Electronic Mail Display Program Product, Method, Apparatus and System

• US 20090187852A1
• Filed: 01/14/2009
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Tsuruta, Kazuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,490,001 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/800
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments

Abstract

To provide a technique for facilitating the management of an attachment file attached to an electronic mail. A client apparatus acquires attachment position information in a text of the electronic mail and stores it associated with an identifier of the electronic mail, in receiving the electronic mail with attachment file. Upon receiving an instruction for displaying the electronic mail from the user, the client apparatus arranges a graphic representing the attachment file of the electronic mail on a child screen that displays the reduced screen of a parent screen that displays the electronic mail based on the corresponding attachment position information, and displays the child screen together with the parent screen.

Claims

1. An electronic mail display program product, including:

a program storage device readable by a computer; and

a program of instructions tangibly embodied on the program storage device and executable by the computer to perform method steps for displaying an electronic mail, the method steps comprising;

acquiring attachment position information indicating the attachment position in a text of said electronic mail for an attachment file of the received electronic mail;

storing said acquired attachment position information associated with a corresponding identifier of said electronic mail; and

arranging a graphic representing said attachment file of said electronic mail on a child screen for displaying a reduced screen of a parent screen for displaying said electronic mail based on said corresponding attachment position information and displaying said child screen together with said parent screen.

2. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein said attachment position information is acquired from a mail server that stores the electronic mail addressed to said computer.

3. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein said attachment position information includes the number of characters and the number of line feeds from the text head of said electronic mail to the attachment position of said attachment file.

4. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

acquiring the attribute information regarding said attachment file for said attachment file of said received electronic mail, and said graphic representing said attachment file of said electronic mail is different depending on said attribute information of said attachment file.

5. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 4, wherein said attribute information includes a file type and a file size of said attachment file.

6. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 4, wherein said attribute information includes the attached state information indicating an attached state of said attachment file, and the method further comprises the steps of:

updating said attached state information included in said attribute information of said attachment file from an attached state to a deleted state in response to a delete instruction for deleting the attachment file from a user of said computer.

7. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 4, wherein said attribute information includes the number of accesses to said attachment file, and the method further comprises the steps of:

incrementing said number of accesses included in said attribute information of said attachment file in response to an execution instruction for the attachment file from a user of said computer.

8. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 4, wherein said attribute information includes the number of edits of said attachment file, and the method further comprises the steps of:

incrementing said number of edits included in said attribute information of said attachment file in response to an edit instruction for the attachment file from a user of said computer.

9. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

prompting a user of said computer to select a process for said attachment file corresponding to said selected graphic from among display, edit, store and delete in response to a selection instruction for said graphic on said child screen from said user.

10. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

detecting a state where a cursor is located on said child screen, and displaying in up scale said child screen near the position of said cursor in response to said detection.

11. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

detecting a state where the cursor is put on said graphic on said child screen, and displaying said attribute information of said attachment file corresponding to said graphic on which said cursor is put near said cursor in response to said detection.

12. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein said electronic mail is a batch of one series of electronic mails that are repeatedly transferred or replied.

13. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 1, wherein said parent screen has a scroll function, and said child screen displays in down scale the entire text of said electronic mail.

14. An electronic mail display device comprising:

attachment position information acquisition means for acquiring attachment position information indicating the attachment position in a text of an electronic mail for an attachment file of the received electronic mail;

attachment file information storage means for storing said acquired attachment position information associated with a corresponding identifier of said electronic mail; and

child screen display means for arranging a graphic representing said attachment file of said electronic mail on a child screen for displaying a reduced screen of a parent screen for displaying said electronic mail based on said corresponding attachment position information and displaying said child screen together with said parent screen.

15. An electronic mail display method comprising:

acquiring attachment position information indicating the attachment position in a text of said electronic mail for an attachment file of the received electronic mail;

storing said acquired attachment position information associated with a corresponding identifier of said electronic mail; and

arranging a graphic representing said attachment file of said electronic mail on a child screen for displaying a reduced screen of a parent screen for displaying said electronic mail based on said corresponding attachment position information and displaying said child screen together with said parent screen.

16. An electronic mail display program product, including:

a program storage device readable by a mail server; and

a program of instructions tangibly embodied on the program storage device and executable by the mail server to perform method steps for displaying an electronic mail, the method steps comprising;

acquiring attachment position information indicating the attachment position in a text of said electronic mail for an attachment file of the received electronic mail;

extracting said attachment file from said electronic mail and storing said extracted attachment file in an attachment file storage device;

embedding storage location information indicating a storage location of said attachment file at an attachment position of said attachment file for said electronic mail;

storing said electronic mail into which said storage location information of said attachment file is embedded in a corresponding mail box, based on the destination information;

storing said attachment position information associated with said storage location information and an identifier of said electronic mail in an attachment file information storage device; and

transmitting said electronic mail stored in said corresponding mail box together with said corresponding attachment position information to a client apparatus in response to a reception request for the electronic mail from said client apparatus.

17. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 16, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

acquiring attribute information of the attachment file of the received electronic mail, storing the acquired attribute information in said attachment file information storage device, performing a process in accordance with the contents of a request in response to said request from said client apparatus including said storage location information of said attachment file, and updating said attribute information of said corresponding attachment file in accordance with said process that is performed.

18. The electronic mail display program product according to claim 17, wherein said electronic mail is a batch of one series of electronic mails that are repeatedly transferred or replied, and said transmitting said electronic mail to said client apparatus includes transmitting said electronic mail together with said corresponding attachment position information and said attribute information after update to said client apparatus.