Mechanisms for updating an address book. A first computing system
generates an address book update file format and provides the file to a
second computing system. The file format contains several data fields.
One of the data fields consists of a configurable list of attribute
property identifications. These property identifications represent
address book information such as e-mail address, phone number, first
name, surname, and the like. A second data field comprises contact data
that includes at least some of the properties identified by the
configurable list. Changes to the information contained in the address
book update may be made by simply adding or deleting attribute property
identifications. This has the effect of allowing modifications to the
address book file format without having to generate a new file format.