A method for a user's mobile client computer to update its configuration specification
involves receiving an e-mail from an administrator containing location settings
encoded in an attachment, openings the attachment to the e-mail, and writing location
values corresponding to the location settings encoded in the attachment into the
configuration specification of the computer. In the preferred embodiment, the e-mail
includes a designation of a location name corresponding to the configuration specification.
In the e-mail attachment, the location settings are generically defined so as to
apply to a variety of operating systems. The user's mobile client application determines
an operating system type for the computer, and generates the location values by
interpreting the location settings for the operating system type for the computer.
The interpretation of the generic location settings to produce the location values
involves referring to program logic which translates the location settings into
location values as a function of the operating system type for the computer. The
location settings which may be specified according to the present invention includes
internet settings, such as internet protocol address, a domain name server configuration,
a gateway, and a WINS configuration, and further include dialing settings or local
area network settings. According to another aspect, an administrator application
provides a user's client computer with configuration settings. The administrator
application specifies a location name for the user's client computer. The administrator
application further creates an e-mail addressed to the user having the location
settings encoded in an attachment, and the administrator application sends the
e-mail to the user.
