Method and apparatus for determining attributes among objects
First Claim
1. In a computer system a method comprising:
- (A) defining a plurality of object profiles having data attributes;
(B) aggregating selected data attributes from the plurality of object profiles; and
(C) generating a group profile having data attributes representative of a group of the plurality of object profiles.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An aggregation system performs an aggregation of object attributes and affinities to create a group profile of a plurality of object profiles. The system may be used with an electronic mail inbox that uses a mail agent to categorize incoming electronic mail to facilitate more flexible and rapid review of special types of mail, such as meeting requests. The aggregation system performs an analysis of the participants listed in a meeting request and displays an aggregated profile that provides a “big picture” view of the attributes of the group members as a single entity, thereby enabling the user to get an immediate sense of a group'"'"'s areas of expertise. The aggregation system may also suggest additional participants with the needed expertise which the user may ignore or invite by simply mailing the meeting request thread thereto.
206 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. In a computer system a method comprising:
-
(A) defining a plurality of object profiles having data attributes;
(B) aggregating selected data attributes from the plurality of object profiles; and
(C) generating a group profile having data attributes representative of a group of the plurality of object profiles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. In a computer system operatively connectable to a network and capable of executing a communication process for sending and receiving electronic mail documents, a method comprising:
-
(A) defining a plurality of user profiles having data attributes;
(B) aggregating the plurality of user profiles to generate a group profile having common data attributes representative of the group of user profiles; and
(C) providing the group profile to a requester for review. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A computer program product for use with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having embodied therein program code comprising:
-
(A) program code for defining a plurality of object profiles having data attributes;
(B) program code for aggregating selected data attributes from the plurality of object profiles; and
(C) program code for generating a group profile having data attributes representative of a group of the plurality of object profiles. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
20. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave for use with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having embodied therein program code comprising:
-
(A) program code for defining a plurality of object profiles having data attributes;
(B) program code for aggregating selected data attributes from the plurality of object profiles; and
(C) program code for generating a group profile having data attributes representative of a group of the plurality of object profiles.
-
-
21. An apparatus for use with a computer system, the apparatus comprising:
-
(A) means for defining a plurality of object profiles having data attributes;
(B) means for aggregating selected data attributes from the plurality of object profiles; and
(C) means for generating a group profile having data attributes representative of a group of the plurality of object profiles.
-
-
22. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein (B) comprises:
(B1) program logic for determining which of the data attributes in the object profiles are to be aggregated.
-
26. An apparatus for use with a computer system, the apparatus comprising:
-
(A) a property collector for receiving attribute data from at least one source and generating a plurality of object profiles therefrom;
(B) program logic for identifying at least some of the plurality of object profiles comprising a group definition; and
(C) at least one profile aggregator, responsive to the plurality of object profiles generated by the property collector and identified by the group definition, for aggregating the plurality of user profiles to generate a group profile having data attributes representative of the user profiles identified by the group definition. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
Specification