JP2002142067A - Internet facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide Internet facsimile equipment that allows a sender side to instruct handling of a main text of received electronic mail at a receiver side. SOLUTION: The Internet facsimile equipment is provided with a means that transmits/receives electronic mail, with a means that incorporates information of instructing handling of the main text of the electronic mail at a receiver side into a mail header of the transmitting electronic mail, and a means that handles that main text of the electronic mail on the basis of the information included in the mail header of the received electronic mail.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an Internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting and receiving image data using electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Interne
Internet facsimile, which implements an e-mail and transmits / receives the image data together with the body of the e-mail by making the image data into an attached file using an e-mail, has become widespread. The received data received as an Internet facsimile by this FAX terminal etc. includes
Includes the text and attachments.

When the FAX terminal receives an Internet facsimile, the image data of the text and the attached file are usually formed on a recording sheet, that is, printed out. What is printed out for the attached file is a manuscript or the like to be transmitted, and what is printed out for the text is to inform that a cover letter or reception is Internet facsimile, for example, Internet facsimile. Please see the attached file. " The contents described in the text vary depending on the user on the transmitting side. If there is a user who describes important matters in the text, there is a user who does not describe anything or a user who describes the above cover letter.

[0004]

As described above, the content of the text is described on the transmitting side, and therefore, whether or not the description should be displayed on the transmitting side is originally determined. , The sender should decide. However, the handling of the text at the receiving FAX terminal depends on the designation of the receiving FAX terminal, and the handling of the text cannot be specified from the transmitting side, and the text of less important content is printed out. To waste recording paper,
In spite of being meaningless, the text is displayed on a display or the like of the operation unit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an Internet facsimile apparatus capable of instructing, on a transmitting side, the handling of the body of a received electronic mail on the receiving side. It is to be.

[0006]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet facsimile apparatus having an electronic facsimile apparatus having an e-mail transmitting means. It is characterized by comprising means for including information for instructing the reception side to handle the body of the e-mail.

An Internet facsimile apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is an Internet facsimile apparatus provided with means for receiving an electronic mail, wherein the body of the electronic mail is handled based on information included in a mail header of the received electronic mail. It is characterized by having means.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an Internet facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows this Internet facsimile machine 1
An example of a specific configuration will be shown. The Internet facsimile apparatus 1 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 2, a RAM (random access memory) 3, a ROM (read only memory) 4, a codec 5, a modem 6, an NCU (network control unit) 7, a reading unit 8, and a recording unit. It comprises a unit 9, an operation unit 10, and a LAN I / F (local area network interface) 11, and the devices 2 to 11 are communicably connected by a bus 12.

The CPU 2 controls each device constituting the Internet facsimile machine 1 according to a predetermined program.

The RAM 3 stores image data, a fax number,
As a storage unit for storing e-mail addresses and the like in advance,
Alternatively, it functions as a storage unit for temporarily storing various data.

The ROM 4 stores various programs for controlling the operation of each section of the Internet facsimile machine 1 by the CPU 2.

The codec 5 performs encoding / decoding in accordance with a plurality of protocols. That is, the image data and the like read by the reading section 8 are encoded for transmission by MH, MR, MMR or the like, and the received image data is decoded. In addition, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), a commonly used image format used in computers.
Encoding and decoding can also be performed according to the t) format.
The TIFF specification has been published by Adobe Systems, Inc. of the United States.
Data is expressed by using tags in blocks, and by using tags, a plurality of pieces of image data having different resolutions and the number of colors can be stored at the same time.

The modem 6 is, for example, in accordance with ITU-T Recommendation V.3. Modulation and demodulation of transmission / reception data according to the 34 standard or the like.

The NCU 7 is a network controller for controlling a telephone line to make or disconnect a telephone call, and is connected to a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) 13.

The reading section 8 reads image data of a document and outputs image data converted to black and white binary.

The recording unit 9 is, for example, of an electrophotographic type, forms an image of the received image data on a recording sheet, and discharges (prints out) the recording sheet. For example,
The image data of the document read by the reading unit 8, the image data received by facsimile, the image data of the attached file received by Internet facsimile, the text data of the body, and the like are printed out according to the instruction of the CPU 2.

The operation unit 10 includes, for example, a display 10a for displaying information relating to the state of the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 and various operation instruction screens, a ten-key 10b for inputting a facsimile number and the like, and a shortening for transmitting from a short number. Key 10c, a start key 10d for starting a document reading operation, etc., and a cursor key 1 for moving a reverse display in the display 10a.
0e, etc., and various operations are performed by the operation unit 10.

The LAN I / F 11 has an interface with a LAN (local area network) 14, and connects the LAN 14 and the Internet facsimile machine 1 in a communicable manner.

The Internet facsimile machine 1
In addition to the general facsimile communication function such as the G3 system, TCP / IP is implemented, and image data such as a manuscript is attached to an e-mail, so that the image data and the like can be transmitted and received together with the text of the e-mail. , A so-called Internet facsimile function.

When communicating image data such as an original using the Internet facsimile function, the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 transmits the image data to the ROM
4 by a predetermined conversion program stored in advance.
G3 format data is converted to the above-mentioned TIFF format data, and MIME (Multipurpose Internet MailExt
Encodings in Base64 or other formats and send them as e-mail attachments. At the time of reception, the attached file is decoded into data in TIFF format and converted from data in TIFF format to data in G3 format. On the other hand, when printing out the received data, the G3 format data is decoded into black and white binary image data by the codec 5, and an image is formed on a recording sheet by the recording unit 9.

Further, the Internet facsimile machine 1 has a function of handling the body of an electronic mail based on information of predetermined items included in a mail header of the received electronic mail. The function will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mail header 20
Is, for example, the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Fo
RFC (Request For Comments) issued by rce) 8
“Date:”, “From:”,
Various items 20a such as "to:" and "Subject:", an item 20b for the text 21, an item 20c for the MIME-formatted data (attached file) 22, and items 20a to 20c are designated. Information. Such a mail header 20 is automatically generated at the time of transmission by a mailer (e-mail sending / receiving client software), and is transmitted together with the text 21 and the attached file 22.

In the mail header 20, "Content-
“Type:” designates the data format of the text 21 or the attached file 22. The “mult” specified here
"ipart / mixed" indicates that it is composed of a plurality of data parts having a "Content-Type:" header, and the boundaries of each data part are separated by a character string 23a defined by "boundary =". Note that "-" 23b shown after the character string 23a is the character string 23a shown immediately before.
Is the last one.

The item 20b for the text 21 includes:
“Content-Type:”, “Content-Transfer-Encodin
g: ”and“ Content-Disposition: ”.
“t-Type:” specifies the data format of the text 21. “text / plain; charset =” specified here specifies the type of character code, and here “us-ascii”, that is,
Alphabet is specified. Also, “Content-Tr
“ansfer-Encoding:” specifies a text format such as Base64, Uuencode, etc., and “7bit” is specified here.

"Content-Disposition:" specifies the processing of the text 21. Here, “X-” means an extended parameter, and three extended parameters “X-IGNOR
E "," X-DISPLAY ", or" X-PRINT "is specified. For example, if" X-IGNORE "is specified, the Internet The facsimile device 1 is configured not to perform the process on the text 21, and to execute the process of displaying the text 21 on the display 10a if "X-DISPLAY" is specified. “X-PRIN
If "T" is designated, the recording unit 9 executes processing for forming an image on recording paper, that is, performing printing for the text 21. In this manner, the Internet facsimile is performed. The device 1 handles the text based on the information such as the above-mentioned extended parameters included in the “Content-Disposition:” of the mail header.The processing of the text 21 as described above is specified. Is “Content-Disposition:”
This can also be performed by an extension header that starts with “Content-Description:” or “X”.

Note that the item 20c for the attached file 22 also has the same "Content-Typ" as the item 20b.
e: ”,“ Content-Transfer-Encoding: ”,“ Content-Di
“image / tiff, name =” specified in “Content-Type:” indicates that the image data is in the above-mentioned TIFF format, and the file name is “DOC000.TIF”. "Content-Transfer-Encodin
“Base64” specified in “g:” indicates a text coding method of the text data.
"Attachment;filenam" specified in "Disposition:"
“e =” specifies processing as an attached file.

In addition to the functions described above, the Internet facsimile machine 1 also has a function of generating a mail header as described above. That is, at the time of transmission, the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 adds the extended parameter “X-IG” to the above “Content-Disposition:”.
NORE ”,“ X-DISPLAY ”, or“ X-PRINT ”is provided according to the operator's selection.Therefore, the e-mail body of the e-mail Information that instructs handling can be included.In addition to “Content-Disposition:” in the above-mentioned mail header, “Content-Descript:
It is also possible to include an extension header starting with "ion:" or "X".

The Internet facsimile apparatus 1 having the above-described hardware configuration and various functions includes, for example,
It is installed and used in a network environment as shown in FIG. That is, the Internet facsimile machine 1 is connected to a LAN 14 and through the LAN 14
Mail server 15, router 16 and client PC1
7 are communicably connected to each other, and further, the mail server 16 and the terminals 1A, P via the Internet.
G3 FAX 19 through the public switched telephone network (STN) 13
Can be mutually transmitted and received.

The operation of the Internet facsimile apparatus 1 when receiving an Internet facsimile from the terminal 1A will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This operation is performed in ROM
CPU based on a control program and the like stored in
2 in accordance with the instruction issued.

First, the Internet facsimile machine 1 receives an e-mail as shown in FIG. 2 from the mail server 15 (S1), and receives an item 2 for the text 21.
When "Content-Disposition:" is set to 0b (S2), it is determined whether or not "X-PRINT" is designated for the item (S3), and "X-PRINT" (not shown) is determined. ), The body 21 of the e-mail is printed out (S4). If “X-PRINT” is not specified, it is next determined whether “X-DISPLAY” is specified in “Content-Disposition:” (S
5) When "X-DISPLAY" (not shown) is designated, the body 21 of the e-mail is displayed on the display 1
0a is displayed (S6). If “X-DISPLAY” is not specified, it is next determined whether “X-IGNORE” is specified in “Content-Disposition:” (S
7) If specified, no processing is performed on the body 21 such as printing out or displaying the body 21 of the e-mail (S8). After that, a process different from the instruction included in the mail header 20, such as printing out the attached file, is executed (S9).

On the other hand, item 20b for the text 21
If “Content-Disposition:” is not set in “S” (S2), and if “X-IGNORE” is not specified in step 7, the text is processed according to the device specification (S10). Then, a process such as the attached file printout described above is executed (S9).

Hereinafter, the operation of the Internet facsimile machine 1 when transmitting an Internet facsimile to the terminal 1A will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This operation is performed in accordance with a command issued by the CPU 2 based on a control program or the like stored in the ROM 4, except for an input operation performed by the operator.

First, an original is set on the reading section 8 by an operator, and designation for transmission to the terminal 1A is made (S21). Next, on the display 10a, for example, "print out the text at the destination", "display the text on the destination display", and "do not process the text (print out and display on the display) at the destination" Is displayed (S22), one of the three types of processing is selected by the operator, and the handling of the body of the e-mail on the receiving side is designated (S2).
3). Next, an input screen of the text is displayed on the display 10a (S24), and the content of the text is described by the operator, or is not described if it is not necessary.
An operation of closing the input screen is performed (S25). When the input screen is closed, the manuscript is read by the reading unit 8, data in TIFF format is generated, and the data is converted into text in MIME format by a mailer and generated as an e-mail attached file. (S26), and at the same time, "Co
ntent-Disposition: ”is set, and“ X-PRIN
T, “X-DISPLAY” or “X-IGNORE”
(S2).
7). That is, in step 23, when "print out the text at the other party" is selected,
If "Display text at destination" is selected for "X-PRINT", "X-DISPLAY" does not process text (printout and display on display) at destination Is selected, "X-IGNORE" is specified. Finally, the mail header, body and attached file are transmitted to the terminal 1A in an electronic mail format (Internet facsimile) (S28).

[0034]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet facsimile apparatus provided with means for transmitting an electronic mail. In the Internet facsimile apparatus, the mail header of the electronic mail to be transmitted instructs the receiving side to handle the body of the electronic mail. In the case of transmitting an Internet facsimile using the Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 2 as a receiving side, handling of a text on the receiving side is specified in the apparatus which is a transmitting side. Is possible, originally,
Since the handling of the text is desirably determined by the transmitting side, the receiving side can appropriately handle the text.

An Internet facsimile apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is an Internet facsimile apparatus having means for receiving an e-mail, wherein the body of the e-mail is handled based on information included in a mail header of the received e-mail. In the case of receiving an Internet facsimile from the Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, since the body is handled according to the instruction of the transmitting side, the body can be appropriately handled by the apparatus. Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an Internet facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an electronic mail according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a network environment in which an Internet facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment is installed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment when receiving an Internet facsimile.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment when transmitting an Internet facsimile.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Internet facsimile apparatus 2 CPU 3 RAM 4 ROM 5 Codec 20 Mail header 21 Full text

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An Internet facsimile apparatus having means for transmitting an electronic mail, comprising: means for including, in a mail header of the electronic mail to be transmitted, information for instructing a receiving side to handle the body of the electronic mail. Internet facsimile machine characterized. 2. An Internet facsimile machine comprising means for receiving an electronic mail, comprising: means for handling the body of the electronic mail based on information contained in a mail header of the received electronic mail. Internet facsimile machine.