994 Rusis 395 200 1
29. omputers FIG 1 shows a HANDHELD COMPUTER 101 with applications PHONE 103 SCHEDULE 105 TODO 107 DATA 109 and MEMO 111 transferring data to a desktop computer using file transfer application HHCOMM 113 HHCOMM 113 is responsible for accepting the data from the handheld computer and translating it to the COMMON RECORD STRUCTURES which are defined by the pre ferred embodiment The COMMON RECORD STRUC TUREs are then passed to DESKTOP COMPUTER 115 by transfer application DTCOMM 117 which utilizes DTXLT 119 inter application communications or database manager facilities as appropriate to translate the data to formats accepted by desktop applications PERSONAL INFORMA TION MANAGER 121 DATABASE MANAGER 123 SPREADSHEET PROGRAM 125 or WORD PROCESS ING PROGRAM 127 Before communicating with the desktop application the user may specify the mapping of handheld and desktop application data for the PHONE 103 and DATA 109 appli cations by utilizing the mapping facilities of DTMAP 129 A default mapping is provided for the other applications The user may optionally request from DTRECON 131 that conflicts between the handheld and desktop data be reconciled dynamically thereby giving the user the option of accepting ignoring or changing any conflicting data The mapping step of the program builds a set of rules that the translate step will use to translate data from one record structure to another The mapping step must be run once for each pai
30. pings from the source format to a COMMON RECORD STRUCTURE 200 and a mapping from the COMMON RECORD STRUCTURE 200 to the destination format This case is most typical when one or both of the file formats are in the third brute force category The COMMON RECORD STRUCTURE 200 is typically chosen from one of the application programs record structures For instance in the 5 666 553 7 case of handheld computer PHONE 103 files the program translates all PHONE 103 databases into the format used by the Sharp Wizard amp handheld computer The COMMON RECORD STRUCTURES 300 are defined by the preferred embodiment for applications PHONE 103 SCHEDULE 105 TODO 107 DATA 109 and MEMO 111 These formats generally are determined by the hardware characteristics of the handheld computer They are hard coded into the pre ferred embodiment for each handheld computer PHONE 103 and DATA 109 are similar and provide for a single keyed indexed database with multiple subfields allowed in non indexed fields Examples of the COMMON RECORD STRUCTUREs 300 are shown in FIG 2 for applications PHONE 103 SCHEDULE 105 TODO 107 DATA 109 and MEMO 111 FIG 3 shows an example of translation of data between the COMMON RECORD STRUCTURE 200 containing DATA RECORD1 361 DATA RECORD2 363 DATA RECORDn 367 to various desktop applications such as a PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGER 121 containing PERSON 371 data fields NAME 301 BUSINESS PHONE 303 HOME PHONE 305 FAX
31. programs include Paradox dbase and IBM Current Other database files are managed by special purpose application programs These programs work on databases of one specified record structure this specification is embedded in the code of the program rather than in header records of the file For instance a telephone directory program may work on files with a 32 character name and a 10 character phone number This record structure would have been encoded in a data structure declaration in the source of the program One or more of the fields of a database record structure are designated as the key the name by which the record can be specified for reading or writing Some database files typically those for schedule application programs have range keys the key specifies start and end points in a i dimensional key space rather than a single point in the possibly multi dimensional key space Range keys may specify multiple intervals for instance 9 AM to 10 AM every Monday until November 17 Where non range keys must be unique there cannot be two records with the same non range key range keys may overlap or even be exactly equal though typically these are undesirable situations and should brought to the attention of the user Because handheld computers of the current generation are diskless files in the classical sense do not exist on many of these handheld computers Within this patent the term file should be under
32. r of source destination file formats where one of the files is a keyed database such as PHONE 103 or DATA 109 The output of a mapping step is a mapping database that can be used for any number of translate steps in the future There are two steps to the mapping process 1 Acquiring the field names and data format of each field of each of the two record structures and 2 establishing a correspondence between the fields of the source structure and the destination structure Once a mapping between two record structures is established it is maintained in a field mapping database for use by the translation steps There are three methods by which field names and data formats can be acquired each method described in more detail in following paragraphs Some files notably including files managed by database manager programs have data dictionary records as headers in the database file These data dictionary records provide exactly the information required For example the Paradox Engine data access facility provides all field names for a Paradox database upon request in the preferred embodiment In a second method the application program provides this information to the mapping facility through an inter 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 6 application communication facility An inter application communication facility is provided by some application programs so that other programs may read and write data file
33. rd structure method 3 Future implementations will allow the user to specify that a field has multiple subfields on a point and click menu In the preferred embodiment the user is presented with a screen as shown in FIG 5 which displays the selections available for mapping If the user wishes to establish map pings from the handheld ADDRESS 205 209 field in the PHONE 103 application to a desktop Paradox database with fields such as TITLE 309 COMPANY 311 STREET 313 CITY STATE 315 and ZIP 317 he is presented with subfields ADDRESS Line1 205 ADDRESS Line2 207 ADDRESS LineN 209 fields for mapping He then selects the subfield of ADDRESS Linet 205 by clicking on the ADDRESS Linel 205 and selects the desktop target field TITLE 309 He then selects the subfield of ADDRESS Line2 207 by clicking on the ADDRESS Line2 207 and selects the desktop target field COMPANY 311 The process is repeated for each handheld subfield and desktop target field The above process results in six records in the MAPPING database the first maps ADDRESS Linel 205 to TITLE 309 ADDRESS Line2 207 to COMPANY 311 ADDRESS Line3 to STREET 313 ADDRESS Lined to CITY 315 ADDRESS Line5 to STATE 315 and ADDRESS Line6 to ZIP 317 Special coding in the pre ferred embodiment handles the CITY STATE pairing These records will be used by the translation process to map the six subfields in the ADDRESS field of each record from the handheld computer to the s
34. s between fields of pairs of files On import the transfer step brings the handheld data into the desktop computer The translation step uses the rules provided by the mapping step to convert the handheld data in one format to desktop data in another format The dynamic reconciliation step informs the user of conflicts in the data and allows him to make decisions about Whether to accept the new data ignore it or change it A menu driver is provided to select which handheld applica tions to translate to which desktop applications 5 666 553 5 The preferred embodiment also provides the capability to export and translate data from the desktop computer to the handheld computer In this case the steps are 1 Mapping of fields from desktop data formats to hand held data formats if required 2 Transfer of data from desktop to handheld 3 Translation of data to handheld format Again the above steps are under the control of a menu driver The following detailed description focuses on the mapping transfer and translation between the handheld computer and the desktop computer as well as the dynamic reconciliation of the data during translation The mapping transfer and translation of the data from the desktop com puter and the handheld computer is essentially identical except that there is no reconciliation because the desktop data replaces the handheld data in the preferred embodiment owing to built in constraints in most handheld c
35. s maintained by the application In addition to the normal program start entry point the application program s image has other entry points that provide services like Tell me the names of all fields in your records Give me the data format for the field whose name is BUSINESS PHONE Give me the next record key Give me the information of the CITY field for the record whose key is John Jones Windows Dynamic Data Exchange DDE is an example of this type of inter application communication facility which is used by the preferred embodiment with desktop computer applications such as IBM Current and Polaris PackRat When neither of these two methods are available to the mapping facility for acquiring an understanding of the record structure then in a third method a description of the record structure or the handheld s byte stream format is brute force hard coded in a way that makes the information available to the mapping and translation facilities In some cases the developer of the application publishes the file format For instance for the HP95LX handheld computer SCHEDULE application the byte stream representation of the file s record structure is Date 3 1 byte integers Start Time 2 byte integer End Time 2 byte integer Alarm 1 byte integer Description 27 byte ASCII string Note 429 byte ASCII string The preferred embodiment provides hard coded record descriptors for the PHONE 103 SCHEDULE 105 TODO
36. sed of fields and each field has a name and a data format Examples of data formats include 1 2 and 4 byte integers a 4 byte or 8 byte floating point number or one or more ASCII text strings In the case of multiple text strings in one field the strings or subfields are separated by a special character such as tab or linefeed Each data record of a file shares the same record structure a record structure is 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 2 described by the fields names data formats and byte offsets in the record The file format s rules include a description of the record structure of the constituent data records the record structure for any header records and how these header records aid navigation to find specific data records and or specific fields within those records hidden key tags to help find a record and any rules that application programs use to access a particular record and field Database files are managed by two broad classes of programs database managers and other application pro grams A database manager is a program for managing general databases that is database files whose record struc ture can be specified at creation time by the user Database manager programs maintain data dictionary records as head ers in the database file These data dictionary records specify each field s name start byte offset within the record and data format Examples of database manager
37. sion Psion Psion A N TF DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA Description Handheld make model Handheld Application Name Desktop Application Name Name of Desktop database file Name of Handheld database file Unique record id Name of the Handheld field and subfield number Field Name within DT File Name Indicator that HH logical field has multiple physical fields Number of real Handheld Fields Field type of Desktop Field Number of fields in Desktop database key A boolean true false value FIG 9 MAPPING Database for FIG 4 Paradox Paradox Paradox Paradox Paradox Paradox Recno G nma HHFidNam DTFldNam MultFid FIELD1 CUSTNAME N FIELD2 CUSTNO N FIELD3L1 ITEM Y FIELD3L2 QTY Y FIELD3L3 PRICE Y FIELD3L4 ORDDATE Y FIG 10 U S Patent Handheld Computer Data Rec 1 Q C rn Sep 9 1997 Sheet 8 of 8 RECONCILLIATION OF HANDHELD DATA and DESKTOP DATABASE MANAGER TRANSLATION 5 666 553 FIELD1 FIELD2 FIELD3L1 FIELD3L2 FIELD3L3 FIELD3L4 Ajax 201 Brown 306 Dillard 443 Sheraton 617 Avis 023 Desktop Computer Data Fan 10 Heater 2 Toaster 5 Phone 100 Ashtray 20 CUSTNAME CUSTNO ORDDATE QTY 1 Oc amp Ajax 201 Brown 306 Dillard 443 Sheraton 617 Avis 023 2 3 92 3 2 92 2 12 92 2 27 92 3 10 92 FIG 11 10 4 5 100 80 100 125 75 5000 100 ITEM Fan Heater Toaster Phone Ashtray 2 3 92 2 9 92 2 12 92 2 27 92
38. stood to include the memory resident datasets of a handheld computer and the serial bit stream format in which a handheld computer sends or receives data to from another computer File copying and data conversion are long standing prob lems in the art and many solutions to different parts of the problem have been offered U S Pat No 4 966 809 describes a technique for sharing data among disparate platforms with differing data formats but leaves unsolved the problems of sharing data among platforms that require different record structures or file formats broader problems that include the data format problem as a constituent and does not provide a method for a user of these disparate platforms to conveniently instruct his system about his environment so that the system will apply itself in that environment There are several file transfer programs for communicat ing between computers including Organizer Link 2 from Sharp Electronics PC Link for the Casio B O S S from Traveling Software amp HPOSLX Connectivity Pack from Hewlett Packard and 3 Link from Psion PLC These file transfer programs do not provide the invention s user specifiable field mapping of data nor dynamic reconciliation of data 5 666 553 3 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The current invention solves the problem of sharing data between disparate application programs by providing user specifiable field mapping of data and dynamic reconciliation of conflicts
39. structure The invention provides both a framework and a conve nient user interface for tying together previous data trans lation techniques into a more broadiy applicable and easy to use system In a third aspect the invention features a method for translating computer data from a source record structure to a different destination record structure The method com prises the steps of first establishing a mapping between the 10 15 30 35 45 50 55 65 4 fields of the two record structures by presenting the names of the fields of each of the record structures on a display and allowing a user to specify the correspondence between pairs of fields The actual translation of files then makes use of this mapping to translate the data of a file from the source record structure to the destination record structure Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments and from the claims BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention FIG 2 shows examples of the transfer and translation of data from handheld applications and computers to common record structures FIG 3 shows examples of the transfer and translation of data from the common record structures to desktop appli cations and computers FIG 4 shows an example of the detailed mapping of fields specifying correspondence between han
40. the desktop computer are requested from the desktop SCHEDULE 105 application The SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 is built based on those appointments This is done before any translation takes place Then each appointment from the handheld computer is evaluated based on DATE 211 START TIME 213 END TIME 215 and DESCRIPTION 219 to determine if any overlapping time exists If there is any overlap and the DATE 211 START TIME 213 END TIME 215 and DESCRIPTION 219s are not exactly equal the user is queried for resolution The resultant appointments are stored on the desktop via either a database manager or inter application communica tion facility The discussion of the preferred embodiment concentrated on the mapping transfer and reconciliation of data from a handheld computer to a desktop The same techniques can be applied to map transfer and reconcile data from a desktop to a handheld between two desktop computers or between handheld computers or between applications on the same computer Because each model of handheld computer is slightly different in the way it communicates with a desktop the preferred embodiment includes a small communciations component 113 of FIG 1 that must be customized to each handheld computer Directions for using the preferred embodiment with each handheld computer differs two edi tions of the owner s manual for the Sharp Wizard and the Hewlett Packard HP95 LX are attached as appendices one and two Many o
41. the handheld data 107 Update handheld field with changes 108 ELSE IF user selects handheld data 109 Update desktop field with handheld data 110 END IF 111 END IF 112 END DO 113 ELSE 114 create a desktop record from the handheld data 15 ENDIF Step 101 utilizes either a database manager query or an inter application communication facility to determine if there is a record in the target application with the same key Steps 102 and 103 may involve translating the informa tion of both records into a common record structure dis similar to the record structures of both files This translation may involve data format conversion of the fields but the information of the fields the meaning of the fields as interpreted under the record structure rules is preserved In this case steps 107 and 109 involve another translation of the information into the correct record structure for writing to the handheld or desktop The preferred embodiment also performs translation from the desktop computer to the handheld computer utilizing techniques similar to TABLE 2 TABLE 2 describes the translation process for a keyed database Some applications such as the SCHEDULE 105 application do not have unique keys and have special characteristics In this case a different translation process is required For example in the preferred embodiment a single input record can generate multiple output records such as repeating appointments A repeating appointment t
42. ther embodiments of the invention are within the following claims 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 16 What is claimed is 1 A method for a user of a computer to interactively reconcile records of a first and a second database wherein the record structures of the first and second database are different the method comprising translating records of at least the first database to assist in comparing records of the first and second databases choosing corresponding records one from the first data base and one from the second database based on a comparison of the content of at least one selected field from each record comparing the content of at least one additional field from each record to detect differences in content between the records using the detected differences in content to decide whether a conflict exists between records displaying information representative of the detected dif ferences in content and allowing the user to decide between alternatives for resolving the conflict 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the alternatives for resolving the conflict comprise replacing the content of the one additional field in one of the databases with the content of the one additional field in the other of the databases 3 The method of claim 1 wherein the alternatives for resolving the conflict comprise allowing the user to edit the content of the one additional field in at least one of the databases 4 The metho
43. type of reconciliation is not field by field as in a keyed database it is based on the entire information of the appointment record being evaluated and compared to the existing overall sched ule on the desktop The technique requires a SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 which contains all existing appointments in the SCHEDULE 105 data An example of data in the SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 is shown in FIG 6 DATE 211 START TIME 213 END TIME 215 ALARM 217 DESCRIPTION 219 This table is searched for each incoming appointment to determine if there is a conflict in scheduling between the incoming appointment and all existing appointments in the desktop schedule For example if an appointment from the handheld com puter had a DATE 211 of Dec 15 1991 a START TIME 213 of 10 00 AM and an END TIME 215 of 11 30 AM the SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 would indicate to the pre ferred embodiment that there is a conflict with the second appointment in the SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 which Shows an appointment on Dec 15 1991 from 11 00 AM to 1 00 PM All times are converted to a 24 hour format to ease comparison If an appointment shows an identical DATE 211 START TIME 213 END TIME 215 and DESCRIP TION 219 there is no conflict and the incoming appoint ment is ignored The preferred embodiment of the SCHEDULE RECON CILIATION facility creates a SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 by requesting all appointments for today and the future from the desktop schedule application For exa
44. ypically is daily weekly monthly etc until a specified date and with a description for instance Branch Office Meeting every Monday at 10 30 for the next two years Pseudocode for typical translation of data between the handheld application and the desktop application for the 5 666 553 13 SCHEDULE 105 application is shown in TABLE 4 The preferred embodiment s code implementing this is on pages 97 102 174 179 and 232 237 of the microfiche appendix TABLE 4 Pseudocode for Translation of SCHEDULE 105 files Open handheld file obtained from handheld application Establish communication with the desktop application utilizing inter application communication or a database manager as appropriate DO UNTIL last handheld record has been processed IF the handheld record is a repeating appointment DO UNTIL all repeating appointments are created Create desktop appointment record END DO END IF Translate appointment data IF the user requested notification of conflicts Check SCHEDULE MAP TABLE 601 for conflict IF conflict exists Ask the user to accept ignore change record END IF END IF END DO Some applications such as the SCHEDULE 165 applica tion have possibly non unique range keys rather than the unique point keys assumed in the reconciliation process of TABLE 3 In this case the preferred implementation utilizes a special technique which performs reconciliation based upon the date and time of appointments This
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