Resource list management system

• US 20030220946A1
• Filed: 08/19/2002
• Published: 11/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Atlassian US, Inc. (Atlassian Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Malik, Dale W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/024 using relational databases for representation of network management data, e.g. managing via structured query language [SQL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

A system for providing group accessibility is provided. A representative resource list management system includes a group management system operable to store a resource list for a user, and a service manager operable to detect a status of a contact associated with the resource list. The resource list includes at least one group, said at least one group including a plurality of contacts. The service manager is operable to update accessibility of the at least one group in response to at least one of the plurality of contacts being accessible on a network. Methods and other systems for resource list management are also provided.

Claims

1. A system for providing group accessibility, comprising:

a group management system operable to store a resource list for a user; and

a service manager operable to detect a status of a contact associated with the resource list, the resource list comprising at least one group, said at least one group comprising a plurality of contacts, and the service manager being further operable to update accessibility of said at least one group in response to at least one of the plurality of contacts being accessible on a network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the service manager is operable to notify the user that said at least one group is present when at least one group member associated with said at least one group is present.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the service manager is operable to notify the user that said at least one group is present and available when at least one group member associated with said at least one group is present and available.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein accessibility comprises presence and availability.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the resource list further comprises a rule associated with said at least one group.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the service manager is operable to execute the rule before notifying the user of the status of said at least one group.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the rule associated with the group comprises notifying the user that said at least one group is accessible when a certain subset of said at least one group is accessible.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the rule associated with the group comprises notifying the user that said at least one group is accessible when all of the plurality of group members are accessible.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a first class of service marker stored in the group management system and passed to the user upon login, the first class of service marker serving as an indication to a service router which resources are accessible to the user.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the rule provides a second class of service marker, and is settable via an administrative application which is accessible only to those with an adequate first class of service marker.

11. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a means for providing a first class of service marker, with the rule serving as a second class of service marker.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the rule is settable by the user.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one group is created by a system administrator, and the user can add or remove said at least one group.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one group is created by the user and may be added or removed from the resource list associated with the user.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the group management system is included in an Oracle 9i database.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the service manager is a Jabber Service Manager, including a non-persistent database that updates roster and presence information regarding the user and the resource list.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the service manager is operable to receive a request from a user to retrieve the status on a single member of said at least one group.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the service manager is operable to connect a user with a member of said at least one group upon receiving a request from the user to connect to said at least one group, and the service manager is further operable to rotate among said at least one group member when no particular group member is requested by the user.

19. A method for managing a resource list, comprising:

sending a request to a group management system to retrieve a resource list associated with a user, the resource list comprising a plurality of contacts including at least one group;

receiving the resource list;

checking a non-persistent database for at least one member associated with said at least one group; and

notifying the user about which of the plurality of contacts are accessible on a network, and which of said at least one groups is accessible on the network.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

providing a rule for accessibility in the persistent database.

21. The method of claim 20, furtherer comprising:

executing a rule associated with said at least one group; and

notifying the user which of said at least one group is accessible, according to the rule.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

adding a rule based on an administrative application; and

changing the rule based on an administrative application.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

editing a rule base on a user input.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein notifying the user about which of the plurality of contacts are accessible occurs when at least one group member associated with said at least one group is present.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein notifying the user about which of the plurality of contacts are accessible occurs when at least one group member associated with said at least one group is present and available.

26. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

using an Oracle 9i database houses the group management system.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

using a Jabber Service Manager to receive the resource list, check for accessibility of said at least one contact, and notify the user about which of the plurality of contacts are accessible.

28. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a request from the user to update status on a particular member of said at least one group; and

providing the user with status on the particular member.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a request from the user to connect to said at least one group without a request for any specific member of said at least one group; and

selecting a member of said group; and

connecting the user with the member.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein selecting a member of said group comprises:

selecting the member by rotation through a numbering system, the numbering system associating a number with each of the plurality of members of said at least one group.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein selecting a member of said group comprises:

selecting the member by rotating through each of the plurality of members of said at least one group alphabetically.

32. A method for managing contacts, comprising:

creating a resource list, comprising a plurality of contacts;

grouping a plurality of members from the plurality of contacts into at least one group; and

setting a rule to define networked accessibility to the group.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein a group administrator creates and maintains said at least one group.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein a user can add said at least one group to a profile associated with the user if a class of service marker associated with the user allows said at least one group to be added.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein a system administrator creates and maintains said at least one group.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein a user can add said at least one group to a profile associated with the user if a class of service marker associated with the user allows said at least one group to be added.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein a user creates and maintains said at least one group, with respect to a profile associated with the user.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein the rule comprises requiring at least one member of said at least one group to be accessible before the group is indicated accessible.

39. The method of claim 32, wherein the rule comprises requiring a certain subset of members of said at least one group to be accessible before the group is indicated accessible.

40. The method of claim 32, wherein the rule comprises requiring all group members to be accessible before the group is indicated accessible.

41. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

requesting a status on a particular member of said at least one group; and

receiving an update on the status of a particular user within said at least one group.