JP4230708B2 - E-mail transmission / reception device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus. In recent years, electronic mail has been used not only as a means for people to send information, but also as a means for application software to share information. For example, in Microsoft Outlook, an email mechanism is used to share a schedule with a group. The present invention relates generally to an apparatus using electronic mail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The header for sending and receiving e-mail includes a standard part defined by e-mail rules and an extended part that can be freely set by the application. Attached files make extensive use of this extension. For example, since an encrypted information file or the like is to be handled differently from an attached file that is clearly attached by the user, an individual header is added to the extended portion and sent.
[0003]
E-mail software applying this rule does not display an encrypted file as an attached file to the user even if it is received. E-mail software that does not apply this rule refuses to receive information because it is given unrecognizable information, or displays it as a general attachment to the user.
[0004]
This extended part is a mechanism that is regulated to some extent even if it is free, and according to the spread of new services devised by vendors and the movement of the world such as anti-virus measures, the corresponding regulations are added, Has been updated.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
For example, Mr. A sends an e-mail using e-mail software based on the rules corresponding to the encrypted file, and Mr. B tries to receive it by e-mail software based on the rules not compatible with the encrypted file. And As described above, with the current technology, Mr. B cannot receive the mail or receives the encrypted file as one of the attached files. In order to solve this, the following method can be considered.
(1) When Mr. A makes a call, the encrypted file is not attached to the person (here, Mr. B) who uses e-mail software based on the rules not supporting the encrypted file (that is, the call is sent) The person is aware of the rules of the other person's mail software).
(2) Mr. B upgrades to a version corresponding to the encrypted file.
(3) Mr. B switches to e-mail software that supports encrypted files.
[0006]
Each countermeasure has the following problems. First, in the method shown in (1), it is necessary to know what the e-mail software of the other party is to be sent, and even if it is known, what kind of rules the e-mail software is based on It cannot be judged unless it is a person level. The method shown in (2) cannot be selected if the target e-mail software has not been upgraded in accordance with the rules. The method shown in (3) is not only to change the familiar GUI (screen), but also to migrate the old e-mail environment. There is a risk of erroneous operations such as deleting books and stored mail.
[0007]
Recently, with the rapid spread of the Internet, new regulations for new services including safety are increasing in the market.
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and can perform transmission / reception of mail with an application having a mail transmission / reception function according to an arbitrary header protocol without modifying any application having a mail transmission / reception function. An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail transmission / reception apparatus capable of performing the above.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a user, 2 is an e-mail application that operates an e-mail in response to an instruction from the user 1, and 3 is a mail transmission / reception unit that transmits and receives e-mails. Reference numeral 10 denotes an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the present invention. In the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10, 11 is a transmission mail analysis unit that analyzes a header of a mail transmitted by an arbitrary application 2 having a mail transmission function, and 12 receives the output of the transmission mail analysis unit 11 and receives the transmission mail. Is a transmission mail creation unit that modifies the message according to the header rules of the other party's mail transmission / reception apparatus.
[0009]
Reference numeral 13 denotes a partner application (hereinafter simply referred to as “app”) information storage unit that stores application information of a transmission partner, and reference numeral 14 denotes a mail transmission / reception unit that controls transmission / reception of mail. The output of the transmission mail creation unit 12 is input to the mail transmission / reception unit 14. 15 is a received mail analysis unit that analyzes a header part of a received mail in response to a signal from the mail transmission / reception unit 14, and 16 receives an output of the received mail analysis unit 15 so that the application 2 can recognize the received mail. This is a received mail creation unit that modifies mail. The output of the received mail creation unit 16 is input to the mail transmission / reception unit 3. A command or the like is sent from the mail transmission / reception unit 3 of the electronic mail application 2 to the mail transmission / reception unit 14 of the electronic mail transmission / reception device 10.
[0010]
The information in the partner application information storage unit 13 is referred to by the transmitted mail analysis unit 11, and the received mail analysis unit 15 gives the analysis result of the received mail to the partner application information storage unit 13 and stores the partner application information in the partner application information storage. Received from part 13. A mail transmission environment setting information storage unit 17 stores mail transmission environment setting information. Reference numeral 20 denotes a mail server connected to the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10.
[0011]
In the apparatus configured as described above, the e-mail application 2 can behave as if it is communicating with the mail server 20 without being aware of the existence of the e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10.
[0012]
First, the transmitted mail analyzing unit 11 analyzes the mail transmitted from the electronic mail application 2 using the mail transmitting / receiving unit 3. Here, it is the header part of the mail that is mainly analyzed. The outgoing mail analysis unit 11 extracts the mail destination described in the header part of the outgoing mail, and acquires the outgoing mail editing rule corresponding to the mail destination from the partner application information storage unit 13. The partner application information storage unit 13 stores partner identification information and editing rules that are used when mail is analyzed.
[0013]
An example of partner application information is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows that the partner identification information IDi (i is an arbitrary integer from 1 to n) and the corresponding editing rule i are stored.
[0014]
As an example of the editing rule here, for example, when application-specific data is added to a mail to be transmitted, information on whether or not the application used by the transmission partner can use the corresponding file is displayed. If it is obtained from the storage unit 13 and cannot be used, the transmission mail creation unit 12 creates a mail with the attached file portion deleted.
[0015]
When the result analyzed by the transmission mail analysis unit 11 is passed to the transmission mail creation unit 12, the transmission mail creation unit 12 creates a transmission mail based on the result analyzed by the transmission mail analysis unit 11. The created mail is transmitted from the mail transmitting / receiving unit 14 to the mail server 20. At this time, the mail transmission environment acquires and uses the transmission destination mail server and port number set in the mail transmission environment setting information storage unit 17.
[0016]
Next, when the user 1 receives an e-mail using the e-mail application 2, an e-mail reception command issued from the e-mail transmission / reception unit 3 by operating the e-mail application 2 is sent to the e-mail transmission / reception apparatus 10. The data is transferred to the transmission / reception unit 14. Then, the mail transmission / reception unit 14 to which the command has been transferred acquires the connection environment such as the address of the mail server 20 and the port number from the mail transmission environment setting information storage unit 17, and then connects and receives the mail. The received mail is passed to the received mail analysis unit 15 to analyze the contents of the header. The received mail analysis unit 15 analyzes the header part of the mail.
[0017]
In the received mail creating unit 16, the result analyzed by the received mail analyzing unit 15 and the mail received by the mail transmitting / receiving unit 14 are passed, the mail is edited as analyzed by the received mail analyzing unit 15, and the e-mail application 2 is edited. Create as email. The created mail is taken into the e-mail application 2 via the mail transmission / reception unit 3 of the e-mail application 2.
[0018]
As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, mail can be transmitted / received to / from the electronic mail application 2 having the mail transmission / reception function with an arbitrary header protocol without modifying any application having the mail transmission / reception function. In addition, when there is a function that is not provided in the email application used by the user, without modifying the email application or replacing it with an email application that has the relevant function. , Can use the extended function.
(2) The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that it includes a partner application information setting unit for extracting the header protocol of the partner application from the received mail and storing the partner application information.
[0019]
With this configuration, it is possible to automatically store the transmission / reception partner header rules in the counterpart application information storage unit 13, and the stored editing rules can be used from the next transmission / reception process. In addition, by analyzing the received mail, acquiring the editing rules, and accumulating the partner application information, it is possible to save the trouble of setting the editing rules.
(3) In the invention according to claim 3, the outgoing mail creation unit refers to the partner application information setting unit, and when the other party's mail rules do not correspond to the latest one, the outgoing mail is the old one. It is characterized by converting into.
[0020]
If comprised in this way, an electronic mail can be exchanged between the mail sender and the mail recipient by the old version of mail software possessed by the mail receiver.
[0021]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. This embodiment is different from the configuration shown in FIG. 1 in that a partner application information setting unit 18 is provided between the received mail analysis unit 15 and the partner application information storage unit 13.
[0022]
Consider a case where a user 1 receives an e-mail using the e-mail application 2. As described above, the mail transmission / reception unit 14 acquires the mail reception environment from the mail transmission environment setting information storage unit 17 and connects to the mail server 20 to receive the mail. The received mail is passed to the received mail analysis unit 15 to analyze the mail header part.
[0023]
As a result of this analysis, when the editing rule is not stored in the partner application information storage unit 13, the partner / identification information and the editing rule are stored in the partner application information storage unit 13 via the partner application information setting unit 18. The stored editing rules can be used from the next mail transmission / reception process.
[0024]
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically accumulate the header protocol of the transmission / reception partner in the partner application information storage unit 13, and the stored editing rule can be used from the next transmission / reception process. it can.
[0025]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the figure, 2 is an e-mail application, 10 is an e-mail transmission / reception apparatus connected to the e-mail application 2, and 20 is a mail server connected to the e-mail transmission / reception apparatus 10 via a network 25.
[0026]
In this embodiment, an electronic mail application 2 used by a user and an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 according to the present invention exist in the same computer 30. Here, an example in which the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 is provided in the computer 30 is shown, but it can also be provided in the mail server 20 instead.
[0027]
The computer 30 exists on the network 25, and the mail server 20 that the user uses when sending and receiving mail is present on the network 25. The mail transmission / reception unit 14 of the electronic mail transmission / reception apparatus 10 and the mail server 20 are interconnected via a network 25. Here, it is assumed that the e-mail application 2 used by the user does not have a function of transmitting the mail with the same text without adding / adding an attached file for each destination.
[0028]
Therefore, in the present invention, a case will be described in which an attached file is transmitted with or without being added for each destination. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the transmission processing operation according to the present invention. First, a mail is transmitted from the electronic mail application 2 (S1). Next, the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 receives an email from the user use application 2 (S2).
[0029]
Next, the transmission mail analyzing unit 11 in the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 refers to the partner application information storage unit 13 to acquire a transmission rule from the transmission destination address and analyze the mail header (S3). Next, the transmission mail creation unit 12 receives the output of the transmission mail analysis unit 11 and edits the transmission mail (S4). In this case, the outgoing mail is edited according to the editing rule acquired from the partner application information.
[0030]
Next, it is checked whether or not editing is necessary according to the rule (S5). If there is no need for editing, an original mail is transmitted from the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 (S8). If editing is necessary in step S5, the outgoing mail creation unit 12 edits the outgoing mail (S6). Then, the edited mail is sent to the mail server 20 (S7). Thereafter, the original mail is transmitted (S8).
[0031]
When a user sends an e-mail with an arbitrary file attached using the e-mail application 2, the user edits the body of the e-mail from the e-mail application 2 that is normally used, and then specifies the file to be attached. send mail. Normally, a file is attached and transmitted to all addresses designated as a destination. However, when a file is attached and transmitted only to an arbitrary destination using the present invention, the destination is set by the e-mail application 2. Use extension headers when specifying.
[0032]
For an address to which only the mail text is to be transmitted without adding an attached file, the mail is transmitted with “X-Attach-To” added as an extension header. When the header “X-Attach-To” is added, the attached file is not added.
[0033]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of designation of a transmission destination using an extension header. In the figure, 40 is a standard header, 41 is an extension header with “X-Attach-To”, and 42 is a multi-part header. The multipart header 42 is used to indicate what a certain part is. A text (not shown) comes after the multipart header 42.
[0034]
The e-mail application 2 connects not to the mail server 20 but to the e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 and transmits the created e-mail. The e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 that has received the e-mail analyzes the e-mail header as shown in FIG. 6 by the e-mail analysis unit 11 and acquires “X-Attach-To” as an extension header.
[0035]
The outgoing mail analysis unit 11 acquires an editing rule from the partner application information storage unit 13 using “X-Attach-To” as a key. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an implementation example of the counterpart application information storage unit 13. The partner application information is composed of partner / identification information and rules. The partner / identification information is composed of a header and a value. For example, if there is a header of “X-Attach-To”, the value can take any value (indicated by * in the figure), and the rule in that case is to delete the attached file part and specify the destination To It is to make.
[0036]
In this case, in the case of transmission processing, a rule is acquired from the header described in the header of the outgoing mail and its value. Then, according to the acquired rule, the outgoing mail is edited and sent to the mail server.
[0037]
On the other hand, in the case of reception processing, a rule is acquired from the header described in the header of the received mail and its value. Then, the received mail is edited according to the acquired rule and returned as a response to the application used by the user.
[0038]
As a result, the mail analysis unit 11 acquires the rule “Delete attached file part and set destination to” which is an editing rule of “X-Attach-To”. The acquired rule is passed to the outgoing mail creation unit 12.
[0039]
The outgoing mail creation unit 12 edits the outgoing mail according to the editing rules passed from the outgoing mail analysis unit 11. In the case of this embodiment, in addition to the mail with the attached file, a mail with the attached file deleted is created. The mail from which the attached file has been deleted is to be sent to the destination specified in the extension header “X-Attach-To” (someone@domain.com in the case of the example shown in FIG. 6).
[0040]
In the editing rule, for the address indicated by “X-Attach-To”, the attached file is deleted and then the destination is converted to To. Therefore, the mail header shown in FIG. Converted as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for converting an extension header into a standard header. In the figure, 43 is a standard header and 42 is a multi-part header. It can be seen that “X-Attach-To”: someone <someone@domain.com> shown in FIG. 6 is converted to To: <someone@domain.com>, which is a normal standard header.
[0041]
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to send / receive mail to / from the electronic mail application 2 having the mail transmission / reception function with any header protocol without modifying any application having the mail transmission / reception function.
[0042]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the reception processing operation according to the present invention. First, the user use application 2 is connected to the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 (S1). Next, one mail is received from the mail server 20 (S2). The received mail is passed to the received mail analysis unit 15 via the mail transmission / reception unit 14. The received mail analysis unit 15 refers to the partner application information storage unit 13 to acquire a received mail editing rule, and analyzes one received mail (S3). Next, the e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 checks whether or not the information in the partner application information storage unit 13 needs to be updated (S4).
[0043]
When it is necessary to update the partner application information, the received mail analysis unit 15 accesses the partner application information storage unit 13 and updates the partner identification information and the rule (S5). As a result, the contents of the partner application information storage unit 13 are updated. If it is not necessary to store the contents of the partner application information storage unit 13 in step S4, the received mail analysis unit 15 checks whether editing is necessary according to the rule (S6).
[0044]
If editing is necessary, the received mail creation unit 16 edits the received mail (S7). If no editing is necessary, the e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 checks whether the analysis is completed (S8). If the analysis has not ended, the process returns to step S3. When the analysis is completed and when the received mail editing is completed in step S7, the e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 10 transmits a mail to the user use application 2 (S9).
[0045]
In the case of the reception process described above, it is assumed that the attached file attached to the received mail is an application-specific file that cannot be handled by the electronic mail application 2 used by the user.
[0046]
When the user performs a mail receiving operation using the e-mail application 2, the mail receiving command is passed to the mail transmitting / receiving unit 14 via the received mail creating unit 16 and the received mail analyzing unit 15 of the present invention. . The mail transmission / reception unit 14 can receive a mail when a mail reception command is input to the mail server 20 existing on the network 25.
[0047]
The mail transmission / reception unit 14 acquires a connection environment such as an address and a port number of a connection destination mail server from the mail transmission environment setting information storage unit 17 prepared in advance. The received mail is transferred to the received mail analysis unit 15 to analyze the contents of the mail. An example of the received mail is shown in FIG. This figure shows an example of an e-mail attached with a file that can only be used by specific applications.
[0048]
In this mail, the content-type value of the header is application / x-appfile. The received mail analysis unit 15 acquires editing conditions from the partner application information storage unit 13 using this value as a key. In this case, a rule for deleting the attached file can be acquired. After obtaining the editing rule, when the editing rule is passed to the received mail creating unit 16, the received mail creating unit 16 edits the received mail according to the rule.
[0049]
The result of editing the file shown in FIG. 10 is as shown in FIG. The attachment file specific to the application is deleted, the header part of the mail is also corrected, and it can be normally displayed even if it is received by the electronic mail application 2. After editing the e-mail according to the editing rule, it is returned as a response to the mail reception command to the e-mail application 2 used by the user.
[0050]
Among the above reception processes, there is a process of acquiring editing conditions from the partner application information storage unit 13. As a result of analyzing the received mail, if it is necessary to add to the partner application information storage unit 13 as an editing condition, the condition can be added to the partner application information storage unit 13. As an example, a case is assumed in which the electronic mail application 2 used by the sender of the received mail has added an attachment file according to the latest rules. The attachment of an attached file in an e-mail according to the latest rules is as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating attachment file attachment according to the latest rules. FIG. 12 shows that there is an attached file portion. The line 50 in the figure is an attached file name.
[0051]
In the received mail creation process, such a mail is converted into a format in which the attached file name can be interpreted even by an e-mail application that does not support the new contract as shown in FIG. 13 (attached file in FIG. 12). The name 50 is changed to the attached file name 51 in FIG. 13), but a rule is added to the partner application information (see FIG. 7) that the mail sender must be converted into a new contract and transmitted. . The configuration of partner application information to which a new rule has been added is shown in FIG. Thereafter, when sending a mail with a file attached to a partner who uses a mail corresponding to the new contract, the mail is transmitted using the new contract.
[0052]
As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to automatically accumulate the header protocol of the transmission / reception partner in the partner application information storage unit 13, and the stored editing rule is used for the next transmission / reception. Can be used from processing.
[0053]
According to the present invention, the outgoing mail creation unit 11 refers to the partner application information setting unit, and converts the outgoing mail to the old one when the partner's mail rule does not correspond to the latest one. can do.
[0054]
If comprised in this way, an electronic mail can be exchanged between the mail sender and the mail recipient by the old version of mail software possessed by the mail receiver.
[0055]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, mail can be transmitted / received to / from the electronic mail application 2 having the mail transmission / reception function with an arbitrary header rule without modifying any application having the mail transmission / reception function. .
(2) According to the invention described in claim 2, it becomes possible to automatically accumulate the header protocol of the transmission / reception partner in the partner application information storage unit 13, and the stored editing rule is used from the next transmission / reception process. can do.
(3) According to the invention described in claim 3, electronic mail can be exchanged between the mail sender and the mail receiver using the old version of the mail software possessed by the mail receiver.
[0056]
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail transmission / reception apparatus capable of transmitting / receiving mail to / from an application having a mail transmission / reception function with an arbitrary header protocol without modifying any application having a mail transmission / reception function. can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of partner application information.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a transmission processing operation according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of designation of a transmission destination using an extension header.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an implementation example of partner application information.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram when converting an extension header into a standard header.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a reception processing operation according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which an application-specific attachment file is added.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an email in which an application-specific attached file part is deleted.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating attachment file attachment in the latest rules.
FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram when editing an attached file in accordance with old rules.
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram when a new rule is added to the partner application information.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 user
2 E-mail application
3 Mail transmission / reception part
10 E-mail transmission / reception device
11 Outgoing mail analysis part
12 Send mail creation part
13 Partner application information storage
14 Mail transmission / reception unit
15 Received mail analysis section
16 Received mail creation part
17 Mail transmission environment setting information storage unit
20 Mail server

Claims (3)

And transmitting mail analysis section which analyzes the header portion of the outgoing mail given mail messaging from lifting zur application,
A transmission mail creation unit for correcting the transmission mail whose header part has been analyzed by the transmission mail analysis unit in accordance with the header rules of the destination mail transmission / reception device;
A received mail analyzing section for analyzing the header portion of the received incoming mail,
A received mail creation unit for correcting the received mail to the mail to be recognized the application,
A mail transmission / reception unit that controls transmission of the outgoing mail modified by the outgoing mail creation unit, and performs control to give the received incoming mail to the received mail creation unit ;
Comprising
When a transmission mail having a header part and an extension header part having a predetermined code is given from the application, the destination in the header part and the extension header part. the destination in, by deleting the package insert dated file by the sending mail creation unit, and transmits the mail text to which the attachment is not added as a communication mail, the destination in the header part, package insert with file Send the email body with the URL as a separate outgoing email,
When the mail transmission / reception unit receives an email with an attached file and the received email creation unit is given an email with the attachment file, the received email creation unit attaches the email according to the modification. They give the mail a file is deleted on the application, an email transmitting and receiving apparatus, characterized in that.   2. The electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a partner application information setting unit that extracts a header rule of the partner application from the received mail and accumulates partner application information.   3. The transmission mail creation unit refers to the partner application information setting unit, and converts the transmission mail to the old rule when the partner's mail rule does not correspond to the latest one. The electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus described.

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