JP2000047955A - System for processing program executing information by electronic mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make executable a requested processing program without through an operator by utilizing an electronic mail linkage processing program arranged in a local area network by means of an electronic mail from a communication equipment connected to a wide area network. SOLUTION: The local area network(LAN) L1 is connected to the wide area network WAN through a fire wall 4 being the guard device of a network and connects a processing request device P1 utilizing the electronic mail linkage processing program from the outside of L1 to WAN. That is, the processing requesting device P1 is connected to WAN with another mail server such as an internet provider. Transmission/reception is executed by the electronic mails with a mail transmitting/receiving device M1 being the mail server in LAN L1 through another mail server.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the use of an application program installed in a local communication network in an office and the registration and retrieval of a database from an unspecified location via a wide area communication network. The present invention relates to an information processing system that can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Processing programs for application programs and databases installed in an office are
It is required to be used from an unspecified place outside the office. In this case, it is generally necessary to connect online a processing execution device for processing programs (hereinafter collectively referred to as processing programs) for application programs and databases installed in the office and a processing request device outside the office. . However, as shown in the conventional configuration diagram of FIG. 6, the processing execution device group 3 is generally connected to a local communication network (LAN) in an office. In addition, a protection wall (firewall) 4 is installed on the LAN in the office to prevent unauthorized intrusion from the outside, and it is often impossible to always connect the LAN online from outside. Therefore, from an unspecified place outside the office,
It is not realistic to use the processing program of the processing execution device group 3 connected to the LAN in the office by connecting the processing request device 1 and the processing execution device group 3 online.

On the other hand, a method is conceivable in which a processing request device is registered in a firewall in advance, and only a processing request signal from a specific processing request device can pass through the firewall. However, in this case, it is necessary to register each processing requesting device in advance, and when the number of processing requesting devices increases, the possibility of unauthorized intrusion by a hacker increases, and the function of the firewall does not substantially function. Therefore, such a method is also impractical.

[0004] As a method of avoiding these problems, processing data is sent from an unspecified place outside the office to a mail transmitting / receiving device 2 connected to a LAN in the office using an electronic mail. There is a method in which an operator causes the processing execution device group 3 to perform processing according to the processing data, and the operator returns the result to the sender. This is because an e-mail is widely used as an information transmission means inside and outside the office, and an e-mail to an address registered in a LAN in the office can pass through a firewall.

[0005]

However, in the above method, the processing input data is retrieved from the e-mail, the processing program on the processing execution device group using the processing input data is started, and the processing program is executed. The operation of returning the result by e-mail or the like must be performed by an operator in the office, which is very inefficient. Further, when the intervention of the operator is required, it becomes difficult to use the processing program for 24 hours, which hinders the use from overseas and the like.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to convert various processing programs of a group of processing execution apparatuses connected to a local communication network (LAN) in an office isolated by a firewall into a wide area communication network (WAN) outside the LAN. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing system that can be used from a processing requesting device connected to the office and can minimize or eliminate processing by an operator in an office.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention utilizes an e-mail which can be transferred between a local communication network and a wide area communication network outside the local communication network via a firewall. Then, a processing program in the local communication network is executed from a communication terminal at an unspecified place connectable to the wide area communication network, and the result is received. In this case, the information necessary for executing the processing program is automatically transmitted and the processing result is returned using the information in the header part of the syntax of the electronic mail and the attached file that can be attached. A mail address that accepts the use of a series of processing programs is set in a mail transmitting / receiving device that is a mail server in the local communication network. In response to the processing request e-mail being stored at the e-mail address, the e-mail coordination processing program that parses the e-mail, extracts necessary information, and prompts the processing execution device to execute the processing program is executed. to start. The e-mail cooperative processing program creates a reply e-mail in the form of an attached file with the processing result, and causes the e-mail transmission unit of the mail server to reply.

More specifically, the header of the e-mail contains at least information on a subject (eg, Subject, Sub), a destination (eg, To), and a source (eg, From). Therefore, a predetermined description of the requested processing program is described in the subject column. In the destination column, an e-mail address for accepting the use of the processing program is described. And
In the column of the sender, the mail address of the reply destination is described. Furthermore, by including processing input data in a predetermined syntax in an attachable file that can be encrypted, the attached file can be used as it is for execution of the processing program.

Further, in order to eliminate an illegal processing request,
In the present invention, the mail transmitting / receiving device is provided with a reception file for pre-recording the description of the processing program to be requested and the mail address of the person permitted to execute the processing program. Authentication is performed as to whether or not there is.

Therefore, it is possible to use a processing program in a local communication network from a wide area communication network outside the local communication network only by realizing an electronic mail cooperation processing program having a simple syntax analysis function for electronic mail. Will be possible.

[0011] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
A local communication network connected to a publicly available wide area communication network via a firewall, a mail transmitting / receiving device connected to the local communication network and transmitting / receiving mail to / from the wide area communication network, and connected to the local communication network; In the information processing system having a processing execution device provided with a predetermined processing program, the mail transmission / reception device transmits an e-mail from the wide area communication network via the firewall, and has a destination in the local communication network. An e-mail reception informing means for receiving the e-mail, and detecting a description of the processing program which is activated in response to the reception of the e-mail and which requests execution from the received e-mail, and is included in the description and the e-mail. Based on the processing input data,
An electronic device that instructs the processing execution device to execute, receives processing output data from the processing execution device, sets a sender of the received mail or another third party as a return destination, and creates a reply transmission mail having the processing output data. A mail cooperative processing means, and an e-mail transmitting means for transmitting the reply transmission mail to the wide area communication network, wherein the processing execution device is specified in the description according to the processing input data from the processing starting means. Executing the processing program, and outputting the obtained processing output data to the e-mail cooperative processing means. The communication device connected to the wide area communication network transmits the local communication network by e-mail. It is characterized by utilizing the processing program provided therein.

According to the above invention, an e-mail cooperative processing program executed in response to receiving an e-mail, including a description of a processing program requesting execution of the e-mail and processing input data required for executing the processing program By starting up, the processing program can be automatically executed and the processing output data can be returned, and a processing program such as a program for an application program or a database in the local communication network can be transmitted from a communication terminal in the wide area communication network. Can be used.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an information processing system according to the present embodiment and a wide area network WAN connected thereto. A mail transmitting / receiving device M1 as a mail server and a processing execution device E1 for executing a program for an application program or a database are connected to a LAN L1 as a local communication network in the office. Also, a reception file f1 in which a correspondence between a description including a code for instructing execution of the processing program and the like and a mail address of a person permitted to execute the processing program is recorded is connected to the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus M1. . The local communication network (LAN) L1 is connected to a wide area communication network WAN via a firewall 4 that is a network protection device, and a processing request device P1 that uses a processing program from outside the local communication network L1 is connected to a wide area network. It is connected to the communication network WAN.

More specifically, the processing request device P1 is connected to a wide area network WAN such as the Internet via another mail server such as an Internet provider (not shown). Then, the e-mail is transmitted / received to / from the mail transmitting / receiving device M1 which is a mail server in the local communication network (LAN) L1 in the office via another mail server (not shown). That is, the processing request device P1 includes:
E-mail ID (e-mail address) that has installed e-mail transmission / reception software capable of transmitting / receiving e-mail and can identify the user of the processing request device
Is given.

The firewall 4, which is the above network defense device, permits an e-mail conforming to a communication protocol such as SMTP to pass from outside to inside or from inside to outside. The e-mail from the outside is checked by the mail transmission / reception device M1 as to whether it is a destination in the local communication network L1, and if it is an e-mail in the local communication network L1, it is accepted and stored in the area of the corresponding mail address. Is done. In the case of a relatively upper layer protocol such as SMTP, security is higher than that of a lower layer TCP / IP protocol or the like, and hackers and the like can be prevented.

The mail transmitting / receiving device M1 has an electronic mail receiving section and an electronic mail transmitting section generally provided as a mail server. Further, in addition to the storage area corresponding to the mail address of the user in the local communication network, the storage area also has a storage area corresponding to the mail address of the destination of the request mail of the processing program. Then, when an e-mail addressed to the e-mail address for the request e-mail is received, the e-mail reception related unit is notified and activates an e-mail cooperation processing program described later.

This e-mail cooperative processing program analyzes the syntax of the received e-mail, extracts a description of the requested processing program and the mail address of the sender of the requested mail, and checks whether the request is legitimate. A function of checking whether or not the processing program is executed, a function of causing the processing execution device E1 to execute the requested processing program in accordance with the description of the processing program and the attached processing input data, and a processing generated as a result of the processing. At least a function of generating an e-mail for returning the output data to the processing request device P1.

For the above check function, the reception file f1 includes a description of the requested processing program,
The correspondence of the mail address of the person permitted to use the processing program is recorded in advance. Therefore, the e-mail cooperative processing program of the mail transmitting / receiving device M1 authenticates whether the combination of the sender e-mail address of the e-mail requesting use of the received processing program and the description of the requested processing program is valid. I do. This makes it possible to reject a request for a processing program by an unauthorized processing request device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing processing by the processing execution device. The processing execution device E1 is provided with the input files fi1 to n having the processing input data, and executes the processing programs corresponding to the description of the requested processing program. The resulting output file with the processed output data
fo1 to fo are output. This processing program includes a processing program for searching and registering a predetermined database in addition to a predetermined application program.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of programs in the mail transmitting / receiving device M1 and the processing execution device E1. In the mail transmitting / receiving device M1, an e-mail reception acknowledging unit S0 for receiving an e-mail, an e-mail cooperation processing unit S1 activated in response to the reception of the e-mail requesting use of the processing program, and an e-mail E-mail sending unit S that sends a reply e-mail created by cooperation processing unit S1
And 4. The e-mail receiving section S0 and the e-mail transmitting section S4 are functions provided in a general mail server.

Further, the processing execution device E1 has various processing programs S3 and a processing control section S2 for controlling activation of the programs. The processing control unit S2 controls the activation of the processing program corresponding to the code described in the subject (for example, Sub) area of the header part of the e-mail, and notifies the e-mail cooperation processing unit S1 of the end of the processing. Further, as described with reference to FIG. 2, the processing program S3 executes processing on the processing input data fi attached to the e-mail, and outputs processing output data fo.

Next, the operation of the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus M1 and the processing execution apparatus E1 when an electronic mail requesting the use of the processing program is received will be described. First, when an e-mail requesting use of a predetermined processing program is received, the e-mail reception related unit S0 is notified and starts the e-mail cooperation processing unit S1. E-mail cooperation processing unit S1
The processing content selection unit SS1 analyzes the syntax of the e-mail and authenticates the e-mail requesting the use of a legitimate processing program.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the processing content selection section SS1. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an e-mail. The composition of the email should include the subject (eg,
Sub), a header section 20 describing a destination (for example, To) and a sender (for example, From), a text body 22, and an attached file 24.
Consists of In the present embodiment, for example, “EXEC A” or “EXEC” is described in the subject (Sub) column of the header section 20 as a description of the requested processing program.
B ”etc. are included. The fields of the destination and the sender are used as usual because they are required as e-mail. Further, a file fi including processing input data given to the processing program is attached as the attached file 24.

Therefore, the processing content selection section SS1 can acquire the description described in the subject (Sub) by a simple syntax analysis (S20 in FIG. 4). Further, similarly, the user ID (mail address) of the processing request device P1 is obtained from the column of the sender (From) in the header section 20 (FIG. 4).
Middle S22). The processing content selection unit SS1 receives the reception file f
1 to obtain a user ID (e-mail address) that can use the processing program corresponding to the description (S24).
Authentication is performed to determine whether or not the e-mail is from an authorized user ID (S26). If the user is a valid user, the processing program corresponding to the description is acquired with reference to the reception file f1 and given to the processing activation unit SS3 (S2
8).

The e-mail decomposing unit SS2 separates the attached file fi of the received e-mail. In addition, if necessary, the header section 20 and the body section 22 of the electronic mail are also extracted. Next, in the e-mail cooperative processing unit S1, the processing starting unit SS3 converts the processing program acquired by the processing content selection unit SS1 into the processing input data file fi of the attached file separated by the e-mail decomposing unit SS2. A command is issued to the process control unit S2 in the process execution device E1 to execute the process, and the process waits for a process completion notification.

In response, the processing control unit S2 of the processing execution device E1 activates the requested processing program from the plurality of processing programs. In this case, the main body 22 of the e-mail contains a CPU related to program control.
Various items such as the upper limit of the processing time and the output accuracy may be described in a predetermined syntax. In that case,
The syntax is analyzed by the processing control unit S2, and is converted into a parameter recognizable by the processing program S3 and given.

Eventually, the processing program S prompted to be executed
3 generates an output file fo having the processing output data, and ends the processing. The end of the processing is notified from the processing program S3 to the processing control unit S2, and incidental information (for example, billing information and a mail address of a reply destination other than the processing request device) generated with the end of the processing program is
It is output in the form of the main body and header.

The e-mail composing section SS4 generates an e-mail addressed to the e-mail address of the sender of the e-mail.
Further, if necessary, an e-mail addressed to a destination e-mail address other than the processing request device is also generated. An output file fo including the processing output data is attached to the electronic mail as an attached file. Further, the supplementary information described above is included in the body part as necessary. The e-mail generated by the e-mail composing section SS4 is sent to the e-mail transmitting section S
Then, the electronic mail is transmitted to the destination described in the header section, and all the processing is completed.

The transmission of the e-mail passes through the firewall 4 and is received by the processing request device P1 connected to the wide area communication network. Then, the attached file is acquired by the processing requesting device P1, and the user acquires the requested processing result as an attached file of the e-mail.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, all information is transmitted by e-mail between the processing requesting apparatus and the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus located across the firewall. Therefore, the processing program on the processing execution device group can be used from any point that can be connected to the wide area network WAN without concern for the existence of the firewall.

After the e-mail is received by the e-mail transmission / reception device, the e-mail syntactic analysis program, which is a program in the e-mail transmission / reception device, parses the e-mail, and executes the requested processing program by the operator. Can be performed without going through.

Further, since a file used for input / output by the processing program on the processing execution device is transmitted as an attached file of an e-mail, the processing request device includes the processing input data of the processing program in the e-mail. When creating and separating the processing output data of the processing program from the e-mail, a commercially available e-mail transmission / reception software can be used as it is, and a special processing program for using this device runs on the processing request device. You don't have to. Therefore, even when it becomes necessary to use a new program, there is no need to perform complicated setting work on the processing execution device.

Further, the type of the processing program and the processable user ID (e-mail address) are recorded in a reception file in advance, and by referring to this, authentication is performed to eliminate processing instructions from an unauthorized processing request device. And unauthorized processing by automation can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an information processing system according to an embodiment and a wide area network WAN connected thereto.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process performed by a process execution device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of programs in a mail transmitting / receiving device M1 and a processing execution device E1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a processing content selection unit SS1.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an e-mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 WAN wide area communication network LAN local communication network P1 processing requesting device M1 mail transmitting / receiving device E1 processing executing device 4 firewall f1 reception file

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuo Ichimura 1-1 1-1 Akunouramachi, Nagasaki-shi F-term in Nagasaki Shipyard, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. 5B089 AA03 AA16 AA22 AB01 AD01 AD11 CB02 CB03 CC11 DD07 5K030 GA15 GA17 HA06 HB16 HB19 HD03 HD06 HD10 KA01 KA07 LD12 LD13 LD20 LE12

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A local communication network connected to a publicly available wide area communication network via a firewall, a mail transmitting / receiving device connected to the local communication network and transmitting / receiving mail to / from the wide area communication network, and the local communication An information processing system having a processing execution device connected to a network and provided with a predetermined processing program, wherein the mail transmission / reception device transmits an e-mail from the wide area communication network via the firewall, and the local communication network An e-mail reception informing means for receiving the e-mail having a destination within, detecting a description of the processing program which is started in response to the reception of the e-mail and requests execution from the received e-mail, and An execution instruction is given to the processing execution device based on the processing input data included in the e-mail, and processing is performed from the processing execution device. E-mail cooperative processing means for receiving the input data, making the sender of the received mail or another third party a reply destination, and creating a reply transmission mail having the processing output data, and the wide area communication of the reply transmission mail. An e-mail sending means for transmitting the e-mail to the network, wherein the processing execution device executes the processing program specified in the description according to the processing input data from the processing starting means, and obtains the obtained processing output data. It has processing control means for outputting to an e-mail cooperative processing means, and uses the processing program provided in the local communication network by e-mail from a communication device connected to the wide area communication network. Information processing system. 2. The mail sending / receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mail transmitting / receiving device has a reception file for recording the description corresponding to the processing program and a sender list of the electronic mail permitted to use the processing program. The e-mail cooperative processing means checks the sender of the received e-mail with a sender list corresponding to the description recorded in the reception file, and requests execution of the processing program when they match. Information processing system. 3. The coasting information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processing input data is received as a file attached to the electronic mail. 4. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail cooperative processing means includes the processed output data as an attached file in the reply transmission mail.