Collaborative Editing Conflict Resolution with Transaction Reordering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for resolving conflicts in collaborative digital content editing, such as changing the background color of a document from white to blue over red, often lose the first editing operation due to last-writer-wins techniques that arbitrarily determine resolutions based on network latency, making it impossible to reevaluate conflicts substantively.
Innovation Solution
A resolution system writes an indication of content editing operations at a local transaction stack and performs transaction inversions to reorder conflicting operations, allowing for conflict resolution based on their actual temporal order rather than network latency, enabling recovery and reevaluation of lost operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If last-writer-wins conflict resolution technique is used, then conflict resolution speed is improved, but editing operation information is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by maintaining a complete history of all editing operations in a data structure before conflict resolution occurs. This historical record allows the system to recover and reevaluate conflicts using substantive metrics rather than arbitrary last-writer-wins determination, thus preventing information loss while maintaining resolution capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary data structure that stores the complete sequence of editing operations. This intermediary serves as a bridge between the conflicting operations and the resolution mechanism, enabling the system to evaluate conflicts based on substantive criteria (such as operational intent and document state) rather than merely relying on arrival timing, thereby preserving information while resolving conflicts.
2Ease of operation
If arbitrary conflict resolution based on network latency is used, then resolution simplicity is improved, but resolution accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by using the stored historical editing operations to evaluate and reevaluate conflicts. Instead of making arbitrary decisions based solely on network latency, the system can analyze the actual operational context, document state changes, and temporal relationships between operations to determine the most accurate resolution, thereby improving resolution accuracy while maintaining systematic processing.
Solution Approach 2:
By preliminarily storing complete operation histories, the system enables subsequent accurate evaluation of conflicts based on substantive metrics. This preliminary action transforms the resolution process from arbitrary latency-based decisions to informed decisions based on actual editing context, improving accuracy without significantly complicating the resolution mechanism.
3Productivity
If first content editing operation is lost, then conflict resolution speed is improved, but ability to reevaluate conflicts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the preliminary action of maintaining a complete, ordered history of all editing operations in a data structure. This historical preservation enables the system to reevaluate conflicts at any time using various substantive metrics, providing adaptability and versatility in conflict resolution while maintaining the ability to resolve conflicts efficiently when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary historical record that preserves all editing operations. This intermediary enables flexible reevaluation of conflicts using different criteria (such as operational priority, document state impact, or user intent) without requiring the actual first operation to be physically present, thus maintaining both resolution speed and reevaluation capability.
Data Source
AI summary
In implementations of systems for resolving conflicts in collaborative digital content editing, a computing device implements a resolution system to apply a content editing operation to a digital object. The resolution system writes an indication of the content editing operation at a first position of a local transaction stack of editing operations. The resolution system transmits editing data via a network describing the content editing operation for receipt by a server system. Relay data is received via the network from the server system describing an additional content editing operation for application to the digital object. The resolution system determines a conflict between the additional content editing operation and the content editing operation and writes an indication of the additional content editing operation at a second position of the local transaction stack of editing operations that is before the first position.