Supporting message sharing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10257144-B2
Application number	US-201715791520-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 24, 2017
Priority date	Oct 15, 2014
Publication date	Apr 9, 2019
Grant date	Apr 9, 2019

Abstract

A method and system for processing an email. A mail hub device receives the email from a first mail server, a Mail Thread ID (MTID) from a Mail Thread Board (MTB) server, and additional data from the MTB server. The mail hub device transmits, to a second mail client, the email with the added MTID and the added additional data and in response, receives, from the second email client, a selection of a message from messages contained in the additional data. The mail hub device transmits, to the MTB server, a request to generate an update of the additional data based on the selection of the message. The mail hub device receives, from the MTB server, the updated additional data based on the selection of the message. The mail hub device transmits, to the first mail server, the updated additional data based on the selection of the message.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing an email, said method comprising:
transmitting, by a mail hub device to a Mail Thread Board (MTB) server, a request for a Mail Thread ID (MTID) and in response, said mail hub device receiving the MTID from the MTB server, said email having been received by a mail hub device from a first mail client, said mail hub device being a first computer, said first mail client being a second computer, said MTB server being a third computer;
adding, by the mail hub device, the MTID to the email;
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the MTB server, a request for additional data for the email and in response, said mail hub device receiving, from the MTB server, the additional data;
adding, by the mail hub device, the additional data to the email to which the MTID was added, wherein the additional data includes a plurality of messages;
transmitting, by the mail hub device to a second mail client, the email to which the MTID and the additional data was added, wherein the second mail client is a fourth computer;
receiving, by the mail hub device from the second mail client, the MTID together with an indicated selection, by the second mail client, of a message selected from the plurality of messages;
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the MTB server, a request, which includes the MTID and the selection of the message, to generate an update of the additional data, said update based on the selection of the message;
receiving, by the mail hub device from the MTB server, the MTID together with the updated additional data based on the selection of the message, said updated additional data having been generated by the MTB server and stored on the MTB server; and
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the first mail client, the MTID together with the updated additional data based on the selection of the message.

2. The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising:
receiving, by the mail hub device from the first mail client prior to said transmitting the updated additional data to the first mail client, the MTID together with a request for synchronization with the updated additional data stored on the MTB server, wherein said transmitting the MTID together with the updated additional data to the first mail client is in response to said request for synchronization.

3. The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising:
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the second mail client, the MTID together with the updated additional data.

4. The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising:
prior to said transmitting the request for additional data, said mail hub device transmitting the MTID email to a mail server, wherein the email server is a fifth computer, and wherein the fifth computer is a different computer than the first computer, the second computer, the third computer and the fourth computer; and
receiving, by the mail hub device from the mail server, the MTID email after the mail server processed the email that is within the MTID email.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request for additional data transmitted by the mail hub device to the MTB server includes a request for the MTB server to store the additional data in a storage unit within the MTB server.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each message of the plurality of messages is a response to the email.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mail hub device is connected to both the first email client and the second email client by a first network, wherein the mail hub device is connected to MTB server by a second network, and wherein the first network and the second network are different networks.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first computer, the second computer, the third computer, and the fourth computer are different computers.

9. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device having a computer readable program code stored therein, said program code containing instructions which, upon being executed by a processor of a mail hub device, implement a method for processing an email, said method comprising:
transmitting, by the mail hub device to a Mail Thread Board (MTB) server, a request for a Mail Thread ID (MTID) and in response, said mail hub device receiving the MTID from the MTB server, said email having been received by a mail hub device from a first mail client, said mail hub device being a first computer, said first mail client being a second computer, said MTB server being a third computer;
adding, by the mail hub device, the MTID to the email;
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the MTB server, a request for additional data for the email and in response, said mail hub device receiving, from the MTB server, the additional data;
adding, by the mail hub device, the additional data to the email to which the MTID was added, wherein the additional data includes a plurality of messages;
transmitting, by the mail hub device to a second mail client, the email to which the MTID and the additional data was added, wherein the second mail client is a fourth computer;
receiving, by the mail hub device from the second mail client, the MTID together with an indicated selection, by the second mail client, of a message selected from the plurality of messages;
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the MTB server, a request, which includes the MTID and the selection of the message, to generate an update of the additional data, said update based on the selection of the message;
receiving, by the mail hub device from the MTB server, the MTID together with the updated additional data based on the selection of the message, said updated additional data having been generated by the MTB server and stored on the MTB server; and
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the first mail client, the MTID together with the updated additional data based on the selection of the message.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 , said method further comprising:
receiving, by the mail hub device from the first mail client prior to said transmitting the updated additional data to the first mail client, the MTID together with a request for synchronization with the updated additional data stored on the MTB server, wherein said transmitting the MTID together with the updated additional data to the first mail client is in response to said request for synchronization.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 , said method further comprising:
transmitting, by the mail hub device to the second mail client, the MTID together with the updated additional data.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 , said method further comprising:
prior to said transmitting the request for additional data, said mail hub device transmitting the MTID email to a mail server, wherein the email server is a fifth computer, and wherein the fifth computer is a different computer than the first computer, the second computer, the third computer and the fourth computer; and
receiving, by the mail hub device from the mail server, the MTID email after the mail server processed the email that is within the MTID email.

13. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the request for additional data transmitted by the mail hub device to the MTB server includes a request for the MTB server to store the additional data in a storage unit within the MTB server.

14. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein each message of the plurality of messages is a response to the email.

15. A computer system, comprising a mail hub device, said mail hub device comprising a processor, a memory

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Amemiya Kenichi
• Murayama Hiroyuki
• Sano Kotaro
• Umenai Noboru

Classifications

• H04L51/22

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L51/16 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/1095 Primary

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title

• H04L51/42

  Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes · CPC title

• H04L51/216 Primary

  Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads · CPC title