Message-based technique for sharing distribution list contents within electronic messaging systems

A system for sharing distribution list contents comprising:

• an electronic communications system, comprising at least one processor, a memory and computer program instructions stored in the memory that are executable by the at least one processor, configured to convey an electronic message to at least one recipient, wherein the at least one recipient comprises at least one user-defined distribution list;
• and
• a distribution list share handler, comprising at least one processor, a memory and computer program instructions stored in the memory that are executable by the at least one processor, configured to provide the at least one recipient of the electronic message with access to contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list utilizing distribution list data, wherein the distribution list data is embedded within the electronic message by:
• i) retrieving contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list from a source storage location;
• ii) copying the retrieved contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list to a destination storage location, wherein the destination storage location is accessible by the recipients;
• and
• iii) generating a reference for the copied contents of the at least one user-defined distribution,
• wherein the distribution list data comprises the reference to the destination storage location of the contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list, wherein the contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list comprise user identifiers of members of the at least one distribution list
• wherein in response to a user-selection of a user-defined distribution list during presentation of the electronic message within a user interface of an electronic messaging application, presenting the recipient with at least one distribution list option for the user-selected user-defined distribution list within the user interface, wherein the at least one distribution list option represents an action performed upon the contents of the user-selected user-defined distribution list;
• and
• prior to execution of a user-selected distribution list option, accessing the contents of the user-selected user-defined distribution list utilizing the reference to the destination storage location of the conveyed electronic message.

A computer program product for sharing distribution list contents comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

• computer usable program code configured to, prior to transmission, embed distribution list data associated with at least one user-defined distribution list within an electronic message, wherein recipients of the electronic message comprise at least the at least one user-defined distribution list, wherein said recipients are members of an electronic communications system, and, wherein the distribution list data comprises at a reference to a destination storage location of the contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list, wherein the computer usable program code configured to embed the distribution list data is further configured to:
• retrieve the contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list from a source storage location;
• copy the retrieved contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list to the destination storage location, wherein the destination storage location is accessible by the recipients;
• and
• generate the reference for the copied contents of the at least one user-defined distribution list;
• computer usable program code configured to conveying the electronic message to the recipients;
• computer usable program code configured to, in response to a user-selection of a user-defined distribution list during presentation of the electronic message within a user interface of an electronic messaging application, present the recipient with at least one distribution list option for the user-selected user-defined distribution list within the user interface, wherein the at least one distribution list option represents an action performed upon the contents of the user-selected user-defined distribution list;
• and
• computer usable program code configured to, prior to execution of a user-selected distribution list option, access the contents of the user-selected user-defined distribution list utilizing the reference to the destination storage location of the conveyed electronic message.