Document Revision Clustering for Storage Management

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Solution Overview

Problem

In multi-user environments, managing and conserving storage space for numerous document revisions becomes challenging due to the impracticality of retaining every revision, especially when storage is limited, leading to unwieldy navigation and manual management.

Innovation Solution

The Automated Document Revision Management Server (ADRMS) automatically clusters document revisions based on similarity, using algorithms and heuristics that consider time, content, and context factors to create logical groups, allowing for efficient trimming of unnecessary revisions and conserving storage space.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If all revisions of a document are stored permanently in a document store, then complete revision history is preserved, but storage space is consumed and management becomes unwieldy

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverevision history preservationVSAvoidstorage space consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments revisions into different logical groups or clusters based on their significance. Major revisions (substantial changes) are separated from minor revisions (trivial changes), allowing the system to retain complete history while managing storage by treating different segments differently.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the parameter of revision retention by introducing a significance threshold. Revisions are evaluated against criteria (such as change magnitude, user importance flags, or contextual relevance) and only those exceeding the threshold are retained in full, while others are summarized or discarded.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Loss of information

If all revisions of a document are stored permanently, then complete navigation history is available, but navigation among revisions becomes unwieldy

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenavigation information completenessVSAvoidrevision navigation difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the revision history into logical groups or clusters that can be navigated as units rather than individual revisions. This grouping reduces the navigation burden while preserving the ability to access complete information within each group.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by retaining full detail for only the most significant revisions while providing summarized or condensed information for less important ones. This allows users to navigate efficiently by focusing on major changes while still having access to complete information when needed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Quantity of substance

If manual management of document revisions is performed, then storage conservation can be achieved, but the process is labor-intensive and error-prone

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage space conservationVSAvoidrevision management automation

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSExtent of automation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements self-service by enabling the system to automatically evaluate, classify, and manage revisions based on predefined criteria. The system autonomously determines which revisions to retain, summarize, or discard without requiring manual intervention, thereby achieving storage conservation while maintaining high automation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors revision characteristics and adjusts retention policies based on usage patterns, storage constraints, and significance metrics. This automated feedback loop enables dynamic storage management without manual oversight.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS10191965B2Automatically determining whether a revision is a major revision or a minor revision by selecting two or more criteria, determining if criteria should be weighted and calculating a score has exceeded a threshold

Publication Date: 2019.01.29 OMNISSA LLC

AI summary

Methods, systems and techniques for managing revisions of documents in a collaborative, multiuser document store are provided. Example embodiments provide an Automated Document Revision Management Server (“ADRMS”) to automatically cluster and remove revisions of file content for easy navigation and management. Revisions are trimmed when necessary to conserve storage space. The ADRMS creates logical clusters of revisions based upon some measure of their similarities. That is, revisions that are similar and can be represented by the latest revision in the cluster formulate one cluster, and those that are markedly dissimilar are placed in a different cluster. The logic used to cluster revisions accounts for time-based factors, content-based factors, and context-based factors to determine whether a revision is incremental and can be grouped in the same cluster or is significant enough to warrant a new cluster. Revisions may be trimmed based upon age and/or available space by a revision trimming component.