JP2002163213A - Electronic mail information management method and record medium storing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage electronic mail information formed by attaching a docu ment file to an electronic mail, wherein the attached document file is taken as a subject, and an electronic mail showing the details of establishment is attached to the document file. SOLUTION: As an information identification unit 14, a series of related electronic mails, a plurality of electronic mail information pieces 15 and attached document files 16 with a different version number are collectively stored. When a special document file 201 is specified, a configuration changing part 17 sets a link accessible to the electronic mail information 15 to which a document file A of a different version is attached from the document file 201, and the specified document file 201 and the electronic mail information 14 accessed by the link are collected to be stored as an information discriminating unit 18.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of managing electronic mail information, and more particularly to a method of managing a series of related electronic mail information and a document file attached thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic mail system is widely used as a communication tool for conducting a conversation like a telephone. Recently, documents have been transferred to personal computers and OA
It is becoming commonplace to make decisions electronically using software, and to make decisions by exchanging information using an e-mail system. As the use of the e-mail system advances, important e-mail information has been accumulated as a record of business activities, and it has become important to share such e-mail information so that it can be used effectively.

In the prior art, there are two methods of recording and storing e-mail information in order to make effective use of e-mail information: a method of sharing an e-mail using a mailbox management function of a mail system and a log of a mailing list; There is a way to do it.

First, as a typical method for sharing electronic mail information among a plurality of users, there is a method of sharing using a mailbox of a mail system or a log management function of a mailing list. A typical prior art is a "mailbox management method" (JP-A-6-2509).
No. 50 publication). The present technology has a function of grouping electronic mails by focusing on attribute information such as a transmission time, a title, and a transmission / reception destination of the electronic mail information. For this reason,
By summarizing the order of occurrence of transmission and reception, it becomes easy to grasp the process of exchange related to decision making. But,
In the present technology, there is no function of grouping focusing on attached document files. For this reason, it is difficult to determine which of the attached document files has been repeatedly corrected until the content is determined as the final result. Also,
The modified attached document file is attached to the e-mail at random at any point during the exchange of e-mail information, so that it is difficult to grasp as a flow of a series of update histories.

Next, as a second representative means for sharing electronic mail information, there is a method of storing electronic mail in a document management system. As a typical conventional technology,
There is a "document management device" (JP-A-6-342451). By extracting the attached document file from the received mail and storing it in a document management system having a history function, the flow of a series of update history can be easily grasped. However, in the related art, there is no function of managing a document file in a form in which the document file is attached to the e-mail, and each document file is stored separately from the flow of the e-mail exchange. For this reason, the information indicating the history of the completed material is insufficient.

[0006]

According to the above-mentioned prior art, there is no method for managing e-mail information which mainly includes a document file and attaches an e-mail indicating the history of the establishment of the document file to the document file.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for managing electronic mail information that solves the above-mentioned problems.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a plurality of e-mail information for a series of related e-mails, and a plurality of e-mail information of the plurality of e-mail information having different versions attached respectively. An email information management method that manages document files together, and when a document file of any version is specified, the specified document file has a different version from the email information of the attachment source. Set a link that allows access to the e-mail information of the document file attachment source so that the specified document file and multiple e-mail information that are the attachment sources of document files with different versions can be accessed collectively. And a method of managing e-mail information stored in storage means.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This does not limit the present invention.

First, a first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 8. The first embodiment focuses on a specific version of an attached document file from registered and managed emails, and inverts and displays the configuration of a file composed of the email and the attached document file. The method is described below.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are a block diagram and a processing procedure flow of a system configuration of a first embodiment which is an example of an embodiment of an electronic mail information management method to which the present invention is applied.

In the present embodiment, the pre-processing described with reference to FIG. 1 and the processing result are described separately for the main processing described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Among them, the pre-processing is a method of registering and managing an e-mail that extracts e-mail information from the e-mail system and stores the e-mail information in another recording unit. This processing is a method of managing an e-mail such that a file including a specific attached document file and e-mail information related thereto can be displayed in a reversed manner so as to be rearranged.

First, a procedure for registering and managing e-mail information, which is a pre-process of the first embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the pre-processing in FIG. 1 prepares for the present processing described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. However, the processing form of the pre-processing is not the only processing method that is indispensable for realizing this processing, and even if the registration and management of the target e-mail is realized in another processing form. Good.

The details will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the components will be described. The system according to the first embodiment includes a document management server 10, a client 20, and a mail server 30. The document management server 10 is a server computer, the client 20 is a computer and terminal device such as a personal computer, and the mail server 30 is a server computer.

The document management server 10 includes a storage device 11,
It comprises a registration unit 12 and a search unit 13. The client 20 includes a mail client 22, OA software 23, and a browser 24. The mail server 30 is provided with the transfer unit 3 in the conventional mail server function.
One program is added.

The storage device 11 stores and holds the electronic mail information 15 via the registration unit 12. The storage device 11 includes a database, a storage device for storing them, and a recording medium. In the storage device 11, the e-mail information 15 and the document file 16 are stored as a set for each information identification unit 14. Information identification unit 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a unit for distinguishing, as an example, a group of files and data such as a file system folder and a database table. Email information 15
Is information to be transmitted and received between a plurality of users registered in a normal electronic mail system. The document file 16 is a file created by the OA software 23 and attached to the e-mail information 15. The document file 16 is a file independent of the electronic mail information 15, and the electronic mail information 15 is added with a link to the attached document file 16. In the case where there are a plurality of files having the same name, the history of the document file 16 is indicated by the added version number.
The link from the electronic mail information 15 to the document file 16 is represented by a file name and a version number, a head address of the attached document file, and the like.

The registration unit 12 is a program executed by the mail server 30, and the transfer unit 31 of the mail server 30
Is activated by receiving e-mail information 15 via
A process for storing the e-mail information 15 and the separated document file 16 in the storage device 11 is performed. Here the registration unit 12
Confirms the identification information included in the e-mail information 15 at the time of this processing and performs the following processing. If there is no identification information number, a number is given and stored in the information identification unit 14 corresponding to the identification information number.

As an example, when e-mail information having a specific character string (for example, [important] which is a character string surrounded by separators [and]) in the subject is transmitted via the transfer unit 31, the character string Is assigned an identification number (for example, [important 001] with the identification number 001), and stored in a new information identification unit 14 corresponding to the number. Also, 10 in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the e-mail information 15 having the character string “[important 001]” as the identification information in the subject has the same character string “[important0].
[01] is stored in one information identification unit 14, which is a group of e-mail information having "01.". For the first e-mail in the series of e-mails, the registration unit 12 generates an identification number and specifies the identification in the subject. Insert it into a string and send it to the destination of the e-mail, so for the related e-mail following the first e-mail, the e-mail sender or e-mail responder will use the same specific string containing the same identification number The e-mail information 15 having the character string "[important 002]" in the subject is also required to be the e-mail information having the same character string "[important 002]" as shown at 102 in FIG. Is stored in another information identification unit 14, which is a collection of

The search unit 13 is a program executed by the mail server 30, and the browser 2 of the client 20
4 retrieves the e-mail information 15 and the document file 16 from the storage device 11 and sends the result back to the browser 24 that made the request.

An example of information stored in the storage device 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The e-mail information 15 and the document file 16 of the information identification unit 14 shown in FIG. 1 are examples of information stored in the storage device 11 by the registration unit 12 via the transfer unit 31.

The storage procedure will be described below with reference to the information storage example shown in FIG. The user operates the mail client 22 of the client 20 to send a mail. Here, the mail client 22 sends the electronic mail information 15 to the mail server 30. Next, the transfer unit 3 of the mail server 30
1 starts when the electronic mail information 15 arrives, and determines whether or not the contents of the electronic mail information 15 include identification information (eg, “[important 001]”). If the identification information is included, the electronic mail information 15 is transferred to the document management server 10. The mail server 30 has the function of a conventional mail server that stores the electronic mail information 15 for transmission to its destination. When the electronic mail information 15 arrives at the document management server 10,
The registration unit 12 starts. The registration unit 12 performs the following processing to store the e-mail information 15 in the storage device 11.

The registration unit 12 receives the e-mail information 1
5 is identified, and an information identification unit 14 in which electronic mail information 15 having the same identification information is collected is specified. next,
The document file 16 attached to the electronic mail information 15 is taken out. Next, it is checked whether a file having the same file name as the extracted document file 16 exists. next,
If the same file does not exist, the e-mail information 15
And the document file 16 are directly stored in the corresponding information identification unit 14 as the first version. If the same document file 16 exists, the version history of the document file 16 already stored is acquired and stored as a new version of the same file. In the example shown in 101 of FIG. 1, since the version history of “document file A” is already stored up to two versions, “document file A (third version)” which is the third version of the same file
Stored as

According to the above-described processing procedure, the process of exchanging electronic mail information under the same theme and the update history of the document file handled in the exchange process are stored together. In the example of 101 in FIG. 1, the history of the discussion on “estimate matter” and the record in which the document file A is modified twice are stored.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG.
This processing of the embodiment is described below. In this processing, an electronic mail information management method that enables the display of the electronic mail file structure to be inverted by focusing on a specific attached document file version will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a system as an example of the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. The components will be described. This system is basically the same as FIG. The different components will be described below. In the storage device 11, a group structure of a plurality of files is associated with each of the information identification unit 14 and the information identification unit 18. The information identification unit 14 is a group that holds a hierarchical relationship between files in which the e-mail information 15 is at an upper level and the document file 16 is at a lower level as in the information identification unit 14 of FIG. The information identification unit 18 groups the electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 according to a hierarchical relationship of files different from the information identification unit 14. The document management server 10 includes a program of the configuration change unit 17 in addition to the configuration of FIG. The configuration change unit 17 extracts the e-mail information 15 and the document file 16 included in the information identification unit 14 from the storage device 11, reconfigures the hierarchical structure and combination of a plurality of files, and collectively stores the information identification unit 18. Store as a set of files.

The programs of the registration unit 12, the search unit 13, and the configuration change unit 17 are stored in a recording medium and read into the document management server 10 via a drive unit (not shown), or sent to the document management server 10 via a network. Transmit,
It can be executed by the document management server 10.

Next, an example of the stored information will be described. The electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 included in the information identification unit 14 and the information identification unit 18 in FIG.
2 is a storage example of a state managed in the storage unit 1;

The e-mail information 1 to the e-mail information 5 of the information identification unit 14 show a state in which reply / forward exchanges are performed in this order and are sequentially stored. In the example of FIG.
The document file 16 attached to the e-mail information 15 is
This indicates that there are two types, “document file A” and “document file B”. The "document file A" is modified twice by the user and has a three-version history, and the "document file B" is modified once and has a two-version history. In the example shown in the figure, one document file is attached to the e-mail information, but a plurality of document files may be attached.
Here, 201 “document file A (3rd edition)” in FIG. 2 is a designated document file.

In the information identification unit 18, reference numeral 201 in FIG.
The “document file A (3rd edition)” shown in FIG. 7 is the same as the designated file. “E-mail information 1”, “E-mail information 3”, and “E-mail information 5” are e-mail information to which this document file is attached.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, a description will be given of a processing procedure for changing from a set of accumulated e-mail information to a file configuration including a specific document file and associated e-mail information. The flowchart of FIG.
2 shows the processing procedure executed in step (1). In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the configuration change unit 17 is activated by receiving input information, and starts this processing. As an example of the input information received by the configuration change unit 17, a processing procedure when input by a user and received via the client 20 will be described. Here, it is needless to say that, other than this embodiment, the configuration change unit 17 can be started at a regular time, started by being specified by another program, or a combination thereof.

First, input information for designating the document file 16 is received (step 301). For example, search unit 13
Receives the search request from the browser 24 of the client 20, and transmits the list of the electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 to the client 20. The browser 24 displays this list on the display device of the client 20. When the user specifies the document file 16, the client 20 transmits the document file 16 to the document management server 10, and
Receives this and passes it to the activated configuration change unit 17. Subsequently, a designated document file indicated by the input information is extracted (step 302). Subsequently, the e-mail information 15 to which the designated document file is attached is extracted (step 30).
3). The electronic mail information 15 to which the specified document file 16 is attached corresponds to a search for a link of each electronic mail information 15 in the same information identification unit 14, and the link points to the relevant document file 16. Next, a link to the e-mail information 15 to which the file is attached is added to the extracted designated document file 16 (step 304). The link is a unique file name of the e-mail information 15,
It is expressed by the head address of the electronic mail information 15 or the like. Next, e-mail information 15 having the same file name but different version numbers attached thereto and having a transmission / reception relationship as a reply or transfer source is extracted (step 30).
5). The extraction method is the same as in step 305,
The link of each electronic mail information 15 is searched, and the link corresponds to the same document file 16 having a small version number. Next, a link to the electronic mail information 15 extracted in step 305 is added to the specified document file 16 (step 306). Steps 305 and 306 are repeated until all the e-mail information satisfying the same condition as the e-mail information extracted in step 305 is extracted (step 307). Then, all the extracted files are stored as a group in the information identification unit 18 of the storage device 11 (step 308).

A specific example of the processing procedure will be described below with reference to FIG. When “document file A (3rd edition)” 201 is a designated file, “e-mail information 5” corresponding to the attachment source is extracted. Subsequently, “e-mail information 5” is associated as a lower hierarchical file of “document file A (3rd edition)”. Next, a "document file A (3rd edition)" attached to "e-mail information 5" has a document file in a history relationship, and "e-mail information 3" in a transmission / reception relationship of a reply / forward source is copied. It is extracted and associated with the same hierarchy as “e-mail information 5”. Hereinafter, "e-mail information 1" is similarly extracted and related.

From the result of the above processing, it is found that “document file A
(3rd edition) "is a reference starting point, and a group of files having a hierarchical relationship for directly following the subordinate" e-mail information 5 "," e-mail information 3 ", and" e-mail information 1 "is grouped together. Also, by referring to these files via the search unit 13, the display of the document file A (3rd edition) and the relationship between the electronic mail associated with the history and the inverted file can be displayed by focusing on the attached file. It becomes possible.

Here, an example of referring to the information of the information identification unit 14 and the information identification unit 18 will be described with reference to FIG.
The mail display screen 80 in FIG. 8 is a screen displayed on the display device of the client 20, and shows a result of searching for a set of registered electronic mail information. Here, FIG.
By selecting an attached document file as indicated by reference numeral 801, an attached file reference screen 81 is displayed.
On the attached document file reference screen 81, a document file specified on the mail display screen 80 as shown by 802 in FIG. 8 and a list of related electronic mails as shown by 803 in FIG. 8 are displayed together. Here, by browsing the details of the related e-mail as shown by reference numeral 803 in FIG. 8, it is possible to easily grasp the history of the modification of the attached document file shown by reference numeral 802 in FIG.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
From the set of e-mail information that has been collectively managed in transmission / reception relations, the file structure is inverted by partially focusing on only the attached document file that you want to keep and the e-mail information that is directly related to the creation of the document file be able to.

Thus, the attached document file which is exchanged by e-mail from the main body of the e-mail and corrected repeatedly is important.
If you want to check what the final result is, you can easily check the contents in order from conclusion to reason. In conventional management of electronic mail information, management is performed based on an attribute indicating transmission / reception of electronic mail and a standard centered on a text. For this reason, emails often contain the reason for the discussion, and the attached file contains materials that conclude the discussion.
In the conventional management method, the files are referred to in the order of conclusion and so on for the reason. In this case, it is a reference method to follow the progress of the discussion first and then find the conclusion. However, when searching for a document whose content has been finalized from important decision-making and approval documents files that have been modified many times by e-mail, the user must refer to the contents of the document file, which is a concluded material, It is more convenient to refer to the history of the e-mail information showing the creation process each time the individual understands the target material and recall the background.

As described above, the attached document file is mainly used as a reference object, and the electronic mail information is effective for use as long as it can be seen as reference information indicating the progress of the exchange.

In the first embodiment, the configuration changing unit 1
7 shows a case where newly processed information is generated while leaving the original information to be processed. As an application example, by adding a process of deleting the information identification unit 14 at the end of the processing procedure of the configuration changing unit 17 described above, a set of e-mails handled in a series of exchanges is summarized by focusing on the attached document file. The process of replacing the content with the changed content can be easily realized. As an example, specific corrections in the course of preparing a report can be used as know-how for preparing a similar report for a while after preparation. However, after a long period of time, it becomes useless and only the final result is needed. As described above, it is very effective to compress the stored e-mail information and document file to the minimum necessary data volume when storing the file for a long time.

In the first embodiment, the configuration change unit 1
7 shows a case where only one group of information whose configuration has been changed with attention to the attached document file is generated. As an application example, by adding and changing a process of repeating the entire processing procedure of the configuration changing unit 17 described above, it is possible to generate a plurality of groups of information whose configuration has been changed by focusing on the attached document file. Thereby, when there are a plurality of types of attached document files handled in the same series of electronic mail exchanges, it is possible to easily realize a process of separately distinguishing and handling these.

As described above, the above-described application example has a similar effect in the embodiments described below.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, when e-mail information is extracted by the configuration changing unit 17, consideration is given to a case where indirectly necessary e-mail information is extracted in addition to e-mail information directly related to the specified document file. Did not mention the solution. When you want to know how a document file attached to an e-mail was created and handled, the amount of e-mail information directly attached to the relevant document file and its history is not enough. E-mail information may be supplementary information. Second
In the embodiment of the present invention, by focusing on the version of a specific attached file from a set of accumulated e-mails, it is possible to invert and display the file structure of the attached file and the e-mail directly and indirectly related thereto. The method for managing e-mail information will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the system configuration of the second embodiment. The components of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 are basically the same as those of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 shows components of the document management server 10 of the realizing means shown in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment,
In the state where the electronic mail information and the document file have already been registered in the storage device 11, the components for changing and referencing the file are shown. In the storage device 11,
The electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 before being processed by the file configuration change unit 17 are stored for each information identification unit 14. In addition, the electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 that have been processed by the configuration change unit 17 are stored in the information identification unit 1.
8 are stored.

Next, an example of the stored information will be described. The electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 included in the information identification unit 14 and the information identification unit 18 in FIG. 4 are storage examples of a state managed in the storage device 11.

The e-mail information and the contents of the document file included in the information identification unit 14 are the same as in the first embodiment. In the example shown in the figure, one document file is attached to the e-mail information, but a plurality of document files may be attached. Here, 401 “document file A (3rd edition)” in FIG. 4 is a designated document file.

In the information identification unit 18, reference numeral 401 in FIG.
The “document file A (3rd edition)” shown in FIG. 9 is the same as the above-mentioned designated file. The e-mail information 1, the e-mail information 3, and the e-mail information 5 are the e-mail information to which the document file is attached as in the first embodiment. The e-mail information 2 and e-mail information 4 indicated by 402 in FIG. 4 are e-mail information included in a series of exchanges between the sender and the receiver together with the above-described e-mail information.

Next, the outline of the file configuration change process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the configuration change unit 17 receives input information by a user terminal operation or a call process of another application or the like. With this as a trigger, the electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 that are grouped for each information information identification unit 14 are extracted from the storage device 11 based on the received input information, and are processed. They are stored together in the storage device 11. As a result, it is possible to change the file configuration by focusing on the attached file from a state in which the histories of a plurality of e-mails transmitted and received by the user as a series of exchanges are collected and bundled in the order of transmission and reception dates.

Referring to FIG. 5, a description will be given of a processing procedure for changing from a set of accumulated e-mail information to a file configuration including a specific document file version and e-mail information directly or indirectly related thereto. The flowchart of FIG. 5 shows a processing procedure executed by the configuration changing unit 17. In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the configuration changing unit 17 is activated by receiving the input information, and starts this processing.

First, input information for designating the document file 16 is received (step 501). Subsequently, the designated document file indicated by the input information is extracted (step 50).
2). Subsequently, the electronic mail information 15 to which the specified document file is attached is extracted (step 503). Next, a link to the e-mail information 15 to which the file is attached is added to the extracted designated document file 16 (step 50).
4). Subsequently, the previous electronic mail information 15 having a transmission / reception relationship as a reply or a transfer source before the electronic mail information is extracted (step 505). In the e-mail information 15 in the same information identification unit 14, the outgoing time of the e-mail information 15 is the oldest next to the outgoing time of the e-mail information 15.
Is applicable. Next, a link to the electronic mail information 15 extracted in step 505 is added to the designated document file 16 (step 506). Steps 505 and 506 are repeated until all e-mail information that has the same relationship as the e-mail information extracted in step 505 is extracted (step 507). Then, all the extracted files are stored as a group in the information identification unit 18 of the storage device 11 (Step 508).

A specific example of the processing procedure will be described below with reference to FIG. When the designated document file is "document file A (3rd edition)" as shown at 401, it is stored in the following file configuration.

The “document file A (3rd edition)” has “e-mail information 5” as the parent of the attachment source and has a history relationship with the “document file A (3rd edition)” as a lower hierarchy. "E-mail information 3" having a document file "Document file A (2nd edition)" and having a transmission / reception relationship of a reply / forwarding source, and a document file "Document having a history relationship with" Document file A (3rd edition) " “E-mail information 1” having “file A (1st version)” and having a transmission / reception relationship of a reply / forwarding source, and “e-mail information 4” having “e-mail information 5” having a transmission / reception relationship of a reply / forwarding source. , “E-mail information 3” and “e-mail information 2” having a transmission / reception relationship of a reply / forwarding source form a group of information identification units 18.

Here, by referring to the information identification unit 18 via the search unit 13, the “document file A
(3rd edition) "and the display in which the relationship between the electronic mail directly and indirectly related to the history is inverted by focusing on the attached file can be referred to.

According to the second embodiment, even if there is a description related to a specific document file but there is indirect electronic mail information without a file attached, there is a description related to the specific document file as a starting point. Indirect e-mail information can be referred to in an easy-to-understand format.

As an example, in a series of exchanges of e-mails, it is common to exchange opinions about the contents and handling even if the corresponding document file is not attached.
The reply content of the mail attached with the attached document often contains a comment on the sent document file. At this time, in the normal mail software, when the operation of creating the reply mail is performed, the attached file is removed. In this way, it can be said that this is effective when e-mail information that tends to lose direct association with the document file when reference information of the document file is desired to be known.

Finally, a third embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which the electronic mail associated with the previous version of the document file is targeted as the electronic mail associated with the document file to be displayed in reverse. Here, no solution is described for electronic mail information exchanged after the electronic mail information to which the document file is attached. For this reason, it is not possible to cope with the case where the user wants to know the progress and background after the creation and handling of the document file attached to the electronic mail. In the third embodiment, by focusing on the version of a specific attached file, it is possible to reversely display the file configuration including the version of the specific attached file and an e-mail exchanged before and after the specific version. The method for managing e-mail information will be described below.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system configuration of a third embodiment which is an example of the embodiment of the electronic mail information management method to which the present invention is applied. Basic system components are the same as those of the first embodiment. Only the differences will be described.

In the third embodiment, the file configuration of the information identification unit 18 which is a collection of files processed by the configuration changing unit 17 is different. Hereinafter, an example of the storage information will be described. The information identification unit 14 and the information identification unit 18 in FIG.
The e-mail information 15 and the document file 16 included in each are examples of storage in a state where the files are managed in the storage device 11.

The contents of the e-mail information and the document file included in the information identification unit 14 are the same as in the first embodiment. Here, “document file A (3
Version) "is the designated document file. 602 in FIG.
“Document file A (3rd edition)” of the information identification unit 18 shown in FIG.
Is one of the multiple specified target files described above.
“E-mail information 3” is e-mail information to which this document file is attached. “E-mail information 2” and “e-mail information 1” indicated by 603 in FIG. 6 are e-mail information that has undergone the same series of exchanges before the e-mail information to which this document file has been attached. In addition, “e-mail information 5” and “e-mail information 4” 604 shown in FIG. 6 are e-mail information in which the same series of exchanges are performed after the e-mail information to which the document file is attached.

Referring to FIG. 7, a description will be given of a processing procedure for changing a set of accumulated e-mail information to a file configuration including a specific document file and e-mail information exchanged before and after the specific document file. In the third embodiment, the processing is started when the configuration changing unit 17 receives a condition specifying a document file, and the processing is started.
In the third embodiment, this processing is performed in a state where the electronic mail information 15 and the document file 16 are stored in the storage device 11 for each information identification unit 14.

First, input information for designating the document file 16 is received (step 701). Subsequently, a designated document file indicated by the input information is extracted (step 702). Subsequently, the electronic mail information 15 to which the document file is attached is extracted (step 703). Next, a link to the extracted designated document file 16 and the e-mail information 15 to which it is attached is added (step 70).
4). Subsequently, e-mail information 15 related to transmission / reception that has been returned or transferred before the e-mail information to which the designated document file is attached is extracted (step 705). Next, a link to the electronic mail information 15 extracted in step 705 is added to the specified document file 16 (step 706). Steps 705 and 706 are repeated until all e-mail information that has the same relationship as the e-mail information extracted in step 705 is extracted (step 707). Next, the subsequent e-mail information 15 having a transmission / reception relationship that is returned or forwarded after the e-mail information to which the designated document file is attached is extracted (step 7).
08). In the e-mail information 15 in the same information identification unit 14, the outgoing time corresponds to the new e-mail information 15 next to the outgoing time of the e-mail information 15. Next, a link to the e-mail information 15 extracted in step 708 is added to the designated document file 16 (step 7).
09). Steps 708 and 709 are repeated until all e-mail information that has the same relationship as the e-mail information extracted in step 708 is extracted (step 7).
10). Then, all the extracted files are stored as a group for each information identification unit 18 of the storage device 11 (step 711).

A specific example of processing performed by the file structure changing unit 17 using the information storage example shown in FIG. 6 and the processing result will be described below.

A specific example of the processing procedure will be described below with reference to FIG. When the designated document file is “document file A (3rd edition)” as shown in 601, the file is stored in the following file configuration. As shown in 602, “document file A (3rd edition)”, as shown in 603, “e-mail information 3” attached with “document file A (3rd edition)”, and “e-mail information 3” "E-mail information 2" and "E-mail information 1" having a relationship of "reply / forwarding source" form a group of files.

Further, as shown in 604, “E-mail information 4”, which has a relationship returned / forwarded after “E-mail information 3”, and “E-mail information 5” are the same group of files. Becomes

From the result of the above processing, as shown in FIG. 6, it becomes a starting point when “document file A (3rd edition)” is referred to, and depends on “e-mail information 5”, “e-mail information 4”, “e-mail information 4”. A group of files having a hierarchical relationship for directly going to “E-mail information 3”, “E-mail information 2”, and “E-mail information 1” can be managed collectively. Further, by referring to these files by the search unit 13, the "document file A (3rd edition)"
With regard to the relationship between the e-mail exchanged before and after and the related e-mail, the inverted display can be performed by focusing on the attached file.

As described above, according to the third embodiment,
From a certain attached document file, it becomes possible to easily refer to a series of exchanged e-mails showing information of the situation before and after the situation.

As a result, the process leading to the correction of the material using the e-mail and the determination of the content, and the subsequent process such as how the material was handled afterward and to whom the material was sent, play a leading role. This is effective when the information is provided in a display form that is easy for the user to refer to as reference information of the material.

[0066]

According to the present invention, a version of a specific document file, e-mail information to which this document file is attached, and e-mail information to which a version different from this document file is attached are extracted. Since the electronic mail information is rearranged and stored in the storage device so that the electronic mail information can be traced from the document file, the history of the electronic mail information can be easily traced starting from the final result document file.

Further, by referring to the e-mail information and the document file stored in the storage device, only the file having the minimum required data size from the document file and the e-mail information remains, and the user can change the contents of the final state. The user can refer to the e-mail information summarized in the document file and the history of creation and update of the document file.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system for explaining pre-processing according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a main process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a configuration changing unit 17 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a main process according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a configuration changing unit 17 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a main process according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a configuration changing unit 17 according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a screen displaying a search result according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

14: information identification unit, 15: electronic mail information, 16: document file, 17: configuration change unit, 18: information identification unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (72) Inventor Katsumi Tada 890 Kashimada, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Japan, Ltd.Business Solution Division, Hitachi, Ltd. 5B075 ND36 NR03 PQ02 PQ46 UU24 5B085 AA08 BG04

Claims (5)

[Claims] An electronic mail information is added to a link to a document file attached to the electronic mail information and stored in a storage unit, and a link to the electronic mail information as an attachment source is added to the document file and stored in a storage unit. An electronic mail information management method characterized by storing. 2. A system for managing a plurality of electronic mail information for a series of related electronic mails and document files of different versions attached to the plurality of electronic mail information of the plurality of electronic mail information, respectively. An e-mail information management method, wherein when any one of the versions of the document file is specified, the specified document file is attached to the e-mail information of the attachment source and another of the document files having a different version number from the specified document file. A link that can be accessed to the e-mail information is set, and the designated document file and a plurality of e-mail information from which the document files of different versions are attached are stored so as to be collectively accessible. E-mail information management method characterized by storing in a means. 3. A plurality of electronic mail information items for a series of related electronic mail items and document files of different versions attached to the plurality of electronic mail information items of the plurality of electronic mail information items are collectively managed. In the electronic mail information management method, when any one of the versions of the document file is designated, from the designated document file, the electronic mail information of the attachment source and the electronic mail information of the attachment source indicate the mail transmission time based on the electronic mail information of the attachment source. Setting a link that can be accessed to quickly related e-mail information, and storing the specified document file and a plurality of e-mail information that can be accessed by the link in a storage means so as to be collectively accessible; E-mail information management method characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. A link which allows access to related electronic mail information having a later mail sending time than the electronic mail information of the attachment source from the specified document file is set, and the specified document file and the link are set. 4. The electronic mail information management method according to claim 3, wherein the electronic mail information accessible by the electronic mail information is stored in a storage unit so as to be collectively accessible. 5. A recording medium for storing a computer-readable program, the program having a function of adding a link to a document file attached to e-mail information to store in a storage means, A storage medium storing a program, having a function of adding a link to the e-mail information as an attachment source to a file and storing the file in a storage unit.