EP0413537A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Electronic mail message control system
Assignee: Compaq Computer Holding Ltd
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Filing: 1990-08-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-08-13
Abstract
Abstract An electronic mail system in which in a processing station messages are sorted according to a set of criteria established for particular users to allocate messages and to preferably order the sequence in which messages are presented to each user.
Inventors
- 👤 Niamh Scannell
- 👤 Anthony John Redmond
- 👤 Serge Elvina Hills C2 Himbaut
- 👤 Pascale Bares
- 👤 Alison Clark
- 👤 Stuart Douglas Dawson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 02:40
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L51/00; H04L51/42; H04L51/21; H04L51/226
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
108 words
In an electronic mail system comprising a plurality of stations between which messages can be sent, a message processing station comprising: a message store (11) for storing incoming messages; a rules store (12) containing a plurality of rules relating to the status of received messages; a rules test circuit (13) coupled to the message store (11) and to the rules store (12) and including comparison means (52) for comparing a message stored in the message store (11) with the rules to achieve a set of comparison results; and routing means (14) for routing each message to a location selected by the set of comparison results for that message.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
108 words
In an electronic mail system comprising a plurality of stations between which messages can be sent, a message processing station comprising: a message store (11) for storing incoming messages; a rules store (12) containing a plurality of rules relating to the status of received messages; a rules test circuit (13) coupled to the message store (11) and to the rules store (12) and including comparison means (52) for comparing a message stored in the message store (11) with the rules to achieve a set of comparison results; and routing means (14) for routing each message to a location selected by the set of comparison results for that message.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
A message processing station according to Claim 1 in which the rules in the rules store (12) can be partitioned into a plurality of sets, and means (20) for selecting any desired one of said sets for use by the rules test circuit (13).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A message processing station as claimed in Claim 2 in which the locations selectable by the routing means include a folder store (15) including a plurality of folders.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
A message station as claimed in Claim 3 in which the folder store further includes an in tray (16).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
A message processing station as claimed in Claim 4 in which the rules test circuit further allocates priorities to at least the message stored in the in tray and stores them in the in tray in order of priority.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A message processing station as claimed in Claim 1 in which the locations selectable by the routing means include other stations of the system.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
33 words
A message processing station as claimed in Claim 1 in which the rules store (12) further includes rule control apparatus (22) by means of which the rules can be added, amended, and deleted.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
58 words
A message processing station as claimed in Claim 7 in which each set of rules is defined in relation to the needs of a particular user of the system including a keyboard (20) connected to the rules control apparatus (22) each rule being able to be amended or deleted by a user by operation of the keyboard (20).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
172 words
A message processing station according to Claim 2 in which each rule comprises a tests part (35A) and an actions part (35B), the tests part including one or more of a sender list field (37) to be matched against the sender (26) of a message, an addressee limits values field (38) to be matched against the number of addressees and/or copy tos (28, 29) of the message, an addressee list field (30) to be matched against the addressees (28) of the message. a key-phrase field (40) to be matched against the body (31) of the message, and a body-limits field (41), associated with the key-phrase field, which defines the extent of the body (31) of the message against which the key-phrase field is matched, and the actions part being operative on the message matching the tests part and including a priority value (45) for assigning to the message, and# a location determining sub-part (46, 47) which determines the location to which the message is to be routed by the routing means (14).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
43 words
A message processing station according to Claim 9 wherein the location determining sub-part of the actions part of the rule includes a file-to field (46) which determines which folder or folders (17, 18) of a folder store (15) the message is sent to.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
A message processing station according to Claim 9 wherein the location determining sub-part of the actions part of the rule includes a forward-to field (47) which other stations of the system the message is to be sent to.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
77 words
A method of controlling messages in an electronic mail system comprising a plurality of stations between which messages can be sent, the method including the steps of: receiving and storing an incoming message (10, 11); comparing the stored incoming message with a plurality of rules (13) to produce a set of comparison results for the message; allocating at least one location (15) for subsequent storage of the message in accordance with the comparison results for that message.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
77 words
A method of controlling messages in an electronic mail system comprising a plurality of stations between which messages can be sent, the method including the steps of: receiving and storing an incoming message (10, 11); comparing the stored incoming message with a plurality of rules (13) to produce a set of comparison results for the message; allocating at least one location (15) for subsequent storage of the message in accordance with the comparison results for that message.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method of sorting messages in an electronic mail system as claimed in Claim 8 in which each message of a plurality of received messages is allocated an importance priority in accordance with the results of the comparison of each of the messages with the rules.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
97 words
An electronic mail system comprising a plurality of stations between which messages can be sent, and including classification means in each station which assigns different priorities to the messages in dependence on matching of each message to a set of criteria defined by a set of rules, in which each station includes a message store for accumulating incoming messages and in which the classification means are adapted to operate on the messages so accumulated in the message store to effectively order the sequence in which the messages are presented to the user without changing the messages themselves.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
97 words
An electronic mail system comprising a plurality of stations between which messages can be sent, and including classification means in each station which assigns different priorities to the messages in dependence on matching of each message to a set of criteria defined by a set of rules, in which each station includes a message store for accumulating incoming messages and in which the classification means are adapted to operate on the messages so accumulated in the message store to effectively order the sequence in which the messages are presented to the user without changing the messages themselves.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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