WO2007077636A1

WO2007077636A1 - Electronic mail management system and mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: WO2007077636A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/304804
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eiki Okimoto
Original assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2005-12-28
Filing date: 2006-03-10
Publication date: 2007-07-12

Abstract

It is possible to correlate electronic mails to one another according to a user desire or intention and pleasantly read the correlated electronic mails, thereby improving user-friendliness. An electronic mail management system mounted on a mobile terminal (20) includes a correlation judgment unit (28) and a correlation process unit (30). Upon transmission/reception of an electronic mail, it is judged whether a mail automatically transmitted or received has correlation with an existing mail, thereby performing a correlation process. The rule for judging the correlation may be dynamically set or modified by a correlation rule setting unit (34). Even after correlation is established, the correlation may be corrected by a correlation correction unit (32).

Description

Specification

E-mail management system and portable terminal

Technical field

The present invention relates to an e-mail management system and a mobile terminal.

Background art

[0002] A mobile terminal represented by a mobile phone (including a PDA) is usually equipped with an electronic mail transmission / reception function in addition to a voice call function.

[0003] The electronic mail function includes a reply mail function that easily creates a reply mail for a received mail, and a transfer function that forwards the received mail to a third party. Usually, to indicate the reply mail, “Re:” is added in front of the subject of the mail and “Fw:” indicating the forwarded mail is added. In addition to the information indicating the communication type of reply and transfer, information such as priority, address and subject is added to the e-mail.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes an e-mail apparatus that incorporates a correlation table configured by associating the item information added to an e-mail and classifies received e-mails using this correlation table. RU

Patent Document 1: JP 2002-197037 A

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0005] In the e-mail correlation technology described in Patent Document 1, since only the item information added to the e-mail is focused, for example, part of the subject line is accidentally mistaken as a related e-mail. When picked up, or when the communication partner sends a reply with a different subject, it may be judged as unrelated.

[0006] FIGS. 21 (a) and 21 (b) are diagrams illustrating an example in which an erroneous association determination is made in the conventional electronic mail correlation technology.

[0007] Figure 21 (a) shows that when a new mail with the subject “Contact Tomorrow” arrives from “Tanaka-kun” and the association process is performed based on the subject, the e-mail power is completely unrelated. An example of being associated with an email is shown. [0008] That is, in Fig. 21 (a), the received mail with the subject "Contact" of Mr. Tanaka, and the reply mail "Re: Contact" to Mr. Tanaka, It has nothing to do with new mail with the subject line. Nevertheless, the subject line contains the common term “contact” and is incorrectly associated with unrelated emails.

[0009] In addition, Fig. 21 (b) sends "Today's lecture" to "Ito-kun" and an e-mail with the subject line. When replying with a subject, both have a common term in the subject and there is no “Re:” sign in the reply email, so both are treated as unrelated emails.

[0010] In addition, in the e-mail association technique described in Patent Document 1, since the association table is fixed, it may be difficult to reflect various requests of users.

[0011] Also, with the e-mail association technology described in Patent Document 1, since the user himself cannot correct the relevance of the once associated e-mail, it is difficult to reflect the user's intention. And there are cases.

[0012] In particular, in a mobile terminal, the subject is changed as appropriate between users, and frequent e-mail contact is made. Therefore, in the association method that relies only on items such as information indicating the communication type of reply and transfer, priority, address, subject, etc., accurate association may be difficult in many cases.

[0013] In addition, in the portable terminal, the amount of information on the display screen is limited because the display is small, and it is difficult to prepare abundant input keys. Therefore, when viewing associated emails, it may not be possible to grasp the relationship between emails at a glance, which may also hinder the convenience of email association technology. .

[0014] The present invention has been made on the basis of such considerations, and the purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to accurately associate e-mails with each other and to reflect the needs and intentions of users.

Also, it is to improve the convenience of the user who uses the e-mail by making it possible to view the associated e-mail comfortably. Means for solving the problem

[0015] The e-mail management system of the present invention includes an association rule setting unit that dynamically sets association rules between e-mails, and the association rules when sending and receiving e-mails. Under the association rule set by the rule setting unit, an association determination unit that determines whether or not there is an association between the email to be sent and received and another email that has been sent and received, and the association determination unit An association processing unit for associating an electronic mail to be transmitted / received with another electronic mail that has been transmitted / received when it is determined that there is an association.

[0016] During transmission and reception, the association determination and association processing of an e-mail is automatically performed, and the association rules can be set and changed dynamically without fixing the association rules. That is, in the e-mail management system of the present invention, the user himself / herself can appropriately perform the association rules to be applied and specific numerical information used for association determination and association processing. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly reflect the detailed requests of users regarding the association of e-mails.

In another aspect of the electronic mail management system of the present invention, the association rule is configured by a logical sum or logical product of a plurality of association conditions.

[0018] If multiple association conditions are set and one of them is applicable, it can be determined that there is an association (decision by logical sum), or if all of them are applicable It can also be related only (judgment by logical product). Therefore, it is possible to perform an appropriate and flexible association determination according to the user's needs.

[0019] In another aspect of the electronic mail management system of the present invention, the electronic mail management system further includes an operation unit, a display unit, and a control unit having a display control function, and the user operates the operation unit to display the operation unit. By instructing the control unit to format, at least one of the subject and body contents of a part or all of a series of mails associated with each other by the association processing unit is displayed in the designated display format. Displayed on the display.

[0020] In addition to making it possible to perform appropriate association determination and association processing, improvements are made to the display format and display switching method of associated emails, thereby further improving user convenience. As a result, the electronic mail association function of the present invention can be comfortably and sufficiently used even on a portable terminal in which the information input method with a small display is limited.

In another aspect of the electronic mail management system of the present invention, the received mail list and the transmitted Screen list or topic list display screen power Select a mail as a starting point, operate a predetermined operation key as the operation unit to create an association display screen, and then select a predetermined operation key as the operation unit. By pressing and selecting either forward switching or backward switching, a series of mails associated with the starting mail are sequentially displayed on the display unit.

[0022] After shifting to the association display screen, the display can be sequentially switched forward or backward. For example, by using a numeric keypad or direction key, etc., that is generally used on mobile devices, as a key for displaying associated mail, it is possible to display associated mail efficiently with a simple operation. Can be viewed.

[0023] Further, in another aspect of the electronic mail management system of the present invention, the electronic mail management system further includes an association correction unit for correcting the mutual relationship between a series of electronic mails that have already been associated.

[0024] After the association is made, the user may notice that the association is incorrect. Or, the power of the association is appropriate. Because the importance of the mail is low, the related mail group power may want to delete the mail. Furthermore, there are cases where it is desired to store mail in association with a specific group of mails, which are currently associated with each other due to various circumstances. In such a case, the user can operate the operation unit (after the association is once made) to freely modify the mutual relationship of the mail, and the association reflecting the user's intention can be made after the fact. Is realized. As a result, it becomes possible to respond flexibly to situations where it is not possible to satisfy only the automatic association rule, but the user desires to change the association due to management reasons. Therefore, user convenience can be further improved.

[0025] Further, in another aspect of the electronic mail management system of the present invention, the association correction unit may include one or more new electronic mails at appropriate locations in the series of electronic mails that have already been associated. An email is added, or one or more emails are selectively deleted from the associated series of emails.

[0026]-After the association is made, the user can add one or more mails to a specific position or delete one or more mails at a specific position. The association can be freely modified.

[0027] The portable terminal of the present invention is a portable terminal incorporating the electronic mail management system of the present invention.

[0028] Thereby, in a portable terminal (including a PDA and a portable computer), an electronic mail function can be used more comfortably, and user convenience is improved.

[0029] The mobile phone terminal of the present invention is a mobile phone terminal incorporating the electronic mail management system of the present invention.

[0030] Thereby, in the mobile phone terminal, the electronic mail function can be used more comfortably, and the convenience for the user is improved. In mobile phone terminals, the subject line is appropriately changed between users, frequent email contact is made, and it is difficult to properly manage related emails. Furthermore, the information on the display screen is small because the display is small. There is a special feature that the amount is limited and it is difficult to prepare a large number of input keys. According to the present invention, overcoming such a disadvantageous situation, a mobile phone terminal can perform accurate association determination and association processing by a simple operation, and comfortable browsing and association of related emails. As a result, it is possible to improve the product value by enhancing the e-mail function.

[0031] Further, the electronic mail management software program of the present invention causes a computer to function as an association rule setting unit, an association determination unit, and an association processing unit, and further has a display control function as necessary. This is a computer-readable e-mail management software program that functions as a control unit or an association correction unit.

[0032] By installing the e-mail management software program of the present invention, a highly accurate and easy-to-use e-mail associating function in portable terminals (including mobile phone terminals, PDAs, and portable computers), etc. Can be realized easily.

The invention's effect

[0033] In the electronic mail management system of the present invention, automatic association processing is performed when electronic mail is transmitted and received.

[0034] Then, the user himself / herself can appropriately perform the association rules to be applied, specific numerical information used for association determination and association processing, and the like. Therefore, email Regarding the association, it is possible to flexibly reflect the detailed requests of the user.

[0035] In addition, the association rule can be changed, deleted, or newly established at any time, which improves the usability of a user such as a portable terminal.

[0036] In addition, association rules can be changed, deleted, and newly established at any time, which improves the usability of a user such as a mobile terminal.

[0037] In addition, a plurality of association conditions can be set, and if any one of them is applicable, it can be determined that there is an association (determination based on logical sum), or all of them are applicable. In some cases, it can be related (judgment based on logical product), and appropriate and flexible association judgment can be performed according to user needs.

[0038] In addition to making it possible to perform appropriate association determination and association processing, it is possible to further improve the convenience of the user by improving the associated mail display format and display switching method. As a result, the electronic mail association function of the present invention can be comfortably and sufficiently utilized even in a portable terminal in which the display method for inputting information with a small display is limited.

[0039] Further, after shifting to the association display screen, it is possible to sequentially switch the display forward or backward. For example, a numeric keypad or a direction key that is generally used in a mobile terminal, By using it as a key for displaying the associated mail, the associated mail display can be efficiently viewed with a simple operation.

[0040] In addition, after the user has been associated, the operation unit can be operated to freely modify the mutual relationship of the mail, and the association reflecting the user's intention is realized afterwards. You can also As a result, once an association is made, if the user notices that the association is incorrect, or the power of the association is appropriate, the related mail group power also deletes the mail because the importance of the mail is low. If you want to do so, or if you want to store mail that is not currently associated with a specific group of mail for various reasons, you can freely modify the association. As a result, it becomes possible to respond flexibly to the situation where the user's request that cannot be satisfied only by the automatic association rule or the association has been changed due to management circumstances. Therefore, user convenience can be further improved. [0041] In addition, after association, one or more mails can be added to a specific position, or one or more mails at a specific position can be deleted. However, the association can be freely modified.

[0042] According to the present invention, the e-mail function can be used more comfortably in a mobile terminal (including a mobile phone terminal, a PDA, and a portable computer), and user convenience is improved.

[0043] In particular, in the mobile phone terminal, the electronic mail function can be used more comfortably, and the convenience for the user is improved. In mobile phone terminals, the subject line is changed appropriately between users, frequent email contact is made, and appropriate management of related emails is difficult, and the amount of information on the display screen is small because the display is small. However, there is a special feature that it is difficult to prepare a large number of input keys. According to the present invention, it is possible to overcome such a disadvantageous situation and realize accurate association determination and association processing by a simple operation in a mobile phone terminal, and comfortable browsing and related association of related mails. Proper modification can be made, and e-mail functions can be enhanced to increase product value!

[0044] Moreover, by installing the e-mail management software program of the present invention, it can be used with high accuracy on mobile terminals (including mobile phone terminals, PDAs, and portable computers). The e-mail association function can be easily realized.

[0045] According to the present invention, it is possible to perform an accurate association between emails, an association that reflects the user's desires and intentions, and to make it possible to comfortably view the associated emails and use the emails. User convenience can be improved.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the internal configuration of a mobile terminal (here, a mobile phone terminal) equipped with the electronic mail management system of the present invention.

2 is a diagram for explaining an efficient search process for related emails in the mobile terminal of FIG. 1, (a) is a diagram showing the contents of the search process in the mobile terminal of the present invention of FIG. , (B) is a diagram showing the contents of search processing (comparative example) when the present invention is not used. [FIG. 3] For explaining dynamic setting and changing of association rules in the mobile terminal of FIG. Figure of

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for valid rule update processing in the association rule setting unit of the mobile terminal in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the outline of a series of processing procedures related to the association when the mobile terminal of FIG.

[Fig. 6] Flow diagram showing the specific contents of the presence / absence determination (step 100) shown in FIG. 5 [Fig. 7] Flow diagram showing the specific contents of the association process (step 103) shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the processing contents when it is determined that there is no association with an existing mail as a result of the presence / absence judgment at the time of reception. (A) is a diagram of related mail before processing. Figure (b) shows the state of the related mail tree after processing, (c) shows the state of data transition in processes (a) and (ii) in Fig. 5. Figure shown in format

[Fig. 9] To explain an example of specific processing contents when it is determined that there is an association with an existing mail as a result of the association determination at the time of reception, and the association process shown in Fig. 7 is performed. (A) shows the state of the related mail tree before processing, (b) shows the state of the related mail tree after processing, and (c) shows the state of the related mail tree in FIG. Diagram showing the data transition in each process (u) to (ku) in tabular form

[Fig.10] Describes other examples of specific processing contents when it is determined that there is an association with an existing mail as a result of the presence / absence judgment at the time of reception and the association processing shown in Fig. 7 is performed. (A) is a diagram showing the state of the related email tree before processing, (b) is a diagram showing the state of the related email tree after processing, and (c) is a diagram showing Figure 7 shows the state of data transitions in each of the processes (u), (e), (o), (force), (ki), and (ku) in tabular form. Fig. 12 shows an example of specific contents of the mail browsing process (screen transition example) by switching the display of e-mail with a high degree of freedom. Figure showing another example of specific contents (screen transition example) of the mail browsing process by switching the high-level e-mail display

[FIG. 13] Each of (a) to (d) is a flow for explaining a processing procedure (mainly a processing procedure performed by the control unit (reference numeral 38) in FIG. 1) for switching the display of e-mail. Figure

圆 14] Once the association has been made, the display screen for correcting the association (A) is a diagram showing an association screen before and after processing when a specific email is deleted. (B) is a group of associated emails. Of association screens before and after processing when a new mail group is added to

[Fig.15] Flow diagram showing an example of the processing procedure for the process of adding a new mail group to the related group of mails (addition process to the relation)

[FIG. 16] An example of adding a new mail group to an existing associated mail group by the processes (a) to (ku) shown in FIG. (A) is a diagram showing the state of the email group before processing, and (b) is the email after processing. Figure (c) shows the state of the group. Figure (c) shows the state of data transition in each step of (a) to (ku) in Figure 15 in tabular form.

[Fig. 17] Another example of adding a new mail group to an existing associated mail group by the processes (a) to (c) shown in FIG. (A) is a diagram showing the state of the email group before processing, and (b) is the email group after processing. (C) is a diagram showing the state of data transition in each step of (a) to (ku) in FIG. 15 in a tabular form.

[Figure 18] Flow chart showing an example of the processing procedure for deleting a specific mail from a group of related mails (deleting from related)

[Fig.19] Shows an example of deleting a specific e-mail associated with existing mail group power (Email C is deleted) by the processes (a) to (ki) shown in FIG. (A) is a diagram showing the state of the email group before processing, (b) is a diagram showing the state of the email group after processing, and (c) is a diagram (a) to (ki) of FIG. ) Diagram showing the data transition in each step

[FIG. 20] A diagram showing an example of deleting a mail group from an existing associated mail group (an example of deleting e-mails D and E) by the processes (a) to (ki) shown in FIG. Yes, (a) shows the status of the email group before processing, (b) shows the status of the email group after processing Figure (c) shows in tabular form the data transition in each step of (a), (g), (co), (o), (force), and (ki) in Fig. 18. Figure

[FIG. 21] (a) and (b) are diagrams showing examples of cases where incorrect association judgment is made in the conventional e-mail association technology.

Explanation of symbols

14, 18 Base station

16 Communication network

20 Mobile terminal (mobile phone terminal)

22 Wireless communication unit

24 Telephony processing section

26 Voice output (speaker)

27 E-mail transmission / reception unit

28 Related judgment section

30 Association processing section

32 Association Correction

34 Association rule setting section

36 Email control

38 Control unit

40 Email information storage

42 Display control unit (display interface

44 Display (liquid crystal display, etc.)

46 Operation section (operation keys, etc.)

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0049] (First embodiment)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the internal configuration of a portable terminal (here, a portable telephone terminal) equipped with the electronic mail management system of the present invention.

[0050] In FIG. 1, a mobile terminal (here, a mobile phone terminal) 20 is a mobile phone of a communication partner. Mail is exchanged with the terminal 12 via the base stations 14 and 18 and the communication network 16.

[0051] As shown in the figure, the mobile terminal 20 includes a radio communication unit (performing radio communication processing) 22, a telephony processing unit (performing voice call processing) 24, a voice output unit (speaker or the like) 26, and the like. E-mail transmission / reception unit (performs e-mail transmission processing and reception processing) 27 and relevance determination unit (determines whether or not there is an association between the e-mail and the existing e-mail stored in the device) 28), an association processing unit (which performs processing such as adding a related mail group to a predetermined position) 30, an association correcting unit (which once corrects the association, corrects the association) 32, and association Rule setting section (dynamically sets and changes association rules) 34, email operation section (individually protects and deletes email) 36, and control section (overall control of mobile terminal operations) And display switching control) 38 and electronic Screen information storage unit (stores and records received e-mail and associated information) 40, display control unit (display interface) 42, display unit (liquid crystal display, etc.) 44, and operation unit (operation keys) Etc.) 46 and

Note that the control unit 38 and each unit operate according to a software program for an e-mail management system stored in a storage device (not shown) such as a RAM.

[0053] In the mobile terminal 20 of FIG. 1, at the time of transmission / reception, the association determination unit 28 sends / receives an email to / from an existing other email according to the association rule dynamically set by the association rule setting unit 34. If it is related, the association processing unit 30 associates the mail with a predetermined position of another mail group and updates the tree of the related mail. That is, the sent and received emails are associated with existing emails at that time, and the related information is stored in the email information storage unit 40.

Therefore, with the mobile terminal 20 of the present embodiment, it is possible to very easily search a series of e-mail groups related to the e-mail starting from a predetermined e-mail. Hereinafter, this point will be specifically described.

[0055] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an efficient search process of related emails in the mobile terminal of FIG. 1, and (a) is a diagram of the search process in the mobile terminal of the present invention of FIG. Inside FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the contents of a search process (comparative example) when the present invention is not used.

[0056] In the figure, α indicates a mail box, β indicates an inbox, γ indicates a transmission box, and the numbers attached to the top and bottom of each part indicate the number of processes when searching for related mail groups. It is information indicating whether or not there is. In addition, Α to 図 in the figure are related to each other.

In FIG. 2 (b), the related mail search process starts with mail A as the starting point (the number of times of processing is 0). Until B is found, it is said that mail 目視 is visually observed (processing count 4) through inbox β (processing count 1), mail box a (processing count 2), and transmission box γ (processing count 3). 4 treatments are required.

[0058] Next, in order to find mail C from mail Β, four more processes are required (the total number of processes is 8). Four times of processing is required (the total number of processing times is 12). Similarly, four more processings are required to find the mail trap (the total number of processing times is 16). A total of 16 search operations are required. In other words, as a display transition operation of the mailer, 16 operation swaying and visual confirmation processing) are required.

[0059] On the other hand, in the mobile terminal 20 of the present embodiment, since the association is made in advance, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the related emails B, C, D start from the email A. , E can be searched directly in sequence. Therefore, the total number of processes is only four, and it is possible to search for related emails efficiently. In other words, the amount of operation when checking the related mails A to E in order is greatly reduced.

Next, dynamic setting and changing of association rules by the association rule setting unit 34 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining dynamic setting and changing of association rules in the mobile terminal of FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 60 indicates a related rule setting screen displayed on the display unit 44 (see FIG. 1). As shown in the figure, on the related rule setting screen 60, as a condition of association, the subject line is matched backward (the back part of the subject line must match), and the common word is included in the subject line. Matching address and transmission / reception interval time are items of association condition. The user can freely select which item.

[0063] Furthermore, when determining whether or not there is a relationship, the user can freely select whether to select a logical sum or a logical product of these items.

[0064] For example, when the sent subject “Re: Re: contact” and the sent / received sent / received email “Re: contact” exist, the subject rear match condition indicates that the subject of the sent email is a reply email. This is based on the subject line excluding the “Re: Re:” part, that is, whether “Contact” is the same as the subject of the existing sent / received mail. The column is used to determine the relationship between newly sent and received emails and sent and received emails sent and received in the past.

[0065] The subject common word can be freely input by the user. Address matching is based on the commonality of the addresses of communication partners.

[0066] With regard to the transmission / reception interval, if the judgment period is allowed indefinitely, pay attention to the fact that there are too many mails to be associated, or that mails that have passed a considerable amount of time can be judged as having little relation to each other. It is provided, and it is possible to appropriately select the time range in which the user performs the association by, for example, list selection.

[0067] Further, strict association can be performed by selecting the logical product of each item, and related mail can be widely picked up by selecting the logical sum.

[0068] As described above, since the association rule is not fixed and the user can set and change dynamically and freely, it is possible to perform an association process accurately reflecting the user's needs. . It is also possible to set association rules that suit the individual, taking into account the user's communication environment (characteristics in creating e-mails of both the person and the other party).

[0069] When updating the association rule, the association rule setting unit 34 in FIG. 1 performs a process as shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the effective rule update process in the association rule setting unit of the mobile terminal in FIG.

[0071] Fig. 4 shows that! /, First, all rules are entered into the loop processing (step S300), and the setting value of the user interface (UI) is changed to the on-off control variable of the judgment rule. And (step S301), the presence / absence of a specific value is determined (step S302), the UI setting value is set as a storage variable of the specific value (step S303), and this process is repeated for all rules (step S304).

Next, taking the case of receiving an e-mail as an example, the contents of the presence / absence determination in the present invention, the contents of the association process, and the process when it is determined that there is no association will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an outline of a series of processing procedures relating to the association when the mobile terminal in FIG. 1 receives an e-mail. In the figure, the numeral part surrounded by a circle will be expressed in parentheses in the following description. This also applies to the other drawings below.

Further, as a premise for carrying out the processing shown in FIG. 5, management information (management parameters) is added to the conventional internal management parameters in the mobile terminal of the present invention shown in FIG. The newly established management parameters are as follows. Each initial value is assumed to be NUL L (no setting).

Management information (1): Next related mail ID: Identifier of the next e-mail in the order of related.

Management information (2); previous related mail ID: identifier of the previous e-mail in the order of related.

Management Information (3): Next Topic Mail ID: The head identifier of the related e-mail for the next topic.

Management Information (4): Previous Topic Mail ID: The head identifier of the related email about the previous topic.

As mentioned above, management information (1), (2), (3), and (4) are represented by circled numbers 1 to 4 for convenience in the figure!

Hereinafter, an overview of the procedure of FIG. 5 will be described. As shown in the figure, first, the presence / absence of the association is determined (step S100), and if it is determined that there is an associated e-mail, the association process is performed (step S103). On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no related e-mail, execute step S102 (incoming e-mail management information (4) = the first ID of the related e-mail of the e-mail received immediately before). Then, step S104 (Management information of all emails related to the email received immediately before (3) = received email ID).

[0076] Symbols (a) and (ii) are attached to the left of steps S102 and S104 in FIG. 5. These symbols will be used later when explaining data transition in each step. To do.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing specific contents of the presence / absence determination (step 100) shown in FIG. This association determination is performed by the association determination unit 28 in FIG.

As shown in the figure, first, initial setting (return value = not related, determination target = all) is performed. Next, whether the determination rule is on or off is determined (step S111), then the determination loop is entered (step S112), and the case is divided according to the determination result (relevance) (step S113). If there is a relationship, perform step S114 (processing with return value = relationship ID), then change the search target (step S115) and repeat the same processing for all judgment targets (Step S116).

[0079] Next, it is determined whether the determination condition is a logical sum AND (step S117), and in the case of a logical sum, it is determined whether or not the relationship has already been detected by another determination rule (step S118), Related Exit if detected. On the other hand, in the case of logical product in the process of step S117, or when it is determined that the relation has not been detected after the process of step S118, the determination process of the next determination rule is executed (step S119). In step S119,! /, The processing of the portion surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 6 is repeatedly performed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing specific contents of the association processing (step 103) shown in FIG. This association processing is performed by the association processing unit 30 in FIG. In FIG. 7, the force with symbols (u) to (ku) on the left of steps S120 to S127. This symbol will be used later when explaining data transition in each step.

[0081] As shown in the figure, the association processing is performed by performing step S120 (processing for setting received mail management information (2) = related e-mail ID) and step S121 (related e-mail management information ( Step 1) (E-mail management information (2) indicated by related email management information (1) = received email ID) Process).

[0082] Subsequently, step S124 (processing for setting received email management information (1) = related email management information (1)) is performed, and then step S125 (related email management information ( 1 ) = Processing to make received email ID), and then perform step S 126 (processing to make incoming email management information (3) = related email management information (3)), Next, step S 127 (process for managing received e-mail management information (4) = related e-mail management information (4)) is performed.

[0083] Next, specific data transition in each process from (a) to (c) in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0084] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the processing contents when it is determined that there is no association with the existing mail as a result of the determination of the presence / absence of the reception, (a) It is a diagram showing the state of the related mail tree, (b) is a diagram showing the state of the related mail tree after processing, (c) is the data in the processing (a), (i) of FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of this transition in a table form.

[0085] In Fig. 8 (a), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, the vertical axis is the axis before and after the reception time point, and E, B for each of the left, right, and vertical axes. The relationships between emails C, C, and D are shown in a tree format. In Fig. 8 (a), the next topic of B-mail does not exist, and in this state, E-mail A is newly received.

[0086] Email A is not related to existing emails E, B-D! Therefore, E-mail A is positioned as the next topic next to B as shown in FIG. 8 (b). Such an association update including the email A is realized by the processes (a) and (i) in FIG. 5 (steps S102 and S104).

[0087] The state of data transition in the processes (a) and (i) in FIG. 5 is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8 (c), the management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to D is described in the left column, and the central column is immediately after reception and immediately after the processing (a). Immediately after processing (i), how management information (1) to (4) transitions is shown, and the right column shows what state will be when processing is completed .

[0088] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of specific processing contents when it is determined that there is an association with an existing mail as a result of the presence / absence determination at the time of reception, and the association processing shown in FIG. 7 is performed. (A) is a diagram showing the state of the related mail tree before processing, (b) is a diagram showing the state of the related mail tree after processing, and (c ) Is the process in Fig. 7 It is a figure which shows the mode of the transition of the data in each of ()-(ku) in a tabular form.

[0089] In Fig. 9 (a), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, the vertical axis is the axis before and after the reception time point, and F, B for each of the left, right, and vertical axes. , C, D, E E-mail relationships are shown in a tree format. In this state, E-mail A is newly received. This email A is assumed to be related to the existing email D (located at the end of the association tree).

Then, associating processing is performed, and as shown in FIG. 9B, the electronic mail A is positioned under the electronic mail D, thereby updating the related mail tree. Such an association update including the electronic mail A is realized by the processes (u), (force), (ki), and (ku) (steps S120 and S125 to S127) in FIG.

[0091] The state of data transition in each of the processes (u) ゝ (force) and (ki) ゝ (ku) (steps S120 and S125 to S127) in Fig. 7 is shown in Fig. 9 (c). . In Fig. 9 (c), the management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to D is described in the left column, and the central column is immediately after reception, immediately after the processing (u), It is shown how management information (1) to (4) changes immediately after processing (force), immediately after processing (ki), and immediately after processing (ku). It shows what happens when it is completed.

FIG. 10 shows another example of specific processing contents when it is determined that there is an association with an existing mail as a result of the presence / absence determination at the time of reception, and the association processing shown in FIG. 7 is performed. (A) is a diagram showing the state of the related mail tree before processing, (b) is a diagram showing the state of the related mail tree after processing, (C) is a diagram showing in tabular form the transition of data in each of the processes (u), (e), (o), (force), (ki), and (ku) in FIG.

[0093] In Fig. 10 (a), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, the vertical axis is the axis before and after the reception time point, and F, B for each of the left, right, and vertical axes. , C, D, E E-mail relationships are shown in a tree format. In this state, E-mail A is newly received. Assume that this email A is related to the existing email C (located in the middle of the association tree).

Then, an association process is performed, and as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the electronic mail A is an electronic mail. It is located at the point between Le C and E-mail D. As a result, the associated email is updated. Such an association update including E-mail A is performed as shown in FIG.

, (E), (o), (force), (ki), (g) (Steps S120 to S127).

[0095] The state of data transition in each of the processes (i), (e) ゝ (o) ゝ (force), and (ki) ゝ (ku) (steps S120 to S127) in FIG. c).

[0096] In FIG. 10 (c), the management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to D is described in the left column, and the processing (u) is performed immediately after reception in the central column. Immediately after processing, immediately after processing

Immediately after (o), immediately after process (force), immediately after process (ki), immediately after process (ku), it is shown how management information (1) to (4) transitions, and The right column shows what will happen when processing is complete.

[0097] In the above description, the power transmission mail that explains the association with the received mail is described.

The same processing can be performed even if V is performed, and the association can be performed.

[0098] (Second Embodiment)

In this embodiment, in addition to the dynamic association process with a high degree of freedom described in the first embodiment, it is possible to perform a high degree of freedom of mail browsing by improving the switching of the e-mail display. An example of further enhancing the above will be described.

[0099] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of specific contents (example of screen transition) of the mail browsing process by electronic mail display switching with a high degree of freedom that can be employed in the mobile terminal of FIG. .

In FIG. 11, both dotted and solid arrows indicate screen transitions, and in particular, arrow force S indicated by a solid line, and screen transitions that are considered to contribute particularly to user convenience.

In this embodiment, the numeric keys “4” and “6” are assigned to the related email display operation. In addition, the left and right direction keys are used to switch the list display of related mails.

As shown in the upper center of FIG. 11, the mailbox display screen 51 displays an icon for selecting one of an inbox, a transmission box, and a related “topic list”. In this embodiment, only the case of selecting an inbox and an outbox will be described (related topic list). Will be described in the next embodiment).

[0103] The received mail list display screen 50 is displayed when the user presses the selection key.

(Upper left in Fig. 11) and the outgoing mail list display screen 52 (upper right in Fig. 11).

In addition, by selecting one mail on the received mail list display screen 50 and the transmitted mail list display screen 52, the screen shifts to the selected e-mail display screen 56. In the selection e-mail display screen 56, the mails related to each other are marked with an asterisk.

[0105] In the present invention, as described above, each sent / received electronic mail is associated with another mail, and the associated information is stored. Therefore, e-mails related to the selected e-mail can be displayed sequentially by a simple key operation (pressing numeric keys “6” and “4”).

In other words, as shown in the selection e-mail display screen 56 in FIG. 11, by pressing the numeric key “6”, the screen can be shifted forward (previous mail) in the related order, and the numeric key “4” By pressing, the screen transition to the back of the related order (next mail) can be performed easily. You can also display the list order (sort order) as before by pressing the direction key.

[0107] Thus, according to the mobile terminal of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently browse related electronic mails with a simple key operation, and the usability of the electronic mail function of the mobile terminal is greatly improved. To improve. That is, by having a plurality of types of display e-mail switching functions, flexible e-mail browsing is possible regardless of related e-mails in the same folder.

[0108] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of specific contents (screen transition example) of the mail browsing process that can be adopted in the mobile terminal of FIG. is there.

FIG. 12 shows an example of screen transition when browsing the associated mail using the related / topic list. In other words, in the example of Fig. 12, a topic name for management is given, and the topic name and a group of related e-mails are stored in association with each other so that browsing mail can be selected according to the topic content. Yes. This makes it possible to browse electronic mail more smoothly.

That is, in FIG. 12, pressing the select key causes the mailbox display screen 51 to When you select a related topic list (shown surrounded by a solid line in the figure), the screen changes to the topic list display screen 53. When one e-mail is selected, the display is switched to the association display screen 57.

[0111] Then, in a state where the association display screen 57 is displayed on the display, the topics can be sequentially switched by pressing the left and right direction keys, for example. In this way, it is possible to view a list of related emails with a simple key operation, focusing on the topic, improving the freedom (diversity) of browsing related emails, and e-mail functions of mobile terminals. As a result, user convenience is improved.

[0112] FIGS. 13 (a) to 13 (d) each illustrate a processing procedure (mainly a processing procedure performed by the control unit (reference numeral 38) in FIG. 1) for switching the display of e-mails. FIG.

FIG. 13A shows a switching process from the sort order (list order) to the related order in the switching process of the e-mail to be displayed next. That is, step S 200 (processing for setting the switching order of electronic mails = related order) is performed.

[0114] Fig. 13 (b) shows the switching process to the related order of force sorting (list order) in the switching process of the e-mail to be displayed next. In other words, step S201 (processing for setting the switching order of electronic mails = sorting order) is performed.

[0115] Fig. 13 (c) shows processing when the previous mail display key is pressed. That is, it is determined whether the email switching order is the sort order or the related order (step S 202). If the order is related, the management information (2) of the displayed email is displayed (step S 203). In the case of the sort order, the same display as before is displayed (step S204).

[0116] Fig. 13 (d) shows processing when the next mail display key is pressed. That is, it is determined whether the email switching order is the sort order or the related order (step S 202). If the order is related, the management information (1) of the displayed email is displayed (step S 206) In the case of the order, the same display as before is displayed (step S207).

[0117] Note that the processing shown in FIG. 13 is necessary when the same key is used to distinguish the display order. In other words, as shown in Fig. 11, this processing is necessary when the related order / sort order is switched only with the direction key instead of switching with the operation of the numeric keypad. For this reason, when assigning the related order switching function to each button on the numeric keypad, it is not always necessary to implement it. It is not a function.

[0118] (Third embodiment)

In the present embodiment, a function for correcting an association after the association has been made will be described.

[0119] That is, once an association is made, it may be noticed that the association is incorrect, or the power of the association is appropriate. You may want to delete the email. Also, due to various circumstances, it may be desirable to store mail that is not currently associated with a specific mail group. In such a case, the user can operate the operation unit (after the association is once made) to freely modify the mutual relationship of the mail, and the association reflecting the user's intention is made after the fact. It can be realized. As a result, it becomes possible to respond flexibly to the situation where the user's request that cannot be satisfied only by the automatic association rule or the association has been changed due to management circumstances.

[0120] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing a specific example of a display screen when the association is corrected after the association is made, and (a) shows the centrality of the group of associated emails. It is a figure which shows the association screen before and after processing when mail is deleted, and (b) shows the association screen before and after processing when adding a new mail group to a group of related emails. FIG.

[0121] In the upper left of Fig. 14 (a), an example of a screen 60 showing the state of association before operation is described. Screen 60 shows that 4 emails are associated.

[0122] From among these, when the process of deleting the email "Re: contact with 9Z5" was performed, the email "Re: contact with 9Z5" was deleted, as shown in the upper right of (a). A later screen 61 and a deleted “Re-contact with 9Z5” and a screen 62 showing the e-mail alone are created. In this way, for example, it is possible to exclude e-mails that are not closely related to each other and manage e-mails more appropriately.

[0123] Also, if you delete all the related emails after the email "Re: Contact with 9Z5" from the related emails on screen 60, as shown in the lower right of Fig. 14 (a) A screen 63 showing the remaining related mail and a screen 64 showing the deleted related mail are created. It will be. As a result, for example, when the number of related mails increases, it becomes possible to separate topics by topic separation, and related mails can be managed appropriately.

[0124] On the left side of Fig. 14 (b), a screen 65 showing the mail group to which the association is added and a screen 66 showing the mail group to be added are drawn. When the additional process is performed, the association is updated and a new related mail tree is created as shown in the screen 67 on the right side of FIG. As a result, for example, it is possible to integrate a group of e-mails with similar topics and manage e-mails.

[0125] Hereinafter, a procedure of processing for correcting the association after the association is made will be described. The following processing is performed by the association correcting unit 32 in the mobile terminal in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a process of adding a new mail group to the related group of mails (addition process to related).

In FIG. 15, numerals (1 to 4) surrounded by circles indicate management information (1) to (4), and their meanings are as follows.

Management information (1): Next related mail ID: Identifier of the next e-mail in the related order

Management information (2); Previous related email ID: Identifier of the previous email in the related order

Management Information (3): Next Topic Mail ID: The first identifier of the related e-mail about the next topic

Management Information (4): Previous Topic Mail ID: The head identifier of the related e-mail about the previous topic

In addition, the left side of each step in FIG. 15 is labeled with the symbols (a) to (ku). These symbols will be used later when explaining the state of data transition.

In FIG. 15, first, in step S400, it is determined whether or not the associated e-mail management information (4) is NULL (no setting).

[0129] Next, if it is not NULL, step S401 (Process (a): Email management information associated with the associated email management information (4) (3) = Management email associated information (3) ), And move to the next step. On the other hand, at step S400, NU In the case of LL, the process proceeds to step S402.

[0130] Next, in step S402, it is determined whether or not the management information (3) force NULL (no setting) of the associated electronic mail is related. If it is not NULL, execute step S403 (Process (ii)). If it is NULL, the process proceeds to step S404 (process (u)).

Step S403 (Process (ii)) is a process for setting the management information (4) of the electronic mail indicated by the management information (3) of the related electronic mail (4) = (4) of the related electronic mail.

[0132] Step S404 (Processing (u)) is the management information (3) for all emails to be added to the association.

= Processing to make management information (3) of the associated electronic mail.

Next, step S405 (process (d)) is performed. Step S405 (Process (e)) is a process of setting management information (4) of all electronic mails to be added to the association = management information (4) of the associated electronic mail.

[0134] Next, in step S406, it is determined whether or not the management information (1) force NULL (no setting) of the associated electronic mail is associated. If it is not NULL, execute step S407 (Process (o)). If it is NULL, the process proceeds to step S408 (process (force)).

[0135] In step S407 (Process (o)), the management information (2) of the email indicated by the management information (1) of the associated email = the last email of the association of the email to be added to the association. It is a process to set the ID.

[0136] Step S408 (Process (Power)) is a process in which the management information (1) of the last email associated with the email added to the relationship = management information (1) of the associated email. .

Next, step S409 (processing (g)) and step S410 (processing (g)) are sequentially performed.

Step S409 (processing (g)) is processing for setting the management information (2) of the e-mail to be added to the association = the ID of the associated e-mail.

Step S410 (processing (ku)) is processing for setting the management information (1) of the associated email to be the ID of the email to be added to the relationship.

[0140] Next, using FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, in each process from (a) to (ku) in FIG.

Specific data transition will be described.

[0141] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the relationship between the existing associated methods by the processes (a) to (ku) shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of adding a new mail group to a mail group (adding emails A and B under email D located at the end of the associated existing mail group); (a) is before processing, (b) is after processing, and (c) is a diagram showing the data transition state in each step of (a) to (ku) in FIG.

[0142] In Fig. 16 (a), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, and the vertical axis is an axis based on the time before and after the reception time. The left side of Fig. 16 (a) shows the associated mail group (emails F, A, B, E), and the right side shows the associated mail group (emails H, C, D, G). .

[0143] In Fig. 16 (a), as shown in the figure, email A is related to email D located at the end of the associated existing mail group. Therefore, associating processing is performed so that the e-mails A and B are located under the e-mail D as shown in FIG. 16 (b).

[0144] As a result of this association addition process, emails F and E remain as shown on the left side of FIG. On the other hand, as shown on the right side, as a result of the association addition process, an association tree force is newly created such that emails A and B are located below email D.

[0145] The post-addition processing of the association as shown in FIGS. 16 (a) and (b) is performed by the processing (a) and FIG.

(I), (u), (e), (force), (ki), (ku) (steps S401 to S405, S407 to S410). The state of data transition in each of these processes is shown in Fig. 16 (c).

[0146] In FIG. 16 (c), management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to H is described in the left column, and the pre-processing and processing (a) are described in the central column. Management information (1) immediately after processing (ii), immediately after processing (u), immediately after processing (u), immediately after processing (force), immediately after processing (ki), and immediately after processing (ku). ) To (4) show how the transition is made, and the right column shows what the state will be when the processing is completed.

FIG. 17 shows another example in which a new mail group is added to an existing associated mail group by the processes (a) to (ku) shown in FIG. 15 (e-mail A). , B is inserted between the emails D and E of the associated existing email group), (a) is a diagram showing the state of the email group before processing, (b) Indicates the status of the email group after processing Figures (c) and (c) are diagrams showing the state of data transition in each step of (a) to (ku) in Fig. 15 in tabular form.

In FIG. 17 (a), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, and the vertical axis is an axis based on the time before and after the reception time. The left side of Fig. 17 (a) shows the associated mail group (emails G, A, B, F), and the right side shows the associated mail group (emails I, C, D, E, H). Indicated.

In FIG. 17 (a), as shown in the figure, the email A is related to the email D located in the middle of the associated existing mail group. Accordingly, the association is added so that the emails A and B are positioned between the emails D and E as shown in FIG. 17 (b).

[0150] As a result of the association adding process, as shown on the left side of FIG. 17 (b), the emails G and F remain. On the other hand, as shown on the right side, as a result of the association addition process, emails A and B are inserted between emails D and E, and a new association information tree is created.

[0151] The association post-addition process as shown in FIGS. 17 (a) and 17 (b) is the process (a) and FIG.

(I), (u), (ヱ), (o), (force), (ki), (ku) (Steps S401 to S410). The state of data transition in each of these processes is shown in Fig. 17 (c).

[0152] In FIG. 17 (c), management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to I is described in the left column, and the pre-processing and processing (a) are described in the central column. Immediately after process (b), immediately after process (u), immediately after process (u), immediately after process (o), immediately after process (force), immediately after process (ki), Immediately after that, how the management information (1) to (4) changes is shown, and in the right column, what state is shown when the processing is completed is shown.

Next, a process for deleting a specific mail from the related existing mail group (deletion process from the related) will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a process of deleting a specific mail from a group of related mails (a deletion process from related).

In FIG. 18, numerals (1 to 4) surrounded by circles indicate management information (1) to (4), and their meanings are as follows.

Management information (1): Next related mail ID: Identifier of the next e-mail in the related order Management information (2); Previous related email ID: Previous email identifier in the order of association Management information (3); Next topic head email ID: First identifier of the related email for the next topic

In addition, the left side of each step in FIG. 18 is labeled with the symbols (a) to (ki). These symbols will be used later when explaining the state of data transition.

[0156] In FIG. 18, first, in step S500, the management information (3) of the related source e-mail is displayed.

Judges whether it is NULL (no setting).

[0157] If it is not NULL, step S501 (Process (a): Management information of related source email (3

) (4) = Relevance (Processing with the first ID of deleted (relevant) e-mail), and move to the next step. On the other hand, if NULL is determined in step S500, the process proceeds to step S502.

[0158] Next, in step S502, it is determined whether or not it is a single deletion (deletion of only one e-mail). If it is a single deletion, the process proceeds to step S503. If it is not a single deletion, the process proceeds to step S510.

[0159] In step S503, it is determined whether or not the management information (1) of the email to be deleted from the association is NULL (no setting). If it is not NULL, the process proceeds to step S504, and NU

In the case of LL, the process proceeds to step S505.

[0160] Step S504 (Process (ii)) is the management information (2) of the email indicated by the management information (1) of the email deleted from the association (2) = the management information of the email (2) ). On the other hand, step S505 (Process (u)) is the management information of the related email.

(1) = This is a process for setting the management information (1) of the e-mail whose related power is also deleted.

[0161] Steps S506 (processing (iv)) to S509 (processing (g)) are performed.

[0162] In step S506 (Processing (e)), management information (1) = N

This is ULL processing.

[0163] Step S507 (Process (o)) is the management information (2) = N

This is ULL processing. Step S508 (Process (Power)) is a process for setting all the email management information related to the email to be deleted from the relationship (4) = the leading ID of the related source email.

Step S509 (process (ki)) is a process for setting all the e-mail management information (3) relating to the e-mail of the related source = the ID of the e-mail to be deleted from the related.

[0166] Also, in step S502, if it is not a single deletion, the process proceeds to step S510 as described above. Step S510 is processing for determining whether or not the management information (1) of the last e-mail associated with the e-mail to be deleted from the association is NULL (no setting). If it is non-NULL, the process proceeds to step S511 (process (ku)), and if NULL, the process proceeds to step S512.

[0167] In step S511, the management information of the last e-mail associated with the e-mail to be deleted from the association (1) = management information of the e-mail indicated by the management information (2) = relevance This is processing (2).

[0168] Also, in step S512 (processing (1)), the management information (1) of the related source email is set to the management information (1) of the last related email of the email deleted from the relationship. It is processing.

[0169] Step S513 (Processing (K)) is processing for setting management information (1) = NULL of the last related email to be deleted from the related email.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20, a specific data transition in each process from (a) to (g) in FIG. 18 will be described.

[0171] Figure 19 shows an example of deleting an existing associated mail group specific email by the processes (a) to (ki) shown in Fig. 18 (deleting email C). (A) shows the state of the email group before processing, (b) shows the state of the email group after processing, and (c) shows the state of FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of the transition of the data in each step of (a)-(ki) of a table form.

In FIGS. 19 (a) and 19 (b), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, and the vertical axis is an axis based on before and after the reception time point. As shown in Fig. 19 (a), emails A, B, C, D, and E are related, and G and F are different topics.

[0173] Then, the e-mail (C) is deleted from the associated mail group (A to E) in Fig. 19 (a). The result is as shown in Fig. 19 (b). In other words, electronic mail (C) is treated as an independent topical mail.

Such relevance power The post-deletion process for deleting a specific electronic mail is realized by the processes (a) to (ki) in FIG. 19 (steps S501 and S504 to S509). The state of data transition in each of these processes is shown in Fig. 19 (c).

[0175] In FIG. 19 (c), the management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to G is described in the left column, and the pre-processing and processing (a) are described in the central column. Management information (1) to (4) immediately after processing (i), immediately after processing (u), immediately after processing (u), immediately after processing (force), and immediately after processing (ki). The transition is shown, and the right column shows what will happen when the process is complete.

[0176] Figure 20 shows an example of deleting a mail group from an existing associated mail group by the processes (a) to (ki) shown in FIG. 18 (an example of deleting emails D and E). (A) is a diagram showing the state of the email group before processing, (b) is a diagram showing the state of the email group after processing, and (c) is a diagram showing the state of the email group after processing. It is a figure which shows the mode of the data transition in each step of, (g), (ko), (o), (force), (ki) in a tabular form.

In FIGS. 20 (a) and 20 (b), the left and right axes are axes based on the topic, and the vertical axis is an axis based on the front and back of the reception time point. As shown in Fig. 20 (a), emails A, B, C, D, and E are associated with each other, and G and F are independent topical emails. Then, E-mails D and E are deleted from the associated mail group.

Then, as shown in FIG. 20 (b), emails D and E are treated as independent topic emails (however, emails D and E are related to each other).

[0179] Such an associated group of e-mails The post-deletion process to delete multiple e-mails is the process (a), (ke), (co), (o), (force) in FIG. (G) (Steps S501, S512, S511, S513, S507 to S509). The state of data transition in each of these processes is shown in Fig. 20 (c).

[0180] In FIG. 20 (c), management information (1) to (4) for each of the emails A to G is described in the left column, and the pre-processing and processing (a) are described in the central column. Immediately after the process, (i), immediately after the process (e), immediately after the process (e), immediately after the process (force), and immediately after the process (g). Information (1)-(4) shows how the transitions are made, and the right column shows what the state will be when the process is completed.

[0181] As described above, according to the electronic mail management system of the present invention, in the electronic mail management system of the present invention, the association processing is automatically performed when the electronic mail is transmitted and received.

[0182] Then, the user can appropriately perform the association rules to be applied, specific numerical information used for association determination and association processing, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly reflect the detailed requests of users regarding the association of e-mails.

[0183] In addition, the association rule can be changed, deleted, or newly established at any time, which improves the usability of a user such as a mobile terminal.

[0184] In addition, association rules can be changed, deleted, and newly established at any time, which improves usability for users of mobile terminals and the like.

[0185] In addition, a plurality of association conditions can be set, and if any one of them is applicable, it can be determined that there is an association (determination based on logical sum), or all of them are applicable. In some cases, it can be related (judgment based on logical product), and appropriate and flexible association judgment can be performed according to user needs.

[0186] In addition to making it possible to perform appropriate association determination and association processing, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user by improving the display format and display switching method of the associated mail. As a result, the electronic mail association function of the present invention can be comfortably and sufficiently utilized even in a portable terminal in which the display method for inputting information with a small display is limited.

[0187] In addition, after shifting to the association display screen, it is possible to sequentially switch the display forward or backward, for example, a numeric keypad or a direction key that is generally used in a portable terminal, By using it as a key for displaying the associated mail, the associated mail display can be efficiently viewed with a simple operation.

[0188] In addition, after the user has been associated, the operation unit can be operated to freely modify the mail interrelationship, and the association that reflects the user's intention is realized afterwards. You can also As a result, once the association is made, the association is performed. If you notice that you are injured, or if the association is appropriate, or if you want to delete the associated group of emails because the importance of the email is low, or because of various circumstances, If you want to store emails that are not associated with a specific group of emails, you can freely modify the association. As a result, it becomes possible to respond flexibly to the situation where the user's request that cannot be satisfied only by the automatic association rule or the association has been changed due to management circumstances. Therefore, user convenience can be further improved.

[0189] Also, after association, one or more mails can be added to a specific position, or one or more mails at a specific position can be deleted. However, the association can be freely modified.

[0190] According to the present invention, the e-mail function can be used more comfortably in a mobile terminal (including a mobile phone terminal, a PDA, and a portable computer), and the convenience for the user is improved.

[0191] In particular, in a mobile phone terminal, the electronic mail function can be used more comfortably, and the convenience for the user is improved. In mobile phone terminals, the subject line is changed appropriately between users, frequent email contact is made, and appropriate management of related emails is difficult, and the amount of information on the display screen is small because the display is small. However, there is a special feature that it is difficult to prepare a large number of input keys. According to the present invention, it is possible to overcome such a disadvantageous situation and realize accurate association determination and association processing by a simple operation in a mobile phone terminal, and comfortable browsing and related association of related mails. Proper modification can be made, and e-mail functions can be enhanced to increase product value!

[0192] In addition, by installing the e-mail management software program of the present invention, it can be used with high accuracy on mobile terminals (including mobile phone terminals, PDAs, and portable computers). The e-mail association function can be easily realized.

[0193] According to the present invention, it is possible to perform an accurate association between emails, an association that reflects the user's desires and intentions, and to make it possible to comfortably view the associated emails and use the emails. User convenience can be improved. [0194] Although the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. is there.

[0195] This application is based on a Japanese patent application filed on December 28, 2005 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-378931), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Industrial applicability

[0196] The present invention has the effect of realizing more accurate and flexible e-mail management. Therefore, an e-mail management system and a mobile terminal (mobile phone terminal) equipped with this e-mail management system are provided. , PDA, and portable computer).

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] An association rule setting unit that dynamically sets association rules between emails, and the transmission / reception of the transmission / reception under the association rules set by the association rule setting unit when sending / receiving emails An association determination unit that determines whether or not there is an association between the target email and other emails that have been sent and received;

An association processing unit for associating an email to be transmitted / received with another email that has been transmitted / received when it is determined that there is a relationship by the relationship determining unit;

An e-mail management system comprising:

[2] The email management system according to claim 1,

The e-mail management system, wherein the association rule is configured by a logical sum or a logical product of a plurality of association rules.

[3] The email management system according to claim 1,

Further, the control unit has an operation unit, a display unit, and a control unit having a display control function. When the user operates the operation unit to instruct the control unit to display the display format, the association processing unit An e-mail characterized in that at least one of the subject and body contents of a part or all of a series of associated e-mails is displayed on the display unit in the designated display format. Management system.

[4] The email management system according to claim 3,

Display screen power of received mail list, sent mail list, or topic list Select the mail that will be the starting point, operate the predetermined operation key as the operation section to make the association display screen, and then the predetermined display as the operation section By pressing one of the operation keys and selecting either forward switching or backward switching, a series of mails associated with the starting mail are sequentially displayed on the display unit. Email management system.

[5] The email management system according to claim 1,

An e-mail management system, further comprising an association correction unit for correcting a correlation between a series of e-mails that have already been associated.

[6] The email management system according to claim 5,

The association correcting unit adds one or a plurality of new emails to appropriate places in the series of emails that have already been associated, or in the series of associated emails. An e-mail management system, wherein one or more e-mails are selectively deleted from the e-mail.

[7] A mobile terminal equipped with the electronic mail management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

[8] A mobile phone terminal equipped with the e-mail management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

[9] The computer functions as an association rule setting unit, an association determination unit, and an association processing unit described in claim 1, and further has a display control function described in claim 4 as necessary. A computer-readable electronic mail management software program that functions as a control unit or functions as an association correction unit according to claim 6.