摘要 |
An improvement to an electronic mail program is disclosed. In particular, the improved electronic mail program enables a user to mark individual action items within a message and set attributes for each action item. In the preferred embodiment, attributes include priority, deadline, abstract, and responsibility. The electronic mail program stores the action items and associated attributes in a database and sends the message to one or more recipients. The electronic mail program then displays the message and action items to the recipients. Message recipients then navigate through the list of action items to read descriptions and to determine the priority and nature of the actions necessary. The responsibility attribute further indicates which recipient should respond to the action item. The improved electronic mail program updates the status of each action item in the database as recipients respond. |