RICH ATTACHMENT REGENERATION

• US 20160315889A1
• Filed: 09/07/2015
• Published: 10/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Baughman, William, Uraizee, Misbah, Herbert, George Arthur III, Stolarz, Aaron
• Granted Patent: US 9,985,914 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads

Abstract

Rich attachments in emails (or other modes of communication) may be regenerated when an email with a rich attachment is sent to an application incapable of handling the rich attachment and then returned or forwarded to an application capable of handling the rich attachments. In some examples, the rich attachment may be along with a link (e.g., a hypertext markup language “HTML” link) or similar construct by the application capable of handling the rich attachment. A receiving/forwarding (or replying) application that is incapable of handling the rich attachment features, may simply keep the link in the email without processing the rich features. When the email comes back or is forwarded to the application capable of handling the rich attachment, the HTML link may be recognized, the attachment and associated metadata extracted, and presented to the recipient as rich attachment (e.g., in an attachment well).

Claims

1. A computing device to provide regeneration of rich attachments, the computing device comprising:

a memory configured to store instructions; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to execute, in conjunction with the instructions stored in the memory, a communication service, wherein the communication service comprises;

a communication exchange module configured to receive a communication arriving from a server without rich attachment capabilities; and

a regeneration module configured to;

extract a link to an attachment from a body of the received communication;

retrieve metadata associated with the attachment;

regenerate the attachment with rich attachment attributes based on the retrieved metadata; and

provide the communication with the regenerated attachment to a recipient.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the regeneration module is further configured to recognize the link as belonging to an attachment.

3. The computing device of claim 2, wherein the link is a hypertext markup language “

HTML”

link.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the regeneration module is further configured to place the attachment in an attachment well on a user interface displaying the communication.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the regeneration module is further configured to add original metadata associated with the received communication.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the original metadata is live metadata.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the rich attachment is one of a locally stored file, an object, and a cloud-based file.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the communication is a conversation of multiple messages, and the regeneration module is further configured to regenerate an attachment associated with a link in a last message within the conversation.

9. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the regeneration module is further configured to regenerate a latest version of the attachment associated with the link.

10. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the rich attachment attributes include one or more of an interactivity, a preview capability, a presence information, a dynamic content update, and live metadata.

11. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the regeneration module is configured to retrieve the metadata associated with the attachment by one or more of analyzing the link and gathering information associated with the attachment through the link.

12. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the communication is one of an email, an instant message, an online conference recording, a data sharing session, and an application sharing session.

13. A method executed on a computing device to provide regeneration of rich attachments in an email, the method comprising:

detecting, at a first server with rich attachment capabilities, the email arriving from a second server without rich attachment capabilities;

extracting a link to an attachment from a body of the detected email;

retrieving metadata associated with the attachment; and

regenerating the attachment with rich attachment attributes based on the retrieved metadata.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the email originates from a third server with rich attachment capabilities and is received at the first server as a result of one of a forward action and a reply action.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first server and the third server are part of different email service systems.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising extracting the link, retrieving the metadata, and regenerating the attachment at one or more of a module of the first server, a module of a client device communicatively coupled to the first server, and an email application executed on the client device communicatively coupled to the first server.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising regenerating the attachment based on one or more user permissions.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein regenerating the attachment based on one or more user permissions comprises one of respecting permissions set by an original sender of the email, respecting permissions set by a last sender of the email, and adjusting permissions based on a credential of a recipient of the email.

19. A computer readable memory device with instructions stored thereon to provide regeneration of rich attachments in an email, the instructions comprising:

detecting the email arriving without rich attachment capabilities through one of a forward action and a reply action;

recognizing a link in a body of the email as belonging to an attachment;

extracting the link from the body of the detected email;

retrieving metadata associated with the attachment;

regenerating the attachment with rich attachment attributes based on the retrieved metadata; and

placing the regenerated attachment in an attachment well on a user interface displaying the email.

20. The computer readable memory device of claim 19, wherein the rich attachment is one of a locally stored file, an object, and a cloud-based file, and the rich attachment attributes include one or more of an interactivity, a preview capability, a presence information, a dynamic content update, and live metadata.