Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8631079B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-11-12 20:24:10
Document Index: 776638284

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 200980123542', 'Application No. 200980123542', 'Application No. 200980123542', 'Application No. 09', 'Application No. 09767235', 'Application No. 2011', 'Application No. 2010151967']

US8631079B2 - Displaying a list of file attachments associated with a message thread - Google Patents
US8631079B2
US8631079B2 US12/142,851 US14285108A US8631079B2 US 8631079 B2 US8631079 B2 US 8631079B2 US 14285108 A US14285108 A US 14285108A US 8631079 B2 US8631079 B2 US 8631079B2
US12/142,851
US20090319618A1 (en
2008-06-20 Assigned to MICROSOFT CORPORATION reassignment MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BRAUNINGER, ANDREW RUSSELL, EDELEN, JAMES J., IV, AFFRONTI, MICHAEL ANTHONY
2009-12-24 Publication of US20090319618A1 publication Critical patent/US20090319618A1/en
2014-01-14 Publication of US8631079B2 publication Critical patent/US8631079B2/en
The messages 118A-118I associated with the particular message thread 204 may be identified based on a shared conversation ID 122, same or similar subjects 120, or some other method of determining the relationships among messages, as will be described in more detail below in regard to FIG. 4. For example, the message thread 204 illustrated in FIG. 2 contains several associated messages 118A-118I grouped under a heading 206 of “New Project Plan Document . . . ” The presence of one or more file attachments 124 for a particular message 118A may be indicated by an attachment indicator 208 image or icon. Another attachment indicator 208 may be displayed next to the heading 206 of the message thread 204 to indicate that the message thread 204 includes at least one message 118A with a file attachment 124. When a particular message 118F is selected by the user 106 from the message thread 204, as indicated by the selection box 210 in FIG. 2, information regarding the selected message 118F is displayed by the email application 108 in a message detail pane 214 of the window 202.
1. A method for displaying an aggregated attachment list associated with a message thread in an email application, the method comprising:
identifying one or more messages associated with the message thread by identifying messages having a same conversation ID;
identifying respective root files related to the one or more file attachments by comparing contents of the one or more file attachments with the contents of the respective root files, wherein identifying respective root files related to the one or more file attachments comprises
determining, for each of the one or more file attachments, if the file attachment is related to an identified root file associated with the message thread,
upon determining that the file attachment is related to an identified root file associated with the message thread, determining a version level of the file attachment based on the identified root file, and
upon determining that the file attachment is not related to an identified root file associated with the message thread, identifying a new root file for the message thread;
generating the aggregated attachment list to include respective list entries for the one or more file attachments having associated version levels and the root files identified;
displaying the aggregated attachment list in a window of the email application wherein the list entries respectively comprise a file-type icon, one or more of a file name, a file size, and an identification of an author of the one or more file attachments; and
displaying a user interface control in conjunction with the aggregated attachment list which, when selected, will cause all versions of all root files to be removed except for file attachments having a greatest version level of the corresponding root file.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more messages associated with the message thread further comprises identifying one or more messages having a same or similar subject.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the list entries respectively further comprise an indication of a number of file attachments related to the root files.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the respective root files related to the one or more file attachments further comprises identifying file attachments having a same or similar file name as related to one root file.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining respective version levels for the one or more file attachments based upon the root file related to the file attachment comprises comparing a respective modified date for the one or more file attachments related to the root file.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the list entries respectively further comprise an indication of the file attachment having the greatest version level.
7. A computer readable storage medium that is not a signal, having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
identify one or more messages associated with a message thread by identifying messages having a same conversation ID;
identify respective root files related to the one or more file attachments by comparing contents of the one or more file attachments with the contents of the respective root files, wherein identifying respective root files related to the one or more file attachments comprises
generate an aggregated attachment list comprising respective list entries for the one or more file attachments having associated version levels and the root files identified;
display the aggregated attachment list in a window of an email application wherein the list entries respectively comprise a file-type icon, one or more of a file name, a file size, and an identification of an author of the one or more file attachments; and
display a user interface control in conjunction with the aggregated attachment list which, when selected, will cause all versions of all root files to be removed except for file attachments having a greatest version level of the corresponding root file.
8. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein identifying the one or more messages associated with the message thread further comprises identifying one or more messages having a same or similar subject.
9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein identifying the respective root files related to the one or more file attachments further comprises identifying file attachments having a same or similar file name as related to one root file.
10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein determining respective version levels for the one or more file attachments based upon the root file related to the file attachment comprises comparing a respective modified date for the one or more file attachments related to the root file.
11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the list entries respectively further comprise an indication of the file attachment having the greatest version level.
12. A system for displaying an aggregated attachment list comprising:
a message store containing a plurality of messages associated with a message thread;
an email application configured to execute on a workstation and operable to access the message store and display a window comprising information regarding the plurality of messages; and
an attachment aggregation module configured to execute within the email application and operable to:
identify the plurality of messages associated with the message thread by identifying messages in the message store having a same conversation ID,
identify one or more file attachments attached to the plurality of messages,
upon determining that the file attachment is not related to an identified root file associated with the message thread, identifying a new root file for the message thread,
generate the aggregated attachment list to include respective list entries for the one or more file attachments having associated version levels and the root files identified,
display the aggregated attachment list in the window of the email application, wherein the list entries respectively comprise a file-type icon, one or more of a file name, a file size, and an identification of an author for the one or more file attachments, and
13. The system of claim 12, wherein identifying the respective root files related to the one or more file attachments further comprises identifying file attachments having a same or similar file name as being related to a same root file.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the message store is stored locally on the workstation.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the message store is stored on a server computer remote from the workstation.
US12/142,851 2008-06-20 2008-06-20 Displaying a list of file attachments associated with a message thread Active 2030-05-17 US8631079B2 (en)
JP2011514660A JP5336587B2 (en) 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 View a list of attachments associated with a message thread
BRPI0912272A BRPI0912272A2 (en) 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 display a list of attachment files associated with a message thread
MYPI2010005438A MY153530A (en) 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 Displaying a list of file attachments associated with a message thread
RU2010151967/08A RU2510525C2 (en) 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 Displaying list of file attachments associated with message thread
CA2724465A CA2724465A1 (en) 2008-06-20 2009-05-19 Displaying a list of file attachments associated with a message thread
US20090319618A1 US20090319618A1 (en) 2009-12-24
US8631079B2 true US8631079B2 (en) 2014-01-14
US12/142,851 Active 2030-05-17 US8631079B2 (en) 2008-06-20 2008-06-20 Displaying a list of file attachments associated with a message thread
CN1987912A (en) 2005-12-21 2007-06-27 国际商业机器公司 Method and system for providing version control for electronic mail attachments
Chinese Official Action dated May 10, 2013 in Chinese Application No. 200980123542.5.
Chinese Official Action dated Nov. 5, 2012 in Chinese Application No. 200980123542.5.
Chinese Official Action dated Sep. 17, 2013 in Chinese Application No. 200980123542.5.
European Official Action dated Aug. 13, 2013 in European Application No. 09 767 235.6-1955.
European Search Report dated Jan. 30, 2013 in European Application No. 09767235.6.
International Search Report dated Jan. 26, 2010 in International Application No. PCT/2009/044542.
Japanese Official Action dated Mar. 5, 2013 in Japanese Application No. 2011-514660.
Mexican Official Action dated Mar. 26, 2013 in Mexican Application No. MX/a/2010/013575.
Nguyen, "Current State and Future Development of Email," retrieved Mar. 3, 2008, at >, 19 pages.
Nguyen, "Current State and Future Development of Email," retrieved Mar. 3, 2008, at <<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/˜i385q/archive/nguyen—final.pdf >>, 19 pages.
Russian Official Action dated Feb. 8, 2013 in Russian Application No. 2010151967/08(075133).
Tang, et al., "Recent Shortcuts: Using Recent Interactions to Support Shared Activities", Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, 2007, pp. 1263-1272.
Tofel, "Xobni Outlook Add-on", PC World, Jun. 4, 2008, retrieved at > p. 2.
Tofel, "Xobni Outlook Add-on", PC World, Jun. 4, 2008, retrieved at <<http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,146040-c,outlookoutlookexpress/article.html>> p. 2.
JP2012185838A (en) 2012-09-27 Rich drag-and-drop user interface