Systems and methods for a search-based email client

Abstract

A search-based email client may incorporate a number of useful features. A search function can default to a search of all email contexts, thereby eliminating user cogitation over which context an email message may be stored in. Furthermore, the search function can automatically search for related personal content and/or related information on the internet or other computer network, and present this useful information to the user in addition to the returned emails. The search function can be integrated into a user interface to allow for one-click searches on any likely search field. The search function can search the body of email messages by default, thereby widening the scope of default searches and eliminating potentially missed information and user need to proactively widen their search. A search function can search attachments, which also provides a wider search scope.

1 . A computer readable medium bearing instructions for displaying on a display a User Interface (UI) for an application that accesses and displays emails that are divided into two or more groups of emails, the instructions comprising: 
 instructions for displaying a plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display;    instructions for executing a search, comprising: 
 instructions for receiving data; and  
 instructions for querying email messages associated with substantially all of the groups of emails for the data, wherein said instructions for executing a search initiate the instructions for querying email messages associated with substantially all of the groups of emails by default.  
   
   
   
       2 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for returning the email messages containing the data to the UI for display.  
   
   
       3 . The computer readable medium of  claim 2 , further comprising instructions for removing at least one email message containing the data from a set of emails that are returned.  
   
   
       4 . The computer readable medium of  claim 2 , further comprising instructions for ordering the email messages that are returned in a reverse-chronological order.  
   
   
       5 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1  wherein said instructions for querying comprise instructions for querying the body of an email message, and wherein said instructions for executing a search initiate said instructions for querying the body by default.  
   
   
       6 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1  wherein said instructions for querying comprise instructions for querying an attachment to an email message.  
   
   
       7 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for displaying a search element comprising a character entry area and a selectable element for initiating a search, wherein the instructions for receiving data retrieve the data from the character entry area.  
   
   
       8 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 instructions for displaying at least one email message through a user interface (UI), wherein said at least one email message comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for executing a search for email messages that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       9 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1  wherein said instructions for executing a search further comprise instructions for searching for the data in one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       10 . A method for displaying on a display a User Interface (UI) for an application that accesses and displays emails that are divided into two or more groups of emails, comprising: 
 displaying a plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display;    executing a search, comprising: 
 receiving data entered in a search element;  
 querying email messages associated with substantially all of the groups of emails for the data, wherein said executing a search initiates the querying email messages associated with substantially all of the groups of emails by default.  
   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising returning the email messages containing the data to the UI for display.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising removing at least one email message containing the data from a set of emails that are returned.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising ordering the email messages that are returned in a reverse-chronological order.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein querying comprises querying the body of an email message, and wherein said executing a search initiates said querying the body by default.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 10  wherein said querying comprises querying an attachment to an email message.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising displaying a search element comprising a character entry area and a selectable element for initiating a search, wherein the receiving data retrieves the data from the character entry area.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 displaying at least one email message through a user interface (UI), wherein said at least one email message comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    executing a search for email messages that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 10  wherein said executing a search further comprises searching for the data in one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       19 . A computer readable medium bearing instructions for searching a plurality of emails for data, the instructions comprising: 
 instructions for displaying a plurality of email message summaries and a search element in a user interface (UI);    instructions for receiving data;    instructions for executing a search for the data comprising instructions for searching a body of at least one email, wherein said instructions for executing a search initiate instructions for searching a body of at least one email by default.    
   
   
       20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19  wherein said instructions for executing a search also initiate instructions for searching one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, an attachment to an email, and a field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       21 . The computer readable medium of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions for automatically removing data from a subject field prior to searching for the data in the subject field.  
   
   
       22 . The computer readable medium of  claim 21  wherein the instructions for automatically removing data from a subject field comprise instructions for removing the letters RE and the letters FW from the subject field.  
   
   
       23 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19  wherein said instructions for executing a search also initiate instructions for searching one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       24 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 instructions for displaying at least one email through a user interface (UI), wherein said at least one email comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for executing a search for emails that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       25 . A method for searching a plurality of emails for data comprising: 
 displaying a plurality of email message summaries and a search element in a user interface (UI);    receiving data;    executing a search for the data by searching a body of at least one email, wherein said executing a search initiates the instructions for searching a body of at least one email by default.    
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein said executing a search also initiates searching one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, an attachment to an email, and a field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising automatically removing data from a subject field prior to searching for the data in the subject field.  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the automatically removing data from a subject field comprises removing the letters RE and the letters FW from the subject field.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 25  wherein said executing a search also initiates instructions for searching one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 displaying at least one email through a user interface (UI), wherein said at least one email comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    executing a search for emails that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       31 . A computer readable medium bearing instructions for searching a plurality of emails for data, the instructions comprising: 
 instructions for displaying a plurality of email message summaries corresponding to a plurality of email messages in a user interface (UI);    instructions for receiving data;    instructions for querying an attachment to at least one of said plurality of emails for the data.    
   
   
       32 . The computer readable medium of  claim 31  wherein said instructions for querying an attachment are executed by default when a search is initiated.  
   
   
       33 . The computer readable medium of  claim 31  wherein said instructions for querying an attachment are instructions for querying an indexed data store containing attachment data.  
   
   
       34 . The computer readable medium of  claim 31 , further comprising instructions for initiating a search of one or more of at least one email body, at least one field providing a sender of an email, at least one field providing a recipient of an email, at least one attachment to an email, and at least one field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       35 . The computer readable medium of  claim 34  wherein said instructions for initiating a search also initiate searching through one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       36 . The computer readable medium of  claim 31 , further comprising: 
 instructions for displaying at least one email through the UI, wherein said at least one email comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for executing a search for emails that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       37 . A method for searching a plurality of emails for data comprising: 
 displaying a plurality of email message summaries corresponding to a plurality of email messages in a user interface (UI);    receiving data;    querying an attachment to at least one of said plurality of emails for the data.    
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein said querying an attachment are executed by default when a search is initiated.  
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 37  wherein said querying an attachment comprises querying an indexed data store containing attachment data.  
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising initiating a search of one or more of at least one email body, at least one field providing a sender of an email, at least one field providing a recipient of an email, at least one attachment to an email, and at least one field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein said initiating a search also initiates searching through one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising: 
 displaying at least one email through the UI, wherein said at least one email comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    executing a search for emails that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       43 . A computer readable medium bearing instructions for searching a plurality of emails for data, the instructions comprising: 
 instructions for displaying at least one email through a user interface (UI), wherein said at least one email comprises one or more of a field providing a sender of an email, a field providing a recipient of an email, and a field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email;    instructions for executing a search for emails that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       44 . The computer readable medium of  claim 43  wherein said at least one email is an email message summary that is displayed among a plurality of email message summaries through the UI.  
   
   
       45 . The computer readable medium of  claim 44  wherein the selectable element is an icon located substantially proximally to the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       46 . The computer readable medium of  claim 44  wherein the selectable element overlaps the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email such that selection of the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email operates to execute the search.  
   
   
       47 . The computer readable medium of  claim 43  wherein said at least one email is a complete email message that is displayed in conjunction with a body of the complete email message through the UI.  
   
   
       48 . The computer readable medium of  claim 47  wherein the selectable element is an icon located substantially proximally to the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       49 . The computer readable medium of  claim 47  wherein the selectable element overlaps the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email such that selection of the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email operates to execute the search.  
   
   
       50 . The computer readable medium of  claim 43  wherein the instructions for executing a search comprise instructions for initiating a search of one or more of at least one email body, at least one field providing a sender of an email, at least one field providing a recipient of an email, at least one attachment to an email, and at least one field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       51 . The computer readable medium of  claim 43  wherein said instructions for executing a search comprise instructions for searching through one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       52 . A method for searching a plurality of emails for data comprising: 
 displaying at least one email message through a user interface (UI), wherein said at least one email message comprises one or more of a from field, a to field, and a subject field;    displaying a selectable element that is associated with at least one of the from field, the to field, and the subject field;    executing a search for email messages that are related to the selectable element, wherein the search is executed upon selection of the selectable element.    
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 52  wherein said at least one email is an email message summary that is displayed among a plurality of email message summaries through the UI.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53  wherein the selectable element is an icon located substantially proximally to the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 53  wherein the selectable element overlaps the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email such that selection of the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email operates to execute the search.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 52  wherein said at least one email is a complete email message that is displayed in conjunction with a body of the complete email message through the UI.  
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 56  wherein the selectable element is an icon located substantially proximally to the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 56  wherein the selectable element overlaps the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email such that selection of the at least one of the field providing a sender of an email, the field providing a recipient of an email, and the field providing a subject for an email operates to execute the search.  
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 52  wherein executing a search comprises initiating a search of one or more of at least one email body, at least one field providing a sender of an email, at least one field providing a recipient of an email, at least one attachment to an email, and at least one field providing a subject for an email.  
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 52  wherein said executing a search comprises instructions for searching through one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet.  
   
   
       61 . A computer readable medium bearing instructions for displaying a User Interface (UI) on a display, the instructions comprising: 
 instructions for displaying a plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display;    instructions for displaying a search element comprising a character entry area and a selectable element for initiating a search;    instructions for executing a search, comprising: 
 instructions for receiving data entered in the character entry area;  
 instructions for searching a plurality of email messages for the data;  
 instructions for searching for the data in one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet;  
 instructions for initiating said searching the plurality of email messages and said instructions for searching for the data when said selectable element for initiating a search is selected.  
   
   
   
       62 . The computer readable medium of  claim 61  wherein said instructions for searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprise instructions for searching substantially all of a plurality of groups of email messages, and wherein said instructions for searching substantially all of a plurality of groups of email messages are executed by default.  
   
   
       63 . The computer readable medium of  claim 61  wherein said instructions for searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprise instructions for searching the body of at least one email message, and wherein said instructions for searching the body of at least one email message are executed by default.  
   
   
       64 . The computer readable medium of  claim 61  wherein said instructions for searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprise instructions for searching an attachment to at least one email message.  
   
   
       65 . The computer readable medium of  claim 61  i further comprising instructions for opening a new UI window and instructions for displaying any of the one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet containing the data in the new UI window.  
   
   
       66 . The computer readable medium of  claim 65  wherein said new UI window is displayed so as not to substantially overlap the plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display.  
   
   
       67 . A method for displaying a User Interface (UI) on a display comprising: 
 displaying a plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display;    displaying a search element comprising a character entry area and a selectable element for initiating a search;    executing a search, comprising: 
 receiving data entered in the character entry area;  
 searching a plurality of email messages for the data;  
 searching for the data in one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet;  
 initiating the searching the plurality of email messages and the searching for the data when said selectable element for initiating a search is selected.  
   
   
   
       68 . The method of  claim 67  wherein said searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprises searching substantially all of a plurality of groups of email messages, and wherein said searching substantially all of a plurality of groups of email messages is executed by default.  
   
   
       69 . The method of  claim 67  wherein said searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprises searching the body of at least one email message, and wherein said searching the body of at least one email message is executed by default.  
   
   
       70 . The method of  claim 67  wherein said searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprises searching an attachment to at least one email message.  
   
   
       71 . The method of  claim 67 , further comprising opening a new UI window and displaying any of the one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet containing the data in the new UI window.  
   
   
       72 . The method of  claim 71  wherein said new UI window is displayed so as not to substantially overlap the plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display.  
   
   
       73 . A computing device comprising a computer readable medium bearing a plurality of computer executable instructions providing means for displaying a User Interface (IU) on a display, comprising: 
 means for displaying a plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display;    means for displaying a search element comprising a character entry area and a selectable element for initiating a search;    means for executing a search, comprising: 
 means for receiving data entered in the character entry area;  
 means for searching a plurality of email messages for the data;  
 means for searching for the data in one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet;  
 means for initiating the searching the plurality of email messages and the searching for the data when said selectable element for initiating a search is selected.  
   
   
   
       74 . The computing device of  claim 73  wherein said means for searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprises means for searching substantially all of a plurality of groups of email messages, and wherein said means for searching substantially all of a plurality of groups of email messages is executed by default.  
   
   
       75 . The computing device of  claim 73  wherein said means for searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprises means for searching the body of at least one email message, and wherein said means for searching the body of at least one email message is executed by default.  
   
   
       76 . The computing device of  claim 73  wherein said means for searching a plurality of email messages for the data comprises means for searching an attachment to at least one email message.  
   
   
       77 . The computing device of  claim 73 , further comprising means for opening a new UI window and means for displaying any of the one or more of a calendar item, a task item, a contact, a file, an internet, and an intranet containing the data in the new UI window.  
   
   
       78 . The computing device of  claim 77  wherein said new UI window is displayed so as not to substantially overlap the plurality of email message summaries in a portion of the display.