Method of sending an email to a plurality of recipients with selective treatment of attached files

A method of preparing an email on a client computer to be sent to a plurality of recipients comprising:

• determining if a file is to be attached to the email;
• selecting from among a plurality of available treatments a treatment for the file corresponding to each recipient, whereby a different treatment may be selected for each recipient from among the plurality of available treatments, where the selecting a treatment for the attachment file is performed on the client computer;
• preparing a control file on the client computer, the control file including information designating the treatment for each recipient;
• and
• transmitting the control file, the email and the attached file to a server computer.

An email computer program product for sending an email to a plurality of recipients, the email computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein, the email computer program product having:
• computer readable program code means for preparing the email on a client computer;
• computer readable program code means for designating each one of the plurality of recipients on the client computer;
• computer readable program code means for determining if an attachment file is to be attached to the email;
• computer readable program code means for selecting from among a plurality of available treatments a treatment for the attachment file corresponding to each recipient, the plurality of available treatments including at least two different treatments for sending the attachment file and one treatment corresponding to not sending the attachment file, whereby a different treatment may be selected for each recipient from among the plurality of available treatments, wherein the selecting occurs on the client computer;
• computer readable program code means for preparing a control file on the client computer, the control file including information designating the treatment for the attachment file corresponding to each recipient;
• computer readable program code means for sending one copy of the control file, one copy of the email and one copy of the attachment file to a server computer;
• computer readable program code means for reading the control file at the server computer to determine the selected treatment for the attachment file for each recipient;
• and
• computer readable program code means for sending multiple copies of the email from the server computer, one copy being sent to each recipient with the attachment file being treated according to the information in the control file designating the selected treatment for each recipient.

An email server computer program product for sending a prepared email with at least one attached file to a plurality of recipients, the email server computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein, the email server computer program product having:
• computer readable program code means for receiving a prepared email having at least one attached file and an associated control file, the control file including information designating a treatment for each of the plurality of recipients, the designated treatment for each of the plurality of recipients having been previously selected on a client computer from among a plurality of available treatments, the plurality of available treatments including at least two different treatments for sending the file and one treatment corresponding to not sending the file, whereby a different treatment may be designated in the control file for each different recipient from among the plurality of available treatments;
• and
• computer readable program code means for sending the prepared email to each recipient with the at least one attached file treated according to the designated treatment for each recipient in the control file.

A computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein to perform method steps for preparing an email on a client computer to be sent to a plurality of recipients, said method steps comprising:

• preparing the email on a client computer;
• designating each one of the plurality of recipients on the client computer;
• determining if an attachment file is to be attached to the email;
• selecting from among a plurality of available treatments a treatment for the attachment file corresponding to each recipient, the plurality of available treatments including at least two different treatments for sending the attachment file and one treatment corresponding to not sending the attachment file, whereby a different treatment may be selected for each recipient from among the plurality of available treatments, the steps of determining if an attachment file is to be attached to the email and selecting a treatment for the attachment file being performed on the client computer;
• preparing a control file on the client computer, the control file including information designating the treatment for each recipient;
• and
• transmitting the control file, the email and the attached file to a server computer.