JP2002116995A - Document preparation device, electronic mail system, electronic mail transmission method and computer readable recording medium having program for making computer execute the method recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer a file following a transfer route set at the time of transmission even without constructing a special system as long as it is between PCs capable of utilizing electronic mail and executing document preparation software by this invention. SOLUTION: In the PC where the document preparation software by this invention is executed, during the preparation of character data or the like in a document preparation part 301, when the transmission instruction of the data and the transfer route are inputted through a user interface part 300, the file storing the data and the route is prepared by a sanction obtaining circulating mail preparation part 302. Then, it is transmitted from a transmission part 304 to the next receiver specified in the route. The receiver adds a character string for indicating whether or not to approve the contents of the file for instance to the file received in a reception part 305 and then, transfers it to the next receiver extracted from the file further.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document creating apparatus for creating a file storing at least character and / or image data, an electronic mail system including the document creating apparatus, and an electronic mail of the document creating apparatus. The present invention relates to a transmission method and a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute the transmission method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to send a document in a unique format created by document creation software or spreadsheet software to another computer as an e-mail, a mailer called a "mailer" is used. Software had to be prepared separately.

[0003] First, (1) character data to be transmitted is created, (2) the data is temporarily stored as a file, (3) a mailer is started separately, and (4) a very simple document creation. Using the function, create a text email body and (5) specify the file saved earlier as an attached file to the email body,
(6) Enter the destination of the mail and (7) send
It was necessary to take a series of steps.

[0004] This operation is complicated, and even if the data does not need to be stored at hand if it is transmitted to the other party,
There is a lot of unnecessary work, such as having to set a name once and save it to disk. Therefore, the applicant has
"Ichitaro Ver.1" of the document creation software to be sold
The word processor application software such as "0" has a "mail transmission function" that can omit the above (2) to (5).

According to the above function, while a document is being created with a word processor application software such as "Ichitaro", "Send mail" is selected from the menu.
By simply executing and inputting the destination, the document can be transmitted to another computer on the network. This document does not have to be stored on the hard disk, etc., and there is no need to start a mailer to create a mail body or set an attached file.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, a document created by the document creation software can be transmitted from A to B and C at the same time. After a certain process is performed, the setting that is automatically transferred to C cannot be performed by A.

[0007] An e-mail that is sequentially transferred to a plurality of destinations set at the time of transmission is generally referred to as "approval e-mail", and particularly when it is necessary to obtain approval from a superior for some matter in a company. Often used for. However, to achieve this, generally "groupware"
It is necessary to prepare a client-server type e-mail system by preparing software called "etc." and hardware sufficient for its operation, and since it is expensive, small and medium-sized companies have often hesitated to introduce it .

[0008] Further, the transfer of electronic mail is limited only to users within the system, and it is not possible to directly incorporate an external user connected by a public telephone line into the route. Therefore, an employee who has been on a business trip for a long period of time or an employee who has returned home after completing a business cannot send or receive a request for approval without first connecting to one of the computers in the system. In addition, a conventional system that does not have a fixed business office and in which employees of various companies and various places on the network cooperate with each other as necessary has not been expected in the conventional system.

[0009] In addition, in organizations where the activities are sporadic, such as neighborhood associations and parents' associations, and in organizations where the period of activity is limited, such as the XX Festival Executive Committee, etc., even if they are necessary or economical, they are exclusive. Although the introduction of this system is inappropriate, there has been a problem in that individuals cannot receive the benefit of the approval e-mail that they can participate in organizational decision-making at a convenient time at a convenient time.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a document creation apparatus capable of transferring a file along a transfer path set at the time of transmission without a special system being constructed. , Email system,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail transmission method and a computer-readable recording medium that records a program for causing a computer to execute the method.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are solved,
In order to achieve the object, a document creating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a document creating apparatus for creating a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored. A file for storing a data in which the address of a sender and the addresses of a plurality of recipients specified by the receiver specifying means are stored in a specified order. Creation means, and transmission means for sending the file created by the file creation means to the address of the first recipient among the plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designation means. .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters is transmitted to the first recipient.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document creating apparatus for creating a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored. Means for receiving a file in which addresses of a plurality of recipients and addresses of a plurality of recipients are stored in order, and a file received by the receiving means, the current recipient among addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file. And transmitting means for transmitting to an address stored next to the address.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters is transmitted from one recipient to the next recipient.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the document creating apparatus according to the second aspect, the document creating apparatus further includes a data adding unit for adding data to the file received by the receiving unit. The transmission means transmits the file to which data has been added by the data addition means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the received file is added with some data and then transmitted to the next recipient according to the transfer path held in the file.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the document creation apparatus according to the third aspect, the data adding unit adds character data indicating a result of the approval to the file in a tag format. It is characterized by doing.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, each time a certain recipient goes through, a tag indicating the approval request of the recipient is sequentially attached to the file.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the document creation apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, further, an electronic mail indicating a result of the approval is stored in a file received by the receiving means. And a second transmitting means for transmitting to the address stored before the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of recipients.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the result of the approval by a certain recipient is notified to the sender and all recipients before the recipient by e-mail.

An electronic mail system according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is an electronic mail system including first and second document creating devices for creating a file storing at least character and / or image data. ,
The first document creation device includes a plurality of recipient designation units for designating a plurality of recipients and their order, a plurality of recipients storing the data, and a plurality of addresses designated by a sender address and the recipient designation unit. File creating means for creating a file in which the addresses of the recipients are stored in the designated order; and receiving the file created by the file creating means at the first reception among the plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designation means. Transmitting means for transmitting the file transmitted by the transmitting means to the file, and transmitting the file received by the receiving means to the file. Transmitting means for transmitting to the address stored next to the address of the current recipient among the plurality of stored addresses of the recipients. And it features.

According to the present invention, a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters is transmitted from the sender to the first receiver and further to the next receiver. Go on.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail system according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the second document creation device further comprises a data received in the file received by the receiving means. And a transmission unit that transmits the file to which data has been added by the data addition unit.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the received file is added with some data and then transmitted to the next recipient according to the transfer path held in the file.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail system according to the seventh aspect, the data adding means adds character data indicating a result of the approval to the file in a tag format. It is characterized by doing.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, each time a message passes through a certain recipient, a tag indicating the result of approval of the recipient is sequentially attached to the file.

In the electronic mail system according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail system according to the eighth aspect, the second document creation device may further include an electronic mail indicating a result of the approval. The information processing apparatus further includes a second transmission unit that transmits the address of the plurality of recipients stored in the file received by the receiving unit to an address stored before the address of the current recipient.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the result of the approval by a certain recipient is notified by e-mail to the sender and all recipients before the recipient.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method for transmitting at least a file storing character and / or image data as an electronic mail, a plurality of recipients A file in which the data is stored, and the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients specified in the receiver specifying step are stored in the specified order; And a transmission step of transmitting the file created in the file creation step to the address of the first recipient among the plurality of recipients specified in the recipient designation step. It is characterized by.

According to the tenth aspect, a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters is transmitted to the first recipient.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method of transmitting a file storing at least character and / or image data as an electronic mail, the data is stored. And a receiving step of receiving a file in which the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients are stored in order, and the process of receiving the file received in the receiving step is performed based on the addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file. And transmitting to an address stored next to the address of the current recipient.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters is transmitted from one receiver to the next receiver.

An electronic mail transmitting method according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the electronic mail transmitting method according to the eleventh aspect, further comprising a data adding step of adding data to the file received in the receiving step. In the transmitting step, the file to which the data is added in the data adding step is transmitted.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, after the received file is added with some data,
The data is transmitted to the next recipient according to the transfer path held in the file.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission method according to the twelfth aspect, in the data adding step, character data indicating a result of the approval is written to a file in a sticky form. It is characterized by being added.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, each time a message passes through a certain recipient, a tag indicating the result of approval of the recipient is sequentially attached to the file.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method according to the thirteenth aspect, the electronic mail indicating the result of the approval is further added to the file received in the receiving step. The method further includes a second transmitting step of transmitting to an address stored before the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of stored recipients.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the result of the approval by a certain recipient is notified to the sender and all recipients before the recipient by e-mail.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium on which is recorded a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects. Can be read by a computer, whereby the method according to any one of claims 10 to 14 can be performed by a computer.

[0040]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the accompanying drawings, a document creation apparatus, an e-mail system, an e-mail transmission method according to the present invention, and a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method are recorded. A preferred embodiment will be described in detail.

(Embodiment) First, an overall configuration of an electronic mail system constituted by a document creating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a document creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is an explanatory view showing a system configuration of an electronic mail system.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 101, 102, 103, and 104 denote document creation devices, respectively, which will be described later.
Specifically, it is a personal computer on which the document creation software according to the present invention is installed. 101,
Users 102, 103, and 104 are in charge of A
They are Yamaichiro, Section Chief B Jiro, Section Chief C Saburo C, and Section Chief D Hashirou, and it is assumed that the approval is made in this order. 10
Reference numerals 1 to 104 denote mail servers (POP server and SM) (not shown) of respective providers in the Internet 100 through public telephone lines 105 to 108, respectively.
TP server).

Next, the hardware configuration of the document creating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a hardware configuration of a document creation device 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that all of the document creation apparatuses 101 to 104 shown in FIG. 1 have the same hardware configuration.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 201 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire apparatus, 202 denotes a ROM storing a basic input / output program, and 203 denotes a RAM used as a work area of the CPU 201.

An HDD (hard disk drive) 204 controls reading / writing of data from / to an HD (hard disk) 205 under the control of the CPU 201, an HD 205 storing data written under the control of the HDD 204, Each is shown. Further, reference numeral 206 denotes F under the control of the CPU 201.
D (Floppy (registered trademark) disk) 207 is an FDD (Floppy Disk Drive) that controls reading / writing of data to / from the disk 207, and 207 is a detachable F / D that stores data written under the control of the FDD 206.
D is shown respectively.

Reference numeral 208 denotes a display for displaying various data such as cursors, menus, windows, and characters and images. Reference numeral 209 denotes a display connected to the Internet 100 via the public telephone line 105;
The network boards functioning as an interface between the CPU 00 and the CPU 201 are shown. Also,
Reference numeral 210 denotes a keyboard having a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numerical values, various instructions, and the like, and 211 denotes a mouse for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, and the like. .

Reference numeral 212 denotes a scanner for optically reading characters and images; 213, a printer for printing characters and images under the control of the CPU 201; 214, a CD-ROM as a removable recording medium; CD-R
CD-R for controlling data read from OM214
An OM drive 200 and a bus or cable for connecting each of the above-described units are shown.

Next, a functional configuration of the document creating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram functionally showing the configuration of the document creation apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that all of the document creation apparatuses 101 to 104 shown in FIG. 1 have the same function.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a user interface unit, which displays on the screen the contents of a file being edited by a document creation unit 301, which will be described later, and a menu bar or tool box including commands executable for the file. These commands include various instructions that are normally required when creating an electronic document, such as moving the entered character string, setting the number of characters in one line, and the number of lines in one page, as well as editing A request for sending a request for approval of the file sent as the approval mail and a request for approval / return of approval for determining whether to approve or return the file sent as the approval mail are included.

The user interface unit 300
Monitors a user's keyboard operation and mouse operation, specifies a command when the command is input, and outputs the command to a document creation unit 301 described later. Further, the user interface unit 30
0 displays various dialogs, which will be described later, on a screen and prompts the user to input necessary information.
Is passed to a request for approval e-mail creating unit 302, which will be described later.

The user interface unit 3
00 corresponds to “recipient specifying means” in the claims, and one of the processes performed includes the “recipient specifying step” in the claims.

Reference numeral 301 denotes a document creation unit having a configuration including an editing data storage unit 301a that holds data being edited. The data that is being edited is data such as characters and images that are to be edited by the document creation unit 301 at this time and that are to be saved in a file or read from a file that has already been saved.

The document creation unit 301 creates an electronic document according to various instructions from the user interface unit 300. The function of the document creation unit 301 is basically the same as the document creation function of a conventional word processor or a personal computer in which document creation software is installed.

However, the document creation unit 3 according to the present embodiment
When a request for sending a request for approval or a request for approval / return of approval is input from the user interface unit 300 in addition to the above functions, the control unit 01 controls a request for creating a request for approval mail 302 and a request for confirmation for approval of approval request 303 to be described later. It has a function to process commands.

When a request for approval or remanding of a request is given, a function for pasting a tag indicating this to the file being edited is provided, as will be described later. Note that the document creation unit 301 corresponds to a “data adding unit” described in the claims, and one of the processes performed includes a “data adding step” described in the claims.

Reference numeral 302 denotes a request for approval mail creation unit, which includes an attached file creation unit 302a, a body creation unit 302b, and a header creation unit 302c. The approval mail creating unit 302 creates a file for storing data in the data-in-edit storage unit 301a, adds a mail header and a mail body, and creates a approval mail for transmission to the next approver. It should be noted that the attached file creation section 302a of the request for approval email creation section 302 corresponds to “file creation means” in claims, and one of the processes performed includes the “file creation step” in claims. .

Reference numeral 303 denotes a request for confirmation mail creation section.
As in the case of the approval mail creation unit 302, the attached file creation unit 303a, the body creation unit 303b, and the header creation unit 30
3c. Request for approval confirmation mail creation unit 303
Creates an approval confirmation e-mail to be sent to the caller and the caller before him.

Reference numeral 304 denotes a transmission unit which transmits a request for approval created by the request for approval mail creation unit 302 or a request for approval confirmation created by the request for approval confirmation mail creation unit 303 to the Internet 10 according to a predetermined protocol.
0 to a predetermined mail server. The transmitting unit 304 corresponds to the “transmitting unit” and the “second transmitting unit” in the claims, and one of the processes performed by the transmitting unit 304 includes the “transmitting step”, the “second transmitting step” in the claims. Is included.

Reference numeral 305 denotes a receiving unit which receives a request for approval request mail which arrives at a predetermined mail server on the Internet 100;
The e-mail is received according to a predetermined protocol, and the data of the received e-mail is stored. The receiving unit 305 corresponds to “receiving means” in claims, and one of the processes performed includes the “receiving step” in claims.

The user interface unit 3
00, the document creation unit 301, the approval request mail creation unit 302, and the approval request confirmation email creation unit 303
07 or the document creation software read from the various recording media such as the CD-ROM 214 into the RAM 203, specifically, word processing application software such as "Ichitaro" manufactured and sold by the present applicant. The function of each unit is realized by the CPU 201 or the like executing the instruction processing according to the instruction.

Further, the transmitting section 304 and the receiving section 305
Is HD205, FD207, or CD-ROM2
And various communication programs such as TCP / IP which are read from various recording media such as 14 to the RAM 203 and called and used by the document creation software (this is usually provided as a part of an operating system).
The functions of each unit are realized by the CPU 201 or the like executing the instruction processing in accordance with the instructions described in (1).

Next, e-mail transmission processing of the document creation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, specifically, (1) approval request transmission processing, (2) approval approval processing, and (3) approval return processing will be sequentially described. I do.

(1) Request for Approval Request FIG. 4 shows a document creation apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a request for approval request processing. In step S401, the user interface unit 300 instructs whether or not a request for approval of data being edited has been input, that is, the user Ichiro Ayama instructs the user to send data in the data-in-edit storage unit 301a as a approval mail. It is determined whether or not it has been done.

The input of the above-mentioned instruction is performed by, for example, as shown in FIG.
Is clicked with the mouse 211, and "Email transmission" is clicked in a drop-down menu that opens immediately below, and then "Request for approval" is clicked in a drop-down menu that opens immediately to the right.

Then, when a request for approval transmission is input, that is, when the user interface unit 300 detects the above operation of the user (Yes at step S401), the processing shifts to a request for approval transmission from step S402.

In step S402, the user interface unit 300 displays a request for approval request information setting dialog box as shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 600 denotes a subject input area, and the subject of the decision, for example, “JP006”
An arbitrary character string such as "71 patent applications" is input.
Since this character string is also used as the name of the attached file, as described later, it must not include a character that cannot be used as a file name, for example, the symbol "@".

Reference numeral 601 denotes a caller name input area; 602, a caller address input area for inputting the name or name of the caller and its address; However,
Since the caller name and caller address are usually fixed by the PC, in this embodiment, the name and address of a specific user are displayed in these areas from the beginning, and the displayed character string cannot be edited. Like that.

Reference numeral 603 denotes a requester input area, in which the names and addresses of the second to last requesters are listed in the order of request, or in other words, each requester except the final requester is listed in the order of the requester. Input sequentially in ascending order. Here, Jiro Boba, the chief of the manager who is Ichiro Ayama, the top of the sender, and Saburo C, the chief of the section, the next chief, are in order.

Note that the requester input area 603 displays the requester designated at the time of sending the previous request for approval mail as an initial value. If it is necessary to incorporate a new requestor, the add button 604 is pressed. To display a dialog box for adding a request for approval as shown in FIG. When the address of the new approver is entered in this dialog and the OK button 700 is pressed, the approver is entered in the approver input area 6.
Inserted immediately before the approver selected in 03. On the other hand, when it is necessary to skip any of the approver displayed, the user can press the delete button 605 to delete the selected approver from the approver input area 603.

Reference numeral 606 denotes an area for inputting a final candidate.
Enter the name and address of the last approver, that is, the last approver. Here, we are the superior of section manager C Tasaburo,
Enter the director D Hashiro. As described later, the name and address of a specific user may be input in advance here.

Reference numeral 607 denotes a password setting button.
When this button is pressed, a password input dialog as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. If a password is entered in this dialog and the OK button 800 is pressed, the attached file of the sent request email cannot be opened unless the password is entered.

When the user presses the OK button 608 in the setting dialog of FIG. 6, the user interface unit 300 displays the approval request transmission information confirmation dialog as shown in FIG. 9 in the subsequent step S403. In the figure,
A subject display area 900 displays the subject input in the subject input area 600 of the setting dialog of FIG. 6 as it is. Reference numeral 901 denotes a caller display area, and the name of the caller input in the caller name input area 601 in FIG.
A display is made in combination with the sender's address input in the sender's address input area 602.

Reference numeral 902 denotes a password display area.
If the password for opening the attached file is set in step S402, the character string "****"
Is displayed. If the password has not been set, the character string "not set" is displayed. Reference numeral 903 denotes a requester display area, which displays the name and e-mail address of each requester entered in the requester input area 603 and the final requester input area 606 in FIG. 6 in the order of request.

Then, in this dialog, a send button 90
4 is pressed, the user interface unit 300
Receives the request for approval request via the document preparation unit 301, the approval request mail creation unit 302 creates a request for approval request in the subsequent step S404. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the approval mail creation process in step S404 in FIG.

In step S1001, the attached file creating unit 302a creates an attached file of the request mail to be transmitted. First, a new file having a format as shown in FIG.
The data in the editing data storage unit 301a is written in a, and the subject displayed in the subject display area 900 of the confirmation dialog of FIG. 9 is written in the file name area 1100b. When a password is set in the dialog shown in FIG. 8, an encrypted version of the password is written to the password area 1100c.

Further, a decision mode flag 1100d indicating that this file is a file to be subjected to a decision approval / return processing described later is set to ON, that is, 1. The name and address of the caller and all the approver displayed in the caller display area 901 and the approver display area 903 are displayed in the approval route area 1100e in the order in which the approval mail is transferred, for example. Fill in the space separated by the symbol ",".

Next, in step S1002, the body creating unit 302b creates the body of the draft decision e-mail by using the fixed sentences held in advance. The text creation unit 302b according to the present embodiment holds two types of fixed phrases,
When the next approver is not the final approver, a fixed phrase as shown in FIG. 12, and when the next approver is the final approver, FIG.
Each of the fixed phrases as shown in FIG. Here, since the next approver, Jiro Baba, is not the final approver, the text of the text is as shown in FIG.

Further, in step S1003, the header creating unit 302c creates a header of the approval mail. First,
The predetermined character string held in advance, the date and time when the send button 904 was pressed in the confirmation dialog of FIG. 9, the name of the caller displayed in the caller display area 901 and the title displayed in the subject display area 900 Combine the subject,
For example, "(Ichitaro Decision) 2000/09/13 1
3:15 A patent application filed by Ichiro Ayama JP00671 "
Create a string such as Then, this is written in a predetermined area of the mail header whose format is determined in advance, which is allocated to the headline.

The header creating section 302c stores the name and address displayed in the caller display area 901;
Here, "A Yamaichiro" and "akiyama @ justs"
system. co. jp ”is written in a predetermined area in the header as a transmission source. Further, the requester display area 903
, The name and address of the approver who was displayed at the top, here "Biba Jiro" and "baba @ justsystem"
-Service. co. jp ”is written in a predetermined area in the header as a transmission destination. In addition to the heading, source and destination, the header creating unit 302c sequentially writes items normally described in the mail header, such as the transmission date and time and the file type, in a predetermined area in the header.

Then, in step S1004, the request for approval e-mail creating unit 302 executes the above-described steps S1001 to S1003.
It outputs to the sending unit 304 an instruction to send the mail, together with the data of the mail for approval including the mail header, the mail text, and the attached file created in step (1). After that, the process according to this flowchart ends, and the process proceeds to step S405 in FIG.

In step S 405, the approval confirmation mail creation unit 303 that has received the approval request transmission instruction from the user interface unit 300 via the document creation unit 301 creates an approval confirmation mail to be transmitted at the same time as the approval email. The procedure for creating the approval confirmation email is the same as the procedure for creating the approval email shown in FIG. 10, but the details of the processing in each step include the following differences.

First, the attached file creation unit 303a of the approval request confirmation mail creation unit 303 copies the file created by the attached file creation unit 302a of the approval request email creation unit 302, sets the approval mode flag 1100d to OFF, and sets this to OFF. It is diverted as it is to the attachment confirmation e-mail. Therefore, the difference between the attachment file of the approval mail and the attachment file of the approval confirmation mail is determined by the approval mode flag 11
00d is standing, that is, as described later,
At that time, only the tool box shown in FIG. 19 is displayed.

The body creating unit 303b of the request for approval confirmation mail creating unit 303 holds a fixed sentence as shown in FIG. 14 instead of the fixed sentence shown in FIG. 12 or FIG. Then, the name of the attached file is described below “Subject:” of the fixed phrase, and the sender described in the determined route area 1100e of the attached file is described below “Sender:” and “Applicant:”. And the names and addresses of all the decision makers. Further, two question marks, which are unprocessed symbols, are successively inserted before the name of each entered applicator to create a mail body as shown in FIG.

Further, the header creation unit 303c of the approval confirmation mail creation unit 303 sends the approval requester display area 9
The caller himself in the caller display area 901 is set instead of the requester at the head of 03. Therefore, the sender and destination of the approval confirmation mail transmitted simultaneously with the approval mail are the same.

Next, in step S 406, the sending unit 304 that has received the approval request mail and the approval request confirmation mail from the approval request creation unit 302 and the approval request confirmation mail creation unit 303.
Determines the necessity of a dial-up connection to the Internet 100 with reference to the destinations of those mails. Then, when it is necessary (Yes at Step S406), a connection is made to the nearest access point according to a predetermined protocol at Step S407.

In step S 408, transmitting section 304 transmits a request for approval to the first requester, and then proceeds to step S 408.
At 409, a request for confirmation of approval is transmitted to the sender. Then, the processing according to this flowchart ends.
It should be noted that the reason for sending the approval confirmation mail to itself together with the transmission of the approval mail is to leave the content of the sent approval mail in the reception history of the mailer on hand.

In the above description, the file to be transmitted by the sender is created from scratch. However, since the format of the document for approval is usually specified, for example, W
A template file (model) published on the WW server may be downloaded, and the file may be created by filling in necessary information in the template.

In this template file, for example, a CSV format file listing the employee numbers and names, department names, and extension numbers of all employees is set, and when the numbers are entered in the employee number entry fields of the template, , The name of the employee of that number can be automatically entered in the name field or the like.

Further, for example, in the case of a request for approval of a patent application, even if the request is transmitted from any sender and passed through which requester, at least the final decision is made by the director of the intellectual property department. Applicants are often decided.
Then, when "Send a request for approval" is selected from the menu for the completed template, the immediately displayed template shown in FIG.
In the final decision-maker input area 606 of the setting dialog,
The name and address of the final approver specified in the template may be input from the beginning.

The function of creating such a template file may be provided in each of the document creating units 301 of the document creating apparatuses 101 to 104. For example, by selecting “File-Email transmission-Approval document setting” from the menu bar, an arbitrary file is set as a template file for approval, and the file shown in FIG.
The final approval requester can be specified by the approval document setting dialog as shown in (1). In addition, the tabs are switched as shown in FIG. 17 so that a CSV file used for input support can be designated.

(2) Request for approval of approval According to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the approval e-mail sent from the person in charge, A. Ichiro A, who uses the document creating apparatus 101 of FIG. Is received by the document creation apparatus 102 that performs the processing. Then, the approval or return is determined in the document creation device 102. Next, a description will be given of the procedure of the approval approval process of the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a approval approval process of the document creating apparatus 102 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In step S1801, the document creation device 10
2 is the transmission unit 30 of the document creation apparatus 101.
4 and receives the request for approval e-mail. And
In step S1802, the document creation unit 301 opens the attached file, that is, the data area 11 of the file.
The data such as characters and images stored in 00a is read into the data-in-editing data storage unit 301a to make it editable.

At this time, the user interface unit 30
0 displays the above data on the screen and also displays a toolbox dedicated to the approval process as shown in FIG. This tool box is displayed only when the approval mode flag 1100d of the read file is ON. Therefore, it is not displayed when the file attached to the approval confirmation mail or a normal document file is opened.

In step S1803, the user interface unit 300 determines whether or not the user has approved the contents of the approval request mail, specifically, whether or not the approval icon 1900 of the tool box has been clicked with the mouse 211. When the approval is instructed (Yes at Step S1803), the process proceeds to the approval approval process at Step S1804 and thereafter.

In step S1804, user interface unit 300 displays a transmission destination selection dialog as shown in FIG. This dialog is for selecting the transmission destination of the approval confirmation mail. In the figure, reference numeral 2000 denotes a destination input area, and an add button 2
By pressing 001 or the delete button 2002, an arbitrary destination can be added or deleted.

In the destination input area 2000, as an initial value, of the attached file read in step S1802, of the name and address of each person described in the approval request route area 1100e, the user, that is, the current recipient, is set. , And the previous sender and the requester are displayed. In other words, the sending destination of the approval mail is, by default, all persons who have passed this approval mail. When the OK button 2003 is pressed in this dialog, the process moves to step S1805.

In step S1805, the document creating unit 301, which has received the approval approval instruction from the user interface unit 300, includes the approval approval approval, the date and time, and the name of the applicant in the data in the editing data storage unit 301a. For example, "2000/09/15 16:50 <
Authorization> Add a character string such as “Jiba B”.

However, in the present embodiment, instead of directly inserting the above-mentioned character string into the existing character string, a UI of “pasting a tag with the above-mentioned character string into the above-mentioned file” is adopted. There is no essential difference between the two in that a new character string indicating the result of the approval is added, only in the way that the result is shown to the user, but by taking the form of a sticky note that is more conspicuous, the result of the approval The trouble of searching for a description location is reduced.

Note that the name of the approver, such as "Jiro Boba", incorporated in the above character string is opened by clicking the option icon 1902 in the tool box shown in FIG.
It can be changed as needed in the Decision Option dialog as shown in FIG. In this dialog, other items other than the name of the applicator may be set.

In step S1806, the document creation unit 301
Refers to the request route area 1100e of the attached file read in step S1802, and determines whether there is a next requestor, that is, whether the current recipient is the final requestor. If it is not the final approver (No at step S1806), both the approval e-mail and the approval confirmation e-mail are created in steps S1807 and S1808, and if it is the final approver (step S1).
806 affirmative), the process proceeds to step S1808, and only the approval confirmation mail is created. In this case, since Jiro Bba is not the final approver, a decision e-mail and a decision confirmation e-mail are created.

In step S1807, the request for approval mail creation unit 302 creates a request for approval request mail to be transmitted to the next request for approval request in the same procedure as the request for approval request mail creation processing shown in FIG. First, the attached file creation unit 302a copies the file received in step S1801, and stores the contents of the data area 1100a in the editing data storage unit 301.
Replaced with the contents of a, and use this as the attached file of the approval mail. Therefore, the attached file of the approval request mail transmitted from the document creation device 102
The above-mentioned tag is simply pasted to the attached file of the request for approval email transmitted from the company.

The text creating unit 302b selects one of the fixed texts shown in FIG. 12 or FIG. 13 depending on whether the next approver extracted from the appropriation request route area 1100e is the final approver. . here,
Since Saburo C, the next approver of Jiro B, is not the last approver, the fixed text in FIG. 12 is the mail text.

Also, the header creating unit 302c sets the heading of the approval request mail received in step S1801 as “(Ichitaro approval) 2000/09/13 13:15
A. Ichiro Yamayama, JP00671 Patent Application "as is. The destination is the name and address of the next approver, extracted from the appropriation request route area 1100e of the attached file, in this case, "Saburo C", "nj6s-cd @ sun
net. ne. jp ”is set. Then, an instruction to transmit the mail is output to the transmission unit 304 together with the data of the approval mail including the mail header, the mail text, and the attached file created above.

In step S1808, the attached file creation unit 303a of the approval confirmation mail creation unit 303 sends the approval mode flag 11 of the file created in the same manner as the attached file creation unit 302a of step S1807.
00d is turned OFF, and this is set as the attached file of the approval confirmation mail.

The text creating unit 303b sets the name of the attached file received in step S1801 under the “subject:” of the fixed phrase shown in FIG. 14, and the “sender:” and “approval:” Then, the name and address of the sender and the requester described in the request route area 1100e of the file are entered. In addition, a sign "O" indicating approval is given before the approver "Jiro Baba", and a question mark which is a sign indicating unprocessed before the applicators "Saburo C Ta" and "D Hashiro D". Insert two consecutive
A mail body as shown in FIG. 22 is created.

The header creating unit 303c processes the headline of the approval request mail received in step S1801 so that the fact of approval can be recognized, for example, “(Ichitaro approval / authorization) 2000/09/13 13:15 A. Ichiro A Yamaguchi, JP00671 Patent Application "is set as the header of the header. Also, the destination is set to step S18.
04, each destination set in the selection dialog shown in FIG. Then, together with the data of the approval confirmation mail including the mail header, the mail text, and the attached file created above, an instruction to transmit the mail is output to the transmission unit 304.

Next, in step S1809, the sending unit 304 that has received the request for approval or the request for approval from the request for approval mail creation unit 302 or 303.
Performs a dial-up connection in step S1810 if it is determined in step S1809 that it is necessary. Then, in step S1811, if there is a request for approval, the mail is transmitted to the next requester, and then a request for confirmation of approval is transmitted to each destination set in step S1804. Then, the processing according to this flowchart ends.

(3) Decision-return processing According to the flowchart of FIG. 18, the decision-making e-mail transmitted from the document manager 102 of Chief B-Jiro B is sent to the document manager 103 of Saburo C. Received. Then, in the document creation device 103,
Authorization or return is determined as described above. Here, assuming that section manager C Saburo Tadashi has also approved the approval request, the approval request email having the text shown in FIG. 13 is sent to the final approver, Manager D Hashirou, and the approval request confirmation email is sent to Ichiro A Yama, Jiro Baba and It is transmitted to each of C Saburo C.

Next, a description will be given of a procedure of a process of returning a request for approval by the document creating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 23 shows a document creating apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a decision return process of 04.

Steps S2301 and S2302 are
This is the same as steps S1801 and S1802 in FIG. In step S2303, the user interface unit 300 determines whether the return icon 1901 of the tool box shown in FIG. Then, when the reinstatement is instructed (Yes in step S2303), the process proceeds to the approval reconciliation return process in step S2304 and thereafter.

In step S2304, similarly to step S1804 in FIG. 18, the user interface unit 300 causes the selection dialog shown in FIG. 20 to specify the destination of the approval confirmation mail. Then, step S23
In step 05, the document creating unit 301, which has received the request for approval return from the user interface unit 300, includes, in the data in the data-in-editing storage unit 301a, a message indicating the return of the approval request, the date and time, and the name of the applicant.
09/09/20 9:35 <Return> D Hashiro
Add a character string such as This character string is also added to the data in the form of a tag, as in the case of authorization. Note that the character string in the tag may include a comment such as the reason for the return, in addition to the date and time of the return.

Then, in step S2306, the approval request mail creation unit 302 that has received the approval request return instruction from the document creation unit 301 creates an approval request confirmation mail in the same manner as step S1808 in FIG. 18, and is required in steps S2307 and S2308. After establishing a dial-up connection according to the above, in step S2309,
The data is transmitted to each transmission destination set in step S2304.
Then, the processing according to this flowchart ends.

The following is a summary of the flow of a series of requests for approval described above. First, Ichiro Ayama prepares a sentence describing the contents of the invention in charge, selects "Apply Request" from the menu shown in FIG. 5, and fills in the necessary items in the setting dialog of FIG.

It is not necessary to temporarily save the above sentence as a file prior to transmission. A file into which the above sentence is inserted is automatically created, and the subject “JP00671 patent application” input in the above dialog is given as a file name. This file is set to the approval mode and holds information indicating the transfer route. Then, this file is attached to the mail body shown in FIG. 12, and the heading “(Ichitaro Decision Making) 2000/0
9/13 13:15 J. B. Jiro B, the next approver, based on "Ichiro A Yamaguchi, JP00671 Patent Application".

At the same time as the transmission of the request for approval, a request for confirmation of approval having the same headline as the request for approval is transmitted to Ichiro Ayama. This confirmation email is shown in Figure 1.
The same file as the attached file of the approval email is attached to the text shown in FIG. 5 except that the approval mode is OFF.

A. Jiro B. B, who has received the request for approval from A. Ichiro, uses the toolbox shown in FIG.
Click 900 and select the destination of the approval confirmation mail in the selection dialog of FIG. Then, "2
000/09/15 16:50 <Authorization> A file identical to the attachment file of the approval request mail received from Ichiro Ayama, except that a sticky note “Jiro Boba” is newly attached is the mail shown in FIG. The same headline attached to the body text as the received Decision Mail is “(Ichitaro Decision) 20
00/09/13 13:15 A Yamaha Ichiro JP006
71 patent applications "to the next approver, Saburo C.

At the same time as sending the request for approval, the heading “(Ichitaro Request / Authorization) 2000/09/13 13:
15 is sent to Ichiro A Yama and Jiro Baba himself. This approval confirmation mail is the one shown in FIG. 22 with the same file as the attachment file of the approval mail received from Ichiro Ayama except that the approval mode is OFF.

When Sadaburo C, who has received the approval mail from Jiro Baba, approves the approval in the same manner, a sticky note stating that Saburo C was approved is attached to the attached file from Jiro Bba, and FIG. It is sent to the final approver, D Hashiro D, with the text shown. At this time, the approval confirmation e-mail
The message is transmitted to Ichiro Ayama, Jiro Baba and Saburo Cada.

[0119] Then, upon receiving the request for approval from Saburo C, Shiro Dha returns the request for approval, and only the confirmation confirmation mail to that effect is sent to Ichiro A Yama, Jiro Bba, Saburo C, and Saburo C Sent to Shiro himself. Conversely, even if D Hashirou approves the request for approval, only the approval request confirmation e-mail is transmitted from the final approver, D Hashiro, and no approval request e-mail is sent. It should be noted that the approval confirmation mail transmitted from the final approver can be particularly referred to as an approval processing end mail.

As described above, in an environment in which electronic mail can be transmitted and received and the document creation software according to the embodiment of the present invention can be executed, the physical / electronic location of the installed computer, or Regardless of the model and what other software can be executed, it is possible to send and receive the approval email.

Therefore, it is possible to quickly and efficiently make a request for approval without using a complicated system by introducing expensive servers and groupware.
In particular, decision-making as an organization was not possible with the prior art, even in a "loose" organization where members are mobile or have members across multiple organizations, where approval emails could not be used. Can be performed smoothly.

The e-mail transmission method described in the above embodiment is realized by executing a prepared program on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as HD, FD, CD-ROM, MO, and DVD, and is read out from the recording medium and executed by the computer. In addition, this program, via the recording medium,
It can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0123]

As described above, the document creation apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a document creation apparatus for creating a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored. A file in which the data is stored, and the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients specified by the receiver specifying means are stored in the specified order. And a transmitting means for transmitting the file created by the file creating means to the address of the first recipient among the plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designating means. , Characters and other data, as well as a file holding its own transfer path, are sent to the first recipient, and the receiver refers to this transfer path And by an effect that the document creating apparatus which can slide into transfer files as the set transfer path at the time of a transmission without building a special system is obtained.

A document creating apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is a document creating apparatus for creating a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored. Means for receiving a file in which addresses of a plurality of recipients and addresses of a plurality of recipients are stored in order, and a file received by the receiving means, the current recipient among addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file. Transmission means for transmitting to the address stored next to the address of the user, so that a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters can be transferred from one recipient to the next recipient Sent, which allows files to be transferred along the transfer path set at the time of outgoing calls without the need to build a special system There is an effect that the document creation apparatus can be obtained.

The document creation apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention is the document creation apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising data addition means for adding data to the file received by the reception means, The transmitting means transmits the file to which the data is added by the data adding means, so that the received file, after adding some data, to the next recipient according to the transfer path held in the file. Sent, this allows files to be transferred along the transfer route set at the time of outgoing without building a special system, and adding arbitrary data to the file on the route There is an effect that a document creation device capable of performing the above is obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the document creation apparatus according to the third aspect, the data adding unit adds character data indicating a result of the approval to the file in a tag format. Each time a message goes through a certain recipient, a sticky note indicating the result of the recipient's approval is sequentially attached to the file, which allows the file to be copied according to the transfer route set at the time of outgoing without building a special system. An effect is obtained in that a document creating device that can transfer the document and reflects the result of the request of each recipient in the file can be obtained.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the document creation apparatus according to the fourth aspect, further, an electronic mail indicating a result of the approval is stored in a file received by the receiving means. And a second transmitting means for transmitting to an address stored before the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of recipients.
The result of the decision by a certain recipient is notified to the sender and all recipients before the recipient by e-mail, so that the transfer route set at the time of calling can be set without special system construction. You can transfer your files and, for each person on the transfer path,
This has the effect of providing a document creating device capable of promptly notifying the result of the approval of each recipient after the person.

An electronic mail system according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is an electronic mail system including first and second document creating devices for creating a file storing at least character and / or image data. ,
The first document creation device includes a plurality of recipient designation units for designating a plurality of recipients and their order, a plurality of recipients storing the data, and a plurality of addresses designated by a sender address and the recipient designation unit. File creating means for creating a file in which the addresses of the recipients are stored in the designated order; and receiving the file created by the file creating means at the first reception among the plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designation means. Transmitting means for transmitting the file transmitted by the transmitting means to the file, and transmitting the file received by the receiving means to the file. Transmitting means for transmitting to the address stored next to the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of stored recipients. In addition to data such as characters, a file holding its own transfer path is sent from the sender to the first recipient and then to the next recipient, so that it can be sent without building a special system There is an effect that an electronic mail system capable of transferring a file along a transfer path set occasionally is obtained.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail system according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the second document creation device further comprises a data received in the file received by the receiving means. Since the transmitting unit transmits the file to which the data is added by the data adding unit, the received file is retained in the file after adding some data. It is transmitted to the next recipient according to the transfer path, which allows the file to be transferred along the transfer path set at the time of calling without building a special system, and arbitrary data on the path An effect is obtained that an electronic mail system capable of adding a file to a file can be obtained.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail system according to the seventh aspect, the data adding means adds character data indicating a result of the approval to the file in a tag format. Therefore, each time a message passes through a certain recipient, a sticky note indicating the approval result of the recipient is sequentially attached to the file, which allows the user to follow the transfer route set at the time of outgoing without building a special system. You can transfer files,
There is an effect that an electronic mail system capable of reflecting the result of the request of each recipient in the file can be obtained.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail system according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the second document creation device further comprises an electronic mail indicating a result of the approval. Since there is provided the second transmitting means for transmitting to the address stored before the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file received by the receiving means, The result of the approval is notified by e-mail to the sender and all recipients before the recipient,
It is possible to transfer files along the transfer route set at the time of outgoing without building a special system, and to give each person on the transfer route the approval result of each recipient after that person. There is an effect that an e-mail system capable of prompt notification can be obtained.

An electronic mail transmitting method according to the invention of claim 10 is the electronic mail transmitting method for transmitting at least a file storing character and / or image data as an electronic mail. A file in which the data is stored, and the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients specified in the receiver specifying step are stored in the specified order; And a transmission step of transmitting the file created in the file creation step to the address of the first recipient among the plurality of recipients specified in the recipient designation step. , A file that holds its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters, is sent to the first recipient, and the receiver refers to this transfer path By Rukoto, an effect that the electronic mail transmission method which can slide into transfer files as the set transfer path at the time of a transmission without building a special system is obtained.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method for transmitting at least a file storing character and / or image data as an electronic mail, the data is stored. And a receiving step of receiving a file in which the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients are stored in order; and And a transmission step of transmitting to the address stored next to the address of the current recipient, so that a file holding its own transfer path in addition to data such as characters is transmitted from one recipient to the next. To the recipients of the call, so that the file can be transmitted along the transfer route set when the call was made without any special system. E-mail transmission method that can slide into transfer an effect that can be obtained.

An electronic mail transmitting method according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the electronic mail transmitting method according to the eleventh aspect, further comprising a data adding step of adding data to the file received in the receiving step. In the transmitting step, the file to which the data is added in the data adding step is transmitted, so that the received file has some data added thereto, and then receives the next recipient according to the transfer path held in the file. Is sent to
E-mail transmission that allows you to transfer files along the transfer route set at the time of outgoing without building a special system, and to add arbitrary data to the file on that route This has the effect that a method can be obtained.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method according to the twelfth aspect, in the data adding step, character data indicating a result of the approval is written to a file in a sticky form. Each time a message goes through a certain recipient, a sticky note indicating the result of the recipient's approval is sequentially attached to the file. This allows the transfer route set at the time of outgoing call to be established without building a special system. As a result, it is possible to obtain an e-mail transmission method in which the file can be transferred in the same manner as described above and the result of the approval of each recipient can be reflected in the file.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method according to the thirteenth aspect, the electronic mail indicating the result of the approval is further added to the file received in the receiving step. Since the method includes a second transmission step of transmitting to the address stored before the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of stored recipients, the result of the approval by a certain recipient is All recipients before the recipient are notified by e-mail, so that files can be transferred along the transfer route set at the time of calling without having to build a special system, and transfer An effect is obtained in that an e-mail transmission method capable of promptly notifying each person on the route of the result of the request for approval of each recipient after the person is obtained.

A recording medium according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention stores a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects. Can be read by a computer, thereby providing an effect that a recording medium capable of executing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 14 by a computer is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a system configuration of an electronic mail system configured by a document creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a hardware configuration of the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram functionally showing the configuration of the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a request for approval request of the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen when the “send request” command is selected in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a request for approval request information setting dialog displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a dialog box for adding a request for approval, which is displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a password input dialog displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a approval request transmission information confirmation dialog displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a request for creating a request for approval by the document creating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the structure of an attached file created in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a standard sentence held for creating a text of a request for approval in the document creating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a standard sentence held for creating a body of a request for approval in the document creating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a standard sentence held for creating a text of a request for approval confirmation in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a body of a request for approval confirmation mail created by the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a draft document setting dialog displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a draft document setting dialog displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a request for approval process of the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a tool box dedicated to approval processing, displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a dialog box for selecting a request for confirmation request mail displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a request for approval option dialog displayed in the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the body of the approval confirmation mail created by the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a decision-return processing of the document creation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Internet 101, 102, 103, 104 Document creation device 105, 106, 107, 108 Public telephone line 200 Bus or cable 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 204 HDD 205 HD 206 FDD 207 FD 208 Display 209 I / F 210 Keyboard 211 Mouse 212 Scanner 213 Printer 214 CD-ROM 215 CD-ROM drive 300 User interface unit 301 Document creation unit 301a Editing data storage unit 302 Request for approval mail creation unit 303 Request for approval confirmation mail creation unit 304 Transmission unit 305 Receiving unit

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A document creating apparatus for creating a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored, a receiver designating means for designating a plurality of recipients and their order; File creating means for creating a file in which the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designating means are stored in the designated order; and the file created by the file creating means is A transmitting unit for transmitting to an address of a first recipient among a plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designating unit. 2. A document creating apparatus for creating a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored, wherein said data is stored, and a sender address and a plurality of recipient addresses are stored in order. Receiving means for receiving the received file, and transmitting the file received by the receiving means to an address stored next to an address of the current recipient among addresses of a plurality of recipients stored in the file. Means, comprising: a document creation device. 3. A data adding unit for adding data to a file received by the receiving unit, wherein the transmitting unit transmits the file to which data is added by the data adding unit. The document creation device according to claim 2. 4. The document creating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the data adding unit adds character data indicating a result of the approval to the file in a tag format. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail indicating the result of the approval is sent to an address stored before the current address among the addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file received by the receiving means. 5. The document creation apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a second transmission unit for transmitting the document to the document. 6. An electronic mail system including first and second document creation devices for creating a file storing at least character and / or image data, wherein the first document creation device includes a plurality of recipients. Means for designating the address and the order, and the data are stored, and the address of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designating means are stored in the designated order. File creating means for creating a file, and sending means for sending the file created by the file creating means to an address of a first recipient among a plurality of recipients designated by the recipient designation means, The second document creation device includes: a receiving unit that receives a file transmitted by the transmitting unit; E-mail system, wherein a file having a transmission means for transmitting to the address stored next to the address of the current recipient of the addresses of the recipients that are stored in the file. 7. The second document creating apparatus further includes a data adding unit that adds data to a file received by the receiving unit, and the transmitting unit has the data added by the data adding unit. The electronic mail system according to claim 6, wherein the electronic mail system transmits a file. 8. The electronic mail system according to claim 7, wherein the data adding unit adds character data indicating a result of the approval to the file in a tag format. 9. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second document creation device further transmits an e-mail indicating a result of the request for approval to a current recipient among a plurality of recipient addresses stored in the file received by the receiving means. 9. The e-mail system according to claim 8, further comprising: a second transmission unit that transmits to an address stored before the address. 10. An e-mail transmission method for transmitting, as an e-mail, a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored, a recipient designation step of designating a plurality of recipients and their order, A file creation step of creating a file in which the addresses of the sender and the addresses of the plurality of recipients designated in the recipient designation step are stored in the designated order and stored in the file creation step. Sending the file to the address of the first recipient among the plurality of recipients designated in the recipient designation step. 11. An e-mail transmission method for transmitting, as an e-mail, a file in which at least character and / or image data is stored, wherein the data is stored, and an address of a sender and addresses of a plurality of recipients are stored. A receiving step of receiving the files stored in order; and an address stored next to the address of the current recipient among the addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file, the file received in the receiving step. And a transmitting step of transmitting to an e-mail. 12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising a data adding step of adding data to the file received in the receiving step, wherein the transmitting step includes transmitting the file to which the data is added in the data adding step. Claim 1
2. The e-mail transmission method according to 1. 13. The electronic mail transmission method according to claim 12, wherein in the data adding step, character data indicating a result of the approval is added to the file in the form of a tag. 14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail indicating the result of the request is sent to an address stored before the current address of the plurality of addresses of the plurality of recipients stored in the file received in the receiving step. 14. The electronic mail transmitting method according to claim 13, further comprising a second transmitting step of transmitting to the electronic mail. 15. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 10 is recorded.