COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND SYSTEM FOR MERGING TOPICALLY RELATED E-MAIL IN A COLLABORATIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT

• US 20080168060A1
• Filed: 03/20/2008
• Published: 07/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Truty, Gregory Louis
• Granted Patent: US 7,809,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A mechanism is presented for merging e-mail messages into a collated file. An e-mail message and its associated responses may be accessed and collated based on a selected pattern for responses. The set of e-mails may be collated into a single document with the responses associated with the particular message to which the response is directed. Using pattern matching operations in an iterative fashion, a response may be associated with the message that elicited the response whether the original message or a previous response. The form of association may be user selectable.

Claims

1-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A computer program product tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium, the program product for collating e-mail comprising programming instructions for:

(a) differencing at least one first e-mail message and a second e-mail message wherein said at least one first e-mail message is prior to said second e-mail message, said differencing generating a set of unmatched text and a set of matched text;

(b) matching said set of matched text against a collated message file, said matching step identifying a position in said collated message file at an end of a portion of said collated message file corresponding to said set of matched text; and

(c) inserting said set of unmatched text in said collated message file at said position;

wherein said at least one first e-mail message and said second e-mail message comprise a set of topically-related e-mail selected in response to a preselected pattern in a header portion of each e-mail of said set of topically-related e-mail;

(d) searching each e-mail message of said set of topically-related e-mail for at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers;

(e) if said at least one at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers matches a portion of said message of said set of topically-related messages;

(i) selecting a portion of said message not having said prepended identifier;

(ii) inserting said portion from (i) into said collated message file at a position following a portion matching a set of text having said at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers; and

(iii) bypassing (a)-(c).

13. The program product of claim 12 further comprising programming instructions for:

(f) extracting said set of text having said at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers;

(g) stripping said at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers from said set of text; and

(h) matching a set of text from (g) against said collated message file, wherein said position in (e)(ii) comprises a position at an end of a portion of said collated message file matching a set of text from (g).

14. The program product of claim 12 wherein said programming instructions for searching each e-mail message of said set of topically-related e-mail comprises programming instructions for searching each e-mail in chronological order of said set of topically-related e-mail.

15-18. -18. (canceled)

19. A data processing system for collating e-mail comprising:

(a) circuitry operable for differencing at least one first e-mail message and a second e-mail message wherein said at least one first e-mail message is prior to said second e-mail message, said differencing generating a set of unmatched text and a set of matched text;

(b) circuitry operable for matching said set of matched text against a collated message file, said matching step identifying a position in said collated message file at an end of a portion of said collated message file corresponding to said set of matched text; and

(c) circuitry operable for inserting said set of unmatched text in said collated message file at said position;

wherein said at least one first e-mail message and said second e-mail message comprise a set of topically-related e-mail selected in response to a preselected pattern in a header portion of each e-mail of said set of topically-related e-mail;

(d) circuitry operable for searching each e-mail message of said set of topically-related e-mail for at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers;

(e) circuitry operable for, if said at least one at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers matches a portion of said message of said set of topically-related messages;

(i) selecting a portion of said message not having said prepended identifier;

(ii) inserting said portion from (i) into said collated message file at a position following a portion matching a set of text having said at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers; and

(iii) bypassing (a)-(c).

20. The data processing system of claim 19 further comprising:

(f) circuitry operable for extracting said set of text having said at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers;

(g) circuitry operable for stripping said at least one member of a preselected set of prepended identifiers from said set of text; and

(h) circuitry operable for matching a set of text from (g) against said collated message file, wherein said position in (e)(ii) comprises a position at an end of a portion of said collated message file matching a set of text from (g).