JP2002064531A - Electronic mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic mail system that extends functions of an electronic mail sever in the Internet and automates and simplifies its setting. SOLUTION: The mail server of the mail transfer system of this invention is provided with a mail setting special DB, and the mail server automatically transfers a received mail on the basis of a transfer condition of the received mail entered to the mail setting special DB by a user. The transfer condition includes setting of a destination to which a mail is transferred, setting of a time zone when the mail is transferred, setting of a day of the week when the mail is transferred, setting of a portable terminal mail address, and setting of a variable for message division to the portable terminal or the like. Thus, the user can optionally set the mail transfer function of the mail server by itself on a Web browser via the Internet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a system for automating and simplifying function expansion and setting of an electronic mail server on the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, in an e-mail system on the Internet, e-mail software of a user's personal computer stores messages to be sent and messages received after storing them in a "mail server". However, when a request is sent from mail software on a personal computer, mail is sent to the mail software according to the request.

[0003] In addition to the basic functions, the mail server has many convenient functions. However, normally, as shown in FIG.
Is manually performed by an operator 16 who manages Therefore, when there are many users 15 in the mail server 11, it is usually not allowed to make detailed settings for each user. In other words, the user usually uses only a part of the mechanism of the “mail server”. For example, from 10 am to 10 pm, an operator who manages the mail with detailed settings, such as forwarding the message to the mail server at the workplace and not forwarding it except this time,
That is unlikely.

[0004] The mail server 11 is usually under the control of a system administrator. Normally, even if detailed mail server settings for individuals are necessary, only the system administrator (or operator) can do so due to risks such as intrusion into the system and difficult operation. . However, for the above reasons, it is not possible to ask the mail server operator for such a task. In addition, since the operator is also a human, there may be an accident such as an incorrect setting or forgetting to set. Furthermore, it often happens that the situation in which detailed settings for individual mail users can be made is originally limited because the operator is busy. In such a case, for example, the mail user should send a message to the mail address A from 10 am to 10 pm and to the mail address B during the rest of the day. In many cases, the operator cannot answer the request at all.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables ordinary users to safely and easily change convenient functions of a mail server which is currently only touched by a system administrator, and cannot be automated by a current mail server. Implement the function.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail system comprising:
In the system, a new "program running behind the scenes" called a web browser and a cgi program (development program A) and a daemon program (development program B) are created and used in combination with the currently operating mail server program. By doing so, ordinary users can make full use of useful extensions already provided in the mail server and new functions that have not existed without the risk of technical barriers and intrusion of others. Is what you can do.

That is, in the mail transfer system of the present invention, a mail server is provided with a mail setting file DB and a mail setting special file DB, and a user arbitrarily inputs a transfer condition of the received mail into the mail setting special file DB. The mail server automatically transfers the received mail based on the transfer condition. The mail server further comprises a mail setting file DB setting means in the mail server, and the mail setting DB of the mail setting DB based on the data file of the mail setting special file DB is provided. A means for automatically updating a file is provided.

[0008] Further, the input of the transfer condition of the received mail performed by the user into the mail setting special file DB is performed as follows.
It can be performed on a web browser. The setting unit includes a unit that changes a transfer destination according to a time schedule. Specifically, the transfer condition includes a setting of a destination at which mail transfer is performed, a setting of a time zone at which mail transfer is performed,
This includes setting the day of the week when mail transfer is performed, setting the mobile terminal e-mail address, setting variables for dividing the message to the mobile terminal, and the like.

[0009] The transfer condition is characterized in that one received mail can be divided into a plurality of mails and transferred according to the number of characters specified by the user. In this case, it is preferable that a means for adding the indication of the ribs, which are the divided messages, to the header information of the mail is provided.

[0010] The present invention is further characterized in that an electronic mail message arriving at a plurality of mail servers on the Internet is transferred to a plurality of mail servers on the user's own Web browser based on set values. The server is another mail server other than the server on which the user can set the transfer conditions, and automatically receives a mail to the user to the other mail server to another mail server according to the transfer conditions input by the user. May be forwarded.

It is recommended that the transfer conditions include a condition in which a mail containing harmful information such as a virus or a mail in which a user has previously refused reception is not transferred.

[0012] Further, the mail transfer system of the present invention comprises:
A mail setting special file DB is provided in the mail server, the user arbitrarily inputs the absence reply condition of the received mail into the mail setting special file DB, and the mail server automatically forwards the reply mail based on the absence reply condition. It is characterized by the following. Further, the transfer condition and the absence reply condition can be made using any of a Web browser, a Web browser of a mobile phone, and a mail of a mobile phone.

In the mail system of the present invention, a mail server is provided with a mail setting file DB and a mail setting special file DB, and when a user sends a mail, the sending condition of the sent mail is arbitrarily set by the mail setting special file. The mail is input to a DB, and the mail server automatically transmits the mail based on the transmission conditions.

[0014] Further, there is provided means for setting a mail setting file DB in the mail server, means for automatically updating the file of the mail setting DB based on the data file of the mail setting special file DB, and transmission performed by the user. It is characterized in that the transmission conditions of the mail can be input to the mail setting special file DB on a web browser.

The setting means includes means for transmitting an e-mail on a date and time designated in advance based on a value set by a user on a Web browser.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

An example of the embodiment of the present invention is as follows. FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a network used in the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes the Internet, which is a PC 2 and a mobile phone 3 used by a client.
Is a LAN connected by a modem 4 and a router 7, respectively.
8. Connected to mobile phone base station 5 and mobile phone network 6. A mail server system is connected to the Internet 1 and a firewall 9 and a WW
A W server 10 is provided. First, the processing server 11, the mail setting special data DB 12, the client DB 13, the mail server 14, and the mail setting data 15 attached thereto are connected by the LAN. The server group includes a well-known OS, on which the program of the electronic mail transfer device of the present invention operates.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional mail setting. Conventionally, when the transfer of a mail message is set to the mail server 14, the mail setting data 15 has to be manually rewritten.

FIG. 3 shows an overall conceptual diagram of the present invention. In the system of the present invention, there is a means for accessing the development program (A) 16 via the Internet. The file set here is such that the mail setting data 15 can be rewritten one by one in the development program (B). The mail setting special data 12 is stored. When the designated time zone comes, the data is called from the mail setting special data 12, the mail server 14 is set by changing the mail setting data 15, and the sequentially arriving mail is sent to another mail server 20 via the Internet. To be forwarded to.

Referring to FIG. 4, the development program (A) will be described using a flowchart of an actual program. -For the development program (A), when the setting screen is started in S10, a front screen appears as shown in FIG. Here, in S11, a process selection is input,
In S12, it is determined whether user authentication is required. If authentication is not required, the process proceeds to S21, and a new user account process is performed as shown in FIG. At this time, if there is information that hinders the creation of the setting file, an error screen is displayed as shown in FIGS. After this process, a system data file is created in S22, the basic information is stored, and the process ends in S23. At this time, a confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 12 appears on the screen of the user.

If authentication is required by S12,
An authentication input screen like the one shown in 3 is displayed.
Perform at 13. At this time, if the access is not permitted in S14, the process proceeds to the error display in S24 and returns to S12. When the authentication ends in S14, a process is selected in S15. Here, the screens of FIGS. 14 to 18 appear to the user. Here, if the transfer conditions are set in S16, a process of writing the setting file to the mail server is performed in S18, and if a setting file already exists, the file is overwritten and the process proceeds to S19. In S19, the writing to the special file setting data file is performed. In this case, if the setting file already exists, the file is overwritten and saved, and then the process shifts to S20 and ends. When another mail server is designated after S15, an instruction to acquire a mail is issued therefrom. When the registration is completed, the completion of the registration is displayed as shown in FIG. Here, the following information is written in the special file setting data file.

1. 1. Setting of multiple mail transfer destination mail addresses The following settings for each forwarding destination e-mail address The setting of the day of the week when the transfer is performed The setting of the time zone when the transfer is performed The setting of the division of the mail when the transfer is performed The size of the original data of the divided mail The size of one piece of mail data after splitting These settings can be set in either the "mail server setting data file" or the "special setting data file", or both, as necessary. Is written. "Mail server setting data file" means that the mail server
The operation is determined according to the set value, and has been conventionally known. The "special setting data file" refers to the program (B) used by the present invention referring to it, and determines the setting of the "mail server setting data file" according to the value referred to by the development program (B).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the development program (B) activated by the processing server 11. When the process is started in S30, the process proceeds to S31. Normally, it is started at 0 hour every hour. Here, in S31, the “special setting data file” is read for each user account. Then, in S32, the process proceeds to S33 in which the “mail server setting data file” is rewritten based on the contents of the “special setting data file”. The information to be rewritten is as follows.

A. Setting of destination where mail transfer is performed B. Setting of time zone for mail transfer Setting the day of the week when mail transfer is performed D. Setting of mobile terminal e-mail address B. Variable setting for message division to mobile terminal Spam mail information G. Error processing is performed on the user ID, password, and address of the other server from which the mail is obtained. If an error is found, the process proceeds to S37, where a mail is sent to the administrator and an error is output. If not, the process ends at S36. When the setting of one user account is completed, the process moves to the next user and the operation from S30 is repeated.

Here, how the special setting file changes will be described. Special setting file 1 koji: Ver. 1.01 (2000/07/01): ks0520: xjr: dosule.com: 1: 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: :: 1: 7: 8: 9: 10:11:12: :: 1: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: :: 1: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: :: 1: 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 0: The first line of this file specifies the username and password, and the rest of the file describes the transfer settings. Special setting file 2 1: 0: 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 3000: 480: 0 ::: 1: 0: 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 3000: 480: 0 ::: This Indicates the iMODE transfer setting. It states that 480 characters are set up to 3000 characters each. Although not shown here, other fields are filled with time, transfer destination, etc.
In addition, for each optional function to be developed, these file formats change and additional functions are added.

Reading the above special file, the development program (B) writes a setting file to be read by the following mail server every hour. The following is an example. ./Maildir/ Leave the message on the server &dokoka@atti.ne.jp Forwarding address | /home/httpd/cgi-bin/imodedev.csh koji Start the iMODE split program All the above files are different for each user. , Each will have.

However, this file differs in that the same contents are written depending on the type of the mail server. For example, each content is currently changed depending on the type of the sendmail and qmail servers. Other features will add differently formatted lines as additional features are added. Also, m
It is compatible with the mail storage format called aildir format and other formats. These are switched on the program source code by specifying options at compile time. Note that the program development language is: C language 2. Perl 3. shell script 4. Any versatile language such as HTML can be used, and the regular startup mechanism uses crontab that is provided as standard in the UNIX (registered trademark) operating system.

Also, by the usual POP / APOP protocol, a message addressed to the user stored on another mail server is acquired in the same mechanism as when read by the mail software of the personal computer. You can then send the message to your mail server using the SMTP protocol. In other words, this program runs as a completely different program from the current mail server.

Mail division Usually, a mail server has a mechanism that can start a program by a method in a setting file of the mail server. Using this mechanism, a specially developed program for division transmission can be used. Execute. The split program is shown in FIG.
Acts like First, when the division program is started in S40, the data is input from the standard input in S41, the data is divided in S42, the divided mail is transmitted in S43, and the process ends. FIG. 19 illustrates the flow from the acquisition of the mail.
In FIG. 19, the process starts at S50, and the division program starts at S51 from the setting file. This setting file is rewritten as needed by the development program (B) as described above. Thereafter, the mail server is accessed in S53, and the mail file is called in S53. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the file satisfies or satisfies the designated condition. If the condition is satisfied, for example, the mail character is divided into 300 characters and the whole sentence is divided into 1,000 characters. This is S55. Here, a mail message is assembled in S57, and four mail tags are generated in the above example. The divided header information is S
The following changes are added only to the subject line.
For example, at this time, if the header before division is Subject: the previous case, the divided header will contain Subject: 1/4 previous case Subject: 2/4 previous case Subject: 3/4 Previous subject Subject: 4/4 The previous subject and tag will be mentioned. After transmission, the process proceeds to S59,
finish. If the condition is not satisfied in S54, the process proceeds to S58, the mail is transferred as it is, and the process proceeds to S59 and ends.

Reception of Mail from Another Server As described in the setting of the special file, mail from another server follows the process shown in FIG. S60
When a program is started and a mail server name is input (S61), an ID input is requested (S62), and a password input is requested. (S63) Thereafter, a mail is received from another server (S64), the received mail is transmitted (S65), and the process ends (S66). S70-S7
5 also shows the same. As described above, the step of designating the call destination in the mail setting file in S71 and the instruction for transmitting the self-designated mail are performed as described above by using a development program that operates according to the conditions from the special setting file. It will be obvious that the configuration file is constantly updated by B). By the same method, it is also possible to automatically send a reply mail indicating absence or the like. When the mail server is started in S80, reading is performed from the standard input in S81,
In S82, it is determined whether there is a Reply-To: header. If NO is determined in S82, F
The address of rom: is set, and if YES is determined, the address of Reply-To: is set in S84. Thereafter, an absent mail is transmitted to the set address and the process is terminated.

As described above, the transfer mail system of the present invention newly creates a “program running behind the scenes” called a Web browser, a cgi program (development program A), and a daemon program (development program B). By using it in combination with currently running mail server programs, the general user can take advantage of the useful extensions already provided in the mail server and completely new functions that have never been seen before. It can be used sufficiently without the risk of intrusion of a person.

Although the above description has been directed to the transfer of received mail, the present invention can also be applied to the setting of transmission conditions for transmitted mail. Since the basic setting method is the same as that for the transfer of the received mail, detailed description is omitted. Similarly, by using the same mechanism as the above transfer condition setting, it is also possible to check for mails that contain out-of-office replies or mails containing harmful information such as viruses and reject them.

[0033]

As described above, an ordinary user can set the mail transfer function and the division function which have been relied on manually until now, and can easily use them. Further, since this can be set as desired by each person, it is not necessary to request the system operator to change the setting, and the human burden on the system can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a network used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a conventional mail server setting.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a current electronic mail system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a development program A.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a development program B.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an initial screen of a Web page of the mail transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a new user acquisition processing screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an error display screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an error display screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a new user registration screen.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a user authentication processing screen for a mail server setting change processing.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a transfer processing input screen (part 1) of the mail transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a transfer processing input screen (part 2) of the mail transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a view showing a transfer processing input screen (part 3) of the mail transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a transfer processing input screen (part 4) of the mail transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a view showing a transfer processing input screen (part 5) of the mail transfer system of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a registration completion screen.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a mail division process.

FIG. 19 is a detailed flowchart of a mail division process.

FIG. 20 is an example of a flowchart for receiving a mail from another server.

FIG. 21 is an example of a flowchart of receiving a mail from another server.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of absent mail transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Internet 2 PC 3 Mobile telephone 5 Base station 10 WEB server 11 Processing server 12 Mail setting special file DB 14 Mail server 12 Mail setting file DB

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A mail setting file DB in a mail server.
And a mail setting special file DB.
B, and the mail server automatically transfers the received mail based on the transfer conditions. 2. A mail setting special file DB is provided in a mail server.
2. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 1, further comprising means for automatically updating the file of the mail setting DB based on the data file. 3. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein input of transfer conditions of the received mail performed by the user to the mail setting special file DB can be performed on a web browser. 4. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 1, wherein said setting means includes means for changing a transfer destination according to a time schedule. 5. The transfer conditions include a destination setting for mail transfer, a time zone setting for mail transfer, a day setting for mail transfer, a mobile terminal mail address setting, and a message to a mobile terminal. The electronic mail transfer system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising setting variables for division. 6. The transfer condition according to claim 1, wherein one of the received mails can be divided into a plurality of mails and transferred according to the number of characters specified by the user.
5. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 5, wherein 7. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 6, further comprising: means for adding a display of the ridges as the divided messages to header information of the mail. 8. An electronic mail message arriving at a plurality of mail servers on the Internet is transferred to the plurality of mail servers based on a set value on a user's own Web browser. 8. The electronic mail transfer system according to any one of items 1 to 7. 9. The mail server is a mail server other than a server to which a user can set the transfer condition, and a mail received by the user to the other mail server according to the transfer condition input by the user. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mail is automatically transferred to another mail server.
7. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 7, wherein 10. The transfer condition according to claim 1, wherein the transfer condition includes a condition in which a mail containing harmful information such as a virus or a mail in which a user designates rejection of reception in advance is not transferred. Item 11. The electronic mail transfer system according to any one of Items 1 to 10. 11. A mail setting special file DB is provided in a mail server, and a user arbitrarily inputs an out-of-office reply condition of received mail into the mail setting special file DB. A mail transfer system characterized by transferring reply mail. 12. When the transfer condition and the absence reply condition are We
The mail transfer system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein any of a b-browser, a Web browser of a mobile phone, and a mail of a mobile phone can be used. 13. A mail setting file D stored in a mail server.
B and a mail setting special file DB, and when a user sends a mail, arbitrarily inputs the sending condition of the outgoing mail into the mail setting special file DB, and the mail server automatically sets the mail based on the sending condition. An e-mail system characterized by sending an e-mail. 14. A mail setting file DB in a mail server is provided, and a mail setting special file D is provided.
14. The electronic mail transfer system according to claim 13, further comprising means for automatically updating the mail setting DB file based on the data file of B. 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the input of the transmission condition of the transmission mail performed by the user to the mail setting special file DB can be performed on a web browser.
Or an e-mail system according to item 14. 16. The method according to claim 13, wherein said setting means includes means for transmitting an e-mail on a predetermined date and time based on a value set by a user on a Web browser. The e-mail system according to claim 1.