JP2002123474A - Information processing system using internet and internet mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct an application processing system which collects information by Internet mail from an unspecific Internet user and performs data processing without using a server by using a processor PC connected directly to the Internet. SOLUTION: A homepage created to collect Internet user information is preliminarily registered in a provider, and data inputted by the unspecific Internet user that uses the homepage are rewritten into Internet mail by using a CGI function provided by the provider and transmitted to the mail ID of a system provider. The data are received by the mail data analysis program of a processing performing device (PC) managed by the system provider, subjected to a syntax analysis/consistency checking and subsequently written in an input data file in the case of proper data. Meanwhile, in the case of improper data, error mail is prepared and sent back to the Internet mail of the user who has inputted the data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for a user using a processing requesting device (personal computer) connected to the Internet from an unspecified location to a URL (Uniform).
m Resource Locator), calls the homepage, converts the information input by the guidance of the homepage into Internet mail data, transmits it to the processing execution device of the system provider connected to the Internet, and executes data processing there. About the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, when a user of a processing request device PC-U (2) connected to the Internet collects information input using the Internet (4), a processing request is issued. The data input by the device PC-U (2) is transmitted to the server (2) of the mail transmitting / receiving device for system provision.
0), the validity of the data is checked by parsing, etc., and after the Internet mail data is decomposed, the processing is executed by the processing program AP (22).

According to the above invention, the mail transmitting / receiving device used in this system has a mail server function, and it is necessary to construct a system configuration including the server. And, since it is connected to the processing request device in the WAN / LAN (23), this mail transmitting / receiving device (mail server) is required to provide data input from the processing request device PC-U (2) for 24 hours. It needs to operate for 24 hours.

Further, a server (2) which is a mail transmitting / receiving device
Regarding the operation 0), the system administrator has to perform many operations such as normal operation, operation at the time of failure, response to system change, and requires a lot of labor and advanced technology.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned method, the server (20) is always required, so that the cost of introducing and operating the server (20) is imposed, and the technology for constructing and operating the advanced system is required. Without it, there was a problem that system construction was difficult.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to support a homepage service function provided by a provider and an equivalent function using a CGI function without using an own server, and allow data input from a processing request device to be performed for 24 hours. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing system in which the system execution device does not always operate but can be operated when necessary without operating, and does not require a server.

[0007]

In order to collect and process information via the Internet, a general method is to install a server (20) as a processing execution device and perform data processing there. A major feature of the present invention is that the server (20) is not used and the Internet mail is used and the processing execution device is a personal computer (PC). In order to achieve the above object, the present invention focuses on the following four items and employs means for constructing the present system.

First, since an unspecified Internet user is targeted for input of user information, a man-machine interface for the Internet user is considered to be important. Therefore, HTML (Hyper Te
Create a homepage using xt Markup Language and provide it to a provider (ASP: App).
location Service Provider
). After that, using the processing request device,
RL is designated, this home page is called, the contents of the processing and the operation procedure are guided, and the input is guided.

The second means is a means for transferring the user information input in the first item to the system provider. This means uses the mail transmission of the CGI function and uses the Internet mail function to send the Internet mail data to the system provider. Is transmitted.

Third, when using Internet mail, whether or not the mail ID is preferred or not, the mail ID is exposed to the eyes of another person. If the mail ID is misused by another person and mail data or remodeled data not related to this processing is used, the mail ID and the remodeled data are not used. There is a possibility that it will be mixed. For this reason, based on this, it is important to select and exclude the input data of the system and other contaminated data, stylize the body of Internet mail data, insert identification strings, and embed keywords. As a result, the system was selected and excluded.

Fourth, when an Internet user inputs information, an operation error, a failure in a transmission path, a program failure, or intentionally sending duplicate data is considered. Therefore, as a means for preventing this duplicate data, a method is adopted in which an input data management file is created and this file is checked when the mail data analysis program obtains the input data, to prevent the data from being mixed.

In this system, many advantages can be obtained in terms of system configuration, cost, development and operation by using Internet mail.
There are many disadvantages regarding the reliability, confidentiality, and security of mail data. Therefore, in the present invention, the demerit is suppressed by devising various methods of expressing the contents of mail data.

Before describing the means for solving the problems, the functions of the present system and an outline of the processing will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the present system. First, the configuration of this system includes a processing request device PC-U (2), a processing execution device PC-G (1), and a processing auxiliary device PC-H.
(3) is TCP / IP (Transmission Co.)
ntrol Protocol / Internet P
connection to the Internet (4).

The software configuration of the processing execution device PC-G (1) is composed of a mail data analysis program AP1 (11) which plays the role of a base of the present system and a processing program AP2 (17) in which the system provider operates business processes. Made up of

A provider (7) connected to the Internet (4) uses a homepage service function (8) for accessing a homepage created by the system provider via the Internet and information input using the homepage into Internet mail data. CGI function for rebuilding and sending to system provider's mail ID (9)
Must be provided.

The outline of the processing first describes, as preparatory processing, service contents and operation procedures for smoothly inputting input information of a processing program to be serviced by the system provider using the processing request device PC-U (2). A homepage (10) is created and registered with the provider (7) using the processing auxiliary device PC-H (3). This allows the Internet user to execute the system and input processing data 24 hours a day. Next, as the main processing, the Internet user activates the Internet, calls this homepage (10), and inputs the input information of the processing program AP2 (17). In this input process, the homepage is CGI provided by the provider.
Using the function (9), the input information is converted into Internet mail data and transmitted to the system provider of the processing execution device PC-G (1) to the mail ID. At this time, the creation date when the mail data was created is acquired and added to the Internet mail data. Thereafter, the system provider activates the mail data analysis program AP1 (11) in the processing execution device PC-G (1) to collect the input information input by the Internet user, and the mail reception protocol POP3 (5). To receive this mail data. Then, the user mail ID is extracted from the header information (contents of the From) of the mail, and the items of each line specified from the body of the stylized data format are extracted to create the input data file IF (14). Thereafter, the processing program AP2 (17) performs predetermined processing based on the input data file IF (14). The above is the outline of the processing. Next, a description will be given of a solution to the problem that has arisen in the present invention.

First, the first method for guiding and inputting the processing contents and operation procedures on the homepage will be described below. FIG. 4 shows a screen transition of a homepage served by the present system. Since the homepage used in the present system differs depending on the contents of the service provided by the system provider, a typical process (ordering of a product) will be described as an example. In this homepage, the menu screen of this system "Welcome screen", "System introduction screen" to guide the service business, "Product introduction screen" to introduce individual products, " An order input screen "and an" order confirmation screen "for confirming the order contents and inputting information of the orderer are provided. First, when a desired product type is selected from the product introduction screen on the screen G3, a corresponding product list on the screen G4 is displayed. When a desired product name is selected from this screen (a mark: plural selections are possible), an order input screen of a screen G5 is displayed. Here, when the quantity is input, an order confirmation screen of screen 6 is displayed. When the user inputs the mail ID together with the name, address, telephone number, and postal code of the orderer and presses the send button, the order is requested. The homepage (created using HTML) represented by the screen transition as described above is registered in the homepage service function of the provider.

Next, a second method of transmitting Internet mail data to a system provider using the Internet mail function will be described below. FIG. 5 is a processing procedure showing a process of obtaining input information using a homepage and creating Internet mail data using the CGI function (9). First, the Internet user uses the present system, starts the Internet (4) from the processing request device PC-U (2) for inputting data, designates the URL of the homepage of the system, and registers it with the provider (7). Called homepage (10).
After that, enter the data according to the screen transition that describes the service content and operation procedure for inputting the input information of the processing program to be serviced by the system provider, confirm the input data content, enter the input user information, and then click the send button. When is pressed, a mail is transmitted to the mail ID of the system provider incorporated in the homepage by the CGI function (9) of the provider. (At this time, on the home page, the input information of G6 in FIG. 4 and the name of the ordered product, unit price, quantity, and amount are described in the text of the Internet mail data.) Then, the transmission information of the transmission data is displayed. (G7 in FIG. 4)

Next, a description will be given of a third method of standardizing the data format in the body of the Internet mail data and selecting the data. Although the description has been given up to the creation of the input information from the Internet user in the Internet mail, the processing execution device PC-G
The next problem is whether to inform the system provider of (1). Therefore, in the present invention, this object is achieved by observing the mail data format specified by MIME, and by defining an original data format for the text data.

First, looking at the characteristics of the Internet mail data, the data path of the Internet mail is open, and the expression of the mail data is completely exposed from outside by not masking the data. There are many opportunities for tampering and theft. From the above, the following measures are taken to guarantee the contents of the Internet mail data.

FIG. 6 shows a standardized mail data format used in this system. The mail data is divided into a header and a body, and the sender (Fro
m), destination (To), title (Subject), date of mail creation (Date), and the like. Then, the collected input information is described in the text.

For the text, lines targeted by the present system were narrowed down by a special identification character string (eg, inputdata) for distinguishing the data phrase of the input information from other communication texts (comments, etc.). Thereafter, data is cut out by a keyword method. Further, the date of creation of the mail data (yymmddttmmssnn)
n) and input data file IF (14) described in the text
When creating an e-mail, check the falsification by comparing the e-mail data creation date and time (contents of Date) recorded in the e-mail header and confirming that they are the same value or the difference is less than a certain value. Was performed. (Usually, when the data part of the mail is corrected, the mail data is updated by the mail software. Therefore, it takes time before the mail is sent to the transmission destination by this Internet mail. Depending on the time difference, it can be determined whether this data has been changed or not after sending the e-mail.)

When a general system applies this method, not all of the two methods of line narrowing method using a dedicated identification character string and data item cutout using a keyword method are applied to the processing program. It should be used in a combination that takes advantage of the characteristics of the data handled in. In other words, when both the narrowing-down method and the keyword method are used, when the narrowing-down method is used but the keyword method is not used (in this case, the positional method is necessarily used), the keyword method is used without using the narrowing-down method (In this case, the keyword method is used for cutting out all the lines) and the case where both are not used is considered. Therefore, a combination suitable for the processing program may be adopted from these four combinations.

Next, a fourth method for preventing the mixing of duplicate data will be described. Processing request device PC-U (2)
It is conceivable that data duplication may occur due to an operation error when data is collected by the method, a failure in the transmission path, a program failure, or the like. In order to cope with this case, the input data management file (15) was created considering that it is necessary to guarantee that there is no data duplication, and a method for preventing this was devised. FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 are diagrams for explaining a method for preventing mixing of duplicate data of a user.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system function configuration, which will be used to explain the relationship between files used in the mail data analysis program AP1 (11). The files handled by the mail data analysis program AP1 (11) are input from the Internet mail inbox (MI) and the Internet mail outbox (MO) used for sending and receiving Internet mail, and from the processing request device PC-U (2). An input data file IF (14) for transferring data to the processing program AP2 (17) and an input data management file I for managing the processing state of all input data of the present system
K (15) and an input data log file IL (16) for storing all input data including error data. In this system, the received Internet mail is received first and processed because the input data management file IK (15) is the first file accessed by the mail data analysis program AP1 (11). At this point, we decided to check for duplication. First, it is considered that duplication of data can be prevented by obtaining the mail ID of the creator at the time of data creation and the creation date and time and managing them as data keys. That is, the input information and the data ID of the information (mail ID and mail creation date / time) are stored in the input data management file IK (15).
And the data key of the input data file IF (14), the data can be properly managed.

The input data management file IK (1
Regarding 5), the processing status of the input data (data receiving, data processing completed, data error processing being performed) is also described, thereby clearly indicating the processing status and improving the processing accuracy. The processing method will be described below based on this.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing processing performed in this system to prevent the incorporation of duplicate data. First, the mail data collected first is stored in the input data log file IL (16) in the same format. (S31)

Next, it is determined whether or not the mail data is newly registered based on whether or not there is data having a key of the input data (S32-1). A data management file IK (15) and an input data file IF (14) are created (S36-
1, S34-1). At this time, the processing state of the input data management file IK (15) is assumed to be data received. Also,
If the data is invalid, it is determined that an error is being processed (S36-
2) Then, an error mail is transmitted (S35-1). Next, if the processing state of the data using the key value as a key in the error correction request is a data error processing, the processing state of the input data management file IK (15) is checked, and the data is correctly corrected in the error processing state. If it is, the input data management file IK (15) is changed to the data reception completed (S
36-2), an input data file IF (14) is created (S35-2). In addition, if the data is not in the error processing state or the illegal data has not been corrected, an error mail is returned again (S35-2, S34-3). At this time, a mail creation date and a mail ID at the time of data input are added to clarify the data identification of the Internet user.

[0029]

The means for solving the problems of the present invention have been described above. Here, the embodiment will be described by describing the processing in time series according to the processing procedure. This system can be divided into three processing blocks. The first block is a processing block for registering a homepage (10) on the Internet (4) using the homepage service function (8) of the provider (7). The second block is a processing block for collecting input information from Internet users using the Internet (4). The third block is a processing block in which the system provider uses the collected Internet user information to execute service business processing.

If the homepage (10) is created when the system is created, there is no need to modify it unless there is a change. The data input of the Internet user is accessible to unspecified Internet users for 24 hours. Further, there is a feature that the processing of the service operation executed by the system provider can be executed at an arbitrary time by observing the time when the input information is collected. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between an information system and Internet users connected thereto in the system functional configuration of the present invention. A processing request device PC-U (2) using this system is connected to the Internet (4), and a provider (7) for registering a home page of the business.
And a processing auxiliary device PC-H (3) used for registering the homepage.

Further, the processing execution device PC-G (1) used by the system provider is connected, has a function of collecting Internet mail data, and creating a mail input data file IF (14) after parsing. A program having a function of executing the mail data analysis program AP1 (11) and the processing program AP2 (17) provided by the system provider and a registered provider (7) of a homepage created for collecting input data. It consists of a homepage support function (8).

Of these, the basic part of the present system is an Internet-related function and a mail data analysis program AP for collecting data transmitted from Internet mail and creating an input data file IF (14).
1 (11). Further, the processing program AP2 (17) and homepage (10) created for each task are parts created for each processing application.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing procedure. First, a processing block to be registered in the homepage of the first block will be described. This is performed as a preparatory work before executing the present system. A business homepage (10) for introducing business service contents to the Internet user and collecting input data is created, and the processing auxiliary device PC-
Register with provider (7) using H3. (S1
1, S12)

Next, a processing block for collecting input information of the second block will be described. The Internet user uses the processing request device PC-U (2) to call this home page in the URL format (http: // www.
xx. co. jp format), data can be input 24 hours a day. (S21)

If data is input according to the guidance on the business service homepage (10), mail data is created by the mail function of the homepage (10). When the transmission button is pressed, the transmission function automatically transmits the transmission button to the mail ID of the system provider on the processing execution device PC-G (1). (S22) Note that, after transmission, a memorandum list of transmission data is displayed, so that the data sender needs to remember the transmission data ID (mail ID and transmission data creation date / time) described therein.

On the other hand, the processing execution device P on the system provider side
In CG (1), mail data is collected using an email data analysis program AP1 (11) at an arbitrary time zone, and an input data log file IL (16) is created. (S3
1) At this time, whether or not the data is invalid is checked by parsing, and if the data is correct, the input data file IF14 and the input data management file IK (15) are created. At this time, the input data management file IF (1
In the processing state of 5), it is assumed that data has been received. (S34, S3
6) On the other hand, if the data is invalid, an error mail is returned and a request for re-input is made using the processing request device PC-U (2). Then, the processing state of the input data management file IK (15) is set to error processing. (S35) The Internet user can refer to the returned error mail, collate it with the memorandum list displayed at the time of data transmission, correct the error, and mail again. (S2
3)

Finally, the service execution block of the system provider of the third block will be described. The processing program AP2 (1) of the processing execution device PC-G (1)
Execute the business process using 7). The specifications of this program are created based on individual business requirements, but the basic functions are search processing (S42), editing processing (S43), execution processing (S44), totaling processing (S45), and printing processing (S4).
6) is being considered. In addition, in the case of business processing in a system form that can be constructed using the base part of the present system, the processing part of the block can be modified and various processing programs can be constructed easily and in a short time.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, a URL is created based on information input under the guidance of a homepage called by designating a URL from a processing request device of an Internet user connected to the Internet. A predetermined processing program can be executed by collecting Internet mail data and using the collected data by a personal computer (PC) connected to the Internet as input information without using an own server.

Since the structure of the present system is divided into a function of a core part and a part used for each processing to be serviced, a service processing program and a home page part can easily add or change business. . Also,
As long as there is no change in the input data file, the homepage serviced to the Internet user can be freely changed according to the technical level of the Internet user.

By standardizing the data format of Internet mail, inserting an identification character string, and converting it into a keyword,
The selection of data used in the processing program has become easier. Furthermore, duplicate data and remodeled data can be excluded by writing the date and time of mail data creation in the identification character string and comparing it with the date and time of mail data creation in the header of the mail data.

Further, the same processing can be performed by a processing device connected to a wide area communication network (WAN) or a local communication network (LAN) connected to the Internet.

As described above, the present system can collect data of an Internet user without using a server, and can execute a processing program on a personal computer connected to the Internet. Therefore, the cost for introducing and operating the server can be reduced. Further, an information processing system can be easily constructed without requiring a server construction / operation technique. This system is a small system with a small number of cases,
It is effective for a system that investigates and trials user trends and simulates the system form.

As an additional effect, the level of security and firewall provided by the provider can be secured by inputting data from the homepage registered in the provider 7 and collecting the data by Internet mail.

The i-mode portable terminal has restrictions on system performance, memory capacity, CGI function, and HTML. However, the Internet communication protocol is TCP / IP, the home page is described in the i-mode HTML language, and the CGI function is i-mode. The CGI function for the mode is used. Further, the provider corresponds to the i-mode center. As described above, the present invention can be applied to a system using an i-mode terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 System functional configuration

FIG. 2 is a conventional embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 4] Screen transition of homepage

FIG. 5 is a processing procedure from obtaining input information to creating an Internet mail.

[Fig. 6] Format of mail data

FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart for preventing duplication of mail data.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Processing execution device PC-G (PC for processing program execution) 2: Processing request device PC-U (PC for Internet user) 3: Processing auxiliary device PC-H (P for homepage registration)
C) 4: Internet 5: POP3 (Post Office Prot)
ocol Ver. 3) 6: SMTP (Simple Mail Tran)
sfer Protocol) 7: Provider 8: Homepage service function 9: CGI (Common Gateway In)
terface) function 10: homepage HP 11: mail data analysis program AP1 (application program) 12: mail reception function MI (PC) 13: mail transmission function MO (PC) 14: input data file IF 15: input data management file IK 16 : Input data log file IL 17: processing program AP2 (application program) 18: database DB 19: printer 20: server (mail transmission / reception function) 21: mail transmission / reception function (server) 22: processing program AP 23: local communication network LAN / Wide area network WAN

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A system using the Internet that collects input information from unspecified Internet users and executes the processing program using the input information as input data. In order to reduce the burden of server installation and operation costs without using the general method of "collecting on the server operated by the user and executing the processing program on the server as the processing execution device," Internet mail function provided by the provider with the input information and CGI (Common Gateway In)
The data is converted into Internet mail data by using a function, and transmitted to the processing execution device. Thereafter, an information processing system using Internet mail that receives (collects) Internet mail data by a processing execution device using a personal computer (PC) without using a server, and executes a processing program. 2. MIME (Multi-purpose)
Internet Mail Extension)
Stipulates that the mail data format is divided into a header part and a body part, the header part describes the control information of the mail and the body part describes the contents of the mail, but the body part of this mail data is used as input information of the processing program In some cases, data lines used in the processing program and data lines not used may be mixed. In this case, a method of selecting data used in the processing program includes a method of embedding a dedicated identification character string (eg, inputdata or the like) at a fixed position of a line for each line, a method of narrowing down the data line of input information, and a method of selecting individual data items. Can be identified by adding a keyword to the. 2. The information system according to claim 1, wherein the former and the latter are used in combination (the former and the latter can be used together) to improve the identification and extraction of data items of the Internet mail data. system. 3. The information system as set forth in claim 1, wherein: as a means for preventing an operation error in input processing using the processing requesting device, or mixing of duplicate data or illegal data due to modification in the middle of a mail transmission path. Mail software (mailer)
Compares the "date and time when the mail was created" created by the system with the "date and time" collected when the system created the mail data. An information processing system using Internet mail that adopts a system that considers it. 4. The information system according to claim 1, wherein an input data management file having a user mail ID and a creation date and time of the mail as data keys is created, and the mail data analysis program is used to input the Internet mail input by the Internet user. An information processing system using Internet mail that eliminates duplicate data by checking the existence of an input data management file when data is acquired.