Relationship management system that limits access of contact information to particular folders
First Claim
1. A relationship management system adapted to be used with a processor, a database and a display device, comprising:
- a computer readable medium;
a database routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to store, within the database, one or more contact information records for each of a plurality of contacts, wherein the one or more contact information records are capable of being referenced by one or more folders and wherein each of the contact information records has a contact information record type, the database routine further adapted to store a visibility attribute for each of the contact information records to define the folders through which the associated contact information record is viewable, and wherein the database routine is further adapted to allow a user having appropriate access rights to a particular one of the folders to specify the visibility attribute for at least one of the contact information records viewable through the particular one of the folders, and wherein the user and the contact having the contact information records are different entities; and
a display routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed on the processor to display, on the display device, a contact information field within one of the folders, the contact information field displaying each of the contact information records of a particular contact information type that is defined as being viewable through the one of the folders by the visibility attribute of that contact information record.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A relationship management system uses a database to store contact information related to a number of contacts and uses a number of folders, each of which reference one or more of the contacts within the database, to display contact information. Each of the contact information records stored within the database has an associated contact information type and a visibility attribute that defines the folders through which the associated contact information record is viewable. If the visibility attribute is set to a global value, the contact information record may be viewed by all folders. If the visibility attribute is set to a private value, the contact information record may be viewed only by specified folders. When a display routine of the relationship management system displays folders on a display device, a contact information display field is used to display each of the contact information records of a particular type that are defined as being either globally viewable or as being privately viewable through the folder being displayed.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. A relationship management system adapted to be used with a processor, a database and a display device, comprising:
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a computer readable medium;
a database routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to store, within the database, one or more contact information records for each of a plurality of contacts, wherein the one or more contact information records are capable of being referenced by one or more folders and wherein each of the contact information records has a contact information record type, the database routine further adapted to store a visibility attribute for each of the contact information records to define the folders through which the associated contact information record is viewable, and wherein the database routine is further adapted to allow a user having appropriate access rights to a particular one of the folders to specify the visibility attribute for at least one of the contact information records viewable through the particular one of the folders, and wherein the user and the contact having the contact information records are different entities; and
a display routine stored on the computer readable medium and adapted to be executed on the processor to display, on the display device, a contact information field within one of the folders, the contact information field displaying each of the contact information records of a particular contact information type that is defined as being viewable through the one of the folders by the visibility attribute of that contact information record. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A relationship management system, comprising:
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a processor;
a display device coupled to the processor;
a database that stores a plurality of contact information records for each of a multiplicity of contacts, wherein each of the plurality of contact information records has a contact information record type and wherein the plurality of contact information records are capable of being referenced by a number of folders, the database further storing a visibility attribute in each of the plurality contact information records indicating the ones of the folders through which the associated contact information record is viewable, and wherein the database is adapted to allow a user to specify the visibility attribute for at least one of the plurality of contact information records for a particular one of the multiplicity of contacts, wherein the user and the particular one of the multiplicity of contacts are different entities; and
a display routine adapted to be executed on the processor to display, on the display device, a contact information display field within one of the folders, the contact information display field displaying each of the plurality of contact information records of a particular contact information record type that is defined as being viewable through the one of the folders by the visibility attribute of that contact information record. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of storing and displaying contact information viewable by one or more folders, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing a plurality of contact information records for each of a multiplicity of contacts in a database, wherein each of the plurality of contact information records has a contact information record type;
storing a visibility attribute for each of the plurality of contact information records wherein each visibility attribute defines the one or more of the folders through which an associated contact information record is viewable;
associating a user with at least one of the contact information records for a particular one of the contacts, and allowing the user to specify the visibility attribute for each of the contact information records with which the user is associated, wherein the user and the particular one of the contacts are different entities; and
displaying a contact information field within one of the folders, wherein the contact information field displays each of the contact information records of a particular contact information record type defined to be viewable through the one of the folders by the visibility attributes. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification