JP2000174973A - Internet facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately and easily inform a sender of data about result of facsimile transmission as to whether received data can normally be received or there is any error even without provision of a memory with a large capacity or a hard disk unit. SOLUTION: In the case that an attached file of electronic mail data received by a reception section 2 of an electronic mail communication section 1 can be expanded and an instruction of FAX transmission of the expanded data to other facsimile terminal is received, a FAX section 21 converts the electronic mail data into facsimile data and transmits the facsimile data. A transmission section 3 of the electronic mail communication section 1 transmits the result of transmission as par of a reply mail.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an Internet communication system capable of communicating by attaching image information to an electronic mail.
About facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers (PCs)
E-mails have been exchanged between each other via a local network (LAN) or the Internet. Usually, electronic mail is realized by connecting a LAN to a PC equipped with electronic mail software, or by dialing up to a contracted provider.

A facsimile-type electronic mail apparatus has been put into practical use as a simple electronic mail means without using a PC. This type of facsimile electronic mail device is called an Internet FAX. The Internet FAX is a facsimile equipped with a function capable of performing e-mail communication on the Internet, and mainly transmits image information read by a scanner to an e-mail in an attached file format.

[0004]

By the way, it is conceivable that the attached file of the image information attached to the received electronic mail cannot be expanded depending on the function mounted on the Internet FAX. If you can't extract the attachment,
Since the image information could not be correctly received, there is a demand for sending an error notification back to the sender.

On a machine such as a PC having a sufficient storage capacity, all image information is temporarily stored in a P
Since the image information is loaded into C, the image information that cannot be expanded can be reattached to the e-mail and sent back to the sender.

However, in Internet FAX, there is a limit on the memory capacity for buffering the received mail. Therefore, only the capacity of the buffer memory is fetched from the mail server, and the data is developed and printed in page units. When a large amount of image information is attached, it is difficult to store all the image information in the Internet FAX. If such an attached file of image information cannot be expanded, the image information that could not be expanded cannot be reattached to an e-mail and sent back to the sender.

[0007] Further, since a normal facsimile communicates in accordance with a facsimile transmission procedure, it can be confirmed that the transmission has been successfully performed by the transmitting facsimile. However, when image information is transmitted in an e-mail format using the Internet FAX, it is impossible to confirm delivery according to a facsimile transmission procedure.

As described above, the conventional Internet FAX
Could not notify the sender that the attached file attached to the received e-mail could not be opened or that the data was received correctly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even when a large-capacity memory or a hard disk is not provided, data having an error with respect to a transmission source or data which can be normally received is transmitted. An object of the present invention is to provide an Internet facsimile that can provide accurate and simple notification.

[0010]

The present invention has taken the following measures in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

The Internet according to claim 1 of the present invention.
The facsimile is a receiving means for receiving the received e-mail, a transmitting means for converting the received e-mail into facsimile data and transmitting the facsimile, an attached file of the received mail can be expanded, and the expanded data can be transmitted to another facsimile. And a notifying unit for notifying the result of the facsimile transmission by including the result of the facsimile transmission in a reply mail when the facsimile transmission instruction is given.

With this configuration, the sender who has received the reply mail can know the result of the facsimile transmission instructed to the Internet facsimile.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows functional blocks of the Internet fax according to the present embodiment. This Internet fax executes transmission and reception of an e-mail via the e-mail communication unit 1. The e-mail communication unit 1 includes a reception unit 2 that executes processing related to reception of e-mail, and a transmission unit 3 that executes processing related to transmission of e-mail. The e-mail data received via the receiving unit 2 is buffered in the memory unit 4. The header / IFD analysis unit 5 analyzes the header information and the IFD information of the received e-mail data stored in the memory unit 4. Header / I
The FD analysis unit 5 provides notification type data of various notifications (including an error notification and a delivery confirmation notification) according to the analysis result to the message ID / text extraction unit 6 or the reply message creation unit 7. The message ID / text extracting unit 6 extracts a message ID and / or a mail head text from the received electronic mail data according to the notification type. The reply sentence creation unit 7 creates various messages such as an error notification and a delivery confirmation notification using the message ID and / or the head text. The fixed phrase of the message notified to the transmission source is fixed phrase memory 8
Is stored in

The output destination determining unit 9 determines the output destination of the received electronic mail from the mail address of the received electronic mail data stored in the memory unit 4. The final destination is another G3F
If it is AX, the developed image information and FA
The data is transferred to the X section 21, and is input to the printer 22 if the user is himself.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of hardware constituting an Internet facsimile according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, this Internet Fax
CPU 20 for managing the operation of the entire apparatus, F for executing FAX transmission and reception according to a normal facsimile procedure
An AX unit 21, a printer unit 22, a scanner unit 23 that scans an original to take in image information of the original, a LAN interface unit 24 for connecting to the Internet, and a ROM 25 storing a program for operating as a normal facsimile. Is provided. Further, a RAM having a program area 26 storing a program for operating as an Internet fax, a work area 27, a data area 28, and the like is provided. CPU 20
1 executes the programs stored in the program area 26 to execute the functions shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a network system including an Internet facsimile according to the present embodiment. IFAX1 and IFAX2 are Internet faxes of the present embodiment, and PC1 and PC2 are personal computers having an e-mail function. Data created or read by each terminal is transmitted to the target terminal via the mail server. The method by which the IFAX receives mail is the POP method. Therefore, IFAX
Even mail that cannot be handled is stored in the mail server, and if an error is returned to the sender, IFAX will return the mail.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

In Internet facsimile, image information captured by the scanner unit 23 is converted into a file in a TIFF-F file format and attached to an electronic mail. Set the e-mail address of the destination Internet fax or PC. G3FA
When forwarding to X, the following e-mail address is set.

Passwd # 1234556 @ ifa
x. mgcs. co. jp “passwd” instructs transmission to the G3 FAX, and the number between # and ＠ indicates the FAX number of the transfer destination. By giving a password = passwd only to a user who is authorized to use the Internet fax as a repeater, unauthorized use by another person can be prevented. The e-mail is sent via the Internet to a mail server in which a mailbox of a destination terminal (Internet fax or PC) is set.

FIG. 5 shows the format of a TIFF-F file, which is a file format for attaching image information to an electronic mail. The TIFF-F file has a header at the top, and then an IFD (Image File Directory) and data appear in pairs in pairs. As shown in FIG. 6, the header stores the type of the data registered by the CPU and the offset to the head IFD. The method of expressing words differs depending on the type of CPU. The IFD includes the width of the paper, the number of vertical lines, the compression method, and the bit (MSB or LS) placed to the left of the data.
B), data offset, data byte number, and the like.

In particular, since Internet fax cannot be negotiated, communication is performed with minimum functions so that communication can be performed reliably. What defines this minimum function is the minimum set. In the minimum set, CPU is Intel system, paper width is 1
728, the data arrangement is LSB, and the compression method is MH.

The operation of the Internet facsimile when receiving a mail will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the Internet fax periodically checks the mail server to check whether a new electronic mail has been received.
When a new received mail is detected, the received e-mail data from the mail server is put into the data area 28 to the limit. Since the data area 28 has a capacity of 1 MB,
If the body of the electronic mail and the TIFF-F file are attached, data including the header of the TIFF-F file and the IFD of the first page is stored in the data area 28.

The header / IFD analysis unit 5 converts the mail data stored in the data area of the memory unit 4 into a TIFF-
It is determined whether there is an F file (S1). TIFF-
If there is no F-file, it is determined whether a text is included at the beginning of the e-mail (S2). Header / I
If there is no text, the FD analysis unit 5
Notify the message ID / text extraction unit 6 of the type of error notification corresponding to the case where there is no F file and no text.

The message ID / text extracting unit 6 extracts information for specifying the received electronic mail from the memory unit 4 according to the type of the error notification. In this case, TIFF-F
Since this is an error notification when there is no file and there is no text, the source “message ID” is extracted from the memory unit 4. The extracted “message ID” is sent to the reply message creation unit 7
Passed to

The reply sentence creating unit 7 extracts from the fixed sentence memory 8 the fixed sentence data of the error message corresponding to the error notification type input from the header / IFD analyzing unit 5. The message ID is included in the reply text of this error message
/ Creates reply mail data to which the "message ID" given from the text extraction unit 6 is added (S3). The reply sentence has a message content meaning "data contained in this mail cannot be handled by IFAX". This e-mail is transmitted to the source address described in the header of the received e-mail (S16).

By receiving the e-mail for error notification at the transmission source, a message meaning "data included in this e-mail cannot be handled by IFAX" and a "message ID" of the e-mail Will be presented. In this case, it is highly probable that the sender is a PC, so the “messageI
"D" is stored. Therefore, "message ID"
If it is known, the outgoing mail can be specified.

In step S2, the header / IF
If the D analysis unit 5 recognizes that there is a text at the beginning of the received e-mail, the type of the error notification corresponding to the absence of the TIFF-F file and the presence of the text is determined by the message ID / text extraction unit 6 and the reply text. Notify the creation unit 7. Upon receiving the error notification type, the message ID / text extraction unit 6 sends the “message I
In addition to "D", the leading text of the received electronic mail is extracted and passed to the reply sentence creating unit 7.

The reply sentence creation unit 7 reads from the fixed phrase memory 8 that "data contained in this mail cannot be handled by IFAX"
Then, reply message data is created by adding the "message ID" given by the message ID / text extraction unit 6 and the text to the error message (S4). The reply message is transmitted to the sender by e-mail (S16).

Upon receiving the error notification e-mail, the transmission source receives a message indicating that "the data contained in this e-mail cannot be handled by IFAX".
The “message ID” of the mail and the leading text will be presented. By providing the first text in the reply message, the transmission data can be specified more easily.

On the other hand, if the header / IFD analysis unit 5 determines that the received e-mail contains a TIFF-F file in the above step S1, the TIFF-F file 1
The IFD of the page is checked to determine whether or not the set is the minimum set (S5). If data other than the minimum set is received, an error notification needs to be issued.

If the header / IFD analysis unit 5 determines that the page is not the minimum set, it determines whether one page is 1 MB or less (S12). In this case, it is checked whether or not one page is included in the data area 28 from the offset set in the IFD and the number of data bytes. "1MB or less" if one page of data is full
Can be determined. In this case, the header / IFD analysis unit 5 adds the first page stored in the data area 28 to the reply mail and returns the error notification type data to be returned as the message ID.
/ Text extraction unit 6 and reply sentence creation unit 7. The message ID / text extracting unit 6 extracts the first page stored in the data area 28 from the received e-mail data, and supplies the extracted first page to the reply sentence creating unit 7.
The reply sentence creation unit 7 takes out a message meaning "data contained in this mail cannot be handled by IFAX" from the fixed sentence memory 8 and creates a reply mail, and also displays the first page of the received mail as the body of the reply mail. To be synthesized. If the entire first page cannot be accommodated, a part is combined. This reply mail is transmitted from the transmission unit 3 to the sender (S16). As a result, the sender user who has received the reply mail will receive the message "The data contained in this mail cannot be handled by IFAX" and the first page of the file attached to the e-mail that he sent. Because it is displayed, you can easily identify the mail that you sent.

If it is determined in step S5 that the set is the minimum set of the TIFF-F file, it is determined whether one page is equal to or less than 1 MB as in step S12 (S6). If it is determined that it is not 1 MB or less, error type data corresponding to this case is notified to the message ID / text extraction unit 6 and the reply message creation unit 7, and "Message ID" is added to the error fixed phrase.

The file attached to the e-mail is TIFF-F
A minimum set of files and one page is one
If it is equal to or less than MB, the output destination determination unit 9 determines the output destination (S7). The output destination judging unit 9 calculates the G from the character string written to the left of @ in the mail address (destination).
The presence or absence of a transmission instruction to the 3FAX is recognized. For example, passwd # 1234556 @ ifax. mgcs.
co. jp, “passwd” instructs transmission to the G3 FAX, and recognizes that the number between # and 示 す indicates the FAX number of the transfer destination. If "passwd" does not exist, printing is performed by the printer unit 22.

Here, how to use the memory area of the memory unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, only the received e-mail data is put in the 1 MB data area 28. Steps S6 and S12 above
When it is determined that one page is 1 MB or less, the data of the first page stored in the data area 28 is copied to the first one-page area secured in the work area 27. After copying, the data is printed and the remaining data is read from the mail server.

If all of the images have been printed normally, the header /
Message ID / text extraction unit 6 from IFD analysis unit 5
Then, an instruction of reception OK is given to the reply message creation unit 7. The header / IFD analysis unit 5 receives the instruction of OK, extracts the data of the first page, and supplies it to the reply message creation unit 7. The reply sentence creating unit 7 reads out the message corresponding to the instruction of the reception OK from the fixed sentence memory 8 to create a reply sentence, and combines the text of the e-mail with the first page given from the header / IFD analysis unit 5. To one page (S11). This reply mail is transmitted from the transmission unit to the transmission source as a delivery confirmation notice (S16). As a result, the sender who has received the reply mail can confirm that the image information sent by himself / herself has been correctly received from the message indicating the normal reception and the top page.

If the transfer to the G3 FAX has been instructed in step S7, "passwd" is checked to determine whether or not the password matches the password of the transmission source (S3).
8). If the password does not match the source password, error notification type data corresponding to this case is provided to the message ID / text extraction unit 6 and the reply message creation unit 7. Upon receiving this notification, the reply message creation unit 7 creates a G3 FAX
The message data to the effect that transfer to NG is unacceptable is taken out from the fixed phrase memory 8 to create a reply mail. Then, the reply sentence creating unit 7 combines the first page extracted by the message ID / text extractor 6 with the body of the reply mail (S1).
0). This reply mail is transmitted to the sender (S16).
Thus, the sender can confirm that the transfer to the G3 FAX was NG by receiving the reply mail.

If the password matches the sender's password in step S8, the output destination determining unit 9 outputs a G3 FAX output OK notification to the reply message creating unit 7, while checking the mail address #. The telephone number and the first page set between <1> and <2> are passed to the FAX unit 21. FAX
The unit 21 transmits image information in page units after dialing up to the designated telephone number and establishing a line. When it is confirmed that all pages have been transmitted correctly, the FAX unit 21 notifies the reply sentence creating unit 7 of that fact.

Upon receiving the notification from the FAX section 21 that the transmission of all pages has been completed normally, the reply message creation section 7 receives a message indicating that the transmission from the fixed form memory 8 to the G3 FAX was OK. Then, a reply mail is created, a first page is fetched from the memory unit 4 via the message ID / text extractor 6, and added to the reply mail (S9). The reply mail is transmitted from the transmission unit 3 to the sender (S16). Thus, the sender can confirm that the transfer to the G3 FAX was OK by receiving the reply mail.

The above steps S3, S4, S9, S1
When the processing of the error notification or the delivery confirmation notification is completed in 0, S11, and S14, the corresponding mail is deleted from the mail server (S15).

In the above description, the error notification is transmitted to the transmission source by the reply mail. However, depending on the setting of the Internet fax, the error notification can be sent to the administrator without returning the error notification to the transmission source.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart in the case of returning an error notification to the administrator terminal. As shown in the figure, when data is received, the setting is checked, and it is determined whether or not the setting is to return a result to the sender when data that cannot be handled by IFAX is received. If the result is set to return to the sender, the process according to FIG. 4 is executed.

On the other hand, if the result is not set to return the result to the sender, the reply sentence creating unit 7 creates a message saying that “it cannot be handled by IFAX”. Include the account and sender's email address where the received email that could not be expanded into this email is stored. This e-mail is transmitted from the transmission unit 3 to the administrator terminal.

At the administrator terminal receiving the mail, the administrator takes out the account contained in the received mail, processes the account if it can be processed by the administrator terminal, and if not, processes the account contained in the received mail. Notify the user address to that effect. As a result, an error notification is sent to the transmission source.

[0045]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an Internet facsimile capable of accurately and easily notifying a transmission source of erroneous data or normally received data. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the Internet according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Function block diagram of facsimile

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of hardware of the Internet facsimile of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a network system including the Internet facsimile according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation content of the Internet facsimile of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a TIFF-F file.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of an IDF and a header.

FIG. 7 is an area configuration diagram of a memory unit;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a modification of the operation of the Internet facsimile according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 E-mail communication part 2 Reception part 3 Transmission part 4 Memory part 5 Header / IFD analysis part 6 Message ID / text extraction part 7 Reply sentence creation part 8 Fixed form memory 9 Output destination judgment part 20 CPU 21 FAX part 22 Printer part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving a received e-mail, a transmitting means for converting the received e-mail into facsimile data and facsimile transmitting the file, expanding an attached file of the received mail, and converting the expanded data into another file. An Internet facsimile comprising: a notifying unit that, when instructed to perform facsimile transmission to a facsimile, notifies the result of the facsimile transmission by including the result in a reply mail. 2. The reply mail contains one of the transmitted data.
2. The Internet facsimile according to claim 1, wherein a page is added.