Contacts

1 Setting up a Contact List
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The Nokia 9000i Communicator has a Contact database which acts as a central repository of "address book" information. Every time the user enters information about how a place may be reached by phone, fax, or e-mail that information is stored in the Contact database.

Whenever you prompt the user for information about where to send something, you'll probably use the Contact database. This will allow the user to choose which of their contacts should receive.

There are two libraries which exist to keep track of the Contact database and provide an API for the applications which share access to it.

The ContDB library keeps track of the contact information, and may be used to look up or edit contact information. It also provides a controller which allows the user to choose a contact from a list of existing contacts.
The ContLog library provides an API for logging what sorts of communication has been made with the entities described in the Contact database. It also provides a controller which allows the user to select a recently contacted contact.

The Contact database is a Foam database, and some operations upon the database will make use of Foam database commands. We will not explore the meanings of these commands closely here, but will show how they are used in the context of the Contact database.

Before reading this chapter, you should be familiar with controllers, Object-Oriented Programming, and the GEOS messaging system. It helps if you try out the "Contacts" built-in application, which demonstrates much of the functionality we'll discuss here.

Most programmers first encounter the ContDB and ContLog libraries when they need to intercept a message associated with a ContactList or perhaps a RecentContactsControl object. These object classes provide the user with a standard way to choose a contact.

There are other controllers which allow the user to choose an SMS contact. SMAddressControlClass allows the user to choose a recipient for a SMS message. This class should cover some applications' needs when it comes to allowing the user to choose a contact. However, if you need a custom control, you may wish to use a ContactList and/or a RecentContactsSMSControl .

A ContactList presents the user with a list of known contacts. The user may choose a name from the list. In Setting up a Contact List , we show how to set up such an object and get the phone number of the contact the user selects.

The RecentContactsSMSControl presents the user with a list containing names and numbers associated with contacts that have recently had SMS transactions with the user. The user may choose a name or number from the list. In Choosing Contacts From a Log , we show how to set up such an object and get the phone number of the contact the user selects.

  1 Setting up a Contact List
    1.1 Multiple-Selection ContactLists
    1.2 Remembering the Search
    1.3 Detecting Unknown Phone Numbers
    1.4 Alternate Messages
  2 Choosing Contacts From a Log
  3 Using a Dedicated Contact
  4 Logging Calls
  5 To Get More Info on a Contact
  6 The User's Own Data

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1 Setting up a Contact List