A queue managing method for an electronic mail system

Claim 1

For use in an electronic mail system, a queue manager for controlling the execution of requests for the transport of messages from users to destinations, each request including a message and an identification of a destination, the queue manager including a queue for storing pending requests, a dispatcher task responsive to each request for creating a corresponding worker task to execute the request and associating the worker task with a corresponding bound unit for transporting the messages to the destination through communications links, a method for adapting operation of the queue manager to characteristics of the destinations and the communications links, comprising the steps of: providing in each request a parameter indicating a priority level of the request, providing and storing a table containing an entry for each destination, each entry including an identification of a bound unit serving that destination, and a set of descriptors describing time windows during which the destination may receive messages, wherein each window corresponds to a priority level, and each window descriptor contains parameters identifying the priority level of the window, a time during which the window is open, and an economic quantity number, and by operation of the dispatcher task, scanning the destination table to determine which windows are currently open, scanning the queue to identify pending requests for the currently open windows, and whether the number of requests for an open window equals or exceeds the economic quantity for the window, and executing the requests corresponding to each currently open window wherein the number of requests satisfies the economic quantity for the window.