Electronic mail recovery utilizing recorded mapping table

• US 8,533,271 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2006
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Gupta, Tarunkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): KIM, TAE K
• Application Number:
  US11/351,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20070192416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,769 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/206, 709/214, 709/204, 709/205, 707/204, 707/1, 707/661, 707/662, 707/665, 707/667, 707/668, 707/672, 707/673
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A method for retrieving deleted data is described. The present method includes receiving a request to locate deleted data. The request includes criteria for approximating said deleted data. The deleted data is stored in a recovery log. The method also includes receiving an affirmation that the located deleted data is the deleted data being requested. The affirmation is by the requester of said deleted data. The method further includes transmitting the recovered data to the requester upon receiving the affirmation.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of recovering an electronic mail message in a computer system, said method comprising:

accessing, by a computer system, a user generated query identifying a portion of said electronic mail message;

searching, by said computer system, a first table of stored header information to identify one or more electronic mail message candidates that match said query, the first table being stored in a computer-readable medium in communication with said processor and providing a first mapping that associates message identifiers of a plurality of deleted electronic mail messages with a plurality of recovery logs;

in response to a user selecting a first electronic mail message of said message candidates, obtaining, by said computer system, a message identifier identifying said first electronic mail message;

identifying, by said computer system, a selected recovery log from said plurality of recovery logs using said first mapping, said first mapping stored in said first table as an association between said message identifier and said selected recovery log; and

identifying, by said computer system, a message information record from a plurality of message information records stored in said selected recovery log using a second mapping,

said second mapping stored in said selected recovery log as an association between said message identifier and said message information record,

wherein distinct subsets of the plurality of deleted electronic mail messages are stored in distinct recovery logs according to the first mapping; and

recovering, by said computer system, said portion of said first electronic mail message from said message information record.

2. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said log is a redo log.

3. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said header information contains sender information, receiver information, and subject line information for deleted electronic mail messages.

4. A method as described in claim 3 wherein said table further comprises a mapping between unique codes identifying deleted electronic mail messages and logs in which portions of said deleted electronic mail messages are stored.

5. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said portion of said first electronic mail message is a MIME formatted portion.

6. A method as described in claim 5 further comprising converting, by said computer system, said portion of said first electronic mail message into a complete version of said first electronic mail message using an electronic mail server.

7. A method as described in claim 6 further comprising transmitting, by said computer system, said complete version of said first electronic mail message to said user.

8. A method as described in claim 1 further comprising displaying, by said computer system, identifying information related to said electronic mail message candidates on a display as part of a graphical user interface.

21. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by said computer system, said plurality of recovery logs, each of said plurality of recovery logs storing different portions of electronic mail messages than each of the other of said plurality of recovery logs, or a combination thereof.

22. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by said computer system, said plurality of recovery logs; and

identifying, by said computer system, one of said plurality of recovery logs as an active recovery log;

wherein, during operation the computer system, the computer system stores deleted electronic mail messages only in the active recovery log.

23. A method as described in claim 22, further comprising:

periodically identifying, by said computer system, a different one of said plurality of recovery logs as the active recovery log.

9. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a mapping table stored on a computer-readable medium and linking unique identifiers of deleted electronic mail messages to a plurality of recovery logs, the recovery logs storing portions of the deleted electronic mail messages; and

a memory coupled to a processor, said memory storing instructions to implement a method of recovering an electronic mail message, said method comprising;

in response to a request to delete a specified electronic mail message, storing header information and a unique code of the first electronic mail message to the mapping table;

accessing a user generated query identifying a portion of the specified electronic mail message;

searching a first table of stored header information to identify one or more electronic mail message candidates that match said query, the first table being stored in a computer-readable medium in communication with said processor and providing a first mapping that associates message identifiers of a plurality of deleted electronic mail messages with a plurality of recovery logs;

in response to a user selecting a first electronic mail message of said message candidates, obtaining a message identifier identifying said first electronic mail message;

identifying a selected recovery log from said plurality of recovery logs using said first mapping, said first mapping stored in said first table as an association between said message identifier and said selected recovery log; and

identifying a message information record from a plurality of message information records stored in said selected recovery log using a second mapping, said second mapping stored in said selected recovery log as an association between said message identifier and said message information record,

wherein distinct subsets of the plurality of deleted electronic mail messages are stored in distinct recovery logs according to the first mapping; and

recovering said portion of said first electronic mail message from said message information record.

10. A computer system as described in claim 9 wherein said identified recovery log is a redo log.

11. A computer system as described in claim 9 wherein said header information contains sender information, receiver information and subject line information for deleted electronic mail messages.

12. A computer system as described in claim 9 wherein said portion of said first electronic mail message is a MIME formatted portion.

13. A computer system as described in claim 12 further comprising converting said portion of said first electronic mail message into a complete version of said first electronic mail message using an electronic mail server.

14. A computer system method as described in claim 13 further comprising transmitting said complete version of said first electronic mail message to said user.

15. A computer system as described in claim 9 further comprising displaying information related to said electronic mail message candidates on a display as part of a graphical user interface.

20. The system of claim 9, wherein the recovery log identified from among the plurality of recovery logs comprises a plurality of tables, each table storing records associating a plurality of unique electronic mail message identifiers and respective portions of the electronic mail messages.

16. A computer-implemented method of deleting a selected electronic mail message from a mail account, said method comprising:

in response to a request to delete said selected electronic mail message, performing the following by a computer system;

identifying, by the computer system, a current recovery log from among a plurality of recovery logs stored in a computer-readable medium in communication with said processor,

wherein distinct subsets of a plurality of deleted electronic mail messages are stored in distinct recovery logs according to the first mapping;

storing, by the computer system, header information of said selected electronic mail message to a mapping table;

storing into said mapping table, by the computer system, a first mapping between said current recovery log and an identifier uniquely identifying said selected electronic mail message;

storing into a second table in said current recovery log, by the computer system, a portion of said selected electronic mail message in association with said identifier uniquely identifying said selected electronic mail message; and

deleting, by the computer system, said selected electronic mail message from said mail account.

17. A method as described in claim 16 wherein said portion of said electronic mail message is a MIME format.

18. A method as described in claim 16 wherein said recovery log is a redo log.

19. A method as described in claim 16 wherein said mapping table comprises respective mappings between a plurality of deleted electronic mail messages and logs into which portions of said deleted electronic mail messages are stored.