Customizing email subjects for subscription generated email messages

Abstract

A solution for permitting users to customize subject headings of email subscriptions is disclosed. The customizations can be applied on a per subscription basis and/or on a per sender basis. Further, the customizations can be performed by a software program that changes an original email heading established by a subscription providing source. Specifically, the solution recognizes that most, if not all, subscription emails are automatically generated in consistent fashion and inherently have a repeating structure. The disclosed solution permits a user to identity portions of these repeating structures, which are to be used to generate replacement subject headings designed to be meaningful to the user. The solution can optionally maintain the original subject heading, which can be used in many situations, such as for use when replying or forwarding an email.

1 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:
 computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to receive an email message automatically generated as part of an email subscription, said email message having an original subject heading;   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to query transformation data store to determine a conversion template associated with the email subscription;   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to establish a plurality of different conversion templates within the transformation data store, each of the plurality of conversion templates being associated with a specific email subscription; and   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to construct a replacement subject heading based upon construction rules specified by the determined conversion template, wherein the replacement subject heading comprises textual content extracted from at least one of a body and the original subject heading of the received email message, wherein a subject heading that is to appear within an email application that presents the received email message to a user is the constructed replacement subject heading.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the conversion template identifies a repeating structure of messages generated as part of the email subscription, wherein the textual content extracted is associated with the identified repeating structure. 
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to provide a template creation interface for a user to select the identified repeating structure; and   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to automatically generate the conversion template from user selections made using the template creation interface.   
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of conversion templates is further associated with a specific subscriber email address. 
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to maintain the original subject heading after replacing the subject heading; and   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to include an option for the email application to use the original subject heading as a basis for creating a subject heading that is automatically generated when forwarding or replying to the received email message.   
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 5 , wherein when the option is active, a subject heading used when forwarding the received email message is an indicator for forwarding followed by the original subject heading, and wherein when the option is active, a subject heading when replying to the received email message is an indicator for replying followed by the original subject heading. 
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code is stored on at least one storage medium of a client computing device, said client computing device comprises said computing equipment, wherein the email application executes upon the client computing device. 
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code is stored on at least one storage medium of a server, said server comprises said computing equipment, wherein the server is an email server that serves the email message. 
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code is stored on at least one storage medium of a middleware server, said middleware server comprises said computing equipment, wherein the middleware server is remotely located from an email server that serves the email message and is remotely located from a client computing device upon which the email application executes. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer usable program code is code of a Web service, wherein the computer usable program code is stored on at least one storage medium accessible by a machine that executes instances of the Web service, said machine comprises said computing equipment. 
     
     
         11 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:
 computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to identify a repeating structure included within at least one of a subject heading and a body of an automatically generated email message;   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to create a set of rules based upon user established criteria to generate a subject heading based at least in part upon content contained within at least one of the repeating structures;   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to receive an email message having an original subject;   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to determine that the set of rules apply to the email message;   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to generate a replacement subject heading using the set of rules; and   computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, wherein said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to replace the original subject heading of the email message with the replacement subject heading, wherein the email message is automatically generated as part of a subscription, wherein the set of rules apply on a per-subscription basis.   
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the set of rules apply on a per sender basis. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the receiving, determining, generating, and replacing occur after an email message has been generated by a content source for conveyance to a recipient and before the recipient is presented with the email message within an email interface. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 computer usable program code stored in at least one storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executable by computing equipment to provide a rule establishment interface configured to permit a user to graphically select a portion of a received email message, wherein the graphically selected portion is used to identity a repeating structure for the set of rules of the creating step.   
     
     
         15 . Computing equipment for customizing the subject heading of subscription email comprising:
 hardware and software stored on the hardware, wherein the software is executable by the hardware that enables the hardware to:
 receive an email message automatically generated as part of an email subscription, said email message having an original subject heading; 
 query a transformation data store to determine a conversion template associated with the email subscription; 
 establish a plurality of different conversion templates within the transformation data store, each of the plurality of conversion templates being associated with a specific email subscription; and 
 construct a replacement subject heading based upon construction rules specified by the determined conversion template, wherein the replacement subject heading comprises textual content extracted from at least one of a body and the original subject heading of the received email message, wherein a subject heading that is to appear within an email application that presents the received email message to a user is the constructed replacement subject heading. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computing equipment of  claim 15 , wherein the conversion template identifies a repeating structure of messages generated as part of the email subscription, wherein the textual content extracted is associated with the identified repeating structure. 
     
     
         17 . The computing equipment of  claim 16 , wherein the software is executable by the hardware that enables the hardware to:
 provide a template creation interface for a user to select the identified repeating structure; and   automatically generate the conversion template from user selections made using the template creation interface.   
     
     
         18 . The computing equipment of  claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of conversion templates is further associated with a specific subscriber email address. 
     
     
         19 . The computing equipment of  claim 15 , wherein the software is executable by the hardware that enables the hardware to:
 maintain the original subject heading after the replacing step; and   include an option for the email application to use the original subject heading as a basis for creating a subject heading that is automatically generated when forwarding or replying to the received email message.   
     
     
         20 . The computing equipment of  claim 19 , wherein when the option is active, a subject heading used when forwarding the received email message is an indicator for forwarding followed by the original subject heading, and wherein when the option is active, a subject heading when replying to the received email message is an indicator for replying followed by the original subject heading.