SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND MANAGING RECURRING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20130191759A1
• Filed: 01/19/2012
• Published: 07/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bhogal, Kulvir S., Griffith, William Arthur, Naick, Indran, Talbot, Mark William
• Granted Patent: US 9,672,493 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Described are systems and methods for detecting and processing recurring electronic communications. A graphical user interface (GUI) event is detected that includes a selection and a drag-and-drop of a first electronic communication object onto a second electronic communication object. A similarity is determined between the first and second electronic communication objects. At least one search criteria rule is automatically generated from the at least one similarity in response to detecting the GUI event.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for detecting and processing recurring electronic communications, comprising:

detecting a graphical user interface (GUI) event that includes a selection and a drag-and-drop of a first electronic communication object onto a second electronic communication object;

determining at least one similarity between the first and second electronic communication objects; and

automatically generating at least one search criteria rule from the at least one similarity in response to detecting the GUI event.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a third electronic communication object; and

automatically activating the at least one generated search criteria rule for application to the third electronic communication object to determine whether the third electronic communication object includes data that matches the at least one similarity.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying the at least one search criteria rule in response to the third electronic communication object not matching an element of the at least one similarity by performing a GUI event that includes a selection and a drag-and-drop of a third electronic communication object onto the first or second electronic communication object.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a search of a storage repository for stored electronic communication objects that include data that matches the at least one similarity in accordance with the at least one search criteria rule; and

applying an automatic user-defined action against the stored electronic communication objects.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the automatic user-defined action includes archiving or deleting the stored electronic communication objects.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first and second electronic communication objects include email messages.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating the at least one search criteria rule includes applying a weighted technique to the determined at least one similarity.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a pattern analysis on two or more previously received electronic communication objects;

storing pattern matching results produced in response to performing the pattern analysis; and

comparing the third electronic communication object and the pattern matching results to determine at least one similarity between the third electronic communication object and the pattern matching results.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the pattern matching results are stored via an email client application programming interface (API).

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

performing a search for stored electronic communication objects in accordance with the at least one search criteria rule to determine similarities between the stored electronic communication objects and the stored pattern matching results.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the GUI event is detected by an email client.

12. A system for managing recurring electronic communications, comprising:

an event management module that detects a graphical user interface (GUI) event that includes a selection and a drag-and-drop of a first electronic communication object onto a second electronic communication object;

a pattern analyzer module that determines at least one similarity between the first and second electronic communication objects; and

a rule generator that generates at least one search criteria rule from the at least one similarity in response to detecting the GUI event.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a recurring object determination module that applies the at least one search criteria rule to a third electronic communication object to determine whether the third electronic communication object includes data that matches the at least one similarity.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the recurring object determination module performs a search of a storage repository for stored electronic communication objects having elements that match the at least one similarity in accordance with the at least one search criteria rule.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the rule generator applies a weighted technique to the at least one similarity.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising a recurring object processing module that receives user criteria for processing electronic communications determined to be recurring electronic communications, and performs a corresponding action.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the corresponding action includes archiving or deleting the recurring electronic communication objects at a storage repository.

18. A computer program product for detecting and processing recurring electronic communications, comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to detect a graphical user interface (GUI) event that includes a selection and a drag-and-drop of a first electronic communication object onto a second electronic communication object;

computer readable program code configured to determine at least one similarity between the first and second electronic communication objects; and

computer readable program code configured to automatically generate at least one search criteria rule from the at least one similarity in response to detecting the GUI event.

19. The computer program product of 18, wherein the computer readable storage medium further comprises:

computer readable program code configured to detect a third electronic communication object; and

computer readable program code configured to automatically activate the at least one generated search criteria rule for application to the third electronic communication object to determine whether the third electronic communication object includes data that matches the at least one similarity.

20. The computer program product of 18, wherein the computer readable storage medium further comprises:

computer readable program code configured to perform a search of a storage repository for stored electronic communication objects that include data that matches the at least one similarity in accordance with the at least one search criteria rule; and

computer readable program code configured to apply an automatic user-defined action against the stored electronic communication objects.