IP Library Granted Patent US 7,778,983
Granted Patent B2
US 7,778,983 · App. 11/714,690 · Granted Aug 17, 2010

Application migration file scanning and conversion

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,778,983
App. No.
11/714,690
Granted
Aug 17, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

An application migration planning manager is provided for scanning and reporting compatibility information of stored application files, followed by conversion of selected files from a first application version format to a target application version format. A scanning module scans selected files to determine whether the scanned files are formatted according to application versions that may be incompatible with target application versions. A reporting module reports the compatibility data for the scanned files. If scanned files include multiple versions of a given document or data, the scanned files may be passed to a version extraction module for stripping the files of all but a single version of the given document or data. Each stripped version may be saved as a separate additional file. The version-stripped files and the saved additional files then may be reported back to the reporting module for further processing. Scanned files may be automatically or manually sent to a file converter module where they may be converted to a target application version.

Claims (38)

1. A computer-implemented method of processing an electronic file to make the electronic file compatible with a target software application version, comprising:

scanning the electronic file and obtaining compatibility data representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application, the compatibility data including data representing whether the electronic file is formatted according to a software application version that makes the electronic file incompatible with a target software application;

reporting the compatibility data for the electronic file representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application;

when the compatibility data for the electronic file includes multiple versions of any data contained in the file;

stripping the electronic file of all versions of the data except for the latest version of the data; and

saving each of the versions of the data, except for the latest version of the data, as separate additional files; and

converting the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application, wherein converting the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application comprises converting the electronic file from a newer file version to an older file version when the target software application is compatible with the older file version.

2. The method of claim 1 , prior to determining whether the electronic file is formatted according to a software application version that makes the electronic file incompatible with a target software application, scanning the electronic file at a target file storage location.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein scanning the electronic file at a target file storage location includes scanning the electronic file by a scanner control module operative to scan one or more electronic files at specified file storage locations for determining whether any of the one or more electronic files are incompatible with a target software application.

4. The method of claim 1 , prior to determining whether the electronic file is formatted according to a software application version that makes the electronic file incompatible with a target software application, passing the electronic file to an application compatibility module operative to determine whether the electronic file is incompatible with a target software application.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the electronic file contains programming that makes it incompatible with a target software application.

6. The method of claim 5 , prior to determining whether the electronic file contains programming that makes it incompatible with the target software application, further comprising passing the electronic file to a programmability module operative for determining whether the electronic file contains programming that makes it incompatible with a target software application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein reporting for the electronic file compatibility data representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application includes reporting for the electronic file compatibility data representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application via a reporting module.

8. The method of claim 1 , prior to converting the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application, passing the electronic file to a file converter module.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein at the file converter module, passing the electronic file to a conversion module that is operative to convert the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application.

10. A computer readable storage medium containing computer executable instructions which when executed by a computer perform a method of processing an electronic file to make the electronic file compatible with a target software application version, comprising:

scanning the electronic file and obtaining compatibility data representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application, the compatibility data including data representing whether the electronic file is formatted according to a software application version that makes the electronic file incompatible with a target software application;

reporting the compatibility data for the electronic file representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application;

when the compatibility data for the electronic file includes multiple versions of any data contained in the file:

stripping the electronic file of all versions of the data except for the latest version of the data and

saving each of the versions of the data, except for the latest version of the data, as separate additional files; and

converting the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application, wherein converting the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application comprises converting the electronic file from a newer file version to an older file version when the target software application is compatible with the older file version.

11. A system for processing an electronic file to make the electronic file compatible with a target software application version, comprising:

a memory for storing executable program code; and

a processor, functionally coupled to the memory, the processor being responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in the program code and operative to execute:

a scanner module operative to scan the electronic file and obtaining compatibility data representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application, the compatibility data including data representing whether the electronic file is formatted according to a software application version that makes the electronic file incompatible with a target software application;

a reporting module operative to report the compatibility data for the electronic file representing any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application;

a version extraction module operative to:

strip the electronic file of all versions of the data except for the latest version of the data when the compatibility data for the electronic file includes multiple versions of any data contained in the file; and

save each of the versions of the data, except for the latest version of the data, as separate additional files; and

a file converter module operative to convert the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application, wherein converting the electronic file to a version that is compatible with the target software application comprises converting the electronic file from a newer file version to an older file version when the target software application is compatible with the older file version.

12. The system of claim 11 , the scanner module further comprising:

a control module operative to direct the electronic file to one or more application compatibility modules for determining any compatibility differences between the electronic file and the target software application;

the one or more application compatibility modules being operative to generate compatibility data for the electronic file including data representing whether the electronic file is a different application version than the target application version;

the control module being further operative to pass the compatibility data for the electronic file to a database from which the compatibility data may be extracted by the reporting module.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the scanner module further comprises a programmability module operative to determine at the direction of the control module whether the electronic file contains programming that makes it incompatible with a target software application.

14. The system of claim 11 ,

wherein the reporting module is further operative to pass the electronic file to the file converter module.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 9, 2014
From: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 034542/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2007
From: JORDEN, MICHAEL PHILIP; ROOT, TRISTAN MICHAEL; FISK, ERIC; EAST, JOSEPH ANTHONY; TANKOVICH, VLADIMIR
To: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 019243/0635 →