Retrieval of stored transmissions

• US 9,043,410 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2011
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Skype S.Ã R.L. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: MacDonald, Derek
• Primary Examiner(s): SMARTH, GERALD A
• Application Number:
  US13/209,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20130046830A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,380 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads

Abstract

An instant messaging client application is executed on a first terminal, to participate in threads of instant messaging between user terminals over a packet-based network, each thread comprising exchanging text-based messages between the user terminals of a selected group of contacts comprising the first user and at least one second user. A digital record of the messages is maintained in a data storage medium. A further text-based message is received from one of the second terminals over the packet-based network, comprising a citation of a cited one of the text-based messages previously transmitted over the packet-based communication network and stored in the storage medium. The further message is processed at the first terminal so as, by reference to the storage medium, to recover a context of the cited message in relation to others of the text-based messages in the respective thread.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at an instant messaging client application executing on a first terminal, a text-based message from a second terminal over a packet-based communication network, the text-based message comprising a citation of a previously-communicated text-based message and a token, the token automatically generated and included with the text-based message responsive to a paste operation at the second user terminal to paste text of the previously-communicated text-based message into the text-based message, the token comprising context information identifying a thread of the previously-communicated text-based message and a location of the previously-communicated text-based message within the thread;

processing the text-based message at the first terminal to extract the token from the text-based message, and using the token to recover one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages of the thread;

causing display of an on-screen control that, responsive to selection, causes display of the previously-communicated text-based message and the one or more other previously-communicated text based messages of the thread arranged in an order at which the previously-communicated text-based message and the one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages were received in the thread, wherein the first terminal is used to participate in a plurality of threads, and wherein the text-based message is part of a different thread than the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message, wherein the on-screen control is configured to cause the first terminal to switch between the threads responsive to actuation of the on-screen control, and wherein an authorization procedure is performed at the first terminal to ensure said switching is conditional upon the a user of the first terminal having been a legitimate participant of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the citation comprises a human-readable citation of the previously-communicated text-based message, and wherein the context information of the previously-communicated text-based message provides a context of the previously-communicated text-based message in relation to the one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages in the thread.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said recovery comprises retrieving the other previously-communicated text-based messages associated with the thread from a storage medium.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a record of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message in a storage medium located at the first terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a record of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message at a storage medium located at a server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising auto-detecting the thread of the previously-communicated text-based messages if the previously-communicated text-based message was composed at the first terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the auto-detection is based on at least one of:

one or more keywords in the previously-communicated text-based message;

or

a linguistic analysis of the previously-communicated text-based message.

8. A method comprising:

generating a text-based message comprising a human readable citation of a previously-communicated text-based message responsive to a paste operation to paste text from the previously-communicated text-based message into the text-based message;

automatically generating and inserting a computer-readable token into the text-based message responsive to the paste operation, the computer-readable token comprising context information identifying a thread of the previously-communicated text-based message and a location of the previously-communicated text-based message within the thread; and

transmitting the text-based message to a terminal over a packet-based communication network to enable processing, at the terminal, of the computer-readable token to recover the context information, wherein the terminal is used to participate in a plurality of threads, and wherein the text-based message is part of a different thread than the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message, wherein processing the computer-readable token causes the terminal to present an on-screen control that is configured to cause the terminal to switch between the threads responsive to actuation of the on-screen control, and wherein an authorization procedure is performed at the terminal to ensure said switching is conditional upon a user of the terminal having been a legitimate participant of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message.

9. A computing device comprising:

at least a memory and a processor to implement a client application, the client application configured to;

receive a text-based message from an additional computing device over a packet-based communication network, the text-based message including a citation of a previously-communicated text-based message and a token, the token automatically generated and included with the text-based message responsive to a paste operation at the additional computing device to paste text of the previously-communicated text-based message into the text-based message, the token comprising context information identifying a thread of the previously-communicated text-based message and a location of the previously-communicated text-based message within the thread;

process the text-based message to extract the token from the text-based message, and use the token to recover one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages of the thread; and

cause display of an on-screen control that, responsive to selection, causes display of the previously-communicated text-based message and the one or more other previously-communicated text based messages of the thread arranged in an order at which the previously-communicated text-based message and the one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages were received in the thread, wherein the computing device is used to participate in a plurality of threads, and wherein the text-based message is part of a different thread than the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message, wherein the on-screen control is configured to cause the computing device to switch between the threads responsive to actuation of the on-screen control, and wherein an authorization procedure is performed at the computing device to ensure said switching is conditional upon the a user of the computing device having been a legitimate participant of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the citation comprises a human-readable citation of the previously-communicated text-based message, and wherein the context information of the previously-communicated text-based message provides a context of the previously-communicated text-based message in relation to the other previously-communicated text-based messages in the thread.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the client application is further configured to maintain a record of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message in a storage medium at the computing device.

12. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the client application is further configured to access a record of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message from a storage medium at a server.

13. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the client application is further configured to auto-detect the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message if the previously-communicated text-based message was composed at the computing device.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the client application is further configured to perform the auto-detection based on at least one of:

one or more keywords in the previously-communicated text-based message;

or

a linguistic analysis of the previously-communicated text-based message.

15. A computing device comprising:

at least a memory and a processor to implement a client application, the client application configured to;

generate a text-based message comprising a human readable citation of a previously-communicated text-based message responsive to a paste operation to paste text from the previously-communicated text-based message into the text-based message;

automatically generate and insert a computer-readable token into the text-based message responsive to the paste operation, the computer-readable token comprising context information identifying a thread of the previously-communicated text-based message and a location of the previously-communicated text-based message within the thread; and

transmit the text-based message to an additional computing device over a packet-based communication network to enable processing, at the additional computing device, of the computer-readable token to recover the context information, wherein the additional computing device is used to participate in a plurality of threads, and wherein the text-based message is part of a different thread than the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message, wherein processing the computer-readable token causes the additional computing device to present an on-screen control that is configured to cause the additional computing device to switch between the threads responsive to actuation of the on-screen control, and wherein an authorization procedure is performed at the additional computing device to ensure said switching is conditional upon a user of the additional computing device having been a legitimate participant of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message.

16. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution at a computing device, perform a method comprising:

receiving a text-based message from an additional computing device over a packet-based communication network, the text-based message including a citation of a previously-communicated text-based message and a token, the token automatically generated and included with the text-based message responsive to a paste operation at the additional computing device to paste text of the previously-communicated text-based message into the text-based) message, the token comprising context information identifying a thread of the previously-communicated text-based message and a location of the previously-communicated text-based message within the thread;

processing the text-based message to extract the token from the text-based message, and using the token to recover one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages of the thread; and

cause display of an on-screen control that, responsive to selection, causes display of the previously-communicated text-based message and the one or more other previously-communicated text based messages of the thread arranged in an order at which the previously-communicated text-based message and the one) or more other previously-communicated text-based messages were received in the thread, wherein the computing device is used to participate in a plurality of threads, and wherein the text-based message is part of a different thread than the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message, wherein the on-screen control is configured to cause the computing device to switch between the threads responsive to actuation of the on-screen control, and wherein an authorization procedure is performed at the computing device to ensure said switching is conditional upon the a user of the computing device having been a legitimate participant of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein:

the citation comprises a human-readable citation of the previously-communicated text-based message, and wherein the context information of the previously-communicated text-based message provides a context of the previously-communicated text-based message in relation to the other previously-communicated text-based messages in the thread.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein said recovery of the one or more other previously-communicated text-based messages of the thread comprises retrieving the other previously-communicated text-based messages associated with the thread from a storage medium.

19. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution at a computing device, perform a method comprising:

generating a text-based message comprising a human readable citation of a previously-communicated text-based message responsive to a paste operation to paste text from the previously-communicated text-based message into the text-based message;

automatically generating and inserting a computer-readable token into the text-based message responsive to the paste operation, the computer-readable token comprising context information identifying a thread of the previously-communicated text-based message and a location of the previously-communicated text-based message within the thread; and

transmitting the text-based message to an additional computing device over a packet-based communication network to enable processing, at the additional computing device, of the computer-readable token to recover the context information, wherein the additional computing device is used to participate in a plurality of threads, and wherein the text-based message is part of a different thread than the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message, wherein processing the computer-readable token causes the additional computing device to present an on-screen control that is configured to cause the additional computing device to switch between the threads responsive to actuation of the on-screen control, and wherein an authorization procedure is performed at the additional computing device to ensure said switching is conditional upon a user of the additional computing device having been a legitimate participant of the thread of the previously-communicated text-based message.