JP2004334532A - Email editor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an email editor excellent in operability, particularly an email editor that makes it easy to create return mail. <P>SOLUTION: A display process part 27 displays a text editing screen 32 for displaying an edited mail 24 and a mail reference screen 33 for displaying a reference mail 25 as a reference at the same time. A cursor control part 20 moves a cursor between the screens 32, 33 to switch and select the screen to be operated by the user. A reference process part 23 copies an object in the reference mail 25 into a temporary storage part 22 and an editing process part 21 can paste the object onto the edited mail. A cursor control means 20 switches the subject to be operated by the user to the text editing screen 33 as the user designates the object on the mail reference screen 32. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic mail editing apparatus, and more particularly, to an improvement of an electronic device having an electronic mail editing function, for example, a mobile phone having an electronic mail transmitting / receiving function.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIGS. 12A to 12D are diagrams showing an example of a screen display displayed when an electronic mail is edited in a conventional mobile phone. In the figure, (a) is a menu screen for creating a new mail, (b) is a destination editing screen for editing a destination, (c) is a title editing screen for editing a title, and (d) is a text. 9 is a text editing screen for editing a text.
[0003]
Generally, an e-mail is composed of a plurality of data items such as a destination, a title, a body, and an attached file. In a mobile phone having a display screen narrower than that of a general-purpose computer, when editing each of these data items, an individual editing screen is displayed for each data item to be edited. Each of the destination edit screen, title edit screen, and text edit screen shown in (b) to (d) corresponds to an individual edit screen.
[0004]
A user who intends to create a new mail switches between these individual edit screens and edits each data item individually. The switching display of the individual editing screen is performed via the menu screen of (a).
[0005]
Each editable data item is displayed on the menu screen, and one of these data items is focused. The user can move the focus by key operation to specify a desired data item, and if the user presses the select key after specifying the data item, an individual editing screen for editing the specified data item is displayed. For example, if the selection key is pressed while the “destination” is focused, the destination editing screen of (b) is displayed.
[0006]
When the user wants to switch to another individual display screen while displaying a certain individual editing screen, he operates the enter key to display the menu screen. Thereafter, a desired individual display screen is displayed by the same procedure as described above. When creating a new mail, it is necessary to enter at least a destination and a text. When the necessary data items have been edited in this way, the user can select "Send" from the submenu key to send the mail, or select "Save" to save the mail. it can.
[0007]
FIGS. 13A to 13E are diagrams sequentially showing display screens when a reply mail is created in a conventional mobile phone. In the figure, (a) is a list display screen that displays a list of received mails in the inbox, (b) is a mail browsing screen that displays the text of the received mail, (c) is a submenu display on the mail browsing screen, (D) is a menu screen for creating a reply mail, and (e) is a text editing screen.
[0008]
The received e-mail is stored in the inbox and displayed on the list display screen of (a). One of the displayed received mails is focused, and the user moves the focus and presses the select key to display the desired received mail on the mail browsing screen of (b). it can.
[0009]
When the user presses the submenu key while the mail browsing screen is displayed, the submenu shown in (c) is displayed. If the user selects “reply” or “quote reply” from the submenu, editing of the outgoing mail can be started as a reply mail to the displayed received mail.
[0010]
When "quote reply" is selected from the submenu, the menu screen of (d) is displayed. This menu screen is the same as the menu screen when creating a new mail. However, the difference is that data is automatically input to each data item based on the received mail. For example, the sender of the received mail is input as the destination, the title of the received mail with “Re:” added thereto is input as the title, and the text of the received mail is inserted as a quote in the text. When "Reply" is selected, the only difference is that no quote is inserted in the text. For this reason, in this specification, unless otherwise specified, a reply includes a quote reply.
[0011]
When replying to a received mail, it is considered that only the text is edited and sent in many cases. In this case, after displaying the menu screen of (d), the user focuses on “body”, displays the body editing screen of (e), edits the body, and transmits the mail. Will do.
[0012]
FIG. 14 is a state transition diagram showing an operation procedure at the time of mail editing in a conventional mobile phone. In the figure, S1 indicates a state in which a mail browsing screen is displayed, S2 indicates a menu screen for creating a mail, S3 indicates a destination editing screen, S4 indicates a title editing screen, and S5 indicates a state in which a text editing screen is displayed. .
[0013]
When creating a new mail, first, a menu screen is displayed (state S2), and the menu screen is transited to a display state of an individual editing screen (S3 to S5). The transition between the individual edit screens is performed via the menu screen. On the other hand, the state of browsing the received mail is S1, and when creating a reply mail, first, the display transits to the display state S2 of the menu screen. The subsequent state transition is exactly the same as when a new mail is created.
[0014]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-351789
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2003-125041 A
[0015]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Generally, when creating a reply mail to a received mail, the destination and the title can be automatically generated. The address and title generated in this way usually do not need to be changed, whereas the text must be edited regardless of whether or not it is quoted. For this reason, in practical use, it is considered that in most cases only the text is edited and transmitted.
[0016]
However, in a conventional mobile phone, when the user instructs creation of a reply mail while browsing a received mail, a menu screen exactly the same as when a new mail is created is displayed. For this reason, the user cannot start editing the text without moving the focus to the text and pressing the selection key every time. In other words, data items with extremely high frequency of use and data items with extremely low frequency of use are displayed on the menu at the same time, and the user must perform the operation of selecting the same data item every time, which is troublesome. there were.
[0017]
In addition, it is often convenient if a reply mail can be created while referring to the original received mail. In such a case, selecting the quote reply is convenient because the text of the received mail is quoted in the text of the sent mail. However, if the number of characters in the mail body is limited, unnecessary quotes must be deleted. Further, there is a case where the user wants to refer to the quoted text again after editing or deleting a part or all of the quoted text.
[0018]
In such a conventional mobile phone, in such a case, there is no other method than saving the outgoing mail being edited, terminating the mail editing, and viewing the original received mail on the mail viewing screen. Moreover, after browsing, it is necessary to terminate the mail browsing screen, display the menu screen again for the stored outgoing mail, focus on the text, select the text, and display the original text editing screen. In other words, the conventional mobile phone has a problem that an extremely complicated operation must be performed to view the received mail while editing the transmitted mail.
[0019]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an e-mail editing device with excellent operability. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail editing device that can easily create a reply mail. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an e-mail editing device capable of easily referring to a received e-mail. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an electronic mail editing device capable of easily referring to a received mail related to a transmitted mail.
[0020]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An e-mail editing device according to the present invention includes a display processing unit that simultaneously displays an e-mail editing screen for displaying an edited e-mail and an e-mail reference screen for displaying a reference e-mail; and moving a cursor between the e-mail editing screen and the e-mail reference screen. Operation screen control means for switching and selecting an operation target screen, reference processing means for copying an object in a reference mail specified by a user's operation input to a temporary storage means when a mail reference screen is selected, and mail editing And editing processing means for pasting the object in the temporary storage means into the editing mail in response to a user's operation input when selecting a screen. The operation screen control means can switch the operation target of the user to the mail editing screen based on the user's object specifying operation on the mail reference screen.
[0021]
With such a configuration, the edited mail is displayed on the mail editing screen so as to be editable, the reference mail is displayed on the mail reference screen so that the mail can be referred to, the cursor is moved between these screens, and the object is displayed between the screens. Copy and paste processing can be performed. At this time, the operation target of the user is automatically switched to the mail editing screen based on the designation operation of the object on the mail reference screen. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to perform an operation input for moving the cursor between the screens after the designation of the object, so that the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced and operability can be improved.
[0022]
Further, the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that the editing processing means pastes the object in the temporary storage means into the edited mail based on the user's object designation operation on the mail reference screen. With such a configuration, the user does not need to perform an operation input for instructing paste processing after moving the cursor to the mail editing screen by designating an object, thereby reducing the number of operation inputs by the user and improving operability. Can be improved.
[0023]
Further, in the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present invention, the editing processing means does not perform paste when the user's operation target is switched to the mail editing screen without specifying an object when the mail reference screen is selected. . With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent unintended objects from being pasted from the temporary storage unit to the mail editing screen when the designation of the object is interrupted and the cursor is moved to the mail editing screen.
[0024]
Also, the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that the editing processing means pastes the object of the temporary storage means at a cursor position on the mail editing screen before switching to the mail reference screen. With such a configuration, if the cursor is moved to the mail reference screen with the cursor previously moved to the desired position on the mail editing screen, the object of the temporary storage unit can be pasted at the desired position. .
[0025]
Further, in the electronic mail editing device according to the present invention, the reference processing means copies a character string in which the user moves the cursor on the mail reference screen and specifies the start point and the end point in order to the temporary storage means. Further, the operation screen control means switches the user's operation target to the mail editing screen based on the user's operation of specifying the end point. With such a configuration, the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced, and an arbitrary character string in the reference mail can be referred to and inserted into the edited mail.
[0026]
In the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present invention, the edit processing means pastes the character string in the temporary storage means into the edit mail based on a user's operation of specifying an end point on the mail reference screen. With such a configuration, the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced, and an arbitrary character string in the reference mail can be referred to and inserted into the edited mail.
[0027]
In the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present invention, the mail reference screen displays a received mail as a reference mail, and the mail edit screen displays a reply mail to the received mail as an edited mail. With such a configuration, it is possible to easily create and edit the reply mail.
[0028]
In addition, the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present invention moves two or more item editing screens for individually editing each data item in a transmission mail including two or more data items including at least a text, and moves between these item editing screens. In the portable mail editing device that switches between the displayed menu screen and the displayed menu screen, the body of the outgoing mail is edited without displaying the menu screen based on the user's operation input for creating the reply mail Display the individual edit screen of. With such a configuration, when creating a reply mail, the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced, and operability can be improved.
[0029]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electronic mail editing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A mobile phone is shown as an example of a portable electronic device capable of editing and transmitting and receiving electronic mail. I have. In the figure, 10 is a wireless unit for transmitting and receiving wireless signals, 11 is a key input unit for performing key operations by a user, 12 is a processor for executing an e-mail editing process, 13 is a liquid crystal display unit for displaying a screen, 14 is A memory 15 stores the e-mail, and a memory 15 stores the telephone directory data.
[0030]
The mail data in the memory 14 is stored in a number of folders. Here, a case will be described in which there are two folders: a receiving tray 16 for storing received mail and a sending tray 17 for storing transmitted mail.
[0031]
The wireless unit 10 sends and receives e-mails based on instructions from the processor 12. The e-mail received by the wireless unit 10 is stored in the inbox 16 by the processor 12 as a received e-mail. When the user performs a key operation for editing an e-mail, the processor 12 displays a screen for editing the e-mail on the liquid crystal display unit 13 based on an output signal from the key input unit 11, and Editing is being performed. The edited e-mail is stored in the transmission tray 17 by the processor 12 or transmitted wirelessly by the radio unit 10.
[0032]
FIGS. 2A to 2E are diagrams showing an operation procedure when creating a reply mail in the electronic mail editing device of FIG. In the figure, (a) is a list display screen displaying a list of received mails in the inbox 16, (b) is a mail browsing screen displaying the text of the received mail, and (c) is a submenu display on the mail browsing screen. (D) is a body edit screen for creating the body of the reply mail, and (e) is a menu screen for selecting a data item to be edited.
[0033]
2A to 2C are the same as those in FIG. 13 (prior art). That is, the received mail list is displayed on the mail list screen of (a), and if the user selects any received mail, the text of the selected received mail is displayed on the mail browsing screen of (b). In this state, if the user presses the submenu key, the submenu (c) is displayed.
[0034]
When "reply" or "quote reply" is selected from the submenu of FIG. 2C, the text editing screen of FIG. 2D is displayed. At this time, since the menu screen is displayed on the conventional mobile phone as shown in FIG. 13D, the user further edits the text of the outgoing mail by pressing the “text” on the menu screen. Had to choose. However, in the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present embodiment, when creating a reply mail, the text editing screen is displayed first without displaying the menu screen. Although the screen display in FIG. 2D is different from that in FIG. 13E, this point will be described in detail in the second embodiment.
[0035]
The subsequent operation procedure is exactly the same as that of the conventional mobile phone. That is, when the user wants to switch to another individual display screen such as a destination editing screen or a title editing screen, the user once displays the menu screen of FIG. 2E and selects a data item for which the individual editing screen is to be displayed. Just fine. Also, if you want to send outgoing mail without editing other data items or save it, select "Send" or "Save" from the submenu key to send the mail, or , Can be saved.
[0036]
FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram showing an operation procedure at the time of mail editing in the electronic mail editing device of FIG. In the figure, S1 indicates a state in which a mail browsing screen is displayed, S2 indicates a menu screen for creating a mail, S3 indicates a destination editing screen, S4 indicates a title editing screen, and S5 indicates a state in which a text editing screen is displayed. .
[0037]
Compared to the case of FIG. 14 (prior art), the arrow that has exited from state S1 is not state S2 but enters state S5, and the other points are exactly the same. That is, when the user instructs a reply in the display state S1 of the mail browsing screen, the display transits to the display state S5 of the text editing screen. After that, it is possible to freely transition between the display states S3 to S5 of each individual editing screen via the display state S2 of the menu screen.
[0038]
When the user instructs creation of a reply mail, the electronic mail editing apparatus according to the present embodiment directly displays the text editing screen, which is one of the individual editing screens, without displaying the menu screen. Thus, the user can start editing the text without selecting the text from the menu screen. In this way, by displaying the most frequently used text editing screen first when creating a reply mail, the reply mail can be created with fewer operations, and the operability of the electronic mail editing device is improved. Can be.
[0039]
On the other hand, after the text editing screen is displayed, the electronic mail editing apparatus can switch between the individual editing screens via the menu screen in exactly the same manner as in the related art. Therefore, when it is necessary to edit another data item, it is possible to switch to another individual editing screen after displaying the text editing screen.
[0040]
Although the case has been described with the present embodiment where a reply mail is created, the present invention can also be applied to the case where a forwarded mail is created. That is, when the user gives an instruction to create a forwarded mail, the text editing screen may be displayed directly without displaying the menu screen. In the case of a forwarded mail, since the use frequency of the destination editing screen is the highest, the destination editing screen may be displayed first instead of the text editing screen.
[0041]
Embodiment 2 FIG.
In the first embodiment, the display order of the menu screen and each individual editing screen has been described. In the present embodiment, a screen display at the time of editing the body of an outgoing mail and details of an editing operation on this screen will be described.
[0042]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display at the time of editing a text for creating a reply mail. This display screen includes a pictogram display section 31, a text editing screen 32, a mail reference screen 33, and a SW key display section. Compared to a conventional mobile phone, the difference is that not only the text editing screen 32 but also a mail reference screen 33 are displayed.
[0043]
The pictogram display section 31 is an area where the operation state of the mobile phone, such as the radio wave reception state and the remaining battery level, is always displayed as a pictogram (pictogram). The SW key display section 34 is an area for displaying functions assigned to SW (software) keys to which different functions are assigned according to the operation state. The text editing screen 32 is a screen for editing the text of an outgoing mail, like the conventional text editing screen. The display units 31 and 34 and the text editing screen 32 are the same as those of the conventional mobile phone shown in FIG.
[0044]
The mail reference screen 33 is a screen for displaying the original received mail so that it can be viewed and referenced, and cannot be edited. Here, only a browsing operation including scrolling of the text of the received mail and a reference operation of copying (copying) a part or all of the text to the temporary storage unit are allowed.
[0045]
The text editing screen 32 and the mail reference screen 33 are simultaneously displayed by dividing a part of the display area of the liquid crystal display unit 13 into windows. Here, a text editing screen 32 is displayed as an upper window, and a mail reference screen 33 is displayed as a lower window. The reply mail (edit mail) to be edited is displayed on the body edit screen 32 in an editable manner, and the original received mail (reference mail) to be viewed and referenced is displayed on the mail reference screen 33. Is done.
[0046]
Therefore, the user can edit the text of the transmitted mail on the text editing screen 32 while viewing the received mail on the mail reference screen 33. Further, an arbitrary character string in the received mail can be copied on the mail reference screen 33 and pasted on the body edit screen 32.
[0047]
FIGS. 5A to 5D are diagrams showing in detail an example of a procedure for editing the mail text in FIG. 2D. FIG. 5A shows a state where the text editing screen 32 and the mail reference screen 33 are simultaneously displayed when the user instructs a reply. Although the two screens 32 and 33 are displayed at the same time, one of the screens to be controlled by the user is one, and a cursor is displayed on the screen to be controlled. When the editing of the body of the e-mail is started, first, the body editing screen 32 is controlled. Therefore, in FIG. 5A, the cursor is displayed on the text editing screen 32, and the text editing can be performed in exactly the same manner as in the conventional text editing.
[0048]
The user can select a screen to be controlled from the text editing screen 32 and the mail reference screen 33 by key operation, and the cursor moves between these two screens 32 and 33 by changing the control target. Here, it is assumed that the cursor can be moved between the two screens 32 and 33 by long-pressing the cursor movement key. For example, if the cursor key is pressed and held down for a long time when the cursor is on the text editing screen 32, the cursor can be moved to the mail reference screen 33. Conversely, when the cursor is on the mail reference screen 33 and the cursor key upward is pressed and held, the cursor can be moved to the text editing screen 32.
[0049]
FIG. 5B shows a case where the cursor on the text editing screen 32 is moved to the mail reference screen 33 and the control target is changed to the mail reference screen 33. By operating the cursor movement key in this state, the received mail (reference mail) can be scrolled and displayed. Therefore, even when the reference mail is longer than the number of characters or the number of lines of the mail reference screen 33, a character string desired by the user can be displayed on the mail reference screen 33.
[0050]
The user moves the cursor on the mail reference screen 33 and specifies the start point and the end point in order, so that the character string specified by the start point and the end point can be stored in the temporary storage unit (not shown). . This function is the same as the so-called copy function, but in the present embodiment, it is not necessary for the user to perform a key operation for instructing a copy. In other words, just by moving the cursor from the text editing screen 32 to the mail reference screen 33, the copy mode is automatically entered, and the start point of the copy target can be immediately specified.
[0051]
Therefore, if the cursor is moved in the mail reference screen 33, the cursor is moved to the start point of the character string to be copied, and the start key is pressed, thereby completing the designation of the start point. With this operation, the end point of the character string can be specified. FIG. 5C shows the state at this time.
[0052]
Next, the cursor is moved to the end point of the character string to be copied, and the end key is pressed, thereby completing the designation of the end point. Upon completion of the designation of the start point and the end point, the cursor automatically returns to the text editing screen 32, and the character string stored in the temporary storage unit is automatically pasted on the text editing screen 33. FIG. 5D shows the state at this time.
[0053]
When the designation of the copy target on the mail reference screen 33 is completed, the cursor automatically returns to the body edit screen 32, and if the paste is automatically performed, the user needs to perform a key operation for instructing a cursor movement between the screens. There is no need to perform a key operation for instructing paste, and therefore, the number of key operations by the user can be reduced.
[0054]
Here, the cursor position when the cursor returns to the text editing screen 32 due to the completion of copying is the cursor position when the user instructs the cursor to move to the mail reference screen 33 on the text editing screen 32. The character string stored in the temporary storage unit is automatically pasted at the cursor position. Further, as in the conventional case, if the user further performs a key operation for instructing the paste, the paste can be performed any number of times at an arbitrary cursor position. The subsequent editing operation is exactly the same as in the case of the conventional mobile phone.
[0055]
Note that even before the designation of the copy target is completed on the mail reference screen 33, if the user performs a key operation for instructing the cursor movement to the body edit screen 32, that is, if the user presses the upward cursor movement key for a long time, When pressed, the cursor returns to the text editing screen 32. In this case, the above paste processing is not performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an unintended character string from being pasted on the text editing screen 32 when the cursor is moved between the screens.
[0056]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of an electronic mail editing device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and is a functional block diagram for explaining an example of an editing process in processor 12 in FIG. is there. In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a cursor control unit, 21 denotes an edit processing unit, 22 denotes a temporary storage unit, 23 denotes a reference processing unit, 24 denotes an edit mail, 25 denotes a reference mail, 26 denotes a mail selection unit, and 27 denotes a display processing unit. .
[0057]
The edit mail 24 is an outgoing mail being edited displayed on the body edit screen. The edit processing unit 21 performs an edit process of the edit mail 24 based on a key operation of the user. The reference mail 25 is a received mail displayed on the mail reference screen. The reference processing unit 23 performs a reference process of the reference mail 25 based on a key operation of the user.
[0058]
The temporary storage unit 22 is a storage unit for temporarily storing an object in the reference mail 25 specified by the user, and stores the object by the reference processing unit 23 during a copy process. The object includes, for example, data such as a character string, an image, and music. The objects in the temporary storage unit 22 are read by the editing processing unit 21 during the paste processing, and inserted into the edited mail 24.
[0059]
The display processing unit 27 generates screen data including a text editing screen 32 and a mail reference screen 33, and outputs the screen data to the liquid crystal display unit 13. The display processing unit 27 displays the edited mail 24 on the text editing screen 32, displays the reference mail 25 on the mail reference screen 33, and displays the edited mail 24 and the reference mail 25 simultaneously.
[0060]
The cursor control unit 20 is an operation screen selection unit that switches and selects an operation screen, that is, a screen to be subjected to a user operation, based on a key operation of the user. The editing processing unit 21 and the reference processing unit 23 execute processing only when one of them is selected by the cursor control unit 20 and selected. That is, when the text editing screen 32 is selected as the operation screen, the editing processing unit 21 is activated, and when the mail reference screen 33 is selected as the operation screen, the reference processing unit 23 is activated.
[0061]
The mail selection unit 26 reads a predetermined received mail from the memory 14 as the reference mail 25. Further, the mail address in the reference mail 25 is compared with the telephone directory in the memory 15, and if a character string corresponding to the mail address is defined, the mail address is replaced with the character string. If the user instructs a quote reply, the body of the reference mail 25 is inserted into the body of the edited mail 24 as a quote.
[0062]
Steps S101 to S107 in FIG. 7 are flowcharts showing an example of the operation when creating a reply mail. When the user instructs to create a reply mail, the mail selecting unit 26 reads out the reference mail 25 from the memory 14, and if the reply is a quote reply, further quotes the edited mail 24 (step S101).
[0063]
First, the text editing screen 32 becomes an operation screen. Therefore, the cursor control unit 20 activates the edit processing unit 21 and inactivates (inactivates) the reference processing unit 23. Therefore, the user can perform a normal text editing operation, a moving operation between windows, and an editing end operation on the text editing screen 32 (steps S102, S104, S107).
[0064]
When the user performs an editing operation such as inputting or deleting a character, the editing processing unit 21 performs a normal editing process on the edited mail (step S103). When the user instructs the end of the editing, the editing process of the reply mail is ended (step S107). Saving, discarding, or transmitting the mail data being edited corresponds to the end of the editing. Except for the case of discarding, the outgoing mail is usually stored in the outgoing tray 17 of the memory 14.
[0065]
On the other hand, when the user instructs movement between windows, the cursor control unit 20 switches the screen to be controlled. That is, the edit processing unit 21 is made inactive, and the reference processing unit 23 is made active. Thereafter, a reference process is performed by the reference processing unit 23 (Step S105). When the reference processing is completed, the screen to be controlled is switched again, the editing processing unit 21 becomes active, and the editing processing unit 21 performs the paste processing (step S106).
[0066]
Steps S201 to S204 in FIG. 8 are flowcharts illustrating an example of the operation in the reference processing (step S105) in FIG. The user operates the cursor movement key to move the cursor on the mail reference screen 33 (step S201). At this time, the display screen is scrolled as necessary. Then, when the user operates the enter key, the starting point of the object to be copied is determined (step 202). This starting point is given as a cursor position when the enter key is operated.
[0067]
After determining the start point, the user further operates the cursor movement key to move the cursor to the end point of the object to be copied (step S203). Then, when the user operates the enter key again, the end point of the object is determined (step S204). That is, the start point and the end point are given as the cursor positions when the user operates the enter key. When the start point and the end point are determined in this way, the reference processing unit 23 stores the specified object in the temporary storage unit 22, and the reference processing ends.
[0068]
According to the present embodiment, when editing the text of an electronic mail in the reply mail editing device, the text editing screen and the mail reference screen can be displayed simultaneously. Therefore, it is possible to browse and refer to the received mail without saving the outgoing mail being edited and once closing the text editing screen. That is, the user can edit the text of the transmitted mail while viewing the received mail. Further, it is possible to edit the text of the outgoing mail while copying the object included in the received mail to the temporary storage unit 22 and pasting it into the outgoing mail being edited.
[0069]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when the cursor is moved from body edit screen 32 to mail reference screen 33, the user is ready to start specifying an object in reference mail 25 to be copied. . This eliminates the need for the user to perform a key operation for instructing a copy process after moving the cursor to the mail reference screen 33, and is excellent in operability.
[0070]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when the designation of the object to be copied on the mail reference screen 33 is completed, not only the object is copied to the temporary storage unit 22 but also the cursor is moved to the text editing screen 32. Moving. Therefore, at the end of the copy processing on the mail reference screen 33, the user does not need to perform a key operation for instructing a cursor movement between the screens 32 and 33, and the operability is excellent.
[0071]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when the cursor moves from mail reference screen 33 to text editing screen 32, the object in temporary storage unit 22 is pasted on text editing screen 32. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to perform a key operation for instructing paste, and the operability is excellent.
[0072]
Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the first and second embodiments, the example of the e-mail editing apparatus in which the original received mail is displayed on the mail reference screen 33 when the reply mail or the forward mail is created. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, an e-mail editing device that searches for another e-mail related to the received mail and displays the same on the mail reference screen 33 will be described.
[0073]
In general, transmission and reception of a plurality of e-mails are often alternately repeated with respect to the same or related cases with a specific partner. In such a case, it may not be enough to refer to the immediately preceding received mail when creating the reply mail. In other words, there may be a case where the user wants to refer to an older received mail from the same partner or an e-mail already transmitted to the partner. In such a case, when creating the reply mail, it is convenient if another electronic mail related to the original received mail can be displayed on the mail reference screen 33 instead of the original reply mail.
[0074]
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of an electronic mail editing apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, and is a functional block for explaining another example of editing processing in processor 12 of FIG. FIG. The difference from the case of FIG. 6 (Embodiment 2) is that a mail search unit 28 and a search result storage unit 29 are provided instead of the mail selection unit 26.
[0075]
When creating a reply mail, the mail search unit 28 searches for an electronic mail in the memory 14 based on one or more data items of the original received mail. Data items such as a mail address, title, transmission / reception time, and text can be used as search keys in this mail search. Here, a case will be described in which the transmission / reception mail stored in the memory 14 is searched in chronological order using the transmission source mail address of the original reception mail as a search key.
[0076]
The mail search unit 28 extracts, for all the electronic mails in the memory 14, electronic mails whose source or destination is the source mail address of the original received mail. The received mail in the inbox 16 is checked against the source mail address, and the received mail in the outbox 17 is checked against the destination mail address. In general, an e-mail has only one source address, so if a search is performed using this e-mail address, an e-mail related to the e-mail can be easily extracted.
[0077]
The mail search unit 28 generates an index table in which the indexes of the e-mails extracted in this manner are rearranged in chronological order based on the respective transmission / reception times, and stores the index table in the search result storage unit 29.
[0078]
The user can select the e-mail associated with the e-mail address in chronological order in this way, and the e-mail search unit 28 displays the text of the e-mail selected by the user on the e-mail reference screen 33. For example, if the user presses and holds the “#” key for a long time, an e-mail whose transmission / reception time is one older is displayed on the mail reference screen 33 (forward processing). A new e-mail is displayed on the e-mail reference screen 33 (deferred processing).
[0079]
At this time, based on a key operation of the user who instructs to advance, the mail search unit 28 uses the index table of the search result storage unit 29 to send and receive the e-mail that is one time earlier than the e-mail displayed on the mail reference screen. Read the email index. Then, based on the index, an older electronic mail is read from the memory 14 and displayed on the mail reference screen 33.
[0080]
Also, based on a key operation of the user who instructs the e-mail to be deferred, the mail search unit 28 searches the index table of the search result storage unit 29 for an electronic mail whose transmission / reception time is one time later than the electronic mail displayed on the mail reference screen. Read the mail index. Then, based on the index, a newer e-mail is read from the memory 14 and displayed on the e-mail reference screen 33.
[0081]
When the user instructs to advance or defer, if there is no corresponding e-mail, the fact is displayed, and the deceleration processing and the departure processing are not performed. Alternatively, when the index table in the search result storage unit 29 is looped and the deferral processing is performed during the display of the latest e-mail, the oldest e-mail is displayed, and the display of the oldest e-mail is performed. If the advance processing is performed during the processing, the latest e-mail may be displayed.
[0082]
Steps S301 to S310 in FIG. 10 are flowcharts showing an example of an operation when creating a reply mail. Steps S301 to S303 and S307 to S310 are the same as steps S101 to S107 in FIG. 7 (Embodiment 2).
[0083]
When the user instructs to change the reference mail (step S304), the electronic mail displayed on the mail reference screen 33 is changed. That is, when instructing the e-mail to be displayed or moved forward on the e-mail reference screen 33, the e-mail search unit 28 reads the e-mail index of the e-mail to be newly displayed from the search result storage unit 29 (step S305). The electronic mail is read from the memory 14 based on the index. The display processing unit 27 displays the reference mail 25 thus read out on the mail reference screen 33 (Step S306).
[0084]
FIGS. 11A to 11D are diagrams showing an example of the procedure for editing the text of the reply mail in detail. Here, it is shown as a procedure performed subsequent to FIG.
[0085]
In FIG. 11A, the original received mail is displayed on the mail reference screen 33. In this state, when the user presses and holds the “♯” key and instructs to advance the e-mail displayed on the e-mail reference screen 33, the source of the original received e-mail displayed on the e-mail reference screen 33 is set as the destination. An e-mail is displayed. FIG. 11B shows this state.
[0086]
The user can browse and refer to the e-mail newly displayed on the e-mail reference screen 33 in exactly the same way as in the case of the original received e-mail in the second embodiment. That is, by long-pressing the downward cursor movement key, the cursor can be moved to the mail reference screen 33, and the character string to be copied can be specified by the start point and the end point and copied to the temporary storage unit 22. FIG. 11C shows the state at this time.
[0087]
When the specification of the copy target is completed, the cursor returns to the text editing screen 32, and the copied character string is pasted into the transmitted mail. FIG. 11D shows this state.
[0088]
According to the present embodiment, since the reference mail 25 displayed on the mail reference screen 33 can be changed based on the key operation of the user, the user can view and refer to a desired e-mail while You can edit mail. Therefore, the operability of the electronic mail editing device can be improved.
[0089]
Further, the mail search unit 28 searches for an e-mail related to a specific e-mail, and sequentially displays the e-mail on the e-mail reference screen 33 based on a key operation by the user. For this reason, these e-mails can be sequentially displayed only by a simple key operation by the user, and the operability of the e-mail editing apparatus can be significantly improved.
[0090]
For example, when creating a reply e-mail, not only can the original reply e-mail be displayed, but also other e-mails related to the original received e-mail are displayed on the e-mail reference screen 33 so that the related e-mails can be viewed and You can edit outgoing mail while referring to it.
[0091]
In particular, the mail search unit 28 extracts, from the e-mails stored in the memory 14, e-mails whose transmission source or reception destination matches the transmission source mail address of the specific received mail, and instructs to change the reference mail 25. By sequentially displaying in chronological order based on the user's key operation, e-mail transmitted and received with a specific partner can be displayed while tracing in chronological order.
[0092]
Note that, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the search target of the mail search unit 28 is all electronic mails in the memory 14, but the present invention is not limited to such a case. For example, by designating an electronic mail to be searched for each folder, only the received mail in the inbox 16 or only the outgoing mail in the outbox 17 can be searched.
[0093]
Further, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the mail search unit 28 extracts an electronic mail based on the source address of the original received mail at the time of creating the reply mail. It is not limited to such a case. For example, a user may directly specify a mail address. In this case, the search is not limited to the search at the time of creating the reply mail, and is not limited to the case where the search result is displayed on the mail browsing screen 33.
[0094]
Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described where the mail search unit 28 first searches for an electronic mail to create an index table and stores the index table in the search result storage unit 29. It is not limited to the case. For example, every time the user instructs to change the reference mail 25, the mail search unit 28 may search the electronic mail in the memory 14.
[0095]
Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, an example of a mobile phone having an e-mail transmission / reception function has been described. Portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) have lower operability of user input means than a general-purpose computer, and the present invention is particularly suitable for these portable electronic devices. However, the subject of the present invention is not limited to such portable electronic devices, but can be applied to various electronic devices having an e-mail editing function.
[0096]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to display the edited mail on the mail editing screen, display the reference mail on the mail reference screen, move the cursor between these screens, and copy and paste objects between the screens. it can. Therefore, it is possible to provide an e-mail editing device that is excellent in operability when editing e-mail. In particular, it is possible to provide an e-mail editing device that can easily create a reply mail.
[0097]
In addition, since the user's operation target is automatically switched to the mail editing screen based on the object specifying operation on the mail reference screen, the user does not need to perform an operation input for moving the cursor between screens after specifying the object. Thus, the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide an e-mail editing device with excellent operability.
[0098]
Further, according to the present invention, the object in the temporary storage is pasted into the edited mail based on the user's object specifying operation on the mail reference screen. Therefore, after moving the cursor from the mail reference screen to the mail editing screen, the user does not need to perform an operation input for instructing a paste process, and the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide an e-mail editing device with excellent operability.
[0099]
Further, according to the present invention, no paste is performed when the user's operation target is switched to the mail editing screen without specifying an object when the mail reference screen is selected. Therefore, when the designation of the object is interrupted and the cursor is moved to the mail editing screen, it is possible to prevent unintended objects from being pasted from the temporary storage unit to the mail editing screen.
[0100]
Further, according to the present invention, an individual editing screen for editing the text of a sent mail is displayed based on an operation input of a user for creating a reply mail without displaying a menu screen. Therefore, when creating a reply mail, the number of operation inputs by the user can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide an e-mail editing device with excellent operability.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic mail editing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view sequentially showing a display screen when a reply mail is created in the electronic mail editing device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram showing an operation procedure at the time of mail editing in the electronic mail editing device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display at the time of text editing for creating a reply mail.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing in detail an example of a procedure for editing a mail text in (d) of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of an electronic mail editing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation when creating a reply mail.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation in a reference process (step S105) of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of an electronic mail editing device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation when creating a reply mail.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the procedure for editing the text of the reply mail in detail.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display displayed when an electronic mail is edited in a conventional mobile phone.
FIG. 13 is a view sequentially showing a display screen when a reply mail is created in a conventional mobile phone.
FIG. 14 is a state transition diagram showing an operation procedure at the time of mail editing in a conventional mobile phone.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Radio section
11 Key input section
12 processor
13 Liquid crystal display
14,15 memory
16 Inbox
17 Outbox
20 Cursor control unit
21 Editing unit
22 Temporary storage unit
23 Reference processing unit
24 Edit mail
25 Reference email
26 Mail selection section
27 Display processing unit
28 Email Search Section
29 Search result storage
31 Pict display
32 Text Editing Screen
33 E-mail reference screen
34 SW key display

Claims (8)

Display processing means for simultaneously displaying a mail editing screen for displaying the edited mail and a mail reference screen for displaying the reference mail,
An operation screen control unit for moving a cursor between the mail editing screen and the mail reference screen and switching and selecting a screen to be operated by the user;
Reference processing means for copying the object in the reference mail specified by the user's operation input to the temporary storage means when selecting the mail reference screen;
Editing processing means for pasting the object in the temporary storage means to the editing mail when selecting the mail editing screen,
An electronic mail editing apparatus, wherein the operation screen control means switches a user's operation target to a mail editing screen based on an object designation operation by the user on a mail reference screen. 2. The electronic mail editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the editing processing unit pastes the object in the temporary storage unit to the edited mail based on an object designation operation by a user on a mail reference screen. The method according to claim 2, wherein the editing processing means does not perform paste when the user's operation target is switched to the mail editing screen without specifying an object when the mail reference screen is selected. Email editing device. 3. The electronic mail editing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the editing processing unit pastes the object of the temporary storage unit at a cursor position on the mail editing screen before switching to the mail reference screen. The reference processing means, the user moves the cursor on the mail reference screen, and copies a character string specifying the start point and the end point in order to the temporary storage means,
2. The electronic mail editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation screen control unit switches an operation target of the user to a mail editing screen based on an operation of designating an end point by the user. 6. The electronic mail editing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the editing processing unit pastes the character string in the temporary storage unit into the edited mail based on a user's designation operation of an end point on a mail reference screen. The above mail reference screen displays the received mail as the reference mail,
2. The electronic mail editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mail editing screen displays a reply mail to the received mail as an edit mail. Switching between two or more item edit screens for individually editing each data item for an outgoing mail consisting of two or more data items including at least the text, and a menu screen displayed when moving between these item edit screens Email editing device,
An e-mail editing apparatus characterized by displaying an individual editing screen for editing the text of an outgoing mail without displaying a menu screen based on a user's operation input for creating a reply mail.

Images