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Method and apparatus for displaying business cards

  • US 5,732,229 A
  • Filed: 06/13/1996
  • Issued: 03/24/1998
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/22/1993
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for displaying electronic business cards stored on a computer having a memory and a display, the apparatus comprising:

  • (a) an object-oriented operating system resident in the memory of the computer the object-oriented operating system including business card class information;

    (b) means for instantiating a plurality of business card objects in the memory from business card class information in the object-oriented operating system, each of the business card objects referencing a particular set of data stored in the memory including graphic data for generating a corresponding business card image and user-defined formatting data for defining a business card image presentation format, wherein at least two of the plurality of business card objects have a different business card image presentation format;

    (c) means for storing sets of linked information in the memory each of the sets of linked information associated with a particular one of the plurality of business card objects;

    (d) means for retrieving one of the plurality of business card objects from the memory;

    (e) means, responsive to a reference in the retrieved business card object, for displaying on the display, the graphic data representing the corresponding business card image wherein the displayed business card image has a business card image presentation format defined by the corresponding user-defined formatting data;

    (f) means responsive to a selection command from a first user for selecting one of the sets of linked information by user operated control means displayed with the graphic data representing the business card image;

    (g) means for retrieving the selected one of the sets of linked information; and

    (h) means, controlled by the user-defined formatting data in the business card object, for displaying the selected one of the sets of linked information in a format appropriate for the selected one of the sets of linked information.

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