Abstract:
A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also be capable of detecting, and notifying a user of, an event in which the user and a contact of the user are concurrently in a common location.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/506,167, filed Jul. 20, 2009, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/127,495, filed May 27, 2008 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,739,139), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/022,089, filed Dec. 22, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,464), which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/780,486, filed Feb. 17, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,419), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/348,355, filed Jul. 7, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,916), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/962,997, filed Nov. 2, 1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,369). 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to multi-user computer systems, such as contact management systems, that provide services for users to locate and share personal information with other users. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Several types of prior art for managing contact information exist, including Personal Information Management software applications, Groupware Applications, and Internet-based “White Pages” and e-mail services. 
     Personal Information Management Software. 
     As represented generally in  FIG. 1 , in a typical prior art Personal Information Management (PIM) software application (e.g., Lotus Organizer, Microsoft Outlook, or U.S. Robotics Palm Pilot), a PIM software application  120 ,  124  that stores contact information in a database resides on a workstation or handheld computer  100  having a central processing unit  102 , a display  108 , a keyboard and/or mouse  110 , a primary memory  104  (e.g., random access memory) for program execution, a secondary memory  106  (e.g., a hard disc) for program storage, and peripheral devices  112 . As is well known, programs, such as the PIM software  120 , are executed in the RAM  104  by the CPU  102  under control of the operating system software  122 ,  126 . 
     In the prior art, users themselves enter the contact information that they want to store in the PIM software. A variety of methods exist for entering this contact information. It may be entered manually using the keyboard, imported from an existing file on their computer, or imported via a peripheral device such as a business card scanner. The defining characteristic of this class of prior art is that the input of the contact information is performed by the user of the software and, when the information changes, the user must modify the information himself. What this class of prior art lacks is a means for information to be shared between multiple users and a means for a given user to post changes to his own information for the benefit of others. 
     Groupware Applications. 
     As generally represented in  FIG. 2 , in a typical prior art Groupware application (e.g., Lotus Notes), a user workstation  160  accesses information stored on a central server computer  130  over a computer network  150 , such as a Local Area Network or Intranet. The server system consists of a central processing unit  132 , a primary memory  134  (e.g., random access memory) for program execution, a secondary storage device  136  (e.g., a hard disc) for program storage, and a modem  138  or other device for connecting to the computer network. The user workstation  160  is the same as the user workstation  100  described in reference to  FIG. 1  with the addition of a modem  162  or other device for connecting to the computer network. The file server or database contains data files  148  that can be accessed only by authorized users. The user uses client software  174 ,  176  running on the user workstation  160  to access the files  148  under the mediation of server software  140 ,  144  running on the server  130 . 
     Typically, in such a system a central system administrator organizes users into classes and the creator of a file  148  determines what classes of users may view the file. The rules governing which individual users or classes of users have the authorization to view a particular file  148  may be stored as part of the file itself. Alternatively, these rules are based upon the hierarchical directory structure of the file server in which the file is stored. That is, a particular user may view files in one directory but not another. 
       FIG. 3  represents a common deployment of a contact management system based on Groupware. Each user enters information  202  about himself and specifies a set of permissions  204  that define what classes of users are able to view various pieces of the information  202 . What this deployment of the prior art lacks is the ability to authorize viewing privileges on a user-by-user basis rather than on a class-by-class basis. For instance, a user would be able to grant access to his home phone number  206  to the Human Resources department of his employer (e.g., Class A) while denying access to the same information to his co-workers (e.g., Class C). The user would not be able to give access to his home phone number selectively to a first co-worker while denying it to a second co-worker if both co-workers were part of the same class of users as organized by the central system administrator. Furthermore, such a system would lack a practical notification methodology. There would be no way for a user to specify “notify me when the first co-worker changes his information but not when the second co-worker changes his information.” 
     Internet-Based “White Pages” and E-Mail Directory Services. 
     In a typical prior art “white pages” or e-mail service, client computers and a server computer are connected via the World Wide Web as depicted in  FIG. 4 . A user subscribes to a White Pages or E-Mail service via a client computer  270  operating a web browser  282  or other software application residing in memory  274  that allows it to display information downloaded from a server computer  230  over the World Wide Web  260 . The server computer system accesses a database  240  containing contact information entered by registered users. The service enables users to view contact information entered by other users. The authorization scheme may allow all users to limit certain classes of users from viewing certain parts of their user record as represented in  FIG. 3 . However, there are no linkages between individual users and thus users cannot restrict the viewing of their information on a user-by-user basis. Furthermore, users cannot be notified when information for particular users has changed. 
     SUMMARY 
     A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also include features for enabling users to identify contacts of their respective contacts. In addition, the system may automatically notify users of personal information updates made by their respective contacts. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  depicts a computer loaded with Personal Information Management software; 
         FIG. 2  generally depicts the data schema of a category of prior art known as groupware applications; 
         FIG. 3  shows a common scheme for authorizing permission to view information in the prior art; 
         FIG. 4  depicts two computers interconnected via the Internet, one of which is a server connected to a database and the other of which represents a user&#39;s client workstation, both of which are configured according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 5  depicts two computers interconnected via the Internet, one of which is a server connected to a database and the other of which represents a user&#39;s client workstation, both of which are configured according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  represents an object model of the key tables in the relational database maintained on the server computer in the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  represents a pseudo graphical user interface in which a user enters information in specific data fields to create a personal data record; 
         FIG. 8  represents a pseudo graphical user interface for listing other users with the same group affiliation as that specified by a first user; 
         FIG. 9  represents a pseudo graphical user interface for specifying what type of data fields from a first user&#39;s personal data record to which the first user wishes to grant a specific second user access; 
         FIG. 10  represents a pseudo graphical user interface that displays the information stored in a user&#39;s personal address book; 
         FIG. 11  represents a pseudo graphical user interface that provides a first user with specific information that has changed about the other users to which the first user is linked; 
         FIG. 12  represents a pseudo graphical user interface that allows a first user to enter travel information and find out which contacts have overlapping travel schedules; 
         FIG. 13  represents a pseudo graphical user interface that allows a first user to gather information about the contacts of his contacts; and 
         FIG. 14  is a data flow diagram of an alternative embodiment of the present invention where a personal digital assistant is synchronized with a server database of user information. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying figures. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to those embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     As represented in  FIG. 5 , the preferred embodiment follows a standard Internet architecture, in which client computers  370  and a server computer  330  are connected via the World Wide Web  360  and modems  338 ,  378  or other communications channels. A user accesses the server  360  via a client computer  370  operating a web browser  382  or other software application residing in memory  374  that allows it to display information downloaded from a server computer  330 . The server computer system  330  runs server software  342 , including the network-computer-based personal contact manager  343  of the present invention, which interacts with the client computers  370  and a user information database  340 . In a commercial embodiment of the present invention, the personal contact manager  343  is the heart of a Web-based personal contact management service called PlanetAll. The database  340  contains contact information entered by registered users. The personal contact manager  343  in some situations will notify a set of users of updates made to the database  340  by another user to whom the notified set is related. 
     The database  340  in is a relational database built from a set of relational tables  350 . In the conventional manner, both the server  330  and the clients  370  include respective storage devices, such as hard disks  336  and  376  and operate under the control of operating systems  344 ,  384  executed in RAM  334 ,  374  by the CPUs  332 ,  372 . The server storage device  336  stores program files  346  and the operating system  348 . Similarly, the client storage devices  376  store the web browser software  386  and the operating systems  388 . In an alternative configuration, in which the client is a personal information manager (PIM), such as the U.S. Robotics Palm Pilot, the disc  376  can also include a local PIM database  390  and PIM software, which performs data management and synchronization functions. 
       FIG. 6  outlines the data structure of the relational database  340  in the preferred embodiment, in which seven tables  350  are employed to enable most of the functionality of the system: 
     (1) Customer Table  440 ; 
     (2) Friend Table  460 ; 
     (3) Group Table  400 ; 
     (4) Affinity Table  420 ; 
     (5) Address Table  480 ; 
     (6) Phone Table  500 ; and 
     (7) Travel Event Table  520 ; 
     The Customer Table  440  contains one record for each unique user. The key field in this table is CustomerID  440 - 2 . All information stored in the various database tables relating to a particular member is linked together by a unique number in this field. Other important fields in this table include information used by users to login to the system (Username  440 - 6  and Password  440 - 8 ), information which helps users identify each other (First Name  440 - 10 , Last Name  440 - 12 , and E-mail  440 - 20 ), information required to provide Birthday Notification (Birthday  440 - 16 ) and information required to provide Crossing Paths notification (CityID  440 - 14 ). Each record in the Customer Table  440  is time-stamped via the RecordDate field  440 - 4 . Other fields  440 - 22  can also be included in the Customer Table  440  (and the other tables as well). 
     The Friend Table  460  relates users to each other. Each record in the table represents a relationship between one user, identified by CustomerID  460 - 4 , and another, identified by FriendID  460 - 6 , with a certain level of permissions  460 - 10 . The user interface of the system provides a multitude of ways for users to view information about other users, and every one of these ways relies on a database query of the Friend Table  460  to determine the list of other users whose information a particular user may see. Each record is time-stamped via the RecordDate field  460 - 8  so that users may be notified when their contacts&#39; records change. Each record is uniquely identified by a RelationID  460 - 2 . 
     The Group Table  400  contains one record for each unique group with which users may affiliate. Each group is identified by a GroupName  400 - 4  and GroupType  400 - 6 . Examples of these groups would be GroupName  400 - 4 =“Massachusetts Institute of Technology” (GroupType=“University”) and GroupName  400 - 4 =“Sigma Chi” (GroupType=“Fraternity”). Each record has a time-stamp  400 - 8  and a unique identifier  400 - 2 . 
     Each record of the Affinity Table  420  relates a user, identified by CustomerID  420 - 4 , to a group, identified by GroupID  420 - 6 . If a user affiliates with six groups, there would be six records in the Affinity Table  420 . This table stores information about the time period of a user&#39;s affiliation with a particular group in the FromYear and ToYear fields  420 - 8 ,  420 - 10  so that the system may help users find their contemporaries. Each record is time-stamped  420 - 12  so that the system may report to users when other users join the group, has a unique identifier  420 - 2  and can include additional fields  420 - 14 . 
     The Address Table  480  stores information for any number and kind of addresses for a particular user, identified by CustomerID  480 - 4 . For instance, if a user wants to make his home address, work address and summer home address available to his contacts, there would be three records for that user in the Address Table  480 , each being identified in part by an appropriate AddressType  480 - 8  (e.g., home, work, summer home). Each record is time-stamped  480 - 16  so that the system can notify users when their contacts have added or modified address information and has a unique identifier  480 - 2 . Address information is conventional, including street Address  480 - 8 , CityID  480 - 10 , Postal code  480 - 12 , and military Base  480 - 14  fields. 
     The Phone Table  500  is directly analogous to the Address Table  480 , but it stores telephone and fax number information instead of address information. Each record is identified by a unique PhoneRecordID  500 - 2  and includes the CustomerID  500 - 4  of the user whose phone information is contained in the record, a phone type ID  500 - 6  indicating, e.g., whether the record is for a telephone or fax, the phone number  500 - 8  and a time-stamp  500 - 10 . 
     The Travel Event Table  520  stores information about users&#39; travel plans. This table is required to notify users when their travel plans intersect with the travel plans of their contacts. A record in the Travel Event Table  520  includes the CustomerID  520 - 4  of the user whose travel information is contained in the record, arrival and departure dates  520 - 6 ,  520 - 8  and a CityID  520 - 10  identifying the travel destination. Each record is uniquely identified by a Travel_EventID  520 - 2  and is time-stamped with a RecordDate  520 - 14 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, a multitude of other tables  540  are used to enable a variety of user services. The Permission Type Table  542  contains one record for each of the varieties of permission levels the system allows members to assign to their contacts in the Friend Table  460 . In the preferred embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 , permission information is grouped into five categories for the purpose of user interface simplicity (crossing paths notification permission  600 - 6 , personal information  600 - 8 , work information  600 - 10 , birthday notification  600 - 12 , and friends of friends information  600 - 14 ). However, the Permission Type table  542  could just as easily be structured to allow members to grant and deny access to information on a field by field basis. 
     The City Table  550  stores latitude and longitude information for two million cities to enable the system to notify users when their contacts travel within a defined geographical radius. The Zodiac Table  552  allows the system to associate birthdays with signs of the Zodiac and thereby notify which of their contacts have compatible astrological signs on a particular day. The AddressType, PhoneType and GroupType tables  544 ,  546 ,  548  define the types of address, phone and group that can be defined in the respective Address, Group and Phone tables  480 ,  400 ,  500 . The advantage of this normalized relational database architecture is that it permits scaling and speed far in excess of any embodiment of the prior art. 
       FIGS. 7 through 12  display pseudo software graphical user interfaces (GUIs). In the preferred embodiment, the web server software  342  on the server computer  330  displays these GUIs via the computer communications interface  360  on the user interface  380  of the user workstation computer  370 . The database and communications operations necessary to perform the described functions are controlled by the personal contact manager  343 , which employs where necessary the services of the web server software  342 . For example, the personal contact manager  343  updates the database tables  350  when a user submits a new home address and then determines whether any of that user&#39;s contacts need to be notified of the change. If so, the personal contact manager  343  will issue the notifications via the web server software  342 . It should be assumed, unless a statement to the contrary is made, that all of the operations described herein which are aspects of the present invention are embodied by the personal contact manager  343 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7 , a pseudo GUI  560  is shown that allows members to enter information about themselves in order to create a personal data record. Users can enter information in this GUI in various data fields. In the preferred embodiment, these fields include: Name  560 - 2 , Home Address  560 - 4 , Home Phone  560 - 6 , Work Address  560 - 8 , Work Phone  560 - 10 , Birthday  560 - 12 , High School  560 - 14 , Year of High School Enrollment  560 - 16 , High School Graduation Year  560 - 18 , College  560 - 20 , Year of College Enrollment  560 - 22 , and College Graduation Year  560 - 24 . 
     In certain of these data fields, the user can specify groups with which he wishes to affiliate himself, and the beginning and ending dates of the affiliation. In the preferred embodiment, the data fields High School  560 - 14  and College  560 - 20  represent categories of groups. In the data field Year of High School Enrollment  560 - 16 , the user enters the beginning date of the affiliation with the group specified in the data field High School  560 - 14 . In the data field High School Graduation Year  560 - 18 , the user enters the ending date of the affiliation with the group specified in the data field High School  560 - 14 . In the data field Year of College Enrollment  560 - 22 , the user enters the beginning date of the affiliation with the group specified in the data field College  560 - 20 . In the data field College Graduation Year  560 - 24 , the user enters the ending date of the affiliation with the group specified in the data field College  560 - 20 . In both of these cases, the beginning date and ending date establish a date range during which time the user was affiliated with the group in question. 
     Once the user of the client computer  370  ( FIG. 5 ) enters information in each data field in the GUI  560  shown in  FIG. 7 , he clicks the Submit button  560 - 26  (or performs some equivalent action) and the information entered is transferred via the computer communications network  360  ( FIG. 5 ) to the server computer  330 , where the server personal contact manager software  343  stores the information in the appropriate tables  350  of a database  340 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8 , a pseudo GUI  580  is shown that allows a first user to select other users they wish to add to their personal address book. The list of contacts is created based on the group affiliation information the first user enters in the data fields College  560 - 20 , Year of College Enrollment  560 - 22 , and College Year of Graduation  560 - 24  in the Pseudo Registration GUI  560  shown in  FIG. 7 . A similar GUI  580  would exist for the group specified in the data field High School  560 - 14  in the pseudo  560  GUI shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     In each version of the GUI  580  shown in  FIG. 8 , a text description  580 - 2  at the top of the GUI explains to the first user that other members have been found who had the same affiliation as the first user during the same period of time as the first user. The name  580 - 6  of the group in which the first and second users share an affiliation is displayed and the date range  580 - 8  of the first user&#39;s affiliation with that group is displayed. 
     If a second user whose personal information is stored in the tables  350  of the database  340  on the server computer  330  has specified the same group affiliation as that specified by the first user in the College  560 - 20  data field, and that second user has specified a date range for that affiliation that intersects with the date range specified by the first user in the Year of College Enrollment  560 - 22  and College Graduation Year  560 - 24  data fields, the Name  580 - 10  of the second user and the ending date  580 - 12  of the second user&#39;s affiliation with that group are displayed. 
     A second text description  580 - 4  at the top of the GUI  580  instructs the first user to select any of the second users listed whom the first user wishes to add to his personal address book. If the first user wishes to add a second user to his personal address book, the first user clicks the checkbox  580 - 14  to the left of the Name  580 - 10  (e.g., “John Doe”) for that second user. Once the first user has finished specifying the users he wants to add to his address book, he clicks the Submit button  580 - 16 , and the information entered is transferred via the computer communications network  360  to the server computer  330  where it is stored in the appropriate tables  350  of the database  340 . 
     A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to display the group member list is shown in Appendix A. This pseudocode fragment (and the others that follow) is written in a structured English that is similar to computer languages such as Pascal, FORTRAN and C. The pseudocode fragments are not described herein as they are self-explanatory. The tables and fields referred to in the pseudocode fragments correspond to the tables and fields described in reference to  FIG. 6 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 9 , a pseudo GUI  600  is shown allowing a first user to specify which types of data fields from the first user&#39;s personal data record to grant a specific second user permission to view. If a first user specifies a second user whom the first user would like to add to his personal address book, as explained in the description of  FIG. 8 , the second user will receive notification (issued by the contact manager program  343 — FIG. 5 ) that the first user has “linked” to him. If the second user chooses to return the link to the first user, the system will display the pseudo GUI  600  shown in  FIG. 9  with the name of the first user  600 - 5 , allowing the second user to set data field permissions for the first user. Unlike the prior art, which does not allow the first user to specify data field permissions for individual other users, the disclosed system allows the first user to specify permissions separately for each individual other user in whose personal database the first user has chosen to be included. 
     A text description  600 - 2  at the top of the pseudo GUI in  FIG. 9  instructs the first user to specify which types of data fields from the first user&#39;s personal data record to allow to appear in the personal address book of the second user, whose name  600 - 4  is shown below. Several types of data field permission are listed, each with a check box to the left enabling the first user to select or deselect the permission type. For example, to grant the second user  600 - 4  permission to view the information from the first user&#39;s personal data record indicated by the permission type denoted “Crossing Paths Notification Permission,” the first user would check the box  600 - 7  to the left of the permission type Crossing Paths Notification Permission  600 - 6 . To deny the second user  600 - 4  permission to view the information from the first user&#39;s personal data record indicated by the permission type denoted “Personal Information,” the first user would uncheck the box  600 - 9  to the left of the permission type Personal Information  600 - 8 . 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the levels of permission are as follows: Crossing Paths Notification Permission  600 - 6 , Personal Information  600 - 8 , Work Information  600 - 10 , Birthday Notification  600 - 12 , and Friends of Friends Information  600 - 14 . However, the present invention is not limited to the levels of permission shown in the preferred embodiment. The present invention is flexible to allow permission categories to be modified as needed. 
     Each permission type allows the second user to view information from the first user&#39;s personal data record in specific data fields, according to a specific set of rules. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, these permission rules are as follows: 
     If member A links to member B, member A can grant any of the permissions discussed below to member B. 
     Even if member B does not reciprocate the link to member A, an e-mail forwarding address for member B will be included in the Virtual Address Book for member A. For example, the e-mail address “memberB@planetall.com,” which maps to the actual e-mail address that member B has entered into his/her own record, will appear in member A&#39;s Virtual Address Book, but nothing else. 
     When member A first links to member B, member B is notified on the Web site and in an e-mail. 
     If member B elects not to grant any permissions to member A, member A will not appear in member B&#39;s Virtual Address Book. 
     If member B grants any permissions to member A, a listing in member B&#39;s Virtual Address Book will be created for member A, and the listing will contain whatever information member A has given permission for member B to see. 
     If member B grants Personal Information  600 - 8  permission to member A, member B&#39;s home address and phone number (if available) will appear in member A&#39;s Virtual Address Book and member A will be informed when member B changes the relevant information in his/her own listing. 
     If member B grants Work Information  600 - 10  permission to member A, member B&#39;s work address and phone number (if available) will appear in member A&#39;s Virtual Address Book and member A will be informed when member B changes the relevant information in his/her own listing. 
     If member B grants Crossing Paths Notification Permission  600 - 6  to member A, member A will be able to be informed when member B will be in the same city as member A. If member A and member B are both based in the same city, member A will only be informed when member A and member B are traveling to the same destination. 
     If member B grants Birthday Notification  600 - 12  permission to member A, member B&#39;s birthday and anniversary (if available) will appear in member A&#39;s Virtual Address Book and member A will be notified when member B&#39;s birthday or anniversary are approaching. 
     If member B grants Friends of Friends Information  600 - 14  permission to member A, if member A searches for information about the contacts of his/her contacts, such as who lives in a particular city or is associated with a particular group, information from member B&#39;s circle of contacts will be included in the search results, if applicable. 
     Either member can modify permissions at any time. Either member can delete the other member as a contact at any time. 
     Pseudocode descriptions of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to display address information of contacts and to perform birthday and address change notifications are shown in Appendices B, C and D, respectively. Each of these operations depends on which permissions respective users have been granted by the owner of the information. 
     Once the first user has finished specifying the data field permissions for the second user  600 - 4 , he clicks the Submit button  600 - 16  and the information entered is transferred via the computer communications network  360  to the server computer  330  where it is stored in the appropriate tables  350  of the database  340  (see  FIG. 5 ). A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to enable a user to change the permissions of contacts is shown in Appendix H. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 10 , a pseudo GUI  618  that displays the information stored in a user&#39;s personal address book is shown. The information in a user&#39;s personal address book is stored in the appropriate tables  350  of the database  340  on the server computer  330 , to which the client computer  370  is connected via the world wide web  360  (see  FIG. 5 ). The information in each user&#39;s personal address book is customized for that user, as described below. Each first user&#39;s personal address book contains information about each second user who has given the first user permission to view information in the second user&#39;s personal data record  636 . Which categories of each second user&#39;s information are displayed in the first user&#39;s personal address book is controlled completely by the second user, as explained in the description of  FIG. 9 . In addition, each second user&#39;s information is entered and maintained completely by the second user (e.g., “Donald Tully”), as explained in the description of  FIG. 7 . 
       FIG. 10  illustrates the Address Book pseudo GUI  620  at three levels, in which each next level allows the user to view progressively more detail about the contacts in his personal address book. 
     In level  1   620  of the pseudo address book GUI  618 , each letter of the alphabet is shown  622 . By clicking on any letter of the alphabet  622 , a first user can display a listing of the contacts whose last names begin with the letter of the alphabet selected, and about whom information is stored in the first user&#39;s personal address book. This information is displayed in the level  2   626  of the pseudo address book GUI. For example, if the first user clicks on the letter “T”  624  in level  1   620  of the pseudo address book interface, all contacts whose last names begin with the letter T and about whom information is stored in the first user&#39;s personal address book will be displayed  628  in level  2   626  of the pseudo address book GUI. 
     In level  2   626  of the pseudo address book GUI, a listing of the second users whose last names begin with the letter of the alphabet selected in level  1   620  of the pseudo address book GUI, and about whom information is stored in the first user&#39;s personal address book, is shown. By clicking on any second user&#39;s name, the first user can display the information about that second user stored in the first user&#39;s personal address book. This information is displayed in level  3   632  of the pseudo personal address book GUI. For example, if the first user clicks on the second user name “Tully, Donald”  630 , the information pertaining to Donald Tully stored in the first user&#39;s personal address book will be displayed in level  3   632  of the pseudo address book GUI. 
     In level  3   632  of the pseudo address book GUI, information  634  is shown about a specific second user that is stored in a first personal address book. Only the categories of information from the second user&#39;s personal data record that the second user gave the first user permission to view are displayed. The second user&#39;s information is entered and maintained completely by the second user. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second user&#39;s e-mail address  634 - 2  is displayed if the second user gave the first user any type of data field permission. The second user&#39;s work address and phone number  634 - 4  are displayed only if the second user gave the first user Work Information permission. The second user&#39;s home address and phone number  634 - 6  are displayed only if the second user gave the first user Personal Information permission. The second user&#39;s birthday and birth year  634 - 8  are displayed only if the second user gave the first user Birthday Notification permission. These permission rules are simply examples from the preferred embodiment. The present invention is not limited to the permission rules used in the preferred embodiment. 
     A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to display the address book listing is shown in Appendix B. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 11 , a member update pseudo GUI  650  is shown. This pseudo GUI  650  provides a first user with specific information that has changed about the other users to which the first user is linked, plus new information about contacts to whom the first user may wish to link. The information displayed in a user&#39;s member update is stored in the appropriate tables  350  of the database  340  on the server computer  330 , to which the client computer  370  is connected via the world wide web  360 . The member update pseudo GUI  650  is automatically displayed on the user interface  380  of the user workstation  370 , at an interval preset by the user. For example,  FIG. 11  displays a hypothetical member update  650 - 2  released on Dec. 7, 1998. The information displayed in the data fields below is information that has changed between Dec. 7, 1998 and the date of the previous update, the interval between which has been previously specified by the user. The information shown in each user&#39;s member update is customized for that user, as described below. 
     In a first portion of the member update pseudo GUI  650  shown in  FIG. 11 , if one or more of the second users who have linked to a first user and have provided Birthday Notification permission to the first user have upcoming birthdays, a text description  650 - 4  alerts the first user of the upcoming birthday(s). The names and birthdays  650 - 6  for those second users are listed below. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first user will receive this notification 2 weeks, 1 week, 2 days, and 1 day in advance of a particular upcoming birthday, and on the actual date of the birthday. The first user does not need to collect and input the birthday dates for each second user who has linked to the first user. Each second user&#39;s birthday information is entered and maintained completely by the second user, as shown in the Birthday field  560 - 12  of  FIG. 7 , the registration form pseudo GUI  560 . 
     In another portion of the member update pseudo GUI shown in  FIG. 11 , if one or more of the second users who have linked to the first user and have provided Personal Information permission or Work Information permission to the first user have changed their work or home address, a text description  650 - 8  alerts the first user. If a second user has changed his work address information and has given the first user Work Information permission, the second user&#39;s new work address information  650 - 10 ,  650 - 12  is displayed. If a second user has changed his home address information and has given the first user Personal Information permission, the second user&#39;s new home address information is displayed. 
     Each second user&#39;s address information is entered and maintained completely by the second user, as shown in the registration form pseudo GUI  560  of  FIG. 7 . After changing his address information in his personal data record, the second user does not need to specify that the new address information be provided to each first user to whom he has linked and given the proper form of data field permission. The new address information is provided to each first user quickly and automatically. In addition, the architecture of the present invention is scalable to include millions of users. 
     In another portion of the member update pseudo GUI  650  shown in  FIG. 11 , if one or more members has affiliated with a group with which the first user is also affiliated, a text description  650 - 14  will alert the first user. The name of the second user, the name of the group in which the first and second users share an affiliation, and the ending date of the second user&#39;s affiliation with that group are displayed  650 - 16 . 
     This portion of the registration form pseudo GUI  650  functions similarly to the group list form pseudo GUI shown in  FIG. 8 . If a new second user who fills out a registration form such as the pseudo GUI in  FIG. 7 , and therefore whose personal information is stored in the tables  350  of the database  340  on the server computer  330  has specified the same group affiliation as that specified by the first user in the College  560 - 20  data field, and that second user has specified a date range for that affiliation that intersects with the date range specified by the first user in the Year of College Enrollment  560 - 22  and College Graduation Year  560 - 24  data fields, the Name of the second user and the ending date of the second user&#39;s affiliation with that group  650 - 16  are displayed. Similarly, if the first user and the new second user were affiliated during an intersecting period of time with the group specified in the data field High School  560 - 14  in the pseudo GUI  560  shown in  FIG. 7 , the Name of the second user and the ending date of the second user&#39;s affiliation with that group  650 - 16  are displayed. 
     A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to display a list of service members who have recently joined a user&#39;s groups (i.e., members who are not current contacts of the user) is shown in Appendix E. 
     If the first user wishes to add contact information to his personal address book for any of the second users listed  650 - 16 , the first user can do so in a GUI similar to the group list form pseudo GUI  580  shown in  FIG. 8 . Each second user to whom the first user has initiated a link will then be informed of the link, and can then return the link and specify data field permissions for the first user, if any, as explained in the description of  FIG. 9 . 
     A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to identify people who have linked to a particular user are shown in Appendix F. 
     In another portion of the member update pseudo GUI  650  shown in  FIG. 11 , if a second user has initiated a link to a first user, the first user will be automatically notified  650 - 18  that a link has been made. For each second user that has initiated a link, the user&#39;s name  650 - 20  is shown. If the first user wishes, the first user can then return the link and specify data field permissions for the second user, if any, as explained in the description of  FIG. 9 . 
     Another section  650 - 22  of the member update pseudo GUI  650  shown in  FIG. 11  is used to inform a first user when the travel plans he has entered into the system overlap with the travel plans that any of his contacts has entered into the system, as long as the contact has granted the first user Crossing Paths Notification permission. 
     This system, termed “Crossing Paths Notification” in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, operates as follows. The home city or “base city” for each user is determined from information entered by that user in the Home Address data field  560 - 4 , as explained in the description of  FIG. 7 . The “City” table  550  ( FIG. 6 ) stored on the server computer  330  includes 1.7 million names of cities around the world. Each of these cities is associated with a precise latitude and longitude. If the user&#39;s base city cannot be matched to a city in the “City” table, the user can add the new city to the “City” table by giving the name of another city that is already in the “City” table that is nearby the user&#39;s base city. The user&#39;s base city is assigned the same latitude and longitude as the existing city. This information is used to associate each user with a precise longitude and latitude, and determine all cities within a 29-mile radius of the user&#39;s base city. 
     Whenever a user is planning to travel, he can specify the dates during which he will be away and the city he will be visiting. If a second user has granted a first user Crossing Paths Notification permission, and the first user has entered a Travel Event to a city that is within a 29-mile radius of the base city of the second user, the first user will be notified  650 - 22  ( FIG. 11 ) that he will be crossing paths with the second user  650 - 24  (e.g., “Andrew Kress”), as long as the second user has not also scheduled a travel event for the same time period. In another scenario, if a second user has granted a first user Crossing Paths Notification permission, and the first user has entered a travel event to a city that is within a 25-mile radius of a city to which the second user has scheduled a travel event during the same time period, the first user will be notified  650 - 22  that he will be crossing paths with the second user  650 - 24 . Travel events are described more fully in reference to  FIG. 12 . 
     The Crossing Paths Notification system is able to handle multiple cities in a single day. For instance, if a first user lives in Boston but is traveling to New York on March 5, then the first user will be informed if any contacts will be crossing paths on that day in either city. In addition, this system is scalable to millions of users. A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to enable a user to receive crossing paths notification is shown in Appendix I. 
     The final section  650 - 26  of the member update pseudo GUI  650  shown in  FIG. 11  is used to inform a first user which of his contacts has an astrological sign compatible with that of the first user on the date of the member update. Each member is associated with one of the twelve astrological signs based on the information he entered in the Birthday data field  560 - 12  in the registration form pseudo GUI  560  shown in  FIG. 7 . Each day of the year is mapped to one of these twelve signs. This information is stored in the appropriate table  350  in the database  340  on the server computer  330 . On a given day, all of a member&#39;s contacts who are associated with “sign of the day” are deemed to be compatible with the member. Only the names of contacts who have given the first user Birthday Notification permission will be shown in the member update pseudo GUI for the first user. A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to enable a user to receive notification of compatible contacts is shown in Appendix J. 
     The permission rules used in reference to  FIG. 11  are simply examples from the preferred embodiment. The present invention is not limited to the permission rules used in the preferred embodiment. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 12 , a pseudo Add Travel Form GUI  660  and a pseudo Crossing Paths List GUI  670  are shown. These two screens are used in the Crossing Paths Notification System. If a first member is planning a trip, the first member can use the pseudo Add Travel Form GUI  660  to add a Travel Event, in which he specifies the location  660 - 2 ,  660 - 4 ,  660 - 6 , dates  660 - 8 ,  660 - 10 , and contact information  660 - 20  for the intended trip. In the pseudo Crossing Paths List GUI  670 , the first member is informed which of the second members to whom he is linked and who have granted him Crossing Paths Permission will be in the vicinity of the city to which the first user is travelling, during the time period of the specified Travel Event. The first user can then use the pseudo Crossing Paths List GUI  670  to select which of the displayed second users the first user would like to inform of the first user&#39;s specified Travel Event. 
     The pseudo Add Travel Form  660  is displayed on the user interface  380  ( FIG. 5 ) of a user&#39;s client computer  370  when the user chooses to schedule a Travel Event. The user enters information about his scheduled trip in the data fields shown. In the Traveling To City field  660 - 2 , the user enters the name of the city to which he is traveling. In the State field  660 - 4 , the user enters the name of the state in which is located the city to which he is traveling. In the Country  660 - 6  field, the user enters the name of the country in which the city to which he is traveling is located. The information entered in these three fields  660 - 2 ,  660 - 4 ,  660 - 6  is used to locate the city for the Travel Event in the City table  550  on the server computer  330 . The exact latitude and longitude of the Travel Event city is then determined and a list is created of all cities located within a 25-mile radius of the Travel Event city. In the Arrive in City on Date field  660 - 8 , the user enters the first date on which he will be in the Travel Event city. In the Leave City on Date field  660 - 10 , the user enters the date beginning on which he will no longer be in the Travel Event city. The information entered in these two fields  660 - 8 ,  660 - 10  is used to determine the date range for the Travel Event. Finally, in the How to Get in Touch While in This City data field  660 - 20 , the user enters the method for contacting him during the Travel Event. After the user has finished entering information in the pseudo Add Travel Form GUI ( 12 - 1 ), the information entered is stored by the personal contact manager  343  in the Travel_Event table  520  on the server computer  330 . 
     The pseudo Crossing Paths List  670  is displayed on the user interface  380  of the first user&#39;s client computer  370  after a first user has scheduled a Travel Event using the pseudo Add Travel Form  660 . A text message  670 - 2  issued by the personal contact manager  330  informs the first user that one or more of his contacts will be in the same city as the first user during the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event. Those contacts (e.g., Scott Ulem, Taylor Pierce, Betsy Klein) who live in the city of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event are listed  670 - 6 , as well as those contacts (e.g., Tania Gutsche) who will be visiting the city of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event  670 - 8 . The contacts listed in the field  670 - 6  are those second users who have granted the first user Crossing Paths Permission, and who have listed in the Home Address field  560 - 4  ( FIG. 7 ) of their Personal Data Record the city of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event, or any city within a 25-mile radius of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event. The contacts listed in the field  670 - 8  are those second users who have granted the first user Crossing Paths Permission, and who have scheduled a Travel Event to the city of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event, or any city within a 25-mile radius of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event, during the date range of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event. For each contact name listed in both fields  670 - 6 ,  670 - 8 , the first user can choose to inform that contact of the first user&#39;s scheduled Travel Event by clicking on the checkbox to the left of that contacts name. When the first user is finished selecting contacts, he then clicks the Submit button  670 - 10 , which copies the information entered to the server computer ( 5 - 45 ) to be stored in the tables  350  by the networked personal contact manager  343 . For each second user whom the first user selected, the second user is informed, in a screen similar to the pseudo Member Update GUI shown in  FIG. 11 , of the first user&#39;s Travel Event and the means of contacting the first user  660 - 20  during the Travel Event. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 13 , a diagram illustrating the Friends of Friends system is shown. The Friends of Friends system allows a first member to search for the names of contacts of their contacts who live in the same city as the first member or are affiliated with a group with which the first member is also affiliated. When a first user performs a Friends of Friends search, the personal contact manager  343  displays, via the web server software  342 , the results of the search on the user interface  380  ( FIG. 5 ) of the first user&#39;s client computer  370  in a GUI similar to the pseudo Friends of Friends report GUI  688 . After locating a second member who is a friend of a friend, the first member can then link to that second member in order to add the second member to the first user&#39;s Personal Address Book, as explained in the descriptions of  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9  above. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the personal contact manager  343 , the Friends of Friends system operates as follows. If a Member A  680  is linked to a Member B  682  with any level of permissions  681  and the Member B  682  is linked to a Member C  684  with any level of permissions  685 , then if Member C  684  grants to Member B  682  Friends of Friends permissions  687  and Member B  682  also grants to Member A  680  Friends of Friends permissions  683 , then Member A is eligible to receive Friends of Friends notification about Member C. When a first user performs a Friends of Friends search, the results of the search will include all second users who have affiliated themselves with a group with which the first user is affiliated and all second users who live in the same city in which the first user lives, so long as the first user is eligible to receive Friends of Friends notification about those second users, as described above. For example, if Member A and Member C both belong to Group A  686 , and Member A is eligible to receive Friends of Friends notification about Member C, then the result of Member A&#39;s Friends of Friends search  688  generated by the personal contact manager  343  will include Member C  690 . 
     A pseudocode description of the actions performed by the personal contact manager software  343  to perform a search for friends and friends of friends in a specific city is shown in Appendix G. 
     The present invention is not limited to the search criteria or levels of separation in the preferred embodiment. The database architecture in the present invention is flexible to allow searches to be extended to more than one degree of separation. For instance, it would be possible to add a Friends of Friends of Friends search feature. The architecture is also flexible to allow new search criteria to be added. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , in each of the embodiments described above, the user information is stored on the server  330  and all user access to the user information is mediated by a client web browser  382 , the web server software  342  and the server personal contact manager software  343 . In an alternative embodiment, which is configured for personal information managers (PIMs), such as the U.S. Robotics Palm Pilot, a user is able to synchronize their user information and their PIM database  390  through an importation/synchronization function performed by the personal contact manager software  343 . The synchronization operation can be performed in either direction (i.e., client to server or server to client). The server personal contact manager software  343  will then use the web server software  342  to communicate with the PIM software  392  of the user&#39;s contacts, if applicable, and, in accordance with the permission scheme already described, synchronize the databases  390  in the contacts&#39; PIMs. All database, personal contact management and linking operations already described are operable in the alternative embodiment, except the GUIs might be different, depending on the graphical capabilities of the client  370  running the PIM program  392 . Thus, the alternative embodiment allows full synchronization of PIMs and the server database  340 . 
     A data flow diagram illustrating the operation of the alternative embodiment is shown in  FIG. 14 . In the illustrated situation a user A submits an address change from their client computer  370 A. In response to the update, the personal contact manager  343  running on the server  330  updates user A&#39;s address information in the server database  340  (not shown) and issues an update notification to the client computer  370 B used by user B, who is a contact of user A. This alternative embodiment assumes that user B has a PIM (also referred to as a personal digital assistant or PDA) that they would like to synchronize with the server database  340 . In such a case PIM Software  392  running on the client  370 B performs the synchronization operation based on the user A address update information provided by the server  330 . Following the synchronization operation, the PDA database  390  has the same information for user A as the server database  340 . Alternatively, the PDA  750  can be coupled directly to the Internet (indicated by the dashed line), in which case it operates substantially as a typical client computer  370  described in reference to  FIG. 5 . However, one difference is that the PDA  750  maintains its own database  390  instead of relying solely on the server database  340 . 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to a few specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     Appendix A 
     Display Group Member List 
     Submit group name. 
     Match group name to GroupID in Group table. 
     Join Affinity table to Customer table and CustomerPrefs table based on CustomerID. 
     Show contact information from Customer and CustomerPrefs tables when the Affinity table contains a record matching the CustomerID to the specified GroupID. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
               
               
             
               
             
           
               
                 APPENDIX B 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Display Address Book Listing 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 If MemberFriend AND a Reciprocated Link then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 If have Personal or Professional Permissions then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show person&#39;s real email address. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 else 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show person&#39;s PlanetAll address. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Personal Permission and Biography Exists then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show Biography. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 If (have Personal or Professional Permissions) AND universal resource locator 
               
             
          
           
               
                 (URL) exists then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show URL. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If (Person is visible in group and Group Perms &gt; 0) AND you have Common 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Groups then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show the groups you have in common. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If Person is in one of more of your personal email lists then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show the lists the person belongs to. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Personal Permissions and Phone Type is one of personal phone types 
               
             
          
           
               
                 then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show phone. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Professional Permissions and phone type is one of professional phone 
               
             
          
           
               
                 types then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show phone. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Personal Permissions and address Type is one of personal address types 
               
             
          
           
               
                 then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show address. 
               
               
                   
                 if address is in USA then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show map link. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Professional Permissions and address type is one of professional address 
               
             
          
           
               
                 types then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show address. 
               
               
                   
                 if address is in USA then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show map link. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Professional Permissions and Professional Info Exists then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show the professional info the person has entered. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Occasions Permissions and Birthday exists then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show the contact&#39;s birthday. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If have Occasions Permissions and Anniversary exists then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show the contact&#39;s Anniversary. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If contact has entered spouse&#39;s name then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show spouse&#39;s name. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
               
                   
                 If contact has entered self description then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show self description. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 end if 
               
             
          
           
               
                 else if MemberFriend AND a Non-Reciprocated Link then 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Show message person has not linked back and give link so person can 
               
               
                   
                 email the unlinked person to tell them they have linked to them, (after 
               
               
                   
                 com/ASP rewrite will not show email so spammers can&#39;t make lists). 
               
             
          
           
               
                 end if 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Appendix C 
     Birthday Notification 
     Birthdays are determined by the DayOfYear field in the customers table. 
     Create a list of all my contacts: 
     
         
         
           
             Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID.
 
For each of my contacts, check to see if the DayOfYear is within seven days of the current DayOfYear.
 
           
         
         Select the DayOfYear from the Customers table for all of the customers in my list of contacts. 
         If the DayOfYear is within seven days of the current DayOfYear, then select the name of the customer.
 
Display the names of all my contacts who have birthdays in the next seven days.
 
       
    
     Appendix D 
     Address Change Notification 
     To determine which of a member&#39;s contacts&#39; addresses have changed: 
     Create a list of all my contacts: 
     
         
         
           
             Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID.
 
Find out which of these contacts have changed their addresses:
 
             Link the Customers table and find records for my contacts where AddressID is greater than the lowest Address ID having a date greater than the date on which my last email update was sent.
 
Find out which of these contacts have given me permission to see the address information that has changed:
 
             Make sure that the appropriate permission appears in the record in the friend table linking me to the contact.
 
Display information for these contacts.
 
           
         
       
    
     Appendix E 
     Show New Group Members 
     Create a list of all my groups: 
     
         
         
           
             Go to the affinity table and select all the records for my CustomerID Select the GroupID for each of the records. 
             Do not include other customers&#39; private groups to which I have been added For each of my affinity records, check to see that Group Perms are &gt;0.
 
Create a list of all my contacts:
 
             Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID.
 
Create a list of people who joined my groups:
 
             Go to the affinity table and select all the affinity records for my groups. 
             Select only affinity records for customers who joined the group after I joined.
           Select affinity records where the date of the record is after the date for my affinity record in the same group.   Select only affinity records for people who joined the groups after my last email was sent.   Select affinity records where the date of the record is after my Sent date in the Email table.   
         
             Do not include people that are in my list of contacts:
           Select only affinity records where the CustomerID is not included in the list of all my contacts.   
         
             Select the CustomerID from each affinity record in the list of people who joined my groups. 
             Go to the Customers table to find the name of each customer who joined my groups. 
           
         
       
    
     Appendix F 
     People Who Have Linked To You 
     Linking the Friends table and the Customers table based on the CustomerID field, select the following information from the two tables: 
     CustomerID from the Friends table. 
     First Name from the Customers table. 
     Last Name from the Customers table. 
     Record Date from the Friends table. 
     Permission level from the Friends table. 
     Where my CustomerID is not among the CustomerIDs found in the following search: 
     CustomerID in the Friends Table is my CustomerID 
     AND the Record Date from the Friends table is within the last 30 days 
     AND I haven&#39;t already linked to the person 
     Appendix G 
     Search for Friends of Friends in a Particular City 
     Specify City. Match to CityID in City table. 
     Create a list of all my contacts 
     Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID 
     Make a temporary table linking the Friends table to itself called Friend_ 1  and establish the following relationships: 
     
         
         CustomerIDs for the contacts of my contacts appear in the Customer field of the Friends table 
         CustomerIDs for my contacts appear in the Friend field of the Friends table 
         CustomerIDs for my contacts also appear in the Customer field of the Friends_ 1  table (this is how the tables are joined) 
         My Customer ID appears in the Friend field of the Friend_ 1  table 
         The Friend and Friend_ 1  tables are joined on t
 
Show information for the contacts of my contacts (i.e. the Customers from the Friends table) where the following conditions are true:
       The Friends of Friends permission was granted from the contacts of my contacts to my contacts.   The Friends of Friends permission was granted from my contacts to me.   The contact does not already appear in the list of all my contact created above.   The city for the contact of my contact matches the specified city.   
     
       
    
     Appendix H 
     Change Permissions 
     Join the Customer table to the Friend table based on CustomerID. 
     Create a list of all my contacts: 
     Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID. 
     Show First Name and Last Name for my contacts from the Customer table. 
     Allow me to pick a name from this list as the contact whose permissions I would like to change. 
     Display the permission level that I have given this contact. It is stored as the PermissionType field in the Friend table. 
     Allow access to the PermissionType for this record in the Friend table. 
     Appendix I 
     Crossing Paths Notification 
     Create a list of all my contacts: 
     
         
         
           
             Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID.
 
Create a list of all my contacts&#39; travel events:
 
             Go to the Queue Travel Event table and select all QueueIds where the CustomerID is in my list of contacts. 
             Do not include trips for people who linked to me but did not give me crossing paths permission:
           Check the permissions field in the Friend table for each of my contacts to see if I have crossing paths permissions.   
         
             Do not include trips if my contact specified that I should not be informed:
           For each of my contacts&#39; trips, check the Travel Exception table to see if my CustomerID is included in the list of people who should not be informed of the trip.
 
Create a list of my location for the next seven days:
   
         
             Select the arrival date, departure date, and city for all my trips in Queue Travel Event for the next seven days. 
             For days when I am not traveling, select my city from the customers table.
 
Select from the list of my friends&#39; trips, all the trips to cities that are within 3000 latitude and 3000 longitude to my location for each of the next seven days.
 
Go to the Customers table and find the names of all the people with whom I will be crossing paths.
 
           
         
         Select first name and last name from the customers table for all the CustomerIDs in the list of my contacts trips 
       
    
     Appendix J 
     Compatible Contacts 
     Create a list of all my contacts: 
     
         
         
           
             Go to the Friend table and select all Customers where FriendID=my CustomerID.
 
Determine my Zodiac sign:
 
             Select my DayOfYear from the Customers table. 
             Select the Zodiac sign from the Zodiac table where my DayOfYear is between the DayFrom and DayTo fields.
 
Determine my compatible Zodiac sign for today:
 
             Go to the Horoscope table and select the Compatible field from the row for my Zodiac sign and today&#39;s date.
 
Find my compatible contacts for today:
 
             Select the DayFrom and DayTo fields from the Zodiac table for my compatible zodiac sign. 
             Select my contacts from the list of all my contacts whose DayOfYear is between the DayFrom and DayTo fields for my compatible sign.