Enhancement of e-mail client user interfaces and e-mail message formats

• US 20080005247A9
• Filed: 06/02/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Slack Technologies, Inc. (Salesforce.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Advenix
• Inventors: Khoo, Justin
• Granted Patent: US 8,032,597 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services

Abstract

An enhancement to e-mail user interfaces and message formats includes a dynamic preview window to view and retrieve attachments and summaries of e-mail messages directly in the e-mail list view or inbox view without opening an e-mail message. The efficient viewing mechanism further allows previews without cluttering the listing of the e-mails in the inbox by allowing the client to detect special preview instructions within an e-mail and run executables within the preview window. The enhancement is applicable to standalone e-mail clients (POP or IMAP based) and to web-based e-mail systems.

Claims

1. A method of enhancing an e-mail user interface, comprising:

associating with e-mails in an inbox view listing of e-mails a preview trigger; and

upon activation by a user of the preview trigger associated with one of said e-mails, opening a temporary preview window on said inbox view while said preview trigger is activated, and

displaying a preview of content in the associated e-mail within said preview window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said activating comprises moving a cursor over an entry for said associated e-mail in said listing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said activating comprises clicking on an entry for said associated e-mail in said listing.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said preview window includes a browser, and the method further comprises fetching data from an e-mail application for display within said preview window with calls to the e-mail application using the browser.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising updating the content preview in the preview window by refreshing the preview window from the e-mail application.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a text box within the preview window, and replying to a previewed e-mail with text entered into the text box by the user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said replying comprises executing a script that communicates with the e-mail application to forward said text entered into the text box.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said replying comprises communicating with an instant messenger server using an instant messenger plug-in to forward said text.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a link for an attachment to the e-mail, and said method further comprises extracting said attachment using said link without opening the e-mail.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said extracting said attachment comprises presenting the attachment to the user.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said method automatically renders said attachment upon opening of the preview window.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising rendering said attachment within the preview window.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein said link communicates with an e-mail application to extract said attachment from the e-mail and to launch an appropriate reader to render the attachment.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein said link is a URL to an e-mail server that upon being accessed downloads and renders said attachment in a web browser of the user from a web-based e-mail client application.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein said attachment comprises images, and said rendering comprises rendering a sequence of said images with user controls to enable controlling said sequence.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said rendering comprises automatically rendering said images and user controls upon opening of the preview window.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said e-mail comprises multi-media content, and the method further comprises associating with the preview window control mechanisms for enabling the user to control rendering of said multi-media content.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising downloading said multi-media content to the preview window from a remote server.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said opening a preview window comprises creating the preview window using a function call to an e-mail application.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising embedding preview instructions within a header of an e-mail to load an application in the preview window that allows a user to respond to the e-mail from the preview window.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising automatically retrieving from a network server and installing using said application a plug-in for rendering an attachment to the previewed e-mail.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein said preview trigger comprises an icon adjacent to said e-mail, and said method comprises activating said preview trigger upon positioning a cursor relative to said icon.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising changing the state of said icon in response to information referenced by the e-mail changing.

24. An enhanced e-mail user interface for an e-mail client application comprising:

a preview mechanism comprising a preview trigger for each of one or more of a plurality of e-mails in an inbox view listing of said e-mails;

an indicator of the preview trigger associated with an entry on the e-mail view listing for each of said one or more e-mails; and

a temporary preview window created during activation of the preview mechanism for rendering a preview of the content of a selected one of said e-mails within the preview window.

25. The interface of claim 24, wherein said preview window contains links for expanding the preview window to include a text box for replying to the e-mail from within the preview window.

26. The interface of claim 25 further comprising a script routine that communicates with an e-mail application to reply to the e-mail with text entered into the text box.

27. The interface of claim 26 further comprising a plug-in that communicates with an instant messenger to enable reply to the e-mail with text entered into the text box.

28. The interface of claim 24 further comprising an indicator within the preview window for indicating an attachment of a previewed e-mail, and a link that communicates with the e-mail application to launch a reader to render the attachment in the preview window.

29. The interface of claim 25, wherein the e-mail application is web-based, and the link comprises a URL to an e-mail server for downloading the attachment using a web browser.

30. The interface of claim 24, wherein the preview window indicates the presence of an image in a previewed e-mail, and includes a link that communicates with the e-mail application to load the image into the preview window.

31. The interface of claim 24, wherein said e-mail comprises an e-mail header, and said preview trigger comprises preview instructions in said header that direct the e-mail application to load another application into the preview window to enable interaction with the preview of said e-mail.

32. The interface of claim 31, wherein said other application includes one of a plug-in or a Java applet for loading said other application with the previewed e-mail.

33. The interface of claim 32, wherein said preview window comprises an executable for obtaining application information related to preview instructions embedded within the e-mail being previewed.

34. The interface of claim 24, wherein said indicator of the preview trigger comprises an icon associated with an e-mail of said e-mail list view, and preview instructions in a header of such e-mail responsive to triggering of said icon.

35. The interface of claim 24 wherein said preview window comprises another indicator within said preview window associated with a previewed e-mail for enabling a recipient to respond to the previewed e-mail.

36. A method of enhancing an e-mail for preview by a recipient without opening the e-mail, comprising embedding within the e-mail preview instructions for previewing content of the e-mail and a preview trigger mechanism for generating a preview of the e-mail, said preview trigger mechanism opening a preview window, and said preview instructions specifying a type of application needed for interpreting the instructions and for launching the application within the preview window to render said preview of the e-mail.