Command Propagation for Legacy Client Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy versions of computer systems cannot natively implement advanced scheduling features like modern versions, leading to compatibility issues when users of modern clients update series appointments, as legacy clients may not be aware of or correctly handle these updates, potentially breaking series appointments.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced to propagate series level updates by identifying a master message with default properties and applying these properties to instance messages, ensuring that legacy clients can process updates by converting series level messages into instance messages, using both an in-line tool and a background service to apply commands in a reverse order to maintain interoperability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If modern clients implement advanced scheduling features with series level updates, then functionality and user capability are improved, but legacy clients cannot process these updates and compatibility is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a message conversion mechanism that acts as an intermediary between modern and legacy clients. Series level messages from modern clients are converted into instance level messages that legacy clients can process. This conversion layer preserves the advanced functionality while ensuring backward compatibility, allowing both modern and legacy clients to interact reliably without direct communication between incompatible systems.
2Productivity
If series level messages are sent to legacy clients, then update propagation is improved, but legacy clients cannot consume these messages and updates are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments series level updates into individual instance level messages. Instead of sending a single series level message that legacy clients cannot process, the system breaks down the update into multiple instance level messages, each representing a specific appointment instance. This segmentation allows legacy clients to consume and process each individual instance update while still receiving the complete series update information.
3Stability of the object's composition
If default values are propagated to all instances, then series consistency is improved, but individual instance updates are overwritten
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by distinguishing between properties that should be propagated at the series level and those that should remain at the individual instance level. The system identifies which properties are common to all instances and should be updated uniformly, versus which properties are specific to individual instances and should preserve their unique values. This selective propagation maintains series consistency for common properties while preserving individual instance update integrity for specific properties.
Data Source
AI summary
Providing series level updates for a series. A method includes identifying a master message. The master message is a series level message that includes a plurality of default properties for an ordered series. An ordered series of instance messages related to the series level message is identified. For each instance message in the ordered series of instance messages, one or more properties are identified that are not yet defined with default property values from the master message and that have not been defined as valid exceptions to the default properties from the master message. A default property value from a corresponding property of the master message is propagated to each of the identified properties. The ordered series is propagated to one or more legacy clients that are unable to consume certain series level messages by propagating the ordered series of instance messages with the updated property values.