clearIntervalid

clearIntervalid is a term used in software design to denote an operation that invalidates or clears an inter-interval validity identifier. It is often employed in distributed systems, caching, and coordination components to help ensure that state remains consistent across time or among multiple processes.

The concept combines the idea of clearing or invalidating with an intervalid, which refers to a token or identifier that spans an interval of time, a sequence of operations, or a lease period. The operation signals that the current interval’s data or permissions should no longer be considered valid, prompting recalculation, refresh, or revalidation by dependent components.

In typical usage, a clearIntervalid operation marks a new version of a resource or a new lease period. This causes components that rely on the previous interval to treat it as stale and to acquire fresh data or re-establish correct state. Implementations are often presented as a function or method such as clearIntervalid(id, options), where options may specify scope (local or global) and whether the invalidation should be propagated to peers.

Applications include caching systems, where invalidating the intervalid prevents serving outdated entries after a mutation, and distributed coordination protocols, where it helps enforce consistency after changes. Variants exist in how aggressively the invalidation is applied, whether through a one-time clear, a version bump, or a lease renewal.

Limitations include the need for timely propagation to avoid stale data, possible performance overhead, and a lack of universal standardization. See also cache invalidation, versioning, lease, and distributed locking.