Importance

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Abstract

In a distributed file environment, a system for safely updating a file wiut risk of losing work performed at one site due to work performed on the file at another site uses a journal or log at each site which is updated after a file is modified. This log is compared with the logs from other sites before a file is used at any one site, so that new versions can be propogated automatically and safely to out-of-date sites, with the user immediately alerted if conflicting versions of the file exist at different sites. The reconciliation can be applied to collections of files, automatically updating only those files for which it is safe to and necessary do so. Since reconciliation occurs at times selected by the user, inconsistent or partially completed versions of files need not be propogated to other sites. Additionally, logs may be built incrementally by occasionally observing the state of the systems in terms of the files and their time stamps and creating additional log entries reflecting appearance, disappearance and changes of files. Furthermore, logs may be purged of obsolete entries by including additional log entries indicating the most recent time each site has participated in a reconciliation and deleting obsolete entries that all sites have seen.

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First Claim