Method and apparatus for determining editing conflicts in a multi-authoring system

A computer programming apparatus, comprising:

• means, performed by a first client computer linked to a network drive over a network, for downloading a network file from the network drive, wherein the network file is comprised of a plurality of objects;
• means, performed by a second client computer linked to the network drive over the network, for downloading the network file;
• means, performed by the first client computer, for creating a client version of the network file;
• means, performed by the first client computer, for editing an object in the client version of the network file;
• means, performed by the first client computer, for determining whether the network file was modified by the second client computer while the first client computer was editing the client version;
• and
• means, performed by the first client computer, for determining whether there is a conflict between the modification to the network file by the second client computer and the editing to the object in the client version by the first client computer.

An article of manufacture for use in programming a client computer to edit and save a network file maintained on a network drive, wherein the network file is comprised of a plurality of objects, and wherein a first and second client computers are linked to the network drive over a network, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program embodied therein that causes the first client computer to perform the steps of:

• downloading a network file from the network drive;
• creating a client version of the network file;
• editing an object in the client version;
• determining whether the network file on the network drive was modified by a second client computer while the first client computer was editing the client version;
• and
• determining whether there is a conflict between the modification to the network file by the second client computer and the editing to the object in the client version by the first client computer.

A network computer system, comprising:

• (a) a network drive;
• (b) a first and second client computers linked to the network drive over a network, wherein the first and second client computers have read and write access to the network drive;
• (c) a network file data structure stored on the network drive, comprising:
• (1) a plurality of objects;
• (2) a network file revision time indicating when the network file was last modified;
• and
• (3) an object revision time for each object in the network files indicating when the object was last modified;
• (d) a memory in the first client computer storing a client version of the network file downloaded from the network drive, wherein the client version includes a data structure comprising:
• (1) the objects included in the network file at the time the first client computer downloaded the network file from the network drive, including any modifications thereto by the first client computer;
• (2) the network file revision time at the time the first client computer downloaded the network file, wherein the first client computer determines whether the network file on the network drive was modified after the first client computer downloaded the network file by comparing the revision time of the network file on the network drive with the network file revision time in the client version;
• and
• (3) the revision time of the objects in the network file at the time the first client computer downloaded the network file, wherein the first client computer determines whether an object in the network file on the network drive was modified after the first client computer downloaded the network file by comparing the revision time of a object in the network file on the network drive with the revision time for the object in the client version.