SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THREADING ELECTRONIC MESSAGES

• US 20150249631A1
• Filed: 02/04/2015
• Published: 09/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Lu, Xiaobin, Chien, Elaine
• Granted Patent: US 10,320,731 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes

Abstract

A system and method includes a network interface device to receive and retransmit electronic messages between a first user and a second user, an electronic data storage configured to store database entries related to electronic messages as received and retransmitted by the network interface device, at least some of the database entries including a latest message in thread flag identifying a latest electronic message in a thread of multiple electronic messages, and a processor. The processor may create a database entry corresponding to a first electronic message, the database entry including the latest message in thread flag indicating that the first electronic message is a latest electronic message of a thread, and change a status of a latest message in thread flag of a database entry corresponding to a second electronic message of the thread to indicate that the second electronic message is not a latest message in the thread.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a network interface device configured to receive and retransmit electronic messages between a first user and a second user;

an electronic data storage configured to store a first database and a second database, each database configured to store database entries related to electronic messages as received and retransmitted by the network interface device, at least some of the database entries including a binary latest message in thread flag identifying a latest electronic message in a thread of multiple electronic messages as stored in a respective one of the first database and the second database, wherein the first database corresponds to electronic messages received from and retransmitted to the first user and the second database corresponds to electronic messages received from and retransmitted to the second user; and

a processor, coupled to the electronic data storage, configured to;

create, in one of the first database and the second database, a database entry corresponding to a first electronic message as received or retransmitted to a respective one of the first user and the second user, the database entry including the latest message in thread flag indicating that the first electronic message is a latest electronic message of a thread corresponding to the first electronic message;

changing a status of a latest message in thread flag of a database entry in the one of the first database and the second database corresponding to a second electronic message of the thread to indicate that the second electronic message is not a latest message in the thread.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the database entries further include a message identification field and a thread identification field, wherein each database entry corresponding to an electronic message of the thread includes a unique message identifier in its respective message identifier field and a common thread identifier in its respective thread identifier field.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the thread includes an initial electronic message, wherein the common thread identifier of the thread is based, at least in part, on a message identifier of the initial electronic message.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the common thread identifier is the same as the message identifier of the initial electronic message.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the common thread identifier is common to electronic messages corresponding to the thread in both the first and second databases.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the each of the first and second databases include at least one database entry having a latest message in thread flag indicating that a corresponding electronic message is the latest message in the thread.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the database entries include at least one of a timestamp field and a thread sequence field, wherein processor is further configured to resolve conflicting latest message in thread flag statuses based, at least in part, on at least one of the timestamp field and the thread sequence field of the respective database entries.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic message is transmitted from the first user to the network interface and retransmitted from the network interface to the second user, wherein the database entry is a first database entry created in the first database, and wherein the processor is further configured to generate a second database entry corresponding to the first electronic message in the second database.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first database entry includes an inbox field having a false binary entry and the second database entry includes an inbox field having a true binary field.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the database entries include a subject field, a body field, and a recipient field.

11. A method, comprising:

creating, with a processor, a database entry in one of a first database and a second database stored in an electronic data storage, the database entry corresponding to a first electronic message as received or retransmitted by a network interface device between a first user and a second user, the database entry including a binary latest message in thread flag indicating that the first electronic message is a latest electronic message of a thread corresponding to the first electronic message as stored in a respective one of the first database and the second database, wherein the first database corresponds to electronic messages received from and retransmitted to the first user and the second database corresponds to electronic messages received from and retransmitted to the second user;

changing, with the processor, in the one of the first database and the second database, a status of a latest message in thread flag of a database entry corresponding to a second electronic message of the thread to indicate that the second electronic message is not a latest message in the thread.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the database entries further include a message identification field and a thread identification field, wherein each database entry corresponding to an electronic message of the thread includes a unique message identifier in its respective message identifier field and a common thread identifier in its respective thread identifier field.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the thread includes an initial electronic message, wherein the common thread identifier of the thread is based, at least in part, on a message identifier of the initial electronic message.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the common thread identifier is the same as the message identifier of the initial electronic message.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the common thread identifier is common to electronic messages corresponding to the thread in both the first and second databases.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the first and second databases include at least one database entry having a latest message in thread flag indicating that a corresponding electronic message is the latest message in the thread.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein at least some of the database entries include at least one of a timestamp field and a thread sequence field, wherein processor is further configured to resolve conflicting latest message in thread flag statuses based, at least in part, on at least one of the timestamp field and the thread sequence field of the respective database entries.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the first electronic message is transmitted from the first user to the network interface and retransmitted from the network interface to the second user, wherein the database entry is a first database entry created in the first database, and wherein the processor is further configured to generate a second database entry corresponding to the first electronic message in the second database.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first database entry includes an inbox field having a false binary entry and the second database entry includes an inbox field having a true binary field.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein at least some of the database entries include a subject field, a body field, and a recipient field.