Method and computer-readable medium for navigating between attachments to electronic mail messages

• US 7,647,559 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2004
• Issued: 01/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Finkelstein, Erich S., Yozell-Epstein, Rebekah, Hartwell, Aaron, Savastano, Hernan
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Kieu
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABDUL-ALI, OMAR R
• Application Number:
  US10/993,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20060075046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,880 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/227, 715/500, 715/757, 715/752, 715/753, 715/758, 715/759, 715/751
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments

Abstract

A method and computer-readable medium are provided for navigation between attachments to electronic mail messages. According to the method, a list of e-mail messages is displayed that includes header information associated with each of the messages. When one of the messages in the list is selected, a determination is made as to whether the selected message has attachments. If the selected message has attachments, an identifier is displayed adjacent to the header information for each attachment. The identifier indicates that the attachment is associated with the selected message and may provide other information such as the type and size of the attachment. The identifiers are displayed in a manner to indicate clearly to a user that the attachments are associated with the selected e-mail message. The identifiers may be selected to preview the corresponding attachment.

Claims

1. A method for navigating between one or more attachments to one or more electronic mail messages, the method comprising:

displaying a user interface for an electronic mail application on a computing device, the user interface for the electronic mail application having a list pane for navigating among unopened electronic mail messages and a reading pane for previewing an unopened electronic mail message and one or more attachments associated with the unopened electronic mail message;

displaying a list of the electronic mail messages in the list pane, the list comprising header information associated with the one or more electronic mail messages;

receiving a selection of one of the electronic mail messages in the list, the selected electronic mail message having one or more attachments; and

displaying a selectable identifier for the selected electronic mail message and for each of the one or more attachments associated with the selected electronic mail message, the displayed identifiers for navigating among the electronic mail message and the one or more attachments and for selecting to preview the electronic mail message or an attachment in the reading pane without switching context of the electronic mail application,

wherein selection of the electronic mail message in the list selects the identifier for the selected electronic mail message and displays in the reading pane;

a preview of the selected electronic mail message without opening the selected electronic mail message,

the selected identifier for the selected electronic mail message, and

a selectable identifier for each of the one or more attachments associated with the selected electronic mail message for navigating to and displaying a preview of the one or more attachments in the reading pane without opening the one or more attachments, and

wherein selection of a selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment associated with the selected electronic mail message, while the preview of the selected electronic mail message is being displayed in the reading pane, deselects the selected identifier for the selected electronic mail message and displays in the reading pane;

a preview of the corresponding attachment replacing the preview of the selected electronic mail message in the reading pane without opening the corresponding attachment,

the selected identifier for the corresponding attachment, and

a selectable identifier for the selected electronic mail message for navigating to and displaying a preview of the selected electronic mail message in the reading pane without opening the selected electronic mail message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the selection of a selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment while the preview of the selected electronic mail message is being displayed in the reading pane; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment, deselecting the selected identifier for the selected electronic mail message, selecting the corresponding attachment, and displaying a preview of the corresponding attachment in the reading pane replacing the preview of the selected electronic mail message.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a selection of another electronic mail message in the list having one or more attachments; and

in response to the selection of the another electronic mail message, removing previously displayed identifiers for attachments and displaying identifiers for the one or more attachments to the selected another electronic mail message.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a selection of another electronic mail message in the list, not having an attachment; and

in response to the selection of the another electronic mail message not having an attachment, removing previously displayed identifiers for attachments.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a request to open the selected electronic mail message for viewing; and

in response to the request to open the selected electronic mail message for viewing, displaying the contents of the selected electronic mail message and a selectable identifier for each of the one or more attachments associated with the selected electronic mail message.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising:

receiving a selection of a selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment associated with the selected electronic mail message while the contents of the selected electronic mail message are being displayed; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment, displaying a preview of the corresponding attachment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the preview of the corresponding attachment replaces the displayed contents of the selected electronic mail message.

8. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

display a first window pane of a user interface for an electronic mail application identifying one or more unopened electronic mail messages, the first window pane for navigating among unopened electronic mail messages;

receive a selection of one of the unopened electronic mail messages;

determine whether the selected electronic mail message has one or more attachments;

in response to determining that the selected electronic mail message has one or more attachments, to display a selectable identifier for the selected electronic mail message and for each of the one or more attachments associated with the selected electronic mail message, the displayed identifiers for navigating among the electronic mail message and the one or more attachments and for selecting to preview the electronic mail message or an attachment;

display a second window pane of the user interface for previewing the selected electronic mail message including the one or more attachments, wherein selection of the electronic mail message in the first window pane selects the identifier for the selected electronic mail message and displays in the second window pane;

a preview of the selected electronic mail message without opening the selected electronic mail message,

the selected identifier for the selected electronic mail message, and

a selectable identifier for each of the one or more attachments associated with the selected electronic mail message for navigating to and displaying a preview of the one or more attachments in the second window pane without opening the one or more attachments;

receive a selection of a selectable identifier for an attachment while the preview of the selected electronic mail message is being displayed in the second window pane; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier for the attachment, to deselect the selected identifier for the electronic mail message and to display in the second window pane;

a preview of the attachment replacing the preview of the selected electronic mail message in the reading pane without opening the attachment and without switching context of the electronic mail application,

the selected identifier for the attachment, and

a selectable identifier for the selected electronic mail message for navigating to and displaying a preview of the selected electronic mail message in the second window pane without opening the selected electronic mail message.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the second window pane is displayed adjacent to the first window pane.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the identifier for an attachment includes an icon corresponding to the type of attachment, the name of the attachment, and the size of the attachment.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the computer, will cause the computer to:

receive the selection of a selectable identifier corresponding to a different attachment associated with the selected electronic mail message while the preview of the attachment is being displayed in the second window pane; and

in response to receiving the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to the different attachment, to deselect the selected identifier for the attachment, select the different attachment, and to display in the reading pane;

a preview of the different attachment replacing the preview of the attachment in the reading pane without opening the different attachment,

the selected identifier for the different attachment, and

selectable identifiers for the selected electronic mail message and each other attachment associated with the selected electronic mail message for navigating to and displaying a preview of the selected electronic mail message or each other attachment in the second window pane.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a selection of another electronic mail message in the list having one or more attachments; and

in response to the selection of the another message, to remove previously displayed identifiers for attachments and to display identifiers for the one or more attachments to the selected another electronic mail message.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a selection of another of the electronic mail messages in the list not having an attachment; and

in response to the selection of the another electronic mail message not having an attachment, to remove previously displayed identifiers for attachments.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a request to open the selected electronic mail message for viewing; and

in response to the request to open the selected electronic mail message for viewing, to display the contents of the selected electronic mail message and a selectable identifier for each of the one or more attachments associated with the selected electronic mail message.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a selection of a selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment associated with the selected electronic mail message while the contents of the selected electronic mail message are being displayed; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment, to display a preview of the corresponding attachment.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the preview of the corresponding attachment replaces the displayed contents of the selected electronic mail message.

17. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a request in an electronic mail application to open an electronic mail message for viewing, the electronic mail message having one or more attachments;

display an opened electronic message including header information associated with the electronic mail message and contents of the electronic mail message; and

display adjacent to the header information a user interface for navigating between the contents of the electronic mail message and the one or more attachments to the electronic mail message, the user interface including a selectable identifier for the contents of the electronic mail message and for each of the one or more attachments to the electronic mail message, the displayed identifiers for navigating among the contents of the electronic mail message and attachments to the selected electronic mail message and for selecting to view the contents of the electronic mail message or to preview an attachment associated with the electronic mail message in the opened electronic mail message without switching context of the electronic mail application,

wherein receiving the request to open the electronic mail message selects the identifier for the selected electronic mail message and displays;

the contents of the selected electronic mail message in the opened electronic mail message,

the selected identifier for the selected electronic mail message, and

a selectable identifier for each of the one or more attachments for navigating to and displaying a preview of the one or more attachments in the opened electronic mail message without opening the one or more attachments, and

wherein selection of a selectable identifier corresponding to an attachment, while the contents of the selected electronic mail message are being displayed in the opened electronic mail message, deselects the selected identifier for the selected electronic mail message and displays;

a preview of the corresponding attachment replacing the contents of the selected electronic mail message in the opened electronic mail message without opening the corresponding attachment,

the selected identifier for the corresponding attachment, and

a selectable identifier for the selected electronic mail message for navigating to and displaying the contents of the selected electronic mail message.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a selection of a selectable identifier within the user interface corresponding to a first attachment to the electronic mail message while the contents of the selected electronic mail message are being displayed in the opened electronic mail message; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to the first attachment, display a preview for the first attachment in the opened electronic mail message replacing the contents of the selected electronic mail message in the opened electronic mail message.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a selection of a selectable identifier within the user interface corresponding to a second attachment to the electronic mail message while the preview for the first attachments is being displayed in the opened electronic mail message; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to the second attachment, display a preview for the second attachment replacing the preview for the first attachment in the opened electronic mail message.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, having further computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:

receive a selection of a selectable identifier within the user interface corresponding to the contents of the electronic mail message while the preview for the first attachments is being displayed in the opened electronic mail message; and

in response to the selection of the selectable identifier corresponding to the contents of the electronic mail message, display the contents of the electronic mail message replacing the preview for the first attachment in the opened electronic mail message.