JPH07264234A - E-mail management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send/receive an electronic mail efficiently by managing an electronic mail main text and a header information part separately and retrieving recipient information in a mail information storage section to deliver the information to the user thereby utilizing effectively an auxiliary storage device. CONSTITUTION:A mail information storage section 110 of a server side auxiliary storage device 100 connecting to a mail server 120 managing an electronic mail 115 stores information required for transmission and reception of each electronic mail 115. Furthermore, a mail management section 125 of the mail server 120 implements registration, processing and retrieval processing of data to the mail information storage section 110 and a server side communication section 130 sends/receives data to/from a client 140 via a communication channel 135. Then a main text of the electronic mail 115 and a header information part describing transmission information are managed separately, transmission information is registered simultaneously to the mail information storage section 110 to allow each user to check the arrival of an electronic mail addressed to himself and a mail management section 125 retrieves the recipient information of the mail information storage section 110 and sends the information to the user.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applicable not only to text as an electronic mail but also to a medium having a large data size such as an image and a voice, and effectively uses an auxiliary storage device for storing an electronic mail and realizes efficient use between computers. The present invention relates to an e-mail management method that considers sending and receiving e-mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent improvement in computer performance due to advances in computer hardware, applications for handling media such as images and voices having a larger data size than text data are increasing. E-mail, which is one of communication means on a computer, also tends to use these media. However, the conventional text medium is used as a management method for delivering and storing electronic mail, and it cannot be said that the system is suitable for a large-capacity medium. In the future, it is expected that attention will be paid to electronic mail systems that consider large-capacity media such as images and audio.

The main mechanism of conventional electronic mail is shown below. These are the Hitachi CSMA / CD Network CD10
5) mail function (HI-UX (R3) Hitachi CSMA / CD network CD105 (TCP / IP) syntax / operation manual p153-p205), and the latest mail software CC: Mail (Lotus) (THE W
INDOWS 1993.6 p26-p27), MS-Mail (Microsoft)
(Windows Mag-agine 1993.8 p137-p144) was referred to.

The structure of electronic mail is such that the text of the mail follows after the header information describing the destination information and the like. Binary data such as images and sounds are embedded in the text. For example, the CD105 converts a binary into a text format, embeds it in the body, and handles it as one text file.

The delivery method of electronic mail is as follows.
When you send an email, it is sent to a computer called a mail server that manages the email. The mail server stores the sent electronic mail in the mail spool secured in the auxiliary storage device. For each user who uses e-mail, a file with that user name exists in the mail spool. Whenever an e-mail is sent, the e-mail is stored in a form in which it is added to the destination user name file.

Only one mail spool is prepared for one mail server. As a backup of the mail spool, there is a command to make a copy of it on the auxiliary storage device, but there is no form of using multiple mail spools when operating the mail system. Although there is a function to automatically transfer e-mail to another host,
This is the ability to transfer emails from one mail server to another, unlike the situation where one mail server has multiple mail spools.

At the time of mail reception, a list of electronic mail is displayed. In CC: Mail and MS-Mail, you can find a function to display the importance of the email as text. The received e-mail is copied to the storage area assigned to each user in the auxiliary storage device connected to the mail server. At this point, the received mail is deleted from the mail spool.

[0008]

In the above prior art, (1) the mail spool is provided with a mail storage file for each receiving user. Therefore, when the same electronic mail is sent to a plurality of users, the mail spool is used. A large amount of data is stored in. For example, if you send the same email to three users, the mail spool will be (email volume) x 3
Will consume the capacity. Therefore, when a large amount of data such as an image and a sound is an electronic mail medium, the auxiliary storage device used as the mail spool is wasted.

(2) Since the number of mail spools is one for one mail server, the use load of the auxiliary storage device which secures the mail spool is high. Further, the communication load on the computer connected to the auxiliary storage device is high.
Also, because emails are stored on one device,
If that device fails, there is a risk of destroying all email data.

(3) Since data other than text, such as images and voices, is embedded in the body of an e-mail, when such data is taken out from the e-mail, the process of cutting out the relevant part and converting it into a usable format is performed. Will be needed. With cc: Mail and MS-Mail, you can refer to various data embedded in e-mail from within your e-mail software, but you need to use your e-mail software.

(4) When the e-mail is retransmitted due to an input error in the destination, it is necessary to resend the e-mail again. When the medium of the electronic mail is an image or the like, the file size is large, so that the time required for transmission becomes long. In addition, the load on the computer for transmitting and receiving becomes high.

(5) The outline of the received electronic mail is indicated by display items indicating the title and importance of the mail. However, it is difficult for the other party to grasp the contents by expressing the image data and the like only with these text information.

(6) When commenting on a received electronic mail, a part of the received mail is quoted and commented and returned as one file, but it takes time and effort to cut out the quoted part. In addition, if the cut-out method is bad, it will be impossible to know which part of the original email the added comment refers to.

(7) Since the storage position of the received e-mail only moves in the auxiliary storage device connected to the mail server, the usable capacity of the auxiliary storage device is mail unless the user deletes the mail file. It does not change before and after reception. If a large-capacity medium such as image data is transmitted to a plurality of users and the received mail is stored without being erased, the usable capacity of the auxiliary storage device of the mail server is drastically reduced. Also, it is necessary to access the mail server and transfer the data to the computer that references the e-mail each time the e-mail is referenced.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a method that enables effective use of an auxiliary storage device and efficient transmission / reception of electronic mail for large-capacity media such as images as well as text. The purpose is to do.

[0016]

In order to solve the above problems, (1) the main body of the electronic mail and the header information portion in which the transmission information is described are managed in separate files. A mail information storage unit that stores transmission information of electronic mail is provided in the mail spool, and a mail management unit that performs data registration / update of the mail information storage unit is provided in the mail server. When each user checks the arrival of e-mail addressed to himself, the mail management section searches the recipient information in the mail information storage section,
I tried to tell the user.

(2) A plurality of mail spools are prepared for one mail server, and a storage destination item indicating which spool the electronic mail is stored in is provided in the mail information storage section. However, the number of mail spools that store the mail information storage is 1
Only one.

(3) When one electronic mail is a combination of a plurality of media such as texts and images, an electronic mail composed of a plurality of files is created by filing each media instead of collecting them into one file. The morphology of
Then, the registration of information in the mail information storage unit is performed in units of files constituting an electronic mail.

(4) If the transmission information such as the destination designation of the email is erroneously transmitted, only the transmission information of the email is transmitted without retransmitting the body of the email, and the registration information in the mail information storage section is updated. I decided to do it.

(5) When receiving an electronic mail, a voice file or a reduced image file showing an outline of the electronic mail is attached to the electronic mail. In addition, a summary file name item indicating which summary file is attached to the e-mail is provided in the mail information storage unit.

(6) When commenting on a received mail, a file is created for each comment, and a comment file management table indicating which position of which e-mail corresponds to which comment is provided in the mail information storage section.

(7) When receiving an electronic mail, the user can specify the auxiliary storage device for storing the mail information file in which the information of the files forming the electronic mail is described and the electronic mail transferred from the mail spool. .

[0023]

The above means has the following functions.

(1) The transmission information of each electronic mail is registered in the mail information storage unit, and the mail management unit searches the recipient item in the mail information storage unit to know the destination of each electronic mail. The spool operates so that only one mail body with separated transmission information needs to be stored.

(2) Since the item indicating the storage destination of the electronic mail is provided in the mail information storage unit, referring to the item, the mail is distributed and stored in the auxiliary storage device connected to the mail server via the communication path. Act as possible.

(3) When a plurality of media are combined in one e-mail, each media is treated as one file, so that the data of each media is combined into one mail file at the time of transmission or the data at the time of reception. It works so that the process of separating the

(4) Since the resend process is performed by sending only the send information of the electronic mail, the amount of data to be processed becomes smaller than that of resending the main body of the electronic mail.

(5) Since the file showing the outline of the electronic mail is registered in the mail information storage unit, when a plurality of mails are received at one time, the user can read the contents of the electronic mail in the overview file before referring to the contents of the electronic mail. It works so that you can check the contents intuitively.

(6) It operates so that the received mail and the comment can be processed independently. In addition, it operates so that only comments that meet certain conditions, such as comment writers, can be selectively displayed.

(7) Since the user can specify the storage destination of the received electronic mail, the received mails of all users accumulated in the auxiliary storage device of the mail server are distributed to the auxiliary storage devices connected by the communication path. Have an effect.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16. First, the system configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, and an example of mail transmission will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.
(Example 1) Referring to an example of receiving a mail in FIGS. 8 to 11 (Example 2) and the received mail in FIGS. 12 to 16,
Further, an example (third embodiment) of replying with a comment will be shown.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of the present invention. It is composed of a computer 120 called a mail server that manages the electronic mail 115, and a computer 140 called a client that requests access to the mail server 120 such as registration and reference of the electronic mail 115. The computers are connected by a communication path 135. Also,
A mail server 12 for storing e-mail 115
0 indicates a server side auxiliary storage device 100 and a client 14
A client side auxiliary storage device 160 is connected to 0.

The server side auxiliary storage device 100 has an area called a mail spool 105 for storing the electronic mail 115 sent from the client 140, in which the mail information storage section 110 and the electronic mail 115 are stored. The mail information storage unit 110 stores information necessary for sending and receiving the electronic mail 115, such as the destination and sender of each electronic mail 115.

The mail server 120 has a mail management unit 12
5. A server-side communication unit 130 is installed. The mail management unit 125 mainly performs data registration and update / search processing for the mail information storage unit 110. Server side communication unit 1
30 through the client 140 and the communication path 135,
Exchange data such as electronic mail 115.

The client 140 is equipped with a mail utility 150, a client side communication section 145 and an application program 155. The mail utility 150 is used when creating transmission information of the electronic mail 115 and when the user checks whether or not the electronic mail 115 has arrived. The client-side communication unit 145 exchanges data such as electronic mail 115 with the mail server 120 via the communication path 135. The application program 155 refers to distribution software such as a text editor or an image editor used to create the contents of the electronic mail 115.

The client side auxiliary storage device 160 receives the electronic mail 11 received from the mail server 120 and transferred.
5 and the transmission information of the electronic mail 115 are stored in the mail information file 165.

As an example of the development of the above system configuration, a system in which a plurality of clients 140 are connected on the communication path 135 and each client 140 makes an access request for the electronic mail 115 to the mail server 120 is considered.

FIG. 2 shows details of the mail utility 150. The mail utility 150 includes a mail information generation unit 200 that creates transmission information for the electronic mail 115.
Then, the e-mail 115 is checked to see if it has arrived, the e-mail 115 is transferred to the auxiliary storage device designated by the user, and the received e-mail 115 is referenced, and a comment is attached to the e-mail 115 and returned. A mail referencing unit 210 is installed.

Referring to FIG. 3, the electronic mail 11 according to the present invention.
5 shows the configuration. The e-mail 115 includes the mail file 300 that is the body thereof, the comment file 310 added to each mail file 300, and the e-mail 115.
It is composed of an outline file 305 showing an outline of. When one electronic mail 115 includes a plurality of media such as texts and images, the mail file 300 is created for each media. It is also considered to handle a plurality of mail files 300, which are the same medium, as one electronic mail 115. The comment file 310 is created when adding a comment to the received electronic mail 115 and returning it. The summary file 305 is the mail file 3
When creating 00, the user creates it with the application program 155 as necessary.

The transmission information 315 of the electronic mail 115 is handled without being included in the electronic mail 115. Therefore, the data handled in one transmission / reception of the electronic mail 115 is the electronic mail 115 including the main body, outline, and comment of the electronic mail, and the transmission information 315 including the data necessary for transmitting / receiving the electronic mail 115.

FIG. 4 shows details of the mail information storage unit 110. The mail information storage unit 110 has an electronic mail management table 400, a mail file management table 440, and a comment file management table 460. The electronic mail management table 400 includes an electronic mail name 405 indicating the title of the electronic mail 115, a list 410 of mail file names forming the electronic mail 115, a sender name 415 of the electronic mail 115, and a recipient name of the electronic mail 115. List 4
20, the date 425 of sending the e-mail 115, the importance 430 indicating the degree of urgency of the e-mail 115, the overview file name list 43 showing an overview of the e-mail 115
Register 5. A plurality of data can be registered in each item of the mail file list 410, the recipient list 420, and the summary file list 435. Separate each data with a comma or a space character.

In the mail file management table 440,
A mail file name 445, a storage destination spool name 450 indicating a mail spool name for storing the mail file 300,
A comment presence / absence 455 indicating whether or not a comment is attached to the mail file 300 is registered.

In the comment file management table 460, the comment file name 465 added when the e-mail 115 is returned and the name 47 of the sender who added the comment.
0, the date 475 of replying the electronic mail 115, the display position 480 indicating which position in the mail file 300 the attached comment corresponds to, and the information 485 indicating the comment display method are registered. Comment display position 480
Is indicated by a coordinate value or the like on the mail file 300. There are two methods for displaying the comment: a method of displaying with a mark such as an icon indicating that there is a comment when referring to the electronic mail 115, and a method of displaying the content of the comment in an overlapping manner on the referenced mail file 300. Display method item 485
In, the information that distinguishes these methods is registered. In addition,
The comment file management table 460 is created for each mail file 300 and the information is registered for each comment file 310.

FIG. 5 shows the mechanism of the mail transmission process. The user creates the mail file 300 that is the body of the electronic mail 115. The mail file 300 is created by the application program 155 running on the client-side computer 140. As the application program 155, distribution software such as a text editor, word processing software, image editor, voice editor, etc. can be considered. The medium of the mail file 300 is not limited to a specific data type. However, software that can display the data on a computer that receives the electronic mail 115 is required. It is also possible to incorporate a mechanism that can analyze and display various data in the mail system. Lotus CC: M
ail has this feature. Here, since there is no novelty, details of the function are omitted.

The created mail file 300 is temporarily stored in the client side auxiliary storage device 160. Similarly, the outline file 305 of the electronic mail 115 is created if necessary and stored in the client side auxiliary storage device 160.

Next, the user activates the mail information generation unit 200 and sends the mail file name and the e-mail 11 to be sent.
Set the necessary items at the time of transmission such as the destination of No. 5. The mail information generation unit 200 sends the transmission information 315 to the client side communication unit 145. The transmission information 315 is composed of various items registered in the mail information storage unit 110.

In the client side communication section 145, the mail file 300 and the summary file 3 are sent from the client side auxiliary storage device 160 based on the mail file name list 410 and the summary file name list 435 included in the transmission information 315.
Take out 05. Then, the mail file 300, the summary file 305, and the transmission information 315 are stored in the mail server 120.
Send to.

For data transmission / reception, a function provided by a communication protocol, which is set when a computer is connected through various communication paths 135, is used. For example, there are FTP commands used for file transfer between computers, and programs that use a language library having a communication function. Since this mechanism is not a new function, its explanation is omitted.

The data transmitted from the client side is received by the server side communication section 130. Server side communication unit 13
0 stores the sent mail file 300 and the summary file 305 in the mail spool 105, and the transmission information 3
15 is passed to the mail management unit 125.

The mail file 300 sent to the mail spool 105 is stored as it is. There is no classification for each receiving user in the conventional mail management.
Therefore, when there are a plurality of destinations, the same amount of data is not stored in the mail spool 105.
The difference is shown in FIG. The mail management unit 125 registers data in each item of the mail information storage unit 110 based on the transmission information 315 sent from the server side communication unit 130. With this, by referring to the information registered in the mail information storage unit 110, it becomes clear from whom the mail file 300 stored in the mail spool 105 is addressed to whom.

FIG. 7 shows the transmission information 315 of the electronic mail 115.
The example of a screen which sets is shown. The transmission information setting screen 700 has items for setting information necessary for transmitting the electronic mail 115. In the selected mail file item 705,
Register the list of mail file names to send. The outline file item 710 registers a file name in which an outline of the electronic mail 115 is written. A sender name of the electronic mail 115 is set in the sender name item 725. Date item 730
Displays the date and time when the electronic mail 115 is transmitted. This item automatically retrieves and displays the current date and time by the clock built into the computer. In the mail title item 735, set the title of the electronic mail 115,
The email name is 405. The storage destination item 740 specifies which spool is to be stored when there are a plurality of mail spools 105 managed by the mail server 120. Option item 745 informs the recipient how important the email 115 to send is. Here, "Reply required"
It is possible to set two items: "Urgent". In the recipient list item 750, the destination of the electronic mail 115 is set. The destination of the electronic mail 115 is registered in the destination list item 720 with a user name, and a necessary destination is designated from the destination and registered in the recipient list item 750.
As shown in the figure, multiple destinations can be designated.

After setting the above items, by pressing the send button 755, the mail file 300 and the summary file 30
5, the transmission information 315 is sent to the client side communication unit 145.

(Embodiment 2) An example of receiving the e-mail 115 transmitted by the method shown in Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described using 1. In the present invention, the reception process of the electronic mail 115 is divided into two processes. One is a process in which each user checks the arrival of the electronic mail 115 addressed to himself / herself. The other is a process of transferring the arrived electronic mail 115 to an auxiliary storage device designated by each user.

FIG. 8 shows the mechanism of the mail reception check processing for checking whether the user has received the electronic mail 115. First, the user inputs his / her user name to the mail receiving unit 205 on the mail receiving computer 140 which is a client. The mail receiving unit 205 sends the user name to the client side communication unit 145. The client-side communication unit 145 sends the sent user name to the server-side communication unit 130.

The mail server side passes the received user name to the mail management unit 125. The mail management unit 125 searches the recipient list item 420 of the electronic mail management table 400 based on the user name, retrieves the record including the user name, and sets it as the search result. When there is no record including the user name, a signal indicating that there is no electronic mail 115 addressed to the user is set as the search result. The search result is passed to the server side communication unit 130. The server-side communication unit 130 lists the summary file 43 included in the search result.
Based on 5, the summary file 3 from the mail spool 105
05 is taken out and transferred to the client side communication unit 145 together with the search result.

The client-side communication unit 145 sends the search result transferred from the mail server 120 to the mail receiving unit 205.
Pass to. Further, the summary file 305 is stored in the client side auxiliary storage device 160. The content of the search result is displayed on the mail receiving unit 205. If there is an e-mail 115 addressed to the entered user name, a list of e-mail names 405 is displayed, and if there is no e-mail name 405, a display to that effect is displayed.

FIG. 9 shows a mechanism for transferring the mail file 300 to the auxiliary storage device designated by the user after the reception check processing of the electronic mail 115 in FIG. Here, an example is shown in which the mail file 300 is transferred to the client side auxiliary storage device 160 connected to the computer 140 which is the client used by the user.

The mail receiving section 205 displays a list of the electronic mail names 405 addressed to the input user name. In addition, from the search result information obtained by the processing of FIG.
The mail file name 445 forming 15 is known. The user specifies the e-mail 115 to be retrieved from the list of e-mail names 405. It is also possible to specify a plurality of emails 115. The mail receiving unit 205 uses the mail file name 445 that constitutes the designated electronic mail 115.
Is sent to the client side communication unit 145. The client side communication unit 145 transfers the mail file name 445 to the server side communication unit 130.

The server-side communication section 130 sends the transferred mail file name 445 to the mail management section 125. Furthermore, the mail file name 44 from the mail spool 105
The mail file 300 of No. 5 is taken out and transferred to the client side communication unit 145.

The mail management unit 125 is the server side communication unit 1
Based on the mail file name 445 passed from 30, the mail information storage unit 110 and the mail spool 105 are updated. 2 depending on the number of recipients set in the recipient list item 420 of the email management table 400
Divided into street processing. If there is only one recipient, the record is deleted from the electronic mail management table 400 and the mail file 300 in the mail spool 105 is deleted. Further, the information in the mail file management table 440 and the comment file management table 460 regarding the deleted mail file 300 is also cleared. When there are a plurality of recipients, the user name input in FIG. 8 is deleted from the recipient list item 420, and nothing is done to the mail spool 105. By this process, when all the recipients of an e-mail 115 receive the e-mail 115, the corresponding mail file 300 in the mail spool 105 is received.
Then, the information of the mail file management table 440 and the comment file management table 460 related to the mail file 300 and the corresponding record of the electronic mail management table 400 are automatically cleared.

The client side communication unit 145 stores the mail file 300 transferred from the mail server 120 in the client side auxiliary storage device 160. And
The mail reception unit 205 is notified that the reception of the mail file 300 is completed. The mail receiving unit 205 notifies the user that the transfer processing of the mail file 300 is completed, and stores the search result information for the electronic mail 115 as the mail information file 165 in the client side auxiliary storage device 160. When referring to the transferred e-mail 115, information such as which mail file 300 the e-mail 115 is composed of can be obtained from the mail information file 165.

E-mail 115 according to FIG. 10 to FIG.
The example of a screen of the reception process of is shown. When the mail receiving unit 205 is activated, a window 1000 as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display. A column 1005 for inputting a user name is provided in the display window 1000. Enter your user name here. As the input method, there are a method of directly inputting with a keyboard or the like, and a method of registering the user names who use the computer in advance, displaying the list, and selecting and inputting his / her user name from the list.

Further, by designating the password after inputting the user name, there is no need to worry that another person may look into the electronic mail 115 addressed to himself, which leads to security protection.

After registration of the user name, if there is an electronic mail 115 addressed to the user, the time of listing of the electronic mail 115 is displayed. If not, a display indicating that the electronic mail 115 does not exist is displayed, and the processing of the mail receiving unit 205 ends.

FIG. 11 shows the mail list display screen 1100 when the electronic mail 115 for the user name registered in FIG. 10 exists. In the figure, a list of e-mails 115 addressed to registered users is displayed in the "mail list" window 1100 at the top. As a display item,
The sender name 415, the transmission date and time 425, the email title 405, and the email importance 430 are displayed. In the memory of the computer, all information related to the corresponding record in the mail information storage unit 110, which is the search result, is held.

At the lower part thereof, the display button 11 of the summary file 305 showing the contents of the electronic mail 115 more concretely.
10 is provided. When the electronic mail 115 is selected in the received mail list 1105, the button corresponding to the medium of the overview file 305 attached to the electronic mail 115 becomes accessible. By not pressing the button of the medium different from the medium of the attached summary file 305,
It is possible to determine at a glance what kind of medium outline file 305 is attached to the electronic mail 115. When each button 1110 of the summary file is pressed, the summary file 3
05 is displayed on the display. If the medium is text, the content of the electronic mail 115 is used in a form in which it is written in more detail than the title 405. In the case of voice, the content of the e-mail 115 is expressed by an announcement such as "It is the material of the XX meeting held in XX". For images,
It is most effective when the medium of the electronic mail 115 is an image. For example, by displaying a reduced image of the electronic mail 115, the contents can be grasped instantly.

Overview file 305 and received mail list 1
Based on the item displayed at 105, the user specifies the electronic mail 115 to be transferred. Received mail list 110
In the item of 5, select the e-mail 115, and the receive button 1
When 115 is pressed, the mail file 300 is transferred from the mail spool 105 to the client side auxiliary storage device 160.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an example of referring to the electronic mail 115 received in the second embodiment, adding a comment and replying.
2 to 16 will be described.

FIG. 12 shows the mechanism of the mail reference process. First, the mail reference unit 210 uses the mail information file 1 stored in the client side auxiliary storage device 160.
Based on 65, the list of the electronic mail 115 is displayed. The mail information file 165 includes the same items as the data registered in the mail information storage unit 110.

The user selects the electronic mail 115 to be referenced from the list. The mail reference unit 210 displays the mail file 300 corresponding to the selected electronic mail 115.
Is retrieved from the client side auxiliary storage device 160 and displayed on the display device.

Referring to FIG. 13, referring to the electronic mail 1
15 shows the mechanism of the processing of adding a comment and returning. First, the e-mail 11 to which a comment is added according to the procedure of FIG.
5 is displayed. Next, the comment file 310 is created. In the present invention, the comment file 310 and the mail file 300 are managed as separate files.

There are two possible methods for creating the comment file 310. One is a method of creating it with an application program 155 such as a text editor or an image editor and linking it with the mail file 300. The linked comment file 310 is displayed as a mark such as an icon when the mail file 300 is referenced.

Another method is to directly write in the displayed mail. For example, a method of displaying a mail file 300 of a text medium and inputting characters and pictures by handwriting in the display area can be considered. However, each comment is a different file from the mail file 300.

After creating the comment file 310, the mail reference unit 210 creates information indicating to which position in which mail file 300 the comment is linked, and passes it to the mail information generation unit 200. In the mail information generation unit 200, the transmission information 315 is created based on the setting method of the transmission information 315 described in the first embodiment, and is passed to the client side communication unit 145. When replying with a comment, information necessary for registration in the comment file management table 460 is included.

The client-side communication unit 145 uses the transmitted transmission information 315 to send data to the client-side auxiliary storage device 16
0 to comment file 310 and mail file 300
To the mail server side together with the transmission information 315. The processing on the mail server side is the same as the processing procedure in FIG.

E-mail 115 according to FIGS. 14 to 16
An example of a screen for replying with reference and comment is shown. Figure 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a screen 1400 for referring to the electronic mail 115. In the received mail list 1405 in the window, a list of the electronic mail 115 transferred by the user is displayed. Information required for the list is the mail information file 16
Stored in 5. At the bottom of the window, a button 1410 indicating the file form of the mail file 300 that constitutes the electronic mail 115 is prepared. A button corresponding to the medium of the mail file 300 can be accessed.
By pressing this button 1410, the e-mail 11
The mail file 300 of the accessed medium 5 is displayed.

FIG. 15 shows a mail file 3 in a text medium.
00 is an example. Mail file 3 on this screen 1500
The operation of referencing 00 and attaching a comment to the mail file 300 can be performed. The received text medium mail file 1505 is displayed in the window. Icons 1510, 1515, 1520 shown on the screen
Indicates that the comment file 310 created by the application program 155 is pasted.

The pasting is performed by designating the comment attachment position with an input device such as a mouse. An operation plan is shown. First, the comment attachment button 1545 is pressed. A list of files will be displayed. The user selects the comment file 310 from the list and specifies the attachment position on the mail reference screen 1500. The icon is displayed at the specified position. If you want to see the comments,
This is done by pressing these icons 1510, 1515, 1520. It is possible to distinguish the medium of each comment by the type of picture of each icon.

In the figure, the handwritten character 1 "Attention" in the center
Reference numeral 525 shows an example in which a comment is directly made to the mail file display area 1505. In this case, the comment file 310 is made into a file in the form of vector data composed of position coordinates of points forming a handwritten input character or image data obtained by cutting out a handwritten input portion.

Search button 1 for comments at the bottom of the window
At 530, 1535, and 1540, it is possible to display only the necessary comment based on the comment information. In this example, all the comments are displayed in the “display all comments” 1530. The "time history display" 1535 is used to display in the order in which the comments are added, or to specify that the comments up to a specific date are to be taken out. "Specify sender" 1
At 540, the sender of the comment can be identified and displayed. Information necessary for these searches is the sender name 470 and date 475 of the comment file management table 460.
The item is registered in the item No., and is stored in the mail information file 165 created when the mail is received.

When all the comments have been added to the mail file 300 displayed on this screen, the reply button 1
Press 550. Then, the comment information for this mail file 300 is generated, and the mail information generation unit 200
Is displayed on the screen of FIG. Further, this mail file name is registered in the selected mail file item 705 of FIG. The reply processing to the mail server side is performed by the send button 755 in FIG.

FIG. 16 shows a mail file 300 as an audio medium.
Is an example of. A graph 1620 showing a waveform of voice is displayed in the window 1600 so that the currently reproduced portion can be understood. Comment is "comment position" 1
As indicated by 610, it is designated by position coordinates for the waveform.
By changing the shape and color of the mark displayed at the comment position 1610, the comment media can be classified and displayed.

"Options during playback" on the right side of the window
In step 1615, when the voice mail is being reproduced, the comment is automatically displayed when the reproduction reaches the comment position.
If the comment is a text or an image, the content is displayed on the screen, and if the comment is a voice, the reproduction of the mail is interrupted and the voice of the comment is reproduced. Therefore, while the mail file 300 is being played, a comment such as "I think I am □□ about this matter" is automatically played to the content such as "XX is XX." Can be obtained.

Search button 1 for comments at the bottom of the window
The functions of 530, 1535 and 1540 are the same as in FIG. When the mail file 300 of the image medium is targeted, the display dimension of the image is two-dimensional, which is the same as the case of the text medium of FIG.

[0085]

According to the present invention, (1) since the amount of data stored in the mail spool is smaller than in the conventional case, the resources of the auxiliary storage device which secures the mail spool can be effectively used. In particular, when one e-mail is sent to a plurality of destinations, the number of stored e-mails is reduced from the number of destinations to one, and the consumption capacity of the auxiliary storage device is drastically reduced.

(2) The load of file access to one mail spool is reduced by managing the electronic mail in a distributed manner by using a plurality of mail spools. In addition, by dividing the mail spool for each medium such as text and image, a large capacity medium such as voice or image can be stored in the mail spool with a sufficient capacity of the auxiliary storage device, and a text spool can be stored in a mail spool with insufficient capacity. It is possible to secure a mail spool corresponding to the capacity of the auxiliary storage device, such as storing a small capacity medium. Further, by providing a mail spool for backup, it is possible to prevent data corruption of e-mail when the mail server fails.

(3) Since various media such as images and sounds are handled as electronic mail for each medium, the sent electronic mail can be referred to as it is by an application that can handle each medium. Further, since the e-mail can be referred to without going through the mail system, it is not necessary to make the version of the mail system of each computer common.

(4) Since the processing is completed by sending only the header information when the electronic mail is retransmitted, the processing time for sending the mail body and the network occupation time at the time of sending can be shortened.

(5) Since the file showing the outline of the electronic mail can be attached by a medium such as voice or image, it becomes easy to grasp the contents when the mail is received. Further, since the contents can be grasped by processing the summary file without processing the body of the email having a large data size, the user can prioritize the plurality of received emails and refer to the emails. . You can also do speedy email searches.

(6) Since the electronic mail and the comment are managed in different files, the editing work of quoting the part to be commented from the electronic mail is unnecessary. Further, it is possible to perform a comment search operation such as a display for each comment sender and a time history display with comments added.

(7) Since the received electronic mail can be stored in the auxiliary storage device designated by the user, the resources of the auxiliary storage device of the mail server can be saved. Further, by storing the electronic mail in the auxiliary storage device of the computer occupied by the user, the electronic mail can be referred to without accessing the mail server.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mail utility.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of an electronic mail.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mail information storage unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for sending an electronic mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method of managing electronic mail in a mail spool.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for setting transmission information of electronic mail.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of an electronic mail reception check.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for transferring a mail file.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for checking reception of an electronic mail.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting an electronic mail to be transferred.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for referring to an electronic mail.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for replying an electronic mail.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for referring to an electronic mail.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for referring to a mail file in a text medium.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for referring to a voice mail file.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: server side auxiliary storage device, 120: mail server
Reference numeral 140: client, 160: client side auxiliary storage device, 135: communication path, 150: mail utility.

Front page continued (72) Inventor Masahiro Hirose 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Inside Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor, Tatsuyuki Arao 12 890, Kashimada, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Factory Information Systems Division

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail for exchanging information within a computer and between computers connected by various networks,
A computer called a mail server that manages e-mail, a computer called a client that requests the mail server to send and receive e-mail, and a mail spool area on the auxiliary storage device that stores e-mail that is managed by the mail server. In a system having, a mail information storage unit for registering information necessary for sending and receiving e-mail such as e-mail destination and sender in a mail spool, a server-side communication unit for sending and receiving e-mail in a mail server, A mail management unit that manages the information registered in the mail information storage unit, a mail utility that creates e-mails in the client, and checks received mails.
An electronic mail management method, comprising: a client-side communication unit for transmitting and receiving electronic mail. 2. The electronic mail management method according to claim 1, wherein the text of the electronic mail and the header information portion describing the transmission information are managed as separate files. 3. The electronic mail management according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of mail spools for storing electronic mail are prepared, and a storage destination item for registering information of the storage destination mail spool is provided in the mail information storage section. Method. 4. When combining a plurality of media such as images and sounds into one electronic mail, each media is treated as one file, and one electronic mail is composed of a plurality of files. E-mail management method. 5. When resending an e-mail due to an error in the transmission information such as a destination error, the resending process is performed by transmitting only the header information containing the destination information etc., not the body of the e-mail. The electronic mail management method according to item 1. 6. The electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein when the user checks the electronic mail addressed to himself / herself, the outline of the electronic mail is shown not only by text but also by a medium such as voice or reduced image. Management method. 7. When adding a comment to a received electronic mail, each comment is treated as one file, and a comment file management table indicating which electronic mail each comment belongs to is provided in the mail information storage section. The electronic mail management method according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 8. After receiving the electronic mail, the storage destination of the electronic mail is not stored in an auxiliary storage device managed by a mail server,
2. The electronic mail management method according to claim 1, wherein the computer is connected to the mail server via a communication path and automatically transferred / stored in an auxiliary storage device designated by the user.