Method and system for the phased retrieval of data
First Claim
1. A method of retrieving an electronic message from a server (2) using a terminal device (1), the message (20) comprising a header (21) and a body (22) capable of containing characters, the method comprising the steps of:
- establishing a communications link (6) between the server and the terminal device, the server transmitting the header (21) and the first N characters (24) of the body to the terminal device, where N is a predetermined integer, while holding back any attachments (23), the server transmitting a flag (30) indicative of any remaining characters (24) of the body and/or any attachments (23) to the terminal device.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a method of retrieving electronic messages the server (2) sends the header and the first N text characters of th message body to the terminal device (1), while holding back any remaining text and any attachments. The server also sends a first flag indicative of any remaining text characters and a second flag indicative of any attachments to the terminal device. The user (5) of the terminal device can then decide to retrieve more text characters and/or any attachments. This phased message retrieval avoids downloading oversized messages and thus saves bandwidth. The terminal device (1) may be a handheld device, for example a mobile telephone or a PDA.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of retrieving an electronic message from a server (2) using a terminal device (1), the message (20) comprising a header (21) and a body (22) capable of containing characters, the method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communications link (6) between the server and the terminal device, the server transmitting the header (21) and the first N characters (24) of the body to the terminal device, where N is a predetermined integer, while holding back any attachments (23), the server transmitting a flag (30) indicative of any remaining characters (24) of the body and/or any attachments (23) to the terminal device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system (10) for retrieving electronic messages, the system comprising a server (2) and a terminal device (1), wherein the messages (20) comprise a header (21) and a body (22) capable of containing characters, the server and the terminal device being capable of establishing a communications link (6), wherein
the server is arranged for transmitting the header (21) and the first N characters (24) of the body to the terminal device, where N is a predetermined integer, while holding back any remaining characters and any attachments, the server is arranged for transmitting a flag indicative of any remaining characters (24) of the body and any attachments (23) to the terminal device.
Specification