Method and system for efficiently notifying an information copy recipient in an electronic mail system

• US 6,256,672 B1
• Filed: 11/12/1998
• Issued: 07/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Redpath, Richard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Krisna
• Application Number:
  US09/190,793
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200, 709/232, 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/232
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A new addressee line identifier is added to an electronic mail message. By utilizing this identifier, defined as “attachment data not included”, one may provide an information copy of a note that preserves the style of the actual full note without including underlying attachment data. This allows an e-mail sender to notify additional addressees of what has been sent to the primary addressee without slowing done transmission time or wasting storage space by including unneeded and possibly quite large attachment files.

Claims

1. A method of sending e-mail messages, the method comprising the steps of:

including an identifier for each intended recipient of an e-mail message that is to receive attachment data associated with the e-mail message;

sending the e-mail message with the attachment data to a recipient having the identifier; and

sending the e-mail message without the attachment data to a recipient not having the identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of including an identifier comprises:

including a first identifier for the recipient who is to receive the attachment data; and

including a second identifier for the recipient who is not to receive the attachment data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of sending the e-mail message with the attachment data to a recipient having the identifier comprises sending an e-mail message including the attachment data in an icon placeholder to the recipient having the identifier.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of sending the e-mail message without the attachment data to a recipient not having the identifier comprises sending an e-mail message including an icon placeholder without the attachment data to the recipient not having the identifier.

5. A system for sending e-mail messages, comprising:

means for including an identifier for each intended recipient of an e-mail message that is to receive attachment data associated with the e-mail message;

means for sending the e-mail message with the attachment data to a recipient having the identifier; and

means for sending the e-mail message without the attachment data to a recipient not having the identifier.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the means for including comprises:

means for including a first identifier for the recipient who is to receive the attachment data; and

means for including a second identifier for the recipient who is not to receive the attachment data.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the means for sending the e-mail message without the attachment data to a recipient not having the identifier comprises means for sending an e-mail message including an icon placeholder without the attachment data to the recipient not having the identifier.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the means for sending the email message without the attachment data to a recipient not having the identifier comprises means for sending an e-mail message including an icon placeholder without the attachment data to the recipient not having the identifier.

9. A computer program product for sending e-mail messages comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that includes an identifier for each intended recipient of an e-mail message that is to receive attachment data associated with the e-mail message; and

computer-readable program code that sends the e-mail message with the attachment data to a recipient having the identifier and that sends the e-mail message without attachment data to a recipient not having the identifier.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code that includes an identifier comprises:

computer-readable program code that includes a first identifier for the recipient who is to receive the attachment data and that includes a second identifier for the recipient who is not to receive the attachment data.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code that sends the e-mail message sends an e-mail message including an icon placeholder including the attachment data to the recipient having the identifier.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer-readable program code that sends the e-mail message sends an e-mail message including an icon placeholder without the attachment data to the recipient not having the identifier.