Method and apparatus for maintaining a unified view of multiple mailboxes
First Claim
1. A method for exchanging electronic messages between a fist computer and a second computer, the first computer being coupleable to the second computer using a high cost communication channel and a low cost communication channel, the method comprising;
- accessing a first message addressed for a first mailbox;
determining an identifier for the first message on the first computer;
signaling at least a portion of the first message and the identifier to a second mailbox;
detecting a user-action affecting a property of the first message in the first mailbox;
responsive to the user-action, automatically signaling the identifier of the message and an identification of the action to the second mailbox;
detecting a selection for one of either the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel; and
responsive to the selection, using the identifier of the message and the identification of the action to indicate on the second computer the property of the first message in the first mailbox using the selected one of the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of presenting a unified view of two mailboxes, each mailbox associated with a client is described. The unified view allows the user to see all actions she/he performed on a message in one mailbox performed in all other unified mailboxes. One of the clients has both a high cost, e.g. wireless, communication channel and a low cost, e.g. synchronization, communication channel. When a message is received by a client from its respective mailbox without an identifier, an identifier is generated and a copy of the message is sent to the other mailboxes with the identifier. When the user performs actions on a message with a client, the identifier for the message and the action can be conveyed to the other clients in a message to the other mailboxes. The unified view can be selectably updated either over the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel. The presence of two communication channels enables the cost of performing the unification to be contained. The user can select options to control the unification process and the use of the high cost communication channel, e.g. summarize messages over 250 words and/or remove attachments.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for exchanging electronic messages between a fist computer and a second computer, the first computer being coupleable to the second computer using a high cost communication channel and a low cost communication channel, the method comprising;
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accessing a first message addressed for a first mailbox;
determining an identifier for the first message on the first computer;
signaling at least a portion of the first message and the identifier to a second mailbox;
detecting a user-action affecting a property of the first message in the first mailbox;
responsive to the user-action, automatically signaling the identifier of the message and an identification of the action to the second mailbox;
detecting a selection for one of either the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel; and
responsive to the selection, using the identifier of the message and the identification of the action to indicate on the second computer the property of the first message in the first mailbox using the selected one of the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21)
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11. An apparatus for presenting a unified view of a first message, sent to a first mailbox coupled by a first communication channel to a first client, on a second client the first client having a second communication channel to communicate with a second mailbox and a low cost communication channel to communicate with a second client, the second client capable being coupleable to communicate with the second mailbox using a high cost communication channel, the apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving the message at the first client;
means for generating a distinguishing identifier for the first message;
means for sending at least a portion of the first message and the distinguishing identifier to the second mailbox using the second communication channel;
means for creating a second message including the distinguishing identifier and a description of the action responsive to an action on the first message on the first client;
means for sending the second message to the second mailbox using the second communication channel; and
means for selectably updating the unified view of the first message on the second client using either the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
means for generating a string with an address corresponding to the first mailbox;
means for generating an increasing number; and
means for adding a header to the first message, the header including the increasing number and the string.
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13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the means for generating a distinguishing identifier for the first message comprises means for computing a secure hash of a portion of the first message.
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14. The computer data signal of claim 13, wherein the third set of instructions further comprises a seventh set of instructions for automatically summarizing messages larger than a predetermined size.
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15. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave comprising:
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a computer program for a unifier on a first client the computer program including a first set of instructions for accessing a first message;
a second set of instructions for attaching a distinguishing identifier to the first message;
a third set of instructions for sending at least a portion of the first message and the distinguishing identifier to a second mailbox;
a fourth set of instructions for detecting an action of a user on the first message;
a fourth set of instructions for creating a second message including the distinguishing identifier and a description of the action;
a fifth set of instructions for sending the second message to the second mailbox to update the unified view of the first message on a second client if the second client accesses the second mailbox using a high cost communication channel;
a sixth set of instructions for selectably updating the unified view of the first message on the second client if the second client couples to the first client using a low cost communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein including an interface to a mail agent on a client and a unifier, the interface permitting the unifier to access a message on the client and update the view of the message in the mail agent on the client; and
wherein the unifier can selectively update a unified view of a message on a second client using either a high cost communication channel or a low cost communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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22. A method for exchanging electronic messages between a first computer and a second computer, the first computer being coupleable to the second computer using either a high cost communication channel or a low cost communication channel, the method comprising:
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receiving a first message addressed for a first location for storing messages;
automatically signaling at least a portion of the first message and a distinguishing identifier to a second location;
detecting a user-action affecting a status of the first message in the first location;
receiving a selection to update the second location using one of either the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel; and
responsive to the selection, automatically signaling the distinguishing identifier and an identification of the action to the second location using the selected one of the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel, so as to indicate in the second location the status of the first message in the first location. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for exchanging electronic messages between a first computer and a second computer, the first computer being coupleable to the second computer using either a high cost communication channel or a low cost communication channel, the method comprising:
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detecting on the first computer a user-action affecting a status of a first message of a first mailbox for storing a plurality of messages;
receiving a selection to update a view of a second mailbox using one of either the high cost communication channel or the low cost communication channel; and
responsive to the selection, automatically signaling the status of the first message to the second mailbox to update the view of the second mailbox on the second computer to include the status of the first message. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification