Addresses as objects for email messages

Abstract

The present invention is directed at a system and process for allowing a user to treat email addresses as objects. This allows easy manipulation of the email addresses, such as allowing them to be added to a contact list, copied to the computer's clipboard, or double-clicked to open the related contact information for that email address' sender. Email addresses are treated as objects in the message preview pane and full message windows of both incoming and outgoing email messages. A small icon is added to the text of each address. In a preferred embodiment, the icons will vary depending on the pedigree of the address. The invention is not limited to single addresses. Rather, an entry denoting a mailing list could also be treated as an object and a unique icon could be employed to indicate the nature of the entry. For outgoing messages, the pedigree of the address or list is determined by monitoring where the user obtained the address. For incoming messages, the message header is parsed and searched to find addresses that match the receiving user's address book. If no match is found, a generic address icon is added before the text of the address, while the system checks the email header against other address sources such as server lists. Once the address is marked with an appropriate icon the user can manipulate the address in various ways allowing the user to readily edit or add email addresses to their contact list. Additionally, the invention may include contextual menus to assist the user in this manipulation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Technical Field [0002] This invention relates to a system and process for treating electronic mail addresses in both the preview pane and full message window of an electronic mail program as objects. [0003] 2. Background Art [0004] Mail programs currently resolve email addresses into friendly names and verify that they are—or are likely to be—valid email addresses by checking them against a local or server-based database. For example, a user enters joez554q57@hotmail.com in a mail message and the software changes it to “Joe Smith” based on a comparison against the user's entry for Joe Smith in the user's address book, a reference section listing email-addresses and individual's names in an email program. Likewise, the look up could be in a shared corporate database or one hosted by an Internet service. Although users of electronic mail systems typically have a number of email messages in their email inbox or have other sources of data in their e...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] The email addressing system and method according to the present invention resolves the foregoing problems. The present invention is directed at a system and process for allowing a user to treat both incoming and outgoing email addresses in the message preview pane as well as the full message window of an email message program as objects or distinct entries. This preview pane displays items in a separate pane so that the user can view the list of emails and the open email item at the same time. The full message window displays the whole email in a window when selected from an email message list by double clicking on the entry. This allows easy manipulation of the email addresses, such as allowing them to be added to a contact list, copied to the computer's clipboard, or double-clicked to open the related contact information for that email address' sender. Hence, this system and method of addressing email messages minimizes the number of operator actions required in order to address email messages by facilitating the user in completing his or her contact database or address book. As a result, it takes much less time and is easier to use than other email addressing systems. Furthermore, the present invention prevents data entry errors which might preclude sent email from reaching its desired destination. The email addressing system and method according to the present invention also provides the user with graphical information as to the source address contained in either outgoing or incoming email messages. This feature provides additional user-friendly information that has not been displayed in previous email management systems.

[0011] Once the email address is marked with an appropriate icon the user can manipulate the address in various ways. A single click on this icon will select the entire text of the address and allow it to be dragged as an object to other locations in the email header or copied to a place outside the header (e.g. the subject field, body of the message, etc.). Double clicking on the icon will open the item associated with the address after looking up the contact in the contact store (e.g. address book), or prompt the user to create an associated item in the local contact store if the address was manually entered or captured from a LDAP server. In this way a user can readily edit or add email addresses to his or her contacts list, thereby facilitating its inclusion in future outgoing email transmissions.

Problems solved by technology

Although users of electronic mail systems typically have a number of email messages in their email inbox or have other sources of data in their electronic mail store that have email addresses (sent items folder or other folders), these users do not take advantage of the address book associated with their email.

Data entry of the long strings of characters and numbers that make up most electronic mail addresses is time consuming and tedious.

As a result, the mail program being utilized cannot resolve received email addresses into their friendly name and validate the associated address.

Depending on the number of intended recipients and the length of their email addresses this could require many keystrokes and mouse clicks and become a very time-consuming and cumbersome process.

Additionally, it is easy for the sender to inadvertently enter a wrong character resulting in an incorrect email address and thus preventing the email from reaching its intended destination when the email is sent.

Many times this error will not be obvious at the time the sender sends the email and as a result a significant time could pass before the sender realizes his error.

Since one of the primary advantages of email is its speed of transferring information this delay is a significant drawback.

In cases where the header contains large recipient lists, the above described search process could be time- and processor-intensive.

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