US6081832A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Object oriented mail server framework mechanism
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1998-05-20
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Granted: 2000-06-27
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Expires: 2018-05-20
Abstract
Abstract A framework for use with object-oriented programming systems provides a common message processing system structure that can be placed on any OOP platform and be configured to support any e-mail message protocol standard or specific mail server function. The framework defines an e-mail message as a number of distinct objects, each of which contains information that describes some portion of the message. All messages received by a system in which the framework is implemented are defined on this core object structure. Another set of objects and methods define the processing steps required for a mail server to process a message. A message is received as a class of message objects, which are assigned a message type that determines the subsequent processing steps to which the message object is subjected. As a message is processed, the objects of which it is comprised are changed, so that the message processing can be interrupted and then resumed without loss or duplication of processing steps.
Inventors
- 👤 Frank William Gilchrist
- 👤 Eric Nels Herness
- 👤 Eric H. Jenney
- 👤 John Christopher Ripstra
- 👤 George James Romano
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 16:02
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/10; G06Q10/107; H; H04; H04L; H04L69/00; H04L69/30; H04L69/32; H04L69/322; H04L69/329; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; H04L51/00; H04L51/06; H04L51/066; H04L51/48
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
115 words
A method for distributing a program product, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between a first computer system and a second computer system over a network; and transmitting the program product from the first computer system to the second computer system, wherein the program product comprises an object oriented framework that provides an extensible network mail server processing system when executed in an object oriented programming environment of the second computer system, such that the extensible network mail server processing system receives an e-mail message from an originating network user and transfers the e-mail message to one or more destination addresses of network users who are intended recipients of the e-mail message.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
115 words
A method for distributing a program product, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between a first computer system and a second computer system over a network; and transmitting the program product from the first computer system to the second computer system, wherein the program product comprises an object oriented framework that provides an extensible network mail server processing system when executed in an object oriented programming environment of the second computer system, such that the extensible network mail server processing system receives an e-mail message from an originating network user and transfers the e-mail message to one or more destination addresses of network users who are intended recipients of the e-mail message.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
97 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 1, wherein the framework of the transmitted program product defines a message center object that controls message processing in the second computer system, a message class that contains a set of message objects that comprise originator, recipient, and message content information contained in the e-mail message, and a set of object methods that are used by the message center object to place the information of the e-mail message into the message objects according to a message processing protocol of the e-mail message and process it accordingly.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
61 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 2, wherein the message class objects include objects belonging to classes comprising a message originator list that identifies network address of the originating network user, a recipient list that identifies the intended recipients of the e-mail message, and an envelope list that contains message attribute information for a message protocol.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the class of message originator list comprises objects that define an originating user network address and a message protocol type.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 4, wherein the message protocol type is defined by an originating user network address object.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the class of recipient list comprises objects that are defined by a recipient user network address and a recipient address message protocol type.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 6, wherein the recipient list objects of the e-mail message specify a plurality of different message protocol types.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the class of envelope list comprises objects that are defined by a message protocol type.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 8, wherein the envelope list objects of the e-mail message specify a plurality of different message protocol types.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the message objects further include objects belonging to an attachment reference class that identifies information attached to the e-mail message.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 10, wherein the attachment reference class objects specify a plurality of different protocol types of the information attached to the e-mail message.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the object methods of the program product include message originator list creator methods that create the originator list objects, recipient list creator methods that create the recipient list objects, and envelope list creator methods that create the envelope objects.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the object methods of the program product include envelope list creation methods that determine a message protocol type and create a corresponding envelope object.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 13, wherein the object methods further include an add method that places the e-mail message in a message queue for processing by the message center object.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 13, wherein the object methods further include a retrieve method that retrieves the e-mail message from a message queue for processing by the message center object.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the object methods include an address resolution method that determines a recipient user network address for each member of the recipient list class.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the object methods include a security authorization method that performs message security checking and authorization of a message.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the object methods include an attachment reference list method that creates attachment list objects containing information attached to the e-mail message.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 3, wherein the message objects further include objects belonging to classes comprising a message originator list, original recipient list, recipient list, and envelope list.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 19, wherein the class of original recipient list contains one or more entry objects, each of which contains one or more objects that are defined by a recipient user network address and a distribution type.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 20, wherein the class of recipient list comprises objects that are defined by a recipient user network address and a recipient address message protocol type.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 21, wherein each recipient user network address specifies a message protocol type.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 21, wherein the message objects include multiple recipient list objects of different message protocols.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 21, wherein the object methods include recipient list resolve methods that create the recipient list objects from the original recipient list entry objects.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
56 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 24, wherein the recipient list resolve methods repeatedly operate on the original recipient list entry objects until no additional destination addresses are specified by a distribution type, whereby the distribution type specifies a set of destination addresses corresponding to a single original recipient list entry.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method for distributing a program product as defined in claim 1, wherein the framework defines at least one core function that cannot be modified by a user of the framework.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-06-27 | 2003-12-27 | 2004-06-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-06-27 | 2007-12-27 | 2008-06-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-06-27 | 2011-12-27 | 2012-06-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |