Method for dynamically ordering instant messaging lists

• US 20060031366A1
• Filed: 05/20/2004
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dolph, Blaine H.
• Application Number:
  US10/849,607
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031366A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages

Abstract

The present invention provides a method that dynamically orders entries in an electronic list such as a ‘buddy list’. In this order, the most recently contacted and most frequently contacted entries in the list will be placed at the top of the list in descending order. The location of each entry in the list will contain a counter field. Each time the entry is accessed the count in that field for that entry will be incremented by one. At the completion of the transaction, the method of the present invention will determine if the transaction necessitates a reordering of the entries in the list. If a reordering is necessary, the method will reorder this list according the number of times the user has accessed each entry.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically ordering entries in an instant messaging list comprising the steps of:

creating an instant messaging list, the entries in the list being ordered in descending order of the number of transactions for each entry in the list;

detecting an attempt to access an entry in an instant messaging list;

identifying the accessed entry;

updating the number of transactions of the accessed entry; and

determining whether to reorder to entries in the instant messaging list based on the updated number of transactions of the accessed entry.

2. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising after said reorder determining step, the step of reordering the entries in the instant messaging list in descending order of the number of transactions for each entry in the list.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said updating step further comprises incrementing the number of transactions by one for an entry when a user accesses that entry.

4. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising before said updating step, the step of determining whether the accessed entry is designated as a fixed entry.

5. The method as described in claim 4 further comprising the step of returning to a monitoring state when the determination is that the accessed entry is designated as a fixed entry.

6. A method for dynamically ordering entries in an instant messaging list comprising the steps of:

creating an instant messaging list, the entries in the list being ordered in descending order based on the most recent transaction for each entry;

detecting an attempt to access an entry in an instant messaging list;

identifying the accessed entry;

updating the time of the most recent transaction for the accessed entry; and

determining whether to reorder the entries in the instant messaging list based on the most recent transaction of each entry in the list.

7. The method as described in claim 6 further comprising after said time updating step, the step of updating the number of transactions for the accessed entry.

8. The method as described in claim 7 further comprising the step of reordering the list of entries when the determination is that the updated time of the most recent transaction of the accessed entry requires reordering to maintain a proper order of the entries.

9. The method as described in claim 8 wherein said reordering step further comprises reordering the entries in the list based on the number of transactions for each entry.

10. The method as described in claim 7 further comprising the step of determining whether to reorder to entries in the instant messaging list based on the updated number of transactions of the accessed entry when the determination is not to reorder the entries based on the most recent transaction of each entry.

11. The method as described in claim 7 wherein said list creating step further comprises creating a record for each entry in the list, the record comprising a set of fields which include a number of transactions field and a time field.

12. The method as described in claim 11 wherein said list creating step further comprising an active section of the list and an inactive section of the list, the active section comprising list entries that have had a transaction within a specified time period.

13. The method as described in claim 6 further comprising before said updating step, the step of determining whether the accessed entry is designated as a fixed entry.

14. The method as described in claim 13 further comprising the step of returning to a monitoring state when the determination is that the accessed entry is designated as a fixed entry.

15. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for dynamically ordering entries in an instant messaging list comprising:

instructions for creating an instant messaging list, the entries in the list being ordered in descending order based on the most recent transaction for each entry;

instructions for detecting an attempt to access an entry in an instant messaging list;

instructions for identifying the accessed entry;

instructions for updating the time of the most recent transaction for the accessed entry; and

instructions for determining whether to reorder the entries in the instant messaging list based on the most recent transaction of each entry in the list.

16. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising after said time updating instructions, instructions for updating the number of transactions for the accessed entry.

17. The computer program product as described in claim 16 further comprising instructions for reordering the list of entries when the determination is that the updated time of the most recent transaction of the accessed entry requires reordering to maintain a proper order of the entries.

18. The computer program product as described in claim 17 wherein said reordering instructions further comprise instructions for reordering the entries in the list based on the number of transactions for each entry.

19. The computer program product as described in claim 16 further comprising instructions for determining whether to reorder to entries in the instant messaging list based on the updated number of transactions of the accessed entry when the determination is not to reorder the entries based on the most recent transaction of each entry.

20. The computer program product as described in claim 16 wherein said list creating instructions further comprise instructions for creating a record for each entry in the list, the record comprising a set of fields which include a number of transactions field and a time field.

21. The method as described in claim 20 wherein said list creating instructions further comprise instructions for creating an active section of the list and an inactive section of the list, the active section comprising list entries that have had a transaction within a specified time period.

22. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising before said updating instructions, instructions for determining whether the accessed entry is designated as a fixed entry.

23. The computer program product as described in claim 22 further comprising instructions for returning to a monitoring state when the determination is that the accessed entry is designated as a fixed entry.