Document Collaboration Synchronization via Proposal Clustering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Collaborative network applications face challenges in synchronizing document changes across multiple users, leading to data conflicts, delays, and unrecoverable errors due to unchecked granularity of user inputs, which clutter communication channels and cause mismatches between document versions.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that evaluates proposals for modifying documents from multiple users, converts them into documented actions without conflicts, and updates a history log, allowing seamless synchronization and real-time version management by combining multiple document operations into clusters based on contextual purposes, thereby reducing latency and storage needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple document operations are processed individually with unchecked granularity, then detailed user inputs are captured, but communication channels become cluttered and processing delays increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple fine-grained document operations into clustered proposals. Instead of processing each individual operation separately, the system groups related operations into unified proposal units that are evaluated and processed together, reducing communication overhead and processing delays while preserving the detailed information of individual operations within the cluster.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the proposal evaluation process into distinct phases: proposal clustering, conflict evaluation, and selective application. By dividing the processing workflow into manageable segments, the system can efficiently handle multiple operations without overwhelming communication channels, maintaining both detail preservation and processing speed.
2Loss of information
If all document proposals are processed and stored individually, then complete version history is maintained, but storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple document operations into clustered proposals that are stored as unified units in the version history. Instead of storing each individual operation separately, related operations are combined into single proposal records, significantly reducing storage requirements while maintaining the ability to retrieve and reconstruct complete version histories through the clustered structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where individual document operations are nested within proposal clusters, which are in turn nested within the version history. This hierarchical nesting allows the system to store detailed operation information efficiently by organizing it in nested containers rather than as separate flat records, reducing overall storage space while preserving information completeness.
3Productivity
If multiple users collaborate simultaneously on a document, then collaboration efficiency increases, but data conflicts between users increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where proposals from multiple users are evaluated against existing document state and other pending proposals before being applied. The system provides feedback on potential conflicts and resolves them through a structured evaluation process, allowing simultaneous collaboration while maintaining data consistency and reducing conflict frequency through proactive conflict detection and resolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary evaluation of user proposals before they are applied to the document. By evaluating proposals in advance against the current document state and other pending changes, the system prevents conflicts from occurring in the first place, allowing multiple users to collaborate efficiently with high reliability by resolving potential issues before they manifest as data conflicts.
Data Source
AI summary
A method including receiving, in a server, a first proposal for modifying a document from a user in a first client device, is provided. The document is a collaboration between users hosted by the server, and includes evaluating the first proposal in view of a second proposal selected from a proposal queue that stores multiple proposals from the users, converting the first proposal into a fact when no conflict is identified between the first proposal and the second proposal, and updating a fact sequence in a fact history log to include the fact. The method also includes providing the fact sequence to the first client device for executing at least a portion of the sequence of documented actions. A system and a non-transitory, computer readable medium storing instructions to perform the above method are also provided.