AU2011202919B2 - Partial item change tracking and synchronization - Google Patents

Abstract

C \NRPonbI\DCC\AKW\3702444_ .DOC. 17/06/2OII Embodiments herein change the way item syncing is handled and tracked between two 5 devices. Changes to items are tracked in accordance with well defined property groups and each group is tracked independently of the other. For example, one group could contain large data items, e.g., attachments, while another group could include highly volatile properties like a follow-up flag. The present invention increases the sync rates between a client and a server by syncing only select portions of an item that have changed, without 10 monitoring the change of each individual property within the item. Accordingly, if a change is made to a small data property (e.g., follow-up flag) on a relatively large email message, such change will not trigger a large download to a client running under a cached mode, nor will there be a requirement for high storage and processing for tracking each individual property.

Description

Australian Patents Act 1990 - Regulation 3.2 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Partial item change tracking and synchronization The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: P/00/0 I 5951 5 PARTIAL ITEM CHANGE TRACKING AND SYNCHRONIZATION BACKGROUND [00011 Laptop, handheld, and other portable computers or computing devices 10 have increased in popularity as the devices become smaller in size and less expensive. Additionally, improved operating speed and processing power of portable computers has increased their popularity. Many portable computers are capable of storing multiple application programs, such as address books, games, calculators, and the like. The application programs can be permanently installed in the portable computer 15 during manufacture (e.g., on Read-Only Memory (ROM)). Alternatively, one or more application programs may be installed by the user after purchasing the portable computer. [00021 With the increased popularity and computing power of such devices, people are beginning to store data and applications using more than just a single 20 computing device. Many people, for example, often use laptop computers in addition to their regular desktop computer. Other devices such as cellular telephones, Personal Digital Assistance (PDAs), Internet services, and the like are also used for storing data and applications. [0003] Each of these computing devices may be part of a distributed computing 25 system, wherein related information can be correlated and stored on multiple such devices. For example, an email client running in a cached mode is designed to keep a copy of a mailbox locally on the client. As such, if a user has a PDA and a desktop work computer, each device will have email items stored locally thereon. Ideally, the email information of the PDA should match the email information at the desktop 30 work computer. [0004] When the same or related information is stored in two places, it is possible for the data to change in one location and not in the other. This problem may be overcome through synchronization, which is an automated process that attempts to ensure that each device within the distributed system has the most current information 35 or data. Synchronization, however, has its own set of problems. For example, when two devices sync with one another, typically such systems track changes on a per item basis, e.g., per email message, per contact, per appointment, etc. Accordingly, when two devices or computing systems attempt to sync, the entire item is downloaded regardless of how small the size of the property (e.g., flag, attachment, body, -2 recipient, etc.) that was changed. Although for some high bandwidth transfer systems this full item tracking and syncing process posses little if any problems, with slower links, e.g., wireless connections, the downloading or streaming of an entire item can severally limit the transfer rate of data. 5 [00051 Consider for example an email message that includes, among other things, a follow-up flag property, recipient properties, a body property, and one or more attachments properties. If the follow-up flag is changed in color, the entire item must now be downloaded when syncing with another device. If the attachments and other data within the email are relatively large, this relatively small byte size change in the follow-up flag 10 causes the entire item to be downloaded; thus producing large data transfer times over slow data links. 100061 Even if a high bandwidth data link is used, it may still be undesirable to download an entire item. For example, when a customer pays for downloading items based on a number of bytes downloaded, if only a small amount of data has changed on an item, e.g., 15 the follow-up flag noted above, the customer must still pay for the entire item to be downloaded. Such a waste of money can cause much frustration for users. [00071 Some replication systems may be one solution to the above deficiencies of systems that track and sync devices on a per item basis. Although some replication systems provide for tracking changes on a property basis, these systems still have their own inherent 20 problems. For example, the tracking of each individual property for a large number of items creates both high storage and high processing requirements. As such, these tracking and syncing systems are impractical for most uses. SUMMARY 25 [00081 The exemplary embodiments seek to alleviate the above-identified deficiencies and drawbacks of current synchronization systems. Please note that the following summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detail description. The summary, however, is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in 30 determining the scope of the claims subject matter. 100091 In one embodiment, methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for increasing sync rates between a client and a server by syncing only select 3 5 portions of an item that have changed, without monitoring the change of each individual property within the item. In this embodiment, a request to sync data items that have changed since the last sync between a server and a client is received, wherein the data item represents a complete message with a plurality of properties that can be modified or otherwise changed. In response to the request to sync data, 10 first it is determined that a data item has changed since the last sync. Such data item includes a plurality of property groups that are predefined based on industry wisdom and understanding of semantic for how properties within each of the plurality of property groups relate. Next, it is determined that at least one property group from among the plurality of property groups has changed since the last sync. Accordingly, 15 the at least one property group can be synced without streaming the entire at least one data item in order to reduce the time of data transfer between the client and the server when syncing. 10010] In another embodiment, methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for tracking changes to select portions of an item for increasing 20 sync rates between a client and a server, without monitoring the change of each individual property within the item. In this embodiment, a plurality of data items are monitored for syncing purposes, wherein each of the plurality of data items present a complete message with a plurality of properties that can be modified or otherwise changed. During such monitoring, it is determined that a data item has changed since 25 the last sync between the client and the server, wherein the data item includes a plurality of property groups that are predefined based on industry wisdom and understanding of semantics for how properties within each of the plurality of property groups relate. [0011] Based on the determination that the data item has changed, an item change 30 identifier associated with data item is updated, which will be used to identify that the data item has changed for syncing with the client. Accordingly, it is also determined that at least one property group from among the plurality of property groups has changed since the last sync. Based on the determination that the at least one property group has changed, a property group change identifier associated with the at least one 35 property group is updated, which will be used to identify that the at least one property group has changed such that only the at least one property group will be synced with the client in order to reduce the time of data transfer between the client and the server.

-4 100121 In another embodiment, the present invention also provides for one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon an item data structure. The item data structure comprises the following: a plurality of properties that are capable of being modified or otherwise changed; an item change identifier for indicating if one or more of 5 the plurality of properties have been modified or otherwise changed since the last sync with the client; a plurality of property groups, each including one or more properties from the plurality of properties, wherein the plurality of property groups are predetermined based on industry wisdom and understanding of semantics for how the one or more properties within each of the plurality of property groups related; and a plurality of 10 property group change identifiers for indicating which of the plurality of property groups have changed for syncing only those property groups that have changed without syncing the entire item. 10012a] In another embodiment, the present invention also provides a method of 15 synchronizing data items between a first device and a second device, the method comprising: storing an electronic mail data item at the first device, the data item comprising an electronic mail message including a plurality of property groups, each of the property groups including one or more properties of the electronic mail message, at least one of the property groups including multiple properties; and performing a synchronization 20 process that synchronizes the electronic mail message on the first device and a second device, the synchronization process including streaming a changed group to the second device, the electronic mail message being synchronized on the first device and the second device without streaming the entire electronic mail message from the first device to the second device, the changed group being among the property groups of the electronic mail 25 message, one or more properties in the changed group having changed since a last sync. 10012b] In another embodiment, the present invention also provides a computing device that comprises: one or more computer storage media that store instructions and an electronic mail message, the electronic mail message comprising a plurality of properties, 30 the plurality of properties divided into a plurality of property groups, each of the property groups containing one or more of the properties, at least one of the property groups containing multiple properties; and a processing unit that reads and executes the instructions, execution of the instructions by the processing unit causing the computing - 4A device to sync a changed group in the electronic mail message without streaming the entire electronic mail message from another computing device, the changed group being among the property groups of the electronic mail message, one or more properties in the changed group having changed since a last sync between the computing device and the other 5 computing device. 10012c] In another embodiment, there is provided a method of increasing sync rates for a client device, the method comprising: transmitting a request from the client device to synchronize one or more electronic mail messages that have changed after a last 10 synchronization, each of the one or more electronic mail messages comprising a plurality of modifiable properties, the plurality of modifiable properties in each of the one or more electronic mail messages divided into a plurality of property groups that includes at least a read property group and a follow-up flag property group, the read property group including a property that indicates whether the electronic mail message has been read, the follow-up 15 flag property group including a property that indicates whether a follow-up flag has been set on the electronic mail message; in response to the request to synchronize the one or more electronic mail messages that have changed after the last synchronization, receiving a modified property group at the client device without receiving one or more unmodified property groups in the plurality of property groups of a first electronic mail message from 20 among the one or more electronic mail messages, wherein none of the properties in the unmodified property groups have values changed after the last synchronization. 10012d] In another embodiment, there is provided a method of increasing sync.rates for a client device, the method comprising: transmitting a request from a client device to 25 synchronize one or more electronic mail messages that have changed after a last synchronization, each of the one or more electronic mail messages comprising a plurality of modifiable properties, the plurality of modifiable properties in each of the one or more electronic mail messages divided into a plurality of property groups that includes at least a read property group and a follow-up flag property group, the read property group including 30 a property that indicates whether the electronic mail data item has been read, the follow-up flag property group including a property that indicates whether a follow-up flag has been set on the electronic mail message; determining that a first electronic mail message of the one or more electronic mail messages has changed after the last synchronization; - 4B determining whether the plurality of property groups of the first electronic mail message includes a modified property group, wherein a value of a property in the modified property group has changed after the last synchronization; and synchronizing the modified property group without streaming one or more unmodified property groups in the plurality of 5 property groups of the first electronic mail message, wherein none of the properties in the unmodified property groups have values changed after the last synchronization. [00131 Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be 10 learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. 15 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [00141 In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof 20 which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: 25 100151 Figure IA illustrates a distributed system for syncing only property groups in accordance with example embodiments; [00161 Figure 1B illustrates a mapping of property groups for an item in accordance with example embodiments; 30 5 5 [0017] Figure IC illustrates an example sync item stream in accordance with example embodiments; [0018] Figure 2A illustrates a flow diagram for a method of increasing sync rates between a client and a server in accordance with example embodiments; [0019] Figure 2B illustrates a flow diagram for a method of tracking changes to 10 select portions of an item in accordance with example embodiments; and [0020] Figure 3 illustrates an example computing system that provides a suitable operating environment for implementing various features of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0021] The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program is products for increasing sync rates by syncing only select portions of an item that have changed. The embodiments of the present invention may comprise a special purpose or general-purpose computer including various computer hardware or modules, as discussed in greater detail below. [0022] Prior to discussing in detail embodiments herein, it will be useful to define 20 some terms that will be used throughout the application. First, a "data item" or "item" is used herein to represent a complete message with properties that can be modified or otherwise changed. For example, a data item may be complete email message, a complete contact, a complete appointment, a complete task, a complete sticky note or any other type of message that may be synced between two computing devices. A 25 "property" for an item represents a portion of a message that can be modified or otherwise changed independently of other properties. Examples of such properties includes things like a follow-up flag, priority flag, a body of an item, individual attachments, individual recipients, a message status, message priority, or any other well known property for a message. Example embodiments provide that properties 30 may be divided into "property groups," which as described in greater detail below, are predefined based on industry wisdom and understand of semantics for how properties within each of the property groups relate. [0023] Embodiments herein change the way item syncing is handled and tracked between two devices, e.g., a server and a client. Changes to items are placed into the 35 above-mentioned well defined property groups and each group is tracked independently of the other. For example, one group could contain the body of an item, and another group could contain the attachments, while still another group could include highly volatile properties like a follow-up flag, a read status, a priority flag, 6 5 etc. Note that because the property groups are well defined based on industry wisdom, embodiments herein strike a balance between a data transfer rate and storage and/or processing requirements needed for typical replication systems. In other words, the present invention increases the sync rates between a client and a server by syncing only select portions of an item that have changed, without monitoring the to change of each individual property within the item. Accordingly, if a change is made to a small data property (e.g., follow-up flag) on a relatively large email message, such change will not trigger a large download to a client running under a cached mode, nor will there be a requirement for high storage and processing for tracking each individual property. 15 10024] Prior to describing further details for various embodiments of the present invention, a suitable computing architecture that may be used to implement the principles of the present invention will be described with respect to Figure 3. In the description that follows, embodiments of the invention are described with reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations that are performed by one or more 20 computers, unless indicated otherwise. As such, it will be understood that such acts and operations, which are at times referred to as being computer-executed, include the manipulation by the processing unit of the computer of electrical signals representing data in a structured form. This manipulation transforms the data or maintains them at locations in the memory system of the computer, which reconfigures or otherwise 25 alters the operation of the computer in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. The data structures where data are maintained are physical locations of the memory that have particular properties defined by the format of the data. However, while the principles of the invention are being described in the foregoing context, it is not meant to be limiting as those of skill in the art will appreciate that several of the 30 acts and operations described hereinafter may also be implemented in hardware. [0025] Turning to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, the principles of the present invention are illustrated as being implemented in a suitable computing environment. The following description is based on illustrated embodiments of the invention and should not be taken as limiting the invention with 35 regard to alternative embodiments that are not explicitly described herein. [0026] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example computer architecture usable for these devices. For descriptive purposes, the architecture portrayed is only one example of a suitable environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as 7 5 to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Neither should the computing systems be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in Figure 3. [00271 The principles of the present invention are operational with numerous other general-purpose or special-purpose computing or communications environments 10 or configurations. Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and configurations suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, mobile telephones, pocket computers, personal computers, servers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices. 15 [0028] In its most basic configuration, a computing system 300 typically includes at least one processing unit 302 and memory 304. The memory 304 may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. This most basic configuration is illustrated in Figure 3 by the dashed line 306. In this description and in the claims, a "computing system" is 20 defined as any hardware component or combination of hardware components capable of executing software, firmware or microcode to perform a function. The computing system may even be distributed to accomplish a distributed function. [00291 The storage media devices may have additional features and functionality. For example, they may include additional storage (removable and non-removable) 25 including, but not limited to, PCMCIA cards, magnetic and optical disks, and magnetic tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in Figure 3 by removable storage 308 and non-removable storage 310. Computer-storage media include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data 30 structures, program modules, or other data. Memory 304, removable storage 308, and non-removable storage 310 are all examples of computer-storage media. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks, other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage 35 devices, and any other media that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by the computing system. [00301 As used herein, the term "module" or "component" can refer to software objects or routines that execute on the computing system. The different components, 8 5 modules, engines, and services described herein may be implemented as objects or processes that execute on the computing system (e.g., as separate threads). While the system and methods described herein are preferably implemented in software, implementations in hardware or a combination of software and hardware are also possible and contemplated. In this description, a "computing entity" may be any 10 computing system as previously defined herein, or any module or combination of modulates running on a computing system. 10031] Computing system 300 may also contain communication channels 312 that allow the host to communicate with other systems and devices over, for example, network 320. Communication channels 312 are examples of communications media. 15 Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any information-delivery media. By way of example, and not limitation, communications media include wired media, such as wired networks and direct-wired connections, and wireless media such as acoustic, 20 radio, infrared, and other wireless media. The term computer-readable media as used herein includes both storage media and communications media. [00321 The computing system 300 may also have input components 314 such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, a voice-input component, a touch-input device, and so forth. Output components 316 include screen displays, speakers, printer, etc., and rendering 25 modules (often called "adapters") for driving them. The computing system 300 has a power supply 318. All these components are well known in the art and need not be discussed at length here. 100331 Figure IA illustrates a distributed system 100 for syncing property groups 104 between a client 105 and a server 125 in accordance with example embodiments. 30 The distributed system 100 may be similar to the computing system 300 described above with regards to Figure 3, although that need not be the case. As shown in Figure 1A, distributed system 100 includes a client 105 that can be any one of a number of computing devices 110, 115, etc. For example, the client 105 may be a wireless device such as a phone 110, PDA 110, laptop computer 115, or any other 35 computing device. [0034] Note that the present invention is most advantageous in those systems in which data links are slow, e.g., wireless communication. The present invention, however, is not limited to such links and can be utilized in any environment. For 9 s example, as previously mentioned, the present invention may be utilized in systems that requires user to pay for services based on the amount of data transferred from a server 125 to a client 105. Accordingly, any specific reference to a specific data link between a server 125 and a client 105 is used herein for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to limit or otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention unless 10 explicitly claimed. [0035] Further note that although the present invention will be described in terms of a server 125 and client 105, the roles of these devices in describing embodiments herein may be interchanged. For example, the following description will be described in terms of changes to items 170 that occur on the server 125, wherein such changes 15 are synced by streaming changes to the client 105. Note, however, that changes on the client 105 may also be tracked and uploaded to the server 125. As such, the following description for events that happen between a server 125 and client 105-as well as any particular device herein used for either the client 105 or server 125-are used herein for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to limit or otherwise 20 narrow the scope of the present invention unless explicitly claimed. [0036] As shown in Figure 1A, server 125 includes a plurality of folders 165 (e.g., folder "A"), wherein each folder 165 may represent or include certain types of items 170. For example, a folder 165 may contain or include email item messages, wherein another folder 165 my include contact item information. Of course, as previously 25 mentioned, there may be a wide verity of items types that can be synced in accordance with example embodiments provided herein. In addition, other topologies and data configurations other then folders 165 may be used in practicing the present invention. For example, tables or other ways of variously separating and storing different types of items 170 are also available to the present invention. Accordingly, any particular 30 topology, data format, and/or storage hierarchy are used herein for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to limit or otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention. [00371 Each folder 165, as previously mentioned, will contain a plurality of items 170 (e.g., item "A"). Associated with each item 170 is an item change identifier (ID) 35 175 that, as described in greater detail below, may be used to identify when an item 170 and property thereof has been changed since the last sync between server 125 and client 105. (Also included within each item 170 are property groups 180 (e.g., property group "A"'). As previously mentioned, the property groups 180 are 10 5 predefined based on industry wisdom and understand of semantics for how properties within each of the plurality of property groups 180 relate. For example, the property groups may be determined based on the volatility of the properties, typical memory size requirements, and/or other considerations. Further, a property group 180 may include properties that are highly volatile such as a message status, follow-up flag, 10 priority flag, or other properties that are frequently modified and/or changed. 100381 Alternatively, or in conjunction, property group 180 may be defined based on the relative size of the properties when compared to other properties. For example, attachments are typically of larger size than other properties, and therefore may reside in one property group, whereas smaller data sizes such as recipients and/or the body 15 of a message may reside in another property group 180. There may even be a miscellaneous property group 180 for those properties that do not relate well with other properties. 100391 Note that although the property groups 180 are predefined based on current industry wisdom, such knowledge is subject to change. Accordingly, 20 embodiments provide that the property groups 180 are extensible, pluggable, and scaleable. That is, property groups 180 are configured in such a way that properties within each property group 180 can be moved, deleted, added, and/or otherwise modified. Similarly, the property groups 180 themselves can be redefined, created, and/or deleted. In addition, the definition of property groups 180 may vary depending 25 upon the type of item 170. For example, the property groups 180 defined for an email item 170 may be different then the property groups 180 defined for contact items 170. As such-as will be described in greater detail below-the client 105 will needs to know the appropriate mapping 190 that is being used for each item 170 within the various folders 165. 30 [0040] Regardless of how the property groups 180 are defined, each property group 180 will typically have assigned therewith a property group change ID 185, which can be used to identify when changes have occurred to that particular property group 180. For example, item/property group module 150 can monitor changes occurring to an item 170, and also for each property group 180 within such item 170. 35 As changes occur, change ID generator 160 can change the item change ID 175 and the appropriate property group change ID 185. [0041] In some embodiments, the item change ID 175 and the property change ID 185 may be the same identifier, indicating, e.g., that the item and property group were I1 5 updated at the same time. Note, however, that this need not be the case in for example where Global Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) are used. It should be further noted that the change IDs 175, 185 may be any well known alphanumeric or other identifying data object. For example, the change IDs 175, 185 could be a hash of the item 170 and/or property group 185, respectively. Of course, as previously 10 mentioned, the change identities 175, 185 may be generated based upon a simple counter of GUIDs. Note also that other mechanisms for identifying changes to items 170 and property groups 180 are also available to the present invention. Accordingly, any specific type of change identifier 175, 185, and/or use thereof as described herein for identifying changes, are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to limit or 15 otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention unless explicitly claimed. [0042] Regardless of the type of identity 175, 185 or how the change to the property groups are identified, when the item/property module 150 within server 125 identifies the change of one or more items 170 notification of such item change 120 may be sent to the client 105 in an attempt to prompt the client 105 to sync with the 20 server 125. Of course, other mechanisms for prompting a client 105 to sync with the serer 125 are also available to the present invention. For example, client 105 may periodically, i.e., at certain predefined intervals, query the server 125 to sync therewith. Accordingly, any specific initiation of the synchronization process between a client 105 and server 125 is used herein for illustrative purposes only and is 25 not meant to limit or otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention. [00431 Nevertheless, upon initiation of the sync process, server 125 should receive a sync request 130 from client 105. Exemplary embodiments provide that the sync request 130 may include one or more item tokens 135s (e.g., item token "A") that may be used in determining if changes have occurred since the last sync between 30 a client 105 and server 125. Prior to discussing the item token 135 in great detail, note that the item tokens 135 do not necessarily need to be included within the sync request 130. For example, other handshake mechanisms may otherwise prompt the client 105 to send the item tokens 135 to the server 125. Alternatively, the item tokens 135 may already be stored on the server 125. Accordingly, the inclusion of the 35 item tokens 135 within the sync request 130 is used herein for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to limit or otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention unless explicitly claimed.

12 5 [0044] Associated with each item token 135 is an item change D) 140. For each item change ID 140 or item token 135, there'is also a plurality of property group change ID)s 145 (e.g., property group "A" change ID). The item change ID 145 and property group change IDs 145 represent those identifiers that were associated with items 170 and corresponding property groups 180 for the last sync between the client 10 105 and the server 125. In other words, item tokens 135 may have been handed down to the client 105 as a blob of data to be stored during the last sync with the server 125. This blob of data 135 may then be used by the change identifier comparator 155 in determining those items 170, and more specifically those property groups 180 within each item 170, that have changed since a last sync. 15 [00451 For example, each item token 135 may be compared to each item 170. More specifically the change IDs 175, 140 and property group IDs 185, 145 in both the item tokens 135 and actual items 170 can be compared using change identifier comparator 155. If the values differ, i.e., the item change ID 140 and a property group ID 145 for the item token 135 do not match the item change ID 175 and 20 property group ID 185, then a change in the item 170 and property groups 180 has occurred. As previously noted, although the change IDs for the item tokens 135 are compared with the items 170 and property groups 180 on the server 125 in determining when items 170 and property groups 180 have changed since the last sync, other methods of determining when or if changes to items 170 and property 25 groups 180 have occurred are also available to the present invention. For example, the server 125 may store all of the information needed to determine what changes are needed on the client side 105, without the need for change IDs 140, 145, 175, 185. Accordingly, the specific use of the change IDs 140, 145, 175, 185, as described herein, is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to limit or otherwise narrow 30 the scope of the present invention unless explicitly claimed. [0046] Regardless of how the property groups 104 that have changed are identified, such changed property groups 104 can be included within the sync item stream 102, which can then be sent to the client 105 in accordance with example embodiments described herein below. Further, as previously mentioned, a mapping 35 190 identified by a specific versioning ID 195 can also be sent either before, during, or after the sync item stream 102. As will also be discussed in greater detail below, the property groups 104 within the sync item stream 102 should identify the particular mapping 190 version 195 used for such property group 104.

13 5 [0047] Figure lB illustrates an example block diagram of a mapping 190 for a particular version identifier 195. As shown, the mapping 190 includes a plurality of items 106 and property groups 108, 114 for each item 106. Of course, there may be any number of property groups 108, 114 that can be identified within any particular item 106. Further, the properties 112, 116 are also mapped for each particular 10 property group 108, 114. For example, property group "A" 108 may include properties 112 "C" and "E", whereas property group "B" 114 may include property "A" 106. [0048] Consider the example wherein the mapping 190 identifies an email item 106 with a property group "A" 108 for relatively small, volatile data properties, 15 whereas the mapping for property group "B" 114 includes larger properties. As such, property "C" 112 and property "E" 112 within property group "A" 108 may be a follow-up flag and priority flag, respectively. On the other hand, property "A" 116 for property group "B" 114 may be attachment files. Of course, other well known ways of providing mappings 190 are also available to the present invention. 20 Accordingly, the mapping configuration provided for within Figure lB is used herein for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to limit or otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention unless explicitly claimed. [00491 Note that the current and previous property group mappings 190 may be persisted on the server database and can be accessed by the version ID 195. If an item 25 170 is encountered which has a version identifier 195 that is not known, or it does not have a group identifier, it should be treated as if it does not have any property groupings 180 and should be treated as a whole. Accordingly, if an item 170 like these needs to be downloaded to a client 105, the entire item 170 is streamed 102. [0050] One embodiment provides for synchronization through a streaming 30 mechanism referred to herein as fast transfer. Such process allows the server 125 to respond to the sync request 130 by breaking changed property groups 104 down and serializing them into a raw binary stream. Server 125 packages up as much of the message 102 as it can in a fixed size response buffer and returns the data 102 to the client 105. The client 105 then parses the data and rebuilds the property groups 104 35 by unserializing the byte stream 102. An example format of the byte stream 102 is shown below with regards to Figure IC, which illustrates an example of sync item stream 102, i.e., a wire transfer (or wireless transfer) data representation of what the sync item stream 102 may look like.

14 5 [00511 The first portion of the sync item stream 102 is an IncrSyncProgressItem 1i8 that is added to the beginning of the stream 102 for providing information on the total size of all the items that will follow in response stream 102. Next, IncrSyncProgressPerltem 122 indicates the total size of the next item in the sync item stream 102. The next grouping 124 within the sync stream 102 is the mapping as 10 indicated by the marker IncrSyncPropGroupMap, which tells the client 105 what property group mapping the next item or items in the stream 102 uses. Accordingly, various property groups 180 can be identified using the IncrSyncPropGroup marker and an array or list of the property IDs within each property group 180. In other words, the sync item stream 102 can include a mapping 190, or a group of mappings 15 190, for various version IDs 195 as described herein. Note, however, as previously described, mappings 190 do not necessarily need to be included within the sync item stream 102, but can follow or lead the sync stream 102. [00521 The next set of tags 126, i.e., IncrSynPropGroup ID, signify what property group mapping the next item or items in the stream uses. That is, the versions ID 20 within this group 126 identifies the mapping 190 version identity 195 for the following item. Next, the IncrSnyChgltem 128 is a marker to signify the beginning of a changed item, which will be followed by an array of property groups to be changed within the item. For example, as shown by the markers in IncrSnyChgPropGroup 132 various property groups that have been changed can be identified. For example, as 25 shown in stream 134 IncrSnyChgPropGroup changes the recipient properties by first having DelProp element that deletes the current ItemRecipients and then replaces the recipient properties using the StartRecip and EndRecip markers. As another example, the elements in stream 136 include an IncrSyncChgPropGroup for item attachments such that the current ItemAttachments will be deleted using a DelProp and replaced 30 using NewAttach and EndAttach markers. Of course, other property groups can be included within the stream as indicated by the ellipses provided thereafter. [0053] Other exemplary embodiments provide for combining existing methods of synchronizing items with current embodiments provided herein. For example, in legacy systems where no mapping is provided, the entire item may be downloaded 35 within the sync item stream 102. For example, as shown in elements 138, an IncrSyncProgressPerltem indicates the total size of the next item and the IncrSyncChgItem marks the beginning of changing an item. The next markers, i.e., markers 142 for IncrSyncDel, IncrSyncRead, and IncrSyncEnd, signify the following: I5 5 (1) a list of items to be deleted from the client 105; (2) a read state transition as follows; and (3) a marker that signifies the end of the synchronization session, respectively. Finally, the IncrSyncStateBegin signifies that the final synchronization state follows in the byte stream and the IncrySyncStateEnd are marker signifies that the synchronization state is complete. 10 [0054] The present invention may also be described in terms of methods comprising functional steps and/or non-fimctional acts. The following is a description of steps and/or acts that may be performed in practicing the present invention. Usually, functional steps describe the invention in terms of results that are accomplished, whereas non-functional acts describe more specific actions for 15 achieving a particular result. Although the functional steps and/or non-functional acts may be described or claimed in a particular order, the present invention is not necessarily limited to any particular ordering or combination of steps and/or acts. Further, the use of steps and/or acts is the recitation of the claims-and in the following description of the flow diagrams for Figures 2A and 2B-is used to indicate 20 the desired specific use of such terms. 100551 Figures 2A and 2B illustrate flow diagrams for various exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The following description of Figures 2A and 2B will occasionally refer to corresponding elements from Figures lA-C. Although reference may be made to a specific element from these figures, such elements are 25 used for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to limit or otherwise narrow the scope of the present invention unless explicitly claimed. [0056] Figure 2A illustrates a flow diagram for a method 200 of increasing sync rates between a client and a server by syncing only select portions of an item that have changed, without monitoring the change of each individual property within the item. 30 Method 200 includes an act of receiving 205 a request to sync data items. For example, server 125 may receive sync request 130 to sync data items 170 that have changed since a last sync between the server 125 and client 105, wherein the data items 170 represent complete messages with various properties that can be modified or otherwise changed. For example, a data item 170 may be an email message, 35 contact, appointment, calendar information, task, sticky notes, etc. Properties may include recipients, addresses, bodies, attachments, flags, state identifiers, or any other myriad of properties for a message. Also note that the data link between the server 125 and the client 105 for syncing data items 170 may be a wireless connection, or a 16 5 wired connection, wherein a customer on the client 105 pays for syncing of the data items 170 based on a number of bytes downloaded from the server 125. [0057] Method 200 also includes a step for reducing 225 the time of data transfer between client and server. More specifically, step for 225 includes an act of determining 210 that a data item has changed since the last sync. For example, server 10 125 may determine (using change ID comparator 155 or other methods described herein) that a data item 170 has changed since the last sync between the client 105 and server 125. As previously mentioned, the data items 170 include property groups 170 that are predefined based on industry wisdom and understand of semantics for how one or more properties within each of the property groups relate. For example, in an 15 email message the various property groups may include a body property, recipient property group, subject property group, attachment property group, priority flag property group, read status property group, miscellaneous property group, and/or any combination thereof. Of course, other property groups may be defined and are extensible, pluggable, and scalable, such that properties within the property groups 20 can be added, deleted, or otherwise redefined therein, and such that each of the property groups can be added, deleted, or otherwise redefined based on changes in industry wisdom. [0058] Step for 225 also includes and act of determining 215 which property group within the data item has changed since the last sync. For example, 25 item/property group module 155 and change ID comparator 155 may be used to determine which property groups 180 have changed since the last sync. Accordingly, step for 225 includes an act of syncing 220 the changed group or groups without streaming the entire data item. In particular, sync item stream 102 may be streamed to the client 105 with various property groups 104 that have changed since the last 30 sync, without streaming an entire data item 170 in order to reduce the time of data transfer between the client and the server when syncing. [0059) The determination of the change in the data item 170, as well as the property group 180, may be based on change identifiers 140, 145, 175, 185 for the data item and the property group. Further, the change identifiers 141, 145, 175, 185 35 for the data item 170 and the property groups 180 may be the same. Further, the change identifiers 140, 145, 175, 185 for the data item 170 and the property groups 180 may be an alphanumeric number, global unique identifier, or a hash value.

17 5 [0060] Other embodiments provide for a mapping 190 of the data item 170 and the property groups 180 therein. The mapping may be sent before, during, or after sending the syncing item stream of the property groups 104 that have changed. In any event, the client 105 can use the mapping 190 to know what properties are included in each of the property groups 180. Moreover, a second data item 170 may be 10 determined to have changed, but does not have a property group 180. In such instance, the entire second data 170 item may be streamed to the client 105. {0061] Figure 2B illustrates a flow diagram for a method 250 of tracking changes to select portions of an item for increasing sync rates between a client and a server, without monitoring the change of each individual property within the item. Method 15 250 includes an act of monitoring 255 a plurality of data items for sync purposes. For example, items/property group module 150 or other components may monitor data items 170 wherein the data items 170 represent a complete message with a plurality of properties that can be modified or otherwise changed. Such properties include, but are not limited to, those previously described herein, e.g., attachments, flags, body 20 parts, etc. [0062] Method 250 also includes an act of determining 260 that a data item has changed since the last sync between a client and a server. For example, change identifier comparator 155 can be used to determine that a data item 170 has changed since the last sync between the server 125 and a client 105. As previously mentioned, 25 the data item includes a plurality of property groups 180 that are predefined based on industry wisdom and understanding of semantics for how properties within each of the property groups relate. Based on the determination that the data item has changed, method 250 further includes an act of updating 265 an item change identifier. For example, change identifier generator 160 can be used to update item change ID 175 30 associated with a data item 170, which will be used to identify that the data item 170 has changed for syncing with the client 105. [0063] Similarly, method 250 includes an act of determining 270 which property group within the data item has changed. That is, change identifier comparator 155 within item/property group module 150 can be used to determine which property 35 groups 180 have changed since a last sync between the client 105 and server 125. Based on the determination that a property group has changed, method 250 includes an act of updating 275 a property group change identifier. For example, change identifier generator 160 can be used to update change ID 185 for property group 180, - 18 which will be used to identify that the property group 180 has changed such that only the property group 180 will be synced with the client 105 in order to reduce the time of data transfer between the client 105 and server 125. Note also that the other alternative embodiments described above are also available to method 250. 5 100641 The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the 10 claims are to be embraced within their scope. 100651 Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or 15 steps. 100661 The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general 20 knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

Claims (16)

1. A method of synchronizing data items between a first device and a second device, the method comprising: 5 storing an electronic mail data item at the first device, the data item comprising an electronic mail message including a plurality of property groups, each of the property groups including one or more properties of the electronic mail message, at least one of the property groups including multiple properties; and performing a synchronization process that synchronizes the electronic mail 10 message on the first device and a second device, the synchronization process including streaming a changed group to the second device, the electronic mail message being synchronized on the first device and the second device without streaming the entire electronic mail message from the first device to the second device, the changed group being among the property groups of the electronic mail message, one or more properties in 15 the changed group having changed since a last sync.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of property groups includes a follow up property group and a read status property group. 20

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending a sync request from the first device to the second device; and receiving the changed group from the second device as a response to the sync request. 25

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: receiving an item token from the second device during the last sync; and storing the item token at the first device; and wherein the sync request comprises the item token. 30

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the item token is usable to determine property groups within the electronic mail message that have changed since the last sync. - 20

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the changed group includes more than one of the properties of the electronic mail message.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: 5 monitoring a plurality of data items for sync purposes, the plurality of data items including the electronic mail message; determining that the electronic mail message has changed after the last sync; and after determining that the electronic mail message has changed after the last sync, determining which property group in the electronic mail message has changed. 10

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining that the electronic mail data item has changed after the last sync comprises using an item change identifier to determine that the data item has changed after the last sync; 15 wherein determining which property group in the electronic mail data item has changed comprises: using change IDs for the property groups to identify the changed group in the electronic mail data item; and wherein the method further comprises: after determining that the electronic mail message has changed after the last 20 sync, updating the item change identifier; and after using the change IDs for the property groups to identify the changed group, updating the change ID for the changed group.

9. A computing device that comprises: 25 one or more computer storage media that store instructions and an electronic mail message, the electronic mail message comprising a plurality of properties, the plurality of properties divided into a plurality of property groups, each of the property groups containing one or more of the properties, at least one of the property groups containing multiple properties; and 30 a processing unit that reads and executes the instructions, execution of the instructions by the processing unit causing the computing device to sync a changed group in the electronic mail message without streaming the entire electronic mail message from another computing device, the changed group being among the property groups of the -21 electronic mail message, one or more properties in the changed group having changed since a last sync between the computing device and the other computing device.

10. A method of increasing sync rates for a client device, the method comprising: 5 transmitting a request from the client device to synchronize one or more electronic mail messages that have changed after a last synchronization, each of the one or more electronic mail messages comprising a plurality of modifiable properties, the plurality of modifiable properties in each of the one or more electronic mail messages divided into a 10 plurality of property groups that includes at least a read property group and a follow-up flag property group, the read property group including a property that indicates whether the electronic mail message has been read, the follow-up flag property group including a property that indicates whether a follow-up flag has been set on the electronic mail message; 15 in response to the request to synchronize the one or more electronic mail messages that have changed after the last synchronization, receiving a modified property group at the client device without receiving one or more unmodified property groups in the plurality of property groups of a first electronic mail message from among the one or more electronic mail messages, wherein none of the properties in the unmodified property groups have 20 values changed after the last synchronization.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein transmitting a request from the client device includes transmitting the request to a server device. 25

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining that a second electronic mail message has changed, wherein the second electronic mail message lacks the plurality of property groups; and receiving all of the second electronic mail message at the client device. 30

13. A method of increasing sync rates for a client device, the method comprising: transmitting a request from a client device to synchronize one or more electronic mail messages that have changed after a last synchronization, each of the one or more 35 electronic mail messages comprising a plurality of modifiable properties, the plurality of -22 modifiable properties in each of the one or more electronic mail messages divided into a plurality of property groups that includes at least a read property group and a follow-up flag property group, the read property group including a property that indicates whether the electronic mail data item has been read, the follow-up flag property group including a 5 property that indicates whether a follow-up flag has been set on the electronic mail message; determining that a first electronic mail message of the one or more electronic mail messages has changed after the last synchronization; determining whether the plurality of property groups of the first electronic mail 10 message includes a modified property group, wherein a value of a property in the modified property group has changed after the last synchronization; and synchronizing the modified property group without streaming one or more unmodified property groups in the plurality of property groups of the first electronic mail message, wherein none of the properties in the unmodified property groups have values 15 changed after the last synchronization.

14. A method of synchronizing data items, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures.

15. A computing device, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the 20 accompanying figures.

16. A method of increasing sync rates, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures.