Integrated email and chat archiving with fine grained user control for chat archiving

• US 8,583,741 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2006
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Perlow, Jonathan D., Day, Robert F., Barker, Adam Ross, Coleman, Keith H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Rupal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chacko, Joe
• Application Number:
  US11/348,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20070185964A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,836 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status

Abstract

Participants in a chat session can control the archiving of chat messages in the chat session. Participants in a chat session send and receive a first set of chat messages, which are archived. A command to deactivate archiving is made by one of the participants. Messages in the chat session that are sent and received subsequent to the command to deactivate archiving are not archived. Archiving may be reactivated and messages subsequent to the command to reactivate archiving are archived.

Claims

1. A method of restricting archiving of chat messages, comprising:

at a server system having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors;

during a chat session between a first user and a second user,

receiving a first command from one of the first user and the second user to archive the chat session, wherein the command to archive the chat session is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option at a respective client device to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the first command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the first command, archiving two copies of the chat session between the first user and the second user in the server system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively;

receiving a second command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the second command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the second command, stopping archiving of the two copies of the chat session in both the first account and the second account upon receipt of the command to stop archiving;

receiving a third command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the third command, resuming archiving of the chat session in the server system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the command to resume archiving is received from the first user and the command to stop archiving is received from the second user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the command to stop archiving and the command to resume archiving are both received from the first user.

4. A system for restricting archiving of messages, comprising:

one or more processing units for executing instructions;

memory for storing instructions to be executed by the one or more processing units;

a message repository; and

a chat archiving module comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the system;

to receive a first command from one of a first user and a second user to archive a chat session of which the first user and the second user are participants, wherein the command to archive the chat session is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option at a respective client device to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the first command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the first command, to archive two copies of the chat session between the first user and the second user in the message repository such that the two copies are stored in first and second accounts of the message repository, respectively, wherein the first account is associated with the first user in the and the second account is associated with the second user;

to receive a second command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the second command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the second command, to stop archiving of the two copies of the chat session in both the first account and the second account of the message repository upon receipt of the command to stop archiving;

to receive a third command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the third command, to resume archiving of the chat session in the message repository only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

to transmit for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions to receive a command to stop archiving comprise instructions to receive the stop archiving command from the first user and the instructions to receive a command to resume archiving comprise instructions to receive the resume archiving command from the second user.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions to receive a command to stop archiving comprise instructions to receive the stop archiving command from the first user and the instructions to receive a command to resume archiving comprise instructions to receive the resume archiving command from the first user.

7. A non-transitory computer readable-storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by a computer system, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

receiving a first command from one of a first user and a second user to archive a chat session of which the first user and the second user are participants, wherein the command to archive the chat session is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option at a respective client device to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the first command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the first command, archiving two copies of the chat session between the first user and the second user in the computer system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively;

receiving a second command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the second command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the second command, stopping archiving of the two copies of the chat session in both the first account and the second account of the message repository upon receipt of the command to stop archiving;

receiving a third command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the third command, resuming archiving of the chat session in the computer system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

8. A method of managing chat messages at a server system, comprising:

exchanging one or more first messages in a chat session between a first user and a second user;

after exchanging the first messages, receiving a command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

after receiving the command to stop archiving, exchanging one or more second messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user;

archiving two copies of the first messages, but not the second messages, of the chat session in the server system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively, wherein the archiving of the first messages is performed without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing a chat archiving command;

after exchanging the second messages and before exchanging one or more third messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user, receiving a command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the command to resume archiving, archiving a copy of the third messages of the chat session in the server system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

9. A system for restricting archiving of messages, comprising:

one or more processing units for executing programs;

memory;

one or more programs, stored in the memory and executed by the processing units;

a messaging module comprising instructions, which when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the system;

to exchange first messages in a chat session between a first user and a second user;

to exchange second messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user; and

to exchange third messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user; and

a message archiving module comprising instructions;

to receive, after the first messages and before the second messages, a command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

to archive two copies of the first messages in the system, but not the second messages, of the chat session such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively, wherein the archiving of the two copies of the first messages is performed without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing a chat archiving command;

to receive, after exchanging the second messages and before exchanging the third messages, a command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the command to resume archiving, archiving a copy of the third messages of the chat session in the system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

to transmit for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

10. A non-transitory computer readable-storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by a computer system, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

exchanging one or more first messages in a chat session between a first user and a second user;

after exchanging the first messages, receiving a command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

after receiving the command to stop archiving, exchanging one or more second messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user;

archiving two copies of the first messages, but not the second messages, of the chat session in the computer system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively, wherein the archiving of the two copies of the first messages is performed without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing a chat archiving command;

after exchanging the second messages and before exchanging one or more third messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user, receiving a command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the command to resume archiving, archiving a copy of the third messages of the chat session in the computer system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

11. A system for restricting archiving of chat messages, comprising:

one or more processing units for executing programs;

memory;

one or more programs, stored in the memory and executed by the processing units;

means for receiving a first command from one of a first user and a second user to archive a chat session of which the first user and the second user are participants, wherein the command to archive the chat session is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option at a respective client device to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

means for, in response to the first command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the first command, archiving two copies of the chat session between the first user and the second user in the system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively;

means for receiving a second command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

means for, in response to the second command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the second command, stopping archiving of the two copies of the chat session in both the first account and the second account upon receipt of the command to stop archiving;

means for receiving a third command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

means for, in response to the third command, resuming archiving of the chat session in the system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

means for transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

12. A system for managing chat messages, comprising:

one or more processing units for executing programs;

memory;

one or more programs, stored in the memory and executed by the processing units;

means for exchanging one or more first messages in a chat session between a first user and a second user;

means for, after exchanging the first messages, receiving a command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

means for, after receiving the command to stop archiving, exchanging one or more second messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user;

means for archiving two copies of the first messages, but not the second messages, of the chat session in the system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively, wherein the archiving of the first messages is performed without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing a chat archiving command;

means for receiving, after exchanging the second messages and before exchanging one or more third messages in the chat session between the first user and the second user, a command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

means for archiving, in response to the command to resume archiving, a copy of the third messages of the chat session in the system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

means for transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.

13. A method of restricting archiving of chat messages, comprising:

at a server system having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors;

during a chat session between a first user and a second user,

receiving a first command from one of the first user and the second user to archive the chat session, wherein the command to archive the chat session is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option at a respective client device to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the first command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the first command, archiving two copies of the chat session between the first user and the second user in the server system such that one of the two copies is stored in a first account associated with the first user and the other of the two copies is stored in a second account associated with the second user, respectively;

receiving a second command from one of the first user and the second user to stop archiving the chat session, wherein the command to stop archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a first user interface option at a respective client device to stop archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

in response to the second command and without prior approval from the other one of the first user and the second user that is not responsible for issuing the second command, stopping archiving of the two copies of the chat session in both the first account and the second account upon receipt of the command to stop archiving;

transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is stopped;

receiving a third command from one of the first user and the second user to resume archiving of the chat session, wherein the command to resume archiving is received in response to activation, by either the first user or second user, of a second user interface option to start archiving for subsequent messages of the chat session;

resuming archiving of the chat session in the server system only in the account associated with the one of the first user and the second user that is responsible for issuing the command to resume archiving; and

transmitting for display a message alerting both the first user and the second user that the archiving of the chat session is resumed.