JP2001337902A - Mail transmitting set, mail transmitting method, and recording medium recording its program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply set an attachment affixed with only optional addressees for transmission when transmitting the same document to many addressees with only a mail transmitting/receiving set on a client side in an electronic mail system. SOLUTION: Addressees are set for each attachment by the mail transmitting/ receiving set comprising a user interface controller, an affixed file addressee information controller, and a mail transmission/reception controller, thereby the simultaneous transmission of the same mail to many addressees and the transmission of the affixed file set for optional addressees among many addressees can be conducted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of an electronic mail system, and more particularly to a mail transmitting apparatus which operates on a client connected to a network, and which attaches various files to a mail and transmits the mail. The present invention relates to a transmission method and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional e-mail system, a plurality of clients that send and receive e-mails and a mail server that sends and receives e-mails are connected via a network, and various files handled by the clients (not only document files, The technology of sending attached program files and image files has become common.

[0003] This is so-called electronic mail software. As a procedure for creating an e-mail, a sentence is entered in a subject column and a body column of the e-mail. Next, enter the destination of the e-mail in the send column (T
o, Cc, Bcc). By registering the destination called an e-mail address in the address book in advance,
A list of registered addresses is displayed, and a destination can be specified by selecting an arbitrary mail address. In addition, a mail address can be directly input from a client keyboard or the like. Next, attach various files that you want to send along with the mail (document files created in advance with document creation software or data files such as image files shot with a digital camera). How to attach
When the file attachment function of the e-mail software is operated, various files stored in the client hard disk or the like are displayed in a list, and an arbitrary file can be selected from the list to be attached to the mail. E-mail creation is not limited to the above procedure, but can be done freely. Finally, when the contents are confirmed and the mail transmission function of the e-mail software is operated, the e-mail created for the designated destination is transmitted as an e-mail. If the file is attached, it is transmitted to the destination together with the electronic mail as an attached file.

[0004]

However, when an e-mail with an attached file is transmitted to a plurality of destinations, the attached file is transmitted to both the destination and the broadcast destination. It is also sent to destinations that do not need to send attachments. Therefore, when the destination receives the mail with the attached file, the resources to be received increase, and the resources to be received by the mail server until the mail is transmitted to the destination increases. This is one of the causes of the increase in negative load. On the other hand, if the sender creates emails separately for the destinations that need to send attachments and those that do not, the user will receive the same message for those who send attachments and those who do not. The work of inputting the mail text and the subject into both mails is required, which is very troublesome. Also, if the email body is common but there are multiple types of files to attach and it is necessary to send different files to different destinations, the task of creating and sending emails with different files attached to each destination is further The problem that it takes time and effort remains.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-112555
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-150572 aims to solve the above problem by controlling access to an attached document of an e-mail for each destination of the e-mail. In the above-described technology, the mail sending side is provided with a mechanism for setting whether or not access to an attached file is possible for each destination and a mechanism for transmitting the access management information from a terminal (client) to a management device (mail server). Based on the access control information on the attached file transmitted from the terminal (client) on the transmitting side, according to a reception request from the terminal (client) of the transmission destination of the mail, the list information of the transmittable attached file is edited and provided. At the same time, the mail server side is trying to solve the problem by providing a mechanism for transmitting the specified attached file from the terminal (client).

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-112555
According to the technique, access to the attached file is controlled for each destination to which the attached file is transmitted. Therefore, when there are many destinations, it takes time to set the access control of the attached file on the transmission side. Also, in implementing the present technology, a mechanism is required for both the mail server constituting the e-mail system and the mail transmission / reception device as a client to control the destination of the mail to access the attached file. In the operation of the above, it is a condition that the above-mentioned mechanism is provided in the mail server and the mail transmitting / receiving device. Therefore, application to the current Internet infrastructure is difficult, and application to an intranet infrastructure as a limited system is limited.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and introduces the mail transmitting apparatus of the present invention only to a client that transmits a mail in various infrastructures in which an electronic mail system is operated. By doing so, the user who sends the email can easily re-specify the destination to which you want to send the attached file separately from the multiple destinations specified to send the common email contents such as the subject and the body at the same time, and the subject And emails with the same content, such as text and body, can be sent all at once, and only the re-designated destination can be sent as an email with the attachment selected arbitrarily, improving the efficiency of user email creation and sending. It is intended to be realized.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention has a destination input means for inputting a plurality of destinations to which a mail body is to be transmitted, and a mail attachment unit attached to the mail body. File setting means for setting a file that needs to be performed, an attached file selecting means for selecting a file to be transmitted for each destination from the files set by the file setting means, and an e-mail attached file selected by the attached file selecting means. Destination selection means for selecting a destination to be attached to the main body for transmission from among the destinations input by the destination input means, and transmission for transmitting the mail body and an attached file corresponding to the destination to the destination input by the destination input means Means.

[0009] The destination selection means is characterized in that the destination input by the destination input means is selected from a list display.

In the mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention, the destination selecting means groups the attached files temporarily selected by the attached file selecting means, and the destination selecting means selects the attached files for each of the grouped attached files. It is characterized in that a destination is stored in association with a destination.

The transmitting means transmits the mail body as an e-mail to the destination input by the destination input means, and attaches an attached file corresponding to the destination to the destination selected by the destination selecting means to the mail body. It is characterized by being transmitted as e-mail.

Further, in the mail transmission method according to the present invention, a destination input step for inputting a plurality of destinations to which the mail body is to be transmitted, and a file setting for setting a file which needs to be attached to the mail body An attachment file selecting step of selecting a file to be transmitted for each destination from the files set in the file setting step; and inputting the destination to which the attached file selected in the attached file selection step is to be attached to the mail body and transmitted. A destination selecting step of selecting from the destinations input in the step; and a transmitting step of transmitting an e-mail body and an attached file corresponding to the destination to the destination input in the destination inputting step.

Further, a recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to operate the mail transmission method of the present invention includes: a destination input step for inputting a plurality of destinations to which a mail body is to be transmitted; A file setting step for setting a file that needs to be attached to the file, an attachment file selection step of selecting a file to be transmitted for each destination from the files set by the file setting step, and an attachment file selected by the attachment file selection step A destination selection step of selecting a destination to be transmitted by attaching to the mail body from the destinations input in the destination input step, and transmitting an attached file corresponding to the mail body and the destination to the destination input in the destination input step The sending step to be performed by the computer. Program is recorded that

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic mail system to which a mail transmitting device of the present invention is connected. The mail transmitting / receiving device 11 as a client is a mail transmitting / receiving device implementing the mail transmitting device of the present invention. The mail transmission / reception devices 12, 13, and 14 and the mail server 15 as clients may be existing mail transmission / reception devices and mail servers. A mail address is assigned to each of the mail transmitting and receiving apparatuses in advance, and these are connected to a network 16 (LAN, WAN, Internet) to constitute an electronic mail system. The mail transmission / reception device 11 includes a user interface control unit 17 for controlling a mail transmission / reception screen, an attached file transmission destination information control unit 18 for controlling association of a destination of an attached file, which is a feature of the present invention, and a mail server 15. It comprises a mail transmission / reception control unit 19 for transmitting / receiving mails between them.

FIG. 2 shows a mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention.
E-mail sending screen 20 for creating and sending e-mail
7 is an example of a screen when activating. Email sending screen 20
Are controlled by the user interface control unit, and are To destination box 21, Cc destination box 22, Bcc destination box 23 and Subject destination box 24, mail body box 25, attached file box 26, send button 27 , And an attached file transmission destination button 28.

FIG. 3 shows a mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention.
It is an example of an attached file transmission destination selection screen for selecting a transmission destination of an attached file. The attachment file destination selection screen 30
It comprises a To designation list box 31, a Cc designation destination list box 32, and a Bcc designation destination list box 33. Each list box of the above-mentioned transmission destinations is composed of the contents of the attached file transmission destination list box shown in FIG. 4, and the contents are displayed on the e-mail transmission screen 20 by the To specification box 21, the Cc specification destination box 22, and the Bcc specification destination box. 23, a list of destination addresses and “ALL” and “none”.

The attached file destination list table shown in FIG. 5 is a logical configuration diagram of data in which an attached file to be attached to a mail and a destination to which the attached file is transmitted are associated. The mail transmitting device of the present invention can be implemented by introducing the mail transmitting device of the present invention only to the client on the transmitting side.
It is assumed that the current mail server and the infrastructure including the mail sending / receiving device of the transmission destination will be used without change. Therefore, before transmitting the attached file, the mail of the common part including only the text is transmitted to all the transmission destinations specified on the mail transmission screen 20 of FIG. This is performed because it is necessary to inform each destination of the destination information that has transmitted the mail of the common part such as To or Cc. After that, the contents of the object designation box 24 are left as they are, and the attached file transmission destination selection screen 3 of FIG.
At 0, the attached file is transmitted to the transmission destination arbitrarily selected. Here, the state of transmitting the attached file is as follows. In order to indicate that the attached file is transmitted with respect to the subject designation box 24,
It is also conceivable to attach a mark such as "attachment 1" to the contents of the t designation box 24 and transmit.

Next, a series of operations from creation of a mail to transmission of a mail, operations in the mail transmission device, information setting in an internal table, and the like will be described with reference to a flowchart of processing of the mail transmission device shown in FIG. First, the mail transmission device is activated (step 601), and the mail transmission screen 20 shown in FIG. 2 is activated (step 6).
02). On the e-mail transmission screen 20, the subject is specified in the Subject specification box 24 (step 603), the e-mail text is created in the e-mail text box 25 (step 604), the attached file is created, and the attached file is attached to the attached file box 26. A file import operation (step 605) and designation of a transmission destination address to the To designation box 21, the Cc designation destination box 22, and the Bcc designation destination box 23 (step 606) are sequentially performed. The destination address can be specified by clicking the To specification box 21 with a mouse or the like, and may be input from an input device such as a client keyboard or an arbitrary address from a pre-registered destination address book. May be selected and designated with a mouse or the like. Cc destination box 2
2. A destination address can be specified in the Bcc specification destination box 23 in the same manner. Attachment box 26
When the attached file is taken into the storage device, various files stored in a storage device such as a hard disk of the mail client can be listed by double-clicking the attached file box 26 with a mouse or the like. By clicking and selecting a file to be captured with a mouse or the like, the file is displayed as an attached file in the attached file box 26. Upon completion of the attachment file attachment, the attachment file to be transmitted to an arbitrary destination can be selected from the attachment file displayed in the attachment file box 26 by clicking with a mouse or the like. At this point, FIG.
The selected attached file name is set in the attached file transmission destination list table shown in (1), and a group name for managing the selected attached file is generated (step 6).
07). Subsequently, by clicking the attached file transmission destination button 28 with a mouse or the like (step 608), the attached file transmission destination selection screen 30 shown in FIG. 3 is activated. Thereby, the attached file transmission destination process (step 609) for the selected attached file is performed.

Next, the operation and operation of the attached file transmission destination selection screen 30 shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of the attached file transmission destination processing shown in FIG. First, the attached file transmission destination selection screen 30 is activated (step 701), and at that time, the attached file box 26 is displayed.
The same processing group name (group 1, group 2, etc.) generated in step 607 is set as the attribute of the attached file name set in the attached file destination list table shown in FIG. (Step 702). As a result, the plurality of selected attached files are regarded as a set of groups, and simultaneous assignment of transmission destinations becomes possible. Next, each list box (T
o Designation box 31, Cc designation destination box 32, Bcc
Each of the list boxes (To specification box 21, Cc specification destination box 22,
The destination mail address input in the Bcc designation destination box 23) is displayed. The user checks the destination address displayed in each list box shown in FIG. 3 (step 703). Checking here is an operation of setting the clicked address as a destination of the attached file by placing a cursor on the address displayed in each list box with a mouse or the like and clicking. If "ALL" in each list box is checked, all destination addresses in the list box are checked. If "None" is checked, all destination addresses in the list box are checked. It is assumed that the check for the destination address is removed. Next, 1 (initial value is 0) is set as the value of the transmission setting at the location where the row of the destination address checked in the attached file destination list table shown in FIG. 5 and the column of the attached file belonging to the same group intersect. (Step 704). Finally, OK button 3 shown in FIG.
If the user clicks on the number 4 with a mouse or the like, the set attached file transmission destination list table is saved, and the attached file transmission destination processing ends. When the cancel button 35 shown in FIG. 3 is clicked with a mouse or the like, the attached file name is deleted from the attached file destination list table shown in FIG. 5, and then the attached file destination processing is ended.

After the attached file transmission destination processing is completed, it is checked whether or not the attached file to which the transmission destination is set exists in the attached file box 26 shown in FIG. 2 (step 610), and the attached file to be transmitted exists. In this case, the process is repeated from the attached file selection process (step 607) in the attached file box 26. If there is no attached file to be transmitted, the transmission button 27 is clicked with a mouse or the like (step 611), and the mail transmission processing (step 612) is performed.

Next, the transmission process based on the attached file transmission destination list table will be described with reference to the flowchart of the transmission process shown in FIG. First, of the mail including the attached file, only the text part such as the subject and the body of the mail to be transmitted in common to the destination except the attached file is shown in each of the list boxes (To specification box 21, Cc specification) shown in FIG. The mail is transmitted to the transmission destination specified in the destination box 22 and the Bcc specification destination box 23) through the mail transmission control unit 19 shown in FIG. 1 (step 801).
Next, an attached file having the same group name in the attached file transmission destination list table is newly attached to the mail body.
A new address name is set as the destination address in the row where the column of the group name is 1 in the attached file destination list table shown in (1) (step 802). The newly created e-mail including the attached file reflects the address to which the attached file is transmitted and the same Subject name as that transmitted in (Step 801), and is transmitted through the e-mail transmission control unit (19) shown in FIG. Is transmitted to the mail server 15 (step 803). It is checked whether an unsent attachment file still exists in the attachment file transmission destination list table, and if so, step 80 in FIG.
The process after step 2 is repeated, and if there is no process, the transmission process ends.

Thus, each mail is sent from the mail transmitting / receiving device 11 shown in FIG. 1 to the mail server 15. A mail transmitting / receiving device 12 set as a destination,
When the mails 13 and 14 request the mail server 15 to receive the mails, the mails transmitted to the addresses owned by the users of the respective mail transmitting / receiving devices are transmitted from the mail server 15.

The above description has been made with reference to an example of an e-mail system used on a general Internet. However, the e-mail transmission device of the present invention is similar to an e-mail system or groupware already introduced on an intranet. It can be implemented in the same way by introducing it to the sending client of the e-mail system.

[0025]

As described above, the mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention introduces the mail transmitting apparatus according to the present invention only to a client that transmits a mail in various infrastructures operated by an electronic mail system. By doing so, the user who sends the email can easily re-specify the destination to which you want to send the attached file separately from the multiple destinations specified to send the common email contents such as the subject and the body at the same time, and the subject Since mails with common contents such as text and body can be sent all at once, and only the specified destination can be sent as an attached file, the efficiency of the user's mail creation and transmission can be improved.

Further, by executing the mail transmission method of the present invention, the same effect as described above can be realized.

Further, the recording medium on which the program of the mail transmission method of the present invention is recorded can realize the same effects as described above by executing the program recorded on the recording medium by a computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic mail system including a mail transmitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a mail transmission screen of the mail transmission device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of an attachment file transmission destination selection screen of the mail transmission device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the contents of a destination list box of an attached file destination.

FIG. 5 is a logical configuration diagram of data in which an attached file to be attached to a mail and a destination to which the attached file is transmitted are associated with each other.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of the mail transmitting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an attached file transmission destination process of the mail transmission device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a transmission process of the mail transmission device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 11 mail sending / receiving device implementing mail sending device of the present invention 12 mail sending / receiving device 13 mail sending / receiving device 14 mail sending / receiving device 15 mail server 16 network 17 user interface control unit 18 attached file transmission destination information control unit 19 mail sending / receiving control unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An e-mail transmitting apparatus comprising an e-mail body and an attached file attached to the e-mail body, a destination input means for inputting a plurality of destinations to which the e-mail body is transmitted, and the e-mail A file setting unit for setting a file that needs to be attached to the main body; an attachment file selection unit for selecting a file to be transmitted for each destination from the files set by the file setting unit; and an attachment selected by the attachment file selection unit. The destination to which the file is attached to the mail body and transmitted is selected from the destinations input by the destination inputting means, and the mail body and the attached file corresponding to the destination are input to the destination input by the destination inputting means. An e-mail transmission device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the e-mail. 2. The e-mail transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the destination selection unit selects the destination input by the destination input unit from a list. 3. The e-mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the destination selecting unit groups the attached files temporarily selected by the attached file selecting unit, and the destination selecting unit selects the attached files for each of the grouped attached files. 3. The e-mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selected destination is stored in association with the destination. 4. The transmission means transmits an e-mail body as an e-mail to the destination input by the destination input means, and attaches an attached file corresponding to the destination to the destination selected by the destination selection means. 4. The e-mail transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail is transmitted as an e-mail attached to the e-mail. 5. A method for transmitting an e-mail including an e-mail body and an attached file attached to the e-mail body, a destination input step for inputting a plurality of destinations to which the e-mail body is to be transmitted, A file setting step for setting a file that needs to be attached to the main body; an attachment file selecting step of selecting a file to be transmitted for each destination from the files set in the file setting step; and an attachment selected in the attachment file selecting step. A destination selecting step of selecting a destination to which a file is attached to the mail body from the destination input in the destination input step, and an attached file corresponding to the mail body and the destination to the destination input in the destination input step And a transmitting step of transmitting E-mail transmission method for the butterflies. 6. A recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute a mail transmission method is recorded, wherein: a destination input step for inputting a plurality of destinations to which a mail body is to be transmitted; A file setting step for setting a file that needs to be attached; an attachment file selecting step of selecting a file to be transmitted for each destination from the files set by the file setting step; and an attachment file selected by the attachment file selecting step. A destination selection step of selecting a destination to be attached and transmitted to the mail body from the destinations input in the destination input step; and transmitting the mail body and an attached file corresponding to the destination to the destination input in the destination input step. The sending step to be executed by the computer. Program recorded computer-readable recording medium.