Partial item change tracking and synchronization

摘要

Embodiments herein change the way item syncing is handled and tracked between two 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 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.

主权项

1. A method of synchronizing electronic mail messages between a first device and a second device, the method comprising:
storing an electronic mail message at the first device, the electronic mail message including a plurality of property groups, each of the property groups including one or more properties, at least one of the property groups including multiple properties; monitoring a plurality of data items for sync purposes, the plurality of data items including the electronic mail message; using an item change identifier to determine 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, including using change IDs for the property groups to identify the changed group in the electronic mail message; and performing a synchronization process that synchronizes the electronic mail message on the first device and a second device, the synchronization process including streaming the particular property 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 particular property group being among the property groups of the electronic mail message, one or more properties in the particular property group having changed since a last sync.