JP2009217520A - Related mail deletion system and related mail deletion program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for automatically extracting a plurality of pieces of E-mail related to one another and to delete them altogether. <P>SOLUTION: A related mail deletion system 10 is provided with a display 18, an input device 20, a mail storage part 14, and a control unit 12. The control unit 12 executes a processing for generating a main picture 30, provided with a mail list display column 34 and displaying it to the display 18; a processing for extracting related mail provided with a subject title which has relevance to a subject title of a user selection mail from the mail storage part 14, when a "related mail deletion" button 44 is clicked on in a state where E-mail is selected on the main screen 30; a processing for generating a deletion check picture 60, provided with the list display part 61 of the related mail and a selection box 62 and displaying it to the display 18; a processing for deleting from a reception folder of the mail storage part 14 the user selection mail and the related mail whose deletion has been checked; and a processing for storing a copy of mail which is to be deleted in a waste bin folder. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a related mail deletion system and a related mail deletion program, and more particularly to a technique for deleting a series of e-mails related to the e-mail collectively when deleting a specific e-mail.

  At present, e-mail has become an indispensable communication tool, but on the other hand, there is an increasing number of situations where it is troubled to process a large amount of e-mail received daily. The most important one is spam mail (spam mail), and measures can be taken on the server side and the client side respectively.

For example, in Non-Patent Document 1, by setting a deletion condition (transmission address, subject, reception address, etc.) on the mail server side, an email that matches the condition is automatically deleted from the user's mailbox. A method is described. As a result, even when the user accesses the mail server from a client terminal such as a PC, an e-mail that matches the deletion condition is not received. In Non-Patent Document 2, by setting the same deletion condition on the mail program set up on the client terminal side, it is automatically moved to the recycle bin at the moment when an email matching the condition is received. Is described.
Automatic mail deletion setting-[Simple version] Internet URL: http://www.ocn.ne.jp/mailon/menu/p-1-8a.html Search date: February 13, 2008 ■ The 60th Internet URL to automatically delete junk mails that always come: http://www.724685.com/weekly/qa030212.htm Search date: February 13, 2008

  By taking the above measures, it is possible to eliminate in advance the emails that are not desired from the beginning, and it can be expected to ease the situation where the receiving folder is filled with junk mails.

  However, there are electronic mails that are important for the user until a certain period of time, but are unnecessary after that. For example, emails may be exchanged many times with a business partner to adjust the schedule, and it is necessary to put each email in the receiving folder so that it can be confirmed immediately until the end of the meeting. However, after the meeting is over, you don't need to keep it in your receiving folder, but rather you should sort out the series of emails you have received so far to avoid confusion with other important matters.

  If you are a meticulous user, you can regularly look back at the receiving folder and delete unnecessary emails frequently, but if a series of emails are sent many times later, It is not easy to find the related e-mail in the receiving folder, and even if the sort function or search function provided in the e-mail program is used, the user is forced to take considerable time. In addition, it is possible to delete unnecessary mail on the receiving folder all at once using the batch deletion function of the e-mail program, but there is a risk that important e-mail will be involved if the deletion condition is set incorrectly. Generally not used.

  The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems related to e-mails, and can automatically extract a plurality of mutually related e-mails and delete them together. The purpose is to provide technology.

  In order to achieve the above object, the related mail deletion system according to claim 1 is stored in the display, the input means, the mail storage means for storing the electronic mail received from the mail server, and the mail storage means. Generate a screen with a mail list display field for displaying a list of e-mails, and display a means for displaying on the display, and request deletion of related mails with a specific e-mail selected on the screen When an input is made, a related mail extracting means for extracting a related mail having a subject relevant to the subject of the user-selected mail from the mail storage means, and a deletion confirmation screen displaying a list of the related mail are displayed. A means for generating and displaying on the display, a user-selected email and a deletion confirmation input through the deletion confirmation screen. Related mail that is being characterized by including means for deleting from the mail storage means. The “mail storage means for storing the e-mail received from the server” corresponds to, for example, a “reception folder” provided in the hard disk of the computer by an e-mail program. In addition, the above “relevant subject” excludes fixed character strings such as “Re:” in the case of reply and “Fw:” in the case of forwarding in addition to the case where the subject is completely matched. It means that the remaining character strings match.

  The related mail deletion system according to claim 2 is the system according to claim 1, and further includes a deletion target mail for copying the user selection mail and the related mail deleted from the mail storage means to another storage means. It is characterized by having moving means. The “other storage means” corresponds to a “trash box folder” provided in a hard disk of a computer by an e-mail program, for example.

  The related mail deleting system according to claim 3 is the system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the related mail extracting means relates only to an e-mail having the same transmission address as the transmission address of the user-selected mail. It is characterized by being extracted as email.

  The related mail deleting system according to claim 4 is the system according to claims 1 to 3, further comprising means for generating an aggregate stored mail in which a predetermined e-mail address is set in a destination field, and the user-selected mail And a means for extracting the text described in the body of the related mail and inserting it into the body of the aggregated stored mail, and a means for transmitting the aggregated stored mail.

  The related mail deletion system according to claim 5 is the system according to claim 4, further extracting a file attached to the user-selected mail and the related mail and inserting the file as an attached file of the aggregated storage mail It is characterized by having attachment means.

  The related mail deleting system according to claim 6 is the system according to claims 1 to 3, further comprising means for displaying an aggregated mail editing screen on the display, and the text of the user-selected mail and related mail. And a means for extracting the inserted text and inserting it into the text editing field of the aggregated stored mail editing screen.

  The related mail deleting system according to claim 7 is the system according to claim 6, further extracting a file attached to the user-selected mail and the related mail, and displaying the file in the file attachment field on the aggregated stored mail editing screen. It is characterized by having a file attachment means for insertion.

  The related mail deleting system according to claim 8 is the system according to claim 5 or 7, and further, when the file attachment means extracts a plurality of the same attached files, any one attached file (for example, It is characterized in that only a file attached to an e-mail with the latest transmission date and time is inserted. The identity between the attached files is determined by, for example, the file name of each attached file. Alternatively, it is possible to determine the identity more strictly based on the file name + data size.

  The related mail deletion program according to claim 9 is a list of e-mails stored in the e-mail storage means, comprising a display, an input means, and a computer comprising e-mail storage means for storing e-mails received from a mail server. A screen with a mail list display field for displaying the message is generated and displayed on the display. When a specific e-mail is selected on the screen, an input requesting deletion of the related mail is made. A means for extracting a related mail having a subject relevant to the subject of the user-selected mail from the mail storage means, a means for generating a deletion confirmation screen in which the related mail is displayed as a list, and displaying it on the display , The user selected email and the related email for which deletion confirmation was entered through the deletion confirmation screen above Is characterized in that to function means as, for deleting from Lumpur storage means.

  According to the related mail deleting system described in claim 1 and the related mail deleting program described in claim 9, one e-mail selected by the user and another e-mail having relevance in the subject are automatically extracted. Therefore, the user can easily delete a plurality of e-mails that are no longer necessary.

  The related mail deleting system according to claim 2 has a mechanism in which the mail to be deleted is copied to other storage means, so even if important e-mails are deleted by mistake, It will be possible to revive later.

  According to the related mail deletion system described in claim 3, since only the e-mail related to the same sender as the sender of the user-selected mail is extracted as the related mail, the deletion candidates displayed on the confirmation screen are set in advance. It becomes possible to narrow down.

  According to the related mail deletion system described in claim 4, an aggregated storage mail reflecting the contents of the deleted user selection mail and the related mail is automatically generated, and a predetermined electronic mail address (for example, the user's own mail) Therefore, the contents of a plurality of deleted e-mails can be stored together in one e-mail.

  According to the related mail deleting system described in claim 6, the user can select the deleted user selection mail and the contents of the related mail, and the aggregated stored mail editing screen is automatically generated and displayed on the display. If it is sent to a predetermined destination (for example, the user's own e-mail address) as it is or after making necessary corrections, the contents of the deleted e-mails can be received by receiving them later. Can be stored together in one e-mail. Note that the user can also use it as a record by moving it to a draft (draft) folder instead of actually sending the aggregated mail.

  According to the related mail deleting system described in claims 5 and 7, it is possible to collectively store the deleted user selection mail and the attached file of the related mail as a part of the aggregate storage mail. Further, according to the related mail deletion system described in claim 8, it is possible to narrow down the same attached file to one.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a related mail deletion system 10 according to the present invention, which includes a control unit 12, a mail storage unit 14, a display 18, an input device 20 such as a mouse and a keyboard, and communication control. A device 22 is provided.

  The control unit 12 corresponds to a CPU of a PC, for example, and executes various processes described later by operating according to the OS set up on the hard disk and a dedicated e-mail program. The mail storage unit 14 is provided in the hard disk of the PC. The mail storage unit 14 is provided with a plurality of folders (reception folder, transmission folder, trash folder, etc.) having a hierarchical structure. The communication control device 22 corresponds to a broadband modem having a function of connecting to a communication network such as the Internet via a broadband line such as ADSL or FTTH.

  Hereinafter, the processing procedure of related mail batch deletion in the system 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the user starts an e-mail program on the PC (S10), as shown in FIG. 3, a main screen 30 of the e-mail program is displayed on the display 18 (S12). The main screen 30 includes a mail folder display field 32, a mail list display field 34, an e-mail text display field 36, and a group of buttons for inputting various commands. In the mail folder display field 32, folders provided in the mail storage unit 14 are displayed in a hierarchy.

  When the user clicks the “Receive” button 40 to request reception of an e-mail (S14), the control unit 12 connects to a pre-set mail server via the communication control device 22 (S16). Then, the unreceived e-mail accumulated in the user's mailbox is received and stored in the reception folder of the mail storage unit 14 (S18). Next, the control unit 12 extracts information such as the subject, sender, and transmission date / time of the received electronic mail from the header, and adds it as a new electronic mail to the mail list display field 34 (S20).

  On the other hand, the user selects the electronic mail 42 to be read by paying attention to the subject and the sender item, and reads the text displayed in the text display field 36. If it is determined from the contents of the e-mail 42 that related mail including the e-mail should be deleted at once, a request to delete the related mail is made. For example, when the content of the e-mail 42 selected by the user is a thank-you letter for the meeting made on the previous day, the e-mail (hereinafter referred to as “user selection e-mail”) and the related e-mail preceding this are not required after today. Therefore, the user clicks the “delete related mail” button 44 while highlighting the user-selected mail 42 in the mail list display field 34.

  Upon receiving the related mail deletion request from the user (S22), the control unit 12 displays a related mail deletion setting screen on the display 18 (S24). As shown in FIG. 4, the related mail deletion setting screen 46 is provided with a check box 52 of “restrict to this sender”. By checking this box, the user can extract related mail to be extracted. Can be limited to the same sender as the user-selected mail, but it is not checked by default.

  The user who has determined that there is no problem with the default setting clicks the “OK” button 56. In response to this, the control unit 12 (S26) searches the received folder in the mail storage unit 14 using the subject of the user-selected mail as a key, and extracts other electronic mails having relevance in the subject (S28). For example, if the subject of the user-selected email is “Re: Meeting Schedule”, not only emails with the exact same subject but “Meeting Schedule” without “Re:” indicating a reply or “ Emails with the subject line “Fw: Schedule” with “Fw:” are also extracted as related emails.

  Next, the control unit 12 generates a deletion confirmation screen for the user-selected mail and its related mail and displays it on the display 18 (S30). FIG. 5 shows an example of the deletion confirmation screen 60. The user-selected mail 42 and four e-mails having “Meeting schedule” or “Re: Meeting schedule” in the subject are listed as deletion candidates. The list display unit 61 is provided.

  On the other hand, the user pays attention to the character string “KYOKO ITO” described in the item of the sender, and checks the selection box 62 of the electronic mail that is truly related to the user selection mail. Next, the user clicks the “select deletion” button 64 and inputs deletion confirmation for each checked e-mail.

  In response to this, the control unit 12 (S31) deletes the emails to be deleted (the user selection email and the two related emails that the user confirmed to delete) from the received folder of the email storage unit 14 (S32), respectively. Is stored in the trash folder (S33). As a result, although not shown, the user-selected mail 42 and the two related mails are deleted from the mail list display field 34 on the main screen 30 of the e-mail program. However, even though “delete” actually means that the e-mail is only moved from the receiving folder to the recycle bin folder, it is possible to restore each e-mail even if the user accidentally confirms the deletion. Can do.

  As described above, the control unit 12 automatically extracts other e-mails related to the user-selected mail and the subject as related mails. Therefore, the user selects one e-mail and deletes the related mail. By making a request, other relevant emails can be deleted all at once.

  Of course, when determining whether or not there is a relevance between e-mails based only on the subject, there is a possibility that other unrelated e-mails may be extracted as related e-mails. Since the deletion target can be selected via the URL, it is possible to prevent a necessary electronic mail from being deleted accidentally.

  When the user has turned on the radio button 66a of “consolidate save (with attached file)” in the aggregate save selection field 66 of the delete confirmation screen 60 (S34 / YES), the control unit 12 edits the aggregate save mail. A screen is generated and displayed on the display 18 (S36). FIG. 6 shows an example of the aggregated saved mail editing screen 68. The user's own e-mail address is inserted in the destination column 69, and “[aggregation]: meeting schedule” is described in the subject column 70. ing. In the body text editing field 71, the texts described in the body text fields of the user-selected mail and the related mail are pasted as they are in the order of transmission date and time. Further, in the file attachment field 72, the attachment file of each e-mail confirmed to be deleted by the user is pasted as it is.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating the aggregated stored mail editing screen 68. First, the control unit 12 uses the user's own email address set in the email program as the destination of the consolidated stored mail editing screen 68. It inserts in the column 69 (S36-01). Next, the control unit 12 extracts the subject of the first e-mail (the e-mail with the oldest transmission date) from among the e-mails that the user confirmed to delete (S36-02). The added character string is inserted into the subject field 70 of the aggregated save mail edit screen 68 (S36-03). Next, the control unit 12 extracts the text in the body column of each deletion target mail and combines them in the order of the transmission date and time (S36-04). Next, the control unit 12 inserts this into the body text editing field 71 of the aggregated stored mail editing screen 68 (S36-05). Next, the control unit 12 extracts the attached file of each deletion target mail (S36-06) and inserts it in the file attachment field 72 of the aggregated stored mail editing screen 68 (S36-07).

  The user can make necessary corrections to the aggregated stored mail editing screen 68. For example, the destination can be changed to another e-mail address of the user, or the destination can be added by clicking the “destination” button 73, the “Cc:” button 74, or the “Bcc:” button 75. In addition, the subject name can be changed to another character string, and duplicate descriptions in the text editing field 71 can be deleted. Furthermore, if there are duplicate attachments with the same content, a right-click menu may be opened with an unnecessary attachment specified and “Delete attachment” selected. The user who has finished editing the aggregated stored mail clicks the “send immediately” button 76. Alternatively, after the “send later” button 77 is clicked, the “send” button 78 on the main screen 30 is clicked.

  The control unit 12 that has received this transmission request (S38 in FIG. 2) transmits the aggregated stored mail to the user's mail server (S40), and then stores the copy in the transmitted folder of the mail storage unit 14 (S42). . As a result, the user can check the contents of the above-mentioned aggregated stored mail at any time by clicking the transmitted folder on the main screen 30. When the “Receive” button 40 is clicked on the main screen 30, the aggregated stored mail addressed to the user is transmitted from the mail server. As a result, the consolidated stored mail can be confirmed in the reception folder. Of course, if an appropriate distribution rule is set in the e-mail program in advance, it can be moved to an arbitrary folder simultaneously with the reception of the aggregated stored mail.

  As described above, instead of actually sending the aggregated stored mail addressed to the user's mail server, the user can click the “draft folder” button 79 on the aggregated stored mail editing screen 68. In this case, since the aggregated saved mail is saved in the draft folder, it can be confirmed later without actually sending the aggregated saved mail.

  If it is not necessary to perform aggregated saving, the user turns on the radio button 66b of “Do not aggregated saving” on the related mail deletion confirmation screen in FIG. 5 to generate, display, and transmit aggregated stored mail (S36). ~ S42) can be skipped (S34 / NO).

  In the above, the example in which the user-selected mail and the related mail are moved from the reception folder to the trash folder by the control unit 12 has been described. However, the user may designate another storage area as the destination of the e-mail. it can. That is, when the user clicks the “▼” button 80a in the destination change field 80 on the related mail deletion setting screen 46 of FIG. 4, the folder structure set in the e-mail program is displayed in a pull-down manner, and another folder (for example, receiving It is permitted to designate “used folder” provided under the folder as the destination.

  In addition, instead of moving the user-selected mail and the related mail from the reception folder to the trash box folder or the like as described above, it is possible to set to delete completely from the hard disk of the PC. That is, when the user checks the “completely delete” check box 82 in the related mail deletion setting screen 46 of FIG. 4, the control unit 12 completely deletes each deletion target mail from the mail storage unit 14.

  In the above description, an example in which user-selected mails stored in a reception folder and related mails are collectively deleted as deletion target mails has been described. However, other folders (for example, “work folder” and “ Needless to say, the e-mail stored in the “personal folder”) can be designated as a deletion target as well.

  As described above, instead of letting the user select whether or not to generate the aggregated stored mail or giving the user an opportunity to edit the aggregated stored mail, control when deleting the user selected mail and related mail collectively. It is also possible to set options so that the aggregated saving mail is automatically generated by the section 12 and sent as it is to the user's address or saved in a folder such as a draft box.

  In the above example, all attached files of the mail to be deleted are automatically inserted in the file attachment field 72 of the consolidated saved mail editing screen 68. However, the user can extract and insert the attached file itself. An option can be set to cancel. Alternatively, if there are multiple files with the same attachment, set options so that only one of them (for example, the file attached to the e-mail with the latest transmission date and time) is inserted. You can also In this case, the control unit 12 compares the file names of the attached files extracted from the respective deletion target mails, and determines that the file names coincide with each other as the same attached file. Alternatively, the control unit 12 can determine the identity between the attached files more strictly based on whether or not the file name + data size matches.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the related mail deletion system which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of related mail deletion. It is a figure which shows the main screen of the electronic mail program which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows a related mail deletion setting screen. It is a figure which shows a related mail deletion confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows an aggregation preservation | save mail edit screen. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation process of an aggregation preservation | save mail edit screen.

Explanation of symbols

10 Related email deletion system
12 Control unit
14 Mail storage
18 display
20 Input device
22 Communication control device
30 Main screen
32 Mail folder display field
34 Mail list display field
36 Text display column
40 Receive button
42 User selection email
44 “Delete related email” button
46 Related email deletion setting screen
52 “Limit to this sender” checkbox
56 “OK” button
60 Deletion confirmation screen
62 Email selection box
64 “Delete selected” button
66 Combined save selection field
68 Centralized Save Mail Edit screen
69 Address field
70 Subject field
71 Text editing field
72 File attachment field
73 “To” button
74 `` Cc: '' button
75 `` Bcc: '' button
76 Send now button
77 Send Later button
78 Submit button
79 “Draft Folder” button
80 Move destination change field
82 “Delete” checkbox

Claims (9)

Display,
Input means;
Mail storage means for storing e-mail received from the mail server;
Means for generating a screen with a mail list display field for displaying a list of e-mails stored in the mail storage means, and displaying the screen on the display;
When an input requesting deletion of a related mail is made in a state where a specific electronic mail is selected on the screen, a related mail having a subject relevant to the subject of the user selected mail is stored in the mail storage. Related mail extracting means for extracting from the means;
A means for generating a delete confirmation screen listing related emails and displaying it on the display;
Means for deleting a user-selected mail and related mail for which deletion confirmation has been input through the deletion confirmation screen, from the mail storage means;
Related mail deletion system characterized by comprising.   2. The related mail deleting system according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion target mail moving means for copying the user selection mail and the related mail deleted from the mail storage means to another storage means.   The related mail deleting system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the related mail extracting unit extracts only an e-mail having a transmission address identical to a transmission address of the user-selected mail as a related mail. Means for generating an aggregate stored mail in which a predetermined e-mail address is set in the destination field;
Means for extracting the text described in the text of the user-selected mail and related mail and inserting it in the text of the aggregated stored mail;
Means for sending the aggregated stored mail;
The related mail deletion system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:   5. The related mail deletion system according to claim 4, further comprising file attachment means for extracting a file attached to the user-selected mail and the related mail and inserting the file as an attached file of the aggregated storage mail. Means for displaying an aggregate saved email editing screen on the display;
Means for extracting the text described in the text of the user-selected mail and related mail and inserting it in the text editing field of the aggregated stored mail editing screen;
The related mail deletion system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:   7. The related mail deletion system according to claim 6, further comprising a file attachment means for extracting a file attached to the user selection mail and the related mail and inserting the file into a file attachment field of the aggregated stored mail editing screen. .   8. The related mail deleting system according to claim 5 or 7, wherein the file attachment means inserts only one of the attached files when a plurality of the same attached files are extracted. A computer comprising a display, input means, and mail storage means for storing e-mail received from a mail server,
Means for generating a screen having a mail list display field for displaying a list of e-mails stored in the mail storage means and displaying the screen on the display;
When an input requesting deletion of a related mail is made in a state where a specific electronic mail is selected on the screen, a related mail having a subject relevant to the subject of the user selected mail is stored in the mail storage. Means to extract from means,
A means for generating a delete confirmation screen listing related emails and displaying it on the display,
Means for deleting a user-selected mail and related mail for which deletion confirmation has been input through the deletion confirmation screen, from the mail storage means;
Related mail deletion program characterized by functioning as.

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