Electronic mail software with modular integrated authoring/reading software components including methods and apparatus for controlling the interactivity between mail authors and recipients

• US 7,444,374 B1
• Filed: 06/27/2000
• Issued: 10/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Umbanet, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intellinet (Intellinet Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Baker, Michelle
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US09/604,428
• Time in Patent Office: 3,045 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200, 709/204, 709/206, 709/207, 709/202, 709/232, 709/245, 709/231, 709/217, 709/203, 709/224, 709/246, 709/227, 707/104, 707/502, 707/9, 707/7, 358/402, 345/311, 379/102, 379/433, 455/575, 715/513, 715/752, 715/760, 715/733, 715/526, 713/201, 705/27, 705/42, 705/37, 705/1, 705/9, 434/323, 370/490, 714/4, 726/17
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44 Arrangements for executing specific programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

Electronic mail software includes a main email component and a number of installable components which communicate bidirectionally with the email component through an application programming interface (API). The installable components include authoring/reading components and a mailbox browser/editor component. The main email component provides an underlying graphical user interface (GUI) for functions directly associated with the storage and transfer of electronic mail messages and also handles all data bundling and unbundling that may be required to transform a message created by an authoring component into a fully MIME compliant message. In addition, the main email component includes “hooks” (an application programming interface or API) for the attachment of the installable components. The authoring/reading components each provide functionality particular to the type of document the component is designed to create/display. Some modular components, or messages created by them, have assigned “roles” whereby senders and recipients of certain email documents are provided different kinds of access to the documents.

Claims

1. An electronic mail client system, comprising:

a) a mail handling component for sending and receiving electronic mail; and

b) an authoring/reading component for creating electronic mail messages and for reading electronic mail messages,

said authoring/reading component having at least two modes of authoring,

said modes being selectable by said authoring/reading component when creating an electronic mail message, wherein

one mode causes the electronic mail message to be displayed with all of the information in the message visible when read by the recipient'"'"'s authoring/reading component and another mode causes the electronic mail message to be displayed with only a subset of the information in the message visible when read by another recipient'"'"'s authoring/reading component.

2. An electronic mail client system according to claim 1, wherein:

said two modes are selected from the group consisting of customer and vendor, teacher and student, auctioneer and bidder, and doctor and patient.

3. An electronic mail client system according to claim 1, wherein:

the mode of a message is encoded in the message and determined by the authoring/reading component when the message is read.

4. An electronic mail client system according to claim 3, wherein:

the mode of a message is encoded as a MIME.

5. An electronic mail client system according to claim 1, wherein:

a message created in a first of said two modes allows a recipient of the message to use a first set of tools to respond to the message, and

a message created in a second of said two modes allows a recipient of the message to use a second set of tools to respond to the message, said first set of tools and said second set of tools being different from each other.

6. An electronic mail client system according to claim 1, wherein:

a message created in a first of said two modes allows a recipient of the message to see the information contained in the message organized in the same way it appeared during creation of the message, and

a message created in a second of said two modes prevents a recipient of the message from seeing the information contained in the message organized in the same way it appeared during creation of the message, and only allows the recipient to see the information organized in a different way.

7. An electronic mail system, comprising:

a) a first electronic mail client having a first authoring/reading component for creating and reading electronic mail messages; and

b) a second electronic mail client having a second authoring/reading component for creating and reading electronic mail messages, wherein

said first authoring/reading component creates messages in a first mode and a second mode, and said second authoring/reading component reads messages in the second mode,

a message read in said second mode allows a recipient of the message to see only a subset of the information contained in the message, and

said message read in said first mode allows another recipient to see all information in the message.

8. An electronic mail system according to claim 7, wherein:

said first and second modes are selected from the group consisting of customer and vendor, teacher and student, auctioneer and bidder, and doctor and patient.

9. An electronic mail system according to claim 7, wherein:

the mode of displaying a message is encoded in the message by the first authoring/reading component and determined by the second authoring/reading component when the message is read.

10. An electronic mail system according to claim 7, wherein:

a message viewed in said first mode allows a viewer of the message to see the information contained in the message organized one way, and

a message viewed in said second mode only allows the recipient to see the information organized in a second way different from said first way.

11. An electronic mail client system, comprising:

a) a plurality of authoring/reading components for creating and viewing representations of information;

b) encoding means for automatically encoding representations created with said authoring/reading components into an Internet compatible email message; and

c) decoding means for automatically decoding said representations encoded by said encoding means, wherein

at least one of said authoring/reading components is responsive to a role mode encoded in an email message whereby said role mode determines how much information in said email message will be displayed.

12. An electronic mail client system according to claim 11, wherein:

said role modes are selected from the group consisting of customer and vendor, teacher and student, auctioneer and bidder, and doctor and patient.

13. An electronic mail client system according to claim 11, wherein:

a message encoded with a first role mode allows a recipient of the message to use a first set of tools to respond to the message, and

a message encoded with a second role mode allows a recipient of the message to use a second set of tools to respond to the message, said first set of tools and said second set of tools being different from each other.

14. An electronic mail client system according to claim 11, wherein:

a message encoded with a first role mode allows a recipient of the message to see all of the information contained in the message, and

a message encoded with a second role mode allows a recipient of the message to see a only subset of the information contained in the message.

15. An electronic mail client system according to claim 11, wherein:

a message encoded with a first role mode allows a recipient of the message to see the information contained in the message organized in the same way it appeared during creation of the message, and

a message encoded with a second role mode prevents a recipient of the message from seeing the information contained in the message organized in the same way it appeared during creation of the message, and only allows the recipient to see the information organized in a different way.

16. A method of corresponding by electronic mail, comprising:

a) creating a representation of information;

b) encoding the representation into an Internet-compatible email message;

c) sending the email message to an email client; and

d) decoding the email message at the email client, wherein

the email client is responsive to a role mode encoded in the email message whereby the role mode determines how much information in said email message will be displayed by the email client, and

the sender of the message controls the role mode.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein:

the role mode is selected from the group consisting of customer and vendor, teacher and student, auctioneer and bidder, and doctor and patient.

18. A method according to claim 16, wherein:

the role mode of a message is encoded as a MIME.

19. A method according to claim 16, wherein:

the role mode determines what tools may be used by the email client to view the representation of information.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein:

the role mode determines what tools may be used by the email client to respond to the message.

21. A method according to claim 16, wherein:

the role mode determines how much of the representation of information can be viewed by the email client.