JP2003333099A - Electronic mail management system, electronic mail server, computer program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic mail management system, an electronic mail server, a computer program and a recording medium which can avoid concentration of transmission requests of attachment files, without having to suppress the storage capacity of the electronic mail server. <P>SOLUTION: It is determined whether an attachment file is contained in a received electronic mail (S2). If an attachment file is contained, the number of transmission requests per predetermined time is counted. If the number of transmission requests is not less than a predetermined value (S9: YES), the attachment file is duplicated and is registered in a document management database. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail management system, an electronic mail server, a computer program, and a recording medium for reducing the storage capacity of an electronic mail server and distributing transmission requests for attached data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the progress of Internet technology, the transmission of information by electronic mail has become widespread. Also,
Intranet is constructed by introducing Internet technology into communication systems in companies, and various kinds of information are transmitted by electronic mail.

Electronic mails sent and received on the Internet or intranet are managed by an electronic mail server. That is, the e-mail sent from the sender e-mail client device is
It is first sent to the sending e-mail server such as a server (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol server). SM
The e-mail received by the TP server refers to the e-mail address of the recipient and refers to the POP server (Post Office Pr
sent to the recipient's email server (such as the otocol server). The e-mail server on the receiving side stores the received e-mail in a storage device such as a hard disk, and when an e-mail transmission request is received from the destination e-mail client device, the e-mail is sent to the e-mail client device. I am trying to send you.

In addition, in such an electronic mail management system, it is possible to send electronic mail to a plurality of destinations at a time, and the electronic mail includes document data, image data, video data and voice data. It is also possible to attach various data such as the above and send it.

For example, in a company, document data may be attached to an electronic mail, and the electronic mail may be transmitted to a large number of people at one time to transmit information. In this case, in the conventional electronic mail server, an electronic mail including the attached data is created for each destination of the electronic mail and stored in a predetermined storage area such as a personal electronic mail box. Then, the transmission request of the electronic mail client device is accepted for each destination, and the electronic mail stored in the storage area is individually transmitted for each destination.

[0006]

However, in the electronic management mail system described above, when there are a plurality of e-mail destinations, a duplication of the e-mail including attached data is created for each e-mail destination. When it was necessary to send e-mails containing attached data to many people at once, many duplicated data were created in the e-mail server, which was a cause of pressure on the storage capacity of the e-mail server. .

Therefore, if the electronic mail received by the electronic mail server includes attached data, the electronic mail body and the attached data are stored separately, and duplicate data is created for each destination for the electronic mail body. It is possible to store only the correspondence between the email text and the attached data without creating duplicate data for the attached data. When there is a transmission request for attached data, the attached data is transmitted by referring to the correspondence.

However, in the above-mentioned e-mail management system, since the duplicate data of the attached data is not created, the transmission request for the attached data may be concentrated in a short time, and the response to the transmission request is bad. Had the problem of becoming.

Further, even when the number of e-mail destinations is large, it is expected that transmission requests for attached data will be concentrated, so that the transmission requests can be concentrated in advance without reducing the storage capacity of the e-mail server. It was desired to develop an email management system that can be avoided.

Further, when the attached data is document data, it is desirable that the content of the attached data can be retrieved without acquiring the attached data by the electronic mail client device.

Further, it is desirable that the attached data that has already been acquired is moved to a storage device separate from the electronic mail server by the electronic mail client device so that the storage capacity of the electronic mail server is not overwhelmed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has means for counting the number of requests for attached data per predetermined time, and duplicate data of the attached data when the counted number of requests is equal to or more than the predetermined number. And a means for generating and storing, and when the transmission request information for the attached data is received from the email client device, the attached data or the stored duplicate data is transmitted to the email client device. , An electronic mail management system capable of avoiding concentration of transmission requests for attached data without reducing the storage capacity of the electronic mail server, an electronic mail server provided in the electronic mail management system, and a computer program for realizing the electronic mail server And a computer in which the computer program is recorded And to provide a read capable recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is to count the number of destinations of the received electronic mail, and to generate and store duplicated data of the attached data when the number of counted destinations is a predetermined number or more. An electronic mail management system capable of avoiding the concentration of transmission requests for attached data without putting pressure on the storage capacity of the electronic mail server, and an electronic mail server provided in the electronic mail management system. To do.

Still another object of the present invention is a structure comprising means for generating index data in which, when the attached data is document data, a character string included in the document data and position information of the character string in the document data are associated with each other. By
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail management system capable of searching the content of attached data and an electronic mail server included in the electronic mail management system.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a means for searching a character string to be searched from the index data based on the received search request information, so that the contents of the attached data can be searched. It is to provide a management system and an electronic mail server included in the electronic mail management system.

Still another object of the present invention is a means for storing attached data to be stored in association with an electronic mail text,
To provide an electronic mail management system capable of storing the attached data of an electronic mail by including the means for deleting the attached data after storing in the means, and an electronic mail server included in the electronic mail management system. It is in.

[0017]

An electronic mail management system according to a first invention comprises an electronic mail server and a plurality of electronic mail client devices connected to the electronic mail server, and the electronic mail server is an electronic mail server. When the e-mail sent from the mail client device includes attached data, a means for individually storing the body of the e-mail and the attached data and a means for receiving transmission request information for the attached data from the e-mail client device are provided. ,
In the e-mail management system configured to send the attached data to the e-mail client device when the transmission request information is received, the e-mail server, based on the received transmission request information, sets a predetermined time for the attached data. A means for counting the number of requests, a means for determining whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more, and a means for generating duplicated data of the attached data when the number of requests is a predetermined number or more. A means for storing the generated duplicated data, wherein when the transmission request information for the attached data is received from the email client device, the attached data or the stored duplicated data is sent to the email client device. It is characterized by being.

An electronic mail management system according to a second invention is the electronic mail management system according to the first invention,
The electronic mail server includes means for counting the number of destinations of the received electronic mail, means for determining whether or not the counted number of destinations is a predetermined number or more, and counting the number of destinations is a predetermined number or more. In one case, it is characterized by further comprising means for generating duplicate data of the attached data and means for storing the duplicate data thus generated.

The electronic mail server according to the third aspect of the present invention includes a means for receiving an electronic mail, a means for individually storing an electronic mail text and attached data when the received electronic mail includes attached data, and a means for the attached data. In an e-mail server having means for receiving transmission request information, means for counting the number of requests for attached data per predetermined time based on the received transmission request information, and whether or not the counted number of requests is not less than a predetermined number. Determining whether or not the request number is equal to or more than a predetermined number, a unit for generating duplicate data of the attached data, and a unit for storing the generated duplicate data, and the transmission request information for the attached data is provided. When received, the attached data or the stored duplicated data is transmitted.

A computer program according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not attached electronic mail includes attached data, and a case where the computer includes attached data in the input electronic mail. And transmitting the attached data input to the computer in a computer program including the steps of individually storing the text of the email and the attached data, and the step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data in response to an externally input request. A step of counting the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the request information; a step of causing the computer to determine whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more; If the number is more than the specified number, duplicate data of the attached data will be generated. And a step of causing the computer to store the generated duplicated data, and a step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data or the stored duplicated data when transmission request information for the attached data is further input. Is characterized by.

A computer-readable recording medium according to the fifth aspect of the present invention includes a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not attached data is included in an input electronic mail, and an input electronic mail to the computer. If the attached data is included in the computer program, a computer program is recorded that has a step of individually storing the email body and the attached data and a step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data in response to a request input from the outside. In a computer-readable recording medium,
A step of causing a computer to count the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the input transmission request information of the attached data; and causing the computer to determine whether or not the counted number of requests is equal to or more than a predetermined number. And a step of causing the computer to generate duplicate data of the attached data when the requested number is equal to or larger than a predetermined number, a step of causing the computer to store the generated duplicated data, and a transmission of the attached data to the computer. When the request information is further input, a computer program having a step of transmitting the attached data or the stored duplicated data is recorded.

In the present invention, the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time is counted, and when the counted number of requests is equal to or more than the predetermined number, duplicate data of the attached data is generated. When the transmission request information for the data is received from the electronic mail client device, the attached data or the stored duplicated data is transmitted to the electronic mail client device. Therefore, because the duplicate data of the attached data is created only when the transmission requests for the attached data are concentrated in a short time, the transmission requests for the attached data can be concentrated without compressing the storage capacity of the email server. Can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, when the counted number of destinations of the electronic mail is a predetermined number or more, duplicate data of the attached data is generated. Therefore, when transmission requests for attached data are expected to be concentrated in a short time, it is possible to avoid concentration of transmission requests for attached data by creating duplicate data of the attached data in advance.

Further, in the present invention, when the attached data is document data, index data in which a character string included in the document data and position information of the character string in the document data are associated with each other is generated. , The contents of attached data can be searched.

Further, according to the present invention, since the character string to be searched can be searched from the index data based on the received search request information, the content of the attached data can be searched. .

Further, according to the present invention, the attached data to be stored is stored in association with the body of the electronic mail. Therefore, for example, the attached data having a low transmission request frequency is separated from the electronic mail server. It becomes possible to save in the storage device.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof. Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail management system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an electronic mail server 100 that manages transmission / reception of electronic mail, and the electronic mail server 100 includes an electronic mail client. A plurality of terminals 300, which are devices, are connected via the communication network N. Also, the email server 10
A file server 200 for storing e-mails (attached files) for which the frequency of transmission requests has decreased is connected to 0.

In the present embodiment, an e-mail management system built on an in-house LAN within a company is assumed.
Since a so-called intranet using TCP / IP, which is the basic technology of the Internet technology, is assumed, it is not necessarily limited to the in-house LAN in the company, and the e-mail server and the e-mail client device can be connected via the Internet network. It may be connected. The e-mail server connected to the Internet network is
In general, the e-mail server 100 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of a transmitting side server represented by an SMTP server and a receiving side server represented by a POP server. Has both side functions. When used in the Internet network, the electronic mail server 1 of the present invention is used only as the receiving electronic mail server.
00 may be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic mail management system according to the present invention. The email schematically shown in FIG. 2 is sent from the terminal 300 to the email server 1
The case of transmission to 00 will be described below.

The electronic mail received by the electronic mail server 100 is provided with an electronic mail ID, which is an identification number of the electronic mail, so that each electronic mail can be identified. In the example of the electronic mail shown in FIG. 2, “# 001” is assigned as the electronic mail ID. The email address of the sender of this email is "○○○ @ ××
×. jp ”, and“ aaa01@xxxxxx.jp ”and“ aaa02 ”as the e-mail address of the transmission destination (destination).
@ ×××. jp ”and“ aaa03@×××.jp ”
Is specified. In the present embodiment, since an electronic mail management system built on an in-house LAN in a company is assumed, an electronic mail is transmitted from the terminal 300 corresponding to the sender's electronic mail address, and the electronic mail is sent. When the server 100 receives a transmission request from the terminal 300 corresponding to any of the three destination email addresses, the server 100 sends the email to the terminal 300.

Further, in the electronic mail "# 001", an attachment file (SAMPLE.DOC) is embedded in addition to the main body of the electronic mail describing the contents of the electronic mail. The attached file is, for example, a file containing document data created by a text editor, word processor, or the like, and when it is transmitted from the terminal 300 to the electronic mail server 100, an electronic mail in BinHex format, Base64 format, uuencode format, etc. MIME (Multipurpo)
se Internet Mail Extensions).

When the above-mentioned e-mail is received, the e-mail server 100 manages the body of the e-mail and the attached file separately. In other words, with regard to the e-mail text, duplicate e-mail texts should be created for each recipient.
Each destination is registered in the e-mail management database (e-mail management DB, see FIG. 4). The attached file is associated with the electronic mail text by using the link ID which is the identification information and registered in the document management database (document management DB, see FIG. 4).

The e-mail server 100 constantly monitors the number of transmission requests from the terminal 300 for the attached file. When the transmission request becomes frequent, a copy of the attached file is created and the attached file is sent. Distribute connections.

When the attached file is registered in the document management database, the encoded attached file is decrypted to create an index file for full-text search as described later, and the index database (index D
B, see FIG. 5).

Furthermore, if there is a transmission request for an attached file from all the destination terminals 300, and if a certain period of time elapses thereafter, the frequency of the transmission request for the attached file will decrease, so it will be left in the document management database. It is no longer necessary and the attached file is moved to the file server 200 for storage. At this time, the information of the moving destination is recorded in the document storage database (document storage DB, see FIG. 5).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the electronic mail server 100. E-mail server 100
Has a CPU 101, and via a bus 102,
ROM 103, RAM 104, display unit 105, input unit 1
06, the communication unit 107, the external storage device 108, the internal storage device 109, and other hardware. CP
U101 controls those hardware according to the control program stored in ROM103. RAM1
04 is composed of SRAM or flash memory,
It stores data generated when the control program stored in the ROM 103 is executed.

The display unit 105 is a display device such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display, and the input unit 106 is a keyboard or
An input device such as a mouse. Display unit 105 and input unit 1
06 is used, for example, when displaying / changing the contents of various databases. In the case of displaying / changing the contents of various databases through the terminal 300,
The display unit 105 and the input unit 106 are used as the electronic mail server 10.
You don't have to be prepared for zero.

The communication section 107 includes a line terminating device such as a modem. The communication unit 107 uses the terminal device 300 of the transmission source
The terminal 300 that receives an email from the terminal and is associated with the destination described in the email.
When receiving the transmission request from, the electronic mail is transmitted to the terminal 300.

The internal storage device 109 comprises a storage device such as a hard disk, and a part of the storage area is an electronic mail management database 109A for storing the electronic mail text and the electronic mail address of the destination in association with each other, an attached file and the attached file. A document management database 109B that stores a copy of a file in association with the body of an email, and an index database 1 that stores an index file for full-text search of attached files and the body of an email
09C and file server 2 for storing attached files
Document storage database 109 that stores the correspondence relationship between the destination information and the original e-mail text when moving to 00
It is used as D, accesses various databases as necessary, and stores and reads information.

In this embodiment, the internal storage device 109 of the electronic mail server 100 is provided with various databases, but these databases do not necessarily have to be inside the electronic mail server 100, and the electronic mail server 100 is not necessarily required. Prepare a database server connected to
The database server may include all or part of the database inside.

The file server 200 has the same structure as the electronic mail server 100, and stores the attached file moved from the electronic mail server 100 in a storage device (not shown) such as a hard disk. Terminal 3
00 is specifically a personal computer or PDA
An information processing device such as a (personal digital assistant), which is preinstalled with email client software for creating / transmitting / receiving emails.

4 and 5 are conceptual diagrams showing an example of each database. FIG. 4A is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the electronic mail management database 109A, which is an electronic mail I of an electronic mail received by the electronic mail server 100.
D, a source electronic mail address, and a destination electronic mail address are stored in association with each other. In addition, a link ID is assigned to one e-mail ID in order to associate the databases.
FIG. 4A shows that the electronic mail identified by the electronic mail ID = “# 001” is transmitted in response to the transmission request from the three electronic mail addresses shown in the destination column.

FIG. 4B shows the document management database 10.
9B is a conceptual diagram showing an example of 9B, in which a document file name attached to an electronic mail is stored in association with the link ID. FIG. Further, the connection status to the document file is constantly monitored by the electronic mail server 100, and if there are frequent transmission requests to the document file, a copy of the document file is created and its file name is set to the link ID. It is stored in association with. In FIG. 4B, the link ID = “R00
1 ”, a document file having a file name“ SAMPLE.DOC ”is stored, and“ SAMPLE.DOC ”is stored.
_01. DOC ”,“ SAMPLE — 02.DOC ”,
And a duplicate file having a file name “SAMPLE_03.DOC” is stored.

In the present embodiment, since the content of the file attached to the electronic mail is searched in full text, it is preferable that the attached file is a document file described in text. Database 1
The files stored in 09B may be files other than document files such as image files, audio files, and video files. In addition, the file attached to the e-mail need not be decrypted when stored in the document management database 109B.

FIG. 5C is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the index database 109C, which is associated with a link ID and is a one-character index, a two-character index,
The file name of the N character index is stored. Here, each index file is a file that is referred to when performing a full-text search for the contents of the document file attached to the email, and all the character strings contained in the document and the position of each character string in the document It is associated with information.

For example, if the content of the document file is "The Japanese economy is on a recovery trend.", The one-character index is "day, book, ... The sentence is divided into character strings each consisting of one character, and each character string and the appearance position of the character string are stored in association with each other. Also,
The two-character index divides a sentence into two-character strings such as "Japan, book, scene, ..., Aru," and associates each character string with the appearance position of that character string. Remember. In the same manner, three-character index, four-character index, ..., N-character index are created.

The attached file of the electronic mail transmitted from the terminal 300 is encoded in a predetermined format, and is not a document file but a binary file such as an image file, an audio file, a video file, etc. Therefore, when creating the index file, it is necessary to determine whether the file is a document file after decrypting it once.

FIG. 5D shows the document storage database 10.
9D is a conceptual diagram showing an example of 9D, in which identification information (for example, IP address) of a file server, a directory name (file path) in which a document file is stored, and a file name are stored in association with each other.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the electronic mail server 100. First, the electronic mail server 100 determines whether or not an electronic mail has been received (step S1). And if there is no email (S
1: NO), wait until receiving an email.

When the electronic mail server 100 receives the electronic mail (S1: YES), it is determined whether or not the received electronic mail includes an attached file (step S).
2). If there is no attached file (S2: NO), normal mail processing is performed (step S3), and the processing as the electronic mail management system of the present invention ends.

If it is determined in step S2 that the e-mail has an attached file (S2: YES), the attached file is registered in the document management database 109B (step S4). Then refer to the email you received,
It is determined whether the number of destinations of the electronic mail is a predetermined number or more (step S5). When the number of destinations of the e-mail is more than the predetermined number (S5: YES), the copy of the attached file is registered in the document management database 109B (step S6).

When it is determined in step S5 that the number of destinations of the electronic mail is less than the predetermined number (S5: NO), the value of the timer (not shown) provided in the electronic mail server 100 is set to t.
= 0 is set (step S7). Then, it is determined whether the time T has elapsed since the timer value was set to t = 0 (step S8), and when the time T has not elapsed (S8).
8: NO), and waits until the time T elapses.

After setting the value of the timer to t = 0, the time T
When (S8: YES) has passed, it is determined whether or not the attachment file has a predetermined number of transmission requests or more (step S
9) If there are more than a predetermined number of transmission requests (S9: YE)
S), copy the attached file to the document database 109B
(S6).

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the electronic mail server 100 receives an electronic mail, the attached file is separated from the body of the electronic mail and stored, and the transmission requests for the attached file concentrate in a short time. In case you are trying to make a duplicate of the attachment. If there is a request to send an attached file,
For example, by distributing the transmission of attached files by the round robin method, transmission requests for one attached file are prevented from being concentrated.

Next, a procedure for creating a full-text search index will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when creating a full-text search index. First, the electronic mail server 100 determines whether or not an electronic mail has been received (step S11). If the e-mail is not received (S11: NO), the process waits until the e-mail is received.

When the electronic mail server 100 receives the electronic mail (S11: YES), it is determined whether or not the received electronic mail includes an attached file (step S12), and the received electronic mail has an attached file. If is not included (S12: NO), normal mail processing is performed (step S13).

When the received e-mail includes the attached file (S12: YES), the encoded attached file is decrypted to determine whether it is a document file (step S14). Whether or not it is a document file can be determined by checking an identifier for identifying a file type such as an extension or a file type.

If the attached file is a document file (S14: YES), the full text search index is extracted (step S15). As described above, the full-text search index is extracted by sequentially extracting a character string of n characters (n = 1, 2, ...) Included in the document file from the beginning to the end of the text data.

Next, an index file is created based on the extracted character string and the position information of the character string in the text data (step S16). Then, the attached file is registered in the document management database 109B (step S17). When the attached file is transmitted based on the request of the terminal device 300, it is necessary to compress the attached file in an appropriate format before transmitting the attached file.
When registering in 9B, BinHex format, Base64 format, uuenco
It is desirable to compress in a format such as de format.

Then, the attached file is associated with the index file (step S18), and the index file is registered in the index database 109C (step S19).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure for moving the attached file to the file server. First, the electronic mail server 100 determines whether or not to move the attached file (step S21). The movement of the attached file is set in advance so that, for example, after 10 days have passed since the transmission request for the attached file was received from all the destinations of the electronic mail. If it is determined that the attached file is not moved (S21: NO), the process ends.

When it is determined that the attached file is to be moved (S21: YES), a destination information file is created (step S22) and registered in the document storage database 109D. This move destination information file contains the file server 2
The IP address of 00, the file path, and the file name of the attached file are recorded in association with the link ID, and the information of the destination of the attached file can be obtained based on the link ID.

Then, a copy of the attached file is stored in the file server 200 (step S23), and the attached file stored in the document management database 109B is deleted (step S24).

Embodiment 2. As described above, in the first embodiment, the attached file is stored in the document management database 109.
The number of transmission requests for the attached file is counted from the time of registration in B to the lapse of a predetermined time, and it is determined whether or not the counted value is a predetermined number or more. When the number of transmission requests is equal to or larger than the predetermined number, a copy of the attached file is created and registered in the document management database 109B. However, the e-mail is not always requested to be sent from the operator of the terminal 300 immediately after the e-mail server 100 receives the e-mail, and thus the e-mail server 100 is desired to monitor the e-mail at any time. In the present embodiment, an e-mail management system that allows the e-mail server 100 to monitor a request to send an attached file at any time will be described. The configuration of the electronic mail management system and the configuration of the electronic mail server 100 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the electronic mail server 100. First, the electronic mail server 100 determines whether or not an electronic mail has been received (step S31). If the e-mail has not been received (S31: NO), the process waits until the e-mail is received.

When the electronic mail server 100 receives the electronic mail (S31: YES), it is determined whether or not the received electronic mail includes an attached file (step S32). When the received e-mail does not include the attached file (S32: NO), normal mail processing is performed and the processing ends (step S33).

When the received e-mail includes the attached file (S32: YES), the timer is set to t = 0 (step S34). Next, the number of transmission requests for attached files is counted (step S3).
5).

Then, t = T ₁ (for example, T ₁ is 10
Min) is determined (step S36), t = T
_When it is not ₁ (S36: NO), the process is performed in step S35.
Return to. When it is determined that t = T ₁ in step S36 (S36: YES), the number of copies of the attached file is calculated (step S37). The copy number of the attached file is calculated based on the number of transmission requests counted in step S35. For example, the number of transmission requests multiplied by 0.5 can be set as the copy number.

Next, based on the calculated number of copies, the copy of the attached file is registered in the document management database 109B (step S38).

Then, it is determined whether or not t = T ₂ (for example, 2 hours) (step S39), and when t = T ₂ is not satisfied (S39: NO), the process waits until t = T ₂ is reached, t
= T ₂ (S39: YES), the process is returned to step S34.

In this way, the electronic mail server 100 constantly monitors the number of transmission requests for attached files, and duplicates are created in accordance with the number of requests, so the internal storage device 109 of the electronic mail server 100. Concentration of transmission requests for attached data is avoided without putting pressure on the storage capacity of the.

(Supplementary Note 1) An e-mail server and a plurality of e-mail client devices connected to the e-mail server are provided, and the e-mail server transmits the attached data to the e-mail sent from the e-mail client device. If included, the electronic mail body and attached data are separately stored, and means for receiving transmission request information for the attached data from the email client device are provided. When the transmission request information is received, the attached data is stored. In the e-mail management system configured to send to the e-mail client device, the e-mail server counts the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the received transmission request information, and the counted request. Means for determining whether the number is greater than or equal to a predetermined number,
When the number of requests is equal to or larger than a predetermined number, a unit for generating duplicated data of the attached data and a unit for storing the generated duplicated data are provided, and transmission request information for the attached data is received from the email client device. If
An electronic mail management system, wherein the attached data or the stored duplicated data is transmitted to the electronic mail client device. (Supplementary Note 2) The electronic mail server counts the number of destinations of the received electronic mail, determines whether the counted number of destinations is a predetermined number or more, and counts the number of counted destinations. The electronic mail management system according to appendix 1, further comprising: a unit for generating duplicate data of the attached data when the number is a predetermined number or more, and a unit for storing the duplicate data thus generated. (Supplementary Note 3) The e-mail server determines whether the attached data included in the received e-mail is document data, and if the attached data is document data, a character string included in the document data. Appendix 1 or Appendix, further comprising: a unit for generating index data in which the position information of the character string in the document data is associated, and a unit for storing the generated index data in association with the attached data. The email management system described in 2. (Supplementary Note 4) The electronic mail server receives a search request information for a character string in the attached data from an electronic mail client device, and a character string to be searched from the index data based on the received search request information. The electronic mail management system according to appendix 3, further comprising: a searching unit and a unit that transmits information related to the search result to the electronic mail client device. (Supplementary Note 5) The electronic mail server further comprises means for storing attached data to be stored in association with the text of the electronic mail, and means for deleting the attached data after the storage in the means. The electronic mail management system according to any one of appendices 1 to 4. (Supplementary Note 6) A means for receiving an electronic mail, a means for individually storing the text of the electronic mail and the attached data when the received electronic mail includes the attached data, and a means for receiving transmission request information for the attached data. In an electronic mail server provided, means for counting the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the received transmission request information, means for judging whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more, and the request. When the number is equal to or more than a predetermined number, the device further comprises means for generating duplicate data of the attached data, and means for storing the generated duplicate data, and when the transmission request information for the attached data is received, the attached data or storage An electronic mail server characterized in that it is designed to send the duplicated data. (Supplementary note 7) A means for counting the number of destinations of the received electronic mail, a means for determining whether or not the counted number of destinations is a predetermined number or more, and a case where the number of counted destinations is a predetermined number or more. The electronic mail server according to appendix 6, further comprising: a unit that generates duplicate data of the attached data and a unit that stores the generated duplicate data. (Supplementary Note 8) Means for determining whether or not the attached data included in the received e-mail is document data, and if the attached data is document data, the character string included in the document data and the character string in the document data. The electronic mail according to appendix 6 or 7, further comprising: a unit that generates index data associated with position information of a character string; and a unit that stores the generated index data in association with the attached data. server. (Supplementary Note 9) Means for receiving search request information for the character string in the attached data, means for searching the character string to be searched from the index data based on the received search request information, and information related to the search result. The electronic mail server according to appendix 8, further comprising: (Supplementary note 10) means for storing attached data to be saved in association with the body of the electronic mail, and after storing in the means,
The electronic mail server according to any one of appendices 6 to 9, further comprising: a unit that deletes the attached data. (Supplementary Note 11) a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not the input e-mail includes attached data,
When the input e-mail contains attached data to the computer, the steps of individually storing the body of the e-mail and the attached data, and causing the computer to send the attached data in response to a request input from outside. In the computer program having, based on the transmission request information of the attached data input to the computer,
A step of counting the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time; a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more; and a computer causing the number of requests to be a predetermined number or more. In this case, the step of generating duplicated data of the attached data, the step of causing the computer to store the generated duplicated data, and the case where the transmission request information for the attached data is further input to the computer, the attached data or stored And a step of transmitting the duplicated data. (Supplementary Note 12) a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not the input e-mail includes attached data,
In the case where the computer includes the attached data in the inputted email, the steps of individually storing the body of the email and the attached data, and the step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data in response to a request input from the outside. In a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded therein, causing the computer to count the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the input transmission request information of the attached data, A step of causing a computer to judge whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more,
If the number of requests is a predetermined number or more, the computer
Generating duplicated data of the attached data,
A computer program having a step of causing a computer to store the generated duplicated data and a step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data or the stored duplicated data when transmission request information for the attached data is further input to the computer is recorded. A computer-readable recording medium characterized in that.

[0073]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time is counted, and when the counted number of requests is more than the predetermined number, the duplicated data of the attached data is copied. When the transmission request information for the attached data is received from the electronic mail client device, the attached data or the stored duplicated data is transmitted to the electronic mail client device. Therefore, because the duplicate data of the attached data is created only when the transmission requests for the attached data are concentrated in a short time, the transmission requests for the attached data can be concentrated without compressing the storage capacity of the email server. Can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, when the counted number of destinations of the electronic mail is equal to or larger than the predetermined number, duplicate data of the attached data is generated. Therefore,
When transmission requests for attached data are expected to concentrate in a short time, it is possible to avoid concentration of transmission requests for attached data by creating duplicate data of the attached data in advance.

Further, according to the present invention, when the attached data is the document data, the index data in which the character string included in the document data and the position information of the character string in the document data are associated with each other is generated. You can search the contents of attached data.

Further, according to the present invention, since the character string to be searched can be searched from the index data based on the received search request information, the content of the attached data can be searched.

Further, according to the present invention, since the attached data to be saved is stored in association with the body of the electronic mail, for example, the attached data with a low transmission request frequency is stored separately from the electronic mail server. The present invention has excellent effects such as being able to be stored in a device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the electronic mail management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an electronic mail server.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of each database.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of each database.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an electronic mail server.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when creating a full-text search index.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when an attached file is moved to a file server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the electronic mail server.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 email server 101 CPU 109 internal storage device 109A Email Management Database 109B Document management database 109C index database 109D Document Management Database 110 recording media 200 file server 300 terminals

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail server, and a plurality of electronic mail client devices connected to the electronic mail server, wherein the electronic mail server includes attached data in an electronic mail transmitted from the electronic mail client device. In this case, the electronic mail body and attached data are separately stored, and means for receiving transmission request information for the attached data from the electronic mail client device are provided. When the transmission request information is received, the attached data is stored in the electronic mail. In an electronic mail management system configured to send to a mail client device, the electronic mail server, based on the received transmission request information, means for counting the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time, and the counted number of requests A means for determining whether or not the number is a predetermined number or more; If the transmission request information for the attached data is received from the e-mail client device, the attached data or the stored data is stored. An electronic mail management system, characterized in that duplicated data is transmitted to the electronic mail client device. 2. The electronic mail server, means for counting the number of destinations of the received electronic mail, means for judging whether or not the counted number of destinations is a predetermined number or more, and the number of counted destinations. 2. The electronic mail management system according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit for generating duplicated data of the attached data and a unit for storing the generated duplicated data when the number is greater than or equal to a predetermined number. 3. A means for receiving an e-mail, a means for individually storing an e-mail text and attached data when the received e-mail includes attached data, and a means for receiving transmission request information for the attached data. An electronic mail server comprising: a means for counting the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the received transmission request information; a means for judging whether the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more; When the number of requests is equal to or more than a predetermined number, the device further comprises a unit for generating duplicate data of the attached data and a unit for storing the generated duplicate data, and when the transmission request information for the attached data is received, the attached data or An electronic mail server characterized in that it is designed to transmit the stored duplicated data. 4. A step of causing a computer to judge whether or not the input electronic mail includes attached data, and, when the input electronic mail includes attached data, the electronic mail text and the attached data. And a step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data in response to a request input from the outside, in the computer program, the attachment based on the transmission request information of the attached data input to the computer. A step of counting the number of requests for a predetermined time for data, a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more, and a case of causing the computer to determine the number of requests is a predetermined number or more, Generating a copy of the attached data, and And storing the the duplicated data, to the computer, when said transmission request information for the attached data is further input, the computer program characterized by comprising a step of transmitting the copied data obtained by the attached data or storage. 5. A step of causing a computer to determine whether or not the input e-mail includes attached data, and, when the computer includes the attached data, the e-mail text and the attached data. In a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon, the computer program being recorded, and the step of causing the computer to transmit the attached data in response to a request input from the outside. A step of counting the number of requests for the attached data per predetermined time based on the input transmission request information of the attached data; a step of causing a computer to determine whether or not the counted number of requests is a predetermined number or more, If the number of requests is a predetermined number or more, the attached data Generating duplicated data, causing a computer to store the generated duplicated data, and causing the computer to transmit the attached data or the stored duplicated data when transmission request information for the attached data is further input. A computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon.