Providing snippets relevant to a search query in a conversation-based email system
First Claim
1. A method of searching messages, comprising:
- at one or more servers;
searching a message repository to identify conversations relevant to a search query,wherein each conversation in a subset of the identified conversations includes a plurality of messages, the messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria independent of the search query,wherein the predefined criteria include a subject of the one or more messages and information other than the subject of the one or more messages;
creating a list of conversations representing at least a subset of the identified conversations, each conversation in the list being represented as a single item in the list of conversations, at least one of the conversations in the list comprising two or more electronic messages from distinct senders;
identifying, for each conversation in the list of conversations, a portion of conversation content relevant to at least one search term of the search query; and
producing, for concurrent display at a client, a search result including at least the list of conversations, and the identified portion of conversation content for each conversation in the list of conversations.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for searching messages is disclosed that includes searching a message repository to identify one or more messages relevant to a search query, Each identified message belongs to a respective conversation, where each conversation includes one or more messages which share a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria. For at least one of the identified messages, the conversation to which it is associated is identified as well as a message content portion from identified message. The content portion includes content relevant to at least one search term of the search query. The conversation is produced as the search result, including the content portion.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of searching messages, comprising:
at one or more servers; searching a message repository to identify conversations relevant to a search query, wherein each conversation in a subset of the identified conversations includes a plurality of messages, the messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria independent of the search query, wherein the predefined criteria include a subject of the one or more messages and information other than the subject of the one or more messages; creating a list of conversations representing at least a subset of the identified conversations, each conversation in the list being represented as a single item in the list of conversations, at least one of the conversations in the list comprising two or more electronic messages from distinct senders; identifying, for each conversation in the list of conversations, a portion of conversation content relevant to at least one search term of the search query; and producing, for concurrent display at a client, a search result including at least the list of conversations, and the identified portion of conversation content for each conversation in the list of conversations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A conversation-based message system, comprising:
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one or more conversation servers, the one or more conversation servers comprising; memory; one or more processors; and one or more programs stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including; instructions for associating, according to predefined criteria, at least one of a plurality of received messages to a conversation from a plurality of conversations, each of the plurality of conversations having at least one message and a respective conversation identifier, wherein the predefined criteria includes a subject of the one or more messages and information other than the subject of the one or more messages; instructions for storing in a message storage system messages and associated information, including conversation information; instructions for producing a list of conversations in response to a search query, each conversation in the list being represented as a single item in the list of conversations, at least one of the conversations in the list comprising two or more electronic messages from distinct senders; instructions for creating formatting information associated with at least one of the conversations in the list of conversations that differentiates those messages in a conversation relevant to the search query from those messages that are not relevant to the search query and includes text information from at least one message relevant to the search query; and instructions for returning a search result which includes the list of conversations and the formatting information. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of processing messages, comprising:
at one or more servers; receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier; associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier;
wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet first predefined criteria, wherein the predefined criteria include a subject field of the one or more messages and information other than the subject field of the one or more messages; andproducing a list of conversations relevant to a search query in an order determined in accordance with second predefined criteria, and as a set of rows, each row corresponding to a conversation in the list of conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic, a date/time value, and a portion of the conversation; wherein each conversation in the list is represented as a single item in the list of conversations, and at least one of the conversations in the list comprises two or more electronic messages from distinct senders. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by a computer system, the one or more programs including:
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instructions for searching a message repository to identify conversations relevant to a search query, wherein each conversation in a subset of the identified conversations includes a plurality of messages, the messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria independent of the search query, wherein the predefined criteria include a subject of the one or more messages and information other than the subject the one or more messages; instructions for creating a list of conversations representing at least a subset of the identified conversations, each conversation in the list being represented as a single item in the list of conversations, at least one of the conversations in the list comprising two or more electronic messages from distinct senders; instructions for identifying, for each conversation in the list of conversations, a portion of conversation content relevant to at least one search term of the search query; and instructions for producing, for concurrent display at a client, a search result including at least the list of conversations, and the identified portion of conversation content for each conversation in the list of conversations. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution a computer system, the one or more programs including:
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instructions for receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier; instructions for associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier;
wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet first predefined criteria, wherein the predefined criteria include a subject of the one or more messages and information other than the subject of the one or more messages; andinstructions for producing a list of conversations relevant to a search query in an order determined in accordance with second predefined criteria, and as a set of rows, each row corresponding to a conversation in the list of conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic, a date/time value, and a portion of the conversation; wherein each conversation in the list is represented as a single item in the list of conversations, and at least one of the conversations in the list comprises two or more electronic messages from distinct senders. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for searching messages, comprising:
one or more servers, each having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including; instructions for searching a message repository to identify conversations relevant to a search query, wherein each conversation in a subset of the identified conversations includes a plurality of messages, the messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria independent of the search query, wherein the predefined criteria include a subject of the one or more messages and information other than the subject of the one or more messages; instructions for creating a list of conversations representing at least a subset of the identified conversations, each conversation in the list being represented as a single item in the list of conversations, at least one of the conversations in the list comprising two or more electronic messages from distinct senders; instructions for identifying, for each conversation in the list of conversations, a portion of conversation content relevant to at least one search term of the search query; and instructions for producing, for concurrent display at a client, a search result including at least the list of conversations, and the identified portion of conversation content for each conversation in the list of conversations. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
Specification