Managing the transfer of e-mail attachments to rendering devices other than an original e-mail recipient

Abstract

A server machine transfers a version of an e-mail for presentation by a client machine. The version includes a user-understandable descriptor of an attachment to the e-mail but does not include the attachment. The server receives a request from the client to transfer the attachment for rendering. In response, the server obtains an output version of the attachment and transfers the output version to a rendering device, causing the rendering device to produce a rendered version of the attachment. The client machine can have a display, and the user-understandable descriptor can be visible on the display. The descriptor can be a selectable item; in response to selection of the descriptor, the server can transfer options to the client, including options that involve rendering an attachment. For an image attachment, the rendering options can include printing, sending to a copy shop, and sending to a fax machine. For a text attachment, the rendering options can include, in addition to the options for an image attachment, converting to audio. For an audio attachment, the rendering options can include listening to the attachment. If the client includes a rendering device and the server determines that the attachment can be rendered by the client's rendering device, the server can transfer an option describing transfer to the client's rendering device; for example, the client could be a wireless telephone that can render audio attachments.