METHOD OF MAINTAINING A NETWORK OF PARTIALLY REPLICATED DATABASE SYSTEM

A partially replicated database is maintained so that updates made to a central database, or to another partially replicated database, are selectively propagated to the partially replicated database. Updates are propagated to a partially replicated database if the owner of the partially replicated database has "visibility" to the data being updated. Visibility is determined by using predetermined rules stored in a rules database. Typically, the stored rules are assessed against data content of a plurality of tables making up a single logical entity, known as a docking object, that is being updated.