JP2002057696A - Electronic mail processor and electronic mail processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit electronic mail in an appropriate message form and to transmit additional information suited to the message form of the electronic mail. SOLUTION: This electronic mail processor 50 for transmitting the electronic mail whose transmission destination is a mail address to a server for receiving and managing the electronic mail. A prescribed mail address of the transmission destination is provided with a form processing part 56 for converting the message form of the received electronic mail to the message form displayable in a terminal 10 used by the user of the mail address of the transmission destination, and a mail transmission part 64 for transmitting the converted electronic mail to the server 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic mail processing device and an electronic mail processing method for transmitting electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, mail (electronic mail) is exchanged via the Internet. An Internet system that enables mail exchange has a plurality of terminals, an existing SMTP server, and an existing POP server connected via the Internet. In this system, in a terminal, a program for editing, transmitting and receiving an e-mail, that is, a mailer is used by a user to create an e-mail in a predetermined message format having a predetermined e-mail address as a destination and send the e-mail to the mailer. When an instruction to send an e-mail is given, the mailer sends an SMTP (simple
The e-mail is transmitted to an existing SMTP server preset according to a mail transfer protocol. The existing SMTP server that has received the e-mail transmits the e-mail to the existing SMTP server corresponding to the server address included in the destination mail address according to the SMTP. The existing SMTP server that has received the e-mail stores the received e-mail in a predetermined storage unit.

When a user instructs a terminal mailer to display an e-mail delivered to his / her own mail address, the terminal mailer sends a POP (post office).
In accordance with the protocol, a request is made to an existing POP server that has been set in advance to send an e-mail to a predetermined mail address. The existing POP server that has received the mail transmission request extracts an e-mail addressed to the predetermined mail address requested to be transmitted from the predetermined storage unit and transmits the e-mail to the terminal. The terminal receiving the e-mail displays the e-mail received by the mailer.

Conventionally, in a server that mediates the transmission of an electronic mail between a source terminal and a destination terminal, additional information that can be displayed in a text format is added to a text electronic mail. That is being done.

[0005]

Conventionally, an e-mail in a message format created by a mailer of a source terminal is transmitted to a destination terminal, so that a mailer of a terminal between a source and a destination is required. If the passwords are different, there is a possibility that a problem may occur that an electronic mail cannot be displayed in a similar message format. For example, when an e-mail in an HTML format is created and transmitted by a mailer of a transmission source terminal, and the mailer of the transmission destination
If the L-format e-mail cannot be displayed, the source of the HTML format is displayed on the mailer of the destination terminal. In addition, when additional information is added to an electronic mail, it is required to add it appropriately. The additional information of the e-mail includes additional information that can give an impression to an e-mail recipient.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail processing device and an electronic mail processing method that can solve the above-mentioned problems. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous embodiments of the present invention.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention comprises:
An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail having an e-mail address to a server for receiving and managing an e-mail having a predetermined e-mail address as a destination. A format conversion unit for converting a message into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by a user of a destination mail address, and a transmission unit for transmitting the converted electronic mail to a server.

The electronic mail has a source mail address and a destination mail address, and includes a user's mail address, displayable information for specifying a message format of the electronic mail that can be displayed on the user's terminal, and Further comprising: a displayable storage unit that stores the displayable information associated with the destination mail address of the e-mail from the displayable storage unit; The unit may convert the message format of the received e-mail into a message format specified by the detected displayable information.

The e-mail further has displayable information for specifying a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by the user of the sender's mail address, and the displayable information of the received e-mail is transmitted to the sender. A storage processing unit that stores the information in the displayable storage unit in association with the mail address may be further provided. A displayable information requesting unit for requesting displayable information for specifying a displayable message format on a terminal used by a user of a destination mail address in an electronic mail, and a displayable for specifying a displayable message format on the terminal in response to the request A displayable information receiving unit that receives information, and the format conversion unit includes:
The electronic mail may be converted into a message format specified by the received displayable information.

[0010] For each of a plurality of message formats, an additional information storage unit that stores additional information that can be displayed in the message format, and an additional information that can be displayed in the email message format converted by the format conversion unit. Further comprising: an additional information selecting section to select; and an additional information adding section to add the selected additional information to the converted e-mail, wherein the transmitting section transmits the e-mail to which the additional information is added. Is also good.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing device according to a second aspect of the present invention provides a server for receiving and managing an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination. An e-mail processing device that transmits an e-mail having a mail address as a destination, for each of a plurality of message formats, an additional information storage unit that stores additional information that can be displayed in the message format; A format detection unit for detecting a message format of an e-mail to be added, an additional information selection unit for selecting additional information that can be displayed in the e-mail message format, and an additional information addition unit for adding the selected additional information to the e-mail. ,
A transmission unit for transmitting an electronic mail to which the additional information is added.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing device according to a third aspect of the present invention stores an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination, and stores an electronic mail address from a terminal. An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail having an e-mail address as a destination to the terminal based on a transmission request of the e-mail to be transmitted to the terminal, the e-mail processing device having a predetermined e-mail address as a destination A mail storage unit that stores the mail, a format conversion unit that converts the message format of the stored e-mail into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by the user of the destination mail address, and a format conversion unit that converts the converted e-mail. And a transmitting unit for transmitting to the terminal.

The electronic mail has a source mail address and a destination mail address, and includes a user's mail address, displayable information that specifies a message format of the electronic mail that can be displayed on the user's terminal, and Further comprising: a displayable storage unit that stores the displayable information associated with the destination mail address of the e-mail from the displayable storage unit; The unit may convert the stored email message format into a displayable message format specified by the detected displayable information.

The electronic mail further has displayable information for specifying a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by the user of the sender's mail address, and the displayable information of the stored electronic mail is transmitted to the electronic mail. The display device may further include a storage processing unit that stores the information in the displayable storage unit in association with the original e-mail address. A displayable information requesting unit for requesting displayable information for specifying a displayable message format on a terminal used by a user of a destination mail address in an electronic mail, and a displayable for specifying a displayable message format on the terminal in response to the request Having a displayable information receiving unit for receiving information,
The format converter may convert the email into a message format corresponding to the received displayable information.

[0015] For each of a plurality of message formats, an additional information storage unit that stores additional information that can be displayed in the message format, and an additional information that can be displayed in the e-mail message format converted by the format conversion unit. Further comprising: an additional information selecting section to select; and an additional information adding section to add the selected additional information to the converted e-mail, wherein the transmitting section transmits the e-mail to which the additional information is added. Is also good.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention stores an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination, and stores an electronic mail address from a terminal. An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail having an e-mail address as a destination to the terminal based on a transmission request of the e-mail to be transmitted to the terminal, the e-mail processing device having a predetermined e-mail address as a destination A mail storage unit that stores mail, an additional information storage unit that stores, for each message format of a plurality of message formats, additional information that can be displayed in the message format, and a format detection unit that detects the message format of the stored email An additional information selection unit for selecting additional information that can be displayed in an e-mail message format; And additional information addition section for adding to, and having a transmission unit which transmits the additional information is added e-mail.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail processing apparatus for transmitting an electronic mail received from a first information processing apparatus to a second information processing apparatus. An email processing device, wherein the email has a source email address and a destination email address, and converts the message format of the received email into
A format conversion unit that converts the message into a format that can be displayed on a terminal used by the user of the destination mail address;
A transmission unit for transmitting the converted electronic mail to the second information processing apparatus.

[0018] In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing method according to a sixth aspect of the present invention provides a method for receiving and managing an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having an e-mail address as a destination, wherein the method converts a message format of the received e-mail into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by a user of the destination e-mail address. It has a conversion step and a transmission step of transmitting the converted electronic mail to a server.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing method according to a seventh aspect of the present invention provides a method for receiving and managing an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having a mail address as a destination, for each message format of a plurality of message formats, an additional information storage step of storing additional information that can be displayed in the message format; An additional information selecting step of selecting additional information that can be displayed in the message format, an additional information adding step of adding the selected additional information to the e-mail, and a transmitting step of transmitting the e-mail with the additional information added. It is characterized by having.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing method according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is to store an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination and to change an electronic mail address from a terminal. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having a mail address as a destination to the terminal based on a transmission request of the e-mail to be transmitted to the terminal. A mail storing step of storing the mail, a format converting step of converting the stored email message format into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by the user of the destination email address, and a format converting step of converting the converted email. Transmitting to the terminal.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic mail processing method according to a ninth aspect of the present invention stores an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination, and stores an electronic mail address from a terminal. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having the mail address as a destination to the terminal based on a transmission request of the e-mail to be transmitted to the terminal, wherein a predetermined e-mail address is set as a destination A mail storing step of storing an electronic mail, an additional information storing step of storing, for each message format of a plurality of message formats, additional information that can be displayed in the message format, and a format detection of detecting the stored email message format An additional information selecting step of selecting additional information that can be displayed in an e-mail message format; And having the additional information adding step of adding-option side information to the electronic mail, and a transmission step of transmitting the additional information is added e-mail. Note that the above summary of the present invention does not list all of the necessary features of the present invention, and a sub-combination of these features may also be an invention.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the present invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and are described in the embodiments. Not all combinations of features are essential to the solution of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an Internet system including an electronic mail processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Internet system is Internet 4
5, a plurality of existing SMTP servers 30 as an example of a server, a plurality of existing POP servers 34 as an example of a server, an existing web server 40, an e-mail processing device 50, Having.
Here, the information processing device referred to in the claims is a terminal 1
0, existing SMTP server 30, and existing POP server 3
Equivalent to 4.

The existing SMTP server 30 has an SMTP processing unit 31 and a mail storage unit 32. The mail storage unit 32 stores an electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a transmission destination. The mail storage unit 32 is shared with the existing POP server 34. The SMTP processing section 31
(Simple mail transfer protocol)
The e-mail transmitted from 0 is transmitted to the existing SMTP server 30 corresponding to the server address included in the destination e-mail address of the e-mail.

The existing POP server 34 has a POP processing unit 3
6 and a mail storage unit 32. POP processing unit 36
Is a terminal 1 according to the POP (post office protocol).
The e-mail with the e-mail address requested to be transmitted from 0 as the destination is retrieved from the e-mail storage unit 32 and transmitted to the terminal 10. The existing web server 40
Sends a homepage transmission request from the terminal 10 to the terminal 10 that requested the transmission.

The terminal 10 has a mail processing unit 12, an input unit 14, a display unit 16, and a storage unit 18. In the present embodiment, the mail processing unit 12 includes mail software,
It is composed of a so-called mailer. Input unit 14
Has, for example, an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard,
An input from the user is received from the input device. The display unit 16 has a display device, for example, and displays various information.

The storage unit 18 stores edited e-mails and received e-mails. In addition, the storage unit 18 stores, for each mail address of the user of the terminal 10, address information of a server to be used when transmitting an e-mail with the mail address as a transmission source, and an e-mail with the mail address as a transmission destination. It stores the address information of the server used when receiving. In the present embodiment, the terminal 1
In at least one of 0, address information indicating the e-mail processing device 50 is stored as address information of a server used when transmitting an e-mail.

The mail processing unit 12 creates and edits an e-mail based on the user's instruction input from the input unit 14, displays the e-mail on the display unit 16, and displays the edited e-mail. It is stored in the storage unit 18.
The mail processing unit 12 sends and receives electronic mail. That is, when transmitting an e-mail, the e-mail to be transmitted is transmitted to the server based on the address information of the server used for transmission stored in the storage unit 18. When receiving an e-mail, the mail processing unit 12 sends an e-mail to the server based on the address information of the server used for reception stored in the storage unit 18 to which the predetermined mail address is transmitted. The server transmits a mail transmission request and receives an electronic mail transmitted from the server.

The e-mail processing device 50 includes a mail receiving unit 52 as an example of a displayable information requesting unit, and a displayable information as an example of a displayable information detecting unit, a storage processing unit, a displayable requesting unit, and a format detecting unit. A processing unit 54, a format processing unit 56 as an example of a format conversion unit, a storage unit 58 as an example of a displayable storage unit and an additional information storage unit, an additional information selection unit 60, and an additional information addition unit 62; And a mail transmitting unit 64 as an example of a transmitting unit.

The storage unit 58 stores a user's mail address and displayable information for specifying a message format of an electronic mail that can be displayed on the user's terminal in association with each other. In addition, the storage unit 58 stores, for each of a plurality of message formats, advertisement information as an example of additional information that can be displayed in the message format.
In the present embodiment, HTML (Hypertext Markup language) is used.
e) Advertising information that can be displayed in each of the format and the TEXT format is stored.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data in the storage unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The storage unit 58 is configured as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the mail address of the user and mailer information for specifying the mailer used in the terminal 10 of the user of the mail address are stored in association with each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the storage unit 58 associates mailer information specifying a mailer with a displayable message format indicating a message format that can be displayed by the mailer as an example of displayable information. Remember. Thus, the user mail address and the displayable message format are stored in association with each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, the storage unit 58 stores an advertisement ID for identifying the advertisement, a file name of advertisement information that can be displayed in TEXT format corresponding to the advertisement, and an HTML format corresponding to the advertisement. Is stored in association with the file name of the advertisement information that can be displayed. Note that the storage unit 58 stores a file corresponding to the file name. The advertisement information that can be displayed in the HTML format is advertisement information described using an HTML tag. According to this, for example, by using the content indicating the storage location of image data such as an image or a photograph as advertisement information, an image corresponding to the storage location can be displayed in a mailer capable of displaying in HTML format. it can.

Returning to FIG. 1, the mail receiving section 52 receives an electronic mail transmitted from the terminal 10 storing the address information of the mail processing device 50 as the address information of the server when transmitting the electronic mail. Further, the mail receiving unit 52 receives an e-mail addressed to a mail address for receiving an e-mail in response to a request for displayable information described later.

When the displayable information on the mail address of the transmission source of the electronic mail received by the mail receiving unit 52 is not stored in the storage unit 58, the displayable processing unit 54 sets The displayable information stored in the header part of the electronic mail is stored in association with the displayable information. In the present embodiment, mailer information for specifying a mailer stored in a header portion of an e-mail is stored as displayable information. The displayable processing unit 54 detects displayable information associated with the destination mail address of the e-mail received by the mail receiving unit 52, and
Pass to 6. In the present embodiment, when a plurality of pieces of displayable information are associated with an e-mail address, the displayable processing unit 54 selects displayable information according to a preset priority order. In the present embodiment, if there is an HTML format and a TEXT format, the displayable process 54 can display an image and include various contents such as a link to another homepage. The HTML format that can be used has a higher priority, that is, is preferentially selected.

When the displayable information is not associated with the destination mail address, the displayable processing unit 54 converts the message format that can be displayed by the terminal 10 used by the user of the destination mail address. Request displayable information to identify. In the present embodiment, the displayable processing unit 54
Creates an e-mail requesting displayable information to the destination e-mail address of the e-mail,
To send the e-mail. At this time, in the present embodiment, the displayable processing unit 54 sets an e-mail address including address information of the e-mail processing device 50 provided in advance to receive the displayable information as the transmission source of the e-mail. .

The displayable processing section 54 stores the displayable information stored in the header of the electronic mail in response to the request for the displayable information received by the mail receiving section 52 in association with the mail address of the transmission source. The displayable information is passed to the format processing unit 56 while being stored in the unit 58.

If the message format of the electronic mail received by the mail receiving unit 52 is the same as the displayable message format passed from the displayable processing unit 54, the format processing unit 56 selects the electronic mail as it is for additional information selection. Hand over to section 60. Further, the format processing unit 56 determines the message format of the e-mail received by the mail receiving unit 52 and the displayable processing unit 5.
If the format is different from the displayable message format passed from 4, the electronic mail is converted into a displayable message format and passed to the additional information selection unit 60. For example, if the e-mail message is in the text format and the displayable message format is the HTML format, a tag for displaying the text in the HTML format is attached to the e-mail text format message, and the HTML format is used. The message format is converted by adding other contents necessary for the message. When the e-mail message is in the HTML format and the displayable message format is the text format, a text portion tagged to display the text in the HTML format of the e-mail is left, and at least one other message is left. The message is converted by deleting the part. As a result, the data amount of the e-mail to be transmitted can be suppressed, and the load on the network can be reduced.

The additional information selecting section 60 detects the message format of the electronic mail passed from the format processing section 56, and stores the additional information that can be displayed in the message format in the storage section 58.
And passes it to the additional information adding unit 62 together with the e-mail. As a result, the additional information in the message format that can be displayed on the destination terminal 10 can be appropriately selected. The additional information adding unit 62 adds the additional information to the e-mail passed from the additional information selecting unit 60 and passes it to the mail transmitting unit 64. The mail transmitting section 64 transmits the electronic mail to which the additional information has been added by the additional information adding section 62.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the electronic mail processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the e-mail is transmitted from the terminal 10 storing the address information of the e-mail processing device 50 as the address information of the server when transmitting the e-mail, and the destination of the e-mail is , The mail address of the sender, mailer information for specifying the mailer used for transmitting the mail, and the like.

First, the mail receiving unit 52 receives the electronic mail transmitted from the terminal 10 via the Internet 45, and transfers the electronic mail to the displayable processing unit 54 and the format processing unit 56. Next, the displayable processing unit 5
4 detects whether displayable information associated with the mail address of the source of the received e-mail is stored in the storage unit 58 (step S100). The e-mail address of the sender and the mailer information stored in the header of the e-mail are stored in the storage unit 58 in association with each other (step S102). On the other hand, if it is stored, nothing is done.

Next, the displayable processing unit 54 detects whether displayable information associated with the mail address of the destination of the received e-mail is stored in the storage unit 58 (step S104). If it is stored, the associated displayable information is extracted from the storage unit 58 and passed to the format processing unit 56 (step S10).
6).

On the other hand, if the e-mail is not stored, the displayable processing section 54 creates an e-mail requesting displayable information to the e-mail address of the e-mail destination, and the e-mail transmission section 64 transmits the e-mail. Transmission is performed (step S108). As a result, an e-mail requesting displayable information reaches the user at the destination e-mail address. Then, when the user replies to the e-mail, the e-mail of the reply is transmitted to the e-mail processing device 50 via the existing SMTP server 30 used when the user transmits. Then, the e-mail is received by the mail receiving unit 52 and passed to the displayable processing unit 54 (step S110). Next, the displayable processing section 54 stores the mail address of the transmission source of the e-mail and the mailer information stored in the header of the e-mail in association with each other in the storage section 58 and formats the displayable information. To the processing unit 56 (step S
112).

Next, the format processing unit 56 sets the mail receiving unit 5
2 and whether the message format specified by the displayable information passed from the displayable processing unit 54 is the same, that is, the message format of the email needs to be converted. It is determined whether or not this is the case (step S114). As a result, if the message format needs to be converted, that is, if the two message formats are different, the format processing unit 56 converts the message format of the e-mail to the message format passed from the displayable processing unit 54 and converts the message format. The information is passed to the additional information selection unit 60 (step S116). On the other hand, when there is no need to convert the message format, that is, when both message formats are the same, the format processing unit 56 passes the electronic mail to the additional information selection unit 60 as it is.

Next, the additional information selecting section 60 detects the message format of the passed e-mail (step S11).
8), the additional information that can be displayed in the detected message format is selected from the storage unit 58, and the e-mail and the additional information are passed to the additional information adding unit 62 (step S120).
Next, the additional information adding unit 62 adds the additional information to the received e-mail, and passes it to the mail transmitting unit 64 (Step S122). The mail transmitting unit 64 transmits the received e-mail via the Internet (step S12).
4).

Next, at the terminal 10 in which the address information of the electronic mail processing device 50 is stored as the address information of the server used when transmitting the electronic mail, the user creates an electronic mail in the text format shown in FIG. A display example of the e-mail on the terminal 10 used by the user of the transmission destination e-mail address when the e-mail is transmitted will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a display example of a transmitted e-mail on a terminal used by a destination user according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, the message format that can be displayed by the mailer of the terminal 10 used by the destination user is TE.
It is assumed that only the XT format is used. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the e-mail 100 has an additional information area 102 for displaying additional information and a content display area 104 for displaying the content transmitted from the transmission source. 10
2 displays the additional information in a text format, and the content display area 104 displays the content from the transmission source in a text format.

FIG. 6 is another display example of the transmitted e-mail on the terminal used by the destination user according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the message format that can be displayed by the mailer of the terminal 10 used by the destination user is the HTML format. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the e-mail 110 has an additional information display area 112 for displaying additional information and a content display area 114 for displaying the contents from the transmission source. 11
2 displays an image as additional information, and the content display area 114 displays the content as text. In this manner, various expressions can be made, such as displaying the additional information in an image, and the impression of the additional information can be enhanced for a user who views the electronic mail.
Therefore, for example, if the advertisement information is used as the additional information, the effect of the advertisement can be improved.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of an Internet system including an electronic mail processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same functional elements as those of the Internet system according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. This Internet system includes an electronic mail processing device 70 instead of the electronic mail processing device 50. The e-mail processing device 70 includes the SMTP processing unit 3
1 and a POP server 80. POP server 80
Is a mail request receiving unit 82, a mail obtaining unit 84, a displayable processing unit 86, a format processing unit 88, a storage unit 90
, An additional information selection unit 92, an additional information addition unit 94, and a mail transmission unit 96.

The mail request receiving unit 82 receives a transmission request for an electronic mail stored in the storage unit 90 from the terminal 10 with a predetermined mail address as a transmission destination, and sends the transmission request to the mail acquisition unit 84 and the mail transmission unit. Notify 96.
The mail obtaining unit 84 extracts from the storage unit 90 the electronic mail corresponding to the transmission request passed from the mail request receiving unit 82. Further, the mail obtaining unit 84 receives an electronic mail addressed to a mail address for receiving an electronic mail in response to a request for displayable information described later.

The displayable processing unit 86 includes a mail acquisition unit 84
If the displayable information about the mail address of the sender of the retrieved e-mail is not stored in the storage unit 90, the e-mail address corresponds to the displayable information stored in the header of the e-mail. And store it. In the present embodiment, mailer information for specifying a mailer stored in a header portion of an e-mail is stored as displayable information. The displayable processing unit 86 detects displayable information associated with the destination mail address of the e-mail received by the mail acquisition unit 84, and outputs the format processing unit 88.
Pass to. In the present embodiment, when a plurality of pieces of displayable information are associated with a mail address, the displayable processing unit 86 selects the displayable information according to a preset priority. In the present embodiment, if there is an HTML format and a TEXT format, the displayable process 86 includes various contents such as displaying an image and expressing a link to another homepage. The HTML format that can be used has a higher priority, that is, is preferentially selected.

When the displayable information is not associated with the destination mail address, the displayable processing unit 86 specifies a message format that can be displayed by the terminal used by the user of the destination mail address. Request displayable information. In the present embodiment, the displayable processing unit 86
An e-mail requesting displayable information is created at the destination e-mail address of the e-mail, and the e-mail is transmitted by the e-mail transmission unit 96. At this time, in the present embodiment, the displayable processing unit 86 sets an e-mail address including the address information of the e-mail processing device 50 provided in advance to receive the displayable information as the transmission source of the e-mail. .

The displayable processing unit 86 stores the displayable information stored in the header of the electronic mail in response to the request for the displayable information acquired by the mail acquiring unit 84 in association with the mail address of the transmission source. The displayable information is passed to the format processing unit 88 while being stored in the unit 90.

When the message format of the e-mail acquired by the e-mail acquisition unit 84 and the displayable message format passed from the displayable processing unit 86 are the same, the format processing unit 88 selects the electronic mail as it is for additional information selection. Hand over to section 92. Further, the format processing unit 88 includes a message format of the e-mail acquired by the mail acquiring unit 84 and the displayable processing unit 8.
If the displayable message format passed from step 6 is different, the electronic mail is converted into a displayable message format and passed to the additional information selection unit 92.

For example, if the e-mail message is in text format and the displayable message format is in HTML format, a tag for displaying text in HTML format is attached to the e-mail text message. The message format is converted by adding other contents necessary for the HTML format. If the message of the e-mail is in the HTML format and the displayable message format is the text format, at least a part of the e-mail with the tag for displaying the text in the HTML format of the e-mail is left. The message conversion is performed by deleting. As a result, the data amount of the e-mail to be transmitted can be suppressed, and the load on the network can be reduced.

The storage unit 90 further stores an electronic mail addressed to a predetermined mail address in the storage unit 58 shown in FIG. The additional information selection unit 92 is a format processing unit 8
8. Detect the message format of the e-mail passed from
The additional information that can be displayed in the message format is selected from the storage unit 90, and is added together with the e-mail to the additional information adding unit 9
Pass to 4. The additional information adding unit 94 includes an additional information selecting unit 92
The additional information is added to the e-mail received from the e-mail and the e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail transmission unit 64. The mail transmitting unit 96 transmits the electronic mail received from the additional information adding unit 94 to the terminal 10 of the transmission request source received from the mail request receiving unit 82.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail processing device according to the second embodiment will be described. The basic flow of operation is
Since it is the same as the electronic mail processing device according to the first embodiment, it will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the SMTP processing unit 31 receives an e-mail transmitted from the terminal 10 via the Internet 45 and stores it in the storage unit 90. Then, the mail request receiving unit 82 receives the transmission request of the electronic mail stored in the storage unit 90 from the terminal 10 with the predetermined mail address as the transmission destination, and sends the transmission request to the mail acquisition unit 84 and the mail transmission unit 96. Notice. Next, the displayable processing unit 86
Detects whether displayable information associated with the mail address of the sender of the received e-mail is stored in storage unit 90 (step S100). The original e-mail address and the mailer information stored in the header of the e-mail are stored in the storage unit 90 in association with each other (step S102). On the other hand, if it is stored, nothing is done.

Next, the displayable processing unit 86 detects whether displayable information associated with the mail address of the destination of the received e-mail is stored in the storage unit 90 (step S104). If it is stored, the associated displayable information is extracted from the storage unit 90 and passed to the format processing unit 88 (step S10).
6).

On the other hand, if the e-mail is not stored, the displayable processing unit 86 creates an e-mail requesting displayable information to the e-mail address of the e-mail transmission destination, and the e-mail transmission unit 96 transmits the e-mail. Transmission is performed (step S108). As a result, an e-mail requesting displayable information reaches the user at the destination e-mail address. When the user replies to the e-mail, the reply e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail processing device 70 via the existing SMTP server 30 used when the user transmits. Then, the e-mail is received by the SMTP processing unit 31 and stored in the storage unit 9.
Store to 0. Next, the mail obtaining unit 84 sets the storage unit 90
Then, the reply e-mail is extracted and passed to the displayable processing unit 86 (step S110). Next, the displayable processing unit 86 stores the mail address of the transmission source of the e-mail and the mailer information stored in the header of the e-mail in association with each other in the storage unit 90, and formats the displayable information. (Step S1)
12).

Next, the format processing unit 88 sets the mail acquisition unit 8
4 and whether the message format specified by the displayable information passed from the displayable processing unit 86 is the same, that is, it is necessary to convert the message format of the email. It is determined whether or not this is the case (step S114). As a result, when it is necessary to convert the message format, that is, when the two message formats are different, the format processing unit 88 converts the message format of the e-mail to the message format passed from the displayable processing unit 86. The information is passed to the additional information selection unit 92 (step S116). On the other hand, when there is no need to convert the message format, that is, when both message formats are the same, the format processing unit 88 passes the electronic mail to the additional information selection unit 92 as it is.

Next, the additional information selecting section 92 detects the message format of the passed e-mail (step S11).
8) The additional information that can be displayed in the detected message format is selected from the storage unit 90, and the e-mail and the additional information are passed to the additional information adding unit 94 (step S120).
Next, the additional information adding unit 94 adds the additional information to the received e-mail and passes it to the mail transmitting unit 96 (Step S122). The mail transmitting unit 96 transmits the electronic mail received from the additional information adding unit 94 to the terminal 10 of the transmission request source received from the mail request receiving unit 82 (Step S124).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the message format of the e-mail is converted and the additional information is added to the e-mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The additional information that can be displayed in the message format without converting the message format of the email may be added. By doing so, additional information that can be displayed in the message format of the electronic mail can be added, and the additional information can be appropriately displayed on a terminal capable of displaying the message format.

In the first and second embodiments, an e-mail is transmitted when the displayable information of the terminal 10 is requested, and the displayable information is transmitted based on the user's reply to the e-mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a program for transmitting the displayable information to the terminal 10 is stored, and the user is involved by executing the program. Alternatively, displayable information may be acquired.

In the second embodiment, the message format of the e-mail stored in the storage unit 90 is converted after the request for transmission of the e-mail from the user, but before the transmission request is generated. For example, when the SMTP processing unit 31 receives an email, the message format of the email may be converted and stored in the storage unit 90. In this case, for example, if the HTML format e-mail for the terminal 10 that can only display the text format is stored in the storage unit 90 as the text format, the data amount of the e-mail stored in the storage unit 90 may be reduced. it can.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the description of the appended claims that embodiments with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0065]

As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an electronic mail can be transmitted and displayed in an appropriate message format. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to transmit additional information suitable for an e-mail message format.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an Internet system including an electronic mail processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in a storage unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the electronic mail processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail transmitted from a terminal by a user.

FIG. 5 is a display example of a transmitted e-mail on a terminal used by a destination user according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another display example of the transmitted e-mail on the terminal used by the destination user according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of an Internet system including an electronic mail processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 terminal 12 mail processing unit 14 input unit 16 display unit 18 storage unit 30 existing SMT
P server 31 SMTP processing unit 32 mail storage unit 34 existing POP server 36 POP processing unit 40 existing web server 50 mail processing unit 52 mail reception unit 54 displayable processing unit 56 format processing unit 58 storage unit 60 additional information selection unit 62 additional information Addition section 64 mail transmission section 70 mail processing device 80 POP server 82 mail request reception section 84 mail acquisition section 86 displayable processing section 88 format processing section 90 storage section 92 additional information selection section 94 additional information addition section 96 mail transmission section

Continued on the front page. (72) Inventor Toshihiro Watanabe 20-1 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Interque Corporation (72) Inventor Kenichiro Nagata 4-9-17 Akasaka Daiichi Building, Minato-ku, Tokyo 9F Akasaka Daiichi Building Aranuchi (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Miyatake 4-9-17 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo Akasaka Daiichi Building 9F Arannai F-term (reference) 5K030 GA18 HA06 HC01 KA02 LB16 LE11

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail having the mail address as a destination to a server which receives and manages an e-mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination. A format converter that converts the message format of the e-mail into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by the user of the destination mail address; and a transmitter that transmits the converted e-mail to the server. An e-mail processing device comprising: 2. The electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail has a source mail address and a destination mail address, and specifies a user's mail address and a message format of the electronic mail that can be displayed on the user's terminal. A displayable storage unit that stores the displayable information in association with the displayable information, and a displayable information detection unit that detects displayable information associated with the mail address of the transmission destination of the electronic mail from the displayable storage unit. The electronic mail according to claim 1, further comprising: converting the message format of the received electronic mail into the message format specified by the detected displayable information. Processing equipment. 3. The electronic mail further includes displayable information for specifying a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by a user of a sender's mail address, and the displayable information included in the received electronic mail. ,
3. The electronic mail processing device according to claim 2, further comprising a storage processing unit that stores the data in the displayable storage unit in association with the mail address of the transmission source. 4. A displayable information requesting unit for requesting displayable information for specifying a displayable message format in a terminal used by a user of a destination mail address of the electronic mail, and a displayable information requestable in the terminal in response to the request. A displayable information receiving unit that receives displayable information specifying a message format, wherein the format conversion unit converts the email into a message format specified by the received displayable information. The electronic mail processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein 5. An additional information storage unit for storing, for each of a plurality of message formats, additional information that can be displayed in the message format, and a displayable message format of the electronic mail converted by the format conversion unit. An additional information selection unit that selects the additional information, and an additional information addition unit that adds the selected additional information to the converted e-mail. The electronic mail processing device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail is transmitted. 6. An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail having the mail address as a destination to a server which receives and manages an e-mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination, comprising: For each message format of the message format, an additional information storage unit that stores additional information that can be displayed in the message format, a format detection unit that detects the message format of the e-mail to be transmitted, and the message format of the e-mail An additional information selecting unit that selects the additional information that can be displayed in the electronic mail; an additional information adding unit that adds the selected additional information to the electronic mail; and a transmitting unit that transmits the electronic mail to which the additional information is added. An e-mail processing device comprising: 7. An electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a transmission destination is stored, and the mail is transmitted to the terminal based on a request from the terminal to transmit the electronic mail having the mail address as the transmission destination to the terminal. An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail with an address as a destination, a mail storage unit for storing the e-mail with the predetermined e-mail address as a destination, and a message format of the stored e-mail. A format conversion unit configured to convert the electronic mail into a message format displayable on the terminal used by the user of the destination mail address, and a transmission unit configured to transmit the converted electronic mail to the terminal. Email processing device. 8. The electronic mail has a source mail address and a destination mail address, and displays a user's mail address and a message format of the electronic mail that can be displayed on the user's terminal. A displayable storage unit that stores the displayable information in association with the displayable information, and a displayable information detection unit that detects displayable information associated with the mail address of the transmission destination of the electronic mail from the displayable storage unit. The format conversion unit further converts the stored message format of the e-mail into the displayable message format specified by the detected displayable information. E-mail processing device. 9. The electronic mail further includes displayable information for specifying a message format that can be displayed on the terminal used by the user of the source mail address, and the displayable information included in the stored electronic mail. The e-mail processing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a storage processing unit that stores the e-mail in the displayable storage unit in association with an e-mail address of a transmission source of the e-mail. 10. A displayable information requesting unit for requesting displayable information for specifying a displayable message format on a terminal used by a user of a mail address of a transmission destination in the electronic mail, A displayable information receiving unit that receives displayable information that specifies a message format, wherein the format conversion unit converts the email into a message format corresponding to the received displayable information. The electronic mail processing device according to claim 7. 11. An additional information storage unit for storing, for each of a plurality of message formats, additional information that can be displayed in the message format, and an additional information storage unit storing the additional information in the message format of the electronic mail converted by the format conversion unit. An additional information selection unit that selects the additional information, and an additional information addition unit that adds the selected additional information to the converted e-mail. The electronic mail processing device according to claim 7, wherein the electronic mail is transmitted. 12. An electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a transmission destination is stored, and the mail is transmitted to the terminal based on a request for transmission of the electronic mail having the mail address as the transmission destination from the terminal. An e-mail processing device that transmits an e-mail having an address as a destination, a mail storage unit that stores the e-mail having the predetermined e-mail address as a destination, and for each message format of a plurality of message formats, An additional information storage unit that stores additional information that can be displayed in the message format; a format detection unit that detects a message format of the stored e-mail; and the additional information that can be displayed in the message format of the e-mail is selected. An additional information selecting unit for adding the selected additional information to the electronic mail; A transmission unit for transmitting the electronic mail to which the additional information is added. 13. An e-mail processing device for transmitting an e-mail received from a first information processing device to a second information processing device, wherein the e-mail includes a source mail address and a destination mail. And a format conversion unit that converts the message format of the received e-mail into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by a user of the destination mail address. An e-mail processing device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the e-mail to a second information processing device. 14. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having the mail address as a destination to a server which receives and manages an e-mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination. A format conversion step of converting the converted message format of the e-mail into a message format that can be displayed on a terminal used by a user of the destination mail address; anda transmission step of transmitting the converted e-mail to the server. An e-mail processing method comprising: 15. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having the above-mentioned e-mail address to a server which receives and manages an e-mail having a predetermined e-mail address as a transmission destination, comprising: An additional information storing step of storing, for each message format of the message format, additional information that can be displayed in the message format; an additional information selecting step of selecting the additional information that can be displayed in the message format of the e-mail; An e-mail processing method, comprising: an additional information adding step of adding the added additional information to the e-mail; and a transmitting step of transmitting the e-mail to which the additional information has been added. 16. An electronic mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination is stored, and based on a request for transmission of the electronic mail having the mail address as a destination from the terminal to the terminal, the mail is transmitted to the terminal. An e-mail processing method for transmitting an e-mail having an address as a destination, a mail storing step of storing the e-mail having the predetermined mail address as a destination, and a message format of the stored e-mail. A format conversion step of converting the electronic mail into a message format that can be displayed on the terminal used by the user of the destination mail address, and a transmission step of transmitting the converted electronic mail to the terminal. Email processing method. 17. An e-mail having a predetermined mail address as a destination is stored, and the terminal sends the e-mail to the terminal based on a request for transmission of the e-mail having the mail address as a destination to the terminal. An e-mail processing method of transmitting an e-mail having an address as a destination, a mail storing step of storing the e-mail having the predetermined e-mail address as a destination, and for each message format of a plurality of message formats, An additional information storage step of storing additional information that can be displayed in the message format; a format detection step of detecting a stored message format of the e-mail; and selecting the additional information that can be displayed in the message format of the e-mail. Selecting the additional information to be added, and adding the selected additional information to the electronic mail. That an additional information addition step, the electronic mail processing method characterized by comprising a transmission step of transmitting the electronic mail to which the additional information is added.