Method and apparatus for processing electronic mail in parallel
First Claim
1. A method for processing electronic mail objects in a data processing system, the method comprising:
- initiating processes to process electronic mail objects in parallel, wherein the number of the processes can be dynamically increased and decreased;
assigning to a first process of the processes an initial unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects; and
assigning to the first process an additional unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects after the initial unit of work has been assigned.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for processing electronic mail in parallel. The present invention provides the ability to process mail objects in an electronic mail system in parallel. A message can be assigned to a queue. One or more processes can manage a plurality of messages in the queue. Each process can identify the next entry to be processed. Entries previously processed can be marked such that subsequent access is locked out. Mail objects and process information can be stored in a relational database system that provides the ability to perform locking at the record level. A process can be configured to perform a plurality of activities in a plurality of time periods. A guardian process can initiate or terminate other processes based on process information. Further, a guardian process examines system information periodically and identifies any need to initiate, restart, or stop one or more processes. Further, the guardian process can pass process information to an initiated process. One or more tables can be used to retain message information such as a instance table that includes a queue column. Further, tables can be used to retain process information such as process, process parameters, and process time tables.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for processing electronic mail objects in a data processing system, the method comprising:
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initiating processes to process electronic mail objects in parallel, wherein the number of the processes can be dynamically increased and decreased;
assigning to a first process of the processes an initial unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects; and
assigning to the first process an additional unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects after the initial unit of work has been assigned. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An article of manufacture including one or more computer readable media having program code stored thereon, the program code including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
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initiate processes to process electronic mail objects in parallel, wherein the number of the processes can be dynamically increased and decreased;
assign to a first process of the processes an initial unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects; and
assign to the first process an additional unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects after the initial unit of work has been assigned. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A data processing system comprising:
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a communication path; and
one or more computers coupled to receive electronic mail objects from the communication path, the one or more of the computers being configured to;
execute processes to process the electronic mail objects in parallel, wherein the number of the processes can be dynamically increased and decreased;
assign to a first process of the processes an initial unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects; and
assign to the first process an additional unit of work associated with the electronic mail objects after the initial unit of work has been assigned. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification