Transmission of messages related to electronic documents

Abstract

One implementation provides a computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed, perform a method for processing a message related to an electronic document. The method includes transmitting an electronic document having a unique identifier from a first system to a second system and receiving at the first system a message from the second system related to content contained in the electronic document. The message includes a predetermined field for the unique identifier that links the message to the electronic document. The method may also include notifying a user of the first system that the first system received the message. The notifying may include updating a list of tasks. One of the tasks may indicate that the user may view the received message on the first system.

1 . A computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, perform a method for processing a message related to an electronic document, the method comprising: 
 transmitting an electronic document having a unique identifier from a first system to a second system; and    receiving at the first system a message from the second system that relates to content contained in the electronic document, wherein the message includes a predetermined field for the unique identifier that links the message to the electronic document.    
   
   
       2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising notifying the user of the first system that the first system received the message.  
   
   
       3 . The computer program product of  claim 2 , wherein the notifying includes updating a list of tasks, one of the tasks indicating that the user may view the received message on the first system.  
   
   
       4 . The computer program product of  claim 2 , wherein the notifying includes sending an e-mail to the user.  
   
   
       5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is an electronic document number, and wherein the electronic document number is a number uniquely associated with the electronic document.  
   
   
       6 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is an item number, and wherein the item number is a number uniquely associated with an item in the electronic document.  
   
   
       7 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises transmitting a second message from the first system to the second system, wherein the second message includes a predetermined field containing the unique identifier that links the second message to the electronic document.  
   
   
       8 . The computer program product of  claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises notifying a user of the second system that the second system received the second message.  
   
   
       9 . The computer program product of  claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises maintaining a history for the electronic document using the unique identifier that is included in each message, and wherein the history includes each message transmitted by the first and second systems.  
   
   
       10 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the history is visually displayed when the electronic document is accessed.  
   
   
       11 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein a user of the second system inputs the message.  
   
   
       12 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the second system automatically generates the message.  
   
   
       13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the second system generates the message based on the content of the electronic document.  
   
   
       14 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the first system is a seller system and the second system is a buyer system.  
   
   
       15 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises transmitting a second electronic document from the first system to the second system, and wherein the second electronic document is a second version of the electronic document that incorporates changes prompted by the message received by the first system.  
   
   
       16 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the message further includes message text, a message source, date information, and time information.  
   
   
       17 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the second system retrieves the unique identifier from the received electronic document and associates the unique identifier with the message before transmitting the message to the first system.  
   
   
       18 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises receiving an attachment linked to the message, and wherein the attachment is selected from a group consisting of a text document, a sound file, a video file, an image file, a spreadsheet, an e-mail, a slide presentation, and a design file.  
   
   
       19 . A method comprising: 
 transmitting an electronic document having a unique identifier from a first system to a second system; and    receiving at the first system a message from the second system that relates to content contained in the electronic document, wherein the message includes a predetermined field containing the unique identifier that links the message to the electronic document.    
   
   
       20 . A system that is programmed to: 
 transmit an electronic document having a unique identifier from a first system to a second system; and    receive at the first system a message from the second system that relates to content contained in the electronic document, wherein the message includes a predetermined field containing the unique identifier that links the message to the electronic document.