The following diagram illustrates the processes by which Phone Book Service queries the server database with variable values sent by Connection Manager and then downloads the appropriate .cab file.
The identifiers (S1, S2, S3, and so on) correspond to process steps in the diagram and are described below.
| Process step | Explanation |
| S1 | Phone Book Administrator posts server database and .cab files to Phone Book Service. Phone Book Administrator connects to port 20 or 21 to transfer the database and files using FTP. |
| S2 | The .cab files are placed in a phone book directory. The administration tool transfers each .cab file to its corresponding directory, which has the same name as the phone book. A .cab file can be either a partial phone book update (Delta.cab) or a full phone book update (Full.cab). |
| S3 | The database and monitor files are placed in the \Data\Database directory. Phone Book Administrator transfers Newpb.mdb and the text file Newpb.txt (monitor file) to the database directory. Phone Book Service then renames Newpb.mdb to PBServer.mdb. |
| S4 | Connection Manager sends query variables to Phone Book Service. Using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the Phone Book Service receives query variables from Connection Manager. |
| S5 |
Query variables are validated by Phone Book Service. They are then used to determine which .cab file the server should retrieve. The following is a list of query variables. Variables preceded by *are sent by Connection Manager but are not queried in this version of Connection Point Services: *OSArch. CPU Architecture *LCID. Local ID PB. Connection Point Phone Book PbVer. Phone Book version *Osver. Operating system version *Cmver. Connection Manager version Ostype. Operating system Phone Book Service reads the query variables sent by Connection Manager (PB, PbVer, OSType), and then uses the PB variable to select the correct phone book database. Phone Book Service references the phone book table located in the phone book database and uses the PbVer and OSType variables to determine whether the phone book version located on the user’s computer is current and what type of operating system the user is using. If the phone book version is more than five updates old, a full .cab file is downloaded. If the phone book version is five or fewer versions old, a corresponding delta .cab file is downloaded. |
| S6 | The .cab file path is retrieved. The server uses the path specified in the database to download the indexed .cab file to the client. If no matching .cab file is found, an error message is returned. For a list of error messages, see Connection Point Services Reference Guide. |
| S7 | The .cab file is retrieved by Phone Book Service. The server retrieves the .cab file from the directory specified by the database. |
| S8 | Connection Manager receives the .cab file. The server downloads the .cab file to Connection Manager, which updates the user’s phone book. |