Storage of selected e-mails including attachments in document management system

• US 8,443,045 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2003
• Issued: 05/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Thomas, Rob, Kao, Pan, Wise, Laura
• Primary Examiner(s): DWIVEDI, MAHESH H
• Application Number:
  US10/461,616
• Publication Number:
  US 20040064473A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,623 Days
• Field of Search: 707/200, 707/202, 707/711, 715/752, 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and system are provided for storing selected e-mails, including the content of the e-mail and attachments, in a document management system. A user initiates storage of the e-mail by a user-actuated control that is added to the interface of his e-mail application. The e-mail is then copied, indexed and stored in a separate document in the document management system, and attachments to the e-mail are embedded in the separate document. The font and graphics of the e-mail may be stored in the separate document as they as they appeared in the original document. The text of the e-mail may be stored in the binary format that is native to a word processor associated with the document management system.

Claims

1. A computer readable media containing a computer program that causes a computer system loaded with that program and other software to implement the following process in connection with a selected received e-mail having content and an attachment in the order recited:

receiving e-mails in an email application and placing them in a user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox;

receiving a user-selection of a received e-mail in the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox having content and an attachment;

providing a user-actuated control in an e-mail application;

receiving information indicating that the user-actuated control in a user interface to the e-mail application has been activated while the received e-mail is selected;

in response to the receiving, copying the content and the attachment into a single, new container that is separate from the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox, the single, new container containing both the content and the attachment in a binary format native to a word processing program with the attachment being illustrated in the single, new container as an icon; and

indexing and storing the single container in a document management system that is associated with and separate from the word processing program and that allows a user to associate documents with multiple classification categories and that is separate from any word processing application that may be associated with the document management system and from the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox, including presenting an indexing dialog box to the user providing a set of indexing fields for the user to select that allow the user to associate the single container with multiple classification categories and indexing the container in the document management system according to the choices that the user selects.

2. The media of claim 1 wherein the program further causes the copying to be performed under the control of a macro that is run in the word processing application.

3. The media of claim 1 wherein the program further causes the user-actuated control to be a button.

4. The media of claim 1 wherein the content of the selected e-mail is formatted and the program further causes the content to be copied into the container with the same formatting.

5. The media of claim 1 wherein the selected e-mail includes a plurality of attachments and wherein the program further causes creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the container along with the content of the email and the plurality of attachments.

6. The media of claim 1 wherein the program further copies the content and attachment from an email that has been received by the user.

7. The computer-readable media of claim 1 wherein the container into which the content and attachment are copied that is separate from the user'"'"'s personal mailbox is a single file.

8. The computer-readable media of claim 7 wherein the selected e-mail includes a plurality of attachments and wherein the program further causes creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the single file along with the content of the email and the plurality of attachments.

9. A computer system for storing the content of a selected received e-mail along with an attachment to the selected e-mail comprising mass storage containing:

an e-mail application having a user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox;

a document management application;

a word processing application that is associated with and separate from the document management application; and

a software routine that implements the following process when loaded in the order recited;

receiving e-mails in the email application and placing them in the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox;

receiving a user-selection of a received e-mail in the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox having content and an attachment;

providing-a user-actuated control in the e-mail application;

receiving information indicating that the user-actuated control in a user interface to the e-mail application has been activated while the received e-mail is selected;

in response to the receiving, copying the content and the attachment into a single, new container that is separate from the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox, the single, new container containing both the content and the attachment in a binary format native to the word processing program with the attachment being illustrated in the single, new container as an icon; and

indexing and storing the single container in the-document management system that allows a user to associate documents with multiple classification categories and that is separate from the word processing application and from the user'"'"'s personal electronic mailbox, including presenting an indexing dialog box to the user providing a set of indexing fields for the user to select that allow the user to associate the single container with multiple classification categories and indexing the container in the document management system according to the choices that the user selects.

10. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the copying to be performed under the control of a macro that is run in the word processing.

11. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the user-actuated control to be a button.

12. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the content of the selected e-mail to be copied in the container in the same format as it is in the selected e-mail.

13. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the selected e-mail has a plurality of attachments and wherein the software routine when loaded further causes creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the container along with the content and the plurality of attachments.

14. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the software routine also copies the content and attachment from an email that has been received by the user.

15. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the container into which the content and attachment are copied that is separate from the user'"'"'s personal mailbox is a single file.

16. The computer system of claim 15 wherein the selected e-mail has a plurality of attachments and wherein the software routine when loaded further causes creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the single file along with the content and the plurality of attachments.

17. The computer system of claim 16 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the copying to be performed under the control of a macro that is run in the word processing application.