Method and system for handling email
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for forming a consolidated email in an existing email system, supported by an existing separate database, the existing email system containing email messages, the database containing or capable of storing parsed email elements, the method of forming a consolidated email (also denoted as an email package) comprising the steps of:
- selecting automatically or otherwise, emails from the email system or the inventive system;
assigning a user or system supplied name to an email package to associate and contain the consolidated email and its corresponding individual emails;
comparing, by a processor, the selected emails in the email system with emails in the database;
retrieving all the email elements of the first email from the database;
organizing the email elements into email message bodies in a time-sequence order to form a first email copy that is identical to the original first email in the email system and that is also the first consolidated email (or an email package);
linking the consolidated email and its corresponding first email copy to the email package;
storing in the database the links associated to forming the consolidated email and the first email copy for future retrieval;
retrieving from the database the email elements of the second selected email;
dividing the email elements of the second email into a body portion of email elements that contain email message bodies and a link portion of the second email that contains links to duplicate email bodies;
retrieving from the database the email message bodies that are related to link portion of the second email;
adding the email message bodies of the link portion of the second email to the second email;
as a user or system option, the email bodies associated with the links may not be added to prevent duplicate email message bodies from appearing in the consolidated email;
organizing the email message bodies in a time-sequence order to form a second email copy that is identical to the original second email in the email system;
linking the consolidated email and the corresponding second email copy to the email package;
storing in the database the links that are associated to forming the consolidated email and the second email copy for future retrieval;
repeating the steps of the second email for the remaining selected emails in the email system to create the corresponding copies of emails identical to their original email counterpart in the email system, and append them to the consolidated email (or an email package) linking them to the group name and saving the links in the database for future formation;
deleting unwanted emails to remove the corresponding email portion from the consolidated email and its associated links stored in the database;
renaming, deleting, merging splitting email packages;
creating links between the interactions and action states of emails and their corresponding emails within the email package; and
storing relationship links in the database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention includes a system that selectively or automatically creates email packages by parsing emails into email elements such as attachments, email reply bodies, storing them in the system'"'"'s database and then grouping the elements from different selected emails to form email packages. Emails that satisfy user-defined keywords and criteria are also included in packages and their summary is displayed for a quick retrieval. An example is creating email workgroups, each containing emails that pertain to a set of activities or a specific project, and visually presenting them to users. By storing the links between an email and its elements, the invention facilitates the gathering of statistical information pertaining to different email interactions and action states, attachment-sharing across multiple users, assigning versions to the modified iterations, and cross-referencing them to the originating emails. The links further facilitate identification of email propagation relationships as emails proliferate across multiple users.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for forming a consolidated email in an existing email system, supported by an existing separate database, the existing email system containing email messages, the database containing or capable of storing parsed email elements, the method of forming a consolidated email (also denoted as an email package) comprising the steps of:
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selecting automatically or otherwise, emails from the email system or the inventive system; assigning a user or system supplied name to an email package to associate and contain the consolidated email and its corresponding individual emails; comparing, by a processor, the selected emails in the email system with emails in the database; retrieving all the email elements of the first email from the database; organizing the email elements into email message bodies in a time-sequence order to form a first email copy that is identical to the original first email in the email system and that is also the first consolidated email (or an email package); linking the consolidated email and its corresponding first email copy to the email package; storing in the database the links associated to forming the consolidated email and the first email copy for future retrieval; retrieving from the database the email elements of the second selected email; dividing the email elements of the second email into a body portion of email elements that contain email message bodies and a link portion of the second email that contains links to duplicate email bodies; retrieving from the database the email message bodies that are related to link portion of the second email; adding the email message bodies of the link portion of the second email to the second email;
as a user or system option, the email bodies associated with the links may not be added to prevent duplicate email message bodies from appearing in the consolidated email;organizing the email message bodies in a time-sequence order to form a second email copy that is identical to the original second email in the email system; linking the consolidated email and the corresponding second email copy to the email package; storing in the database the links that are associated to forming the consolidated email and the second email copy for future retrieval; repeating the steps of the second email for the remaining selected emails in the email system to create the corresponding copies of emails identical to their original email counterpart in the email system, and append them to the consolidated email (or an email package) linking them to the group name and saving the links in the database for future formation; deleting unwanted emails to remove the corresponding email portion from the consolidated email and its associated links stored in the database; renaming, deleting, merging splitting email packages; creating links between the interactions and action states of emails and their corresponding emails within the email package; and storing relationship links in the database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification