Abstract:
A method, computer program product, and system provides a collapsible view of electronic communication, which improves the ease of reading the communications, and reduces the time needed to read the useful parts of the communications. A method for displaying electronic communications comprises obtaining electronic communications, organizing each message thread into separate message components, displaying the message thread with nodes indicating separate message components within the message thread, and collapsing or expanding the message contents in the message thread in response to user configuration and input.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to electronic communication and in particular, to a collapsible view of electronic communication.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     As electronic communications have proliferated, their importance has greatly increased. The volume of electronic communications, such as email and other communications, has also greatly increased. However, the presentation of such communications has not significantly changed. In particular, the display of communication threads that include a number of messages and responses has not kept pace with other developments. For example, a typical electronic communication, an email communication including a message thread having a number of messages, is shown in  FIG. 1 . All the messages in the thread are shown at the same time, with, in this example, some indentation of text below the header to separate the messages. A purely textual view of a similar message thread displayed with indentation of text below the header is shown in  FIG. 2 . Another typical format, including prior message indication using the “&gt;” character, is shown in  FIG. 3 . All of these formats have similar problems, namely, all messages in the thread are shown all the time.  
         [0005]     In typical usage, a recipient of a number of email communications which continue the same thread may look at only the most recently received email communication, which includes all the messages in the thread. Conventionally, all the messages in the thread are shown all the time, which typically makes it difficult and time-consuming to read the email communication, especially if the recipient is only interested in particular messages in the thread. A need arises for a technique by which electronic communications, such as email communications and others, may be displayed that improves the ease of reading the communications, and which reduces the time needed to read the useful parts of the communication.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention provides a display of electronic communications, such as email communications and others, that improves the ease of reading the communications, and which reduces the time needed to read the useful parts of the communication.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     Further features and advantages of the invention can be ascertained from the following detailed description that is provided in connection with the drawings described below:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is an exemplary illustration of a prior art email communication.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exemplary illustration of a prior art email communication.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary illustration of a prior art email communication.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is an exemplary illustration of a collapsible email communication.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is an exemplary illustration of a collapsible email communication.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is an exemplary illustration of a collapsible email communication.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is an exemplary illustration of a collapsible email communication.  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is an illustration of a system for displaying electronic communications. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]     The present invention provides a display of electronic communications, such as email communications and others, that improves the ease of reading the communications, and which reduces the time needed to read the useful parts of the communication.  
         [0017]     The present invention provides a client application that presents a collapsible view of electronic communication. An example  400  of such a view in the context of email communications is shown in  FIG. 4 . View  400  shows a typical email communication that a user might receive. View  400  includes a plurality of collapsing controls, such as collapsible arrows  402 - 408 . Examples of a collapsing control include a collapsible arrow, a check box, or a user-configured two-graphic combination. Users can collapse and expand communication points with control selection and activation of a collapsing control. This leads to a better view of the user interface and increases usability. This also helps users consolidate and analyze information much faster. For example, collapsible arrow  404  provides the capability to collapse or expand (shown) a communication point including message  410 , which is shown when the communication point is expanded. Likewise, collapsible arrows  406  and  408  provide the capability to collapse (shown) or expand communication points including messages that are not shown when the first communication point is expanded. The collapse or expansion of communication points may be triggered by control selection and activation, for example, by mouse clicks, up and down arrow selection, ok buttons, stylus taps, or keyboard entry. When a collapse or expansion is triggered, message content is hidden or revealed. A communication point may display information such as the date, time, or sender of the message content contained within the communication point.  
         [0018]     Additional examples of views  500  and  600  in the context of email communication are shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . In the example shown in  FIG. 5 , users can configure their client to see all nodes&#39;  502 - 508  contents  510 - 514  as they expand nodes or, in the example shown in  FIG. 6 , users can configure their client to just see one expanded node  602  contents  604  at a time. Users may also expand and collapse nodes at will, so that any combination of nodes in a thread is expanded at a time.  
         [0019]     An additional feature is shown in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , wherein the user can configure whether they want contents of a node to appear indented under the node  410 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , or adjacent to the node in the next line  604 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . This feature is not to be confused with another feature, shown in  FIG. 7 , in which a user can further configure their application to show nested communication nodes  702 ,  704 , and  706 , rather than flat communication nodes  404 ,  406 , and  408 , shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0020]     Additionally, the appearance of the nodes may be configured so the collapsed and expanded communication points are represented by alternative icons, for example, plus and minus signs, different colored dots, or icons of the user&#39;s choosing. The appearance of the nodes may also be configured so that communication points corresponding to different types of communication points may be displayed differently. For example, nested communication nodes  702 ,  704 , and  706  may appear differently from each other, or communication nodes corresponding to different senders, recipients, etc. may appear differently. Differing message types within a message thread, such as text or audio messages, may also be configured to appear differently.  
         [0021]     Additionally, message content within nodes may appear differently, for example, a text message may appear in a different font or color depending on its relationship to other nodes.  
         [0022]     Furthermore, the client application may be configurable such that users do not have to perform control activation, such as mouse clicks, to expand nodes. This could be done by implementing a hovering mechanism wherein hovering the control indicator, such as a mouse pointer or cursor, over a node will result in expansion or collapse of a communication point.  
         [0023]     The above-described arrangements provide the capability to organize the messages in a thread; a capability not provided by prior art arrangements. For example, a user may, by manipulating the collapsing controls, view only those messages in which they are interested, such as the newer messages, the messages from a particular party, the messages to a particular party, etc.  
         [0024]     As an enhancement to this feature, the client application may analyze the messages in a communication and automatically organize them accordingly. For example, the communication nodes corresponding to particular senders, recipients, etc., may be linked, so that when one such node is expanded, all such nodes are expanded. Thus, expanding one message from, for example, a particular sender, would expand all messages from that sender. Also, all messages corresponding to particular senders, recipients, etc. may be organized under separate nodes, or may be displayed in specified order. This feature may itself be enhanced by the provision of semantic tags associated with each message, which provide the capability for the user to characterize each message. Such tags may include indications of whether the user agrees with the message, somewhat agrees with the message, disagrees with the message, etc. Thus, the user is provided with the capability to expand or collapse messages based on the user&#39;s characterization of the messages. The user may also configure graphic or multimedia enhancements to accompany characterization or organization of messages. Enhancements may include changes in font, font size, font color, node appearance, or audio cues such as beeps.  
         [0025]     In addition to collapsible message content, header information may also be collapsed and expanded. In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , it would be possible to expand header nodes  402  and  502  to see additional header information. In the example of a collapsed state shown in  FIG. 4 , only the beginning of the “Subject” line, the sender information, and the date and time the message was received is visible. If a user expanded the header node, additional information such as return path, message id, sending email program, content type, recipient information, etc. may be displayed, as well as the subject line, sender, and date and time information.  
         [0026]     Additionally, the amount of information displayed when the header node is expanded or collapsed may be configured. For example, the user can configure whether they only want the sender information displayed when the header node is expanded, show all available header information, or show a specific subset of headers selected by the user. The user may also configure the header node so that it is not collapsible, but only displays selected header information. The configuration of the behavior of the header node would not affect the configuration of message node behavior. However, the same visual and audio enhancements available to configure message nodes would be available to configure header nodes. The display of header information could also be configured to change depending on message or header content. For example, the amount of header information displayed upon collapse or expansion could be configurable on a per-sender basis.  
         [0027]     Preferably, all of the above-described features are configurable as desired by the user. This provides the maximum flexibility and usefulness in organizing and viewing the message content. Methods of configuring the application may include a visual interface, a configuration file, or a command-line flag.  
         [0028]     An exemplary block diagram of a communication system  800 , in which the present invention may be implemented, is shown in  FIG. 8 . System  800  may be a programmed general-purpose computer system, such as a personal computer, workstation, server system, and minicomputer or mainframe computer, or system  800  may be a special-purpose device, such as a personal digital assistant, portable email device, mobile telephone, etc. System  800  includes processor (CPU)  802 , input/output circuitry  804 , network adapter  806 , and memory  808 . CPU  802  executes program instructions in order to carry out the functions of the device, including those of the present invention. Typically, CPU  802  is a microprocessor, such as an INTEL PENTIUM® processor, but may also be a minicomputer or mainframe computer processor. Input/output circuitry  804  provides the capability to input data to, or output data from, computer system  800 . For example, input/output circuitry may include input devices, such as keyboards, keypads, mice, touchpads, trackballs, scanners, microphones, etc., output devices, such as video adapters, monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), printers, speakers, etc., and input/output devices, such as, modems, etc. Network adapter  806  interfaces system  800  with network  810 . Network  810  may be any standard local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), such as Ethernet, Token Ring, the Internet, or a private or proprietary LAN/WAN. Likewise, for mobile systems, network  810  may be a wireless communication network, such as a Wi-Fi network, a PCS network, a GSM network, etc.  
         [0029]     Memory  808  stores program instructions that are executed by, and data that are used and processed by, CPU  802  to perform the functions of the present invention. Memory  808  may include electronic memory devices, such as random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, etc., and electro-mechanical memory, such as magnetic disk drives, tape drives, optical disk drives, etc., which may use an integrated drive electronics (IDE) interface, or a variation or enhancement thereof, such as enhanced IDE (EIDE) or ultra direct memory access (UDMA), or a small computer system interface (SCSI) based interface, or a variation or enhancement thereof, such as fast-SCSI, wide-SCSI, fast and wide-SCSI, etc, or a fiber channel-arbitrated loop (FC-AL) interface.  
         [0030]     Memory  808  includes a data, such as received communications  812 , and program instructions, such as communication routines  814 , client application  816 , processing routines  818 , and operating system  820 . Received communications  812  include communications that have been received by system  800 , such as email communications, internet chat communications, newsgroup communications, voice communications, image or video communications, etc. Communication routines  814  include software that provides system  800  with the capability to receive received communications  812 , as well as to transmit communications from system  800 . Client application  816  includes software that displays received communications  812  to the user, in accordance with the present invention. Processing routines  818  include software that performs other functions (if any) of system  800 . Operating system  820  provides overall system functionality.  
         [0031]     It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media such as floppy disc, a hard disk drive, RAM, and CD-ROM&#39;s, as well as transmission-type media, such as digital and analog communications links.  
         [0032]     Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that there are other embodiments that are equivalent to the described embodiments. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.