System and method for enabling an external-system view of email attachments

• US 20090100073A1
• Filed: 05/14/2005
• Published: 04/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Liquid Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Dargahi, Ross, Dharmaraj, Satish, Schemers, Roland J. III
• Granted Patent: US 8,805,934 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments

Abstract

A method and email application enable email attachments to be viewed through a system external to the email application itself in accordance with select categories. The email application creates categories and categorizes the email attachments according to such categories. The email application then maps the categories into a format understandable by the external system for category information and provides the mapped categories to the external system in such format. In response to receiving a request from the external system for the contents of one of the mapped categories and in response to such category having no further subcategories, the email application identifies the email attachments under such category and maps the identified email attachments to file names. The file names are then provided to the external system as the contents of such category. If the external system requests the contents of a category that has further subcategories, the email application maps the subcategories into a format understandable to the external system and provides such subcategories to the external system as the contents of such category.

The present invention can be used to provide a file-system view of email attachments. In such case, the email application appears as a file system to the operating system of an email user'"'"'s computer. The created categories are provided to the operating system as the “folders” in the file system. The email attachments are provided as files within such folders.

Claims

1. A method for enabling an external-system view of categorized email attachments, the method comprising:

creating categories upon which to categorize email attachments in an email system;

categorizing email attachments in accordance with such categories;

mapping one or more of the categories into a format understandable by the external system for category information and providing such mapped categories to the external system in such format;

in response to receiving a request from the external system for the contents of one of such mapped categories and in response to such one category having no further subcategories, identifying any email attachments under such one category, mapping such email attachments to file names, and providing such files names to the external system as the contents of such one category; and

in response to a request for a file by one of such file names, providing the external system the email attachment that corresponds to such requested file name.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the external system is an operating system and wherein the email application appears as a file system to the operating system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mapped categories are provided to the operating system as folders in the file system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the external system is a web server.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one or more of the created categories correspond to metadata in email message headers.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein email attachments are categorized by sender.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein email attachments are categorized by file type.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein email attachments are categorized by date.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein email attachments are categorized by domain name of senders.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein email attachments are categorized by domain name of recipients.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the created categories includes at least one user-created category.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the created categories are based on the fields and terms of metadata in headers of email messages that have email attachments.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein categorizing the email attachments comprises indexing email attachments according to the fields and terms of metadata in the email messages corresponding to the email attachments.

14. A method, implemented by an email application, for enabling a file-system view of email attachments on an external computer having an operating system, wherein the email application appears as a file system to the operating system, the method comprising:

creating categories upon which to categorize email attachments, wherein the categories are hierarchical in that there is a highest-level of categories and one or more levels of subcategories under such highest-level;

categorizing email attachments in accordance with such categories;

receiving a request from the operating system for the contents of the file system;

mapping the categories into folder names and providing such folder names to the operating system, where folders corresponding to the highest-level of categories are provided first as the contents of the file system and folders corresponding to subcategories under higher-level categories are provided, when requested by the operating system, as the content of higher-level folders;

receiving a request from the operating system for the contents of a select folder having one of the folder names;

mapping the folder name of the select folder to one of the categories;

determining whether or not such one category has further subcategories;

in response to determining that such one category has further subcategories, providing folder names associated with such subcategories to the operating system;

in response to determining that such one category has no further subcategories;

identifying any email attachments under such one category;

mapping any such identified email attachments to file names and providing such file names to the operating system as the contents of the select folder; and

in response to receiving a request from the operating system for a file having one of the file names, mapping the file name to an email attachment and providing the email attachment to the operating system.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein at least one or more of the categories correspond to metadata in email message headers.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein email attachments are categorized by sender.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein email attachments are categorized by file type.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein email attachments are categorized by date.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein email attachments are categorized by domain name of senders.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein email attachments are categorized by domain name of recipients.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the categories includes at least one user-created category.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the categories are based on the fields and terms of metadata in headers of email messages that have email attachments.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein categorizing the email attachments comprises indexing email attachments according to the fields and terms of metadata associated with the email attachments.

24. A method, implemented by an email application, for enabling a file-system view of email attachments on an external computer having an operating system, wherein the email application appears as a file system to the operating system, the method comprising:

creating categories upon which to categorize email attachments;

categorizing email attachments in accordance with such categories;

providing such categories to the operating system as folders in the file systems; and

providing email attachments under such categories to the operating system as files in such folders.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the categories are based on the fields and terms of metadata in headers of email messages that have email attachments.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein categorizing the email attachments comprises indexing email attachments according to the fields and terms of metadata associated with the email attachments.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein email attachments are categorized by sender.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein email attachments are categorized by file type.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein email attachments are categorized by date.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein email attachments are categorized by domain name of senders.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein email attachments are categorized by domain name of recipients.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the categories includes at least one user-created category.

33. A computer program embodied in a tangible medium and capable of being read by a computer comprising:

a parser module for parsing data associated with incoming email messages and email attachments;

a categorization module for creating categories based on the data and for keeping a record of the email messages and email attachments that fit under each of the categories;

an interface module for interfacing with the external system and for;

mapping the categories into a format understandable by the external system for category information and providing the categories to such external system in such format;

mapping email attachments under at least one of the categories into file names, and providing such files names to the external system as the contents of such category; and

in response to a request for a file having one the file names, mapping the requested file name to an email attachment and providing such email attachment to the external system.