JP2003288446A - Electronic document distribution device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic document distribution device and method for improving the preservation rate of electronic documents. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic document distributor 20 notices that there is an electronic document 24 to be distributed to a user 10 via an electronic mail 22, and when the user 10 downloads and stores the electronic document 24 in a PC 11, points corresponding to the kind of the stored electronic document 24 are applied and added to/preserved in cumulative point data 41a corresponding to destinations in a database 41. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic document distribution apparatus and an electronic document distribution method, and more particularly to a user (service point or the like) when a user downloads and saves an electronic document notified by electronic mail. ) Is added to the electronic document delivery apparatus and the electronic document delivery method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electronic documents have not been recognized as legal documents, and legal documents have been issued exclusively by paper prints. However, since the comprehensive IT document law, such as "Law concerning the development of related laws for the use of information and communication technology related to the delivery of documents," has come into effect, the delivery of documents by electronic documents is legally permitted. It was

However, the problem is that some electronic document distributors have to store electronic documents in the server for a long period of five years if they cannot confirm that the recipients have stored them in their discs. . Further, even if the recipient can confirm that the electronic document is stored, in the case of a general-purpose document, the electronic document cannot be deleted from the server unless all the users store it. Therefore, even if the delivery system can confirm the saving of the electronic document, the electronic document cannot be deleted from the server if the recipient side is not aware of it and the document is not saved. Therefore, the storage cost for storing the document in the server is high, and if the storage period is long, the document is revised and version management becomes necessary. These costs and troublesome management place a great burden on the electronic document distributor.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic document delivery apparatus and an electronic document delivery method capable of improving the retention rate of electronic documents. To provide.

[0005]

The present invention is to solve such a problem, and the invention of claim 1 of the present invention is a database for recording a destination of an electronic document and point data associated with each destination. An e-mail creating means for creating an e-mail including the name of the electronic document to be delivered and information on points associated with the electronic document; and the e-mail created by the e-mail creating means to a predetermined destination. Electronic mail delivery means for delivering, electronic document sending means for sending the electronic document in response to a request to send the electronic document from the terminal device that received the electronic mail, and the electronic document is stored in the terminal device. When I confirmed that,
An electronic document delivery device, comprising: a point writing unit that adds points associated with the electronic document to point data associated with a corresponding destination in the database.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention relates to a procedure for recording the destination of an electronic document and the point data associated with each destination in a database, the name of the electronic document to be delivered and the electronic document associated with the name. An email creating procedure for creating an email containing point information, an email delivering procedure for delivering the email created by the email creating procedure to a predetermined destination, and a terminal device receiving the email. In response to the electronic document transmission request from the electronic document transmission procedure for transmitting the electronic document, and when confirming that the electronic document is stored in the terminal device,
And a point writing procedure of adding points associated with the electronic document to point data associated with the corresponding destination in the database.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Conceptual explanation of the electronic mail delivery apparatus of the present invention] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation concept of the electronic document delivery apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the electronic document distribution device 21 is
An electronic mail 22 is sent to the personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 11 of the user 10 who has registered as a member in advance (arrow line a).

The electronic mail 22 notifies the user 10 of the following message. -Electronic document 2 requested by the electronic document delivery requester 100
4 is being delivered. -URL (Web page address) of the Web server 23 for distribution. -The number of points given when the electronic document 24 is downloaded and saved. FIG. 5 shows an example of the electronic mail 22.

The user 10 sends an electronic mail 2 from the PC 11.
The Web server 23 for electronic document distribution described in 2 is accessed (arrowed line b). Then, the web page of the web server 23 is opened, and from this web page, the electronic document 2
4 is downloaded and saved in the PC 11 (arrow line c). W for downloading the electronic document 24 in FIG.
The screen example of an eb page is shown. In FIG. 7, when the “XX document” 26 in the unsaved document column is clicked, the download of the “XX document” 26 is started. From the Web page of the server 101 of the electronic document delivery requester 100,
The electronic document 102 may be downloaded to the PC 11.

On the other hand, in the electronic document distribution device 21, it is confirmed that the electronic document 24 has been downloaded to the PC 11 of the user 10, and the points (service points etc.) corresponding to the type of the electronic document 24 are set as the destinations in the database 41. The cumulative point data 41a is cumulatively added.

As described above, the electronic document distribution device 2 of the present invention
1, the user 10 uses the Web of the electronic document delivery device 21.
Downloading the electronic document 24 from the page gives service points. Accordingly, the user 10 can be motivated to actively download and save the notified electronic document 24, and the saving rate of the electronic document 24 is improved.

[Description of Function and Data Structure of Electronic Document Distribution Device] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the function and data structure of the electronic document distribution device of the present invention. Hereinafter, each function (means) in FIG. 2 will be described.

The electronic mail creating means 31 has "the document name of the electronic document 24 requested by the electronic document delivery requester 100 for delivery" and "information about the number of points that can be acquired when the electronic document 24 is saved", This is a means for creating the electronic mail 22 for notifying the user 10 of "information on the URL for downloading the electronic document 24".

The electronic mail delivery means 32 is means for delivering the electronic mail 22 created by the electronic mail creation means 31 to the user 10 who is the destination specified by the electronic document delivery requester 100.

The electronic document transmitting means 33 is means for receiving a download request for the electronic document 24 from the PC 11 of the user 10 and transmitting the data of the electronic document 24 to the PC 11 of the user 10. In this example, the electronic document 24 is downloaded via the web page of the web server 23.

The download confirmation means 34 is the user 1
It is a means for confirming that the electronic document 24 has been downloaded to the PC 11 of 0.

The point writing means 35 is used for the electronic document 24.
This is a means for giving points according to the type of the downloaded electronic document 24 to the user 10 who has downloaded, and adding and recording the points to the destination-to-cumulative point information 47 in the database 41.

The delivery request electronic document receiving means 36 receives information such as a list of delivery destinations, delivery time / period, electronic document 24 to be delivered, etc. from the server 101 of the electronic document delivery requester 100, and stores it in the database 41. This is means for recording as the distribution request electronic document information 43.

Further, the following information is recorded in the database 41. The member information 42 is information that records the personal information, the user ID, the password, etc. of the user 10 who has registered as a member to receive the service provided from the electronic document distribution device 21.

The delivery request electronic document information 43 is transmitted from the server 101 of the electronic document delivery requester 100, the list of delivery destinations, the delivery time / period, and the electronic document 24 to be delivered.
It is information that records such as.

The delivery management information 44 is recorded with delivery management information as to when and where the electronic document 24 to be delivered is notified.

The distribution history information 45 is information recording the distribution history of the electronic mail 22. The download history information 46 is the PC 11 of the user 10.
It is the information that records the download request from and the history of download results.

The destination-to-cumulative point information 46 is information in which points (service points, etc.) given to the user 10 who downloaded the electronic document 24 are cumulatively added for each user (destination).

[System Configuration Example of Electronic Document Delivery Device] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a system configuration example of the electronic document delivery device, and shows only a portion directly related to the present invention.

In FIG. 3, 25 is a communication network 1.
And 40 are database servers (DB servers), 50 is an application server, 51 is a processing program unit in the application server 50, and 60 is a Web server for distributing electronic documents. . The database 41 is shown in FIG.
Is the same as in.

Further, the processing program section 51 in the application server 50 includes the following processing sections. The electronic mail creation processing unit 52 displays the “document name of the electronic document 24 requested by the electronic document delivery requester 100 for delivery”,
E-mail 2 for notifying the user 10 of "information on the number of points that can be acquired when the electronic document 24 is saved" and "information on the URL for downloading the electronic document 24"
2 is a processing unit for creating 2 (see FIG. 5).

The electronic mail delivery processing unit 53 is a processing unit for delivering the electronic mail 22 created by the electronic mail creation processing unit 52 to the PC 11 of the user 10 having a predetermined destination.

The download confirmation processing unit 54 is a processing unit for confirming that the electronic document 24 has been downloaded to the PC 11 of the user 10.

The point writing processing unit 55 uses the electronic document 2
4 is a processing unit for giving points according to the type of the downloaded electronic document 24 to the user 10 who has downloaded No. 4 and adding and recording the points to the destination-to-cumulative point information 47 in the database 41.

The delivery request electronic document reception processing section 56 receives information such as a list of delivery destinations, delivery time / period, electronic document 24 to be delivered from the server 101 of the electronic document delivery requester 100, and the database 41. Is a processing unit for recording as the distribution request electronic document information 43 in the.

A Web server 6 for distributing electronic documents
The processing program unit 61 of 0 includes the following processing units.

The web page display processor 62 mainly performs the following two web page display processes. (A) A Web page for displaying an electronic document list for selecting an electronic document to be downloaded when the electronic document 24 is downloaded (see FIG. 7). (B) A web page for explaining the electronic document delivery device 21 and accepting membership applications.

When the electronic document 24 to be downloaded is selected on the Web page shown in FIG. 7, the electronic document transmission processing unit 64 extracts the electronic document 24 from the database 41 and transmits it to the PC 11 of the user 10. Perform processing to

[Flow of Operation in Electronic Document Delivery Device]
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the flow of operations in the electronic document distribution device. Hereinafter, the electronic document distribution device 21
The flow of operations between the side and the user's PC 11 side will be described.

(1) The user 10 who wants to use the service provided by the electronic document delivery apparatus 21 accesses the electronic document delivery apparatus 21 from the PC 11 (step S1), and the Web
Open the page (steps S2 and S3).

(2) The user 10 applies for membership registration on the Web page (step S4). User 10
Member information (e-mail address, address, name, etc.) is registered in the database 41 (step S5). At the time of member registration, a user ID and a password are issued (step S6), and the PC 11 of the user 10 is notified. The PC 11 of the user 10 stores the notified user ID and password (step S7).

(3) User 1 from electronic document delivery device 21
The electronic mail 22 is transmitted to the PC 11 of 0. With this electronic mail 22, the “document name of the electronic document 24 requested by the electronic document delivery requester 100 for delivery” and the “electronic document 24
Information on the number of points that can be earned if you save
The user 10 is notified of "URL information for downloading the electronic document 24" (steps S8, S).
9). FIG. 5 shows an example of “e-mail”.

(4) The user 10 clicks the URL described in the electronic mail 22 illustrated in FIG.
The server 60 (Web server 23 in FIG. 1) is accessed.

(5) The input screen for the user ID and password shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. The password is entered on this screen (step S10). This step S
It is also possible to omit 10.

(6) When the user inputs the ID and password and logs in, the electronic document list screen illustrated in FIG. 7 is displayed. When "XX document" 26 in the unsaved document column is clicked on the electronic document list screen, the corresponding document is downloaded from the Web server 60 of the electronic document distribution device 21 to the PC 11 (step S11).

(7) The electronic document delivery device 21 records the history information of the electronic document 24 downloaded by the user's PC 11 (step S12). Further, points (scores) corresponding to the type of the electronic document 24 downloaded by the user 10 are added to the destination-to-cumulative point information 47 in the database 41 and recorded as points newly acquired by the user 10 (step). S13).

(8) Distribution of the electronic mail (step S
The steps from 8) to addition of points to the database 41 (step S13) are repeated each time the electronic document delivery apparatus 21 sends a delivery notification of the electronic document 24 to the PC 11 of the user 10 by the email 22.

(9) When the points are accumulated to some extent, the user 10 can be provided with a service such as sending a prize according to the accumulated points (steps S14 and S15). It should be noted that the provider of the service such as sending of the prize is either the electronic document distributor 20 or the electronic document distribution requester 100.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the processing program section 51 and the processing program section 61 in the electronic document distribution device 21 shown in FIG. 3 may be realized by dedicated hardware. Of course, this processing program part has a memory and a CPU (central processing unit).
It may be configured by a general-purpose information processing device such as, and realizes the function of the processing unit by loading and executing a program (not shown) for realizing the function of the processing unit. In addition, this electronic document delivery device 21
It is assumed that an input device, a display device, etc. (none of which is displayed) are connected as peripheral devices. Here, the input device refers to an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse. A display device is a CRT (Cathode Ray Tub).
e) and liquid crystal display devices.

Further, the processing program section 51 in FIG.
Also, a program for realizing the function of the processing program section 61 is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded in this recording medium is read into a computer system and executed to execute the electronic document distribution of the present invention. The processing required for the device may be performed. In addition,
The "computer system" here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

The "computer-readable recording medium" means a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk,
A portable medium such as a ROM or a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording medium"
Is a communication line that holds a program dynamically for a short period of time, such as a communication line for transmitting the program through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line.
(Transmission medium or transmission wave), such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that serves as a server or a client in that case, that holds a program for a certain period of time is also included. Further, the above-mentioned program may be a program for realizing a part of the above-mentioned functions, and a program that can realize the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system, that is, a so-called difference file (difference file). Program).

Further, the electronic document distribution apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned illustrated example, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0050]

As described above, in the electronic document distribution device according to the first aspect, the user is notified by e-mail that there is an electronic document to be distributed, and the user downloads and saves the electronic document. In that case, since points are added according to the type of electronic document saved,
This can motivate the recipient of the e-mail to actively download and save the notified electronic document, increasing the electronic document retention rate. Further, since the storage rate of electronic documents increases, the management cost of unsaved documents on the electronic document distributor side can be reduced.

Further, in the electronic document delivery method according to the second aspect, the user is notified by e-mail that there is an electronic document to be delivered, and when the user downloads and saves the electronic document, it is saved. Since points are given according to the type of electronic document, this can motivate the recipient of the e-mail to actively download and save the notified electronic document. The rate goes up. Further, since the storage rate of electronic documents increases, the management cost of unsaved documents on the electronic document distributor side can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an operation concept of an electronic document distribution device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a function and a data structure of the electronic document distribution device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a system configuration example of an electronic document distribution device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a flow of operations in the electronic document distribution device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an ID / password input screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic document list screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 communication network 10 users 11 Personal computer (PC) 20 Electronic Document Distributor 21 Electronic Document Delivery Device 22 Email 23 Web server 24 electronic documents 31 E-mail creation method 32 E-mail delivery method 33 Electronic Document Transmission Means 34 Download Confirmation Method 35 point writing means 36 Delivery Request Electronic Document Receiving Means 41 Database 42 Member information 43 Delivery request electronic document information 44 Delivery management information 45 Delivery history information 46 Download history information 47 Destination-to-cumulative point information

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A database for recording a destination of an electronic document and point data associated with each destination, and an electronic mail including a name of the electronic document to be distributed and information of points associated with the electronic document are created. An e-mail creating unit, an e-mail delivering unit that delivers the e-mail created by the e-mail creating unit to a predetermined destination, and a request to send the electronic document from a terminal device that receives the e-mail. An electronic document transmitting means for transmitting the electronic document, and when it is confirmed that the electronic document is stored in the terminal device, the point associated with the electronic document is associated with the corresponding destination in the database. And a point writing means for adding to the point data. 2. A procedure for recording a destination of an electronic document and point data associated with each destination in a database, and an electronic mail including a name of an electronic document to be distributed and information on points associated with the electronic document. An e-mail creation procedure for creating an e-mail, an e-mail delivery procedure for delivering the e-mail created by the e-mail creation procedure to a predetermined destination, and a request to send the electronic document from the terminal device that received the e-mail. In accordance with the electronic document transmission procedure for transmitting the electronic document, when confirming that the electronic document is stored in the terminal device, the point associated with the electronic document, to the corresponding destination in the database And a point writing procedure for adding to the associated point data.