Internet messaging system and method for use in computer networks

• US 6,484,196 B1
• Filed: 03/20/1998
• Issued: 11/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Advanced Web Solutions
• Original Assignee: Advanced Web Solutions
• Inventors: Maurille, Mithras C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason D.
• Application Number:
  US09/045,280
• Time in Patent Office: 1,705 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 709/218, 709/219, 379/93.01, 379/93.02, 345/113, 345/150, 345/329, 345/330, 345/331, 370/260
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages

Abstract

A system and method that provides integrated combinations of threaded instant messages, open display bulletin boards, private bulletin boards, threaded e-mail, explicit acknowledgment of messages, and conferencing, whisper and talk modes. The system can be implemented in any Internet-based computer network, including the Internet, intranets and extranets. System components include a server application, a client application and a data repository maintained by the server. The server records in the data repository pertinent information regarding all communications between and requests issued by system users, and handles the communications and requests cooperatively with the client application in accordance with the system mode being exercised (e.g., talk, conferencing, whisper, mail, messaging, open display, private bulletin boards, etc.). In an embodiment where the server and client applications are web based, the server application sends all information to the client application in the form of web pages, which the user of the client can view and respond to using a browser. For example, when implementing open display, the server application formats the messages sent to a user so that the messages'"'"' contents are directly displayed on a bulletin board along with threading information. As another example, when implementing private bulletin boards, the server application creates private message boards for each user that allow each user to access only those messages in which he participates (as sender or recipient). When a user acknowledges a message, the server application closes the thread including the message and permits no additional activity in that thread.

Claims

1. A system for threaded messaging of a message representation between participants including a sender and at least one recipient using a network of computers, comprising:

a memory configured to store a message table and a plurality of messages;

the message table including threading information for each message comprising parent, child, thread level and thread ID fields;

each message including respective threading information and a plurality of participants; and

a delivery structure configured to deliver a representation of the message to the designated recipients, the delivery structure further configured to instantly display the representations in an open format wherein the delivery structure is configured to display the representations on a private message board that only shows communications sent to and by the recipient and which can be viewed only by the recipient, and wherein the messages do not need to be selected to be read by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the delivery structure is configured to enable a recipient to acknowledge messages;

such that, when the recipient acknowledges a particular message, the delivery structure notifies a sender of the recipient'"'"'s acknowledgment of the particular message.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the acknowledgment can be explicit or implicit, such that:

when the acknowledgment is explicit, the system closes a thread including the particular message; and

when the acknowledgment is implicit, the system leaves open the thread including the particular message, the implicit acknowledgment occurring whenever a participant replies to the particular message.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the explicit acknowledgment is employed by the participant to manifest acceptance of/agreement to contents of the message.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a server computer and a server mechanism executable in the server, the message table further comprising message records, each of which is associated with an owner, a subject, the sender and the recipient;

such that, whenever the sender sends a message to N other recipients the server mechanism allocates 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the recipients as the owner and the other N of which have the sender as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender and subject, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the recipients;

the display structure being additionally configured to display for each of the N+1 participants only those message for which he is owner.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the server mechanism enables each of the participants to manipulate only those messages for which he is the owner.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein messages with the same subject, sender, recipient and message text are displayed nearly simultaneously to the respective owners of the messages.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a server computer and a server mechanism executable in the server, wherein the server mechanism is configured to queue at the server at least a subset of the messages addressed to the recipient without displaying to the recipient the representations of the subset until the recipient has approved transmission of at least one of the messages in the subset, after which the server mechanism displays the representations of the subset to the recipient user.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the display structure displays the representation of the message along with a hyperlink field, the selection of which by the recipient causes the display structure to display to the recipient a reply window with at least some fields filled out with information associated with the hypertext field, enabling the recipient to formulate a reply to the sender of the message.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to maintain a plurality of private message boards, such that, whenever a representation of the message is displayed on the private message board of one participant in the message, a corresponding representation of the message is displayed nearly simultaneously on the private message board of another participant in the message.

11. A communication board system for use in a computer network including a server, comprising:

a server application executable on the server; and

a client application providing an interface between system users and the server application;

such that said client application and server application are configured cooperatively to provide each of said users with a respective view of a virtual bulletin board system illustrating history and content of at least a subset of messages, said respective view being accessible to and customizable for a corresponding one of said users, wherein each message including respective threading information and the history includes indentations of the content indicating a respective position of the content within the history; and

wherein said respective view includes only those of said messages associated with conversations to which said corresponding user is a participant, and wherein the respective views display representations of the messages in an open format in which the content of the messages can be read without selecting the messages, by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages.

12. The communication board system of claim 11, further comprising:

a data repository in which the server application stores information about system users and messages exchanged between said users.

13. The communication board system of claim 12, wherein the data repository comprises:

a message table including message records, each of which is associated with a message having a sender, recipient, owner, subject and thread id;

such that, whenever a user sends a message to N other users, the server application allocates a message family of 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the other users as the owner and the other N of which have the first user as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender, subject and thread id, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the other users, the sending user and other users being thread participants.

14. The communication board system of claim 13, wherein, when a first user sends a first level message to a second set of users using the client application, the server application is configured in response to:

allocate the family (first level family) of message records for the first level message;

generate a unique thread id and associate the unique thread id with each of the first level family;

update each member of the first level family with the sender, recipient, owner and subject information for a respective thread participant;

issue a message alert to the client applications of each of the other users;

transmit a representation of a respective message record to the client application of each of the second set of users who agrees to delivery of the message; and

hold in abeyance transmission of a representation of a respective message record to each of the second set of users who does not agree to delivery of the message.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein, when an additional user sends a reply to a message from another user using the client application, the server application is configured in response to:

allocate the family (reply family) of message records for the reply message;

associate the unique thread id from a parent family with each member of the reply family, the parent family being the message records associated with the message from the another user;

update each member of the reply family with the sender, recipient, owner and subject information for a respective participant in the reply message;

link members of the reply family with related message records of the parent family; and

transmit a representation of a respective reply message record to the client application of the another user.

16. The communication system of claim 15, wherein, when the additional user explicitly acknowledges an incoming message using the client application, the server application is configured in response to:

update the message records associated with the thread that includes the incoming message to show that the thread is closed, and append each response;

transmit a representation of the incoming message to the client applications of participants in the thread that includes the incoming message conveying that the thread is closed.

17. The communication system of claim 15, wherein, when a third user implicitly acknowledges an incoming message using the client application, the server application is configured in response to:

update the message records associated with the thread that includes the incoming message to show that the thread is responded to;

transmit a representation of the incoming message to the client applications of participants in the thread that includes the incoming message conveying that the thread is responded to.

18. The communication board system of claim 11, wherein the respective views display the representation of a message along with a hyperlink field, the selection of which by the user causes the server and client applications cooperatively to display to the user a reply window with at least some fields filled out with information associated with the hypertext field, enabling the user to formulate a reply to the message.

19. The communication board system of claim 11, wherein messages with identical subject, sender, recipient and thread id can be provided nearly simultaneously on the respective views provided to the respective owners of the messages.

20. The communication board system of claim 11, wherein the server application and the client application are browser-based, enabling the communication board system to be implemented on any computer network compatible with Internet-based protocols.

21. The communication board system of claim 20, wherein the computer network is selected from:

the Internet;

an intranet;

or

an extranet.

22. A system for open display bulletin boards for use by a plurality of participants in a network of computers, comprising:

a computer configured to provide a bulletin board system

a memory configured to store a plurality of messages;

the messages include threading information for each message comprising parent, child, thread level and thread ID fields;

the messages include a plurality of participants;

the participants include a sender and at least one recipient; and

a delivery structure configured to deliver the messages, the delivery structure further configured to instantly display the representations in an open format wherein the computer is configured to display the messages on a plurality of private message boards, each of which only shows communications sent to and by a respective participant and which can be viewed only by the respective participant, and wherein the messages do not need to be selected to be read by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the computer is configured to enable recipients to acknowledge messages;

such that, when the recipient acknowledges a particular message, the computer notifies a second participant in the particular message of the recipient'"'"'s acknowledgment of the particular message, and wherein the system includes a safeguard to prevent deletion of the messages without acknowledgment.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the acknowledgment can be explicit or implicit, such that:

when the acknowledgment is explicit, the computer closes a thread including the particular message; and

when the acknowledgment is implicit, the computer leaves open the thread including the particular message, the implicit acknowledgment occurring whenever the recipient replies to the particular message.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the explicit acknowledgment is employed by the recipient to manifest acceptance of/agreement to contents of the particular message.

26. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

a message table including message records, each of which is associated with a message having a sender, recipient, owner and subject;

such that, whenever the sender sends a message to N recipients, the computer allocates 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the recipients as the owner and the other N of which have the sender as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender and subject, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the other participants;

the computer being additionally configured to display for each of the N+1 participants only those message for which he is owner.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the server mechanism enables each of the users to manipulate only messages of which he is the owner.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein messages with the same subject, sender, recipient and message text are displayed nearly simultaneously to the respective owners of the messages.

29. The system of claim 22, wherein, whenever a first representation of a particular message is displayed on the private message board of one participant in the particular message, a corresponding representation of the particular message is displayed nearly simultaneously on the private message board of another participant in the particular message.

30. The system of claim 22, further comprising a server computer and a server mechanism executable in the server wherein the server mechanism is configured to queue at the server at least a subset of the messages addressed to the recipient without displaying the representations of the subset until the recipient has approved transmission, after which the server mechanism displays the representations of the subset to the recipient.

31. The system of claim 22, wherein the computer displays the representation of the message along with a hyperlink field, the selection of which by the recipient causes the computer to display to the recipient a reply window with at least some fields filled out with information associated with the hypertext field, enabling the recipient to formulate a reply to the sender of the message.

38. The system of claim 24, wherein the server mechanism is configured to queue at the server at least a subset of the messages addressed to the user without displaying the representations of the subset until the user has approved transmission, after which the server mechanism displays the representations of the subset to the user.

39. The system of claim 24, wherein the server mechanism displays a representation of the message along with a hyperlink field, the selection of which by the user causes the server mechanism to display to the user a reply window with at least some fields filled out with information associated with the hypertext field, enabling the user to formulate a reply to the sender of the message.

32. A private message board system for use in a network of computers including a server computer, comprising:

a server mechanism executable in the server, the server mechanism configured to;

provide a plurality of private bulletin boards for each of a plurality of users of the system, wherein each of said private bulletin boards shows history of messages associated with conversations involving a respective user, wherein each message including respective threading information and the history includes indentations that delineate a message'"'"'s place within the history; and

display representations of the messages in an open format that only shows communications sent to and by the respective user, and wherein by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages, the messages do not need to be selected to be read.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the server mechanism is configured to enable users to acknowledge messages;

such that, when the user acknowledges a particular message, the server mechanism notifies a second user who is a participant in a thread containing the thread of the user'"'"'s acknowledgment of the particular message.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the acknowledgment can be explicit or implicit, such that:

when the acknowledgment is explicit, the server mechanism closes the thread including the particular message; and

when the acknowledgement is implicit, the server mechanism leaves open the thread including the particular message, the implicit acknowledgement occurring whenever the user replies to the particular message.

35. The system of claim 32, further comprising:

a message table including message records, each of which is associated with a message having a sender, recipient, owner and subject;

such that, whenever the user sends a message to N other users, the server mechanism allocates 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the other users as the owner and the other N of which have the user as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender and subject, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the other users.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein messages with the same subject, sender, recipient and message text are displayed nearly simultaneously on the private message boards of the respective owners of the messages.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein the server mechanism is configured to display nearly simultaneously with its posting a particular message on the private message boards of all participants in the message.

40. A method for threaded instant messaging for use in a computer network, comprising the steps of:

maintain threading information of said messages comprising parent, child, thread level and thread ID fields;

displaying a representation of said threading information along with said messages;

displaying messages sent over the network involving a user of the network so that only said user can view messages sent and received by said user;

displaying said messages in an open format so that content of said messages is viewable without selection;

immediately making said messages available for viewing by said user whenever said user is online by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages;

whenever a user sends a message to N other users, allocating a message family of 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the other users as the owner and the other N of which have the first user as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender, subject and thread id, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the other users, the sending user and other users being thread participants; and

when a first user sends a first level message to a second set of users;

allocating the family (first level family) of message records for the first level message;

generating a unique thread id and associate the unique thread id with each of the first level family;

updating each member of the first level family with the sender, recipient, owner and subject information for a respective thread participant;

issuing a message alert to each of the other users;

transmitting a representation of a respective message record to each of the second set of users who agrees to delivery of the message; and

holding in abeyance transmission of a representation of a respective message record to each of the second set of users who does not agree to delivery of the message.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising the steps of:

when an additional user sends a reply to a message from another user,

allocating the family (reply family) of message records for the reply message;

associating the unique thread id from a parent family with each member of the reply family, the parent family being the message records associated with the message from the another user;

updating each member of the reply family with the sender, recipient, owner and subject information for a respective participant in the reply message;

linking members of the reply family with related message records of the parent family; and

transmitting a representation of a respective reply message record to the another user.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising the steps of:

when the additional user explicitly acknowledges an incoming message,

updating the message records associated with the thread that includes the incoming message to show that the thread is closed, and appending each response; and

transmitting a representation of the incoming message to participants in the thread that includes the incoming message conveying that the thread is closed.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising the steps of:

when the additional user implicitly acknowledges an incoming message,

updating the message records associated with the thread that includes the incoming message to show that the thread is responded to, and appending each response; and

transmitting a representation of the incoming message to the client applications of participants in the thread that includes the incoming message conveying that the thread is responded to.

44. A system for threaded messaging of a message representation between participants including a sender and at least one recipient using a network of computers, comprising:

a memory configured to store a message table and a plurality of messages;

the message table including threading information for each message comprising parent, child, thread level and thread ID fields;

each message including respective threading information and a plurality of participants;

a delivery structure configured to deliver a representation of the message to the designated recipients, the delivery structure further configured to instantly display the representations in an open format wherein the messages do not need to be selected to be read by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages; and

a server computer and a server mechanism executable in the server, the message table further comprising message records, each of which is associated with an owner, a subject, the sender and the recipient;

such that, whenever the sender sends a message to N other recipients the server mechanism allocates 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the recipients as the owner and the other N of which have the sender as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender and subject, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the recipients; and

the display structure being additionally configured to display for each of the N+1 participants only those message for which he is owner, and wherein the server mechanism enables each of the participants to manipulate only those messages for which he is the owner.

45. A system for open display bulletin boards for use by a plurality of participants in a network of computers, comprising:

a computer configured to provide a bulletin board system

a memory configured to store a plurality of messages;

the messages include threading information for each message comprising parent, child, thread level and thread ID fields;

the messages include a plurality of participants;

the participants include a sender and at least one recipient;

a delivery structure configured to deliver the messages, the delivery structure further configured to instantly display the representations in an open format wherein the messages do not need to be selected to be read by dynamically generating HTML representations of the messages; and

a message table including message records, each of which is associated with a message having a sender, recipient, owner and subject;

such that, whenever the sender sends a message to N recipients, the computer allocates 2×

N message records, N of which have respective ones of the recipients as the owner and the other N of which have the sender as the owner, all of the 2×

N messages having the same sender and subject, respective pairs of the 2×

N messages listing as the recipient a respective one of the other participants;

the computer being additionally configured to display for each of the N+1 participants only those message for which he is owner, and wherein the computer enables each of the participants to manipulate only messages of which he is the owner.