JP5825019B2 - Information providing program, information providing apparatus, and information providing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing program, an information providing apparatus, and an information providing method.

  In recent years, an increasing number of users exchange a series of electronic mails. At this time, it may be repeated that another user quotes an email sent by a certain user and creates a new email. As a result, an enormous amount of quotes may be included in the body of the e-mail. Further, when printing and displaying an e-mail, there is a case where it is desired to designate and print or display a part included in the body of the e-mail. From an ecological point of view, the idea of not printing useless parts of the body of an email is important.

  As a related prior art, there is a technique for printing a part of electronic documents. For example, there is a technique for printing a document in a print range indicated by a set special symbol at the time of printing by setting a special symbol for designating a print range for a created document (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). . There is also a technique for setting whether printing is necessary for each paragraph of an electronic document (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1 below).

JP-A-6-103270

[Online], February 10, 2005, [September 12, 2011 search], Internet <URL: http: // supportport. justsystems. com / faq / 1032 / app / servlet / qadoc? QID = 022770>

  However, in the prior art, as a result of a series of e-mails exchanged by a plurality of users, it is difficult to specify an output target such as a display target or a print target for each user's message from the body of the e-mail. There's a problem.

  For example, in the conventional technology for setting a special symbol for designating a print range for a created document, each user sets a special symbol for each e-mail when an e-mail is created. There is a problem that it is difficult for the receiver to arbitrarily set the print range.

  In addition, in the technology for setting whether or not printing is necessary for each paragraph of an electronic document, when a plurality of paragraphs are included in a portion to be printed in the body of an email, a plurality of paragraphs are input by a user operation input. Therefore, there is a problem that the user's operation load increases.

  In order to solve the above-described problems caused by the prior art, the present invention provides an information providing program and information providing that can specify an output target in units of quotations quoted from other e-mails from the body of the e-mail An object is to provide an apparatus and an information providing method.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, according to one aspect of the present invention, based on the text of the target email to be displayed, the text of the target email is selected from the text of the target email. The citation part quoted from the text of the citation source email is specified for each of the citation source emails, and each of the citation parts for each of the specified citation source emails is output as the target email. An information providing program, an information providing apparatus, and an information providing method for creating screen information of a display screen that can be selected from the body text and outputting the created screen information of the display screen are proposed.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that an output target can be specified in a quoted part unit quoted from another electronic mail from the body of the electronic mail.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the information providing method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a system configuration example of the mail system 200 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration example of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration example of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the mail DB 220. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the reply management DB 230. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the authentication DB 240. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the work table 250. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen example of the mail list screen. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a screen example of a message creation screen. FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a functional configuration example of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a screen example of a message display screen. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) illustrating a specific example of a print result. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) illustrating a specific example of a print result. FIG. 15 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 16 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of mail transmission processing of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of print request processing of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 19 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 20 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 21 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of mail transmission processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 22 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of mail transmission processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 23 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of display screen creation processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 24 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of the display screen creation process of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 25 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of print processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of a system configuration example of the mail system 2600 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the contents stored in the work table 2620. FIG. 28 is a block diagram of a functional configuration example of the mail system 2600 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 29 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 30 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 31 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of display screen creation processing of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 32 is a flowchart (No. 2) illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of the display screen creation process of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 33 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of print processing of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 34 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 2601 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 35 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 2601 according to the second embodiment.

  Exemplary embodiments of an information providing program, an information providing apparatus, and an information providing method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the information providing method according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a series of e-mail exchanges between “Mr. A” and “Mr. B” are shown. Here, electronic mail is electronic information transmitted and received between computers via a network. The email includes, for example, header information and body information.

  The header information includes, for example, an e-mail message ID (identification), a destination mail address, a source mail address, a transmission date and time, and the like. The body information includes, for example, text information describing the text of the e-mail. The body information may include attached information such as images, sounds, and programs, for example.

  In addition, the body of an e-mail may include a quote part quoted from another e-mail. The quote part includes characters and symbols quoted from the text of another electronic mail, and is, for example, a quote quoted from the text of another electronic mail. There may be a case where a quotation mark is inserted at the beginning of each line included in the quotation portion, for example, indicating that the quotation is from another electronic mail. The quotation marks are, for example, symbols such as “>” and “>>”.

  In addition, for example, a character string representing a quoted part may be inserted at the beginning of each quoted part quoted from another electronic mail. The character string representing the quoting part is, for example, “Original Message”. In the following description, a character string representing a quote part may be referred to as a “quote tag”.

  Here, a series of electronic mails exchanged between “Mr. A” and “Mr. B” will be described in time series. In the following description, an electronic mail may be simply expressed as “mail”.

  (1) The mail 110 is transmitted from “Mr. A” to “Mr. B” as a destination. Email 110 says, “I would like to set a target while receiving Mr. B's opinions about setting the target. We look forward to your feedback. ""

  (2) A mail 120 is transmitted from “Mr. B” to “Mr. A” as a destination. Email 120 says, “Are you sure that the target setting is sales for the next fiscal year? It is for confirming the target of goal setting such as “”.

  (3) The mail 130 is transmitted from “Mr. A” to “Mr. B” as a destination. Email 130 is “Target setting for sales in the next fiscal year. "Mr. A" 's reply to the mail 120 from "Mr. B".

  (4) The mail 140 is transmitted from “Mr. B” to “Mr. A” as a destination. Email 140: “I think the next fiscal year sales target should be around ¥ × 100 million. "Mr. B" 's reply to the mail 110 from "Mr. A".

  (5) A mail 150 is transmitted from “Mr. A” to “Mr. B” as a destination. Email 150 says, “After consulting with Mr. C based on the opinions of Mr. B, we would like to set the sales target for the next fiscal year to △ Billion yen. Represents the result of determining the sales target.

  In FIG. 1, a body 151 of a mail 150 transmitted from “Mr. A” to “Mr. B” is shown. The body 151 includes a quote part 152 quoted from the mail 140, a quote part 153 quoted from the mail 130, a quote part 154 quoted from the mail 120, and a quote part 155 quoted from the mail 110. include.

  Here, Mr. B selects a part of the quotations 152 to 155 included in the text 151 of the mail 150 as an output target in order to confirm the process until the sales target for the next term is determined. Sometimes you want to display or print. For example, since the quoting parts 153 and 154 are contents for confirming the target of the target setting, in order to confirm the question about the sales target for the next term, which is the original exchange, and the decision items, It is sufficient to select only 155 as the output target.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a quoted part quoted from the text of another mail is selected for each other mail from the text of the mail that has been replied and forwarded while a series of mails are exchanged by a plurality of users. In particular, each citation is displayed as an output target.

  In the example of FIG. 1, a screen example of a display screen 160 that displays the text 151 of the mail 150 is shown. The display screen 160 is displayed on the display 171 of the client terminal 170 used by “Mr. B”, for example. The display screen 160 is a screen that can select each of the quotation parts 152 to 155 for each of the mails 140, 130, 120, and 110 that are the citation source of the mail 150 as an output target.

  On the display screen 160, for example, by inputting “Mr. B” using the keyboard 172 of the client terminal 170, a quote part to be output can be arbitrarily selected from the quote parts 152 to 155. Specifically, for example, by selecting a check box corresponding to a citation part to be displayed or printed from check boxes 156 to 159 provided for each citation part 152 to 155, a citation part to be output is selected. can do.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the check boxes 156 and 159 corresponding to the quotation parts 152 and 155 are selected from the check boxes 156 to 159. As a result, only the quote parts 152 and 155 of the quote parts 152 to 155 included in the body 151 of the mail 150 are displayed and printed.

  As described above, by making it possible to select an output target in units of citations included in the text 151 of the mail 150, only some of the citations 152 to 155 included in the text 151 are displayed and printed. Will be able to. As a result, for example, in a situation where a series of emails are exchanged by a plurality of users, the output target is selected from the body of the received email in units of each user's utterance or a group of stories exchanged between users. As a result, user convenience can be improved. Further, since the output target can be selected in units of citations, for example, the user's operation load can be reduced as compared with the case where the output target is selected in units of paragraphs.

(System configuration example of the mail system 200)
Next, a system configuration example of the mail system 200 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a system configuration example of the mail system 200 according to the first embodiment. 2, the mail system 200 includes an information providing apparatus 201, a plurality of client terminals 202 (three in the drawing), and a printer 203.

  In the mail system 200, the information providing apparatus 201, the plurality of client terminals 202, and the printer 203 are connected to each other via a wired or wireless network 210 so that they can communicate with each other. The network 210 is, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the like.

  Here, the information providing apparatus 201 is a computer that has a mail DB (database) 220, a reply management DB 230, an authentication DB 240, and a work table 250, and performs transmission / reception of electronic mail in the mail system 200. The information providing apparatus 201 is, for example, a mail server. The mail DB 220, the reply management DB 230, the authentication DB 240, and the work table 250 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The client terminal 202 is a computer that displays, creates, and transmits and receives electronic mail. The client terminal 202 is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a smartphone, or the like used by the user of the mail system 200. The client terminal 170 illustrated in FIG. 1 corresponds to the client terminal 202.

  The e-mail is, for example, a web mail displayed, created, and transmitted / received by the browser of the client terminal 202. The printer 203 receives print commands from the information providing apparatus 201 and the client terminal 202 and prints document data and image data. For example, a laser printer or an ink jet printer can be employed as the printer 203.

(Example of hardware configuration of information providing apparatus 201)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration example of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, an information providing apparatus 201 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303, an I / F (Interface) 304, and a magnetic disk drive. 305, a magnetic disk 306, an optical disk drive 307, an optical disk 308, and an input device 309. Each component is connected by a bus 300.

  Here, the CPU 301 governs overall control of the information providing apparatus 201. The ROM 302 stores a program such as a boot program. The RAM 303 is used as a work area for the CPU 301. The I / F 304 is connected to the network 210 through a communication line, and is connected to other devices such as the client terminal 202 via the network 210. The I / F 304 controls an internal interface with the network 210 and controls input / output of data from other devices. For example, a modem or a LAN adapter may be employed as the I / F 304.

  The magnetic disk drive 305 controls the reading / writing of the data with respect to the magnetic disk 306 according to control of CPU301. The magnetic disk 306 stores data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 305. The optical disk drive 307 controls reading / writing of data with respect to the optical disk 308 according to the control of the CPU 301. The optical disk 308 stores data written under the control of the optical disk drive 307, and causes the computer to read data stored on the optical disk 308.

  The input device 309 inputs data such as letters, numbers, and various instructions. The input device 309 is, for example, a keyboard having keys for input or a touch panel type input pad. Note that the information providing apparatus 201 may include a display for displaying data in addition to the above-described components. Further, the information providing apparatus 201 may not include the optical disk drive 307 and the optical disk 308 among the above-described components, for example.

(Hardware configuration example of client terminal 202)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration example of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. 4, the client terminal 202 includes a CPU 401, a ROM 402, a RAM 403, a magnetic disk drive 404, a magnetic disk 405, an optical disk drive 406, an optical disk 407, a display 408, an I / F 409, a keyboard 410, and the like. A mouse 411 and a scanner 412. Each component is connected by a bus 400.

  Here, the CPU 401 governs overall control of the client terminal 202. The ROM 402 stores programs such as a boot program. The RAM 403 is used as a work area for the CPU 401. The magnetic disk drive 404 controls the reading / writing of the data with respect to the magnetic disk 405 according to control of CPU401. The magnetic disk 405 stores data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 404.

  The optical disk drive 406 controls reading / writing of data with respect to the optical disk 407 according to the control of the CPU 401. The optical disk 407 stores data written under the control of the optical disk drive 406, or causes the computer to read data stored on the optical disk 407.

  The display 408 displays data such as a document, an image, and function information as well as a cursor, an icon, or a tool box. As the display 408, for example, a CRT, a TFT liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like can be adopted.

  The I / F 409 is connected to the network 210 through a communication line, and is connected to another device such as the information providing device 201 via the network 210. The I / F 409 controls an internal interface with the network 210 and controls input / output of data from other devices. For example, a modem or a LAN adapter may be employed as the I / F 409.

  The keyboard 410 includes keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, and the like, and inputs data. Moreover, a touch panel type input pad or a numeric keypad may be used. The mouse 411 moves the cursor, selects a range, moves the window, changes the size, and the like. A trackball or a joystick may be used as long as they have the same function as a pointing device.

  The scanner 412 optically reads an image and takes in the image data into the client terminal 202. The scanner 412 may have an OCR (Optical Character Reader) function. For example, the client terminal 202 may not include the optical disk drive 406, the optical disk 407, the scanner 412 and the like among the above-described components.

(Storage contents of various DBs 220, 230, 240, 250)
Next, the storage contents of various DBs 220, 230, 240, and 250 included in the information providing apparatus 201 will be described with reference to FIGS. The various DBs 220, 230, 240, 250 are realized by a storage device such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 306, and the optical disk 308 of the information providing apparatus 201 shown in FIG.

<Storage contents of mail DB 220>
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the mail DB 220. In FIG. 5, the mail DB 220 has fields of user ID, type, message ID, sender, destination, transmission date / time, title, and text. Mail information (for example, mail information 500-1 to 500-7) is stored by setting information in each field.

  The user ID is an identifier of the user of the mail system 200. Here, the user's email address is used as the user ID. The type is information for distinguishing between received mail and transmitted mail. The message ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying mail transmitted / received by the mail system 200.

  The sender is an identifier of a user who is a sender of mail, for example, a user ID of a user who is a sender. The destination is a mail destination, for example, a mail address of a user who is a mail transmission destination. The destination includes, for example, CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC (Blind Carbon Copy). The outgoing date / time is the outgoing date / time of the mail. The transmission date and time may include information specifying the day of the week on which the mail is transmitted. The title is the subject of the email. The text is a message described as the text information of the mail.

  For example, the mail information 500-1 is information related to the received mail of the user with the user ID “honda@xxx.ww”. The message ID of the received mail is “hatsumei4@xxx.ww”, the sender is “suzuki@xxx.ww”, and the destination is “honda@xxx.ww, tanaka@xxx.ww”. In addition, the date and time of transmission is “2011/1/26 11:30:03”, the title is “Re: Re: Re: About the invention”, and the main text is “To: Mr. Tanaka CC: Mr. Honda Mr. Tanaka” ... ".

  In the above description, the user's mail address is used as the user ID. However, another identifier different from the user's mail address may be used. Thereby, for example, a plurality of mail addresses can be managed for one user.

<Storage contents of reply management DB 230>
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the reply management DB 230. In FIG. 6, the reply management DB 230 stores reply management information (for example, reply management information 600-1 to 600-3) that associates quotation destination information and quotation source information in association with each other. The quotation destination information indicates the message ID and sender of the mail that is the quotation destination. Further, the citation source information indicates the message ID and sender of the mail that is the citation source.

  For example, the reply management information 600-1 includes the sender “suzuki@xxx.ww”, the message ID “hatsumei4@xxx.ww”, the sender “tanaka@xxx.ww”, and the message ID “hatsumei3@xxx.ww”. Shows that it was created by quoting the email.

<Storage contents of authentication DB 240>
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the authentication DB 240. In FIG. 7, the authentication DB 240 has fields for user ID, password, and user name. By setting information in each field, authentication information (for example, authentication information 700-1 to 700-4) of each user is obtained. It is memorized as a record.

  Here, the user ID is an identifier of the user of the mail system 200. The password is a code for authenticating the user of the mail system 200. The user name is the name of the user of the mail system 200. For example, the authentication information 700-1 indicates the password “jjleriuth” and the user name “Tanaka” of the user with the user ID “tanaka@xxx.ww”.

<Storage contents of Work table 250>
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the work table 250. In FIG. 8, the Work table 250 includes fields for message ID, start line, end line, sender, and transmission date / time. By setting information in each field, citation information 800-1 to 800-3 is stored as a record.

  The message ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying mail transmitted / received by the mail system 200. The start line indicates the number of lines from the top of each citation in the body of the email. The end line represents the line number from the top of each citation in the body of the email. The sender is an identifier of the mail transmission source, for example, the user ID of the user who is the transmission source. The outgoing date / time is the outgoing date / time of the mail.

  For example, the quote part information 800-1 indicates that quote parts are included in the 15th to 20th lines from the top of the body of the mail with the message ID “hatsumei4@xxx.www”. In addition, the sender “tanaka@xxx.ww” and the transmission date and time “Tuesday, January 25, 2011 8:39 PM” of the mail that is the citation part of this citation part are shown.

(Email list screen example)
Next, a mail list screen displayed on the display 408 of the client terminal 202 shown in FIG. 4 will be described. The screen information of the mail list screen is created by the information providing apparatus 201 and transmitted to the client terminal 202, for example.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen example of the mail list screen. In FIG. 9, the mail list screen 900 displays summary information (for example, summary information 900-1 to 900-7) of the email transmitted to the user with the user ID “honda@xxx.ww”.

  The summary information is information indicating the sender of the mail, the transmission date and time, and the subject. Here, the user ID of the user who is the sender of the mail is shown as the mail sender. In addition, the title of the email is shown as the subject of the email. For example, the summary information 900-1 indicates the mail sender “suzuki@xxx.www”, the transmission date and time “2011/1/26 11:30:03”, and the subject “Re: Re: Re: About the Invention”. .

  In the mail list screen 900, when any outline information is clicked by moving the cursor C by a user operation input using the keyboard 410 or the mouse 411 shown in FIG. 4, a mail corresponding to the outline information is displayed. It will be in the selected state. In the example of FIG. 9, the summary information 900-1 is clicked.

  When button B 1 is clicked on mail list screen 900, a message creation screen display request for creating a new mail is transmitted to information providing apparatus 201, so that the message creation screen is displayed on display 408. The message creation screen will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When button B2 is clicked on mail list screen 900, a message creation screen display request for creating a reply mail for the selected mail is transmitted to information providing apparatus 201. As a result, the message creation screen is displayed on display 408. Is displayed.

  When button B3 is clicked on mail list screen 900, a message creation screen display request for creating a forwarded mail for the selected mail is transmitted to information providing apparatus 201. As a result, the message creation screen is displayed on display 408. Is displayed. When button B4 is clicked on mail list screen 900, the logout request is transmitted to information providing apparatus 201, and as a result, display of mail list screen 900 ends.

(Example of message creation screen)
Next, a message creation screen displayed on the display 408 of the client terminal 202 will be described. For example, the message creation screen is displayed on the display 408 when any of the buttons B1 to B3 is clicked on the mail list screen 900 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a screen example of a message creation screen. In FIG. 10, the message creation screen 1000 includes boxes 1001 to 1004. In the message creation screen 1000, a new mail, a reply mail, or a forward mail can be created by inputting various information into the boxes 1001 to 1004, for example, by a user operation input using the keyboard 410 or the mouse 411. .

  Here, a box 1001 is a box into which a mail destination is input. A box 1002 is a box into which a mail CC destination is input. A box 1003 is a box in which the title of the mail is input. A box 1004 is a box in which a mail text is input.

  When the button B2 is clicked on the mail list screen 900 shown in FIG. 9, for example, the destination, title, and quote are inserted in the boxes 1001, 1003, and 1004 of the message creation screen 1000 in FIG. It is displayed on the display 408 in a state. The destination here is the destination and sender of the clicked mail. In addition, the quoted text here is the text of the clicked mail with a quotation mark. When the button B3 is clicked on the mail list screen 900, for example, it is displayed on the display 408 with titles and quotes inserted in the boxes 1003 and 1004 of the message creation screen 1000.

  When the button B5 is clicked on the message creation screen 1000, the created mail to be transmitted is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. When button B4 is clicked on message creation screen 1000, the logout request is transmitted to information providing apparatus 201, and as a result, display of message creation screen 1000 ends.

(Functional configuration example of the information providing apparatus 201)
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a functional configuration example of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 11, the information providing apparatus 201 includes a reception unit 1101, a specification unit 1102, a search unit 1103, a comparison unit 1104, a creation unit 1105, and an output unit 1106. The receiving unit 1101 to the output unit 1106 are functions as a control unit. Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 executes a program stored in a storage device such as the ROM 302, the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 306, and the optical disk 308 shown in FIG. The function is realized by executing the function or by the I / F 304.

  The receiving unit 1101 has a function of receiving a mail display request. Here, the mail display request includes, for example, the user ID of the user who is the request source and the message ID of the mail that is the target of the display request. The user ID is, for example, the user's email address. In the following description, the mail that is the target of the display request is referred to as “target mail”.

  Specifically, for example, the reception unit 1101 receives a display request for the target mail by receiving the display request for the target mail from the client terminal 202. Further, the reception unit 1101 may receive a target mail display request by, for example, a user operation input using the input device 309 illustrated in FIG. 3.

  The identifying unit 1102 has a function of identifying, for each email, a quoted portion quoted from the text of the email that is the citation source of the target email, based on the text of the target email. Here, the mail that becomes the citation source is, for example, the mail that becomes the reply source or transfer source of the target mail. The text of the target mail is specified from the mail information of the target mail in the mail DB 220, for example.

  Specifically, for example, the specifying unit 1102 specifies a mail information group corresponding to the user ID included in the target mail display request from the mail DB 220. Next, the specifying unit 1102 extracts the mail information of the received mail corresponding to the message ID included in the target mail display request from the specified mail information group. A received mail is a mail in which “reception” is set in the type field. Thereby, the mail information of the target mail can be extracted from the mail DB 220.

  For example, the identifying unit 1102 can identify a quoting part for each mail that is a citation source of the target mail by detecting a citation tag from the text of the target mail. As described above, the quotation tag is a character string representing a quotation part in the text. More specifically, for example, the specifying unit 1102 detects the quotation tag by reading the text of the target mail from above. When the citation tag is detected, the specifying unit 1102 specifies the portion from the next line of the citation tag until the next citation tag is detected or the portion up to the end of the text as the citation portion. .

  Further, for example, the identifying unit 1102 can identify a quoting part for each mail that is the citation source of the target mail by detecting a quotation mark inserted at the beginning of each line from the body of the target mail. . More specifically, for example, the specifying unit 1102 first detects a quotation mark inserted at the beginning of each line from the body of the target mail. Then, the identifying unit 1102 identifies the quoting unit for each mail that is the quoting source by aggregating lines having the same number of quotation marks inserted at the beginning of each line.

  The search unit 1103 has a function of searching the reply management DB 230 for a mail that is a citation source of the target mail based on the message ID of the target mail included in the received display request. Here, the reply management DB 230 stores the message ID of the mail transmitted by the mail system 200 and the message ID of the reply mail or forwarded mail in association with each other. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the reply management DB 230 stores the message ID of the citation source mail and the message ID of the citation destination mail in association with each other.

  Specifically, for example, the search unit 1103 searches the reply management DB 230 for reply management information in which the message ID of the target mail is set to the message ID of the quotation destination information. As an example, the message ID included in the target mail display request is “hatsumei4@xxx.ww”.

  In this case, the search unit 1103 searches the reply management DB 230 for the reply management information 600-1 in which the message ID “hatsumei4@xxx.ww” is set as the message ID of the citation destination information. The mail with the message ID “hatsumei3@xxx.ww” set in the citation source information of the reply management information 600-1 is the mail that becomes the reply source or transfer source of the target mail, that is, the citation source of the target mail. It is an email.

  In addition, there may be a mail that becomes the citation source of the mail that becomes the citation source of the target mail. In other words, the target mail may include a mail that is indirectly cited through the mail that is the cited source. Therefore, the search unit 1103 searches the reply management DB 230 for reply management information in which the message ID set in the citation source information of the searched reply management information is set in the message ID of the citation destination information. May be.

  Specifically, for example, the search unit 1103 uses the reply ID in which the message ID “hatsumei3@xxx.ww” set in the citation source information of the reply management information 600-1 is set in the message ID of the citation destination information. Information 600-2 is searched. In this way, by tracking the reply management information in the reply management DB 230 using the message ID as a clue, it is possible to search for the mail that is the citation source of the target mail directly or indirectly.

  In the example of FIG. 6, message IDs “hatsumei3@xxx.www”, “hatsumei2@xxx.www”, and “hatsumei1 @ xxx. "Is searched.

  In the following description, the retrieved email that is the citation source is referred to as a “citation email”. In addition, the citation mail that directly becomes the citation source of the target mail is referred to as “first citation mail”, and the citation mail that is the citation source of the Nth citation mail is the “(N + 1) citation”. It may be described as “original mail” (N: natural number of 1 or more). In addition, the quoting part that appears Nth from the top in the text of the target mail may be referred to as the “Nth quoting part”.

  The comparison unit 1104 includes a quoting part quoted from the text of the mail that is the citation source of the target mail in the text of the target mail, and a mail that is the citation source of the quoting mail in the text of the retrieved citation mail. It has a function of comparing the remaining text excluding the quoted part from the text.

  Specifically, for example, the comparison unit 1104 extracts, from the text of the target email, a quoted portion quoted from the text of another email, that is, the entire quoted portion included in the text. Further, the comparison unit 1104 extracts a quoted part quoted from the text of another mail, that is, a remaining text excluding the entire quoted part included in the text, from the text of the original mail. The text of the citation source mail is specified from the mail information of the citation source mail in the mail DB 220, for example. Then, the comparison unit 1104 compares the entire quote part extracted from the text of the target mail with the remaining text extracted from the text of the original mail.

  Note that the entire quote part included in the body of the email can be identified from the quotes and quote tags described above, for example. More specifically, for example, the comparison unit 1104 identifies all lines in which the quotation marks are inserted in the body of the target mail as the entire citation unit. Also, the comparison unit 1104 identifies all lines after the first quotation tag as the entire quotation part by reading the text of the target mail from above.

  Further, the specifying unit 1102 may specify a quoted part quoted from the text of the citation source mail among the texts of the target mail based on the comparison result. Specifically, for example, the identifying unit 1102 selects a part that matches the remaining body text excluding the entire cited part of the body of the Nth citation source mail among the cited parts included in the body of the target email. It is specified as a quoted part quoted from the text of the Nth citation source mail.

  As a result, it is possible to identify the quoted part quoted from the text of the Nth citation source mail from the text of the target mail. Specifically, for example, even when the position of the Nth citation part and the (N + 1) th citation part in the body of the target mail is changed when the target mail is created, the Nth citation mail The quotation part quoted from can be specified. In addition, when the target mail is created, for example, even if the second and subsequent citation tags in the body of the target mail are deleted or a part of the quotation mark is deleted, the citation part quoted from the Nth citation mail Can be specified.

  Further, the specifying unit 1102 may specify the sender of the citation source mail that becomes the citation source of the specified citation unit. Specifically, for example, the identifying unit 1102 refers to the reply management DB 230 and identifies the sender of the Nth citation source mail. Then, the specifying unit 1102 may associate the citation part quoted from the Nth citation source mail with the sender of the Nth citation source mail.

  Note that the specifying unit 1102 specifies the sender of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the citation part based on the searched search result and the appearance order of the specified citation part in the body of the target mail. Also good. Specifically, for example, the specifying unit 1102 may specify the sender of the searched Nth citation source mail as the sender of the citation source mail of the Nth citation part of the body of the target mail.

  The identified result is stored, for example, in the work table 250 shown in FIG. Specifically, for example, the message ID of the target mail is set in the message ID field of the Work table 250. Then, the starting line of the quote part in the body of the target mail is set in the start line field, and the end line of the quote part in the body of the target mail is set in the end line field.

  Further, the sender of the citation mail is set in the sender field, and the transmission date and time of the citation mail is set in the transmission date field. The transmission date and time of the citation source mail is specified from the mail DB 220, for example. According to the Work table 250, it is possible to specify the start line and end line of each citation part included in the text of the target mail, the sender of the citation source mail, and the transmission date and time.

  The Work table 250 may store the start and end lines of the remaining text excluding the quoted part of the text of the target mail. As a result, the remaining text excluding the quoted part of the text of the target mail can be specified.

  The creation unit 1105 has a function of creating screen information of a display screen that can be selected from the text of the target email, with each of the citations for each identified citation source email as an output target. Here, the citation part to be output is, for example, a citation part to be displayed, printed, transmitted, and recorded.

  The display screen is, for example, a message display screen that displays the text of the target mail. In the following description, a display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail with each of the citations as an output target may be referred to as a “message display screen”. Specifically, for example, the creation unit 1105 can select each of a range including each quoted part as a display target or a print target in the text of the target mail with reference to the Work table 250 illustrated in FIG. Create screen information for the message display screen.

  Further, the creation unit 1105 may create screen information of a message display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail, with each of the citation parts for each sender of the citation source mail as an output target. Specifically, for example, first, the creation unit 1105 refers to the Work table 250 and identifies the citation part for each sender of the citation source mail from the text of the target mail. Then, the creation unit 1105 creates screen information of a message display screen that can select each of a range including a quote part for each sender as a display target or a print target in the text of the target mail. An example of the message display screen will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The output unit 1106 has a function of outputting screen information of the created message display screen. Examples of the output format include transmission to an external device by the I / F 304, recording to a storage device such as the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 305, and the optical disk 307, and display on a display (not shown).

  Specifically, for example, the output unit 1106 transmits the created screen information of the message display screen to the client terminal 202 that has requested the target mail display request. As a result, for example, on the display 408 of the client terminal 202, a message display screen that can select each of the quoted parts included in the text of the target mail as an output target is displayed.

  In addition, the reception unit 1101 has a function of receiving an operation input for selecting at least one citation part to be output from the text of the target mail as a result of outputting the screen information of the message display screen. Specifically, for example, the accepting unit 1101 may accept an operation input for selecting at least one citation part to be displayed or printed from the text of the target mail.

  More specifically, for example, as a result of the screen information of the message display screen being transmitted to the requesting client terminal 202, the reception unit 1101 displays at least one of the citations selected from the text of the target mail. A request or a print request is received from the client terminal 202. This display request or print request includes the start line and end line of the selected quote section, the user ID for specifying the sender of the quoted mail, and the like.

  Also, for example, as a result of the message display screen being displayed on a display (not shown), the accepting unit 1101 selects at least one citation to be displayed or printed by the user's operation input using the input device 309. An operation input to be performed may be received.

  Further, when the operation input is accepted, the output unit 1106 has a function of outputting document information representing a citation part to be output among the text of the target mail. Here, it is assumed that a request to display a quoted part selected from the text of the target mail is received. In this case, for example, first, the creation unit 1105 creates screen information of a message display screen that displays a quoted part specified from the display request in the text of the target mail.

  Then, the output unit 1106 may transmit the created screen information of the message display screen to the requesting client terminal 202. As a result, for example, on the display 408 of the client terminal 202, a message display screen for displaying a quote part specified from the display request in the text of the target mail is displayed.

  Further, it is assumed that a print request for a quoted part selected from the text of the target mail is received. In this case, the output unit 1106 transmits a quoting part print command specified from the print request to the printer 203 shown in FIG. This print command includes, for example, document information of a quotation part specified from the print request.

  As a result, the printer 203 prints a quote part specified from the print request, that is, a quote part selected from the text of the target mail. A specific example of the print result will be described later with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

  In the above description, when a display request for the target mail is received, for example, the screen information of the message display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail for each citation part for each citation source mail is output. Although the creation has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, prior to the mail display request, the information providing apparatus 201 may previously create screen information of a message display screen for each received mail stored in the mail DB 220.

(Example of message display screen)
Here, a screen example of the message display screen will be described by taking as an example a case where a display request including the user ID “honda@xxx.ww” and the message ID “hatsumei4@xxx.ww” is received.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a screen example of a message display screen. In FIG. 12, a message display screen 1200 that displays the text 1201 of the target mail is displayed on the display 408. This display 408 is the display 408 of the client terminal 202 used by “Mr. Tanaka” who is the request source of the target mail display request.

  On the message display screen 1200, the text 1201 of the target mail is displayed. This target mail is a mail with the message ID “hatsumei4@xxx.ww” sent from the sender “Mr. Suzuki” to “Mr. Tanaka” as the destination and “Mr. Honda” as the CC.

  The body 1201 includes a quote part 1202, a quote part 1203, and a quote part 1204. The quote part 1202 is a quote sentence quoted from the text of the quote source email of the message ID “hatsumei3@xxx.ww” which is the quote source of the target email. Specifically, the quoting unit 1202 represents the answer of “Mr. Tanaka” to the inquiry from “Mr. Suzuki”.

  The quote part 1203 is a quote sentence quoted from the text of the quote source email of the message ID “hatsumei2@xxx.ww” that is the quote source of the target email. Specifically, the quoting unit 1203 represents the content of an inquiry from “Mr. Suzuki” to “Mr. Tanaka” such as “Please tell me the name of the program that the client has about the idea”.

  The quote part 1204 is a quote sentence quoted from the text of the quote source mail of the message ID “hatsumei1@xxx.ww” which is the quote source of the target mail. Specifically, the quoting section 1204 has a content such as “I will contact you with an idea drawing, so please let me know if you have any questions.”

  Also, the message display screen 1200 displays check boxes 1205 to 1207 provided for the quotation parts 1202 to 1204. A check box 1205 corresponds to the citation unit 1202. A check box 1206 corresponds to the citation unit 1203. A check box 1207 corresponds to the quoting portion 1204.

  In addition, buttons B6 to B12 are displayed on the message display screen 1200. The button B6 is a reply button. The button B7 is a transfer button. Button B8 is a button for full-text printing. Buttons B9 to B12 are buttons for quoting portion printing.

  Here, the button B9 is a button for making a print request for a quoted part quoted from a quoted mail whose sender is “Mr. Suzuki” who is the sender of the target mail among the quoted mails of the target mail. The user ID “suzuki@xxx.ww” of “Mr. Suzuki” is associated with the button B9.

  The button B10 is a button for requesting a print of a quoted portion quoted from a quoted email with “Mr. Tanaka” as a sender among quoted emails of the target email. The user ID “tanaka@xxx.ww” of “Mr. Tanaka” is associated with the button B10.

  The button B11 is a button for requesting a print of a quoted part quoted from a quoted email with “Mr. Yamada” as a sender among quoted emails of the target email. The user ID “yamada@xxx.ww” of “Mr. Yamada” is associated with the button B11.

  That is, in this example of the message display screen 1200, buttons B9 to B11 representing senders of all the citation mails that are the citation source of the target mail are displayed. The button B12 is a button for requesting a print of a quote part selected from the quote parts 1202 to 1204 included in the target mail.

  In the message display screen 1200, when the user operates the keyboard 410 or the mouse 411 to move the cursor C and the button B6 is clicked, a message creation screen display request for creating a reply mail of the target mail is displayed as information. It is transmitted to the providing apparatus 201. As a result, a message creation screen is displayed on the display 408.

  When button B7 is clicked on message display screen 1200, a message creation screen display request for creating a forward mail for the target mail is transmitted to information providing apparatus 201. As a result, a message creation screen is displayed on the display 408.

  Further, when the button B8 is clicked on the message display screen 1200, a full-text print request for the target mail is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. For example, the text 1201 of the target mail is printed by the printer 203.

  When the button B9 is clicked on the message display screen 1200, a sender print request including the sender user ID “suzuki@xxx.ww” of the target mail is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. As a result, for example, the printer 203 prints a quoted portion quoted from a quoted email with “Mr. Suzuki” as the sender.

  When the button B10 is clicked on the message display screen 1200, a sender print request including the user ID “tanaka@xxx.ww” of “Tanaka” is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. As a result, for example, the printer 203 prints a quoted part quoted from a quoted original mail with “tanaka@xxx.ww” as the sender.

  When the button B11 is clicked on the message display screen 1200, a sender print request including the user ID “yamada@xxx.www” of “Yamada” is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. As a result, for example, the printer 203 prints the quoted part quoted from the quoted mail with “yamada@xxx.ww” as the sender.

  If there is no print target corresponding to the sender print request, a print error screen indicating that there is no print target is displayed on the display 408.

  In the message display screen 1200, a citation to be printed can be selected by clicking an arbitrary check box among the check boxes 1205-1207. If the button B12 is clicked in a state where the citation part to be printed is selected, a print request including selected citation part information representing the selected citation part is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. As a result, for example, the selected citation is printed by the printer 203. The selected citation part information may include, for example, the start line and end line of the selected citation part in the text 1201.

  As described above, according to the message display screen 1200, by clicking an arbitrary check box, the citation quoted from the text of each citation mail that is the citation source of the target mail from the text 1201 of the target mail. The print target can be specified in units of copies. In addition, by clicking any one of the buttons B9 to B11, it is possible to designate a print target in units of citations for each sender of the citation source mail.

  Note that by providing a determination button (not shown) on the message display screen 1200, a plurality of buttons may be selected from the buttons B8 to B12. As an example, it is assumed that a decision button (not shown) is clicked on the message display screen 1200 while the buttons B10 and B11 are clicked.

  In this case, a sender print request including the user ID “tanaka@xxx.ww” of “Tanaka” and the user ID “yamada@xxx.ww” of “Yamada” is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201. As a result, for example, the printer 203 prints a quoted portion quoted from a quoted mail whose sender is “tanaka@xxx.ww” or “yamada@xxx.ww”.

(Specific examples of print results)
Next, a specific example of the print result output by the printer 203 will be described. Here, first, a specific example of the print result when the button B10 is clicked on the message display screen 1200 shown in FIG. 12 will be described.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) illustrating a specific example of a print result. In FIG. 13, a print result 1300 is a print result output by the printer 203 as a result of a sender print request including the user ID “tanaka@xxx.ww” of “Tanaka” being transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201.

  In the print result 1300, quoted parts 1202 and 1204 quoted from the quoted mail with “Tanaka” as the sender in the text 1201 of the target mail shown in FIG. 12 are displayed. Also, the print result 1300 displays the transmission date and time 1301 of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the citation unit 1202. Further, the print result 1300 displays a transmission date 1302 of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the citation unit 1204.

  According to the print result 1300, it is possible to confirm only the citation parts 1202 and 1204 quoted from the citation mail with “Tanaka” as the sender out of the citation parts 1202 to 1204 included in the text 1201 of the target mail. In this way, by making it possible to select a print target in units of citations for each sender, for example, the user can read the print result 1300 after grasping who wrote them, and citations 1202 and 1204. Is easier to read.

  Next, a specific example of a print result when the button B12 is clicked in a state where the check boxes 1205 and 1206 are clicked on the message display screen 1200 illustrated in FIG. 12 will be described.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) illustrating a specific example of a print result. In FIG. 14, a print result 1400 is a print that is output by the printer 203 as a result of a print request including selected quote part information representing the quote parts 1202 and 1203 corresponding to the check boxes 1205 and 1206 being sent to the information providing apparatus 201. It is a result.

  In the print result 1400, quote parts 1202 and 1203 included in the text 1201 of the target mail are displayed. Also, the print result 1400 displays the transmission date 1401 of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the citation unit 1202. Also, the print result 1400 displays the transmission date 1402 of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the citation unit 1203.

  According to the print result 1400, it is possible to confirm only the citation parts 1202 and 1203 selected by the user among the citation parts 1202 to 1204 included in the text 1201 of the target mail. In this way, by making it possible to select a print target in units of citations, for example, it becomes possible to select a print target in units of each user's utterance or a group of stories exchanged between users. Can be improved.

(Information provision processing procedure of client terminal 202)
Next, an information providing process procedure of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 are flowcharts illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 15, first, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a mail list screen display request has been received by a user operation input using the keyboard 410 or the mouse 411 (step S1501).

  Here, the CPU 401 waits to receive a mail list screen display request (step S1501: No). When the CPU 401 receives a mail list screen display request (step S1501: Yes), the CPU 401 transmits a mail list screen display request to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1502).

  Next, the CPU 401 determines whether the screen information of the authentication screen has been received from the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1503). Here, the CPU 401 waits for reception of the screen information of the authentication screen (step S1503: No).

  When the screen information of the authentication screen is received (step S1503: Yes), the CPU 401 displays the authentication screen on the display 408 based on the screen information (step S1504). Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not an input of a user ID and a password has been received by a user operation input (step S1505).

  Here, it waits for the CPU 401 to accept input of a user ID and a password (step S1505: No). When the user ID and password are input (step S1505: Yes), the CPU 401 transmits the user ID and password to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1506).

  Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the screen information of the authentication error screen has been received (step S1507). Here, when the screen information of the authentication error screen is received (step S1507: Yes), the CPU 401 displays the authentication error screen on the display 408 based on the screen information (step S1508). End the process.

  On the other hand, when the screen information of the authentication error screen has not been received (step S1507: No), the CPU 401 determines whether the screen information of the mail list screen has been received (step S1509). If the screen information of the mail list screen has not been received (step S1509: No), the process returns to step S1507.

  On the other hand, when the screen information of the mail list screen is received (step S1509: Yes), the CPU 401 displays the mail list screen on the display 408 based on the screen information (step S1510), and step S1601 shown in FIG. Migrate to

  In the flowchart of FIG. 16, first, the CPU 401 determines whether or not selection of a target mail has been received from the mail list screen by a user operation input (step S1601). If the selection of the target mail is not accepted (step S1601: No), the process proceeds to step S1605.

  On the other hand, when the selection of the target mail is accepted by the CPU 401 (step S1601: Yes), a display request for the target mail is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1602). This display request includes, for example, the user ID of the user of the client terminal 202 and the message ID of the target mail.

  Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the screen information of the message display screen has been received (step S1603). Here, when the screen information of the message display screen is not received (step S1603: No), the process proceeds to step S1605.

  On the other hand, when the screen information of the message display screen is received (step S1603: Yes), the CPU 401 displays the message display screen on the display 408 based on the received screen information (step S1604).

  Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a message creation screen display request has been received by a user operation input (step S1605). If a message creation screen display request has not been received (step S1605: NO), the process proceeds to step S1607.

  On the other hand, when the display request for the message creation screen is received (step S1605: Yes), the CPU 401 executes mail transmission processing (step S1606). Then, the CPU 401 determines whether a print request has been accepted by a user operation input (step S1607).

  If a print request has not been received (step S1607: NO), the process proceeds to step S1609. On the other hand, if a print request is received (step S1607: YES), the CPU 401 executes print request processing (step S1608). Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a logout request has been accepted by a user operation input (step S1609).

  If a logout request has not been received (step S1609: NO), the process returns to step S1601. On the other hand, when the CPU 401 accepts a logout request (step S1609: Yes), the logout request is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1610), and the series of processes according to this flowchart ends.

  Thereby, the mail list screen, the message creation screen, and the message display screen can be displayed on the display 408 in response to various display requests from the user.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the mail transmission processing in step S1606 shown in FIG. 16 will be described.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of mail transmission processing of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 17, first, the CPU 401 transmits a message creation screen display request to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1701).

  Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the screen information of the message creation screen has been received from the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1702). Here, it waits for the CPU 401 to receive the screen information of the message creation screen (step S1702: No).

  When the screen information of the message creation screen is received (step S1702: Yes), the CPU 401 displays the message creation screen on the display 408 based on the screen information (step S1703). Next, the CPU 401 accepts an input of a destination, a title, a text, etc. by a user operation input (step S1704).

  Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a mail transmission request has been accepted by a user operation input (step S1705). Here, the CPU 401 waits to receive a mail transmission request (step S1705: No).

  If a mail transmission request is received (step S1705: YES), the CPU 401 transmits a mail to be transmitted to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1706), and the process proceeds to step S1607 shown in FIG. Thereby, the mail created on the message creation screen can be transmitted to the address set as the destination.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the print request process in step S1608 shown in FIG. 16 will be described.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of print request processing of the client terminal 202 according to the first embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 18, first, the CPU 401 determines whether or not full-text printing is performed (step S1801). Specifically, for example, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the button B8 is clicked on the message display screen 1200 shown in FIG.

  If it is not full-text printing (step S1801: No), the CPU 401 determines whether the mail sender printing is performed (step S1802). Specifically, for example, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the button B9 is clicked on the message display screen 1200.

  Here, in the case of the mail sender printing (step S1802: Yes), the CPU 401 transmits a sender print request including the user ID of the mail sender to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1803). The user ID of this mail sender is associated with the button B9, for example.

  On the other hand, if it is not the mail sender printing (step S1802: No), the CPU 401 determines whether or not it is other sender printing (step S1804). Specifically, for example, the CPU 401 determines whether the button B10 or the button B11 is clicked on the message display screen 1200.

  In the case of other sender printing (step S1804: Yes), the CPU 401 transmits a sender print request including the user ID of the other sender to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1805). The user ID of the other sender is associated with the buttons B10 and B11, for example.

  On the other hand, if it is not other sender printing (step S1804: No), the CPU 401 transmits a print request including selected citation information to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1806). The selected quotation part information is information representing a quotation part corresponding to the clicked check box, for example.

  In the case of full-text printing in step S1801 (step S1801: Yes), the CPU 401 transmits a full-text print request to the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1807). The various print requests described above include, for example, the message ID of the target mail.

  The CPU 401 determines whether a print completion notification has been received from the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1808). If a print completion notification is received (step S1808: YES), the CPU 401 displays a print completion screen on the display 408 (step S1809), and proceeds to step S1609 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the print completion notification has not been received (step S1808: NO), the CPU 401 determines whether an error notification has been received from the information providing apparatus 201 (step S1810). If no error notification is received (step S1810: NO), the process returns to step S1808.

  On the other hand, if an error notification is received (step S1810: Yes), the CPU 401 displays a print error screen on the display 408 (step S1811), and the process proceeds to step S1609 shown in FIG. As a result, it is possible to make a print request by selecting a print target in units of quotes included in the text of the target email or in units of quotes for each sender included in the text of the target email.

(Information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 201)
Next, an information providing process procedure of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment will be described. 19 and 20 are flowcharts illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 19, first, the CPU 301 determines whether or not a mail list screen display request has been received from the client terminal 202 (step S1901). Here, the CPU 301 waits to receive a mail list screen display request (step S1901: No).

  If a mail list screen display request is received (step S1901: YES), the CPU 301 transmits screen information on the authentication screen to the client terminal 202 (step S1902). Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the user ID and password are received from the client terminal 202 (step S1903).

  Here, the CPU 301 waits for receiving a user ID and a password (step S1903: No). If the user ID and password are received (step S1903: YES), the CPU 301 refers to the authentication DB 240 shown in FIG. 7 and executes user authentication processing (step S1904).

  Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 refers to the authentication DB 240 and specifies the password corresponding to the received user ID. Then, the CPU 301 determines whether the received password matches the identified password. As a result, if the passwords match, the CPU 301 authenticates the user. On the other hand, if the passwords do not match, the CPU 301 does not authenticate the user.

  Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the user has been authenticated (step S1905). If the user is authenticated (step S1905: YES), the CPU 301 extracts mail information of the received mail corresponding to the received user ID from the mail DB 220 (step S1906).

  Next, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a mail list screen based on the extracted mail information (step S1907). At this time, the CPU 301 may create screen information of a mail list screen in which mail generation dates and times are sorted in ascending order.

  Then, the CPU 301 transmits the screen information of the mail list screen to the client terminal 202 (step S1908), and proceeds to step S2001 shown in FIG. This client terminal 202 is the client terminal 202 that is the request source of the mail list screen display request received in step S1901.

  If the user is not authenticated in step S1905 (step S1905: No), the CPU 301 transmits the screen information of the authentication error screen to the client terminal 202 (step S1909), and the series of processes according to this flowchart ends. To do.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 20, first, the CPU 301 determines whether or not a message creation screen display request has been received from the client terminal 202 (step S2001). If a message creation screen display request has not been received (step S2001: NO), the process proceeds to step S2003.

  On the other hand, when a message creation screen display request is received (step S2001: YES), the CPU 301 executes mail transmission processing (step S2002). Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the target mail display request has been received from the client terminal 202 (step S2003).

  If the target mail display request has not been received (step S2003: No), the process proceeds to step S2005. On the other hand, when the display request for the target mail is received (step S2003: Yes), the CPU 301 executes display screen creation processing for creating screen information of the message display screen (step S2004).

  Next, the CPU 301 determines whether a print request has been received from the client terminal 202 (step S2005). If no print request has been received (step S2005: NO), the process proceeds to step S2007.

  On the other hand, when a print request is received (step S2005: Yes), the CPU 301 executes print processing (step S2006). Then, the CPU 301 determines whether a logout request has been received from the client terminal 202 (step S2007).

  If no logout request has been received (step S2007: No), the process returns to step S2001. On the other hand, when a logout request is received (step S2007: Yes), a series of processes according to this flowchart is ended.

  Thereby, the screen information of the mail list screen, the message creation screen, and the message display screen can be provided to the client terminal 202 in response to various display requests from the user.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the mail transmission process in step S2002 shown in FIG. 20 will be described.

  FIG. 21 and FIG. 22 are flowcharts illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of mail transmission processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 21, first, the CPU 301 generates a message ID and header information for a new mail (step S2101).

  Next, the CPU 301 determines whether the new mail returns another mail (step S2102). If the new mail does not return another mail (step S2102: No), the process proceeds to step S2201 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the new mail returns another mail (step S2102: Yes), the CPU 301 acquires the message ID and sender of the mail that is the reply source (step S2103).

  The message ID and sender of the reply source mail may be acquired from the header information of the reply source mail or may be acquired from the mail information of the reply source mail. The mail that is the reply source is, for example, the target mail for which the display request has been received in step S2003 illustrated in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 301 sets the message ID and sender of the new mail in the citation destination information of the reply management DB 230 (step S2104), and sets the message ID and sender of the mail that is the reply source in the citation source information (step S2104). S2105). As a result, new reply management information is created in the reply management DB 230. Note that the sender of the new mail is, for example, the user ID received in step S1903 shown in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a message creation screen (step S2106). Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a message creation screen in which the reply destination is the destination and the body of the mail that is the reply source is inserted as a quote. The reply destination is, for example, the sender of the mail that is the reply source.

  Next, the CPU 301 transmits the screen information of the message creation screen to the client terminal 202 (step S2107). This client terminal 202 is the client terminal 202 that is the request source of the message creation screen display request received in step S2001 shown in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 301 determines whether a mail to be transmitted has been received from the client terminal 202 (step S2108). Here, the CPU 301 waits to receive a mail to be transmitted (step S2108: No).

  When the mail to be transmitted is received (step S2108: Yes), the CPU 301 registers the mail information of the mail to be transmitted in the mail DB 220 (step S2109), and the process proceeds to step S2003 shown in FIG. To do.

  Specifically, the mail information of the mail to be transmitted in which the sender of the mail to be transmitted is set in the user ID field and “send” is set in the type field is registered. In addition, the mail information of the mail to be transmitted in which the destination of the mail to be transmitted is set in the user ID field and “reception” is set in the type field is registered.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 22, first, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the new mail is a transfer of another mail (step S2201). Here, when the new mail is to transfer another mail (step S2201: Yes), the CPU 301 obtains the message ID and sender of the mail to be transferred (step S2202).

  The message ID and sender of the mail that is the transfer source may be acquired from the header information of the mail that is the transfer source, or may be acquired from the mail information of the mail that is the transfer source. The mail that is the transfer source is, for example, the target mail for which the display request has been received in step S2003 illustrated in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 301 sets the message ID and sender of the new mail in the citation destination information of the reply management DB 230 (step S2203), and sets the message ID and sender of the mail to be transferred in the citation source information (step S2203). S2204). As a result, new reply management information is created in the reply management DB 230.

  Then, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a message creation screen (step S2205), and the process proceeds to step S2107 shown in FIG. Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a message creation screen in which the text of the mail that is the transfer source is inserted as a quote.

  In step S2201, if the new mail does not transfer another mail (step S2201: No), the CPU 301 creates screen information of the message creation screen (step S2206), and the steps shown in FIG. The process moves to S2107. Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a message creation screen in which the destination, CC, title, and text are blank.

  Thereby, the mail information of the mail transmitted by the mail system 200 can be registered in the mail DB 220. Further, it is possible to create a reply management DB 230 that stores the message ID of the mail transmitted by the mail system 200 and the message ID of the reply mail or transfer mail of the mail in association with each other.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the display screen creation processing in step S2004 shown in FIG. 20 will be described.

  FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 are flowcharts illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of display screen creation processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 23, first, the CPU 301 extracts the mail information of the target mail from the mail DB 220 (step S2301).

  Next, the CPU 301 searches the reply management DB 230 for reply management information in which the message ID of the target mail is set to the message ID of the quotation destination information (step S2302). Then, the CPU 301 determines whether or not reply management information has been searched (step S2303).

  Here, when the reply management information is searched (step S2303: Yes), the CPU 301 identifies the message ID of the citation source mail and the sender (step S2304). Then, the CPU 301 extracts mail information corresponding to the message ID of the citation source mail from the mail DB 220 (step S2305).

  Next, the CPU 301 identifies a quoted part quoted from the text of the citation source mail among the texts of the target mail (step S2306). Then, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the quoted part cited from the text of the citation source mail is specified (step S2307). Here, when the quotation part is not specified (step S2307: No), it transfers to step S2309.

  On the other hand, when the quotation part is specified (step S2307: Yes), the CPU 301 registers the starting line and ending line of the quotation part, the sender of the citation source mail, and the transmission date and time in the work table 250 (step S2308). Note that the message ID of the target mail is set in the message ID field of the work table 250.

  Next, the CPU 301 searches the reply management DB 230 for reply management information in which the message ID of the citation source mail is set to the message ID of the citation destination information (step S2309). Then, the CPU 301 determines whether or not reply management information has been searched (step S2310).

  Here, when the reply management information is searched (step S2310: Yes), the process returns to step S2304. On the other hand, when the reply management information is not searched (step S2310: No), the process proceeds to step S2401 shown in FIG.

  If the reply management information is not searched in step S2303 (step S2303: No), the CPU 301 creates screen information of the message display screen (step S2311). This message display screen does not include, for example, the quoted portion printing buttons B9 to B12 and the check boxes 1205 to 1207 shown in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 301 transmits the screen information of the message display screen to the client terminal 202 (step S2312), and the process proceeds to step S2005 shown in FIG. This client terminal 202 is the client terminal 202 that is the request source of the target mail display request received in step S2003 shown in FIG.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 24, first, the CPU 301 creates screen information of a message display screen (step S2401). The message display screen at this point does not include, for example, the quoted portion printing buttons B9 to B12 and the check boxes 1205 to 1207 shown in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 301 acquires a user name corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail (step S2402). The user name corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail can be acquired from the authentication DB 240 shown in FIG. 7, for example.

  Then, the CPU 301 creates a button corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail (step S2403). The buttons corresponding to the sender of the citation mail are, for example, buttons including the user name corresponding to the sender of the citation mail, for example, the buttons B10 and B11 shown in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 301 inserts the mail sender button and a button corresponding to the sender of the citation mail into the message display screen (step S2404). This mail sender button is, for example, the button B9 shown in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 301 refers to the Work table 250 and specifies the insertion position of the check box corresponding to each citation part included in the text of the target mail (step S2405). Next, the CPU 301 inserts a check box and a partial selection button corresponding to each quoted part included in the text of the target mail into the message display screen (step S2406). The partial selection button is, for example, the button B12 shown in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 301 transmits the screen information of the message display screen to the client terminal 202 (step S2407), and the process proceeds to step S2005 shown in FIG. This client terminal 202 is the client terminal 202 that is the request source of the target mail display request received in step S2003 shown in FIG.

  As a result, screen information of a message display screen capable of selecting a print target in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail or in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail is created and stored in the client terminal 202. Can be provided.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the printing process in step S2006 shown in FIG. 20 will be described.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of print processing of the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 25, first, the CPU 301 creates a print target sentence by copying the text of the target mail (step S2501).

  Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not it is a full text print request (step S2502). Here, in the case of a full-text print request (step S2502: Yes), the process proceeds to step S2508. On the other hand, if it is not a full-text print request (step S2502: No), the CPU 301 determines whether it is a sender print request (step S2503).

  Here, in the case of a sender print request (step S2503: Yes), the CPU 301 searches the work table 250 for cited part information corresponding to the user ID included in the sender print request (step S2504). Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 searches for the citation information in which the user ID included in the sender print request is set in the sender field.

  Then, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the quotation part information has been searched (step S2505). Here, when the quote part information is searched (step S2505: Yes), the CPU 301 identifies the quote part from the start line to the end line indicated by the quote part information from the print target sentence (step S2506).

  Next, the CPU 301 deletes the remaining part of the print target sentence excluding the specified citation (step S2507). Then, the CPU 301 transmits the print target sentence to the printer 203 (step S2508).

  Next, the CPU 301 transmits a print completion notification to the client terminal 202 (step S2509), and the process proceeds to step S2007 shown in FIG. This client terminal 202 is the client terminal 202 that requested the print request received in step S2005 shown in FIG.

  In step S2503, if the request is not a sender print request (step S2503: No), the CPU 301 deletes the remaining part excluding the selected quote part from the print target sentence (step S2510), and the process proceeds to step S2508. . The selected quote part is specified from the selected quote part information included in the print request.

  Further, in step S2505, when the citation information is not searched (step S2505: No), the CPU 301 transmits an error notification to the client terminal 202 (step S2511), and the process proceeds to step S2007 shown in FIG. . This client terminal 202 is the client terminal 202 that requested the print request received in step S2005 shown in FIG.

  As a result, it is possible to print the print target selected in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail or in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus 201 according to the first embodiment, it is possible to specify, for each citation source mail, a citation part quoted from the citation source text from the text of the target email. it can. Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, it is possible to create screen information of a message display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail by using each of the citation parts for each citation source mail as output targets. Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, as a result of outputting the screen information of the message display screen, an operation input for selecting at least one citation part to be output from the text of the target mail is received, and the target mail Document information representing a quoted part to be output can be output.

  As a result, the output target can be selected from the text of the target mail in units of quotations cited from the text of the citation source mail. For this reason, it becomes possible to select the output target from the body of the target mail in units of each user's utterance or in units of stories exchanged between the users, thereby improving user convenience. For example, when multiple users are discussing by e-mail, what kind of remarks are made by the key person by picking up and displaying and printing only the quotes written by the key person Can be grasped.

  Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, it is possible to search for a citation source mail that is a citation source of the target mail from the reply management DB 230 based on the message ID of the target mail. Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, by comparing the entire quoted part of the text of the target email with the remaining text excluding the entire quoted part of the text of the source email, It is possible to specify the quoted part from the text of the original mail from inside.

  As a result, it is possible to identify the quoted part quoted from the text of the Nth citation source mail from the text of the target mail. Specifically, for example, even when the position of the Nth citation part and the (N + 1) th citation part in the body of the target mail is changed when the target mail is created, the Nth citation mail The quotation part quoted from can be specified. In addition, when the target mail is created, for example, even if the second and subsequent citation tags in the body of the target mail are deleted or a part of the quotation mark is deleted, the citation part quoted from the Nth citation mail Can be specified.

  Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, it is possible to create screen information of a message display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail, with each of the citation parts for each sender of the citation source mail as an output target. Thus, for example, it is possible to display the citation part included in the body of the target email by sender, and to distinguish which citation part is written by which sender even if the entire citation part is a huge amount Can be made easier to read the citation. In addition, by making it possible to select a print target in units of citations for each sender, the user can read the print result after knowing who wrote them, and the citations are easy to read.

  Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, for each citation source mail, the citation part quoted from the main body of the citation source mail is identified from the main body of the target mail based on the quotation marks included in the main body of the target mail. can do. Further, according to the information providing apparatus 201, the citation part quoted from the text of the citation source mail is identified for each citation source mail from the text of the target mail based on the citation tag included in the text of the target mail. can do.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a mail system 2600 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, the information providing method described in the first embodiment is realized by the information providing apparatus 2601 and the client terminal 2602 in the mail system 2600 operating in cooperation. Note that illustration and description of the same parts as those described in Embodiment 1 are omitted.

(System configuration example of mail system 2600)
FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of a system configuration example of the mail system 2600 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 26, the mail system 2600 includes an information providing device 2601, a plurality of client terminals 2602 (three in the drawing), and a printer 203. In the mail system 2600, an information providing apparatus 2601, a plurality of client terminals 2602, and a printer 203 are connected to each other via a wired or wireless network 210 so that they can communicate with each other.

  Here, the information providing apparatus 2601 is a computer that has a mail DB 220, a reply management DB 230, and an authentication DB 240, and transmits and receives mail in the mail system 2600. The client terminal 2602 is a computer that has a mail DB 2610 and a work table 2620 and displays, creates, and transmits / receives mail.

  The mail DB 2610 stores mail information of mail whose transmission source or transmission destination is the user of the client terminal 2602. The data structure of the mail DB 2610 is substantially the same as the data structure of the mail DB 220 shown in FIG. The Work table 2620 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Further, the hardware configuration of the information providing apparatus 2601 is the same as the hardware configuration of the information providing apparatus 201 shown in FIG. The hardware configuration of the client terminal 2602 is the same as the hardware configuration of the client terminal 202 shown in FIG.

<Storage contents of Work table 2620>
FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the contents stored in the work table 2620. In FIG. 27, a work table 2620 has fields for message ID, start line, end line, sender, date and time of transmission, and user name. By setting information in each field, citation information 2700-1 to 2700-3 is stored as a record.

  The message ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying mail transmitted / received by the mail system 2600. The start line indicates the number of lines from the top of each citation in the body of the email. The end line represents the line number from the top of each citation in the body of the email. The sender is an identifier of the mail transmission source, for example, the user ID of the user who is the transmission source. The outgoing date / time is the outgoing date / time of the mail. The user name is the name of the user of the mail system 2600.

  For example, the quote part information 2700-1 indicates that quote parts are included in the 15th to 20th lines from the top of the body of the mail with the message ID “hatsumei4@xxx.www”. Further, the sender “tanaka@xxx.ww” of the mail that is the citation source of this quoting part, the transmission date and time “Tuesday, January 25, 2011 8:39 PM”, and the user name “Tanaka” are shown.

(Functional configuration example of the mail system 2600)
FIG. 28 is a block diagram of a functional configuration example of the mail system 2600 according to the second embodiment. Here, first, a functional configuration example of the client terminal 2602 will be described. In FIG. 28, the client terminal 2602 includes a reception unit 2811, a comparison unit 2812, a specification unit 2813, a creation unit 2814, a transmission unit 2815, a reception unit 2816, and an output unit 2817. The accepting unit 2811 to the output unit 2817 are functions as a control unit. Specifically, for example, a program stored in a storage device such as the ROM 402, the RAM 403, the magnetic disk 405, and the optical disk 407 illustrated in FIG. This function is realized by executing the function or by the I / F 409.

  The receiving unit 2811 has a function of receiving a target mail display request. Specifically, for example, the accepting unit 2811 accepts selection of a target mail from the mail list screen displayed on the display 408 by a user operation input using the keyboard 410 and the mouse 411 shown in FIG. The mail list screen is, for example, the mail list screen 900 shown in FIG.

  The transmission unit 2815 has a function of transmitting the message ID of the target mail to the information providing apparatus 2601 when the target mail display request is received. Specifically, for example, the transmission unit 2815 transmits a search request for a citation source mail that is a citation source of the target mail. This search request includes the message ID of the target mail.

  The receiving unit 2816 has a function of receiving, from the information providing apparatus 2601, the message ID of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the target mail as a result of the transmission of the message ID of the target mail. Specifically, for example, the receiving unit 2816 receives a search response including the message ID of the citation source mail, the sender, and the user name.

  In this way, by sending the message ID of the target mail to the information providing apparatus 2601, it is possible to search for a citation mail that is the citation source of the target mail.

  The comparison unit 2812 includes a quote part quoted from the text of another mail in the text of the target mail, and a remaining text excluding a quote part quoted from the text of another e-mail in the text of the original mail. Has a function to compare. Specifically, for example, the comparison unit 2812 extracts a quote part quoted from the text of another mail from the text of the target mail, that is, the entire quote part included in the text.

  Also, the comparison unit 2812 searches the mail DB 2610 for mail information in which the message ID of the citation source mail is set. Next, the comparison unit 2812 extracts a quoted part quoted from the text of another electronic mail, that is, the remaining text excluding the entire quoted part included in the text, from the text of the original mail. Then, the comparison unit 2812 compares the entire citation part extracted from the text of the target mail with the remaining text extracted from the text of the citation source mail.

  The specifying unit 2813 has a function of specifying, for each citation source mail, a citation portion quoted from the citation source mail body of the target mail based on the main body text of the target mail. Further, the specifying unit 2813 may specify a quoted part quoted from the text of the citation source mail among the texts of the target mail based on the compared result of comparison.

  Note that the specific processing content of the specifying unit 2813 is the same as that of the specifying unit 1102 of the information providing apparatus 201 described in Embodiment 1, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The identified result is stored in, for example, a work table 2620 illustrated in FIG. Specifically, for example, the message ID of the target mail is set in the message ID field of the work table 2620. Then, the starting line of the quote part in the body of the target mail is set in the start line field, and the end line of the quote part in the body of the target mail is set in the end line field.

  Further, the sender of the citation mail is set in the sender field, the transmission date and time of the citation mail is set in the transmission date field, and the user name of the sender is set in the user name field. For example, the sender of the citation source mail and the transmission date and time are specified from the mail DB 2610. The user name is specified from, for example, a search response from the information providing apparatus 2601.

  According to the work table 2620, it is possible to specify the start line and end line of each citation part included in the text of the target mail, the sender of the citation mail, the transmission date and time, and the user name. The Work table 2620 may store the start and end lines of the remaining text excluding the quoted part of the text of the target mail. As a result, the remaining text excluding the quoted part of the text of the target mail can be specified.

  The creation unit 2814 has a function of creating screen information of a message display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail, with each of the quoted parts for each identified citation source mail as an output target. Specifically, for example, the creation unit 2814 can select each of a range including each quoted part as a display target or a print target in the text of the target mail with reference to the Work table 2620 shown in FIG. Create screen information for the message display screen.

  In addition, the creation unit 2814 may create screen information of a message display screen that can be selected from the text of the target mail, with each of the citation parts for each sender of the citation source mail as an output target. Specifically, for example, first, the creation unit 2814 refers to the Work table 2620 to identify the citation part for each sender of the citation source mail from the text of the target mail. Then, the creation unit 2814 creates screen information of a message display screen that can select each of a range including a quote part for each sender as a display target or a print target in the text of the target mail. The message display screen is, for example, the message display screen 1200 shown in FIG.

  The output unit 2817 has a function of outputting screen information of the created message display screen. Specifically, for example, the output unit 2817 displays the message display screen on the display 408 based on the created screen information of the message display screen. Other output formats include, for example, transmission to an external device by the I / F 409 and recording to a storage device such as the RAM 403, the magnetic disk 405, and the optical disk 407.

  In addition, the reception unit 2811 has a function of receiving an operation input for selecting at least one citation to be output from the text of the target mail as a result of outputting the screen information of the message display screen. Specifically, for example, as a result of the message display screen being displayed on the display 408, the accepting unit 2811 selects a citation to be displayed or printed from the body of the target email by the user's operation input. Accept operation input.

  Further, the output unit 2817 has a function of outputting document information representing a quoted part to be output among the text of the target mail when the operation input is accepted. For example, when a citation part to be displayed is selected from the text of the target mail, first, the creation unit 2814 displays screen information of a message display screen that displays the citation part to be displayed among the text of the target mail. create. Then, the output unit 2817 displays the message display screen on the display 408 based on the screen information of the created message display screen.

  When a citation part to be printed is selected from the text of the target mail, the output unit 2817 transmits a print command for the citation part to be printed to the printer 203 shown in FIG. As a result, the printer 203 prints a citation to be printed, that is, a citation selected from the text of the target mail. The print results are, for example, the print results 1300 and 1400 shown in FIGS.

  Next, a functional configuration example of the information providing apparatus 2601 will be described. In FIG. 28, the information providing apparatus 2601 includes a reception unit 2821, a search unit 2822, and a transmission unit 2823. The reception unit 2821 to the transmission unit 2823 are functions as a control unit. Specifically, for example, the CPU 301 executes a program stored in a storage device such as the ROM 302, the RAM 303, the magnetic disk 306, and the optical disk 308 illustrated in FIG. The function is realized by executing the function or by the I / F 304.

  The receiving unit 2821 has a function of receiving the message ID of the target mail from the client terminal 2602. Specifically, for example, the receiving unit 2821 transmits a search request for a citation source mail that is a citation source of the target mail. This search request includes the message ID of the target mail.

  The search unit 2822 has a function of searching for a citation source mail that is a citation source of the target mail from the reply management DB 230 based on the message ID of the received target mail. Note that the specific processing content of the search unit 2822 is the same as that of the search unit 1102 of the information providing apparatus 201 described in Embodiment 1, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The transmission unit 2823 has a function of transmitting, to the client terminal 2602, the message ID of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the searched target mail. Specifically, for example, the transmission unit 2823 transmits a search response including the message ID of the citation source mail, the sender, and the user name to the client terminal 2602.

(Information provision procedure of client terminal 2602)
Next, an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 29 and FIG. 30 are flowcharts illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 29, first, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a mail list screen display request has been received by a user operation input using the keyboard 410 or the mouse 411 (step S2901).

  Here, the CPU 401 waits to receive a mail list screen display request (step S2901: No). When the CPU 401 receives a mail list screen display request (step S2901: YES), the authentication screen is displayed on the display 408 (step S2902). Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not an input of a user ID and a password has been received by a user operation input (step S2903).

  Here, the CPU 401 waits to accept input of a user ID and a password (step S2903: No). If the user ID and password are input (step S2903: YES), the CPU 401 transmits the user ID and password to the information providing apparatus 2601 (step S2904).

  Next, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the screen information of the authentication error screen has been received (step S2905). Here, when the screen information of the authentication error screen has not been received (step S2905: No), the CPU 401 determines whether or not the mail information of the new mail has been received from the information providing apparatus 2601 (step S2906).

  Here, when the mail information of the new mail has not been received (step S2906: NO), the process proceeds to step S2908. On the other hand, when the mail information of the new mail is received (step S2906: Yes), the CPU 401 registers the received mail information of the new mail in the mail DB 2610 (step S2907).

  Next, the CPU 401 creates screen information of a mail list screen based on the stored contents of the mail DB 2610 (step S2908). The CPU 401 displays a mail list screen on the display 408 based on the lower surface information (step S2909), and the process proceeds to step S3001 shown in FIG.

  In step S2905, when the screen information of the authentication error screen is received (step S2905: Yes), the CPU 401 displays the authentication error screen on the display 408 based on the screen information (step S2910). The series of processes by is terminated.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 30, first, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the selection of the target mail has been accepted from the mail list screen by the user's operation input (step S3001). Here, when the selection of the target mail is not accepted (step S3001: No), the process proceeds to step S3003.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 401 accepts selection of the target mail (step S3001: Yes), display screen creation processing is executed (step S3002). Next, the CPU 401 determines whether a print request has been accepted by a user operation input (step S3003).

  If a print request has not been received (step S3003: NO), the process proceeds to step S3005. On the other hand, when a print request is received (step S3003: Yes), the CPU 401 executes print processing (step S3004). Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a logout request has been accepted by a user operation input (step S3005).

  Here, when the logout request is not received (step S3005: No), the process returns to step S3001. On the other hand, when the CPU 401 accepts a logout request (step S3005: Yes), the logout request is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 2601 (step S3006), and the series of processing according to this flowchart ends.

  Thereby, the mail list screen and the message display screen can be displayed on the display 408 in response to various display requests from the user.

  Note that the screen information of the authentication screen displayed in step S2902 may be received from the information providing apparatus 2601 as a result of the CPU 401 transmitting a mail list screen display request to the information providing apparatus 2601, for example. Further, the mail transmission process of the client terminal 2602 is the same as the mail transmission process of the client terminal 202 described in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the display screen creation processing in step S3002 shown in FIG. 30 will be described.

  FIG. 31 and FIG. 32 are flowcharts illustrating an example of a specific processing procedure of display screen creation processing of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 31, first, the CPU 401 extracts mail information of the target mail from the mail DB 2610 (step S3101).

  Next, the CPU 401 transmits a search request including the message ID of the target mail to the information providing apparatus 2601 (step S3102). Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a search response including the message ID, sender, and user name of the citation source mail that is the citation source of the target mail has been received from the information providing apparatus 2601 (step S3103).

  If a search response is received (step S3103: YES), the CPU 401 sets “Received” in the type field from the mail DB 2610, and sets the message ID of the citation source mail in the message ID field. Mail information is searched (step S3104).

  Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the mail information has been searched (step S3105). Here, when mail information is not searched (step S3105: No), it transfers to step S3109.

  On the other hand, when the mail information is searched (step S3105: Yes), the CPU 401 identifies the quoted part quoted from the text of the citation source mail among the texts of the target mail (step S3106). Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not the quoted part cited from the text of the citation source mail is specified (step S3107).

  Here, when the citation part is not specified (step S3107: No), the process proceeds to step S3109. On the other hand, when the quotation part is specified (step S3107: Yes), the CPU 401 registers the starting line and the ending line of the quotation part, the sender of the citation mail, the transmission date and time, and the user name in the work table 2620 (step S3107). S3108).

  Then, the CPU 401 transmits a search request including the message ID of the citation mail to the information providing apparatus 2601 (step S3109), and the process returns to step S3103. If no search response is received in step S3103 (step S3103: NO), the process proceeds to step S3201 shown in FIG.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 32, first, the CPU 401 determines whether or not a record exists in the work table 2620 (step S3201). If there is a record (step S3201: Yes), the CPU 401 creates screen information for the message display screen (step S3202).

  Next, the CPU 401 acquires a user name corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail (step S3203). The user name corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail can be acquired from the Work table 2620, for example.

  Then, the CPU 401 creates a button corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail (step S3204). Next, the CPU 401 inserts the mail sender button and a button corresponding to the sender of the citation mail into the message display screen (step S3205).

  Then, the CPU 401 refers to the Work table 2620 to identify the insertion position of the check box corresponding to each citation part included in the text of the target mail (step S3206). Next, the CPU 401 inserts a check box and a partial selection button corresponding to each quoted part included in the text of the target mail into the message display screen (step S3207).

  Then, the CPU 401 displays a message display screen on the display 408 (step S3208), and proceeds to step S3003 shown in FIG. If no record exists in step S3201 (step S3201: No), the CPU 401 creates screen information of a message display screen (step S3209), and the process proceeds to step S3208.

  Accordingly, it is possible to create screen information of a message display screen that can select a print target in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail or in units of quotes for each sender included in the text of the target mail.

  Next, a specific processing procedure of the printing process in step S3004 shown in FIG. 30 will be described.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart of an example of a specific processing procedure of print processing of the client terminal 2602 according to the second embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 33, first, the CPU 401 creates a print target sentence by copying the text of the target mail (step S3301).

  Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not it is a full text print request (step S3302). If the request is a full-text print request (step S3302: YES), the process proceeds to step S3308. On the other hand, if it is not a full-text print request (step S3302: NO), the CPU 401 determines whether it is a sender print request (step S3303).

  Here, in the case of a sender print request (step S3303: YES), the CPU 401 searches the work table 2620 for quotation part information corresponding to the user ID included in the print request (step S3304). The user ID included in the print request is, for example, a user ID associated with the button clicked on the message display screen 1200 illustrated in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 401 determines whether or not quotation part information has been searched (step S3305). When the quote part information is searched (step S3305: Yes), the CPU 401 identifies the quote part from the start line to the end line indicated by the quote part information from the print target sentence (step S3306).

  Next, the CPU 401 deletes the remaining part excluding the specified citation from the print target sentence (step S3307). Then, the CPU 401 transmits the print target sentence to the printer 203 (step S3308). Next, the CPU 401 displays a print completion screen on the display 408 (step S3309), and proceeds to step S3005 shown in FIG.

  In step S3303, if the request is not a sender print request (step S3303: NO), the CPU 401 deletes the remaining part excluding the selected quote part from the print target sentence (step S3310), and proceeds to step S3308. . The selected quote part is specified from the selected quote part information included in the print request.

  In step S3305, if the citation information is not searched (step S3305: No), the CPU 401 displays a print error screen on the display 408 (step S3311), and the process proceeds to step S3005 shown in FIG. .

  As a result, it is possible to print the print target selected in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail or in units of quotes included in the text of the target mail.

(Information provision processing procedure of information provision apparatus 2601)
Next, an information providing process procedure of the information providing apparatus 2601 according to the second embodiment will be described. 34 and 35 are flowcharts illustrating an example of an information provision processing procedure of the information provision apparatus 2601 according to the second embodiment.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 34, first, the CPU 301 determines whether a user ID and a password have been received from the client terminal 2602 (step S3401). Here, the CPU 301 waits for receiving a user ID and a password (step S3401: No).

  If the user ID and password are received (step S3401: YES), the CPU 301 refers to the authentication DB 240 shown in FIG. 7 and executes user authentication processing (step S3402). Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not the user has been authenticated (step S3403).

  If the user is authenticated (step S3403: YES), the CPU 301 determines whether there is mail information of a new mail in the mail DB 220 (step S3404). This new mail is a mail addressed to the user ID received in step S3401.

  If there is mail information of new mail (step S3404: YES), the CPU 301 extracts mail information of new mail from the mail DB 220 (step S3405). Then, the CPU 301 transmits the mail information of the new mail to the client terminal 2602 (step S3406), and the process proceeds to step S3501 shown in FIG.

  In step S3404, when there is no mail information of a new mail (step S3404: No), the process proceeds to step S3501 shown in FIG. If the user is not authenticated in step S3403 (step S3403: NO), the CPU 301 transmits an authentication error indicating that the user has not been authenticated to the client terminal 2602 (step S3407), and this flowchart. A series of processing ends.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 35, first, the CPU 301 determines whether a search request including the message ID of the target mail has been received from the client terminal 2602 (step S3501). If no search request has been received (step S3501: NO), the process proceeds to step S3509.

  On the other hand, when a search request is received (step S3501: Yes), the CPU 301 searches the reply management DB 230 for reply management information in which the message ID of the target mail is set to the message ID of the citation destination information ( Step S3502). Then, the CPU 301 determines whether or not reply management information has been searched (step S3503).

  Here, when the reply management information is searched (step S3503: Yes), the CPU 301 identifies the message ID of the citation source mail and the sender (step S3504). Then, the CPU 301 refers to the authentication DB 240 to identify the user name corresponding to the sender of the citation source mail (step S3505).

  Next, the CPU 301 transmits a search response including the message ID, sender and user name of the citation mail to the client terminal 2602 (step S3506). This client terminal 2602 is the client terminal 2602 that requested the search request received in step S3501.

  Then, the CPU 301 determines whether a search request including the message ID of the citation source mail is received from the client terminal 2502 (step S3507). If a search request is received (step S3507: Yes), the CPU 301 searches the reply management DB 230 for reply management information in which the message ID of the citation source mail is set to the message ID of the citation destination information. (Step S3508), the process returns to step S3503.

  On the other hand, if a search request has not been received (step S3507: NO), the CPU 301 determines whether a logout request has been received from the client terminal 2602 (step S3509). If no logout request has been received (step S3509: NO), the process returns to step S3501. On the other hand, when a logout request is received (step S3509: Yes), a series of processes according to this flowchart is terminated.

  As a result, it is possible to search for the citation source mail in response to a search request for the mail that is the citation source of the target mail from the client terminal 2602 and notify the client terminal 2602 of the search.

  As described above, according to the mail system 2600 according to the second embodiment, the server 2601 and the client terminal 2602 can work together to realize the information providing method. Thereby, for example, this information providing method can be applied to a client terminal in which a mailer corresponding to POP (Post Office Protocol) mail is introduced.

  The information providing method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. The information providing program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. The information providing program may be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The following additional notes are disclosed with respect to the embodiment described above.

(Supplementary note 1)
Based on the text of the target email to be displayed, the quoted part quoted from the text of the email that is the source of the target email is selected from the text of the target email. Specific for each
Create screen information of a display screen that can be selected from the text of the target e-mail as an output target for each quoted part of each e-mail that is the specified citation source,
Output screen information of the created display screen,
An information providing program for executing a process.

(Supplementary note 2)
As a result of outputting the screen information of the display screen, an operation input for selecting at least one citation part to be output among the citation parts for each e-mail that is the citation source is received,
When the operation input is received, the document information representing the citation part to be output among the text of the target email is output.
The information providing program according to appendix 1, wherein the program is executed.

(Supplementary note 3)
In the process of accepting the operation input, accepting an operation input for selecting at least one citation to be printed as the output object,
In the process of outputting the document information, a print command of at least one citation part to be printed among the body text of the target email is output.
The information providing program according to appendix 2, wherein the program is executed.

(Supplementary note 4)
Based on the identifier of the target e-mail, the citation source corresponding to the identifier of the target e-mail from the storage unit that stores the identifier of the e-mail of the citation source and the identifier of the e-mail of the citation destination in association with each other Search for the email identifier for
Of the body text of the target email, a quote part quoted from the body text of the email that is the citation source of the target email, and among the body text of the retrieved email that is the citation source, Compare the body of the email that is the source of the citation with the rest of the body except the quoted part,
The process to specify is
Any one of appendices 1 to 3, characterized in that, based on the comparison result of the comparison, the quotation part quoted from the body text of the retrieved e-mail is specified from the body text of the target e-mail. The information providing program according to one.

(Appendix 5) The process to create is
Based on the identified identification information for identifying the sender of the e-mail as the citation source, each citation part for each sender of the e-mail as the citation source can be selected from the text of the target e-mail as an output target The information provision program according to appendix 4, wherein screen information of a simple display screen is created.

(Appendix 6)
In the process of accepting the operation input, accepting an operation input for selecting at least one citation part to be displayed as the output object,
When receiving the operation input, create screen information of a display screen that displays at least one citation part to be displayed among the text of the target email,
In the process of outputting the document information, the screen information of the created display screen is output.
The information providing program according to appendix 2, wherein the program is executed.

(Supplementary note 7)
Based on the quotation marks included in the text of the target email, the quoted part quoted from the text of the email that is the citation source is included in the text of the target email for each email that is the citation source. The information providing program according to any one of appendices 1 to 6, characterized in that the program is specified.

(Supplementary note 8)
Based on a character string representing a quote part included in the text of the target email, a quote part quoted from the text of the email that is the quote source is the quote source from the text of the target email. The information providing program according to any one of appendices 1 to 7, characterized by being specified for each electronic mail.

(Supplementary Note 9) Based on the text of the target electronic mail to be displayed, the citation part quoted from the text of the electronic mail from which the target electronic mail is cited is selected from the text of the target electronic mail. A specific part to identify for each e-mail,
A creation unit that creates screen information of a display screen that can be selected from the text of the target e-mail as an output target for each of the citation units for each e-mail that is the citation source specified by the specification unit;
An output unit that outputs screen information of the display screen created by the creation unit;
An information providing apparatus comprising:

(Supplementary note 10)
Based on the text of the target email to be displayed, the quoted part quoted from the text of the email that is the source of the target email is selected from the text of the target email. Specific for each
Create screen information of a display screen that can be selected from the text of the target e-mail as an output target for each quoted part of each e-mail that is the specified citation source,
Output screen information of the created display screen,
An information providing method characterized by executing processing.

200, 2600 Mail system 201, 2601 Information providing device 202, 2602 Client terminal 203 Printer 1101, 2811 Reception unit 1102, 2813 Identification unit 1103, 2822 Search unit 1104, 2812 Comparison unit 1105, 2814 Creation unit 1106, 2817 Output unit 2815, 2823 Transmitter 2816, 2821 Receiver

Claims (7)

On the computer,
Based on the body of the display subject to email, the from the displayed subject to the e-mail body, the quoted quoted portion from the display target of the e-mail cited originated the email composed Text Identify for each email you ’re quoting,
Based on the identifier of the e-mail to be displayed, the storage unit that associates and stores the identifier of the e-mail of the citation source and the identifier of the e-mail of the citation destination, Search and
Based on the identification information for identifying the sender of the e-mail that has been searched and the citation part for each e-mail that has been specified, the citation is extracted from the text of the e-mail that is to be displayed. Create screen information for the display screen that allows you to select each citation for each sender of the original email,
Output screen information of the created display screen,
An information providing program for executing a process. In the computer,
The result of the screen information of the display screen is output, receives an operation input for selecting at least one of the cited portion of the reference portion of each sender's e-mail to be the reference source,
When the operation input is received, the document information representing the selected quoted part is selected from the body text of the e-mail to be displayed .
The information providing program according to claim 1, wherein a process is executed. In the computer,
In the process of accepting the operation input, receives an operation input for selecting at least one of the cited portion becomes print object,
In the process of outputting the document information, a print command for the cited part selected from the body of the e-mail to be displayed is output.
The information providing program according to claim 2, wherein processing is executed. In the computer,
The citation of the said and the display subject to e-mail cited source and become e-mail cited portion which is quoted from the text of the subject to display the body of the e-mail, e-mail to be searched was the cited source text Compare the original body of the original e-mail with the rest of the body excluding the quoted part from the body of the original e-mail,
The process to specify is
The citation part quoted from the text of the retrieved e-mail as the citation source is specified from the text of the e-mail as the display target based on the comparison result of the comparison. 4. The information providing program according to any one of 3.   In the computer,
  In the process of accepting the operation input, accepting an operation input for selecting at least one citation to be displayed;
  When accepting the operation input, create screen information of a display screen that displays the selected quoted part of the text of the e-mail to be displayed,
  In the process of outputting the document information, the screen information of the created display screen is output.
  The information providing program according to claim 2, wherein processing is executed.   Based on the text of the e-mail to be displayed, the citation is quoted from the text of the e-mail that is the citation source of the e-mail to be displayed from the body of the e-mail to be displayed. A specific part that identifies each original email,
  Based on the identifier of the e-mail to be displayed, the storage unit that associates and stores the identifier of the e-mail of the citation source and the identifier of the e-mail of the citation destination, A search part to search;
  Based on the identification information for identifying the sender of the e-mail that is the citation source searched by the search unit, and the citation part for each e-mail that is the citation source specified by the specifying unit, A creation unit for creating screen information of a display screen capable of selecting each quoted part for each sender of the email that is the citation source from the body of the email
  An output unit that outputs screen information of the display screen created by the creation unit;
  An information providing apparatus comprising:   Computer
  Based on the text of the e-mail to be displayed, the citation is quoted from the text of the e-mail that is the citation source of the e-mail to be displayed from the body of the e-mail to be displayed. Identify each source email,
  Based on the identifier of the e-mail to be displayed, the storage unit that associates and stores the identifier of the e-mail of the citation source and the identifier of the e-mail of the citation destination, Search and
  Based on the identification information for identifying the sender of the e-mail that has been searched and the citation part for each e-mail that has been specified, the citation is extracted from the text of the e-mail that is to be displayed. Create screen information for the display screen that allows you to select each citation for each sender of the original email,
  Output screen information of the created display screen,
  An information providing method characterized by executing processing.

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