Addresses as objects for email messages

Abstract

The present invention is directed at a system and process for allowing a user to treat email addresses as objects. This allows easy manipulation of the email addresses, such as allowing them to be added to a contact list, copied to the computer's clipboard, or double-clicked to open the related contact information for that email address' sender. Email addresses are treated as objects in the message preview pane and full message windows of both incoming and outgoing email messages. A small icon is added to the text of each address. In a preferred embodiment, the icons will vary depending on the pedigree of the address. The invention is not limited to single addresses. Rather, an entry denoting a mailing list could also be treated as an object and a unique icon could be employed to indicate the nature of the entry. For outgoing messages, the pedigree of the address or list is determined by monitoring where the user obtained the address. For incoming messages, the message header is parsed and searched to find addresses that match the receiving user's address book. If no match is found, a generic address icon is added before the text of the address, while the system checks the email header against other address sources such as server lists. Once the address is marked with an appropriate icon the user can manipulate the address in various ways allowing the user to readily edit or add email addresses to their contact list. Additionally, the invention may include contextual menus to assist the user in this manipulation.

1 - 25 . (canceled)  
   
   
       26 . A computer-implemented process for allowing a user to manipulate an email address contained in the preview pane or full message window of an email message of an email program as an object, comprising: 
 an identifying step for identifying an entry in the preview pane or full message window of an email message as an email address, said identifying step comprising, 
 a finding step for finding at least one field in the preview pane or full message window containing an email message header of the email message containing one or more email addresses, and  
 a parsing step for parsing at least one email address from the at least one field in the preview pane or full message window which contains one or more email addresses;  
   a checking step for checking the email address against addresses in one or more contact databases to determine if it is contained in a contact database, wherein a contact database is a set of stored contacts and corresponding addresses, and wherein said checking step comprises at least one of, 
 a first determining step for determining if the address corresponds to a single contact in the contact list,  
 a second determining step for determining if the address corresponds to a mailing list in the contact list,  
 a third determining step for determining if the address corresponds to a newsgroup address in the contact list,  
 a fourth determining step for determining if the address corresponds to an invalid email address or internet address,  
 a fifth determining step for determining if the address corresponds to a valid email address not found to match any addresses in the contact list, and if so, comprising, 
 an ascertaining step for ascertaining whether the user's computer is in correspondence with one or more servers,  
 if the user's computer is not in correspondence with said one or more servers, 
 an appending step for appending an icon indicating to the user that more information is needed before sending the email message,  
 a flagging step for flagging the address such that an act of determining if the address corresponds to an address in the contact list of said one or more servers must be performed prior to sending an email message,  
 a prompting step for prompting the user to establish correspondence with said one or more servers, and  
 
 upon establishing correspondence with said one or more servers, a sixth determining step for determining if the address corresponds to an address in a contact list of at least one server;  
 
   a marking step for marking the email address with an adjacently placed indicator; and    upon selection of the indicator by the user, an allowing step for allowing the user to manipulate the email address as an object.    
   
   
       27 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for allowing a user to manipulate an email address contained in the preview pane or full message window of an email message of an email program as an object, said computer-executable instructions comprising: 
 identifying an entry in the preview pane or full message window of an email message as an email address, said identifying instruction comprising, 
 finding at least one field in the preview pane or full message window containing an email message header of the email message containing one or more email addresses, and  
 parsing at least one email address from the at least one field in the preview pane or full message window which contains one or more email addresses;  
   checking the email address against addresses in one or more contact databases to determine if it is contained in a contact database, wherein a contact database is a set of stored contacts and corresponding addresses, and wherein said checking instruction comprises at least one of, 
 determining if the address corresponds to a single contact in the contact list,  
 determining if the address corresponds to a mailing list in the contact list,  
 determining if the address corresponds to a newsgroup address in the contact list,  
 determining if the address corresponds to an invalid email address or internet address,  
 determining if the address corresponds to a valid email address not found to match any addresses in the contact list, and if so, 
 ascertaining whether the user's computer is in correspondence with one or more servers,  
 if the user's computer is not in correspondence with said one or more servers, 
 appending an icon indicating to the user that more information is needed before sending the email message,  
 flagging the address such that an act of determining if the address corresponds to an address in the contact list of said one or more servers must be performed prior to sending an email message,  
 prompting the user to establish correspondence with said one or more servers, and  
 
 upon establishing correspondence with said one or more servers, determining if the address corresponds to an address in a contact list of at least one server;  
 
   marking the email address with an adjacently placed indicator; and    upon selection of the indicator by the user, allowing the user to manipulate the email address as an object.    
   
   
       28 . A system for allowing a user to manipulate an email address contained in the preview pane or full message window of an email message of an email program as an object, comprising: 
 a general purpose computing device; and    a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to, 
 identify an entry in the preview pane or full message window of an email message as an email address, said identifying comprising sub-modules for, 
 finding at least one field in the preview pane or full message window containing an email message header of the email message containing one or more email addresses, and  
 parsing at least one email address from the at least one field in the preview pane or full message window which contains one or more email addresses;  
 
 check the email address against addresses in one or more contact databases to determine if it is contained in a contact database, wherein a contact database is a set of stored contacts and corresponding addresses, and wherein said checking comprises at least one sub-module for, 
 determining if the address corresponds to a single contact in the contact list,  
 determining if the address corresponds to a mailing list in the contact list,  
 determining if the address corresponds to a newsgroup address in the contact list,  
 determining if the address corresponds to an invalid email address or internet address,  
 determining if the address corresponds to a valid email address not found to match any addresses in the contact list, and if so, 
 ascertaining whether the user's computer is in correspondence with one or more servers,  
 if the user's computer is not in correspondence with said one or more servers,  
 appending an icon indicating to the user that more information is needed before sending the email message,  
 flagging the address such that an act of determining if the address corresponds to an address in the contact list of said one or more servers must be performed prior to sending an email message,  
 prompting the user to establish correspondence with said one or more servers, and  
 upon establishing correspondence with said one or more servers, determining if the address corresponds to an address in a contact list of at least one server;  
 
 mark the email address with an adjacently placed indicator; and  
 upon selection of the indicator by the user, allow the user to manipulate the email address as an object.  
 
   
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the program module for marking comprises a sub-module for appending a server icon to the address if the address matches an entry in the contact list of said one or more servers.  
   
   
       30 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the program module for marking comprises a sub-module for appending a caution icon to the address if the address does not match any entry in the contact list of said one or more servers, said caution icon indicating to the user that the address is not found in any contact list accessible by the user.  
   
   
       31 . The system of  claim 28  wherein the program module for marking comprises at least one sub-module for: 
 appending a single recipient icon to the address if the address matches an address in the contact list;    appending a mailing list icon to the address if the address matches a mailing list address in the contact list;    appending a newsgroup icon to the address if the address matches a newsgroup address in the contact list;    appending a text icon to the address if the address is an invalid email address or an Internet address; and    appending an address icon to the address if the address is determined to be a valid email address but not in the contact list.    
   
   
       32 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the program module for identifying an entry in the preview pane or full message window of an email message as an email address in an incoming email message comprises a sub-module for initially appending an icon representing an indeterminate indicator to all email addresses in the header that are not in a “From” address field, and wherein the program modules for checking and marking these email addresses is postponed until background processing can be used to perform the checking and marking unless a user initiates a search command directing that one or more of these addresses be subjected to checking and marking immediately.  
   
   
       33 . The system of  claim 32  wherein the indeterminate icon appended to addresses in the email header that are not in the From address field is replaced with an appropriate icon when the checking and marking program modules are executed.  
   
   
       34 . The system of  claim 28  wherein the email message is an outgoing email message prepared by a user, and wherein the program module for identifying comprises a sub-module for determining if the email address was autofilled from a contact database or server database.  
   
   
       35 . The system of  claim 34  wherein the program module for marking comprises a sub-module for marking the autofilled email address with an appropriate indicator based on the source used to autofill the email address.  
   
   
       36 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the sub-module for marking the autofilled email address with the appropriate indicator comprises sub-modules for: 
 appending a single recipient icon to the address if the address matches an address in the contact list;    appending a mailing list icon to the address if the address matches a mailing list address in the contact list;    appending a newsgroup icon to the address if the address matches a newsgroup address in the contact list; and    appending a server icon to the address if the address was autofilled from a contact list of a server.    
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 28  wherein the program module for manipulating comprises one of sub-modules for moving, deleting, or copying the object.  
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the program module for selecting an indicator comprises a sub-module for selecting the indicator via an activation action associated with an input device.  
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 28  further comprising a program module for allowing a user to open an entry in the contact database associated with the address via an activation action associated with an input device.  
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 28  further comprising a program module for prompting a user to create an entry associated with the address in the contact database via an activation action associated with an input device whenever such an entry does not already exist in the contact database.  
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 28  wherein the program module for selecting an indicator further comprises a sub-module for displaying an appropriate contextual menu depending on the type of indicator associated with said address.  
   
   
       42 . The system of  claim 41  wherein the sub-module for displaying an appropriate contextual menu comprises a sub-module for adding an email address to a user's contact list and wherein an email address is added to the user's contact data base upon selection of the menu item.  
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 42  wherein the user has an option to open a window containing editable content associated with an email address if a contact who sent the email message is in the user's contact data base.  
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 28  further comprising a program module for opening an item associated with the email address after looking up the item in one or more contact databases when the user double clicks on the adjacently placed indicator.  
   
   
       45 . The system of  claim 44  further comprising a program module for prompting the user to create an item associated with said indicator if the address was manually entered or captured from a server.