JP2002318767A - Device and method for information processing and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for information processing and a recording medium which assist the operation to send electronic mail to a specific destination. SOLUTION: An electronic mail address and a preference text into which information for the description of a pull-down menu is entered are obtained from a network or a CDROM and installed in a folder of a client. When a description 'material request mail' wp user related to the electronic mail address makes an indication in a pull-down menu of a mailer with a pointing device, the mailer automatically reads the mail address entered into the preference text and automatically generates and transmits an electronic mail sentence for requesting materials.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method, and a recording apparatus for supporting a user to perform an operation for transmitting an e-mail and accessing a URL when an e-mail program is executed on a computer. Regarding the medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, e-mail software is called a mailer and has a function of sending an e-mail, a function of receiving an e-mail, and a function of creating an e-mail. In addition, as an added value, a mailer having a function of browsing and creating an address book (address book) in which an e-mail destination and a name are described is also known.

On the Internet, besides e-mail, WW
A service called W (World Wide Web) can be received. This service is a service in which a server connected to the Internet generally provides a mixed document of images, characters, voices, and the like called a URL, and the client can display the document via a communication network called the Internet. is there. In order to access the URL on the client side, URL display software called a browser is installed on a personal computer for the client.

[0004] There are various types of information provided by URLs provided by servers, and in particular, those for commercial purposes such as introduction of products for sale are rapidly increasing. The user on the client side accesses the URL of the server and displays a page on which a desired product description is described. The displayed U
When a user specifies a predetermined button or character string of the RL with a mouse, a mailer is automatically activated, and when a user inputs a sentence to be sent, a browser that can send an e-mail to a specific e-mail address has also been proposed. .

[0005] In addition, the above URL is described in the received e-mail text, and the user displays the e-mail using a mailer, and when the URL in the e-mail text is designated with a mouse, the browser is automatically started. , The UR above
A mailer that accesses L has also been proposed.

[0006]

A person who is willing to purchase a product checks the URL relating to the product and accesses the product by himself. However, those who do not want to buy products
An operation for browsing a URL, an operation for requesting a material request by e-mail, and the like are complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, method, and recording medium that support an operation for transmitting an electronic mail to a specific destination.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve such an object, the invention according to claim 1 is provided with a mailer,
When an item arranged on a toolbar of the operation window of the mailer is selected by a pointing device, an information processing apparatus that displays a pull-down menu related to the selected item displays a first item and a second item on the toolbar. While arranging, a plurality of second folders including information indicating an access destination are stored in a single first folder, and when the first item is selected by the pointing device, First means for displaying the identifiers of a plurality of second folders included in the first folder as selection candidates in a pull-down menu, and second means selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu The second item on the toolbar with the same name as the folder's identification name A second means for displaying, second
If the item is selected by the pointing device, third means for displaying one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose as a selection candidate of a pull-down menu, and selecting the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu And a fourth means for e-mailing a prepared e-mail message to an external access destination related to the received information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, information associated with a URL is further displayed in the pull-down menu by the third means, and the information is obtained in association with the URL. When information is selected by a pointing device, the information processing apparatus further comprises fifth means for accessing a server indicated by the URL.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose are described in a single document together with an access destination name. The means reads the one or more pieces of information from the document and displays the one or more pieces of information in a pull-down menu, and the fourth means acquires an access destination name corresponding to the selected information from the document.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, audio data prepared in advance during a time when the mailer is activated or during the activation of the mailer while a user operation is not performed. And a fifth means for outputting the data.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a mailer is mounted on the information processing apparatus, and when an item arranged on a toolbar of an operation window of the mailer is selected by a pointing device, a pull-down menu related to the selected item is displayed. In the information processing method for displaying, a first item and a second item are arranged on the toolbar, and a plurality of second folders including information indicating an access destination are stored in a single first folder. In the meantime, when the first item is selected by the pointing device, the identification names of the plurality of second folders included in the first folder are displayed as selection candidates in a pull-down menu, and The second selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu A second item on the toolbar is displayed with the same name as the folder's identification name, and when the second item is selected by the pointing device, one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose is selected from a pull-down menu. It is displayed as a candidate, and an e-mail message prepared in advance at an external access destination related to the information selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu is e-mailed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method according to the fifth aspect, information associated with the URL is further displayed on the pull-down menu, and the information associated with the URL is selected by a pointing device. An access to the server indicated by the URL.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method according to the fifth aspect, the at least one information indicating an access purpose is described in a single document together with an access destination name. One or more pieces of information are read, displayed in a pull-down menu, and an access destination name corresponding to the selected information is obtained from the document.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method according to the fifth aspect, voices prepared in advance when the user is not operated while the mailer is activated or while the mailer is activated. It is characterized by outputting data.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for a graphical user interface for displaying a pull-down menu relating to a selected item when an item arranged on a toolbar of a mailer operation window is selected by a pointing device. A recording medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein a first item and a second item are arranged on the toolbar, and a plurality of second folders including information indicating an access destination are stored in the computer. Is stored in a single first folder, and when the first item is selected by the pointing, a plurality of second programs included in the first folder are stored. Pull-down menu with folder identification names as selection candidates And a second step of displaying a second item on the toolbar with the same name as the identification name of the second folder selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu. And when the second item is selected by the pointing device, a third step of displaying one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose as a selection candidate of a pull-down menu, and in the displayed pull-down menu, A fourth step of e-mailing a predetermined e-mail text to an external access destination associated with the information selected by the pointing device.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium according to the ninth aspect, the pull-down menu further includes a U
When the information associated with the RL is displayed, and the information associated with the URL is selected by a pointing device, the program has a step of accessing a server indicated by the URL.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium according to the ninth aspect, the one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose are described in a single document together with an access destination name.
In the third step, the one or more pieces of information are read from the document and displayed in a pull-down menu, and in the fourth step, an access destination name corresponding to the selected information is obtained from the document. .

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium according to the ninth aspect, the program is prepared in advance when the mailer is started or while the mailer is running, while no user operation is performed. And a fifth step of outputting the output audio data.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a schematic system configuration of a general-purpose computer equipped with a mailer. 1, a CPU 10, a system memory 11, a modem 12, a speaker 13, a display 14, a hard disk storage (HDD) 15, a mouse 16, and a keyboard 1
7 are connected to each other via a bus. Note that the modem 12, the speaker 13 and the like are connected to the bus via an interface.
Is omitted here.

The CPU 10 performs system control in accordance with an operating system (so-called OS), and executes a mailer program according to the present invention to perform electronic mail communication. In addition, while the mailer is running, the mailer starts the browser according to the user's instruction to access a specific URL.

The modem 12 connects to a telephone line, and connects to the Internet via a communication server of the provider.
In this embodiment, an example of connecting to the Internet will be described. However, since the present invention can be applied to a LAN or the like,
A device for connecting between the general-purpose computer and the communication network may be appropriately determined according to the communication network to be connected. For example, when the Internet is directly connected to a general-purpose computer, a device called a router may be used. To connect a general-purpose computer to a digital public telephone line called ISDN, a connection device called a terminal adapter is used. Should be used.

The speaker 13 outputs voice or sound. The display 14 displays data input to the CPU 10, results of arithmetic processing by the CPU 10, and the like.

Image data to be displayed on the display 14 is stored in a dedicated storage area in the system memory, and the image data is transferred to the display 14 by the CPU 10 or a direct memory access controller (DMA controller, not shown). The data is displayed visually.

The HDD 15 stores an OS program, a mailer program according to the present invention, and related data,
The browser program and its related data are stored. In this embodiment, the OS is described as using Microsoft Windows 95 (trademark). The browser has a function capable of interlocking with the mailer, and can use a browser capable of displaying an HTML document, for example, a communicator (trademark) of Netscape or an Internet Explorer (trademark) of Microsoft. The mailer according to the present invention will be described later.

The mouse 16 moves the mouse cursor on the display screen, designates a position on the display screen by the mouse cursor, and confirms the designation by operating the click button of the mouse 16. Characters and the like are input from the keyboard 17. Further, the general-purpose computer has a CD-ROM reading device, and a mailer recorded on the CD-ROM is transmitted to the HDD 15.
It is possible to install it.

The mailer will be described with reference to FIG. A program for realizing the graphical user interface according to the present invention is incorporated in the mailer program. When this program is executed by the CPU 10, a graphical user interface as an apparatus is realized.

The mailer and related data are stored in a folder. The folder has a directory name ("e-mail" in this example) and the directory tree is shown in FIG.
It becomes as shown in.

More specifically, the following folders and files in the "e-mail" folder 51, that is, a "service" folder 52, a window image displayed when the mailer 55 is executed (see FIG. 3), An image used for displaying a pull-down menu, data (other file 54) describing window arrangement information such as a character string used for displaying a window or a pull-down menu, and a position, and a mailer 55 are stored.

A reproduction function for reproducing and outputting audio data of an "interval.wav" file described later is incorporated in the mailer 55. "Services" folder 5
2 stores one or more folders provided by a third party. The example of FIG. 2 indicates that an “AAA” folder and a “BBB” folder are stored. In practice, it is preferable to use a product name or a company name for these folder names. One text file (file name “preference.tx”) is stored in the “AAA” folder.
t ") 58 and two audio files (file name" sta "
rt. wav ”and“ interval.wav ”)
59 and 60 are stored. The “BBB” folder also stores one text file and audio file (two in this example) having the same file name. In addition,
If there is no audio file, it is allowed. Instead of unifying file names, a reference file in which a purpose of use is associated with a file name may be used.

FIG. 4 shows an example of “preference.txt”. In this document, a character string up to “URL: homepage (can be changed here): http:” is a standard character string, and a character string “www.xxx” following this character string
X. co. jp / △△△ ”is the URL. The URL is usually different for each folder stored in the service folder.

"Mail: material request mail:" in the text document of FIG. 4 is a standard character string, and the character string "OOOO@xxx.co.jp" following this character string is the above specified Is an e-mail address for sending an e-mail to the server.

In the text document, “IntervalMi”
n: 180 ”is the above-mentioned interval. This is a character string that specifies the shortest time interval for reproducing and outputting a sound file called wav.

In the text document, "IntervalMa"
x: 300 "is the above-mentioned interval. This is a character string that specifies the longest interval for reproducing and outputting a sound file called wav.

When the mailer 55 is started, the voice data of the voice file "start.wav", for example, "Please access the homepage" is automatically reproduced by the mailer 55's instruction. Interval. Random between the defined minimum time interval and the maximum time interval. The audio data of the wav audio file, for example, "Please request material" is reproduced and output.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail on the client side will be described.

It is assumed that the user has obtained the mailer 55 in advance. You can download it from a specific server connected to the Internet,
A method of installing from a DROM can be adopted. When the mailer 55 is downloaded or installed, directory names of the mailer 55, the "service" folder 52, other data files and the folders 53 and 54 are registered in directories on the HDD 15 as shown in FIG. The OS manages such directory information in the form of system information.

A folder 56 stored in the "service" folder 52 and a file 58 stored in the folder 56
60 is also HD when downloading or installing.
A directory name is registered in the directory on D15.

Normally, the existence of the program stored in the HDD 15 is presented in the form of an icon (or directory name) on a directory display screen provided by the OS. By designating this icon with the mouse and operating the left-click button, the program of the designated icon is started. Therefore, when the user operates the icon to activate the mailer 55, the processing procedure shown in FIG.

CPU 10 first causes display 14 to display a window screen for mail transmission. More specifically, a window image and a character string to be displayed in the window are read from a predetermined directory of the HDD 15 and are synthesized in the work area of the system memory 11. Next, the synthesized window image is written in the display video memory area in the system memory 11. Since the image of the video memory area is transferred to the display 14, the user can see a window screen as shown in FIG. 3 on the display screen of the display 14. At this point, the pull-down menu 105 of FIG. 3 is not displayed.

Here, the window screen 100 of FIG. 3 will be described. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 101 denotes a file menu on a toolbar. When a character string of the file menu 101 is designated by a mouse cursor, a pull-down menu is displayed. In this pull-down menu, instructions such as sending an e-mail, reading an e-mail, and terminating a mailer are given.

Reference numeral 102 denotes an edit menu, which is used for editing a text to be e-mailed. In the edit menu, commands for editing processing such as copying are prepared in a pull-down menu. Reference numeral 103 denotes a menu item corresponding to the above-mentioned “service” folder 52 (it is also possible to incorporate the menu item into another menu item such as the file menu 101 without being independent on the toolbar). CPU at window creation
10 checks the “service” folder 52 and configures a menu item with reference to the “AAA” folder 56 and the “BBB” folder 57 arranged therein. When the user designates a “service” menu with a mouse cursor on the display screen, a pull-down menu 1 is displayed as shown in FIG.
05 is displayed. In the pull-down menu 105, menu items "None", "AAA", and "BBB" are prepared.

When the user moves the mouse cursor to "AAA" and operates the left click button, for example, "A"
"AA" is selected. In response to this selection, an “AAA” menu (also called a communication destination menu) 104 is created on the right side of the “service menu”. When the user selects “none” in the pull-down menu 105, the menu item on the right side disappears.

The item name displayed in the pull-down menu 105 is fixed to "none", and the other item names are determined with reference to the folders included in the "service" folder 52 in FIG. (The folder name may be the same as the folder name or may be defined by a predetermined file stored in the folder.) 104 has the same item name as the item name selected from the pull-down menu of the “service” menu 100 Menu item. When the user positions the mouse cursor on the menu 104 and operates the left click button, a pull-down menu 106 is displayed as shown in FIG.

The name of the item displayed in the pull-down menu 106 is the reference.preference.contained in the “AAA” folder 56 of FIG. This is the name defined in txt. FIG. The correspondence between the name described in txt and the name in the pull-down menu 106 is shown. When the user designates “homepage” in the pull-down menu with the mouse 16, pref
erence. The CPU 10 accesses the homepage described in txt and causes the display 14 to display the specified homepage.

The names of the menu items and the names of the items in the pull-down menu described above are stored in the window arrangement information in the form of variables. The CPU 10 combines the image of the window used for display with the drawing function provided by the OS based on the window arrangement information. Also,
By storing the name of the menu item as a variable,
You can freely change the name without fixing it.

When the user designates "material request mail" in the pull-down menu 106 of FIG.
U10 is reference. The e-mail message prepared in advance is transmitted to the destination defined by txt.
For example, personal information such as name and address registered in the mailer is extracted and automatically edited as a mail text.

Returning to FIG. 5, the contents of the program for realizing the above-described graphical user interface (“service” menu 103 and related menu 104 and their pull-down menus 105 and 106) will be described.

In step S 10, the CPU 10 creates an image of the window screen of FIG. 3 and displays it on the display screen of the display 14. Subsequently, the CPU 10 executes the “service”
The selected item name selected in the pull-down menu 105 of the menu and included in the window arrangement information of the other file (reference numeral 54 in FIG. 2), in this case, “AAA”
, The character string "AAA" is displayed as a communication destination menu.

Next, the CPU 10 determines whether the "service" menu has been selected by the user (step S10). More specifically, refer to the rectangular coordinate position of the menu item name in the window arrangement information for creating the window screen, and when the left click button is operated, the mouse cursor position is changed to the rectangular of the "Service" menu. It is determined whether it is within.

If the position of the mouse cursor is located within the rectangle, it is determined that the user has selected the "service" menu. If the position of the mouse cursor is not located within the rectangle, the user Determines that the “service” menu has not been selected.

If the determination is YES, the CPU 10
Advances the procedure to step S25, and pull-down menu 1
05 is displayed as shown in FIG.

When the user operates the mouse and selects a predetermined item in the pull-down menu, the communication destination menu 1
04 is changed to the same name as the selected item. This processing is related to the present invention and will be described later with reference to FIG.

When the mouse cursor is on the “Service” menu 1
If not, the CPU 10 checks whether the communication destination menu 104 exists (step S3).
0).

When the CPU 10 detects that the “service” menu 103 is not present due to the selection of “none” in the pull-down menu 105, the procedure proceeds from step S30 to step S50, and the CPU 10 proceeds to step S50. Identify the detection processing and other mouse operation instructions.

On the other hand, in the “service” menu 103,
If an item other than "None" is selected, the selected item name becomes the item name of the communication destination menu 104. If the CPU 10 confirms that "None" has not been selected, the procedure proceeds to step S30 to S4
Proceed to 0. In step S40, it is determined whether or not the user has selected the communication destination menu 104 by determining whether the mouse cursor is positioned in the rectangular frame of the communication destination menu 104.

If the user has selected the communication destination menu 104, the procedure proceeds to step S45, where processing for displaying the pull-down menu 106 and selecting an item is performed. Details of the processing in step S45 will be described later with reference to FIG.

Thereafter, the processing from step S20 to step S60 is repeated until the user gives an instruction to end.

The pull-down menu display processing and the selection processing in step S25 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the “service” menu is selected by the user, the CPU 10 refers to the pull-down menu layout information associated with the “service” menu in the window layout information and changes the image of the pull-down menu to the work area of the system memory 11. The above is synthesized and written in the video memory area. The pull-down menu itself is well known and will not require detailed explanation. As a result, a pull-down menu indicated by reference numeral 105 in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display 14 (steps S100 to S12).
0).

When the user operates the mouse 16 to position the mouse cursor at a desired item in the pull-down menu 105, the CPU 10 compares the position information of the item in the window arrangement information with the determined position of the mouse cursor. The item having the matching position information is determined as the item selected by the user. When the user selects the item “none”, this is detected in step S130. In response to this detection, the CPU 10 sets the item name of the communication destination menu 104 in the window arrangement information to blank. As a result, the name of the communication destination menu 104 of the currently displayed window 100 is changed to blank (step S135).

When an item other than "none" is selected, the CPU 10 sets the same name as the selected name as the item name of the communication destination menu in the window arrangement information. As a result, the currently displayed window 100 is displayed.
Is changed to the same name as the name of the selected item (step S140 → S1)
45).

The processing in step S45 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

The CPU 10 selects the selected item (“AA”).
A)) 104, a character string to be displayed in a pull-down menu is referred to as reference.
txt and set to the name of the item corresponding to the window arrangement information. Further, based on the window arrangement information, the image of the pull-down menu is synthesized in the work area on the system memory 11 and transferred to the video memory area. Thus, when the user specifies the item “AAA” with the mouse 16, the pull-down menu 106
Are displayed as shown in FIG. 4 (steps S200 to S200).
220).

The CPU 10 waits for the user to select a pull-down menu item (loop processing in step S230). When the user operates the mouse to select a desired pull-down menu item, for example, "Homepage" in FIG. 4, the CPU 10 detects that "Homepage" has been selected based on the position of the mouse cursor (step S240). .

The CPU 10 outputs the reference. t
The access destination corresponding to the selected item is acquired by referring to the description content of xt. An example of specific processing contents will be introduced. When the reference item “reference. txt is retrieved, and a character string of the entire line including the character string is obtained.

Next, the character string indicating the URL is obtained by extracting the character string after “homepage:” from the character strings on the entire line. The character string displayed in the pull-down menu is reference. This process may be performed simultaneously at the time of taking out from txt, and the character string indicating the URL may be recorded in the memory. The CPU 10 starts the browser and delivers the obtained character string indicating the URL to the browser. Thereby, the browser displays the URL (step S245).

On the other hand, if the user selects the item “material request mail”, this is determined in step S250.
It is detected by. The procedure proceeds to step S255, and in this step, information (personal name, address, etc.) for requesting a material stored in the other file 54 in the HDD 15 in advance is stored in the reference. It is transmitted to the e-mail address described in txt (see FIG. 4).

If the user positions the mouse cursor outside the pull-down menu without selecting (without stopping) an item in the pull-down menu, this is detected in step S260, and the display image is pulled down. By returning to the state before the menu is displayed, the pull-down menu 106 is deleted from the display screen (step S270). The display of the pull-down menu is also deleted when a home page is displayed or an e-mail is transmitted (step S245 → S270, step S25).
5 → S270).

As described above, the user only has to specify the menu item 104 displayed in the toolbar of the mailer's operation window and the desired item in the pull-down menu 106 with the mouse 16, and thereafter, the graphical user interface shown in FIG. CPU1 by interface processing
0 automatically accesses the homepage or sends an e-mail. Conventionally, the user has to switch between a mailer and a browser and input an access destination, so that the operation of the user is simplified as compared with the related art.

Finally, a description will be given of a mail transmission guide (or a URL display guide) which is performed when the user has not operated after the mailer is started.

FIG. 8 shows the contents of a program for providing mail transmission guidance.

At the same time as the mailer is started, the CPU 10 starts a system timer (step S300).
The CPU 10 outputs the reference. It is determined whether or not the time interval determined with reference to txt has been reached based on the time measured by the system timer.
A guidance message (interval.wav in FIG. 2 in this example) for transmitting the "material request mail" is output as voice via the speaker 13 (step S310 → S330). The above time interval is referred to as reference. An appropriate time is randomly determined between the shortest time interval defined by txt and the longest time interval. Further, the system timer is cleared to zero every time the user performs any operation (step S310 → S315). Once the voice of the guidance message is reproduced, the processing for setting the above-mentioned time interval is executed again (step S330 → S300).

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 shows a system configuration of a second embodiment. In FIG. 9, the software distribution server 1000 transmits the mailer and the preference text described in the first embodiment to the general user client 11.
It is a server for distribution (download) to 00.
The general user client 1100 is a client that uses the downloaded mailer and the preference text, displays a homepage on a browser using the mailer toolbar, and sends an e-mail for requesting information. The mailer and preference text are stored on an internal hard disk and downloaded by well-known communication functions.

The guidance server 1200 is a server that distributes guidance (advertisement information) data of products (including services such as information services) to the client 1100 of a general user.

In this embodiment, the client 1100 of the general user repeats the process at a predetermined timing.
A guidance request is automatically transmitted from the client 1100 of a general user to the guidance server 1200 when the mailer is activated, when the power of the client 1100 is turned on, or the like. The guidance 1200 transmits the latest guidance data to the general client 1100 using a communication protocol such as FTP in response to a request from the client 1100 of the general user. The mailer of the general user receives the transmitted guidance data and saves the received guidance data in a predetermined storage area inside the apparatus (hard disk). The stored guidance data (audio file) is reproduced and output at a predetermined timing as described in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a processing procedure on the client 1100 side of a general user for performing such processing, and FIG. 11 shows a processing procedure on the guidance server 1200 side.

Although the processing procedure of FIG. 10 shows the contents of a program incorporated in the mailer described in the first embodiment, it is not limited to the mailer, but may be realized by another program.

The processing procedure of FIG.
Shows the contents of a gateway program installed in 200, for example, a gateway program executed in response to a guidance request transmitted from client 1100 of a general user using a communication protocol such as HTTP.

In the case of this embodiment, when the mailer is started, the program shown in FIG. 10 is also executed. That is, the timing of the guidance request is detected in response to the activation of the mailer (step 400), and the address of the guidance server 1200 or the reference. A guidance request is sent to the address of the guidance server 1200 specified by txt (FIG. 4) (step S410).

On the other hand, when the guidance server 1200 receives a guidance request from the client 1100 of the general user (step S500 in FIG. 11), the guidance server 1200 reads out the latest guidance from the hard disk in the apparatus and reads out the latest guidance to the client 1100 to which the request was sent. The latest guidance (audio file) is transmitted (step S52).
0).

Upon receiving the transmitted latest guidance, general user client 1100 stores the received latest guidance in a predetermined folder (for example, in the “AAA” folder of the first embodiment). The guidance with the same name is rewritten with the latest guidance (step S420 → S430 in FIG. 10).

The above procedure is repeated every time the mailer is started, and the latest guidance is sent from the guidance server 1200. The guidance should include the advertising information of the product you want to sell. In the present embodiment, the user does not need to update the guidance, and the stored old guidance is rewritten with the new guidance, so that the storage capacity of the hard disk of the general user is not reduced more than necessary.

The guidance server 1200 may register the latest guidance to be used for advertisement from another client connected to the communication network (Internet), or may register the latest guidance directly from the microphone of the guidance server 1200. Good. Conventionally, while guidance information such as guidance is unilaterally broadcast at regular intervals from the guidance server 1200 to the general user client 1100 in the form of a mailing list, in the present embodiment, the general client The difference is that the guidance server 1200 sends the advertisement information in response to the request. Since the transmission of the advertising information by the mailing list accumulates the email, the general user needs to delete the received email. In the present embodiment, however, the old advertising information is rewritten with the new advertising information. Has the merit that the number of files does not increase more than necessary.

(Third Embodiment) The system configuration of the third embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment. Further, it is assumed that the mailer described in the first embodiment is installed in the client 1100 of a general user. However, the mailer has a new function described later.

In this embodiment, the software distribution server 1000
Has advertising information in voice form (also serving as guidance information) and the preference text of FIG. In this preference text, the home page of the software distribution server 1000 itself is included.
The RL is described, and the operator of the client 1100 can access the homepage by specifying the URL displayed in the pull-down menu on the mailer. After accessing the software distribution server 100 manually
From 0, it is also possible to download advertising information in audio form.

In the third embodiment, when the power is turned on, when the mailer is being started, and the operator is not operating the mailer, or at a predetermined timing automatically determined from a change in the state of the computer ( For example, when the browser or mailer is started, the client 11
From 00, the software distribution server 1000 is automatically accessed, and the client 1100 downloads the latest preference text. The old preference text is overwritten with the latest downloaded preference text. A program for realizing this function may be incorporated in the program described in the first embodiment, or may be another program.

The following are examples of applications of this embodiment. a) The software distribution server 1000 prepares a plurality of types of preference texts for each field. Client 11
When there is a download request from 00, the software distribution server 1000 delivers only the latest preference text of the same type as the preference text mounted on the client 1100 to the client 1100. One of the following two methods may be used as an information processing method for this purpose. In the first method, the type of the preference text is designated from the client 1100. As the type, a predetermined identification number may be used, or a URL or a mail address itself may be used as type information. In addition to these types of information, version information and date of mounting may be added.

In the second method, the software distribution server 100
On the 0 side, a preference text suitable for the client 1100 is automatically selected. To do this, client 1
The first time the client 11 downloads the mailer or updates the preference text
00 accesses the software distribution server 1000, the software distribution server 1000
And the personal identification information of the client 1100 itself, such as a user ID, and other information (name, e-mail address, etc.) used for personal identification.
0 is registered in the database.

When the client 1100 accesses to download the preference text,
After the identification based on the personal identification information, the latest (but not necessarily the latest) preference text is delivered to the client 1100 based on the preference text type information registered in the database. b) It is also possible to automatically download the advertisement information in audio form from the software distribution server 1000 together with the preference text. c) A guide message for download may be displayed before automatic download of the preference text, and confirmation of download may be received from the operator.

(Fourth Embodiment) First to Third Embodiments
In the embodiment, the preference text is installed in the client 1100. On the other hand, a fourth embodiment in which the preference text or information described in the preference text is stored in the software distribution server 1000 in the form of a database for each client will be described. In this embodiment, information (so-called list information) displayed on the pull-down menu 105 in FIG. 3 is used instead of the preference text. The list information can use a company name or a product name. A character string displayed by the client 1100 from the software distribution server 1000 in association with the list item (see FIG. 4)
(A character string displayed on the pull-down menu 106) is received and stored internally.

When the operator designates the menu item 103 (service) in FIG. 3 with the mouse during the activation of the mailer, the list items stored therein are displayed in the pull-down menu 105. The point that the list item selected by the operator is displayed on the toolbar 100 is the same as in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, when a list item is designated by the operator on the toolbar, a character string received from the software distribution server 1000 is displayed together with the list item (in the example of FIG. 4, a homepage and a material request mail). . When the operator selects any item with the mouse,
The client 1100 sends the selected list items and related items to the software distribution server 1000. The software distribution server 1000 returns the communication address information (URL or mail address) corresponding to the received list item and related item to the client 1100. Using the received communication address information, the client 1100 can display a homepage on a browser or send an e-mail.

The following form can be implemented as an applied form of this form. a) The above-described list items and related character strings are stored when the power of the client 1000 is turned on and the mailer is started.
Alternatively, the latest menu item 103 or 104 may be taken in at the moment specified by the mouse. b) Also, a function of displaying a list item in the pull-down menu of FIG. 3, a function of displaying a selection list item on the toolbar 100, a function of displaying a pull-down menu of the displayed list item, and an access destination using this pull-down menu A program for executing all or a part of the function to be selected and the function to connect to the selected access destination can be downloaded from the software distribution server 1000 to the client 1100 every time the mailer is started. This function is supported by JAVA (registered trademark)
(Sun Microsystems), ActiveX (a trademark of Microsoft Corporation), or the like.

The following embodiment can be implemented in addition to the above embodiment.

1) In the above embodiment, the size of the toolbar, the item name of the menu or pull-down menu on the toolbar, the position, the size of the entire window, and the like are included in the window arrangement information in the form of parameters. O
S is an example in which an image is synthesized and displayed based on window arrangement information. However, since parameters of a window change according to the type of OS, a program for a graphical user interface must be created in accordance with the OS. I just need. The directory structure in FIG. 2 is also an example,
For example, other file information (personal name, address, etc.) can be registered in the registry. When using MacOS (trademark) of Apple Inc., the image for the window is registered in the resource fork.

2) In the above embodiment, a mouse was used as a pointing device, but it is a matter of course that another pointing device, for example, a trackball may be used.

3) The recording medium for recording the program referred to in this specification means various types of portable recording media such as a hard disk, an IC memory such as a RAM, and a CDROM. Further, when the client computer of FIG. 1 downloads a program from an external device via the Internet or the like, a storage unit that stores the program in the download source computer is a recording medium.

4) In the above embodiment, an example in which the client is connected to the Internet has been described. However, the communication network is not limited to the Internet, but may be a LAN or another communication network. Further, the communication mode is not limited to the wired mode, but may be a wireless mode.

5) In the above embodiment, the audio data (st
art. wav or interval. Although the attention of the user due to the reproduction of wav) has been described, it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained by using a still image or a moving image.

6) In the above-described embodiment, the mailer is described in order to include simplification of mail transmission. However, if it is sufficient to view only the URL, not only a browser but also word processing software or spreadsheet software may be used. The invention can be implemented.

7) In the above-described second embodiment, the guidance server 1200 and the software distribution server 1000 may be common, or the guidance server 1200 and the web server that provides product information may be common.

8) In the above second embodiment, when requesting guidance, the last update date and time on the client side is transmitted to the guidance server 1200, and the guidance server 1200 compares the date and time with its own data update date and time. By doing so, it is possible to eliminate the need to resend data already stored in the client 1100 again.

9) In the above-described second embodiment, the transmitted guidance data is immediately reproduced by requesting the guidance server 1200 to transmit the guidance data at the timing of reproducing the guidance. No need to save.

10) In the second embodiment, when a general user client 1100 requests guidance to the guidance server 1200, guidance type information can be included. Type information, for example,
What is necessary is just to describe in association with the e-mail address in the text document of FIG.

11) In the above-described first embodiment, the toolbar has a band shape, but the toolbar may have any shape.

12) In the above embodiment, the client 10
00 is directly connected to the communication network, but may be connected via a provider or a communication server in the company.

13) Further, as a modified example of the above embodiment, the following form can be given.

A) In the third embodiment described above, there are a plurality of types of communication address information, and the type to be used for each client 1100 is recorded in the software distribution server (second server) 1000. A request for address information is sent from the client 1100 to the software distribution server 1
000, the software distribution server 10
00 determines which type of information the client 1100 needs, and sends only the required type of information to the client 1100.

B) In the third embodiment, the client 1100 transmits the communication address every time the communication address information is transmitted from the software distribution server (second server) 1000 holding the communication address information. Rewrite the communication address information transmitted so far with the information.

C) In the above-described third embodiment, the client 1100 repeatedly requests the software distribution server (second server) 1000 holding the audio format advertisement information at a predetermined timing to request the audio format advertisement information. Is sent.

D) In the above-described third embodiment, there are a plurality of types of advertisement information in audio form, and setting information on which type is used is recorded on the client 1100 side. When transmitting a request for advertising information to the software distribution server (second server) 1000, only the information of the set type is requested.

E) In the above-described third embodiment, there are a plurality of types of advertising information in the form of audio, and which type is used for each client is recorded in the software distribution server (second server) 1000. When a request for advertising information in audio form is transmitted from the client 1100 to the software distribution server, the software distribution server 1000 determines which type of information the client 1100 needs, and sends only the necessary type of information to the client 1100.
Send to

F) In the third embodiment, the mail address of the client 1100 from which the communication address has been downloaded is stored in the software distribution server 1000, and the advertisement information is transmitted to the client 1100 in the form of voice mail.

[0115]

As described above, according to the present invention, a user can automatically transmit a predetermined e-mail message or automatically access a homepage simply by operating a pull-down menu on a mailer. Can be. Thereby, the opportunity of contact with the merchandise sales company is increased, and the effect of promoting sales is manipulated.

Further, the present invention has the following effects.

1) Guidance for operation and various kinds of guidance can be provided to the user by outputting the voice data, so that the user does not become confused with the operation.

2) Further, by using the voice of a celebrity as the voice of the guidance, it is possible to arouse the user's interest in the service of the third party who provided the second folder.

3) Since it is only necessary to prepare the second folder and provide it to the client side, there is no need to notify the user of the change of the URL or the e-mail address. There is no need for the user to re-register the changed URL or e-mail address in the browser bookmark or mailer address book.

4) It is also possible to construct a system for efficiently collecting mailer usage fees as advertising expenses for providing the second folder without collecting it from individual users. It is also possible to construct a system in which the second folder is charged for and the mailer usage fee is dispersed and collected in them. In the past, even if software was upgraded (added functions) to provide new convenience to the user, the usage fee for collectively collecting the software became a bottleneck, and the user could not easily use the latest software. However, this problem can be solved by constructing a system for collecting and collecting software usage fees.

Further, according to the present invention, the merchandise seller
By associating the mailer with information indicating the access destination of its own server, a request for advertising information is transmitted from a general user client. For this reason, the merchandise distributor does not need to check the mail address of the general user's client.

Further, the advertisement information may be updated on the merchandise distributor side, and the advertisement information of the general user's client is automatically updated with the updated advertisement information. It is not necessary to do so, and the storage capacity of the internal storage device is not damaged by the advertising information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a system configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a directory structure according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a system configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a client 110 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of No. 0.

FIG. 11 is a guidance server 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 CPU 11 System memory 12 Modem 14 Display 15 HDD 16 Mouse 17 Keyboard

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus having a mailer, wherein when an item arranged on a toolbar of an operation window of the mailer is selected by a pointing device, a pull-down menu related to the selected item is displayed. A first item and a second item are arranged on the top, and a plurality of second folders including information indicating an access destination are stored in a single first folder, and the first item is First means for displaying, in a pull-down menu, identification names of a plurality of second folders included in the first folder as selection candidates when selected by the pointing device; and the displayed pull-down menu. In the same as the identification name of the second folder selected by the pointing device Second means for displaying a second item on the toolbar by name, and when the second item is selected by the pointing device, one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose are selected from a pull-down menu. 3rd to be displayed as
And fourth means for e-mailing a prepared e-mail message to an external access destination related to the information selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information associated with a URL is further displayed on said pull-down menu by said third means.
An information processing apparatus, further comprising: fifth means for accessing a server indicated by the URL when information obtained in association with the RL is selected by a pointing device. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more pieces of information indicating an access purpose are described in a single document together with an access destination name, and the third unit performs processing from the document. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more pieces of information are read and displayed in a pull-down menu, and the fourth unit acquires an access destination name corresponding to the selected information from the document. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the voice data prepared in advance is output during a time when the mailer is activated or during the activation of the mailer while no user operation is performed. An information processing apparatus, further comprising: 5. An information processing method in which a mailer is mounted on an information processing apparatus, and when an item arranged on a toolbar of an operation window of the mailer is selected by a pointing device, a pull-down menu related to the selected item is displayed. In the method, a first item and a second item are arranged on the toolbar, and a plurality of second folders including information indicating an access destination are stored in a single first folder; When one item is selected by the pointing device, the identification names of a plurality of second folders included in the first folder are displayed as selection candidates in a pull-down menu, and in the displayed pull-down menu, And the identification name of the second folder selected by the pointing device Displaying a second item on the toolbar with the same name, when the second item is selected by the pointing device, displaying one or more information indicating an access purpose as a selection candidate of a pull-down menu; An information processing method comprising: e-mailing an e-mail message prepared in advance to an external access destination related to the information selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu. 6. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein information associated with the URL is further displayed in the pull-down menu, and the information associated with the URL is selected by a pointing device. And accessing a server indicated by the URL. 7. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein the one or more information indicating an access purpose is described in a single document together with an access destination name, and the one or more information is read from the document. An information processing method comprising: reading, displaying in a pull-down menu, and obtaining an access destination name corresponding to selected information from the document. 8. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein voice data prepared in advance is output at a time when the mailer is started or while the mailer is running, while no user operation is performed. An information processing method characterized by the following. 9. A program for a graphical user interface that displays a pull-down menu on a selected item when an item arranged on a toolbar of a mailer operation window is selected by a pointing device, the program being readable by a computer. A first medium and a second item are arranged on the toolbar, and a plurality of second folders including information indicating access destinations are stored in a single folder in the computer. The program is stored in a first folder, and when the first item is selected by the pointing, the program identifies the identifiers of the plurality of second folders included in the first folder. No. to be displayed in the pull-down menu as a selection candidate And a second step of displaying a second item on the toolbar with the same name as the identification name of the second folder selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu; In the case where item (3) is selected by the pointing device, one or more information indicating an access purpose is displayed as a selection candidate of a pull-down menu.
And a fourth step of e-mailing a predetermined e-mail text to an external access destination related to the information selected by the pointing device in the displayed pull-down menu. Recording medium. 10. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein
In the pull-down menu, information associated with the URL is further displayed, and when the information associated with the URL is selected by a pointing device,
A recording medium characterized in that the program has a step of accessing a server indicated by the URL. 11. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein
The one or more information indicating the access purpose is described in a single document together with the access destination name. In the third step, the one or more information is read from the document, displayed in a pull-down menu, and displayed in the pull-down menu. In a fourth step, a recording medium is obtained from the document, the access destination name corresponding to the selected information. 12. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein
The program may further include a fifth step of outputting voice data prepared in advance while the user is not operated while the mailer is started or while the mailer is running. recoding media.