Microsoft Corporation
Read and write access to sorted lists

Abstract:

Disclosed is a system for managing reads and writes to a sorted list of parameter values held in a write subsystem. Each parameter value is changeable and associated with a user. A read subsystem holds a persistent copy of the parameter values, which may be inconsistent with the write system values due to pending updates of one or more of the parameter values in the write subsystem. The system batch updates parameter values to the persistent copy from the write subsystem, but in the event of a read request, (1) the system determines whether the requested parameter value is inconsistent with the persistent copy; and (2) if so, produces a real-time update of the requested parameter value in the persistent copy without waiting for a batched update for the requested parameter value.