Facility for distributing and providing access to electronic mail message attachments

[00002] The present invention relates generally to computer systems and more particularly to a facility for distributing and providing access to electronic mail message attachments.

[00003] Attachments are files that are attached to electronic mail (email) messages. Typically, such email messages include text and an icon that represents the attachment. A user may gain access to the contents of the attachment by performing a designated operation (such as double clicking) on the icon that represents the attachment. In response to the designated operation, an application program associated with the type of attachment is activated to display the contents of the attachment. For example, if the attachment is a word processing document, double clicking on the icon for the attachment causes a word processing application program to begin executing and the contents of the word processing document are displayed within a window of the word processing application program.

[00004] Attachments can be quite large. As a result, emails with attachments may occupy a great deal of memory space. Moreover, transmitting emails with large attachments over communication pathways that have limited throughput can be particularly slow. For example, dial-up connections often have limited baud rates, and it may take an excessive amount of time to download an email message that contains a large attachment over such dial-up connections. Unfortunately, a party has no way of knowing beforehand whether an email contains an attachment or not. Hence, a party may have to unwittingly wait a long period of time when attempting to download email messages over a dial-up connection.

[00005] Another difficulty with large email attachments is that the attachments may require a substantial amount of memory space to store them. For example, suppose that a single email message containing a large attachment is sent to ten recipients. In such an instance, ten copies of the attachment must be stored at one or more locations within the system. If all of the emails are stored on a single server, ten copies of the attachment must be stored on the server. Ultimately, in instances where email messages are stored on recipient computer systems, a large amount of memory on each of the recipient computer systems is occupied by the attachment.

[00006] The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing a facility for distributing and providing access to attachments for email messages. The facility may, in some embodiments, post attachments onto a server, such as a web server. Recipients may then view or download the attachments from the server. The textual portion of the emails may be sent directly to the recipients via email services. The email messages that are sent may be embellished to notify the recipients of the attachments. Thus, the recipients are not burdened with the storage requirements and time requirements typically associated with receiving and storing attachments. Furthermore, only a single copy of the attachment need be stored within the system rather than separate respective copies for each recipient.

[00007] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an electronic mail message for a recipient is received at a first device, such as a computer system. The electronic mail message includes both text and an attachment. The attachment is removed from the electronic mail message and stored at the first device. The text of the electronic mail message is sent from the first device to the recipient at the second device.

[00008] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an attachment for an electronic mail message is stored on a first computer system. The electronic mail message is sent without the attachment from a sender to at least one recipient on a second computer system. The recipient is enabled to remotely access the attachment of the first computer system from the second computer system.

[00009] In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, an email is sent from a first computer towards a second computer. The email includes both text and an attachment. The email is received at an electronic mail server, and the attachment is stripped off the email to be stored at the electronic mail server. The text of the email is forwarded from the electronic mail server to the second computer, and the second computer is provided with access to the attachment on the server.

[00010] In accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention, a server computer system includes a detector for detecting that an email to a client contains an attachment. A stripper is provided for stripping the attachment from the email, and the attachment may be stored in a storage device or system on the server computer system. The server computer system also includes an interface for enabling the client to access the server computer system.

[00019] The illustrative embodiment of the present invention removes attachments from email messages and stores the attachments on servers. The servers may be, for example, web servers, that may be accessed over a network that utilizes the Internet Protocol (IP). Examples of such IP networks include the Internet, an intranet and a extranet. The textual portion of each email message with an attachment is forwarded directly to the intended recipients, and the intended recipients are notified of the attachment for the email message. The recipients may then view and/or download the attachment from the server, if desired.

[00020] The illustrative embodiment overcomes the problems associated with large attachments in conventional systems. Since only a single copy of the attachment is stored on the server, the attachment does not occupy an undue amount of memory space. There are not multiple copies of the attachment present in the system. Moreover, downloading emails over low baud rate connections does not take an inordinate amount of time. Nevertheless, recipients of emails still have the ability to view the attachments and can download the attachments, if desired, at their leisure.

[00021] In a first alternate implementation, a sender of an email posts an attachment on the server and sends the textual portion of the email onto the recipients. In a second alternate implementation, the sender sends the email with the attachment towards the recipients. An attachment server receives the email and strips the attachment from the email. The textual portion of the email is sent onto the recipients and the recipients are notified that the attachment has been removed. The attachment is stored at the attachment server for access by the recipients.

[00022] The illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides recipients with control over the downloading of attachments. A recipient can view an attachment on a web page and decide if they wish to download it or not. This allows recipients to avoid the downloading of attachments that they do not wish to receive. The attachments may be downloaded in either a native format or in a hypertext markup language (HTML) format. Typically, the HTML format occupies less memory space than the native format and takes less time to download.

[00023] The illustrative embodiment provides backup of attachments. The server on which the attachments are stored can serve as a backup mechanism so that attachments may be saved beyond a given period of time and may be deleted off of a recipients computer system.

[00024] The illustrative embodiment also may provide efficient management of document revisions. One master copy of a document may be stored on the server and a recipient may download the master copy, revise the master copy and store the revised version of the master copy back on the server.

[00025] FIG. 1 depicts a data processing environment 10 that is suitable for practicing a first alternate implementation of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The data processing environment includes an email sender 12, such as a computer system upon which a sender generates an email message. The email message is destined to recipients 14 on respective destination computer systems. The email may be transmitted over a non-internet email system 18, such as MCI mail, or over an IP network mechanism 16 such as the Internet, an intranet or an extranet.

[00026] A web server 20 is connected to the IP network 16. The web server is a dedicated server computer system that provides recipients 14 with access to attachments. Specifically, recipients 14 may access the attachments by sending requests using the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). In addition, recipients 14 may download attachments from the web server 20 using the file transfer protocol (FTP). The web server 20 includes storage for storing attachments both in their native format and in an HTML format. The attachment storage 22 may be internal to the web server 20 or may be external on secondary storage devices, such as magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives and the like.

[00027] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the depiction of the data processing environment 10 in FIG. 1 is intended to be merely illustrative and not limiting of the present invention. Additional components may be included in the data processing environment. Moreover, the server 20 need not be a web server but rather may be a conventional server. Still further, the attachments need not be stored in both the native format and in an HTML format. In some alternate cases, the attachments may be stored solely in a native format or solely in an HTML format.

[00028] FIG. 2 depicts the flow of information from the sender 12 to recipients 14A, 14B and 14C in the first implementation of the illustrative embodiment. Initially, the sender passes the attachment 26 to the web server 20, where the attachment is stored. The sender sends the email 28 via the email servers 30 to the recipients 14A, 14B and 14C. As will be described in more detail below, the email 28 may be embellished to notify the recipients 14A, 14B and 14C that there is an attachment on the web server 20. This notification may take the form of a textual message, a uniform resource locator (URL), a hyperlink, a graphic form of notification or other type of notification. The recipients 14A, 14B and 14C may then determine whether they desire to view or download the attachment 26. The arrow 25 depicted in FIG. 2 for recipient 14A indicates that the recipient 14A downloaded the attachment from the web server 20.

[00029] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the steps that are performed in the first implementation in more detail. Initially, the sender 12 accesses a designated web site on the web server 20. The web site may have a particular associated URL. The web server 20 provides a web page that prompts the sender to log in. The sender 12 utilizes this web page to log in to the web server 20 (step 40 in FIG. 3A). The sender may be asked, for example, to provide a name and a password. If a proper name and password are provided, the user is authenticated and permitted to select among service options. The options include at least the options of uploading an attachment or downloading an attachment.

[00030] The sender 12 selects the option to upload an attachment file so that the attachment is stored on the web server 20 (step 42 in FIG. 3A). This attachment is part of the email 28 that the sender 12 desires to send to the recipients 14. The sender 12 is prompted to provide a file name and path for the attachment file on the computer system of the sender 12. This information tells the web server 20 where to locate the attachment file that is to uploaded. The sender may be prompted additionally to provide access control options. The sender 12 responds by entering access control options that specify who is able to access the attachment file and what access rights they have (See steps 44 and 46 in FIG. 3A). The information provided in the access control options may include an options control list that provides a list of user IDs for authorized recipients. The access control options may specify a password that is assigned to the attachment file and that must be provided in order for recipients to access or download the attachment file. The access control option may further include an attachment code that takes the form of an alpha numeric code used to identify and locate the attachment file. The attachment code must be provided by a recipient to access or download the attachment file.

[00031] After the appropriate information is entered by a sender 12, the web server 20 uploads the attachment file using the information that has been provided (step 48 in FIG. 3A). The web server 20 utilizes FTP to transfer the attachment file. The web server 20 then converts the attachment file into a web-friendly format, such as an HTML format. In general, the web server 20 may convert the attachment file into a format that is viewable and downloadable by a recipient over an IP network. The web server 20 stores the attachment file in the native format and in the HTML format (See step 50 in FIG. 3A). The attachments are stored in a database account for the recipients on the server. In instances where an attachment code is used, the web server 20 may return the attachment code to the sender 12 for incorporation into the email message 28 (step 52 in FIG. 3A).

[00032] The sender 12 sends a text only email to the recipients 14A, 14B and 14C (step 54 in FIG. 3A). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the email message need not include just text but may also include other information including graphics, spreadsheets and the like. The email message is “attachment-free” in that is does not include the attachment. The email 28 typically contains a notification that informs the recipients of the attachment. The email may also include the attachment code and/or password as dictated by the choice of the sender 12. In some instances, the sender may opt to not require an attachment code or a password but rather may rely solely on an access control list. Alternately, the email may include a URL or a hyperlink for accessing the attachment on the web server 20. Still further, the email 28 may include a flag, such as a particular message, graphic or the like that indicates that an attachment is provided for the email.

[00033] After receiving the email 28, the recipients, 14 may decide whether they wish to view and/or download the attachment. Since the attachment is stored in an HTML format, the attachment may be displayed by the web server 20 as one or more web pages. If, a recipient 14 wishes to view and download the attachment 26, the recipient accesses the designated web site on the web server 20 and logs in (step 56 in FIG. 3A). In instances where an attachment code or password are specified for the attachment, the recipient must provide the attachment code and/or password to gain access to the attachment (step 58 in FIG. 3A). The recipient 14 may then be provided with options and select to view or download the attachment file (step 60 in FIG. 3A). If the recipient 14 chooses to view the attachment (See step 62 in FIG. 3B), the web server 20 retrieves the HTML version of the attachment and transmits the HTML document to the recipient over the IP network (See step 64 in FIG. 3B). After viewing the attachment, the recipient may opt to download the attachment (See step 56 in FIG. 3B).

[00034] In instances where the recipient 14 opts to download the attachment (See steps 62 and 66 in FIG. 3B), the recipient enters the file path and name at which the attachment file is to be saved (step 68 in FIG. 3B) and then the web server downloads the attachment to the recipient (step 70 in FIG. 3B). The web server 20 utilizes FTP to download the attachment to the recipient 14. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other protocols may be utilized to download the attachment to the recipient 14. The attachment may be downloaded in either the native format or in the HTML format. Preferably, the attachment file is downloaded in the HTML format so as to utilize less network bandwidth and to minimize the amount of storage occupied by the attachment on the computer system of the recipient.

[00035] FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a suitable architecture for the computer system of the recipient 14. The computer system includes a central processing unit (CPU) 72, such as a conventional microprocessor. The computer system may include a display device 74, such as a video display device and one or more input devices 76, such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a microphone. The computer system may include a modem 78 for facilitating communications over analog telephone lines, cable lines or the like. The modem 78 may be utilized to connect the computer system with a web server 20. The computer system may also include a network connection 82 connecting the computer system with a local area network (LAN). The computer system includes a storage 82 that may hold both programs and data. The storage 82 holds a copy of a web browser 84 that is used to communicate with the web server 20. The web browser includes an HTML engine. In addition, the storage 82 holds a copy of an email program 86 that facilitates email communications.

[00036] FIG. 5 depicts the flow of information in a second alternate implementation of the illustrative embodiment. In this second alternate implementation, the sender does not send the attachments to the web server but rather sends the email with the attachment towards the recipients. An attachment server intercepts the email and strips the attachment off of the email and fowards the remaining content of the email onto the recipients.

[00037] The sender 12 sends the email 28 with the attachment 26 towards the recipients 14A, 14B and 14C via an email service 30. The email service 30 may take many forms including POP 3, IMAP 4, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Mail, or other email services. The recipients 14A, 14B and 14C subscribe to a service provided by the attachment server 90. This service strips attachments from incoming emails for the recipients. The attachment server 90 may also serve as an email gateway for the recipients 14A, 14B and 14C. The attachment server 90 receives the email 28 with the attachment 26. The attachment server 90 includes a detector that detects the presence of the attachment 26. The attachment server 90 then activates a stripper that strips the attachment 26 from the email 28. The attachment server sends the remaining portion of the email 28 onto the recipients 14A, 14B and 14C. The attachment 26 may be stored at the attachment server 90 in the native format or in an HTML format. The attachment server may include a converter for converting the attachment from the native format into the HTML format. Several conventional application programs (e.g. Microsoft Word) contain converters for performing such a conversion. This configuration is especially well-adopted for an instance wherein the attachment server 90 serves as an email gateway for a given LAN 91 that interconnects the recipients 14A, 14B, and 14C.

[00038] FIG. 7 depicts components of the attachment server 90 in more detail. The attachment server 90 includes a CPU 102 and includes programs and data. Specifically, the attachment server 90 includes attachment server code 140 for performing the detection stripping and the like as described above. The attachment server 90 may also include web server code 106 that enables the attachment server to act as a web server. In instances wherein the attachment server 90 is also an email server, the attachment server includes email gateway code 108. The attachment server 90 may store the attachments 110 in both data format and in HTML format. Furthermore, the attachments may include a converter 112 for converting the attachments from a native format into an HTML format.

[00039] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the steps that are performed in the second implementation of the illustrative embodiment. Initially, the sender 12 sends the email 28 with the attachment 26 (step 92 in FIG. 6). The recipients email server i.e. attachment server 90, receives the email message and strips off the attachment 26 (step 94 in FIG. 6). The attachment server 90 then inserts a notification into the email 28 that notifies the recipients 14a, 14b and 14c of the presence of the attachment. The attachment server 90 may choose to store the attachment 26 at the attachment server. Preferably, the attachment server 90 sends the attachment to the web server 20 (step 98 in FIG. 6). The web server 20 then places the attachment in the database account for the recipient (step 100 in FIG. 6). The process then proceeds as depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B beginning at step 56.

[00040] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the attachment server 90 need not be an email server but rather may be a distinct server that is in communication with the email server. Moreover, the attachment server may itself be a web server. The conversion of the attachment into an HTML format may be performed by either the attachment server 90 or the web server 20.

[00041] While the present invention has been described with reference to an illustrative embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the intended scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the attachments need not be stored in an HTML format but may be stored in other mark-up language formats or in formats that are viewable and downloadable over an IP network.