Email Redundancy Management via Content Identifier Headers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current email systems face inefficiencies due to the storage of redundant email content, leading to wasted disk space, performance degradation, and increased maintenance efforts, as users often copy original messages into replies, resulting in cumulative text and redundant emails being stored on servers and clients.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced to manage emails by calculating a content identifier (CID) for each email, which is stored in the email header, allowing for comparison and identification of duplicate emails, enabling the system to supersede or reorganize redundant messages, thereby reducing storage and improving performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If email clients copy the content of the original message into the reply message, then the reply contains complete information for context, but multiple copies of the original message are stored on the server and client, wasting disk space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds a reference identifier (Message-ID header) within the reply message that points to the original message stored on the server. Instead of nesting the full original message content in the reply, the system nests a compact reference that links to the parent message, creating a hierarchical structure where the reply contains only essential new information plus a reference to the complete original content.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the redundant full content of the original message from the reply and stores it separately on the email server. The reply message retains only the essential reference information (Message-ID) and new reply content, while the complete original message is extracted and stored independently, eliminating duplication while preserving information completeness.
2Loss of information
If original messages are not deleted after sending replies, then complete email history is preserved, but performance degradation occurs for mail replication, delivery and increased analysis effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a hierarchical message structure where reply messages contain nested references to parent messages through Message-ID headers. This nesting allows the system to preserve the complete email history and relationships while enabling efficient processing, as the nested reference structure allows quick identification of message relationships without requiring full content analysis of all parent messages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses lightweight copying of only the essential Message-ID reference rather than copying full message content. This selective copying mechanism preserves email history relationships while minimizing the data that needs to be replicated and analyzed, thereby maintaining performance despite preserving complete message histories.
3Loss of information
If cumulative text of all previous emails is included in each reply, then complete conversation context is maintained, but wasted disk space increases and maintenance becomes time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested reference structure where each reply message contains a Message-ID header referencing its parent message. This creates a chain of nested references that maintains complete conversation context through logical links rather than physical content duplication. The nested structure allows automatic context reconstruction without manual maintenance of cumulative text.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the redundant cumulative text from each reply message and replaces it with compact Message-ID references. The complete conversation context is extracted and preserved through the chain of references, while the actual text duplication is eliminated, significantly reducing maintenance time and disk space requirements.
4Reliability
If email servers block mails exceeding certain size limits, then server resources are protected, but legitimate emails with necessary content may be rejected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the large original message content from reply emails and stores it separately on the server, keeping only compact Message-ID references in the transmitted reply. This extraction reduces the size of transmitted emails well below size limits while preserving access to the complete content through server storage, protecting server resources from handling large duplicate messages while maintaining full email functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer implemented method and system is provided for managing emails within an email system or email box. At the creation of a new email at the email system, an identification of its content (CID) is calculated, the result of that calculation being stored in a header of that email to be forwarded together with the new email. It is checked at the email system when receiving an email to determine whether the email includes a CID identifying the content of that email. If this is not the case, then a CID of the content of the received email is calculated, the resulting CID being stored in the header of that email together with the email. A comparison between the received email and the already stored emails at the email system is performed by comparing the corresponding CID of the received email with the CID of the stored emails. The email system is reorganized by superseding duplicate emails having the same CID.