JP2001273205A - Device and method for transmitting/receiving electronic mail and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a received mail display means, with which another editor is not required for attached file display. SOLUTION: This device is composed of a mail analytic part 1 for analyzing received mail and performing code conversion or expansion of an attached file, an attached file coupling part 2 for generating display data by coupling a text file attached to the received mail to the end of the text, a receiving control part 3 for receiving mail by a connection to a mail server, analyzing the received mail while using the mail analytic part 1 and the attached file coupling part 2, working the mail as display data and preserving it in a storage part 9 later, a mail display part 4 for displaying the received mail on a display, and an attached file display position retrieving part 5 for retrieving the display position of the attached file instructed by an operator and displaying the head of attached file data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus and an electronic mail transmitting / receiving method capable of creating, transmitting, and receiving an electronic mail to which an arbitrary file is attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of the Internet in recent years, there has been an increasing need for portable information terminals that can be connected to the Internet and dedicated portable terminals that can transmit and receive e-mails with relatively simple settings. .

[0003] Conventional e-mail sending and receiving tools (hereinafter, referred to as
Expressed as "mailer". In), when an e-mail attached with a file is received and its contents are displayed, only the file name is displayed for the attached file. If the attached file is an image, there are mailers that display the image in a reduced size, but if you want to display the contents of the attached file in detail, prepare an editor (application) that can display the file separately, Must be displayed.

[0004]

Such a system is problematic in an environment such as a personal computer in which various applications can be installed, or the screen has a certain screen size and the screen can be switched smoothly. However, in the case of a portable information terminal having a small screen and a limited capacity of a disk or a memory, a serious problem occurs.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the present invention is directed to an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus capable of creating and sending / receiving electronic mail with an attached file of an arbitrary format. When the attached file is in a text format, there is provided a means for generating display data in which the contents of the attached file are combined at the end of the body. In addition, the new method for sending and receiving an e-mail of the present invention is a method for creating an e-mail attached with a file in an arbitrary format, and in an e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving, when the attached file is in a text format, Generating display data in which the contents are combined at the back of the text.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is directed to an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus capable of creating and transmitting / receiving an electronic mail with an attached file in an arbitrary format. If there is, there is a means to generate display data that combines the contents of the attached file at the end of the body, so it is possible to check the contents of the text format of the attached file without an editor for displaying the attached file Has the effect of

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting and receiving apparatus according to the first aspect, when generating display data in which a text and an attached file in a text format are combined, the display position of the attached file is indicated. By providing a means for creating an index and a means for jumping to a display position of an attached file when the operator selects an attached file in the index, the operator is provided with a jump display function to the attached file display position, Has the effect that the operation of browsing the received mail can be performed more smoothly.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus capable of creating and transmitting / receiving an electronic mail with an attached file in an arbitrary format, when the attached file is in a text format, By providing a step of generating display data in which the contents of the attached file are combined at the end of the text, it is possible to check the contents of the attached file in a text format without an editor for displaying the attached file. Having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission / reception method of the third aspect, when display data in which a text and an attached file in a text format are combined is generated, the display position of the attached file is indicated. By providing an index creation step and a step of jumping to a display position of the attached file when the operator selects an attached file in the index, by providing a jump display function to the attached file display position, the operator can Has the effect that the operation of browsing the received mail can be performed more smoothly.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a configuration by functional means.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mail analyzing unit for analyzing a received mail, converting a code, and expanding an attached file. 2 is the text attached to the received mail
An attached file combining unit that generates display data in which a file is combined with the end of the text. Here, when attaching the attached file to the end of the text, an index indicating the joining position of each attached file is also generated. Reference numeral 3 denotes a reception that connects to a mail server to receive mail, analyzes the received mail using the mail analysis unit 1 and the attached file combining unit 2, processes the received mail as display data, and saves it in the storage unit 9. It is a control unit. Reference numeral 4 denotes a mail display unit that displays a received mail on a display. Reference numeral 5 denotes an attached file display position search unit for searching the attached file display position designated by the operator and displaying the beginning of the attached file data. 6
Is an outgoing mail creation unit that creates outgoing mail. 7
Is an e-mail transmission unit that connects to the e-mail server and performs transmission processing of the e-mail created by the outgoing e-mail creation unit 6. 8
Is a control unit that controls the reception control unit 3, the mail display unit 4, the attached file display position search unit 5, the transmitted mail creation unit 6, and the mail transmission unit 7. 9 indicates that the reception control unit 3
The result of analyzing the received mail using the mail analyzing unit 1 and the attached file combining unit 2 (header information such as the sender and title of the mail, body data, and attached file information), created by the transmitted mail creating unit 6 This is a storage unit for storing mail data.

The attached file combining unit 2 desirably combines the attached file with the end of the text, but is not necessarily limited to the end, and may be placed at the beginning or the middle position of the text depending on the setting.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram according to the embodiment, showing a hardware configuration.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes an input device such as a keyboard and a pointing device. 22 is
It is a display device such as a cathode ray tube display (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD). 23 is a central processing unit (CPU) for controlling the apparatus. 24 is a random access memory (RAM) for temporarily storing data
It is. Reference numeral 25 denotes a read-only memory (ROM) for storing a program to be executed by the CPU 23.

Here, the relationship between the functional means shown in FIG. 1 and the hardware shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

1 and 2, a mail analysis unit 1, an attachment file combining unit 2, a reception control unit 3, an attachment file display position search unit 5, a mail transmission unit 7, and a control unit 8
Is realized by the CPU 23 executing various programs stored in the ROM 25 while exchanging data with the RAM 24 and the ROM 25.
The mail display unit 4 is realized by the display device 22. The outgoing mail creation unit 6 is realized by the input device 21 and the display device 22. The storage unit 9 stores the RA
This is realized by M24.

Note that, in the present embodiment, the CPU 23
Although the program stored in the OM 25 is executed, the program executed by the CPU 23 uses a reading device 27 and a CD-ROM (compact disk-
A form that executes a program recorded in a recording medium such as a read-only memory may be used. With this configuration, the present invention can be easily realized on a general-purpose computer or the like.

The operation of the electronic mail transmitting and receiving apparatus and the electronic mail transmitting and receiving method of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4. These flowcharts show how the CPU 23 executes a program stored in the ROM 25.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of mail reception and display processing in the embodiment.

First, the control unit 8 receives an instruction from the operator (S1), checks whether the instruction is a termination request (S2), and terminates the processing if the instruction is a termination request. If it is not a termination request, it is checked whether or not the instruction of the operator is a reception request (S3). If it is a reception request, the process proceeds to S4. If not, the process proceeds to S11.

At S4, the mail server is connected to the mail server via the reception control unit 3, and the number of new mails existing on the server is obtained and stored in the variable mail_num.

Next, in S5, 0 is set to a variable n. The variable n is a variable indicating what number of mail is being received in the subsequent reception processing.

In S6, the variable n is compared with the variable mail_num. If the variable n is smaller, the process proceeds to S7, otherwise, the process proceeds to S10.
Move to.

In S7, the n-th newly arrived mail existing on the server is received via the reception control unit 3, and in S8,
The reception control unit 3 analyzes the received mail by using the mail analysis unit 1 and the attached file combining unit 2, and
2 as data that can be displayed. The detailed flow of the mail analysis will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of the analysis processing of the received mail in the embodiment. First, the structure of the received mail is analyzed using the mail analysis unit 1 (T1). Here, the received mail is divided into a text and an attached file, converted into codes that can be displayed on the display device 22, and stored in the storage unit 9. Here, the text and the attached file are stored in the storage unit 9 as files.
The information of the received mail is registered in the received mail list, and the information of the divided attached file is registered in the attached file list. The information to be registered in the received mail list is: Header information ... Information described in the mail header such as the sender, title, and date of the mail Body data identifier ... Storage location of body data (here, file name) Number of attached files・ ・ ・ The number of attached files, and the information to be registered in the attached file list is the received mail identifier ・ ・ ・ Identifier indicating the file attached to which received mail (here, the array number of the received mail list) Attached file Identifier ・ ・ ・ Storage location of attached file data (here, file name) Type of attached file ・ ・ ・ Flag indicating whether attached file is text Offset ・ ・ ・ Join position when attached file is combined with text ( Before coupling, it is 0). Next, the number of files attached to the received mail is stored in a variable num (T2), and 0 is set in a variable i (T3). The variable i is a variable indicating what number of attached file is being processed, and the attached file being processed is hereinafter expressed as “attached file [i]”. In T4, variable i and variable n
um is compared, and if the variable i is smaller, the attached file combining unit 2
Is used to join the attached file in the text format to the end of the text (T5 to T7), otherwise the process ends.
At T5, the attached file list is referred to and the attached file
It is checked whether or not [i] is a text format file.
Move to. At T6, the attached file [i] is combined with the end of the body data, and at T7, the combined position (offset from the head of the body data) is stored in the attached file list. At T8, the value of the variable i is increased by one, and the process returns to T4.
Process the following attached file. The processing flow of the mail analysis (S8) has been described from T1 to T8.

Next, in S9, the value of the variable n is incremented by one, and the process returns to S6, where the next mail is received.

In S10, the display 22 indicates that the mail reception has been completed, and the process returns to S1.

In S11, it is checked whether or not the operator's instruction is a request for displaying the received mail.
Then, the process proceeds to step S13, and if the received request is received, the requested received mail is displayed on the display device 22 via the mail display unit 4 (S12), and the process returns to S1. When viewing incoming mail,
With reference to the attached file list, if there is an attached file in the mail, the list is also displayed (a in FIG. 5).

In S13, it is checked whether or not the operator's instruction is a request for jumping to the attached file display position of the received mail displayed in S12.
If the request is a jump request, the display position of the requested attached file is obtained by using the attached file display position search unit 5, the location is displayed (S14), and the process returns to S1. The request to jump to the attached file display position is made by the operator selecting an attached file name from the attached file list (a in FIG. 5). Here, it is assumed that the attached file “attachment 1.txt” is selected, and the display state after jumping to the display position is shown in FIG.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an e-mail with a text file attached is displayed, the attached file is displayed following the text, so that another editor for displaying the attached file is displayed. Can be provided. As a result, even if there is no editor for displaying the attached file, the contents of the attached file in the text format can be confirmed. Also, by providing a jump display function to the attached file display position, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the operation of browsing the received mail by the operator.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of mail reception and display processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a flow of a received mail analyzing process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view showing an example of a received mail content display screen according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing an example of a received mail content display screen (attached file display) according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mail analysis part 2 Attachment file connection part 3 Reception control part 4 E-mail display part 5 Attached file display position search part 6 Outgoing mail creation part 7 E-mail transmission part 8 Control part 9 Storage part 21 Input device 22 Display device 23 CPU 24 RAM 25 ROM 26 Secondary storage device 27 Reading device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus capable of creating and sending / receiving an electronic mail attached with a file of an arbitrary format, wherein the attached file is in a text format.
An e-mail transmission / reception device comprising means for generating display data in which the contents of an attached file are combined at the end of a text. 2. An electronic mail transmitting and receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when generating display data in which a text and an attached file in a text format are combined, an index indicating a combined position of the attached file is created; Means for selecting an attached file in the index and jumping to a display position of the attached file. 3. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus capable of creating and sending / receiving an electronic mail attached with a file of an arbitrary format, wherein the attached file is in a text format.
An e-mail transmission / reception method, comprising a step of generating display data in which the contents of an attached file are combined at the end of a text. 4. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when generating display data in which the text and the attached file in the text format are combined, an index indicating a joining position of the attached file is created; Jumping to a display position of the attached file when the attached file is selected from among the attached files. 5. A storage medium storing a program code for executing the steps as set forth in claim 3 or 4. 6. An e-mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail, an e-mail analyzing means for analyzing whether an attached file attached to the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving means is in a text format, and the e-mail analyzing means. When the means determines that the attached file is in a text format, there is provided an attached file combining means for generating display data in which the content of the attached file is combined with a predetermined position in the body of the received e-mail. Email receiver.