KR20010108628A - Method for Setting Effective-term of Electronic Mail - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for setting an e-mail validity period, the present invention comprising: determining whether there is a request for receiving a mail from a mail recipient; If there is a request to receive a mail from a mail recipient, linking the requested mail to a browser of the client; If there is no request for receiving a mail from a mail receiver, determining whether the storage period of the mail has passed a set validity period; Deleting the mail if there is no request to receive the mail from the mail receiver within the validity period. Therefore, when the mail is to be operated for a limited time, the e-mail stored in the mail server is automatically deleted after a certain period of time, thereby effectively operating the storage capacity of the mail server.

Description

{Method for Setting Effective-term of Electronic Mail}

The present invention relates to a method for setting an e-mail validity period, and more particularly, to provide an e-mail received only within a validity period by storing the received e-mail in an e-mail server without downloading it to a user's computer. The present invention relates to a method for setting an e-mail validity period for deleting an e-mail.

In general, e-mail is an Internet service that has the largest number of users along with the World Wide Web, and functions to send and receive e-mail and files with anyone in the world anytime, anywhere when connected to the Internet. Email addresses usually consist of [User ID @ Domain Name] or [User ID @ IP Address], and the URL format is of the form mail to: [User ID @ Domain Name] or [User ID @ IP Address]. do. That is, an email address has two meanings centering on the special character '@', and the part before the '@' indicates the user, and the part after the '@' indicates the computer that the user is using. Therefore, the email address will change depending on which Internet service provider (ISP) uses the Internet service or which ID you have. The structure of the e-mail is largely composed of a header part (header of the e-mail, the information recording part of the e-mail such as sender, recipient, date and time, subject, and route) and a body part (content of the e-mail as the body of the e-mail). Part).

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a conventional email management method will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a conventional email management method.

First, a person who wants to send a mail (hereinafter referred to as a 'mail sender') creates an email through a mail client (102). If the client is instructed to send an email by the mail sender after all the email has been created, the written email is forwarded via a modem to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) (104). The SMTP server divides (106) the delivered mail into packet data and transmits (108) the mail server to send the mail through various paths. Mail written by a mail sender is not sent to a mail server as it is, but is divided into hundreds of packet data according to TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol) protocol and sent to a mail server to be sent along the fastest path. Here, the packet data is divided by numbering each packet data. The mail server to be sent is determined by reading the email address of the 'TO:' part of the header of the mail by the SMTP server. That is, the fragmented packet data is sent to the address recorded in the 'TO:' portion of the header via at least a few and as many as hundreds of different computers.

The packet data transmitted to the mail server is rearranged 110 in the order given to the packet data and stored in the public mail directory of the mail server (112). The mail server determines (114) whether there is a request for receiving a mail from a person who wants to receive the mail (hereinafter referred to as a 'mail recipient'). If there is no mail receiving request, the mail server proceeds to the step 112 and continues the mail in the public mail directory. If the mail reception request is received, the mail is downloaded to the mail recipient's computer (116). The mail receiver checks the mail through his browser and then terminates all processing.

However, such a conventional email management method cannot continuously operate the storage capacity of the mail server because the mail server is continuously stored in the public mail directory by the mail server until the mail recipient checks the mail. There is a problem that occurs when is down.

In addition, if you want to operate the mail for a limited time (for example, a prize-winning prize mail, etc.), even if the period has elapsed, if the mail recipient does not delete the mail after checking the mail, the mail continues to be used as a public mail on the mail server. Since it is stored in the directory, there is a problem that the mail server manages unnecessary mail even after a period of time.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the object of the present invention is to automatically delete the mail stored in the mail server after a certain period of time if you want to operate the mail temporarily The main purpose is to provide a method for setting an e-mail validity period.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for setting an e-mail validity period in which a mail sender can select whether to delete a mail from a mail server or to continuously store the mail in a mail server.

1 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a conventional email management method.

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the present invention.

♣ Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ♣

10: sending client 20: internet

30: SMTP server 40, 60: database

50: mail server 70: receiving client

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of creating an email through a client and delivering the email to an SMTP server, dividing the created mail into packet data, transmitting the mail to a mail server, and rearranging and storing the divided packet data. An email management method comprising the steps of: determining whether there is a mail reception request from a mail receiver; If there is a request to receive a mail from a mail recipient, linking the requested mail to a browser of the client; If there is no request for receiving a mail from a mail receiver, determining whether the storage period of the mail has passed a set validity period; Deleting the mail if there is no request to receive the mail from the mail receiver within the validity period.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an e-mail validity setting method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, and the sender client 10 is a computer with a browser such as Outlook Express of Internet Explorer or Messenger of Netscape installed. The mail sender can send mail or use the Internet. Computer system. The mail sender may access the Internet 20 using a browser to receive a service provided by an Internet service provider (ISP) or to send or receive an e-mail through the Internet 20. In addition, although a domestic communication network such as Hitel or Cheonlian can send and receive mails, domestic communication network mail can be used only by registered users. Internet mail, by contrast, can send mail to anyone in the world if he has an email address. Therefore, in the present invention, it is preferable to use Internet mail rather than domestic communication network mail. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be applied even if a domestic communication network mail is used.

The Internet 20 is a huge information communication network that connects computer networks around the world so that computer users around the world can share, exchange and communicate data and information. In addition to email services, the Internet now offers a variety of features, including WWW, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), telnet (remote access), archie (file search), gopher (information search), usenet (topic discussion), and Internet phones. The protocol used for e-mail includes SMTP, the protocol for sending e-mail, which defines the control procedure between two computers that send and receive messages, confirms the connection of two computers, verifies recipients, and confirms the delivery of message bodies. Post Office Protocol (POP), an email receiving protocol that allows users to directly handle all mail, and MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension), a standard for sending multimedia information, including video and voice, to email over the Internet. have. MIME is proposed to solve the problem of the Internet mail standard protocol for 7-bit / ASCII characters only. It is an Internet mail extension for sending 8-bit characters and various binary files through e-mail. The transmission data type defined by MIME includes text used for the transmission of text information composed of a specific character set or formatted text information such as PostScript, and several 'bodies' having different types of data as one message. It may be in the form of a multipart used for transmitting in combination, an application used for transmitting application data, or binary data.

The SMTP server 30 is connected to the Internet 20 and the database 40. The SMTP server 30 divides the mail into packet data using a send mail, an email program that sends and receives mail. Control to send mail. In addition, the sender client 10 presents the sender client 10 with necessary items (ie, a header and a body) through the Internet to instruct the mail sender to input the corresponding item, and encodes the input from the mail sender. It performs the function. The header portion of the present invention further includes an item for confirming whether or not the mail prepared by the mail sender is a temporary mail in addition to the conventional header portion. The database 40 is connected to the SMTP server 30 and is a place for storing mail transmitted from a mail sender. Tens of thousands of mails are transmitted to the SMTP server 30 a day, and the servers are operated in conjunction with the SMTP server 30 to perform a function of organizing when and where and who sent the mails. That is, the database 40 stores, deletes, and extracts mails according to the request of the SMTP server 30.

The mail server 50 is connected to the Internet 20 and the database 60. The mail server 50 is rearranged in order by the mails divided and transmitted from the SMTP server, and the mail server 50 is stored in the database 60. It is configured to include a mail program programmed to send a mail when a mail reception request is received from a mail receiver. This mail server 50 may also be referred to as a POP server. If the mail sent from the SMTP server 30 is a temporary mail, the mail server 50 also performs a function of deleting the mail after the validity period (for example, 3 days or 4 days) has elapsed. The database 60 is connected to the mail server 50 and is a place for storing the mail transmitted to the mail server 50. The mail server 50 controls to database the mail transmitted from the SMTP server 30 and store it in a designated mailbox for each recipient. Therefore, the mail server 50 is configured to link the mail stored in the database 60 directly to the mail recipient's browser, instead of downloading the mail and sending the mail to the mail recipient when a mail reception request is received from the mail recipient.

Receiving client 70 is a computer with a browser such as Outlook Express of Netscape or Netscape messenger installed, like sending client 10, and means a computer system where a mail recipient can receive mail or use the Internet. . Therefore, when the sending client 10 receives the mail, it becomes the receiving client 70, and when the receiving client 70 sends the mail, it becomes the sending client 10.

An operation state of the e-mail validity period setting method according to the present invention as described above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention, a mail sender and a mail receiver are registered on the Internet, an SMTP server is SMTP, a mail server is POP, and mail transmission follows the MIME protocol. The period of storage is assumed to be three days. In addition, the same parts as the conventional email management method described in FIG. 1 will be omitted.

First, the mail sender accesses an SMTP server through the Internet and composes an e-mail according to items provided by the SMTP server (302). The e-mail should be prepared according to the items provided by the SMTP server, and the sender of the e-mail should indicate whether the e-mail he wants to send is temporary or not. If the mail sender wants to send a temporary mail, the validity period of the mail should be entered. The SMTP server determines (304) whether the mail sender's mail is temporary mail, and performs the general email transmission procedure described in FIG. 1 if it is not temporary mail (306). The mail created by the server is forwarded to the SMTP server (308). Here, the code system of the mail created by the mail sender is divided into ASCII, binary code, and uuencode / uudecode, and ASCII is a U.S. information exchange standard code that contains 128 letters, numbers, and symbols. It is the basic form of SMTP in bits, and binary (binary) code uses 8 bits to implement 256 characters, numbers, and symbols to expand the number of available codes, and uuencode / uudecode is used for emailing or newsgroups (news). When sending a message to a group, it converts a binary file into ASCII (text) form or converts an ASCII symbolized file into a binary file. In addition, the SMTP server 30 reads the 'TO:' portion of the header without modifying the outgoing mail, checks the server to which the mail is to be sent, and writes the header to the SMTP server 30 so that the SMTP server 30 knows the mail created by the mail sender. Add a message ID and complete the rest of the unwritten header.

The mail delivered to the SMTP server is once stored in the database (310), and the stored mail is divided into packet data, and the packet data is transmitted to the mail server via the Internet with the order number (312). Mail written by a mail sender is not sent to the mail server as it is, but is divided into hundreds of packet data according to the TCP / IP protocol and sent to the mail server to be sent along the fastest route. At this time, if the email is not delivered to the mail server, the SMTP server repeatedly sends the mail several times.

Since the mail transmitted to the mail server is transmitted in the form of packet data, the mail server rearranges the packet data in order and stores them in the database (314). Thereafter, the mail server determines whether a mail reception request has been input from the mail receiver (316). If it is determined that the mail reception request is input from the mail receiver, the mail server extracts the requested mail from the database, and links the extracted mail to the receiving client for transmission. Mail transmission between the mail server and the receiving client uses a direct link to the browser of the receiving client without using a download method. Accordingly, the mail receiver checks the mail directly on the web of the mail server without downloading the requested mail (320).

As a result of the determination in step 316, if it is determined that there is no mail reception request from the mail receiver, the mail server determines whether the period for which no mail reception is requested has elapsed (for example, three days). If it is determined that the validity period has not elapsed, the process returns to the step 314 and repeats the subsequent steps. If it is determined that the validity period has elapsed, the mail is deleted (324), and then all processes are terminated. . Here, in the case of a temporary mail, the deletion period can be freely set by the mail sender's selection.

As described above, the present invention sets the validity period of the prize by the person who wants to send the prize winning mail, and designates that the prize winning e-mail is deleted from the mail server when the period of validity of the prize has elapsed. Therefore, the present invention can be particularly useful in the case of transmitting a prize winning mail having a validity period of a prize.

The above description is only for explaining one embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be variously changed within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the shape and structure of each component specifically shown in the embodiment of the present invention can be modified.

As described above, according to the method for setting an e-mail validity period according to the present invention, if a user wants to operate e-mail for a limited time, the e-mail storage capacity is resilient by automatically deleting the e-mail stored in the e-mail server after a certain period of time. It is effective to operate as.

In addition, the mail recipient can check the mail by linking directly on the web without downloading the mail from the mail server.

In addition, in the case of an e-mail having a validity period set, the e-mail receiver is deleted when the validity period elapses so that the mail receiver cannot check the valid e-mail, thereby eliminating unnecessary disputes and efficiently managing the e-mail.

Claims (2)

An email management method comprising the steps of creating an email through a client and delivering the email to an SMTP server, dividing the created mail into packet data, transmitting the mail to a mail server, and rearranging and storing the divided packet data. In Determining whether there is a request for receiving a mail from the mail receiver; If there is a request to receive a mail from a mail recipient, linking the requested mail to a browser of the client; If there is no request for receiving a mail from a mail receiver, determining whether the storage period of the mail has passed a set validity period; And deleting the mail if there is no request to receive a mail from the mail receiver within the validity period. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of inputting a valid period of the mail if the mail written by the mail sender is a temporary mail.