There are several applications for upgrade files and
patches including:
- Computer software fixes (patches)
When problems are reported by users of computer software, the fix often consists
of one or more small hooks in the program code. Once the hooks have been recompiled, an
upgrade is an ideal way to distribute the changes to existing users.
- Computer software upgrades
Entire application folders can be upgraded including documentation and support
files, along with the program code. With an upgrade file, the user does not have to
download the entire new version. They simply download a smaller upgrade file to update
their current version to the latest.
- Updates to databases with numerous mirror sites
Databases, and other large file sets, are often made available at numerous mirror
sites or nodes when published on a distributed network. When one or more sites mirror a
master copy of the data, the sites need to be updated as changes are made to the master
data. An upgrade file is one way to distribute the changes to the master file set. This
eliminates the need for transmission of the entire data set; only the file changes are
distributed.
- Files archives, where multiple versions are kept
Changes to a file set are sometimes archived in a serialized fashion. In other
words, each new version of a file set is archived, as it is created. This allows older
versions of the file set to be retrieved, if and when they are needed. The space
requirements for storing this kind of archive can be reduced by using upgrade files. Only
one version of the full file set needs to be archived. The remaining versions can be
stored as a series of upgrades to the full copy of the file set.
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