Reversing changes executed by change management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9563519-B2
Application number	US-201313841536-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

In an example embodiment, updated repository instances are typically developed on a development system, transferred to a testing system, and after testing, transferred to a production system. Such an updated instance may comprise content, sources and a data dictionary. As an updated instance is moved from one system to another, the change is applied to an original instance. A shadow copy of content is kept for the original instance. In another example embodiment, a shadow copy of content is created as part of the change process. The sources and data dictionary may have their own versioning mechanism. To undo the applied change, the sources and data dictionary are rolled back to their pre-change state. The content is retrieved from the shadow copy and restored to the original instance. Finally, stranded data is restored according to appropriate policies.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
accessing, at a machine, an original instance comprising:
first content comprising transaction data and master data;
a plurality of first sources, wherein a first source of the plurality of first sources comprises a first set of executable instructions; and
a first data dictionary comprising first mapping data that associates information in an application to an underlying database;

generating, at the machine, a shadow copy of the original instance, the shadow copy comprising first shadow copy content, the first shadow copy content comprising shadow transaction data equivalent to the transaction data;
receiving, at the machine, a first change to the original instance comprising a transaction data update;
applying, at the machine, the first change to the original instance to generate a changed original instance comprising second content, a plurality of second sources, and a second data dictionary, the second content comprising the transaction data update;
applying, at the machine, the first change to the shadow copy to generate a changed shadow copy, the changed shadow copy comprising changed shadow copy content comprising the transaction data update;
receiving, at the machine, a new instance comprising a first difference relative to the changed original instance, wherein the first difference is relative to the second source or relative to the second data dictionary; and
modifying the changed original instance to generate a second changed original instance, wherein the second changed original instance comprises a second difference relative to the changed shadow copy, and wherein the second difference is equivalent to the first difference.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising tracking changes to the first content during system operation.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a triggering event, wherein the generating of the shadow copy is at least in part responsive to the detecting of the triggering event; and
capturing the first content in the original instance.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modifying of the changed original instance comprises changing the second content.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the modifying of the changed original instance comprises modifying a portion of the second content that corresponds to a portion of the first shadow copy content.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a command to undo the modifying of the changed original instance;
replacing a third content of the second changed original instance with changed shadow copy content from the changed shadow copy; and
restoring stranded content.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein restoring stranded content comprises resolving content conflicts per policy.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein restoring stranded content comprises resolving added content fields per policy.

9. A system comprising:
a computer processor and a computer storage device comprising executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving an original instance, the original instance comprising:
first content comprising transaction data;
a plurality of first sources, wherein a first source of the plurality of first sources comprises a set of executable instructions; and
a first data dictionary comprising mapping data that associates information in an application to an underlying database;

creating a shadow copy of the original instance, the shadow copy comprising first shadow copy content, the first shadow copy content comprising shadow transaction data equivalent to the transaction data;
receiving a changed instance, wherein the transaction data comprises a plurality of changes applied before receiving the changed instance, and wherein the shadow transaction data also comprise the plurality of changes;
applying the changed instance to the original instance to create a new instance that comprises a first difference relative to the original instance; and
receiving a command to undo the applying of the changed instance to the original instance;
writing, to the new instance, the first shadow copy content from the shadow copy to generate a restored instance, wherein the restored instance corresponds to the original instance;
identifying stranded content in the new instance comprising a first stranded content item created or changed after the shadow copy was created;
determining whether the stranded content is supported in the original instance and whether the stranded content conflicts with the first content in the original instance; and
handling the stranded content per at least one policy that is based at least in part on whether or not the stranded content is supported in the original instance and whether or not the stranded content conflicts with the original instance.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the shadow copy is created as the original instance is maintained.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the shadow copy is created upon a triggering event.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first shadow copy content comprises a first shadow copy content portion corresponding to at least a portion of the first content that is changed by the applying of the changed instance to the original instance and wherein the shadow copy does not include second shadow copy content corresponding to any portion of the first content that is be changed by the applying of the changed instance to the original instance.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one policy results in:
adding the stranded content to the first content when the stranded content is supported by the original instance and when the stranded content does not conflict with the first content;
selecting the first content and deleting the stranded content when the stranded content is supported by the original instance and when the stranded content does conflict with the first content; and
deleting or preserving the stranded content when the stranded content is not supported by the original instance.

14. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, configure the machine to:
receive an original instance, the original instance comprising:
first content comprising transaction data and master data;
a plurality of first sources, wherein a first source of the plurality of first sources comprises a set of executable instructions; and
a first data dictionary comprising mapping data that associates information in an application to an underlying database;

create a shadow copy of the original instance, the shadow copy comprising first shadow copy content, the first shadow copy content comprising shadow transaction data equivalent to the transaction data;
receive a first change to the first source, wherein the transaction data comprises a plurality of changes applied before receiving the first change to the first source, and wherein the shadow transaction data also comprises the plurality of changes;
apply the first change to the original instance to generate a changed original instance;
receive a command to undo the apply of the first change to the original instance;
write, to the changed original instance, the first shadow copy content from the shadow copy to generate a restored instance, wherein the restored instance corresponds to the original instance;
identify stranded content comprising a first stranded content item created or changed after the shadow copy was created;
determine whether the stranded content is supported in the restored instance

Assignees

• Sap Se

Inventors

• Vollmer Michael

Classifications

• G06F8/68

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F11/1469 Primary

  Backup restoration techniques · CPC title

• G06F8/658 Primary

  Incremental updates; Differential updates · CPC title