Object oriented mail server framework mechanism
First Claim
1. A method of executing an application program in a computer system having a central processing unit that controls processing in the computer system, a user interface, a network interface, and a main memory having an operating system that supports an object oriented programming environment, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing an object oriented framework that provides an extensible network mail server processing system, wherein the object oriented framework comprises a plurality of extensible functions that may be defined by a user and at least one core function that cannot be modified by a user;
receiving user-defined extensions to the framework, thereby generating an executable network mail server processing system; and
executing the executable network mail server processing system so as to receive an e-mail message from an originating network user and transfer the e-mail message to one or more destination addresses of network users who are intended recipients of the e-mail message.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A framework for use with object-oriented programming systems provides a common message processing system structure that can be placed on any OOP platform and be configured to support any e-mail message protocol standard or specific mail server function. The framework defines an e-mail message as a number of distinct objects, each of which contains information that describes some portion of the message. All messages received by a system in which the framework is implemented are defined on this core object structure. Another set of objects and methods define the processing steps required for a mail server to process a message. A message is received as a class of message objects, which are assigned a message type that determines the subsequent processing steps to which the message object is subjected. As a message is processed, the objects of which it is comprised are changed, so that the message processing can be interrupted and then resumed without loss or duplication of processing steps.
39 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method of executing an application program in a computer system having a central processing unit that controls processing in the computer system, a user interface, a network interface, and a main memory having an operating system that supports an object oriented programming environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an object oriented framework that provides an extensible network mail server processing system, wherein the object oriented framework comprises a plurality of extensible functions that may be defined by a user and at least one core function that cannot be modified by a user; receiving user-defined extensions to the framework, thereby generating an executable network mail server processing system; and executing the executable network mail server processing system so as to receive an e-mail message from an originating network user and transfer the e-mail message to one or more destination addresses of network users who are intended recipients of the e-mail message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of processing a message received in a computer system having a central processing unit that controls processing in the computer system, a user interface, a network interface, and a main memory having an operating system that supports an object oriented programming environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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installing in the operating system an object oriented framework that provides an extensible network mail server processing system, wherein the object oriented framework comprises a plurality of extensible functions that may be defined by a user and at least one core function that cannot be modified by a user; providing extensions to the framework that define particular message objects having predetermined e-mail message protocols and define particular object methods that process e-mail messages according to the predetermined protocols; generating an executable network mail server processing system with the framework extensions; and processing the received e-mail message with the executable network mail server processing system so as to transfer the received e-mail message from an originating network user to one or more destination addresses of network users who are intended recipients of the e-mail message. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification