JPH1023178A - Communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device which can quickly find out the name of a communication destination having high use frequency by displaying the registered names of communication destinations in the order of higher use frequency of their addresses when the communication destinations are displayed on a list. SOLUTION: The transmission frequency having initial value set at 0 are added to the names and communication destination addresses which are previously registered by a user via an input device 5 and then stored in an HD (hard disk) 3 in the form of a communication destination list 3A. The transmission frequency are updated one by one with every execution of communication. When the transmission frequency are updated, a CPU 1 rearranges the list 3A in the order of higher transmission frequency. When the user requests the display of the list 3A via the device 5, the CPU 1 reads the list 3A out of the HD 3 and shows it on a display device 4 in the order of higher transmission frequency, i.e., higher using frequency. Thus, a communication device can quickly find out the name of a communication destination having high using frequency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device capable of communicating with a communication partner using electronic mail software, fax software using a fax modem, telephone software, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the case of using a personal computer to send e-mail using e-mail software, the name of the destination of the e-mail and the e-mail address of the destination connected to the network are input to the personal computer. . An image is transmitted by a fax machine or a personal computer using fax software. At this time, enter the fax number of the other party.

In such a communication device, a communication address, a fax number, a telephone number, and the like (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as a communication destination address) and a name of a communication partner are paired.
There has been proposed a communication device which is registered inside the device and displays a list (list) of the name and the communication destination address or only the name as necessary.

[0004] Further, there has been proposed an apparatus in which a desired address of a list display is selected to input a communication destination address without manual input.

[0005]

The display order of the names of the communication destinations in the registered list is one of the order in which the names are registered, the alphabetical order, and the alphabetical order. However, when the number of registrations is large, in order for the user to select the name of the communication destination to be frequently sent, the user has to switch the display of the page unit of the list or scroll the page to search for the desired communication destination. . As described above, the conventional apparatus has a problem that the name of a frequently sent destination cannot be easily and quickly selected.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication device that can quickly find a frequently used destination.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a communication destination list in which a plurality of sets of data in which a communication destination name, a communication destination address and its use frequency are associated with each other. Storage means (CP
U1, HD3), instruction means (input device 5) for instructing display of a communication destination list in the storage means, and display means for displaying at least some plural sets of the data in the use frequency order in accordance with the instruction. And a CPU 1 and a display device 4).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first aspect, a selection means (input device 5) for selecting one of a plurality of sets of data displayed on the display means; An information processing means (CPU) for obtaining a communication destination address corresponding to the selected data from the storage means;
1) and a communication means (communication I / O 6) for performing communication using the obtained communication destination address.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the second aspect, when the communication is performed by the communication means, the storage means updates the use frequency corresponding to the corresponding communication destination address. Features.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the third aspect, after updating the use frequency, the storage means stores the communication destination name, the communication destination address and the use thereof in the order of the use frequency. It is characterized in that the order of description of the frequency is updated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first aspect, the data displayed on the display means is a communication destination name.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first aspect, the data displayed on the display means is a communication destination address.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus according to the first aspect, the data displayed on the display means is a communication destination name, a communication destination address, and a use frequency thereof.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU, which controls the entire system shown in FIG. Reference numeral 2 denotes a system memory, which has a RAM and a ROM, and creates a system control program executed by the CPU 1 and data to be communicated, in this example, an e-mail letter in the system memory 2.

A hard disk storage device (HD) 3 stores mail communication software and a destination list 3A according to the present invention. The mail communication software has a function of creating an e-mail letter, a function of registering a destination, a function of displaying the destination list 3A, and a function of communicating with the destination.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a display device, which displays the communication destination addresses in the order of use in the display of the communication destination list as a process related to the present invention. Reference numeral 5 denotes a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard for inputting information. In the processing relating to the present invention, the name and communication address of the communication destination of the e-mail are input for registration. The input device 5 is also used to select an e-mail destination from the displayed list. The display screen can be scrolled according to the operation of the scroll key on the keyboard.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a communication interface (I / O) which transfers a letter of an e-mail created on the system memory 2 to a communication destination via the communication network 8 under the communication control of the CPU 1.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a bus which serves as a transfer path for instructions and data between the units 2 to 6.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the contents of the communication destination list 3A stored in the HD 3. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a name entry field, which describes the name of the communication destination. Reference numeral 22 denotes a communication destination address entry field. 23 is a use frequency description column. name,
The communication destination address and the frequency of use are associated with each other as a set of records. The description information in the description fields 21 and 22 is provided by the user, and the usage frequency is updated by one each time communication is performed. After this update, the communication destination list 3A is rearranged in the order of use frequency.

The communication processing performed using the communication destination list 3A will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Registration of communication destination) The processing procedure of FIG.
Is executed by In response to the user's menu display instruction from the input device 5, the CPU 1 reads out the menu image information (pop-up menu) stored in the HD 3 and displays it on the display device 4, and accepts the user's process selection. The user selects a communication destination registration process using the input device 5 (step S0). According to this selection, CP
U1 advances the procedure to step S10.

In the registration process itself, the user inputs a name and a communication destination address using the input device 5 in the same manner as in the prior art.
3 is realized. However, the difference from the related art is that the data stored in the HD 3 is stored in the communication destination list 3A of the HD 3 with the initial value “0” of the number of transmissions (also called a histogram) added to the name and the communication destination address. (Step S10 → S11).

(Transmission Processing) The user activates the processing procedure of FIG. 3 and selects a mode for creating a transmission document on the menu screen (step S0).

Basically, the transmission document is created on the system memory 2 by inputting text data from the keyboard of the input device 5 like a word processor. In addition, documents created by other applications, image data, draw data,
It is also possible to attach binary data such as a program to the sending document, and the creation processing can be performed in the same manner as in the related art (step S1).

The user inputs the display of the communication destination list to the input device 5.
Use to instruct. In this embodiment, the user instructs display by selecting a communication destination list from a pull-down menu. The CPU 1 reads out the names in the communication destination list 3A stored in the HD 3 in the order of description, that is, in the order of most frequently used, and displays them on the display screen (step S).
2, see FIG. 4).

The name display of FIG. 4 is scrolled as necessary, and the name of the person to be actually sent is selected by operating the input device (step S3). Thereafter, in response to a transmission instruction from the input device 5, the CPU 1 obtains a communication destination address corresponding to the selected name from the communication destination list 3A of the HD 3, and sends the communication I / O together with the transmission document on the system memory 2.
Deliver to / O6. The communication I / O 6 transmits a document to a communication destination by a communication process similar to the conventional one. (Step S4).

Thereafter, the CPU 1 increases the use frequency of the destination address 3A used for transmission by one. Thereafter, sorting (rearrangement processing) is performed on the description order of the destination address 3A, and the data is rearranged in the use frequency order (step S5).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when displaying the list of communication destinations, the registered names are displayed in the order of use frequency of the communication destination addresses. Therefore, the names with high use frequency are immediately acquired and transmitted. It can be performed.

The following example can be implemented in addition to this embodiment.

1) In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the present invention is suitable for a personal computer that performs communication using so-called electronic mail software. However, the present invention can be used for any system that can transmit electronic information to a specific party. For example, the present invention can be applied to a communication system such as a fax transceiver.

2) In this embodiment, when displaying the communication destination list, only the name of the other party is displayed. However, the actual mail address and the frequency of use are displayed together, or only the communication destination address is displayed. The same effect can be obtained.

3) In the present embodiment, the data writing position of the communication destination list 3A is rearranged according to the use frequency when the use frequency is updated. However, the rearrangement processing may be performed in the initial processing at the time of power activation or the initial processing at the time of activation in the processing procedure of FIG.

3) In the present embodiment, an instruction to display the communication destination list is issued so that only the communication destination list can be displayed.
Instructions for sending documents are divided. However, when it is desired to reduce the number of times of operation, automatic transmission can be performed regardless of a user's instruction when a communication destination name in the communication destination list is selected. In this case, the CPU 1 should confirm that the document to be transmitted has been created.

[0035]

As described above, claims 1 and 5,
According to the inventions of the sixth and seventh aspects, when displaying the registered communication destination list, the communication destination name, the communication address, or both of them are displayed in the order of use frequency, and the frequency of use is used. The obtained display data can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to select a communication destination address to be used for communication by selecting one of the display data.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the communication address is used for the communication, the frequency of use can be simultaneously read when reading the communication address, and the processing time for updating the frequency of use is reduced.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the order of description in the communication destination list is changed immediately after the use frequency is updated. Therefore, at the time of the next display, the data may be read out in the order of description. Shorter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of a communication destination list.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display of a communication destination list.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 CPU 2 System memory 3 HD 4 Display device 5 Input device 6 Communication I / O

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a communication destination list in which a plurality of sets of data in which a communication destination name, a communication destination address and its use frequency are associated with each other, and an instruction to display the communication destination list of the storage means. A communication device, comprising: an instruction unit; and a display unit that displays at least a plurality of sets of the data in the use frequency order according to the instruction. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein said selecting means selects one of a plurality of sets of data displayed on said display means, and a communication destination address corresponding to said selected data. The communication device further comprising: an information processing unit that obtains the information from the storage unit; and a communication unit that performs communication using the obtained communication destination address. 3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when communication is performed by said communication means, said storage means updates a use frequency corresponding to a corresponding communication destination address. . 4. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein after updating the usage frequency, the storage unit stores the communication destination name, the communication destination address and the description order of the usage frequency in the order of the usage frequency. A communication device for updating. 5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the data displayed on said display means is a communication destination name. 6. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the data displayed on said display means is a communication destination address. 7. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the data displayed on said display means is a communication destination name, a communication destination address, and a frequency of use thereof.