Autonomic correction of incorrect identities in repositories

• US 8,316,100 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2008
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Essenmacher, Michael D., Murphy, Thomas E. Jr., Pflug, Francis A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rashid, Harunur
• Application Number:
  US12/134,238
• Publication Number:
  US 20090307271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,628 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206, 709/207, 709/217, 707/609, 707/690, 707/691
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

Autonomic correction of incorrect identities in repositories. A communication is prepared and sent to one or more recipients. In response thereto, a notification is provided to the sender that one or more of the recipient'"'"'s identities is incorrect. Based on this notification, corrective action is automatically initiated in order to locate the repository, and in particular, an entry in the repository corresponding to the incorrect identity and to take action to correct that identity.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating correction of identities indicated in communications, said method comprising:

creating a derivation history, the derivation history tracking whether identities in the communications are repository-derived, and for each repository-derived identity, identifying a repository of multiple repositories from which the repository-derived identity was resolved;

subsequently determining that an identity specified in a communication sent by a sender to one or more receivers is an incorrect identity maintained in one repository of the multiple repositories, the incorrect identity having been resolved from the one repository in which the incorrect identity is maintained, during an address resolution procedure to resolve the identity specified in the communication; and

automatically initiating, by a processor, correction of the incorrect identity in the one repository in which the incorrect identity is maintained, the automatically initiating correction comprising;

obtaining information in a failure notification indicating a delivery failure of the communication;

determining whether the incorrect identity was resolved from the one repository of the multiple repositories during an address resolution procedure;

responsive to determining that the incorrect identity was resolved from the one repository during an address resolution procedure, using the obtained information and the derivation history to obtain the identity of the one repository from which the incorrect identity was resolved, and in which the incorrect identity is maintained and is to be corrected; and

wherein the automatically initiating includes providing information relating to the incorrect identity to one or more parties creating the derivation history.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is an e-mail and the incorrect identity is an e-mail address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more parties comprises the sender of the communication.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically initiating comprises:

determining a party authorized to update the one repository;

providing information relating to the incorrect identity to the authorized party; and

obtaining approval to update the one repository.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the obtaining approval is implicit and granted absent explicit authorization by the authorized party.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the providing information includes locating an entry in said one repository corresponding to said incorrect identity, said locating using said incorrect identity, and obtaining information from the entry corresponding to the incorrect identity.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising updating the one repository, in response to obtaining approval, wherein the updating comprises revising the incorrect identity to provide a correct identity.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtained information comprises:

a message identifier, wherein the using the obtained information comprises using the message identifier as an index to the derivation history to identify the one repository.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sender of the communication comprising the incorrect identity creates the derivation history.

10. A computer system for facilitating correction of identities indicated in communications, said computer system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, said method comprising;

creating a derivation history, the derivation history tracking whether identities in the communications are repository-derived, and for each repository-derived identity, identifying a particular repository of multiple repositories from which the repository-derived identity was resolved;

subsequently determining that an identity specified in a communication sent by a sender to one or more receivers is an incorrect identity maintained in one repository of the multiple repositories, the incorrect identity having been resolved from the one repository in which the incorrect identity is maintained, during an address resolution procedure to resolve the identity specified in the communication; and

automatically initiating, by a processor, correction of the incorrect identity in the one repository in which the incorrect identity is maintained, the automatically initiating correction comprising;

obtaining information in a failure notification indicating a delivery failure of the communication;

determining whether the incorrect identity was resolved from the one repository of the multiple repositories during an address resolution procedure;

responsive to determining that the incorrect identity was resolved from the one repository during an address resolution procedure, using the obtained information and the derivation history to obtain the identity of the one repository from which the incorrect identity was resolved, and in which the incorrect identity is maintained and is to be corrected; and

wherein the automatically initiating includes providing information relating to the incorrect identity to one or more parties creating the derivation history.

11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the automatically initiating comprises:

determining a party authorized to update the one repository;

providing information relating to the incorrect identity to the authorized party; and

obtaining approval to update the one repository.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the providing information includes locating an entry in said one repository corresponding to said incorrect identity, said locating using said incorrect identity, and obtaining information from the entry corresponding to the incorrect identity.

13. A computer program product for facilitating correction of identities indicated in communications, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor for performing a method comprising;

creating a derivation history, the derivation history tracking whether identities in the communications are repository-derived, and for each repository-derived identity, identifying a particular repository of multiple repositories from which the repository-derived identity was resolved;

subsequently determining that an identity specified in a communication sent by a sender to one or more receivers is an incorrect identity maintained in one repository of the multiple repositories, the incorrect identity having been resolved from the one repository in which the incorrect identity is maintained, during an address resolution procedure to resolve the identity specified in the communication; and

automatically initiating, by a processor, correction of the incorrect identity in the one repository in which the incorrect identity is maintained, the automatically initiating correction comprising;

obtaining information in a failure notification indicating a delivery failure of the communication;

determining whether the incorrect identity was resolved from the one repository of the multiple repositories during an address resolution procedure;

responsive to determining that the incorrect identity was resolved from the one repository during an address resolution procedure, using the obtained information and the derivation history to obtain the identity of the one repository from which the incorrect identity was resolved, and in which the incorrect identity is maintained and is to be corrected; and

wherein the automatically initiating includes providing information relating to the incorrect identity to one or more parties creating the derivation history.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the automatically initiating comprises:

determining a party authorized to update the one repository;

providing information relating to the incorrect identity to the authorized party; and

obtaining approval to update the one repository.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the providing information includes locating an entry in said one repository corresponding to said incorrect identity, said locating using said incorrect identity, and obtaining information from the entry corresponding to the incorrect identity.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises updating the one repository, in response to obtaining approval.