JP2000250829A - Device and method for displaying electronic mail and medium stored with electronic mail display program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display one of plural pieces of selected mail within a display window. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a means for registering a character string to be defined as a retrieval object by a user, a mail holding means 6 for holding plural pieces of mail and a control means 2 for retrieving whether the other mail contains the said character string or not when the user selects mail to be read and that mail contains that character string, extracting all the pieces of mail containing that character string when there is the other mail containing that character string, and performing control so as to display the mail in one display window.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail display device and a storage medium storing an electronic mail display program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many computers and intelligent terminals have a mail function, which is realized by mail software which is an application program for sending and receiving mail. The current mail software displays one mail in one window when displaying a received mail or a transmitted mail in each folder.

However, a plurality of mails cannot be displayed simultaneously in one window.

[0004]

As described above, conventional mail software displays one mail in one display window when displaying received mail or transmitted mail in each folder. Therefore, a plurality of mails cannot be displayed in one window at the same time.

Therefore, when browsing a large number of received mails and transmitted mails, it is necessary to open display windows for the number of mails to be displayed, and when the number of browsed mails is large, it is necessary to switch to another display window. Not only is it very cumbersome to operate,
It takes time to browse.

Further, when replying a plurality of mails by one mail, it is necessary to cut out and edit quotes for each mail.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to:
Provided is an e-mail display device which makes it easy to browse by displaying related e-mails in one display window, and facilitates editing when replying a plurality of e-mails with one e-mail. It is in.

Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to display a plurality of selected mails in one display window for easy browsing, and to reply to a plurality of mails with one mail. Another object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail display device which facilitates the editing.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

[1] That is, first, a means for registering a character string that the user wants to search for, a mail holding means for holding a plurality of mails, and among the mails held in the mail holding means, Select the email you want to read,
If the character string is included in the mail, search for other mails that include the character string. If there is a mail including the character string, extract all mails including the character string. And means for controlling display in one display window.

According to this configuration, when there are a plurality of mails in the same folder, the mails are displayed on the display device 4 and when the user tries to read the mails, the user can specify one specific mail. Searches for the specified character string in the "Title", "Sender", and "Received date and time" of the specified mail. For each of the emails, search for the specific character string in the "title", "sender", and "reception date and time". The e-mails are expanded so as to be displayed one after another in one display window, so that a plurality of e-mails can be continuously viewed in one display window.

Therefore, a plurality of highly relevant mails can be displayed and browsed in one display window, and even if the mails do not fit in the display window screen, only scrolling operation in the display window is required. This eliminates the inconvenience of switching windows to read other mails, as in the conventional mail-specific window.

[0013] In addition, since related mails can be displayed in one display window, when replying a plurality of mails with one mail, the editing can be easily performed.

[2] Second, when one or more mails that the user wants to read are selected from mail holding means for holding a plurality of mails and mails held in the mail holding means, all the selected mails are read. Control means for extracting and displaying the extracted information in one display window.

According to this configuration, when browsing a mail, when a plurality of mails to be viewed are selected, the selected plurality of mails are displayed in one display window.

By displaying a plurality of mails in the same window in this manner, when browsing other mails as in the prior art in which the display windows are separated for each mail, the display window is switched. There is no need to say. In addition, there is an effect that the editing work when replying to the plurality of mails becomes very easy.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings. First, as a first embodiment, a user registers in advance a character string to be searched and selects an e-mail to be read by the user, and if the e-mail includes the character string, other e-mails are also read. An example will be described in which a search is performed for a message including the character string, and if there is a message including the character string, all mails including the character string are extracted and displayed on a single display window.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the system of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a mail server, 2 is a CPU (processor), 3 is an input device, 4 is a display device,
Reference numeral 5 denotes a communication device, 6 denotes a RAM, 7 denotes a ROM, 8 denotes a driver, and 9 denotes a portable storage medium.

The mail server 1 is connected to a network and serves as a host computer for storing and distributing mails of registered users. The present system transmits and receives mails via the mail server 1. ing.

Accordingly, the components of the system of the present invention itself in FIG. 1 include the CPU 2, the input device 3, the display device 4, the communication device 5, the RAM 6, the ROM 7, the driver 8, and the portable storage medium 9.

The CPU 2 plays a central role in arithmetic processing and control. The CPU 2 executes programs in the ROM 7, exchanges with the mail server 1, writes and reads data in the RAM 6, the input device 3, and the display device. 4. It has a function of controlling the communication device 5, writing and reading the portable storage medium 9 via the driver 8, and the like.

The ROM 7 is storage means forming a part of the main memory of the present system and holds at least mail software (a program for sending and receiving mail). This software has a data editing function, sending and receiving mail. It is equipped with a program that realizes functions and a mail display function. In addition, it has a function to expand and display emails so that multiple emails can be viewed in one display window, and search for items such as "Subject", "Sender", "Date and time" etc. that you want to view and display at once When a target character string is set, an application is provided which searches for mails including the character string and displays them in one display window.

Particularly, in this embodiment, when one mail desired by the user is designated as the search function, if a character string to be searched is set, the character string to be searched included in this mail is set. The application is provided with a function of searching for the presence or absence of the character string and, if the character string is found, including the mail as a viewing target.

The RAM 6 is a rewritable storage unit that forms a part of the main memory of the present system, stores a transmission log and received mail, and is also used as a work area temporarily used by an application. Is done. Further, it has a function of registering and storing the display setting information of the present invention for each user.

The input device 3 is a man-machine interface for input when a user uses the present system,
Here, it refers to, for example, a keyboard. The display device 4 is a display of the present system. Under the control of the CPU 2, various displays such as a menu screen and an operation screen, an output screen and an input screen, and a display of input contents by operating the input device 3 are executed. Is a display capable of displaying graphics.

The communication device 5 is a device that connects the system and the mail server 1 under the control of the CPU 2 to exchange data, and the driver 8 controls the portable storage medium under the control of the CPU 2. 9 for writing and reading data. The portable storage medium 9 is an MO
(Magneto-optical disk), DVD-RAM (digital video disk), FD (flexible disk), memory card, etc., can be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an area map in the RAM 6 which is a main memory. As shown in FIG.
6, areas of a transmission log memory 61, a received mail memory 62, a display setting information memory 63, and a display buffer memory 64 are secured. Among these, the transmission log memory 61 is for holding data of the transmission log, the reception mail memory 62 is for holding the received mail, and the display setting information memory 63 is for storing the information set for display. The display buffer memory 64 is for holding data to be displayed on the display device 4.

FIG. 3 is a table showing the contents of the display setting information memory 63. The display setting information memory 63 includes a table having a configuration including a storage address, a keyword in a subject, and sender information. Here, the storage address “01” has a character string “achievement” as a keyword in the subject, and “Yama” as sender information.
A character string “da Taro” is stored and registered. At the storage address “02”, “NUL” information (indicated by diagonal lines in the figure) meaning no registration information as a keyword in the subject, and sender information as “Ito
A character string "Ichiro" is stored and registered. The storage address "03" contains a character string "meeting" as a keyword in the subject, and "NUL" information meaning no registration information as sender information (FIG. (Shown by diagonal lines) is stored and registered.

In this apparatus having such a configuration, the mail function in the ROM 7 can be used by operating the input device 3 and activating the mail software in the ROM 7 by the CPU 2.

Then, the mail software first controls the communication device 5 to link it to the mail server 1 and checks whether or not mail has arrived for the user who uses the own terminal. Make a request to read it. Thereby, the mail server 1 reads the mail stored in the mailbox for the user,
Send out to communication line. The CPU 2 takes this in via the communication device 5 and stores it in the area of the received mail memory 62 of the RAM 6. At this time, the storage in the received mail memory 62 is such that, even if there are a plurality of mails, if the mail is the same user, the mail is stored in the same received mail folder for the user.

In the present system, one or a plurality of necessary mails are retrieved from the mail server 1 and stored in the RAM 6 in the following manner, and are displayed in a list.

First, the user uses the display application in the mail software and operates the input device 3 to set and register the keyword of the mail to be displayed. When using existing keywords, there is no need to set and register them again.

When setting and registering a keyword, first, the CPU 2 executes a display application in the mail software to display a keyword input instruction on the display device 4 to urge the user to input the keyword (FIG. 4). Step S1). In accordance with this, the user operates the input device 3 to input a keyword. At this time, CPU
Step 2 checks whether or not keyword cancellation is detected, and if cancellation of keyword input is detected, the process proceeds to step S5 (step S2 in FIG. 4). If the cancellation of the keyword input is not detected, the input keyword is displayed (step S3 in FIG. 4).

Thus, the CPU 2 controls the display device 4 to display the keyword input by the user as characters. In view of this display, the user selects whether to use this keyword as a search target character string or to cancel it. If canceled, CPU 2 discards this keyword,
It waits for the input of a new keyword.

If there is an instruction to adopt the keyword displayed on the display device 4 as a character string to be searched,
The PU 2 recognizes this, temporarily stores it in the RAM 4, and then proceeds to the process of step S5 (step S5 in FIG. 4).
3, S4) In addition to the keyword in the subject, the keyword may be the title (the title of the mail) or the date and time of the mail arrival. In the case of this example, it is assumed that a character string "patent" is specified as the keyword in the subject.

Next, the CPU 2 executing the display application in the mail software issues an instruction to input sender information in the processing of step S5. That is, CPU
2 displays the sender information input instruction on the display device 4 and prompts the user to input the name of the sender as a search target. In accordance with this, the user operates the input device 3 to input the sender's name.

At this time, the CPU 2 checks whether or not the sender cancellation is detected. If the cancellation of the sender input is detected, the process proceeds to step S10 (step S6 in FIG. 4). If the cancellation of the sender input is not detected, the input sender is displayed (steps S6 and S7 in FIG. 4).

Thus, the CPU 2 controls the display device 4 to display the sender input by the user in characters. In view of this display, the user selects whether to execute or cancel the search by the sender. If canceled, the CPU 2 discards the sender and waits for the input of a new sender name.

When an instruction to determine the sender displayed on the display device 4 as an object to be searched and extracted is received from the user, the CPU 2 recognizes this, temporarily stores it in the RAM 6, and then stores the information in the RAM 6. The sender information and the keyword information are registered in the display setting information memory 63 in the RAM 6, and then the process proceeds to step S10 (steps S8 and S8 in FIG. 4).
S9) Next, the CPU 2 checks whether or not the user has instructed the end of the search information input mode. If the user has instructed the end of the search information input mode, the CPU 2 ends this mode and returns the search information input mode. If the user has not instructed the end of the input mode, the process returns to step S1, and the above process is repeated.

As a result, the keyword of the mail to be searched and extracted and the sender thereof can be set.
Of course, the setting information may be only one of the keyword and the sender, and a plurality of setting information may be set.

Here, as an example, the user specifies “Yamada Ta” as information of the “sender” of the mail to be displayed.
As a result, the character string “ro” is designated. As a result, the registration information of the display setting information memory 63 is “Yamada Ta” as the information of “sender” of the mail to be displayed.
The character string "ro" and the character string "patent" as a keyword are registered.

As described above, for a plurality of mails in the same folder, a condition can be set for extracting mails including the specified character string by using the specified character string as a key.

In this state, the contents of the memory area of the display setting information memory 63 are updated from the contents shown in FIG. 3 to the contents shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, a character string "patent" is newly added to the storage address "04" as a keyword, and "Yamada Ta" is used as sender information.
It can be seen that the character string “ro” has been additionally registered.

As described above, the mail software (mail sending / receiving program) in the ROM 7 is provided with data editing, mail sending / receiving, and mail displaying functions. The mail software is provided with a function for setting a keyword such as “subject keyword”, “sender”, and “date and time” to be displayed at a time in a certain received mail, and causes the CPU 2 to execute the function. As a result, a desired mail search and extraction keyword can be registered as display setting information. The display setting information of the present invention can be registered for each user.

The RAM 6 can store a transmission log created by a user and received mails for each user read from the mail server 1. These are stored in a transmission log folder and a received mail provided one by one for each user. When the user selects a desired one from a plurality of e-mails in these folders by being stored in the corresponding one of the folders, the "keyword of the subject" and the Based on the setting information (display setting information) of the keyword of the item such as “sender” or “date and time”, whether or not it is included is searched, and if it is included, the mail including the included keyword is searched. Search for something else, and that one also selects it,
Display on the display device 4 is enabled in one display window.

That is, the user selects his / her own display setting information from the registered display setting information, and selects a desired mail to be viewed from a plurality of mails in his / her own folder. Then, the CPU 2 searches based on the keyword setting information (display setting information) whether or not it is included.

Now, suppose that the user A executes this mail selection, and the keywords set by the user A are the in-subject keyword (“patent”) and the sender information (“Yamada Taro”) according to the above setting. Then, the presence / absence of other mails including these character strings is searched for the mails in the received mail folder and the transmission log folder, and if there is such mail, the mail is selectively extracted.

The processing procedure for this search is as shown in FIG.

That is, the processing flow shown in FIG.
Shows the flow of the display setting process when multiple emails in the same folder for the user where the specified email is stored contain a specific character string of “title” and “sender” by the above settings This processing is performed by a ROM
7 has a function of displaying mail.

As shown in FIG. 6, by executing this function, the CPU 2 first extracts header information of each mail from the received mail memory 62 in the RAM 6 (step S11 in FIG. 6).

Then, in order to display a list of titles using the information of the title (title) included in the extracted header information of each mail, list display data is created, and a title list is displayed using this data. The display device 4 is controlled (step S12 in FIG. 6).

Next, the CPU 2 checks whether or not a title has been detected (step S13 in FIG. 6). As a result, if not detected, the process returns to step S12,
If it has been detected, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, keyword information is acquired from the table contents of the display setting information memory 63, and it is determined whether or not the title includes a character string corresponding to the keyword information.

Then, the process proceeds to step S15, where sender information is acquired from the table contents of the display setting information memory 63, and it is determined whether or not a character string corresponding to the sender information is included in the title.

Next, it is checked whether both the keyword and the sender information are included (step S1 in FIG. 6).
6) As a result, if it is not included, the process proceeds to step S22, and if it is included, the process proceeds to step S17.

In the process of step S22, it is checked whether any one of the keyword and the sender is included, and if not, the process proceeds to step S25, and if it is included, the process proceeds to step S23. Move on to processing.

In step S25, the main body of the mail is displayed, and it is checked whether or not the user has issued a cancel instruction. When it is detected that the user has issued the cancel instruction, the process returns to step S25 (step S26 in FIG. 6). ). If there is no cancel instruction, the process returns to step S12.

In the process of step S23,
The mails in the transmission log memory 61 and the received mail memory 62 are searched according to the respective search conditions, and the text of the mail meeting the conditions is extracted. Then, two display window screens are set, the mail body text display setting is performed in chronological order, and the process proceeds to step S20 (step S24 in FIG. 6). Here, one of the two display window screens is for displaying the mail extracted from the transmission log, and the other is for displaying the mail extracted from the received mail.

On the other hand, if it is determined in the check in step S17 that the data is stored in association, the process proceeds to step S18. Here, the transmission log memory 61 and the received mail memory 62 are searched under this search condition. And
Extract the email text that meets the conditions.

Then, the mail text display setting is performed on the display window screen in chronological order (step S1 in FIG. 6).
9) Go to step S20. At this time, if there are multiple extracted mails, a separator identifier,
For example, "---------------" is inserted between mail texts.

In step S20, processing is performed to display the text of the mail set in the text display of the mail in a window, the text of the mail is displayed on the display device 4, and it is checked whether or not the user has issued a cancel instruction. The process returns to step S12 when it is detected that the operation has been performed (step S21 in FIG. 6).

By performing the above processing, when a mail to be browsed is specified, if the specified character string is included in the mail, other mails including the specified character string are also searched and extracted, and the mails are simultaneously extracted. It can be displayed on the same display window for browsing.

A method for extracting a plurality of mails including a specified specific character string and displaying them at the same time in the same display window is as follows.
The summary is as follows.

(1) Looking at the list of incoming mail titles, the user first selects the mail that he or she wants to read.

(2) It is searched whether the selected mail contains the set character string as shown in the table of FIG. 5, and as a result, if it is included, whether another mail contains the same character string. Search for. If the same character string is not included, only one mail selected in (1) is displayed on the display device 4.
Will be displayed.

(3) On the other hand, if the same character string exists in a plurality of mails, the display buffer memory 64 in the RAM 6
The corresponding mail containing the above character string is expanded one after another. The expansion here is a stage before displaying a plurality of mails in the same window, and an identifier as a mail delimiter between the corresponding mails, for example, “------ --------- ”is inserted.

(4) If there is an error or the like after the development, a message is notified to the user, and the display is terminated. The error processing display is necessary because if the setting of the character string is incorrect, the search result becomes too large, which may occupy the RAM 6 of the system and cause trouble.

(5) If there is no error, a window is opened and the data expanded in the display buffer memory 64 in the RAM 6 is displayed on the display device 4.

As a result, when there are a plurality of mails in the same folder, when those mails are displayed on the display device 4 and the user tries to read them, the user designates one specific mail. Searches for the specific character string specified by the user in the "Title", "Sender", and "Received date and time" of the received mail. Is searched for whether the specific character string is included in the "title", "sender", or "reception date and time". If the specified character string is included, the mail is also extracted and one display window is displayed. The e-mails are expanded so as to be displayed one after another, so that a plurality of e-mails can be continuously viewed in one display window. Therefore, a plurality of highly relevant mails can be displayed and viewed in one display window on the display device 4, and even if the mails do not fit in the display window screen, only scrolling operation in the display window is required. This eliminates the inconvenience of switching the display window to read another mail as in the conventional mail separate window.

Further, since related mails can be displayed in one display window, when replying a plurality of mails with one mail, the editing can be easily performed.

In the above example, if a registered character string is found in the selected mail after selecting the specific mail, another mail can be searched, and a message including the registered character string can be selectively extracted and browsed. However, when searching and extracting and displaying, use the registered character string to check if there are any mails in the same folder that contain the character string. Alternatively, a function of preparing a display window and displaying the text of the found mail one after another in the display window may be used.

In this embodiment, it is of course possible to narrow down the search by combining AND and OR logic as selection conditions with a means for designating a specific character string when displaying a plurality of mails. . For example, if a character string such as "patent" or "idea sheet" is specified as a keyword as a search condition, a character string such as "patent" or (OR) "idea sheet" is specified as the title.

In the above, it is determined whether or not a specific character string is included in one selected mail. If the specific character string is included, the specific character string is included in another mail arriving at itself. Check if it is included, and if it is included, make it possible to see it in one display window including that mail, and you can see all the mails containing the character string of interest in one window An example is shown.

Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment in which a plurality of mails selected by the user, instead of keywords, are displayed in a single window so that they can be viewed.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a method of selecting a plurality of mails in the same folder and displaying them in one window. In this embodiment, the device configuration may be the same as that of FIG. However, it is assumed that the ROM 7 has, as a program, a function capable of developing a plurality of mails selected by the user himself so that the mails can be continuously viewed in one display window.

The CPU 2 executes the program in the ROM 7 to create a mail list and display it on the display device 4.

(1) Therefore, first, the user looks at the mail list and selects one or more mails to be displayed at one time in one display window from the list (step S21 in FIG. 7).

(2) It is checked whether there are a plurality of selected mails (step S22 in FIG. 7). When the number of selected mails is one, the CPU 2 controls to display the selected mails on the display device 4 (step S in FIG. 7).
25) If there are a plurality of selected mails, the CPU 2 expands the selected mails in the RAM 6 and uses an identifier (for example, "----") indicating a mail division (boundary with other mails).
-------- ") (steps S23 and S24 in FIG. 7).

(3) Next, the CPU 2 opens a display window and controls to display the selected and expanded mail in the display window (step S2 in FIG. 7).
5).

A program for performing such processing is stored in a ROM
7 and when executed by the CPU 2, a plurality of e-mails selected by the user can be expanded so as to be continuously viewed in one display window, and a plurality of e-mails can be viewed in the opened display window. Become.

Therefore, according to this configuration, unlike a conventional display system in which each mail is displayed in a separate window, a desired plurality of mails are browsed one after another without the need to switch windows. As a result, the operability in browsing the mail is dramatically improved. In addition, since a plurality of selected e-mails can be displayed in one display window, the editing of the plurality of e-mails can be easily performed when the reply of the plurality of e-mails is to be completed with one reply mail.

In addition to the above, it is also possible to set an upper limit on the number of selectable mails and the mail size capacity. By setting the upper limit values for the number of selectable mails and the mail size capacity in this manner, even if a large number of mails are selected by mistake, the problem that the system resources are insufficient to cause an unexpected situation does not occur.

Although various embodiments have been described above, in brief, the present invention allows a plurality of mails to be displayed in the same display window when browsing a mail.

As described above, when a plurality of mails are displayed in the same window, when browsing other mails as in the prior art in which the display window is separated for each mail,
There is no need to switch the display window. In addition, there is an effect that the editing work when replying to the plurality of mails becomes very easy.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. In the above embodiment, the program is
Although the OM is provided, it is of course possible to adopt a format in which it is loaded into the main memory and executed.

Therefore, the method described in the embodiment is a program which can be executed by a computer, such as a magnetic disk (flexible disk (FDD),
Hard disk (HDD), optical disk (CD-
ROMs, DVDs, etc.) and storage media such as semiconductor memories (9 in FIG. 1) can also be distributed.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is checked whether or not a specific character string is included in one selected mail, and if it is included, another mail or self-addressed mail addressed to itself is received. Search for a message that contains the specific character string in the mail saved in the transmission log of the server, and make it possible to see the mail including that mail in one display window, Email in one window
Since all of them can be viewed, it is possible to expect an effect that browsing is easy, and editing is easier when replying a plurality of mails with one reply mail.

Further, a plurality of e-mails selected by the user can be displayed and viewed in one window.
In addition to facilitating browsing, it is possible to expect the effect that editing is facilitated when replying to a plurality of viewed mails is to be completed with one reply mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an area map of a RAM 6 in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a display setting information memory 6 in the system of the present invention.
The figure which shows the example of 3 area maps.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a keyword registration processing routine in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of keyword registration.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a routine of mail search and display processing in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another mail display processing routine in the system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mail server, 2 ... CPU (processor), 3 ... Input device, 4 ... Display device, 5 ... Communication device, 6 ... RAM, 7
... ROM, 8 ... Driver, 9 ... Portable storage medium.

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 29, 1999 (1999.9.2)
9)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

An e-mail display device, an e-mail display method, and a medium storing an e-mail display program

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail display device, an electronic mail display method, and a storage medium storing an electronic mail display program.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[1] That is, first, a means for registering a character string that the user wants to search for, a mail holding means for holding a plurality of mails, and a mail of the user among the mails held in the mail holding means. Select the email you want to read,
If the mail contains the character string, search for other mails containing the character string.
If there is a message including the character string, means for extracting all mail including the character string and controlling the extracted mail to be displayed in one display window is provided. ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 21, 2000 (200.3.2
1)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

According to this configuration, when there are multiple e-mail in the same folder, when trying to read a user indicates Table <br/> display equipment their email, one particular email Is specified, the specified mail is searched for a specific character string specified by the user in the "title (title)", "sender", and "reception date and time". In addition, for each other e-mail, search for the specific character string in the "title", "sender", and "reception date / time". The e-mails are expanded so as to be extracted and displayed one after another in one display window, so that a plurality of e-mails can be continuously viewed in one display window.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A means for registering a character string that the user wants to search; a mail holding means for holding a plurality of mails; and selecting a mail which the user wants to read from the mails held in the mail holding means. If the character string is included in the mail, search for other mails that include the character string, and if there is one including the character string, extract all mails including the character string. An electronic mail display device comprising: means for controlling display on a single display window. 2. A mail holding means for holding a plurality of mails, and when one or more mails desired by the user are selected from the mails held by the mail holding means, all of the selected mails are extracted and one display is performed. Means for controlling display on a window. 3. A means for registering a character string that the user wants to search, a mail holding means for holding a plurality of mails, and selecting a mail to be read by the user from the mails held in the mail holding means. If the character string is included in the mail, search for other mails that include the character string.If there is a mail that includes the character string, search for all mails including the character string. Means for extracting and displaying in a single display window a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-readable program.