Automatic Grouping of Electronic Mail

• US 20120215866A1
• Filed: 04/02/2012
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Satterfield, Jesse Clay, Harris, Jensen M., Van Tilburg, Martijn E., Avery, William R., Wiedemann, Bruce D.
• Granted Patent: US 10,482,429 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes

Abstract

Automatic sorting and grouping of electronic mail items in an electronic mail system is provided. An automatic mail grouping property may be selected for electronic mail received, sent or stored in a variety of storage folders. For a given mail location (e.g., received mail, sent mail, or a given mail storage folder), a selected automatic grouping property causes mail to be displayed to a user in one or more categories that make location of specific mail items easier and more efficient. Visible dividers with optional headings may be provided between mail categories to quickly draw a user'"'"'s attention to a given mail category and to separate large numbers of mail into logical groupings that make location of specific mail items more manageable.

Claims

1. A method for grouping electronic mail, the method comprising:

displaying electronic mail items;

receiving a selection to group the electronic mail items into groups based on a first arrangement type;

grouping the electronic mail items into a groups based on the first arrangement type, each group comprising a subset of the electronic mail items;

receiving a selection to sort the subset of electronic mail items within each group based on a second arrangement type; and

sorting the subset of electronic mail items within each group based on the second arrangement type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein grouping the electronic mail items into the groups based on the first arrangement type comprises:

providing a header for each group, and listing the subset of electronic mail items underneath each header.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a selection to collapse a particular group;

removing, from display, a listing of the subset of electronic mail items associated with the particular group.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein grouping the electronic mail items into the groups based on the first arrangement type further comprises:

grouping the electronic mail items based on a sender of each electronic mail item, and

associating the header for each group with the sender represented by each group.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein sorting the subset of electronic mail items within each group based on the second arrangement type comprises sorting the subset of electronic mail items based on a date of each electronic mail item in the subset.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a first field for providing a plurality of first arrangement types; and

receiving a selection of the first arrangement type from the first field.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

displaying a second field for providing a plurality of second arrangement types; and

receiving a selection of the second arrangement type from the second field.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection to group the electronic mail items and wherein receiving the selection to sort the subset of electronic mail items comprise receiving a selection from a drop-down menu.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein grouping the electronic mail items into the groups based on the first arrangement type comprises grouping the electronic mail items into the groups when a grouping property has been selected.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein displaying the electronic mail items in the groups based on the default arrangement type comprises:

providing a header for each group, and

listing the subset of electronic mail items underneath each header.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a selection to collapse a particular group;

removing, from display, a listing of the subset of electronic mail items associated with the particular group.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein displaying the electronic mail items in the groups based on the default arrangement type comprises:

grouping the electronic mail items based on a date of each electronic mail item, and

associating the header for each group with the date represented by the group.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein sorting the subset of electronic mail items within each group based on the selected arrangement type comprises sorting the subset of electronic mail items based on an importance level of each electronic mail item in the subset.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a set of instructions which when executed by a computer performs a method for grouping electronic mail, the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

displaying electronic mail items in groups based on a default arrangement type;

receiving a selection to sort the electronic mail items within each group based on a selected arrangement type; and

sorting the subset of electronic mail items within each group based on the selected arrangement type.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein displaying the electronic mail items in the groups based on the default arrangement type comprises grouping the electronic mail items into the groups when a grouping property has been selected.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein displaying the electronic mail items in the groups based on the default arrangement type comprises displaying the electronic mail items in groups based on the default arrangement type as a server-side process.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein sorting the subset of electronic mail items within each group based on the selected arrangement type comprises sorting the subset of electronic mail items as a client-side process.

18. A system for grouping electronic mail, the system comprising:

a memory storage; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, the processing unit being configured to;

receive a plurality of electronic mail items,

receive instructions to group the plurality of electronic mail items based on a grouping type selection,

group the plurality of electronic mail items into logical groupings having a subset of the plurality of electronic mail items based on the grouping type selection,

receive instructions to sort the subset of the plurality of electronic mail items based on a sorting type selection, and

sort the subset of the plurality of electronic mail items within each logical grouping based on the sorting type selection.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the processing unit is further configured to display the logical groupings with a header corresponding to a type of grouping and a listing of the subset of the plurality of electronic mail items below the header.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processing unit is further configured to collapse a particular logical grouping by removing the listing of the subset of electronic mail items associated with the particular logical grouping from display.