Dynamic set operations when specifying email recipients
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- at least one of one or more computing devices providing an electronic message user interface;
at least one of the one or more computing devices identifying an electronic message to be sent by a user to a plurality of recipients, each of the plurality of recipients being uniquely identified with a recipient address to a recipient account for receiving electronic messages, wherein sent ones of the electronic message are stored within a non-transitory storage medium and are thereafter accessible by a corresponding one of the plurality of recipients;
at least one of the one or more computing devices receiving user input into two different designation sections from the user via the electronic message user interface, said user input for a first one of the two different designation sections specifying a list name of a predefined list for a first set of two or more recipients, a user specified set operator, and a second set of one or more recipients, wherein said predefined list is maintained specifically for the user by an electronic messaging system to which the electronic message user interface is linked, wherein said user input for a second one of the two different designation sections including a third set of one of more recipients;
at least one of the one or more computing devices mathematically evaluating the first set and the second set using the set operator to dynamically generate a replacement set, wherein the mathematically evaluating causes at least one recipient of the first set to be excluded, whereby the replacement set includes fewer recipients than a quantity of recipients included in the first set, wherein the at least one excluded recipient of the first set include one recipient referred to as a first-designated-section-excluded-recipient, wherein the third set includes the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient;
at least one of the one or more computing devices creating a new predefined list from the replacement set;
saving the new predefined list for future reuse by users, who are able to thereafter specify the new predefined list by name within the electronic message user interface, wherein the new redefined list consists of the replacement set of recipients, wherein the saving saves an expression by an expression name, wherein the expression comprises the name of the predefined list name for a first set of two or more recipients, the set operator, and the second set of one or more recipients, wherein the saved expression is thereafter able to be utilized to define the replacement set, wherein whenever the predefined list for the first set of two or more recipients is changed, the expression used after the new predefined list is dynamically evaluated as a new replacement set different from said replacement set by virtue of the change to the predefined list for the first set of two or more recipients; and
at least one of the one or more computing devices receiving from the user a user selection of a send option from the electronic message user interface, wherein election of the send option causes the electronic message to be conveyed the replacement set of recipients as specified in the first one of the designation sections, wherein election of the send option also causes the electronic message to be conveyed to the third set of recipients as specified in the second one of the designation sections, wherein the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient is sent the electronic message but is not indicated in the sent electronic message as being included in the first one of the designated sections, and wherein if the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient was not included in the third set then the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient would not have been sent the electronic message.
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Abstract
A method for specifying email recipients that includes specifying a first set of email recipients, a second set of email recipients, and a set operation. A third set of email recipients can be automatically is generated by performing the set operation upon the first set and the second set. Email can then be sent to this automatically generated third set of email recipients.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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at least one of one or more computing devices providing an electronic message user interface; at least one of the one or more computing devices identifying an electronic message to be sent by a user to a plurality of recipients, each of the plurality of recipients being uniquely identified with a recipient address to a recipient account for receiving electronic messages, wherein sent ones of the electronic message are stored within a non-transitory storage medium and are thereafter accessible by a corresponding one of the plurality of recipients; at least one of the one or more computing devices receiving user input into two different designation sections from the user via the electronic message user interface, said user input for a first one of the two different designation sections specifying a list name of a predefined list for a first set of two or more recipients, a user specified set operator, and a second set of one or more recipients, wherein said predefined list is maintained specifically for the user by an electronic messaging system to which the electronic message user interface is linked, wherein said user input for a second one of the two different designation sections including a third set of one of more recipients; at least one of the one or more computing devices mathematically evaluating the first set and the second set using the set operator to dynamically generate a replacement set, wherein the mathematically evaluating causes at least one recipient of the first set to be excluded, whereby the replacement set includes fewer recipients than a quantity of recipients included in the first set, wherein the at least one excluded recipient of the first set include one recipient referred to as a first-designated-section-excluded-recipient, wherein the third set includes the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient; at least one of the one or more computing devices creating a new predefined list from the replacement set; saving the new predefined list for future reuse by users, who are able to thereafter specify the new predefined list by name within the electronic message user interface, wherein the new redefined list consists of the replacement set of recipients, wherein the saving saves an expression by an expression name, wherein the expression comprises the name of the predefined list name for a first set of two or more recipients, the set operator, and the second set of one or more recipients, wherein the saved expression is thereafter able to be utilized to define the replacement set, wherein whenever the predefined list for the first set of two or more recipients is changed, the expression used after the new predefined list is dynamically evaluated as a new replacement set different from said replacement set by virtue of the change to the predefined list for the first set of two or more recipients; and at least one of the one or more computing devices receiving from the user a user selection of a send option from the electronic message user interface, wherein election of the send option causes the electronic message to be conveyed the replacement set of recipients as specified in the first one of the designation sections, wherein election of the send option also causes the electronic message to be conveyed to the third set of recipients as specified in the second one of the designation sections, wherein the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient is sent the electronic message but is not indicated in the sent electronic message as being included in the first one of the designated sections, and wherein if the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient was not included in the third set then the first-designated-section-excluded-recipient would not have been sent the electronic message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method comprising:
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receiving at an email server an email message from a remotely located computing device; determining a set of email recipients from a header of the email message, wherein said header specifies different groups of email recipients, one of the different groups being a TO group, wherein each of the different groups are evaluated by the email server independent of evaluations of other ones of the different groups; during the determining, ascertaining that one of the different groups specifies a distribution list, a set operator, and either a different distribution list or a recipient set of one or more email addresses; determining a replacement set of recipients by evaluating the distribution list name, the set operator, and the different distribution list or the recipient set, wherein the replacement set includes fewer recipients than those included in the distribution list; creating a new distribution list from the determined replacement set; saving the new distribution list for future reuse by users, who are able to thereafter specify the new distribution list by name within a TO, CC, or BCC section of an email user interface, wherein the new distribution list consists of the replacement set of recipients, wherein the saving saves an expression by an expression name, wherein the expression comprises the distribution list name, the set operator, and the different distribution list or the recipient set, wherein an email client or the email server thereafter permits the saved expression to be utilized to define the replacement set, wherein whenever the distribution list is changed, the expression used after the distribution list change is dynamically evaluated as a new replacement set different from said replacement set by virtue of the change to the distribution list; and sending the email message to each of the set of recipients in the replacement set, wherein at least one of the receiving, the determining of the set of email recipients, the ascertaining, the determining of the replacement set, the saving of the new distribution list, and the sending are performed by a computing device executing program instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for establishing a set of a plurality of email recipients comprising:
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at least one of one or more computing devices receiving user input specifying a distribution list, a set operator, and either a different distribution list or a recipient set of one or more email addresses, at least one of the one or more computing devices determining the replacement set of recipients by evaluating the distribution list name, the set operator, and the different distribution list or the recipient set, wherein the replacement set includes fewer recipients than those included in the distribution list, wherein the set operator is an exclusion operator or an intersection operator, wherein the exclusion operator is an operator representing that recipients in the different distribution list or the recipient set are to be excluded from the replacement set, wherein the intersection operator is an operator representing only those recipients included in the distribution list and included in the different distribution list or recipient set are to be included in the replacement set; at least one of the one or more computing devices creating a new distribution list from the determined replacement set that results from the user input being evaluated; and at least one of the one or more computing devices saving the new distribution list for future reuse by users, who are able to thereafter specify the new distribution list by name within a TO, CC, or BCC section of an email user interface, wherein the new distribution list consists of the replacement set of recipients, wherein the saving saves an expression by an expression name, wherein the expression comprises the distribution list name, the set operator, and the different distribution list or the recipient set, wherein an email client or an email server thereafter permits the saved expression to be utilized to define the replacement set, wherein whenever the distribution list is changed, the expression used after the distribution list change is dynamically evaluated as a new replacement set different from said replacement set by virtue of the change to the distribution list. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification