JP2000270016A - Electronic mail managing method and recording medium where program thereof is recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To follow the procedures for automatically changing or deleting the electronic mail address of a user managed by a mailing list server through mailing list service without placing any load on the user. SOLUTION: By this electronic mail managing method, a mail management server 102 give notice of a member's request to leave the service or change an electronic mail address after the member 103 requests registration of respective mailing list servers 104a, 104b, and 104c, and the contents of list leaving procedures by mailing lists stored in an address management file 109 when the member 103 is registered are transmitted by the mailing list servers 104; when the member leaves the service, the electronic mail address is also deleted, but when the mail address is changed, a request for registration with the changed electronic mail address is made and the address in the file 109 is also changed after the contents of list leaving procedures are transmitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an e-mail management method and a recording medium on which the program is recorded. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mailing list service for providing information to registered users by using e-mail. The present invention relates to an electronic mail management method and a recording medium on which an electronic mail management method capable of changing or deleting information without burdening a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Mailing list services using electronic mail have become widespread. This mailing list service uses the e-mail function of the Internet,
This is a service that delivers the same e-mail to multiple users. The user first subscribes to the mailing list service with the server that provides the mailing list service, registers the e-mail address, and then changes the e-mail address or withdraws from the server. There are two types of mailing list services.
Is like a newsletter subscription. The user sends a subscription e-mail to the mailing list server that has issued the newsletter to subscribe. Thereby, the mailing list server adds the user's email address to the mailing list. The newsletter publisher sends e-mails to users registered in this mailing list regularly or irregularly. Thus, it is possible to issue a newsletter by e-mail. The second service is exactly the same as the newsletter subscription method until the user registers with the mailing list server, but differs from the first service in that once registered, the registered user himself can send information. ing. When a registered user sends an e-mail to the mailing list server, the mailing list server automatically realizes the transfer of the received mail to other registered users simultaneously. However, in this case, as the number of subscribers increases, the load on the mailing list server increases, and the registered user may receive hundreds of emails a day.

[0003] As a prior art relating to the management of such a mailing list, there is, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-307584, which relates to a general mailing list and does not relate to unsubscribing or changing an e-mail address. On the other hand, in a normal e-mail system, when a destination is specified at the time of sending an e-mail, an e-mail address of a transmission destination is input as a destination, but an alias of an e-mail address is registered, that is, a so-called address book is used. General. The management of the address book is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-6-139164. This is because when the e-mail address of the destination registered in the address book is changed, the user whose e-mail address changes sends address change information to other e-mail users who want to be notified of the change The user's mail system that receives the information analyzes the address change information and automatically changes the contents of the address book. That is, what is automatically processed is a process of changing the address book in each client computer,
It is not the processing of the email management server or mailing list server computer.

[0004]

As described above, in a conventional mailing list management system, addition or deletion of a member to or from a mailing list is generally automatically processed by a notification mail from the member. Therefore, if the user's e-mail address at the time of registration is changed later, or if the e-mail address becomes unusable for some reason, the user is notified of the mailing list management by means such as e-mail. Unless the user is notified, the unusable email address remains on the mailing list. Such disabled addresses must be manually deleted by the mailing list administrator. Further, when one user is registered as a member in a plurality of mailing lists, it is extremely troublesome to send a withdrawal request or a withdrawal notice to all the managers.

When the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-139164 is applied to a mailing list management system, address change information is transmitted from a user whose mail address has been changed to a mailing list manager. As a result, the address change information analysis unit updates the mailing list. However, this only automatically performs the processing that was manually updated by the mailing list administrator in the past, and users who are members of the mailing list do not have to send address change information to the mailing list administrator. As always, the problem of troublesome users cannot be solved. The problem is that if one user subscribes to many mailing list services, each mailing list administrator must send an e-mail notifying the address change or deletion of the mailing list. It takes a lot of time.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in a mailing list service, an e-mail address of a user managed by a mailing list server can be used without imposing a load on the user. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail management method capable of automatically performing a change or deletion procedure and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mailing list management method for automatically processing addition or deletion of a member to a mailing list by a notification mail from the member. After the member makes a request for registration of the address to each mailing list server, the request for unsubscribing of the member and the change of the e-mail address are notified by the mail management server computer for connecting and managing the member, and The server computer transmits to each mailing list server the unsubscribe procedure information for each mailing list stored at the time of registration of the member, and in the case of unsubscribe, the mail management server computer stores the unregistered procedure information. Email address of member While also deleted, in the case of changes, once, after sending the procedure information of the withdrawal, it carried out a registration request in a modified electronic address of the members was, to change the electronic address that was stored.

[0008] In addition, the e-mail address of a member registered in the mailing list service is held as a mailing list, and a second server for managing the client computer from the first server computer to the client computer of the member according to the mailing list. In an e-mail management method for distributing e-mail via a server computer, a mailing list in which the second server computer has a member corresponding to an e-mail address of a user of the client computer A file storing procedure information for registering / unsubscribing to the service and destination information for transmitting the procedure information is stored, and the second
Is instructed to delete the user's e-mail address from the server computer, the second server computer refers to the file and unsubscribes to the applicable destination of the mailing list service to which the user belongs. On the other hand, when there is an instruction to change the user's e-mail address to the second server computer, the second server computer performs the process of transmitting the above-mentioned procedure information for unsubscribing. In addition, with reference to the file, the procedure information for registering the mailing list service to which the user belongs with the changed e-mail address is transmitted to the corresponding destination. As a result, it is possible to reduce the user's work caused by changing or deleting the e-mail address.

[0009] In the recording medium storing the program of the e-mail management method according to the present invention, the e-mail addresses of the members registered in the mailing list service are stored as a mailing list, and the first server computer sends the e-mail address according to the mailing list. A recording medium recording a program used in an e-mail management system that distributes an e-mail to a client computer of the member via a second server computer that manages the client computer, wherein Procedure information for registering / unsubscribing to a mailing list service of which the user is a member and destination information for transmitting the procedure information corresponding to the e-mail address of the user of the client computer in the server computer Is stored as a file, and when there is an instruction to delete the user's e-mail address to the second server computer, the second server computer refers to the file and A process of transmitting procedural information for unsubscribing to the corresponding destination of the mailing list service being executed, and when the user's e-mail address change instruction is issued to the second server computer, the second server computer In addition to the process of transmitting the procedure information for unsubscribing, the procedure refers to the file and registers the procedure information for registering the mailing list service to which the user belonged with the changed e-mail address. A program for performing a process of transmitting to a destination to be stored is stored in a recording medium.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mail system to which the electronic mail management method of the present invention is applied.
In FIG. 1, a mail server 102 is provided for the Internet 101, and a user 103 having a mail account sends and receives mails through the mail server 102. There is also a mail server 104 that provides a mailing list service to a plurality of users via the Internet 101. Each mail server 104 provides its own service. For example, one mail server that provides a mailing list service such as a field related to movies and theaters, a field related to stock and commodity prices, a field related to finance and insurance, etc. Provide mailing list services for at least one or more areas. Each mail server 104 stores the addresses of members of the mailing list service in a mailing list file 105. If each user 103 who is a member receiving the mailing list service has accounts A, B, and C, respectively, the accounts A and B are stored in the mailing list file 105a of the mail server 104a. Accounts A and C are stored in the mailing list file 105b of the server 104b. On the other hand, the mail server 102 for connecting and managing the user 103 includes a mailing list management unit 106, a transmission / reception unit 107, a read / write unit 108, and an address management file 109. Mailing List Management Department 1
Reference numeral 06 denotes software newly provided according to the present invention, which is activated when a mail administrator residing on the mail server 102 performs an operation for deleting an account. Note that the address management file 109 stores only information related to addresses, and other information is stored in another management file (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a detailed format diagram of address information stored in the address management file in FIG. The address management file 109 includes a user account 201 for each user, a destination 202 to which a notification is sent at the time of registration or withdrawal / change, a mail content 203 at the time of registration, and a mail at the time of deletion, that is, at the time of withdrawal / change. The contents 204 of the e-mails are stored.
Here, the user of the user account A has two destinations 202 because they are registered in the two mail servers 104a and 104b, respectively. The content 204 also has two contents. As shown in FIG. 2, the e-mail content at the time of registration and deletion is the simplest form of (title) + (space Δ) + (user account), with a partial name added to the title. Also, there is a form in which an arbitrary sentence is described in the first line of the text. The users having the accounts B and C are registered in one mail server each, so the destination 2
02, mail content 203 at the time of registration, mail content 20 at the time of deletion
4 are also stored one by one.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a mailing list registration process according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
In the present embodiment, all information changes such as registration and deletion to the mailing list are performed by electronic mail. First, FIG. 3 shows a procedure in which the user 103 registers in the mailing list service 104a. The user 103 sends an e-mail requesting registration to the mailing list to the mail server 104a that provides the mailing list via the transmission / reception unit 107 of the mail server 102 (step 301). The mail server 104a that has received the registration request mail returns a mail indicating the completion of registration and a method of unsubscribing from the mailing list service 104a (procedures for unsubscribing and contents of the mail, etc.). Receive (Step 302).

[0013] While the procedure up to this point is a conventional general procedure for registering to a mailing list, the present invention adds one more step. That is, the user 103 sends the contents of the mail to be sent to the registered mailing list service 104a for registration and unsubscription to the mail server 102, and the mail server 102 reads / mails the contents of the mail under the control of the mailing list address management unit 106. The writing unit 108 registers these in the address management file 109 (step 303). Address management file 109
2 is shown in FIG. 2. As described above, for each account 201 of the user 103, the mail destination 202 for mailing list registration / deletion, the mail content at registration (usually the mail subject) 203, the deletion A mail content (usually a mail subject) 204 at the time is stored. When registering / deleting e-mail contents, when the contents of e-mail to be sent for registration and unsubscription are sent from the mailing list server 104 of the registered mailing list service to the user, the contents are sent to the user 103 by e-mail. This is performed by transmitting to the server 102. As described above, in the registration process of the present invention,
The processing shown in step 303 of FIG. 3 is newly added.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a mail address changing or deleting procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation when changing or deleting the account of the user registered in the mail server 102 will be described with reference to FIG. Normally, a mail administrator of the mail server 102 deletes or changes a user's account. In other words, when you change your address, leave the company, or transfer, the mail administrator belonging to the mail server that manages the user has changed the registered contents, and the permission of the mail administrator if there is,
The e-mail address can be changed without the above change reason. By the way, whether the account is changed or deleted, there is no change in leaving the mailing list service registered with the current account. Therefore, when the mail administrator of the mail server 102 performs an operation of deleting an account (the operation itself is not directly related to the present invention, detailed description of the operation is omitted), and the mailing address management unit 106 is activated. Then, by executing the program, the user of the account to be deleted is stored in the address management file 109 via the read / write unit 108, in order to withdraw from the registered mailing list service 104. The e-mail is created based on the received data, and the created e-mail is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 107 to the corresponding destination (step 401). When the user of the account to be deleted is registered in a plurality of mailing list services 104, for example, when there are two records such as the user "A" in the address management file 109, the mail is transmitted to each address. The process of step 401 is a portion that has been manually performed conventionally, and is automated in the present invention.

After the mailing address management unit 106 transmits the unsubscribe mail, the account of the user to be deleted is deleted from the mail server 102 (step 40).
2). When deleting the user's account, the corresponding record in the address management file 109 for the user whose account has been deleted is deleted, and the process ends.
On the other hand, when changing an account, the deleted account must be replaced with an account of another name.
Therefore, it is determined whether or not to change the mail account (step 403), and if not, the process ends. When changing the mail account, the mail administrator of the mail server 102 performs an operation of inputting a new account, so that a new account is read / replaced instead of the deleted account.
The information is written into the user account 201, the registered mail content 203, and the deleted mail content 204 of the address management file 109 via the writing unit 108, and each record is changed (step 404). Next, the mailing list address management unit 106 reads the contents of the address management file 109 via the read / write unit 108, and registers the registered new account in the mailing list service 1
04 is created based on the “contents of the email at the time of registration” stored in the address management file 109 (step 404), and the created email is sent and received by the transmitting / receiving unit 10.
7 to the corresponding destination (step 405). This step 405 is a part which has been manually performed by the user 103 in the past, which has been automated by the present invention. With the above processing, the change and deletion of the mail address can be completed including the notification to the mailing list service 104.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the user does not need to perform any operation when deleting / changing the mailing list service 104 when deleting / changing the user account. By the way, each processing performed by the mailing list management unit 106 described above is specifically achieved by a program converted from each processing step shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The program is stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. Then, it is generally executed after a program is installed in a computer via a CD-ROM drive. In recent years, installation from a computer connected to a network via a line without using a CD-ROM is usually performed. In addition, by transporting the recording medium to an arbitrary place, the present invention can be realized by a computer installed at an arbitrary place.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Registration and withdrawal / change of the mailing list service can be automated, and management by the mail server can be simplified, so that convenience for both the user and the administrator can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mail system to which an electronic mail management method of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a registration content format diagram of an address management file in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a registration process for a mailing list service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a mail address change or deletion process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: Internet, 102: Mail server, 1
03: user, 104a, 104b, 104c: mailing list service providing server, 105a, 105
b: mailing list file, 109: address management file, 201: user account, 202: destination, 203: mail content at registration, 204: mail content at deletion.

Continued on front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Shiomi 1-16-5 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo F-term in Hitachi Information Systems, Ltd. (reference) 5B089 GA11 GA21 GB02 GB04 HA10 JA31 KA05 KB06 KC51 KC59 5K030 GA11 GA16 HA06 KA01 KA05 9A001 JJ14 JJ25 JJ27 KK60 LL09

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mailing list management method for automatically processing addition or deletion of a member to a mailing list by a notification mail from the member, after the member makes a registration request to each mailing list server, unsubscribes and e-mails the member. The notification of the request to change the address is made by the mail management server computer that connects and manages the member, and the mail management server computer performs a procedure for unsubscribing from each mailing list stored at the time of registration of the member. It is sent to each of the above mailing list servers, and in the case of unsubscription, the e-mail address of the member stored in the mail management server computer is also deleted, while in the case of change, after sending the contents of the unsubscription procedure, , Changed member e Over to register request at Email address, e-mail management method is characterized in that to change the e-mail address that has been stored. 2. A mailing list in which a member's e-mail address registered in a mailing list service is held, and a second server for managing the client computer from the first server computer to the member's client computer according to the mailing list. An email management method for delivering email via a server computer, wherein the second server computer corresponds to an email address of a user of the client computer,
A file storing procedure information for registering / unsubscribing to a mailing list service of which the user is a member and destination information for transmitting the procedure information is stored, and the file is stored in the second server computer. When the user's e-mail address deletion instruction is received, the second server computer refers to the file and transmits the procedure information for unsubscribing to the applicable destination of the mailing list service to which the user belongs. On the other hand, when there is an instruction to change the user's e-mail address to the second server computer, the second server computer transmits the file information in addition to the process of transmitting the procedure information for canceling the membership. To the relevant destination of the mailing list service to which the above user belonged, and E-mail management method and transmitting procedure information indicating that registration with less, to the appropriate destination. 3. A mailing list in which a member's e-mail address registered in the mailing list service is held, and a second server for managing the client computer from the first server computer to the member's client computer according to the mailing list. A recording medium recording a program used in an e-mail management system for distributing e-mail via a server computer, wherein the second server computer has an e-mail address corresponding to an e-mail address of a user of the client computer. Storing, as a file, procedure information for registering / unsubscribing to the mailing list service of which the user is a member and destination information for transmitting the procedure information; When the user's e-mail address is instructed to be deleted, the second server computer refers to the file and transmits procedural information for unsubscribing to the applicable destination of the mailing list service to which the user belongs. Processing, when a user's e-mail address change instruction is issued to the second server computer, the second server computer transmits the file And transmitting a procedure information for registering with a changed e-mail address to a corresponding destination of the mailing list service to which the user belongs, wherein a series of programs are stored. A recording medium on which a program to be recorded is recorded.