JPH06112971A - Electronic mail circulation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To set an optimum circulation path depending on a circulation state and a log-in state. CONSTITUTION:A circulation basic path is indicated in a circulation destination information table. When a circulation object person is going to send a circulation document or the like, the circulation destination information table is at first referenced. In the circulation destination information table, when there is any log-in party in non-circulation parties or re-circulation desiring parties, a circulation document is sent to a party of first circulation priority. On the other hand, there is no log-in party in non-circulation parties or re-circulation desiring parties, all circulation object parties are checked and the circulation document is sent to the party of first circulation priority among the non- circulation parties or re-circulation desiring parties.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention circulates when a circulation is carried out using an electronic mail system, based on the arrival status of circulation documents, the desired status of recirculation, the absence status of members (people to be circulated) and the login status. Regarding an e-mail circulation method for determining a route.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic mail using a public line, a LAN (local area network) or the like has been used. The electronic mail is a system for exchanging information as mail between information processing devices such as computers. Conventionally, as such a system, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-77030, the recipient is designated to send only to the person who directly receives it, or a route is set in advance to circulate it. Things were circulated along the route.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional circulation method, since the route is fixed, it is not possible for the circulation target person (user) in front of the route to see the circulation. However, there is a problem that the circulation information is not transmitted to the later users. Further, since the circulation route is predetermined, there is a problem that the circulation is transmitted along the route even if the next user is absent.

On the other hand, the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-77030 is provided with an unread time limit for the recipient in order to solve such a problem. If the user is absent, the user stays up to the unrestricted time limit, and the problem of wasted circulation time cannot be solved. In addition, even if the user who once views the circulation wants to see the circulation again later, since the route is fixed in the conventional circulation method, the user must make another circulation request after that. Such a troublesome operation was required. As described above, in the conventional circulation method, it is not possible to flexibly handle the circulation route according to the circulation situation or login situation of the user.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an electronic mail circulation method capable of setting an optimum circulation route according to the circulation situation or login situation of a circulation target person. With the goal.

[0006]

The electronic mail circulation method of the first invention determines the circulation status of whether or not a circulation document is circulated to a circulation target person, and whether the circulation target person is currently logged in. Determine the login status of
It is characterized in that a circulation destination is selected for the circulation target person based on the circulation situation and the login situation.

The electronic mail circulation method of the second invention determines the circulation status of whether or not the circulation document is circulated to the circulation target person, and also determines the login status of whether the circulation target person is currently logged in. The destination control is performed so that the circulation document is preferentially transmitted to the circulation target person who is an uncirculated person and is logged in.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail circulation method, wherein a circulation document is circulated to a circulation target person, whether the circulation target person wants to recirculate the circulation document, and the circulation target person. In addition to determining the circulation status of whether or not the circulation is possible, the login status of whether the circulation target person is currently logged in is determined, and the destination control to the circulation target person is performed based on the circulation status and the login status. It is characterized by doing so.

The electronic mail circulation method of the fourth aspect of the invention determines the circulation status of whether or not the circulation document has been circulated to the circulation target person, and also determines the login status of whether the circulation target person is currently logged in. , If there is no circulation target person who is currently logged in and is a circulation target person, the circulation processing is terminated once, and the circulation target person who has logged in first among the non-circulation person or the recirculation candidate. It is characterized in that the destination is controlled so as to be circulated with priority.

[0010]

In the e-mail circulation method of the first invention,
Destination control is performed when the person to be circulated tries to send a circulation document, or when an uncirculated person logs in. In this destination control, first, the circulation destination information table is referred to, it is determined whether the circulation document is circulated to the circulation target person, and the login status of the circulation target person is determined. As a result of this determination, it is determined to which circulation target person the circulation document is transmitted.

In the electronic mail circulation method of the second invention, the circulation status and the login status are determined as in the first invention. Then, the circulation document is transmitted to those who have not been circulated and are logged in among the circulation target persons.

In the e-mail circulation method of the third invention, the circulation status is judged by the presence or absence of an uncirculated person, whether there is a person who has already circulated and who desires recirculation, and the person to be circulated. Whether or not it can be circulated is determined. In addition, the login status is determined, and based on the circulation status and the login status, it is determined to which circulation target person the circulation document is transmitted.

The e-mail circulation method of the fourth invention determines the circulation situation and the login situation as in the first and second inventions. Then, if there is no person who has not logged in among the persons who have not been circulated or the person who desires re-circulation, the circulation processing is once ended.
After that, if there is a person who has logged in among uncirculated persons or those who desire recirculation, the circulation document is transmitted to the person who first logged in.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention. Prior to explaining this electronic mail circulation method, a system configuration for implementing the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration for implementing the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a network such as a public network or a LAN (local area network). A plurality of clients 2-1 to 2-n are connected to the network 1 and a server 3 is connected to the client. / A server system is configured. This client / server system manages data and programs by a server 3, and clients 2-1 and 2-2 are connected to this server 3.
-N is a system for accessing via the network 1 and performing processing such as transmission / reception of electronic mail.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the server 3. Server 3
Is a circulation destination information table 31, a circulation status management unit 32,
A login status management unit 33 and a destination control unit 34 are provided. The circulation destination information table 31 is a table showing the circulation status and login status for each reader, which will be described later. The circulation status management unit 32 determines the circulation status of the clients 2-1 to 2-n (hereinafter, this will be described as a circulation target person), that is, whether the circulation target person has already circulated the circulation document or re-circulates the circulation document. It manages the situation such as whether circulation is desired or circulation is impossible due to absenteeism for a long period of time, and these circulation situations are stored in the circulation destination information table 31.

The login status management unit 33 has a function of managing whether or not each circulation target person is logged in, and stores the login status in the circulation destination information table 31. The state of being logged in here means that the circulation document can be read by the circulation target person. Further, the destination control unit 34 has a function of determining the destination (circulation route) of each circulation target person based on the contents of the circulation destination information table 31.

FIG. 4 shows the circulation destination information table 3 described above.
It is a figure which shows 1. That is, the circulation destination information table 31
Is a table indicating the circulation order, circulation target persons, circulation status, and login status. Here, the circulation target person is A,
There are 6 people, B, C, D, E and F. Further, these circulation target persons A to F are assumed to correspond to any of the clients 2-1 to 2-n in FIG.

In such a system, the circulation target persons A to F can be the sender and the receiver of the circulation document, respectively. The destination control unit 34 of the server 3 also registers the circulation target person and the circulation order (basic route) in the circulation destination information table 31 based on a predetermined circulation order in advance. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the circulation order is A,
The order is B, C, D, E, and F. Before the circulation is started, the circulation statuses of the circulation destination information table 31 are all uncirculated, and the circulation status is the circulation or the recirculation depending on the circulation status.

FIG. 5 shows the contents of the circulation destination information table 31 according to the circulation situation. In FIG. 5, (a) shows an example at the start of circulation, (b) shows an example at the time of circulation, and (c) shows an example at the end of circulation. As shown in (a) of FIG. 5, at the start of circulation, the circulation statuses of the circulation destination information table 31 are all “uncirculated”. In addition, the circulation status management unit 32 of the server 3 sets the circulation status column of the circulation destination information table 31 to “invalid” for the circulation target person who cannot perform circulation due to a long-term business trip or the like.

On the other hand, during the circulation, when a circulation document is transmitted from a certain circulation target person, the circulation status management unit 32 judges that the circulation target person has already been circulated, and the circulation status column is marked as “completed”. To do. Further, at this time, the circulation target person who desires recirculation transmits the recirculation request when transmitting the circulation document. Accordingly, the circulation status management unit 32 sets the circulation status column to "re". Further, the login status management unit 33 of the server 3 manages the login status of the clients 2-1 to 2-n, and stores in the circulation destination information table 31 whether or not the client is logged in.

Next, a method of circulating an electronic mail in such a system will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the destination control of the circulation document is performed in the following three cases. When the sender of the circular document tries to send the circular document. When the circulation target person who has finished viewing the circulation document tries to send. When a person who has not been circulated has logged in. In the above case, the destination control unit 34 first refers to the circulation destination information table 31 (step S1). For example, in the above case, it is assumed that the table shown in FIG. Here, the circulation order is A, B, ... F.
And, the circulation status is all "not yet". As for the login status, the circulation target persons A, B, C, and E are logging in.

Next, the destination control unit 34 checks whether or not there is a person who has not yet been circulated or a person who desires recirculation to log in (step S2). At the start of circulation shown in FIG. 5A, all are uncirculated persons,
Since B, C, and E are logging in, the circulation document is transmitted to the circulation target person A having the highest rank among them (step S3), and the circulation processing is ended.

After that, it is assumed that the circulation target person A finishes viewing the circulation document and transmits the circulation document. This is the case above. As a result, the destination control unit 34
Refers to the circulation destination information table 31 as in the above case (step S1), and determines the circulation target person who is logged in by the non-recirculation. For example, assume that this is the state shown in FIG. Here, only the circulation target person A who has finished watching has not been circulated except that the circulation target person A has already circulated. In addition, the login status is A, C,
E and F are logging in. Therefore, from the original order, it should be sent to the circulation target person B, which is the next rank of the circulation target person A, but since the circulation target person B is not logged in, the circulation target person of the next rank is Sent to C.

In this way, when the circulation is carried out and the circulation document is transmitted from the final circulation person, the circulation destination information table 31 becomes as shown in FIG. 5 (c).
Therefore, the destination control unit 34 refers to this table, determines that the circulation has been completed because all the circulation target persons have already circulated, transmits the circulation document to the sender, and terminates the circulation processing.

That is, when the circulation information and the login status are determined in step S2 with reference to the destination information in step S1, there are circulation target persons who are logged in, but there are no circulation target persons who have not yet been recirculated. , Step S
4, the counter (not shown) is set to "1" at the head. Then, the circulation status is checked from the beginning (steps S5 and S6). As a result of this check, if there is no circulation target person who has not been re-circulated, it is judged whether the check is the final circulation target person (step S7), and if not, the counter is incremented by +1 (step S8) Returning to S5, this checking operation is repeated. And
When the check reaches the final person to be circulated, the circulation processing ends. The circulation status determination process in step S6 is a process for transmitting a circulation document to an unlogged / uncirculated circulation target person who has not logged in, which will be described later.

Next, a case will be described in which some of the circulation target persons desire recirculation and some cannot. FIG. 6 shows the circulation destination information table 31 in such a case. In this case, circulation target person A cannot circulate, circulation target person B,
D and F have not been circulated, and the circulation target person C has circulated. In such a case, the destination control unit 34 refers to the circulation destination information table 31 in step S1, and determines the circulation status and the login status in step S2. Step S
In FIG. 2, it is the circulation target persons D, E, and F that meet the condition of being logged in without being re-circulated, and therefore, the circulation target person D is transmitted to the circulation target person D having a higher rank (step S3).

Next, a case will be described in which there is no circulation target person who is currently logged in among circulation target persons who have not yet been recirculated. FIG. 7 shows a circulation destination information table 3 in such a case.
1 is shown. In this case, the person A to be circulated cannot be circulated, the person B to be circulated is not circulated, the person E to be circulated is wishing to be recirculated, and the persons C, D, and F to be circulated have been circulated, and they are logged in. Only the persons C and D to be circulated. In such a case, the destination control unit 34 refers to the circulation destination information table 31 in step S1 and determines the circulation status and the login status in step S2, and as a result, there is no circulation target person who is not yet recirculated and is logged in. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S4, the counter is set to the head and the circulation status is checked (step S5). As a result of this check, the person to be circulated first is the person B to be circulated, so the circulation document is transmitted to this person B to be circulated. In this case, since the circulation target person B is not logged in, the circulation document whose destination is the circulation target person B is stored in a mail box or the like not shown so that the circulation target person B can receive the circulation document by logging in. To do.

Next, another embodiment will be described in which the circulation process is once terminated when there is no person who has not yet / re-circulated circulation and is currently logged in. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the circulation method. Here, it is assumed that the circulation status and login status of the circulation target person are the states of the circulation destination information table 31 shown in FIG. 7 for comparison with the above embodiment. First, the destination control unit 34 refers to the circulation destination information table 31 as in the above embodiment (step S).
1). Then, as a result of this reference, it is determined whether or not there is an uncirculated person or a person who wishes to be recirculated at present (step S2), and if there is, a circulation document is given to the circulation target person. It is transmitted (step S3).
This operation is similar to that of the above embodiment.

On the other hand, in step S2, if there are no uncirculated persons or recirculation-wanted persons currently logged in, the circulation processing ends. And if there is a login operation from these uncirculated people or those who wish to re-circulate,
As described above, the destination control unit 34 performs the process of FIG. 8 again. For example, in the contents of the circulation destination information table 31 shown in FIG. 7, when the circulation process is once completed and then the circulation target person E logs in, the login status management unit 33 causes the circulation target information table 31 to display the circulation target information. The login status column of the person E is logged in. Then, the destination control unit 34 transmits the circulation document to the circulation target person E.

In each of the above embodiments, the client 2-
When the re-circulation request is issued from 1 to 2-n, the circulation status management unit 32 processes the re-circulation separately from the non-circulation, but this may be processed as the non-circulation.

[0032]

As described above, according to the electronic mail circulation method of the first invention, the circulation destination is selected for the circulation target person based on the circulation status and the login status. An optimal circulation route can be set depending on the circulation status and login status.

Further, in the electronic mail circulation method of the second invention, the circulation target person who is an uncirculated person and is logged in is given priority to be circulated. Can be circulated.

Further, in the electronic mail circulation method of the third invention, the destination control is performed based on the circulation status such as the circulation status, the re-circulation desire status, and the circulation enabled status. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first invention, a finer circulation route can be set.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, if there is no person who has not logged in yet or who desires to recirculate, the circulation processing is temporarily terminated, and the person who logs in first logs in. Since the person is circulated preferentially to the person, it is possible to flexibly deal with the state of the person to be circulated in addition to the effect of the first invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram for implementing the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a server in the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a circulation destination information table in the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for each state of a circulation destination information table in the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of another state of the circulation destination information table in the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of still another state of the circulation destination information table in the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the electronic mail circulation method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Network 2-1 to 2-n Client 3 Server 31 Circulation Destination Information Table 32 Circulation Status Management Unit 33 Login Status Management Unit 34 Destination Control Unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A circulation status of whether or not a circulation document has been circulated to a circulation target person is determined, and a login status of whether the circulation target person is currently logged in is determined. An e-mail circulation method characterized in that a circulation destination is selected for the circulation target person. 2. A circulation status in which a circulation document is circulated to a circulation target person is determined, a login status in which the circulation target person is currently logged in is determined, and a circulation state in which an uncirculated person is logged in. An e-mail circulation method, wherein the destination is controlled so that the circulation document is preferentially transmitted to the target person. 3. A circulation document is circulated to a circulation target person, whether the circulation target person wants to recirculate the circulation document, and whether the circulation target person is in a state capable of circulation. In addition to determining the circulation status of, the login status of whether the circulation target person is currently logged in is determined, and destination control to the circulation target person is performed based on the circulation status and the login status. How to circulate email. 4. An uncirculated person or a person who wishes to re-circulate, as well as determining the circulation status of whether or not the circulation document has been circulated to the circulation target person, and determining the login status of whether the circulation target person is currently logged in. If there are no circulation target persons currently logged in, the circulation process is terminated once and the circulation target person who logs in first among the uncirculated persons or those who wish to recirculate is given priority circulation. An e-mail circulation method characterized in that address control is performed.