Calendar event, notification and alert bar embedded within mail

摘要

A compact functionally rich timeline bar is embedded within an e-mail application window so that time-related information, such as calendar events, can be viewed and managed from within the e-mail window. The timeline bar consumes a small area of the e-mail window while presenting an optimal amount of information without interfering with the primary tasks regarding the e-mail application. The timeline bar displays as much of a string of calendar events as will fit in the timeline bar, and presents mechanisms with which a user can scroll forward and backward through the string of calendar events and can jump to particular dates within the string of events. Various presentations and operations are provided when a user hovers over corresponding features of the timeline bar, and various “drag-and-drop” operations are provided to initiate calendar event scheduling when a user drags-and-drops entities from other applications onto a feature of the timeline bar.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
during a user session with an electronic-mail application that displays (a) a message list that lists a plurality of electronic mails and (b) calendar event information stored in association with a calendar application, detecting that a user has highlighted a first electronic-mail in said message list by selecting a first list item shown in said message list; parsing said first electronic-mail and determining that said first electronic-mail contains calendar event information; and in response to determining that said first electronic-mail contains calendar event information, and in response to said user highlighting said first electronic-mail in said message list by selecting said first list item shown in said message list, causing an “add event” control of said electronic-mail application to be visually displayed in a first manner; wherein causing the visual appearance of said “add event” control to change is performed without automatically creating a new event in said calendar application; during the user session with the electronic-mail application, detecting that the user has highlighted a second electronic-mail in the message list by selecting a second list item shown in said message list; parsing said second electronic-mail and determining that said second electronic-mail does not contain calendar event information; and in response to determining that said second electronic-mail does not contain calendar event information, and in response to said user highlighting said second electronic-mail in said message list, causing the “add event” control of the electronic-mail application to be visually displayed in a second manner that is different from the first manner; wherein the electronic-mail application concurrently displays the message list, at least a portion of a timeline bar, and within said timeline bar, the calendar event information stored in association with said calendar application, and further comprising: detecting that said user has performed a drag-and-drop action that drags said first electronic-mail from said message list onto said portion of said timeline bar; in response to detecting that the user has performed a drag-and-drop action that drags the electronic-mail from said message list onto said portion of said timeline bar, performing the steps of:
parsing said electronic-mail; andautomatically creating a new calendar event based on information parsed from said electronic-mail, wherein
detecting that said user has performed said drag-and-drop action,parsing said first electronic-mail, andautomatically creating said new calendar event are performed by one or more computing devices.