Resolving conflicts in content management systems

Abstract

A conflict resolution system is described for reducing false conflicts among entities synchronized within a content management system. A typical content management system maintains a version for an entity that is incremented each time an endpoint modifies the entity, including changes that affect the metadata rather than the content of the entity. The conflict resolution system adds a new content version that is updated when the content of the entity changes. By comparing content version information, endpoints can automatically resolve false conflicts that occur when an endpoint has modified the metadata of the entity.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A computer system for automatically resolving false conflicts in versions of a document, the system comprising:
 a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions embodied within the following components;   a sync component configured to handle sync requests between endpoints for synchronizing versions of the document stored at each endpoint;   a document store component configured to provide storage for the latest version of the document at a particular endpoint;   a versioning component configured to manage a content version of the document at each endpoint, wherein a document content version is a separate version indicator from a typical document version and changes only when the document content changes but not when document metadata changes; and   a conflict resolution component configured to automatically resolve false conflicts that occur when an endpoint receives two versions of a document from different clients that have synchronized with one another.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the conflict resolution component is further configured to determine that a false conflict has occurred by comparing the content version of the two versions of the document. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the sync component is further configured to store changes most recently synchronized with each endpoint, and when a request to synchronize is received from an endpoint, send changes that have been received after the stored changes. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising an edit component configured to receive modifications to the document from a user. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the document is selected from the group consisting of a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, a data file, and a web page. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising a change history component configured to manage a history of versions stored at each endpoint and wherein the conflict resolution component uses the history of versions to determine whether a potential conflict can be automatically resolved. 
     
     
         17 - 20 . (canceled)