Messaging protocol for processing messages with attachments

Abstract

A message that is to be processed according to an electronic messaging protocol is associated with a sender of the message. The message also includes an attachment from an attaching entity. The attachment is associated with a unique property of the attaching entity. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

1 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that program a computer to (a) insert into a first field and a second field of a message, that is to be processed according to an electronic messaging protocol, information that identifies a sender and a recipient of the message, respectively, (b) insert into the message an attachment pursuant to a request from an attaching entity, and (c) insert into a third field of the message, which is associated with the attachment, a unique property of the attaching entity, wherein in the message, the attachment is outside the first, second, and third fields.   
   
   
       2 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the electronic messaging protocol is an email protocol. 
   
   
       3 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  further comprising instructions stored in the medium that program a computer to send the message, including the attachment and the first, second and third fields, to a message transfer agent, the agent being a node within a plurality of networks interconnected with one or more routers. 
   
   
       4 . The article of manufacture of  claim 3  wherein the insert and send operations are to be performed by one of (a) a source user agent and (b) a client program of the sender. 
   
   
       5 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the message is a forwarded message that includes information that identifies one or more prior senders. 
   
   
       6 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the message includes (i) a further attachment from a prior sender and (ii) information that separately identifies the prior sender as a further attaching entity who had requested that the further attachment be inserted. 
   
   
       7 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that program a computer to process a message that has been delivered in accordance with a messaging protocol for networks interconnected with one or more routers, wherein the message includes (a) an attachment, (b) a first field that identifies a sender, (c) a second field that (i) identifies an entity who requested that the attachment be inserted and (ii) is associated with the attachment, and (d) a third field that identifies a recipient, wherein the message is to be processed so as to present information from the attachment and the first and second fields to the recipient.   
   
   
       8 . The article of manufacture of  claim 7  wherein the presented information is displayed in a graphical user interface window and comprises (i) a filename of the attachment, (ii) identification of the entity who had requested the attachment be inserted as obtained from the second field, and (iii) identification of the sender as obtained from the first field. 
   
   
       9 . The article of manufacture of  claim 8  wherein the instructions cause the identification of the entity, who had requested that the attachment be inserted, to be displayed as a mouse-over whenever a pointer in the window is positioned over the displayed filename of the attachment. 
   
   
       10 . The article of manufacture of  claim 8  wherein the instructions cause the identification of the entity, that had requested that the attachment be inserted, to disappear from the window when the displayed filename collapses back up. 
   
   
       11 . The article of manufacture of  claim 7  wherein the instructions cause the message to be further processed so as to present further information to the recipient from (i) a further attachment in the message that is from a prior sender, and (ii) a field in the message, separate from the further attachment, that identifies a further attaching entity who inserted the further attachment. 
   
   
       12 . The article of manufacture of  claim 7  wherein the instructions cause the message to be further processed so as to present further information to the recipient about a prior sender identified in the message. 
   
   
       13 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that program a computer to (a) process a message from a client program of a subscriber to a communications service, wherein the message is to be delivered according to a messaging protocol for a plurality of networks interconnected with one or more routers, and wherein the message is to include an attachment, a first field that identifies a sender as the subscriber, and a destination field that identifies a recipient of the message, and (b) add a second field to the message that (i) identifies an entity who requested that the attachment be inserted into the message and (ii) is associated with the attachment, wherein in the message, the attachment is outside the first, second, and destination fields.   
   
   
       14 . The article of manufacture of  claim 13  wherein the instructions are to program a server network to perform the processing and adding operations. 
   
   
       15 . The article of manufacture of  claim 13  wherein the communication service is an email service that provides email box storage for the subscriber. 
   
   
       16 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that program a computer to (a) receive information from a header portion of a message, the message includes the header portion and an attachment that was inserted pursuant to a request from an attaching entity, and wherein the received information identifies a sender of the message and, separately, identifies and associates the attaching entity with the attachment, and (b) present the received information to a recipient of the message.   
   
   
       17 . The article of manufacture of  claim 16  wherein the received information to be presented includes identification of the sender, date sent, subject, and an attachment file name, to be displayed on a screen, and wherein a unique property of the attaching entity, obtained from the received information, is to be displayed in response to the recipient selecting one of the attachment file name and an attachment symbol associated with the message. 
   
   
       18 . The article of manufacture of  claim 17  wherein the received information to be presented further includes message size. 
   
   
       19 . The article of manufacture of  claim 16  wherein the received information is to be presented to the recipient via a client email program. 
   
   
       20 . The article of manufacture of  claim 16  wherein the received information is to be presented to the recipient via a client Web browser interface to an email box service. 
   
   
       21 . A computer-implemented method for communicating, comprising:
 creating a message having a first field and a second field that contain information that identifies a sender and a recipient of the message, respectively, and an attachment added pursuant to a request from an attaching entity; and   inserting into a third field of the message, which is associated with the attachment, a unique property of the attaching entity, wherein in the message, the attachment is outside the first, second, and third fields.   
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the message is an email message that complies with a MIME protocol. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the unique property of the attaching entity is an email address. 
   
   
       24 . A computer-implemented method for communicating, comprising:
 receiving a message that has been delivered by an electronic messaging protocol for networks interconnected by routers, the message includes an attachment added by an attaching entity, a first header field that identifies a sender of the message, a second header field associated with the attachment and that identifies the attaching entity, and a third header field that identifies a recipient of the message; and   presenting information taken from the first and second header fields to the recipient.   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the second header field is an X-header field. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the receiving and presenting are performed by a computer running a client program that is inherently capable of interpreting the second header field of the message as referring to an attaching entity associated with the attachment. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the receiving and presenting are performed by a computer running a client program that further receives instructions, from a provider of messaging services who processed the message, for interpreting the second header field of the message as referring to an attaching entity associated with the attachment. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the presenting is performed via Web site content that is downloaded by the recipient. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28  wherein the recipient is a paying subscriber to a messaging service from a provider who processed the message. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the messaging service includes hosting storage of the message. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the message was forwarded. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein the message includes a further attachment, and a further header field that is associated with the further attachment and identifies a further attaching entity who added the further attachment. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 32  further comprising:
 presenting information taken from the message and the further header field to the recipient, that identifies a further sender and that includes a unique property of the further attaching entity.   
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein said presenting information taken from the message and the further header field comprises:
 displaying the unique property of the further attaching entity on a screen adjacent to an icon for the further attachment.   
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 24  wherein said presenting information taken from the first and header fields comprises:
 displaying on a screen and in a single line sender name, date sent, subject, and an attachment symbol.   
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising:
 displaying a unique property of the attaching entity obtained from the second header field, in response to the attachment symbol being selected.