Email server with proxy caching of unique identifiers

Abstract

An electronic mail (email) server has a database that stores unique identifiers (UID's) of electronic messages. A proxy obtains mappings from the database for previously existing UID's of electronic messages that have been determined from a polling operation. A cache caches the mappings of UID's and the proxy is operative for purging the cache of the previously existing UID's after polling.

1 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . An electronic mail (email) server comprising:
 a polling engine configured to poll an email box to retrieve Message Identifiers (MsgID's) of email messages;   a cache into which the MsgID's of new email messages are cached; and   a proxy configured to receive an email job, determine if a MsgID for the email job is in the cache, and if so, obtain a mapping the MsgID from the cache, process the email job, and purge the MsgID from the cache.   
     
     
         18 . The email server according to  claim 17  wherein the proxy is configured to obtain the mapping including adjacent MsgID's to the MsgID. 
     
     
         19 . The email server according to  claim 17  wherein the proxy is configured to purge the MsgID from the cache independent of heuristics. 
     
     
         20 . The email server according to  claim 19  wherein the heuristics comprise at least one of email message size and number of accesses. 
     
     
         21 . The email server according to  claim 17  wherein the proxy is configured to maintain a number of cached mappings to below a predetermined number. 
     
     
         22 . The email server according to  claim 21  wherein the proxy is configured to clear the cache if the number of cached mappings exceeds the predetermined number. 
     
     
         23 . The email server according to  claim 17  wherein the proxy is configured to cache a MsgId that had not been cached after receiving one of at least a Get, Delete or Move request. 
     
     
         24 . An electronic mail (email) server comprising:
 a polling engine configured to poll an email box to retrieve Message Identifiers (MsgID's) of email messages;   a cache into which the MsgID's of new email messages are cached; and   a proxy configured to receive an email job, determine if a MsgID for the email job is in the cache, and if so, obtain a mapping for the MsgID from the cache, process the email job, and purge the MsgID from the cache independent of message size.   
     
     
         25 . The email server according to  claim 24  wherein the proxy is configured to obtain the mapping including adjacent MsgID's to the MsgID. 
     
     
         26 . The email server according to  claim 24  wherein the proxy is configured to maintain a number of cached mappings to below a predetermined number. 
     
     
         27 . The email server according to  claim 24  wherein the proxy is configured to clear the cache if the number of cached mappings exceeds the predetermined number. 
     
     
         28 . The email server according to  claim 24  wherein the proxy is configured to cache a MsgId that had not been cached after receiving one of at least a Get, Delete or Move request. 
     
     
         29 . An electronic mail (email) server comprising:
 a polling engine configured to poll an email box to retrieve Message Identifiers (MsgID's) of email messages;   a cache into which the MsgID's of new email messages are cached; and   a proxy configured to receive an email job, determine if a MsgID for the email job is in the cache, and if so, obtain a mapping for the MsgID from the cache, process the email job, and purge the MsgID from the cache independent of a number of accesses to email messages.   
     
     
         30 . The email server according to  claim 29  wherein the proxy is configured to obtain the mapping including adjacent MsgID's to the MsgID. 
     
     
         31 . The email server according to  claim 29  wherein the proxy is configured to maintain a number of cached mappings to below a predetermined number. 
     
     
         32 . The email server according to  claim 29  wherein the proxy is configured to clear the cache if the number of cached mappings exceeds the predetermined number. 
     
     
         33 . The email server according to  claim 29  wherein the proxy is configured to cache a MsgId that had not been cached after receiving one of at least a Get, Delete or Move request. 
     
     
         34 . An electronic mail (email) processing method comprising:
 operating a polling engine of an email server to poll an email box to retrieve Message Identifiers (MsgID's) of email messages;   operating a cache of the email server to cache the MsgID's of new email messages; and   operating a proxy of the email server to receive an email job, determine if a MsgID for the email job is in the cache, and if so, obtain a mapping for the MsgID from the cache, process the email job, and purge the MsgID from the cache.   
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 34  wherein operating the proxy server to obtain the mapping comprises operating the proxy to obtain the mapping including adjacent MsgID's to the MsgID. 
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 34  wherein operating the proxy to purge the MsgID from the cache comprises operating the proxy to purge the MsgID from the cache independent of heuristics. 
     
     
         37 . The method according to  claim 36  wherein the heuristics comprise at least one of email message size and number of accesses. 
     
     
         38 . The method according to  claim 34  further comprising operating the proxy to maintain a number of cached mappings to below a predetermined number. 
     
     
         39 . The method according to  claim 34 , further comprising using the proxy to clear the cache if the number of cached mappings exceeds the predetermined number. 
     
     
         40 . The method according to  claim 34 , further comprising operating the proxy to cache a MsgId that had not been cached after receiving one of at least a Get, Delete or Move request.