Method and apparatus for displaying business cards
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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Abstract
A method and apparatus for representing the attributes of an object representing a person or entity in an object oriented operating system running on a computer networked to other computers. The information is presented in the form of a graphic depiction of a business card with information specific to a particular person, place or thing appearing on the business card. The information on the business card and the card itself can be used to invoke various actions. Further, any information on the card can be copied, pasted or otherwise manipulated by the system.
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Citations
25 Claims
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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:
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(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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for displaying electronic business cards stored on a computer having a memory having business card class information stored therein and a display, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) instantiating a plurality of business card objects in the memory from the business card class information, each of the business card objects referencing 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; (b) displaying a business card view of at least two of the plurality of business card objects each of the at least two business card views having a different business card image presentation format; (c) storing in the memory sets of linked information associated with the business card object; (d) retrieving one of the plurality of business card objects from the memory; (e) displaying on the display the graphic data representing the corresponding business card image in response to a reference in the retrieved business card object, wherein the displayed business card image has a business card image presentation format defined by the corresponding user-defined formatting data; (f) selecting one of the sets of linked information by user operated control means displayed with the graphic data representing the business card; (g) retrieving the selected one of the sets of linked information; and (h) displaying the selected one of the sets of linked information in accordance with the user-defined formatting data appropriate for the selected one of the sets of linked information. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for displaying electronic business cards on a display, the system comprising:
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(a) a storage device having a plurality of electronic business cards stored thereon, each of the electronic business cards having graphic data for display in a graphic region of the electronic business card and text data for display in a text region of the electronic business card; (b) means for generating a business card image for each of the plurality of the electronic business cards; (c) means for defining a business card image presentation format for each of the plurality of electronic business cards coupled to said means for generating a business card image, wherein at least two of the plurality of business cards have different business card image presentation formats such that the same graphic data and text data in each of the at least two of the plurality of business cards is displayed in a first presentation format for a first one of the at least two of the plurality of business cards and a second different presentation format for a second one of the at least two of the plurality of business cards; (d) means for retrieving each of the plurality of electronic business cards from the memory; and (e) means for displaying, on the display, 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. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A computer program product comprising:
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a computer useable medium having computer readable program code means for generating a business image for each of a plurality of electronic business cards stored on a storage device, each of the electronic business cards having graphic data for display in a graphic region of the electronic business card and text data for display in a text region of the electronic business card; a computer useable medium having computer readable program code means for defining a unique business card image presentation format for each of the plurality of electronic business cards; computer readable program code means for retrieving each of the electronic business cards from the memory; and computer readable program code means for display on a display a business card image representing a corresponding electronic business card wherein the business image is displayed in the corresponding unique business card image format. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification