System and method for sectional e-mail transmission

• US 20060041625A1
• Filed: 08/19/2004
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Walker, Keith Raymond, Handy-Bosma, John Hans, Chen, Yen-Fu, Selvage, Mei Yang
• Application Number:
  US10/922,249
• Publication Number:
  US 20060041625A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A process of segmenting a single email so that portions of it may be directed to or away from select recipients is disclosed. The sender highlights portions of the email and right clicks (or key command, button, or menu item) and selects an option to select recipients. The operator interface then provides the sender with the option of selecting recipients from their address book or the server'"'"'s address book. To speed the process along, the sender may select those already on the To, Cc, or Bcc distribution lists. The sender then selects whether those chosen will receive the highlighted portion or if they will be excluded from receiving it. Lastly, the sender will have the option of providing text that is unique to each of the selected groups.

Claims

1. A method for simultaneous transmission of sections of an email to different recipients without the need to send separate emails comprising the steps of:

at a client computer;

selecting a section of the email;

selecting a recipient for the section; and

inserting a section information that identifies a recipient for the section into a header of the email.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

at a server computer;

receiving the email;

parsing the header for the section information; and

sending only the section of the email associated with the section information to a messaging program for transmission to the recipient.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

parsing the header to determine if a recipient requires approval; and

responsive to determining that a recipient requires approval, holding the email and sending a copy of the email to an approver.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a reply from an approver, and responsive to the reply being an approval, sending the email to the messaging program.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a reply from an approver, and responsive to the reply being a disapproval, canceling the email.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

responsive to canceling the email, sending a status to the approver and to an originator of the email.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to passing a cursor over the selected section of the email, displaying a window showing a recipient of the selected section.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting a section of the email by highlighting.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting a recipient field from a dialog box.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

responsive to selecting a recipient field, selecting a recipient from an address book.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

responsive to selecting a recipient field, entering a recipient address.

12. A program product operable on a computer for simultaneous transmission of sections of an email to different recipients without the need to send separate emails comprising:

a computer readable medium;

wherein the computer readable medium comprises instructions for a computer to perform steps comprising;

at a client computer;

selecting a section of the email;

selecting a recipient for the section; and

inserting a section information that identifies a recipient for the section into a header of the email.

13. The program product of claim 12 further comprising:

at a server computer;

receiving the email;

parsing the header for the section information; and

sending only the section of the email associated with the section information to a messaging program for transmission to the recipient.

14. The program product of claim 12 further comprising:

parsing the header to determine if a recipient requires approval; and

responsive to determining that a recipient requires approval, holding the email and sending a copy of the email to an approver.

15. The program product of claim 14 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a reply from an approver, and responsive to the reply being an approval, sending the email to the messaging program.

16. The program product of claim 14 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a reply from an approver, and responsive to the reply being a disapproval, canceling the email.

17. The program product of claim 16 further comprising:

responsive to canceling the email, sending a status to the approver and to an originator of the email.

18. The program product of claim 12 further comprising:

responsive to passing a cursor over the selected section of the email, displaying a window showing a recipient of the selected section.

19. The program product of claim 12 further comprising:

selecting a section of the email by highlighting.

20. The program product of claim 12 further comprising:

selecting a recipient field from a dialog box.

21. The program product of claim 20 further comprising:

responsive to selecting a recipient field, selecting a recipient from an address book.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

responsive to selecting a recipient field, entering a recipient address.

23. An apparatus for simultaneous transmission of sections of an email to different recipients without the need to send separate emails comprising:

a client computer and a server computer connected to a network;

a program in the memory of the client computer and the server computer with instructions for, at the client computer;

selecting a section of the email;

selecting a recipient for the section; and

inserting a section information that identifies a recipient for the section into a header of the email;

at the server computer;

receiving the email;

parsing the header for the section information; and

sending only the section of the email associated with the section information to a messaging program for transmission to the recipient.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

parsing the header to determine if a recipient requires approval; and

responsive to determining that a recipient requires approval, holding the email and sending a copy of the email to an approver.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the instructions further comprise:

responsive to receiving a reply from an approver, and responsive to the reply being an approval, sending the email to the messaging program.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the instructions further comprise:

responsive to receiving a reply from an approver, and responsive to the reply being a disapproval, canceling the email.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the instructions further comprise:

responsive to canceling the email, sending a status to the approver and to an originator of the email.

28. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

responsive to passing a cursor over the selected section of the email, displaying a window showing a recipient of the selected section.

29. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

selecting a section of the email by highlighting.

30. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

selecting a recipient field from a dialog box.

31. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

responsive to selecting a recipient field, selecting a recipient from an address book.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the instructions further comprise:

responsive to selecting a recipient field, entering a recipient address.