Importance

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Abstract

In the method and apparatus of the present invention a file to be added to the database is given a unique name that is dependent upon the contents of the file such that, when the contents of the source file changes, the name of the database component file to be added to the database also changes. Conversely, if two files of the same name have the same information contained therein, the same file name will be generated and the duplication of information in the database is prevented by providing a simple test that checks for the existence of the name of the database file before the generation and addition of the new file to the database. If the file name exists in the database, information is already contained in the database and the file is not generated and added to the database information. Preferably the name of the file is generated by computing a hash value from the contents of the file concatenating the hash value to the name of the source file. Because the source file name is used in conjunction with the hash value to construct the database file name, the hash value does not have to be unique for all files but only for those source files having the same name.

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First Claim