Method and Apparatus for Management of Broadcast-Distributed Data Entities

• US 20080195708A1
• Filed: 02/09/2007
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kirkland, Dustin C., Paranjape, Ameet M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,849,920 B2
• 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 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes

Abstract

A method, computer program product, and data processing system for reducing the storage needed for broadcast-distributed data entities, such as electronic mail messages from a mailing list, are disclosed. Locally stored data entities that are determined to have corresponding copies elsewhere are replaced with identifying information to allow the corresponding copies to be retrieved. In a preferred embodiment, locally-stored electronic mail messages in an electronic mail server that are determined to come from archived mailing lists are replaced periodically with one or more URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) of archived copies of the message. When a request from a mail client to download the electronic mail message is received, the message is reconstructed from the archived copy and returned to the client, rather than being retrieved from local storage.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system having a local mailbox containing a plurality of messages, the method comprising:

determining, for a particular message in the local mailbox, if at least one copy of said particular message exists in a remote location; and

in response to a determination that at least one copy of said particular message exists, replacing said particular message with an identification of a location corresponding to the at least one copy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said particular message is an electronic mail message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining includes determining if the electronic mail message originated from an archived mailing list.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one copy is a web page that includes message content from the electronic mail message.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a request for the electronic mail message from a client;

retrieving a copy of the electronic mail message in accordance with said identification of location; and

returning the copy of the electronic mail message to the client in fulfillment of the request.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

converting the copy of the electronic mail message into an electronic mail message format prior to being returned to the client.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining includes invoking a search engine to locate at least one copy of said particular message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the location of the at least one copy is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the local mailbox stores messages for a plurality of recipients of said particular message and wherein for each of the plurality of recipients, said particular message is replaced with a value shared among the plurality of recipients.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein said particular message is an electronic mail message.

16. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein said determining includes invoking a search engine to locate at least one copy of said particular message.

17. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the identification of the location of the at least one copy is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

10. A computer program product in a computer-readable medium, comprising functional descriptive material that, when executed by a computer having a local mailbox containing a plurality of messages, causes the computer to perform actions that include:

determining, for a particular message stored in the local mailbox, if at least one copy of said particular message exists in a remote location; and

in response to a determination that at least one copy of said particular message exists, replacing said particular message with an identification of a location corresponding to the at least one copy.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein said determining includes determining if the electronic mail message originated from an archived mailing list.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the at least one copy is a web page that includes message content from the electronic mail message.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, comprising additional functional descriptive material that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform actions of:

receiving a request for the electronic mail message from a client;

retrieving a copy of the electronic mail message in accordance with said identification of location; and

returning the copy of the electronic mail message to the client in fulfillment of the request.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, comprising additional functional descriptive material that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform actions of:

converting the copy of the electronic mail message into an electronic mail message format prior to being returned to the client.

18. A data processing system comprising:

at least one processor;

data storage accessible to the at least one processor;

a mailbox in the data storage, wherein the mailbox stores multiple messages; and

a set of instructions in the data storage, wherein the at least one processor executes the set of instructions to perform actions that include;

determining, for a particular message contained within said mailbox, if at least one copy of said particular message exists outside of said mailbox; and

in response to a determination that at least one copy of said particular message exists, replacing said particular message in the mailbox with an identification of a location corresponding to the at least one copy.

19. The data processing system of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor executes additional instructions to perform actions of:

receiving a request for said particular message from a client;

retrieving a copy of said particular message in accordance with said identification of location; and

returning said copy to the client in fulfillment of the request.

20. The data processing system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor executes additional instructions to perform an action of:

converting the copy of said particular message into an electronic mail message format prior to being returned to the client.