Recipient classification management utility for e-mail replies
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorJeff K. Wilson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and Systems are provided for managing the reply recipients field of a reply e-mail. In response to creating a reply e-mail the recipients are displayed in a format convenient for specifying their recipient classification. Typical recipient classifications include reply recipients (Reply To), carbon copy recipients (CC), blind carbon copy recipients (BCC) and/or file carbon copy recipients (FCC). The recipient classification for each e-mail address may be selected by an input from a user, such as mouse click, without the need to cut and paste e-mail addresses. The recipient classification display is updated in response to detecting a user selection, and an optional control is provided to specify the remaining unassigned recipients to one recipient status.
Claims17
A method of managing recipient information for a reply e-mail, the method comprising:
- displaying the recipient information for each of a plurality of e-mail addresses for the reply e-mail, said recipient information including an identifier for each of the plurality of e-mail addresses and a display area for displaying a recipient classification associated with each identifier;
- accepting an input to specify the recipient classification for a first e-mail address of the plurality of e-mail addresses;
- and
- updating the display of the recipient information to include the recipient classification for the first e-mail address.
A software product comprising an electronically readable medium including a program of instructions, wherein the program of instructions upon being executed on a device causes the device to:
- display recipient information for each of a plurality of e-mail addresses for a reply e-mail, said recipient information including an identifier for each of the plurality of e-mail addresses and a display area for displaying a recipient classification associated with each identifier;
- accept an input to specify the recipient classification for a first e-mail address of the plurality of e-mail addresses;
- and
- update the display of the recipient information to include the recipient classification for the first e-mail address.
A system configured for managing recipient information for a reply e-mail, the system comprising:
- an electronically readable storage medium configured to store an e-mail application program;
- a display device configured to display the recipient information for each of a plurality of e-mail addresses for the reply e-mail, said recipient information including an identifier for each of the plurality of e-mail addresses and a display area for displaying a recipient classification associated with each identifier;
- and
- a user input device responsive to user inputs configured to accept an input to specify the recipient classification for a first e-mail address of the plurality of e-mail addresses;
- wherein the display of the recipient information is updated to include the recipient classification for the first e-mail address.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.