JP3569984B2 - Email device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to an e-mail device that can prompt a recipient of an e-mail to open the e-mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional e-mail system, the following method is known as a method of notifying a destination user of an e-mail when the e-mail is desired to be viewed quickly, for example.
[0003]
One is to inform the other party that the mail is urgent by using the title of the mail sent by the user. For example, in the case of a normal e-mail, the title is set to "notice", and in the case of an e-mail that the user wants to see immediately, the title is set to "emergency: notification".
[0004]
There has also been an electronic mail system that can set mail attributes relating to priorities, such as “normal”, “express”, and “important”, for a transmitted mail. In such an e-mail system, when a user sets the mail attribute and sends an e-mail, when the user who received the e-mail displays the received e-mail list, the e-mail Characters such as “U”, “Fast”, and “Heavy” are displayed according to the attribute. By displaying such characters, the user is informed that the received mail is an "expedited" mail requiring an urgent opening or that the mail contains "important" contents.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when the title is devised as in the former case, or when the mail attribute related to the priority is displayed as in the latter case, the date on which you want to check the contents of the mail, for example, Even if the deadline for the response deadline is approaching, the information for notifying the user of the deadline was not particularly displayed in the received mail list or the like. For this reason, there has been a problem that the important mail is left unopened even after the deadline for confirming the contents of the mail has not been opened.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to notify the user of a reminder to open a received mail when the mail is not opened even when the confirmation time limit is approached.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides a display unit for displaying a plurality of titles corresponding to a plurality of received mails in a list on a plurality of lines, an opening judgment unit for judging an opening state of the received mail, and an unopened state by the opening judgment unit. Is determined based on the opening reminder date and time information set in the received mail and the date and time information in the device, and determines whether the opening reminder is approaching or has passed. Means, and when it is determined by the opening reminder judging means that the date is approaching the opening reminder date, a title corresponding to the received mail is displayed among a plurality of titles corresponding to the plurality of received mails listed in the plurality of lines. A first character indicating that the date is approaching the opening reminder date is displayed on the opened line. If the opening reminder judging means determines that the opening reminder date has passed, one of the plurality of lines is displayed. A second character different from the first character indicating that the opening reminder date has passed is displayed on a line on which a title corresponding to the received mail is displayed among a plurality of titles corresponding to the displayed plurality of received mails. And an opening reminding notifying unit for notifying the received mail of information for reminding the user to open the received mail.
[0015]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an electronic mail device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment includes a CPU (central processing unit) 1, a mail transmitting / receiving unit 2, an opening check unit 3, an opening reminder judging unit 4, an opening reminder display instruction unit 5, a mailbox 6, a transmission file storage unit 7, a display unit 8, a key input unit 9, and an Ethernet (Ethernet) controller 10.
[0017]
The CPU 1 controls the entire apparatus based on data input via the key input unit 9 and the like. The mail transmission / reception unit 2 performs mail transmission processing and reception processing via the Ethernet controller 10. The opening check unit 3 reads the received mail stored in the mailbox 6 and performs processing such as determining whether or not the mail has been opened. When the mail has not been opened, the opening prompting judging section 4 reads the date and time in the apparatus set equal to the current date and time from the system clock composed of a real time clock and the like (not shown) and reads the date and time in the apparatus. Is compared with the opening reminder date and time set in the mail to determine whether or not to display an opening reminder. The opening reminder display instructing unit 5 is configured to, based on the judgment result of the opening reminder judging unit 4, display information for urging the opening of the mail in a predetermined field of a “received mail list” screen described later. An instruction is given to a display controller (not shown).
[0018]
The mailbox 6 is a storage device that stores the received mail as one record, and includes, for example, an external storage device such as a magnetic disk device. The transmission file storage unit 7 is a storage device that stores a transmission file in which each transmission mail is stored as one record, and includes, for example, an external storage device such as a magnetic disk device.
[0019]
The display unit 8 displays the “received mail list” screen, a “sent mail list” screen described later, and the like, and is, for example, a display device such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) display or a liquid crystal display.
[0020]
The key input unit 9 includes a keyboard and the like, and inputs data for creating an outgoing mail, a command input for instructing an operation related to transmission / reception such as displaying a “received mail list” screen, or a user input such as menu selection. Used for
[0021]
The Ethernet controller 10 is connected to an Ethernet LAN (not shown), and communicates with other e-mail devices via a WAN (Wide Area Network) connected to the LAN or the LAN via a router or the like. Controls the network when sending and receiving mail.
[0022]
FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of a format of the transmission / reception mail 20 used in the electronic mail device of the present embodiment. The mail 20 is composed of header information 21 and a body 22.
[0023]
FIG. 2B is a diagram showing details of the header information 21. As shown in the figure, the header information 21 includes a "Received" field 21a, a "Date" field 21b, a "From" field 21c, a "Return-Path" field 21d, a "Message-Id" field 21e, and a "To" field 21f. , A "Subject" field 21g, and a "Status" field 21h.
[0024]
In the "Received" field 21a, information such as a route through which a mail passes and how long the route takes and how long it takes is set. “Mail sending date and time information” is set in the “Date” field 21b. “Mail sender information” is set in the “From” field 21c. “Return destination information for mail” is set in the “Return-Path” field 21d. In the “Message-Id” field 21e, information on the host that is the source of the mail is set. “Mail destination information” is set in the “To” field 21f.
[0025]
In the “Subject” field 21g, “mail title” is set. Further, in the present embodiment, “opening prompt date and time information” is set in the field 21g after the title. In the “Status” field 21h, information such as a code indicating whether the mail is “opened” or “unopened” is set.
[0026]
Next, the operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description of the flowchart, S1, S2,... Indicate processing procedure (step) numbers.
[0027]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overall flow of a mail transmission / reception process performed by the electronic mail device according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a mail is sent from the electronic mail device 30S to the electronic mail device 30R.
[0028]
The user interface unit 31 is software that provides a user interface when creating an outgoing mail or displaying the “received mail list” screen, and is executed by the CPU 1.
[0029]
The mail transmission / reception unit 2 creates a transmission mail based on data input from the user interface unit 31. Further, it outputs the received mail input from the TCP / IP unit 32 to the user interface unit 31.
[0030]
The TCP / IP unit 32 is software that performs the functions of the transport layer and the network layer of the OSI reference model. The TCP / IP unit 32 adds a TCP header and an IP header to outgoing mail in the format shown in FIG. To the driver 33. Further, it extracts the received mail from the packet to which the TCP header and the IP header added from the driver 33 are added, and outputs this to the mail transmitting / receiving unit 2.
[0031]
The driver 33 is software that controls the Ethernet controller 10 to perform the function of the data link layer of the OSI reference model. The driver 33 adds an Ethernet header to a packet input from the TCP / IP unit 32, and adds the packet to the Ethernet controller 10. Via the LAN 34. Further, the Ethernet controller 10 analyzes the Ethernet header of the packet captured from the LAN 34, captures the packet addressed to the own device, removes the Ethernet header from the packet, and outputs the packet to the TCP / IP unit 32.
[0032]
The Ethernet controller 10 is connected to the LAN 34, monitors an electric signal flowing on the LAN 34, sends outgoing mail packets created by the driver 33 to the LAN 34, captures packets sent on the LAN 34, and Output to the driver 33.
[0033]
In the sending-side e-mail device 30S, the user first creates the outgoing mail 20 via the user interface unit 31. The outgoing mail 20 is stored in the outgoing file storage 7. When the outgoing mail 20 is created, the user interface unit 31 displays the “outgoing mail list” screen on the display unit 8 and, when the user selects an arbitrary outgoing mail 20 from the “outgoing mail list” screen, The user is inquired of the user 20 via a message or the like as to whether or not to set the opening date and time. In response to the inquiry, when the user inputs an instruction to set the opening reminder date and time, the user is prompted to input the opening reminder date and time by a dialog box or the like. Then, the input opening reminder date and time is set by the mail transmitting and receiving unit 2 after the title in the “Subject” field 21g of the transmitted mail 20.
[0034]
FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the above-mentioned "sent mail list" screen displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 when the opening e-mail is set at the time of creation of the outgoing mail 20. As shown in the figure, when the user selects an e-mail to be transmitted by the e-mail number while the “outgoing e-mail list” screen is displayed, the user interface unit 31 sets the “date and time of opening reminding”. A dialog box 40 for setting is displayed on the same screen. On the screen, the user sets the opening prompting date of the mail to be transmitted in the dialog box 40 via the key input unit 9. In FIG. 4, when an e-mail whose e-mail number is "2" and whose e-mail name is "announcement of year-end party" is transmitted, the opening prompting date and time is set to "9:00 on December 15".
[0035]
When the user gives an instruction via the key input unit 9 to execute the transmission of the outgoing e-mail 20 for which the opening reminder date and time has been set as described above, the e-mail transmission / reception unit 2 on the transmission side transmits the e-mail from the transmission file storage unit 7 The specified outgoing mail 20 is taken out, and the outgoing mail 20 is transmitted to the e-mail device 30R on the receiving side via the TCP / IP unit 32, the driver 33, the Ethernet controller 10, and the LAN 34.
[0036]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the above-described mail transmission process. When the user operates the key input unit 9 to instruct activation of the mail transmission process, the CPU 1 activates the user interface unit 31 and firstly displays a screen for inputting “title” and “body” on the display unit 8. It is displayed on the screen, and the user inputs "title" and "text" (S1). Next, a screen for inputting the destination of the mail is displayed on the screen of the display unit 8, and the user is caused to input the destination of the mail (S2).
[0037]
Then, a message is displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 for inquiring the user as to whether or not to set “opening date and time” in the transmitted mail (S3). When the user sets the opening reminder date and time for the sent mail (S3, YES), the dialog box 40 for inputting the “opening reminder date” as shown in FIG. It is displayed, and the user is prompted to input “opening reminding date and time” in the dialog box 40 (S4). The “opening reminding date and time” is set, for example, by a predetermined number of blank characters after the title of the “Subject” field 21g of the transmission mail 20 by the transmission / reception unit 2 on the transmission side.
[0038]
After step S4 is completed, or if the user does not set the opening reminder date and time in step S3 (S3, NO), next, the data entered so far, such as the title and the text, is added. A message is displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 as to whether or not there is a problem, that is, whether or not to make a correction (S5). If the user gives an instruction to make a correction to the message (S5, NO), the process returns to step S1, S2, or S4 corresponding to the item to be corrected, and re-inputs the relevant item. Let the user do it.
[0039]
In step S5, when the user instructs not to modify the input data (S5, YES), the display unit 8 displays a message inquiring whether to execute mail transmission. (S6). When the user instructs the execution of the mail transmission, the mail transmitting and receiving unit 2 executes the mail transmission and ends the mail transmission processing.
[0040]
Also, in step S6, when the user gives an instruction not to execute the mail transmission (S6, NO), the mail transmission process ends without performing the mail transmission.
[0041]
By the above operation, the mail in which the “opening reminding date and time” is set is transmitted to the receiving e-mail device 30R via the LAN.
In FIG. 3, the receiving e-mail device 30R receives the outgoing mail 20 sent from the transmitting e-mail device 30S by the above operation via the Ethernet controller 10, the driver 33, and the TCP / IP unit 32. . Then, the mail 20 is stored in the mailbox 6 by the mail transmitting / receiving unit 2.
[0042]
When receiving a display instruction of the “list of received mails” screen from the user via the key input unit 9, the CPU 1 of the e-mail device 30 </ b> R on the receiving side reads the received mail 20 from the mailbox 6 and reads “sender” from the header information. ”,“ Reception date and time ”and the like. Then, a “received mail list” screen is displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 via the user interface unit 31, and the mail information is displayed at a predetermined position.
[0043]
When displaying the “Received mail list” screen, the opening check unit 3 reads “Opening information” set in the “Status” field 21h of the received mail 20, and based on the “Opening information”, It is determined whether the mail 20 has been opened.
[0044]
As a result of the determination, if the file is “unopened”, the opening prompting determination unit 4 reads “date and time in the device” from the system clock 35 and further reads “date and time in the device” from the “Subject” field 21 g of the received mail 20. Read the opening date and time. Then, by comparing these two dates and times, it is determined whether or not to display information prompting the opening of the received mail 20.
[0045]
If it is determined that the current date and time in the apparatus is a predetermined number of days before the opening reminder date, for example, three days before, the opening reminder display instruction unit 5 displays the information prompting the opening in the “list of received mails”. It is not displayed on the screen. The same applies to the case where the opening reminder date is not set.
[0046]
FIG. 6 shows a message displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 when the user receives the mail 20 in which the opening reminder date and time is set and gives an instruction to display a list of received mails before three days before the opening reminder date of the mail 20. It is a figure showing an example of a "received mail list" screen. As shown in the figure, items of “number”, “sender”, “open” mode, “reception date and time”, and “title” are displayed for each mail. In the “opened” mode, “completed” is displayed when the corresponding mail has been opened, and “not yet” when the corresponding mail has not been opened. FIG. 6 shows that the mail with the number 1 has been opened and the mails with the numbers 2 to 4 have not been opened.
[0047]
In FIG. 3, if it is determined that the current date and time in the apparatus is three days before the opening reminder date and before the opening reminder date and time by the determination of the opening reminder judging unit 4, the opening reminder display instruction unit 5 displays the message. At a predetermined position on the “received mail list” screen displayed on the unit 8, the character “sudden” indicating that the opening reminder date is approaching is displayed.
[0048]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the “received mail list” screen displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 when the mail has not been opened three days before the opening reminder date of the mail. As shown in the figure, "immediately" is displayed before "not yet" which indicates the open mode of the mail of the number 4.
[0049]
In FIG. 3, if the current date and time in the apparatus is determined to be later than the date and time of the opening reminder by the determination of the opening reminder judging unit 4, the opening reminder display instruction unit 5 displays the “ At a predetermined position on the “received mail list” screen, the fact that the opening reminder date and time has passed is displayed, and the letters “urgent” urging confirmation of the urgent contents are displayed.
[0050]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the “received mail list” screen displayed on the screen of the display unit 8 when the mail has not been opened even after the opening date and time of the mail has passed. As shown in the figure, “urgent” is displayed before “not yet” indicating the opening mode of the mail with the number 4.
[0051]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the received mail list display process. When the user instructs the display of the “received mail list” screen by operating the key input unit 9, the CPU 1 first displays the display item name of the “received mail list” screen via the user interface unit 31. It is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen of the unit 8 (S10). Then, it is determined whether or not the mailbox 6 is empty, that is, whether or not a received mail exists (S11).
[0052]
If it is determined that the mailbox 6 is not empty (S11, NO), one record of the received mail is read from the mailbox 6 (S12). Next, the “date and time in the device” is read from the system clock (S13). Furthermore, the header information of the mail read in step S12 is read (S14). Then, based on the information set in the "Status" field 21h of the header information, it is first determined whether or not the mail having the header information has not been opened (S15).
[0053]
If the result of the determination is that the file has not been opened (S15, YES), the current date and time in the apparatus are set to three days before the opening reminder setting date set in the "Subject" field 21g of the header information. It is determined whether it is before the set date (S16). The determination is made by comparing the “date and time of opening reminder” set in the header with the “date and time in the apparatus” read in step S13.
[0054]
As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the time is not between three days before the set date and the set date (S16, NO), it is further determined whether or not the internal date and time is after the set date (S17). . As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the date and time in the apparatus is not after the set date (S17, NO), “not shown” indicating unopened and other mail information are displayed on the “received mail list” screen of the display unit 8. Is displayed (S18). Then, the process returns to step S11.
[0055]
If it is determined in step S15 that the mail read from the mailbox 6 is “opened” (S15, NO), “completed” and other mail information are displayed in the “list of received mails” on the display unit 8. It is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen (S19). Then, the process returns to step S11.
[0056]
If it is determined in step S16 that the date and time in the apparatus is between three days before the set date and the set date (S16, YES), the display unit 8 displays "emergency" and other mail information. Is displayed at a predetermined position on the "received mail list" screen (S20). Then, the process returns to step S11.
[0057]
If it is determined in step S17 that the date and time in the apparatus is after the set date (S17, YES), "immediate" and other mail information are displayed on the "Received mail list" screen of the display unit 8 on the predetermined screen. (S21). Then, the process returns to step S11.
[0058]
When it is determined in step S11 that the mailbox 6 is empty (S11, YES), that is, the processes in steps S12 to S21 are completed for all the received mails stored in the mailbox 6. If so, the display processing of the “received mail list” screen ends.
[0059]
With the above operation, the user can open the received mail 20 on the “Received Mail List” screen according to the relationship between the current date and time in the apparatus and the opening prompting date and time set in the header information 21 of the received mail 20. The words "Sudden" or "Urgent" prompting are displayed.
[0060]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the sender can specify the date and time of the opening reminder of the e-mail, and when the opening reminder is approaching, the character of “sudden” is displayed. The message is displayed on the received mail list screen to urge the recipient to open the received mail. In this case, it is effective to display the characters "sudden" and "suddenly" in red, for example. In the case of "urgent", the display may be further blinked or displayed with higher luminance. Further, in the case of a system including a printer, information of a received mail corresponding to the above-mentioned “sudden” or “urgent”, for example, a mail number or a title may be automatically printed out. Further, characters other than “sudden” and “urgent” may be used.
[0061]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the user can see that the first character is displayed on the line on which the title of the received mail is displayed, recognize that the date is approaching the opening reminder date, and display the title of the received mail. By seeing the second character displayed on the opened line, it is possible to recognize that the opening reminder date has passed, so that even if the opening reminder date has passed, it is possible to prevent the received mail from being left unopened At the same time, the first character or the second character is displayed on the line where the title of the received mail is displayed in a list, so that the opening reminder can be notified with a minimum necessary display area.

[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a format of a transmitted / received mail used in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overall flow of a mail transmission / reception process in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed when setting an opening reminder date and time in the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a mail transmission process according to the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed when a list of received mails is displayed in the embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of a screen displayed when a list of received mails is displayed in the embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing still another example of a screen displayed when a list of received mails is displayed in the embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a received mail list display process according to the embodiment;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 CPU
2 Mail transmission / reception section 3 Opening check section 4 Opening prompt determination section 5 Opening prompt display instruction section 6 Mailbox 7 Transmission file storage section 8 Display section 9 Key input section 10 Ethernet controller

Claims (1)

Display means for listing a plurality of titles corresponding to a plurality of received mails in a plurality of lines ;
An open determining means for determining the open status of the received mail;
For the received mail determined to be unopened by the opening determination means, based on the opening reminder date and time information set in the received mail and the in-apparatus date and time information, whether the date is approaching the opening reminder date or the opening reminder date is Opening prompting means for judging whether or not
If it is determined by the opening reminder judging means that the date is approaching the opening reminder date and time, a line in which the title corresponding to the received mail is displayed among the plurality of titles corresponding to the plurality of received mails listed in the plurality of lines. A first character indicating that the date is approaching the opening reminder date, and if the opening reminder determining unit determines that the opening reminder date has passed, it responds to the plurality of received mails listed in the plurality of lines. A second character different from the first character indicating that the opening reminder date has passed is displayed on a line on which a title corresponding to the received mail is displayed among a plurality of titles to be received, and An opening reminder information means for notifying information to urge opening,
An e-mail device comprising:

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