Storage of selected e-mails including attachments in document management system

• US 20040064473A1
• Filed: 06/13/2003
• Published: 04/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Thomas, Rob, Wise, Laura, Kao, Pan
• Granted Patent: US 8,443,045 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and system are provided for storing selected e-mails, including the content of the e-mail and attachments, in a document management system. A user initiates storage of the e-mail by a user-actuated control that is added to the interface of his e-mail application. The e-mail is then copied, indexed and stored in a separate document in the document management system, and attachments to the e-mail are embedded in the separate document. The font and graphics of the e-mail may be stored in the separate document as they as they appeared in the original document. The text of the e-mail may be stored in the binary format that is native to a word processor associated with the document management system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for storing the content of a selected email along with an attachment to the selected e-mail in a container that is managed by a document management system, comprising:

providing a user-actuated control in an e-mail application;

receiving information indicating that the user-actuated control has been activated;

in response to the receiving, copying the content and the attachment in a new container that is separate from the e-mail; and

indexing the container in the document management system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the copying is performed under the control of a macro that is run in a word processing application.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the user-actuated control is a button.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the content of the selected e-mail is formatted and wherein the content is copied in the container with the same formatting.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the container is indexed in the document management system to be read by a document processing application having a native file format and wherein the container is formatted in the native file format of that application.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the document processing application is a word processing program.

7. The method of claim 1 further including generating a default name for the container and presenting this default name to the user for acceptance.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the e-mail has a subject line and wherein the default name is the same as the subject line.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the container.

10. A computer readable medium containing a computer program that causes a computer loaded with that program and other software to implement the following process:

providing a user-actuated control in an e-mail application;

receiving information indicating that the user-actuated control has been activated;

in response to the receiving, copying the content and the attachment in a new container that is separate from the e-mail; and

indexing the container in the document management system.

11. The medium of claim 10 wherein the program further causes the copying to be performed under the control of a macro that is run in a word processing application.

12. The medium of claim 10 wherein the program further causes the user-actuated control to be a button.

13. The medium of claim 10 wherein the program further causes the content of the selected e-mail to be formatted and the content to be copied in the container with the same formatting.

14. The medium of claim 10 wherein the program further causes the container to be indexed in the document management system to be read by a document processing application having a native file format and the container to be formatted in the native file format of that application.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the document processing application is a word processing program.

16. The medium of claim 10 wherein the program further causes generating a default name for the container and presenting this default name to the user for acceptance.

17. The medium of claim 10 wherein the e-mail has a subject line and wherein the program further causes the default name to be the same as the subject line.

18. The medium of claim 10 wherein the program further causes creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the container.

19. A computer system for storing the content of a selected e-mail including an attachment to the selected e-mail in a container that is managed by a management system, comprising mass storage containing:

an e-mail application,

a document management application

a word processing application; and

a software routine that implements the following process when loaded;

providing a user-actuated control in an e-mail application;

receiving information indicating that the user-actuated control has been activated;

in response to the receiving, copying the content and the attachment in a new container that is separate from the e-mail; and

indexing the container in the document management system.

20. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the copying to be performed under the control of a macro that is run in a word processing application.

21. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the user-actuated control to be a button.

22. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the content of the selected e-mail to be formatted and the content to be copied in the container with the same formatting.

23. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the container to be indexed in the document management system to be read by a document processing application having a native file format and the container to be formatted in the native file format of that application.

24. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the document processing application is a word processing program.

25. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes generating a default name for the container and presenting this default name to the user for acceptance.

26. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the e-mail has a subject line and wherein the software routine when loaded further causes the default name to be the same as the subject line.

27. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the software routine when loaded further causes creating an index of the attachments and embedding that index in the container.