Sectional E-mail Transmission

• US 7,890,593 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2008
• Issued: 02/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2008
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Selvage, Mei Yang, Walker, Keith Raymond, Handy-Bosma, John Hans, Chen, Yen-Fu
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan; Wing F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thieu; Benjamin M
• Application Number:
  US12/175,280
• Publication Number:
  US 20100017481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 943 Days
• Field of Search: 709206-207, 709/246
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A process of segmenting a single email so that portions of it may be directed to or away from select recipients is disclosed. The sender highlights portions of the email and right clicks (or key command, button, or menu item) and selects an option to select recipients. The operator interface then provides the sender with the option of selecting recipients from their address book or the server'"'"'s address book. To speed the process along, the sender may select those already on the To, Cc, or Bcc distribution lists. The sender then selects whether those chosen will receive the highlighted portion or if they will be excluded from receiving it. Lastly, the sender will have the option of providing text that is unique to each of the selected groups.

Claims

1. A computer program product for segmenting an email addressed to a plurality of original email recipients without the need to send separate emails, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage device;

first program instructions for selecting a section of the email;

second program instructions for selecting a recipient for the section from the plurality of recipients;

third program instructions for inserting, responsive to selecting the recipient for the section, a section information that identifies the recipient for the section and a starting and an ending character of the section into a header of the email;

fourth program instructions for sending the email to an email server, the email server comprising a processor and a memory;

fifth program instructions for receiving the email at the email server;

sixth program instructions for parsing, at the email server, the header for the section information;

seventh program instructions for sending, at the email server, the email to the recipient for the section; and

eighth program instructions for sending, at the email server, the email without the section and the section information to the plurality of original recipients that have not been selected for receiving the section so that the plurality of original recipients cannot see that the section was removed;

wherein the first through the eighth program instructions are stored in the computer readable storage device; and

wherein the section information is adapted to automatically prefix the section with an explanatory text to inform the section recipient that the section is being transmitted only to the section recipient, and wherein the explanatory text is adapted to be indented and colored.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising:

ninth program instructions for displaying, responsive to passing a cursor over the selected section of the email, a window showing a recipient of the selected section;

wherein the ninth program instructions are stored in the computer readable storage device.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein selecting a section of the email is responsive to a user highlighting a portion of the email and right clicking on the highlighted portion.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising:

tenth program instructions for displaying, responsive to selecting the section of the email, a window having the plurality of recipients for identifying the section recipient of the section;

wherein the tenth program instructions are stored in the computer readable storage device.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the starting character and the ending character are adapted to designate a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph.

6. A computer implemented method for segmenting an email addressed to a plurality of original email recipients without the need to send separate emails comprising:

selecting a section of the email;

selecting a recipient for the section from the plurality of recipients;

responsive to selecting the recipient for the section, inserting a section information that identifies the recipient for the section and a starting and an ending character of the section into a header of the email;

sending the email to an email server, the email server comprising a processor and a memory;

at the email server, performing steps including;

receiving the email;

parsing the header for the section information;

sending the email to the recipient for the section;

sending the email without the section and the section information to the plurality of original recipients that have not been selected for receiving the section so that the plurality of original recipients cannot see that the section was removed;

wherein the section information is adapted to automatically prefix the section with an explanatory text to inform the section recipient that the section is being transmitted only to the section recipient, and wherein the explanatory text is adapted to be indented and colored.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 further including responsive to passing a cursor over the selected section of the email, displaying a window showing a recipient of the selected section.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 6, wherein selecting a section of the email is responsive to a user highlighting a portion of the email and right clicking on the highlighted portion.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 6 further including responsive to selecting the section of the email, displaying a window having the plurality of recipients for identifying the section recipient of the section.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 6, wherein the starting character and the ending character are adapted to designate a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph.

11. A data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a communications unit connected to the bus;

a computer readable storage device connected to the bus;

a processor unit connected to the bus and to a computer readable memory;

first program instructions for selecting a section of the email;

second program instructions for selecting a recipient for the section from the plurality of recipients;

third program instructions for responsive to selecting the recipient for the section, inserting a section information that identifies the recipient for the section and a starting and an ending character of the section into a header of the email;

fourth program instructions for sending the email to an email server, the email server comprising a processor and a memory;

fifth program instructions for receiving the email at the email server;

sixth program instructions for parsing, at the email server, the header for the section information;

seventh program instructions for sending, at the email server, the email to the recipient for the section; and

eighth program instructions for sending, at the email server, the email without the section and the section information to the plurality of original recipients that have not been selected for receiving the section so that the plurality of original recipients cannot see that the section was removed;

wherein the first through the eighth program instructions are stored in the computer readable storage device for running via the computer readable memory; and

wherein the section information is adapted to automatically prefix the section with an explanatory text to inform the section recipient that the section is being transmitted only to the section recipient, and wherein the explanatory text is adapted to be indented and colored.

12. The data processing system of claim 11 further comprising:

ninth program instructions for displaying, responsive to passing a cursor over the selected section of the email, a window showing a recipient of the selected section;

wherein the ninth program instructions are stored in the computer readable storage device for running via the computer readable memory.

13. The data processing system of claim 11, wherein selecting a section of the email is responsive to a user highlighting a portion of the email and right clicking on the highlighted portion.

14. The data processing system of claim 11 further comprising:

tenth program instructions for displaying, responsive to selecting the section of the email, a window having the plurality of recipients for identifying the section recipient of the section wherein the tenth program instructions are stored in the computer readable storage device for running via the computer readable memory.

15. The data processing system of claim 11, wherein the starting character and the ending character are adapted to designate a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph.