Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Conflict resolution
Also known as: conflict handling
German: Konfliktauflösung
In systems coordination and data integration, conflict resolution is the set of rules that decides what happens when two or more participants make incompatible requests or changes, for example two controllers requesting the same resource or two systems updating the same data item.
- System integration
In one sentence
Conflict resolution decides what happens when participants make incompatible requests or changes, such as competing for a resource or editing the same data.
Example
Two AGVs request the same crossing; the fleet manager grants it to the vehicle carrying the higher-priority order and makes the other wait.
How it applies
- Resource conflicts: Define priority rules, reservation mechanisms or a single arbitrating instance for shared resources such as crossings, robots or transfer stations. Rules must also cover the case where a participant fails while holding a resource.
- Data conflicts: For replicated data, choose a strategy such as “last writer wins,” merge rules or manual review. “Last writer wins” is simple but can silently discard a correct change.
- Documentation: Document the rules in the system description and make the outcome visible to operators, so it is clear why a request was rejected or a value was overwritten.
Conflict resolution vs. conflict avoidance
Conflict avoidance prevents conflicts by design, for example by giving each data item a single owner. Conflict resolution handles the conflicts that remain. A good architecture avoids as many conflicts as possible and resolves the rest explicitly.