UPLOAD OF ATTACHMENT AND INSERTION OF LINK INTO ELECTRONIC MESSAGES

• US 20120278404A1
• Filed: 04/28/2011
• Published: 11/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Meisels, Joshua Adam, Costenaro, Daniel Paul, Brown, Jedidiah
• Granted Patent: US 10,552,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes

Abstract

An option is presented with an electronic message to automatically upload and permission an attachment to the electronic message. A single click may be received to upload the attachment to a shared location (e.g. network share, online service, and the like). Permissions may be automatically set for the message recipients of the electronic message. For example, a default set of permissions and/or custom permissions may be set for each of the recipients listed on the To:/Cc:/Bcc: lines. A link to the shared location may also be automatically inserted into the electronic message along with or in place of the attachment.

Claims

1. A method for uploading an attachment to an electronic message to a shared location, comprising:

detecting an attachment within an electronic message;

displaying an upload option to upload the attachment to a shared location; and

in response to receiving a selection of the upload option, uploading the attachment to the shared location and automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment at the shared location.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the attachment from the electronic message and inserting a link to the uploaded attachment at the shared location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises setting default permissions for each recipient of the electronic message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises receiving a custom permission for at least one of the recipients.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises displaying a change option within the electronic message that when selected presents options to change the permissions for the attachment at the shared location.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising providing a warning when the default permissions are unable to be set.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the electronic message to the recipients and in response to sending the electronic message uploading the attachment to the shared location.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising inserting an indication within the electronic message indicating that the attachment is stored at the shared location.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the upload option comprises displaying a choice of shared network locations when the upload option is selected.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for uploading an attachment to a shared location, comprising:

detecting an attachment within an electronic message that is addressed to recipients;

displaying an upload option to upload the attachment to a shared location;

in response to receiving a selection of the upload option, uploading the attachment to the shared location and automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment at the shared location; and

sending the message to the recipients.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising removing the attachment from the electronic message and inserting a link to the uploaded attachment at the shared location.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises setting default permissions for each of the recipients.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises receiving a custom permission for at least one of the recipients.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises displaying a change option within the electronic message that when selected presents options to change the permissions for the attachment at the shared location.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein displaying the upload option comprises displaying a choice of shared network locations when the upload option is selected.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises selecting the permissions based on a type of attachment.

17. A system for uploading an attachment to a shared location, comprising:

a network connection that is configured to connect to a network;

a processor, memory, and a computer-readable storage medium;

an operating environment stored on the computer-readable storage medium and executing on the processor;

a messaging application; and

an attachment manager operating in conjunction with the messaging application that is configured to perform actions comprising;

detecting an attachment within an electronic message that is addressed to recipients;

displaying an upload option to upload the attachment to a shared location;

in response to receiving a selection of the upload option, uploading the attachment to the shared location and automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment at the shared location; and

sending the message to the recipients.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising removing the attachment from the electronic message and inserting a link to the uploaded attachment at the shared location.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises displaying a change option within the electronic message that when selected presents options to change the permissions for the attachment at the shared location.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein automatically setting permissions for the uploaded attachment comprises selecting the permissions based on a type of attachment.