Efficient attachment of user-selected files to e-mail from handheld device

• US 9,998,422 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2009
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: McIsaac, Steven Douglas, Martsyna, Nataliya, Russell, Graham, Sangster, Ian
• Primary Examiner(s): Zoubair, Noura
• Application Number:
  US12/463,644
• Publication Number:
  US 20090282463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,319 Days
• Field of Search: 709206, 709219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication

Abstract

A wireless telecommunications system includes facilities in a wireless hand-held device (WHHD) that allows a user to browse files available to that user on storage devices in an enterprise network, and to identify one or more such files to be attached to an e-mail message to be composed on or transmitted from the handheld. The system includes facilities in an enterprise network, such as a file delivery server, that cooperates with the WHHD to provide the file browsing service. A mail agent cooperates with the WHHD, responsive to instruction from the handheld to send an e-mail message that is to contain an attachment, to request the file delivery server to retrieve the identified files and assemble an e-mail containing those files as attachments. The WHHD may receive from the user appropriate credentials needed to access files available to that user on storage devices in the enterprise network, and may forward the credential to the file delivery server and the mail agent. These components may use the credentials to provide the file browsing service and to retrieve the identified files.

Claims

1. A method in a wireless hand-held device of composing an e-mail message that will include a remote file attachment, comprising:

receiving, at the wireless hand-held device, a user instruction to attach a file to an e-mail message sent by an enterprise email server to at least one recipient, the enterprise email server coupled to the wireless hand-held device by an enterprise hand-held services enhancement server that includes a file-delivery-server and a mail agent;

receiving, at the wireless hand-held device, from the file-delivery-server, a furnished list of one or more user-directory files that are located, within the enterprise, in at least one user-accessible directory location, the one or more user-directory files being stored in user file storage and being directly accessible in file form by the wireless hand-held device browsing the user file storage, while the one or more user-directory files in the at least one user-accessible directory location not being directly accessible by the enterprise email server;

receiving, at the wireless hand-held device, user selection of a user-directory file, selected from the file-delivery-server furnished list of one or more user-directory files, to attach to the e-mail message;

receiving, at the wireless hand-held device, user instruction to send the e-mail message; and

sending, from the wireless hand-held device over a wireless communication network, to the mail agent within the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server, an e-mail instruction message containing a portion of the e-mail message and an attachment instruction identifying a user-accessible directory location of the selected user-directory file, wherein the attachment instruction causing the mail agent to retrieve, with the file-delivery-server, the selected user-directory file from the identified user-accessible directory location, to assemble a complete e-mail message comprising at least the portion of the e-mail message received from the wireless hand-held device, a portion of a message that the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server retained from a prior e-mail message being forwarded or replied to in the e-mail message, and the selected user-directory file identified in the attachment instruction, and send the complete e-mail message to the at least one recipient via the enterprise email server;

wherein the enterprise email server is separate from the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server; and

wherein the attachment instruction further comprises a parameter furnishing file access credentials required for accessing the selected user-directory file and for the file-delivery-server to retrieve the selected user-directory file from the identified user-accessible directory location, the file access credentials comprising at least an email address and a password for the email address, and a packet header of the e-mail instruction message including the attachment instruction with the file access credentials.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after receiving an instruction from a user interface at the wireless hand-held device to attach a file to an e-mail message to be sent to at least one recipient, requesting a file browser service from the file-delivery-server, wherein the file-delivery-server resides within the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server and wherein the file-delivery-server provides services among one or more of transcoding, segmenting, and rendering for display attachments which have been attached to the complete e-mail message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the attachment instruction further comprises a parameter specifying the MIME content type of the user-directory file.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, via a user input device at the wireless hand-held device, user-provided credentials; and

wherein the parameter in the attachment instruction includes the user-provided credentials required for accessing the selected user-directory file and for the file-delivery-server to retrieve the selected user-directory file from the identified user-accessible directory location.

5. A computer-implemented method performed with a computer system operatively coupled to a wireless network and including a mail agent located within an enterprise hand-held services enhancement server for attaching a user-directory file to an e-mail message, comprising:

furnishing, to a wireless hand-held device, a list of one or more user-directory files that are located, within the enterprise, in at least one user-accessible directory location, the one or more user-directory files being stored in user file storage and being directly accessible in file form by the wireless hand-held device browsing the user file storage, while the one or more user-directory files in the at least one user-accessible directory location not being directly accessible by the mail agent;

receiving, from the wireless hand-held device over a wireless communication network, an e-mail instruction message containing a portion of the e-mail message and an attachment instruction identifying the user-directory file located elsewhere from the wireless hand-held device and in the at least one user-accessible directory location;

retrieving, with a file-delivery-server located within the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server and based on the attachment instruction, the identified user-directory file from the at least one user-accessible directory location;

assembling a complete e-mail message, the complete e-mail message comprising at least the portion of the e-mail message received from the wireless hand-held device, a portion of a message that the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server retained from a prior e-mail message being forwarded or replied to in the e-mail message, and the identified user-directory file retrieved from the at least one user-accessible directory location; and

sending the complete e-mail message to an e-mail server and thereby to a recipient, and wherein the e-mail server is separate from the mail agent; and

wherein the attachment instruction further comprises a parameter furnishing file access credentials required for accessing the identified user-directory file and for the file-delivery-server to retrieve the identified user-directory file from the at least one user-accessible directory location, the file access credentials comprising at least an email address and a password for the email address, and a packet header of the e-mail instruction message including the attachment instruction with the file access credentials.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein assembling a complete e-mail message comprises:

the mail agent calls elements of an API of the e-mail server causing the e-mail server to assemble the complete e-mail message.

7. A wireless hand-held device comprising:

a user interface;

a file browser that uses user-directory information of one or more user-directory files furnished from a file-delivery-server located within an enterprise hand-held services enhancement server but elsewhere from said device, the one or more user-directory files being located, within the enterprise, in at least one user-accessible directory location stored in user file storage and being directly accessible in file form by the wireless hand-held device browsing the user file storage while the one or more user-directory files in the at least one user-accessible directory location not being directly accessible by a mail agent located within the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server;

a wireless network interface for accessing a wireless network;

an e-mail application;

the e-mail application being configured to;

receive from the file-delivery-server a furnished list of one or more user-directory files that are located in the at least one user-accessible directory location in the user file storage;

receive via the user interface a request to attach to an e-mail message to be sent to a recipient a user-directory file selected from the user-directory information;

receive from the file browser a selection of the selected user-directory file, selected from the file-delivery-server furnished list of one or more user-directory files, to be attached to the e-mail message; and

transmit via said wireless network interface to the mail agent an e-mail instruction message containing a portion of the e-mail message and an attachment instruction to retrieve the selected user-directory file from an identified user-accessible directory location and send, with an e-mail server separate from the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server, to the recipient a complete e-mail message containing the portion of the e-mail message and the retrieved user-directory file as an attachment; and

wherein the attachment instruction further comprises a parameter furnishing file access credentials required for accessing the selected user-directory file and for the file-delivery-server to retrieve the selected user-directory file from the identified user-accessible directory location, the file access credentials comprising at least an email address and a password for the email address, and a packet header of the e-mail instruction message including the attachment instruction with the file access credentials; and

where the complete e-mail message, as assembled and sent to the recipient with the e-mail server, includes the portion of the e-mail message received from the wireless hand-held device, a portion of a message that the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server retained from a prior e-mail message being forwarded or replied to in the e-mail message, and the selected user-directory file.

8. An enterprise hand-held services enhancement server comprising:

a computer system operatively coupled to a wireless network;

a mail agent for receiving from a wireless hand-held device, via the wireless network, an e-mail instruction message containing a portion of an e-mail message and an attachment instruction identifying a user-accessible directory location of a user-directory file selected by a user of the wireless hand-held device, and for transmitting with an e-mail server a complete e-mail message containing the selected user-directory file as an attachment to a recipient, said mail agent adapted to;

responsive to the attachment instruction received from the wireless hand-held device, request said selected user-directory file be retrieved from the identified user-accessible directory location by a file-delivery-server that resides within the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server, the received attachment instruction including identification of the user-accessible directory location of the selected user-directory file, the selected user-directory file being stored in user file storage, within the enterprise, and being directly accessible in file form by the wireless hand-held device browsing the user file storage while the user-directory file in the identified user-accessible directory location not being directly accessible by the e-mail server; and

wherein the attachment instruction further comprises a parameter furnishing file access credentials required for accessing the selected user-directory file and for the file-delivery-server to retrieve the selected user-directory file from the identified user-accessible directory location, the file access credentials comprising at least an email address and a password for the email address, and a packet header of the e-mail instruction message including the attachment instruction with the file access credentials;

receive the selected user-directory file from said file-delivery-server; and

instruct the e-mail server to assemble the complete e-mail message including at least the portion of the e-mail message received from the wireless hand-held device, a portion of a message that the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server retained from a prior e-mail message being forwarded or replied to in the e-mail message, and the selected user-directory file as an attachment and send the complete e-mail message to the recipient; and

wherein the e-mail server is separate from the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server.

9. An enterprise mail system operatively coupled to a wireless network for use with a wireless hand-held device comprising:

a computer system operatively coupled to a wireless network and user file storage;

a file-delivery-server operatively coupled to the user file storage containing one or more user-directory files located, within the enterprise, at user-accessible directory locations in the user file storage;

an e-mail server;

a mail agent, the mail agent and file-delivery-server forming a part of an enterprise hand-held services enhancement server operatively coupled to the computer system, said mail agent configured to;

furnish, to the wireless hand-held device coupled to the wireless network, a list of the one or more user-directory files that are located in the user-accessible directory locations, the one or more user-directory files being directly accessible in file form by the wireless hand-held device browsing the user file storage, while the one or more user-directory files in the user-accessible directory locations not being directly accessible by the e-mail server;

receive, from the wireless hand-held device via the wireless network, an e-mail instruction message containing a portion of an e-mail message, an attachment instruction identifying a user-accessible directory location of a user-directory file selected from the furnished list by a user of the wireless hand-held device, and a request to send a complete e-mail message to a recipient; and

wherein the attachment instruction further comprises a parameter furnishing file access credentials required for accessing the selected user-directory file and for the file-delivery-server to retrieve the selected user-directory file from the identified user-accessible directory location, the file access credentials comprising at least an email address and a password for the email address, and a packet header of the e-mail instruction message including the attachment instruction with the file access credentials;

responsive to the attachment instruction,

receive the selected user-directory file from said file-delivery-server; and

instruct the e-mail server to assemble the complete e-mail message where the complete e-mail message includes the portion of the e-mail message received from the wireless hand-held device, a portion of a message that the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server retained from a prior e-mail message being forwarded or replied to in the e-mail message, and the selected user-directory file as an attachment, and to send the complete e-mail message to the recipient; and

wherein the e-mail server is separate from the mail agent.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the enterprise hand-held services enhancement server provides an interface between wireless hand-held device and the e-mail server and wherein the enterprise hand-held server pushes an incoming e-mail message to the wireless hand-held device when the incoming email message arrives at the e-mail server.