System for communicating information among a group of participants

• US 6,463,461 B1
• Filed: 10/25/1999
• Issued: 10/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: MetricStream, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Zaplet, Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Axe, Brian, Miller, Graham, Hanson, Mike
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): DINH, KHANH Q
• Application Number:
  US09/426,648
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• Field of Search: 709/243, 709/220, 709/221, 709/204, 709/205, 709/206, 705/10, 705/14, 705/25, 707/517
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A system is described that can be used to communicate information among a group of participants. A participant may create an electronic form specifying a list of network addresses corresponding to other participants intended to receive the communication. A server receives the form and delivers a message associated with an electronic medium. When the participant opens the message, the electronic medium is produced by the server and includes static and dynamic content. The participant can add content to the dynamic content. The dynamic content regions can be asynchronously dynamically updated in the server to indicate a then current content of the electronic medium, and can be accessed by other participants in the group.

Claims

1. A network system for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:

a server having an associated database and adapted to be used in the network,

means in the server for generating and sending an electronic message to selected participants,

means in the server for generating an electronic medium stored in the database and associated with the electronic message in response to a first open action of the electronic message by at least one of selected participants, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any other participants;

an interface in the electronic medium for communicating input from the selected participants to the electronic medium in the server; and

logic in communicating with the database to asynchronously dynamically update the electronic medium in the database in response to said input and to dynamically retrieve the dynamic content of the electronic medium stored in the database including all then-current updates in response to one of the input from the selected participants and an external source in data communication with the server.

2. The network system of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a plurality of variables associated with one of each of the participants, the electronic message, and the electronic medium.

3. The network system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to support a plurality of electronic mail protocols.

4. The network system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of electronic mail protocols comprise one of SMTP and MIME.

5. The network system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to support a plurality of image construction languages, wherein the plurality of image construction languages comprise both HTML and XML.

6. The network system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the participants and the server is configured to execute the first open action.

7. The network system of claim 1, wherein the electronic medium is parsed to access the dynamic content.

8. The network system of claim 1, wherein the logic comprises a plurality of executable steps to concatenate the dynamic content.

9. The network system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to send a then current content of the electronic medium from the database in response to a second open action.

10. The network system of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a plurality of electronic forms, the electronic forms being configured to initiate the generation of the electronic message.

11. The network system of claim 10, wherein each of the electronic forms comprise a region for entering a plurality of network addresses corresponding to the participants of the group.

12. The network system of claim 1, wherein the interface includes a plurality of options, the dynamic content being updated in the database to indicate a selection of one of the options in the interface.

13. The network system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to cause display of the updated dynamic content including all then-current updates in response to parsing of the electronic message after the dynamic content is updated by the logic.

14. The network system of claim 1, the server is configured to enable display of the updated dynamic content using a virtual image identifier, and including logic which maps the virtual image identifier to the dynamic content in the server.

15. The network system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to enable display of the updated dynamic content using a tag associated with a universal resource locator of a web page stored in the server.

16. The network system of claim 15, wherein the tag comprises one of an IFRAME and an ILAYER tag.

17. The network system of claim 1, wherein the server accepts text input from an external source in data communication with the server.

18. The network system of claim 17, wherein the dynamic content is updated in response to the text input from the external source.

19. The network system of claim 5, wherein the dynamic content is one of video content, audio content, binary content, executable content, text, and images.

20. The network system of claim 1, wherein the dynamic content is dynamically updated and retrieved asynchronously relative to the input from at least one of the selected participants and input from an external source in data communication with the server.

21. The network system of claim 1, wherein the updated dynamic content is current when retrieved.

22. The network system of claim 1, wherein electronic message includes a code to identify a plurality of content-types.

23. The network system of claim 22, wherein the dynamic content is retrieved for display to selected ones of the identified plurality of content-types.

24. The network system of claim 22, wherein a plain text message is displayed when one of the plurality of content-types cannot support the dynamic content.

25. A network system including a plurality of client terminals, comprising:

at least one data processing machine located at each of the client terminals; and

computer software, residing on a computer readable medium at each machine to cause the machine to perform the following operations;

parsing an electronic message in response to an open action;

receiving an electronic medium from a server and associated with the electronic message, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any of the client terminals;

submitting input entered into an interface of the electronic medium from a user of one of the client terminals to the electronic medium in the server, the server asynchronously dynamically updating the dynamic content of the electronic medium in response to said input to reflect the input from the user.

26. A network system for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:

a server adapted to be used in the network, the server having an associated database, and the server generating an electronic medium from the database and associated with an electronic message directed to the participants in the group in response to a first open action of the electronic message by at least one of the participants, the electronic medium containing dynamic content and all then-current updates received at the server from any other participants;

an interface in the electronic medium for communicating input from the participants to the electronic medium in the server; and

logic in communicating with the database to asynchronously dynamically update the electronic medium in the database in response to said input and to dynamically retrieve the dynamic content of the electronic medium stored in the database including all then-current updates in response to one of the input from the participants, the dynamic content being current when retrieved.

27. An apparatus for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:

a data store comprising one or more stored electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store;

a processor that is communicatively coupled to the data store; and

a memory that is communicatively coupled to the data store and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants among the group;

receiving at a server separate from the participants, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more updates to a first electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message;

updating one or more of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic medium based on the one or more updates;

receiving information specifying an open action for the first electronic message from any other participant among the selected participants; and

providing the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium, including all then-current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.

28. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the data store further comprises one or more electronic forms, wherein each of the electronic forms is configured to initiate generation of the first electronic message when such electronic forms are accessed by one or more of the selected participants.

29. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the sequences of instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of generating, as part of the electronic medium, a virtual image identifier, and one or more instructions that map the virtual image identifier to the dynamic content.

30. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the sequences of instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of generating, as part of the electronic medium, a tag associated with a universal resource locator that identifies a location of the dynamic content.

31. An apparatus as recited in claim 30, wherein the tag comprises an IFRAME tag or an ILAYER tag.

32. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the sequences of instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of:

asynchronously receiving one or more second updates from a data source that is external to the data store and the processor;

dynamically updating one of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic message based on the one or more second updates.

33. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic message further comprises one or more static content regions that define associated static content stored in the data store.

34. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the step of receiving information specifying an open action comprises the step of receiving a request from an electronic mail client application program requesting to open the electronic message.

35. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic medium comprises one or more instructions in hypertext markup language (HTML).

36. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic medium comprises a name field that identifies network addresses of the selected participants;

a subject field that identifies a subject of the electronic medium;

a plurality of static content elements; and

a plurality of dynamic content elements.

37. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein each electronic message comprises a transport envelope, a plurality of static content regions;

a plurality of dynamic content regions; and

a plurality of MIME elements that delimit the static content regions and dynamic content regions.

38. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein each dynamic content region is defined by an IFRAME HTML tag or an ILAYER HTML tag.

39. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the processor is communicatively coupled to a network, the apparatus further comprising:

a second processor that is communicatively coupled to the network and associated with one of the selected participants; and

a second memory that is communicatively coupled to the second processor and comprising one or more second sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

receiving the first electronic message as an HTML electronic mail message;

parsing and displaying one or more static content elements of the electronic mail message;

issuing one or more HTTP GET requests to retrieve the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message from the data store, including all then-current updates;

providing the dynamic content elements and then-current updates to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.

40. An apparatus for communicating information among participants of a group, comprising:

means for storing one or more electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an associated electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store;

means communicatively coupled to the data store for generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants among the group;

means for receiving at a server separate from the participants, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more updates to a first electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message;

means for updating one or more of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic medium based on the one or more updates;

means for receiving information specifying an open action for the first electronic message from any other participant among the selected participants; and

means for providing the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium, including all then-current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.

41. A data processing server, comprising:

a processor that is communicatively coupled to a data store comprising one or more stored electronic media, each electronic medium associated with an electronic message, each electronic medium having one or more dynamic content elements associated therewith and stored in the data store;

a computer-readable medium that is communicatively coupled to the processor and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants in a group, wherein the participants comprise users, clients, external computer systems, or external computer processes;

receiving at a server separate from the participants, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more updates to a first electronic medium that is associated with the first electronic message;

updating one or more of the dynamic content elements of the first electronic medium based on the one or more updates;

receiving information specifying an open action for the first electronic message from any other participant among the selected participants; and

providing the dynamic content elements of the electronic medium, including all then-current updates, to the other participant for display in association with the first electronic message.

42. A server as recited in claim 41, wherein the data store comprises a database, wherein each electronic medium is stored in a record of a table of the database, and wherein each dynamic content element of an electronic medium comprises a column object in the table of the database.

43. A server as recited in claim 41, wherein the data store comprises a database, wherein each electronic medium is stored in a record of a table of the database, and wherein dynamic content elements of a particular electronic medium comprise one or more images and one or more Web pages that are stored in the database.

44. A server as recited in claim 41, wherein the data store comprises a database, wherein each electronic medium is stored in a record of a table of the database, and wherein each record of the table comprises a message identifier value, a creating participant name value, a creating participant address value, a subject value, an electronic medium type value, an electronic medium style value, and one or more dynamic content elements of the electronic medium.