JP2008123149A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-convenience information processor allowing presetting of necessity/unnecessity of a reply to a reception mail according to a use situation of a user to prevent reply forgetfulness to the reception mail. <P>SOLUTION: This information processor 1 having a mail transmission/reception means 42 for transmitting/receiving an electronic mail via a network has: a setting means 41 presetting the necessity of the reply to the reception mail by setting operation of an operation part 3; a storage means 51 storing setting information set by the setting means 41; and a decision means 43 deciding whether the reception mail is a reply-needing mail needing the reply or not based on the setting information when receiving the reception mail. The information processor 1 also has a notification output means 44 performing output to notify the user about the effect that the reception mail decided that it is the reply-needing mail by the decision means 43 is present. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus having mail transmission / reception means.

  When the information processing apparatus receives the mail, the received mail is read by the receiver (user), and if it is determined that a reply is necessary, a reply mail for the received mail is created, and this reply mail is sent to the sender. Sent to (sender).

JP 2003-122687 A JP 2006-25025 A JP 2003-15977 A

  However, even when a mail is received and it is determined by the recipient that a reply is necessary, there is a case where time for creating a reply mail cannot be taken immediately. In such a case, a reply is made using the free time, but the reply may be forgotten.

  Further, as a configuration for notifying that a mail should be transmitted when there is a need to transfer or reply to the received mail, there is a configuration as shown in Patent Document 1. In the configuration shown in Patent Document 1, an information field for determining the necessity of transfer or reply is provided in the received mail list, and when the user determines that there is a need for transfer or reply, The information column is marked. The control unit monitors the mail that is determined to be forwarded or returned, and notifies the user of the mail that is determined to be forwarded or returned after a predetermined time has elapsed. Is done.

  However, in the configuration shown in Patent Document 1, the user must read each received mail, determine whether there is a need to forward or reply for each mail, and mark the information column of each mail. I must. Therefore, depending on the user, there is a usage situation in which the majority of received mails are forwarded or returned. In such a case as well, as described above, the necessity of forwarding or replying for each mail is determined. Since marking must be performed, troublesomeness occurs. Therefore, the convenience of the information processing apparatus cannot be further improved.

  Further, as a configuration for preventing forgetting to reply to a recorded message or received mail, there is a configuration as shown in Patent Document 2. In the configuration shown in Patent Document 2, when recording a message from a transmission source, setting means is provided that can set whether or not a reply is necessary based on the determination of the transmission source. When the playback means determines that no reply has been made to the message set as a reply required, the recorded message is played until the reply is made and the receiver (user) is notified. It is said. In addition, regarding emails, the sender determined whether a reply was necessary, and included a specific code (tag) in the email that was deemed necessary for reply, so that it was set to require reply, just like a recorded message. The recipient is notified until a reply is made to the mail.

  However, the receiver may try to reply to a message or e-mail that is determined not to require a reply at the sender, but in such a case, notification by the playback means is not made. The problem arises that the recipient still forgets to reply.

  Moreover, there exists a structure as shown in patent document 3 as a structure which can manage a schedule collectively. In the configuration shown in Patent Document 3, when it is desired to refer to a predetermined information page again at a certain timing, the user can specify the reminding date of the information page and set the reminding date and time. Specifically, a button for reminding is provided on a predetermined information page, and when the remind button is clicked, the reminding date is input to the user. Then, the information page is displayed at the set date and time or prior to the set date and time, or a display indicating that the information page should be referred to is performed.

  However, the configuration shown in Patent Document 3 requires the user to specify the reminding of the information page for each information page. If there are a large number of information pages for which the reminding is specified, time and effort are required. Such a problem may occur.

  For this reason, the present invention improves the inconveniences of the above-mentioned conventional example, and in particular, it is possible to set in advance whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary according to the usage status of the user, and to prevent forgetting to reply to the received mail. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly convenient information processing apparatus.

  Therefore, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus including a mail transmission / reception unit that transmits and receives an electronic mail via a network, and determines whether a reply to a received mail is required by a setting operation of an operation unit. Setting means to be set in advance, storage means for storing setting information set by the setting means, and whether or not the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be replied based on the setting information when the received mail is received And a notification output means for performing an output so as to notify the user that there is a received mail that is determined to be a reply required mail by the determination means. It is said.

  According to such a configuration, first, the user sets so that a reply is required when mail is received. Then, when the received mail is received thereafter, it is determined by the determining means whether the received mail is a reply mail that needs a reply set by the setting operation, and is judged to be a reply mail that requires the reply. In the case of notification, a notification (output) indicating that there is a reply mail required is displayed on the display unit. Accordingly, by setting in advance whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary by a setting operation, the received mail is automatically determined to be a reply mail that is required, and notification is performed. As a result, the user (recipient) does not need to set whether or not to reply for each received mail and can grasp the existence of the reply mail as needed, and forgets to reply to the reply mail that requires it. Can be prevented.

  The determining means operates on all received mails.

  According to such a configuration, when an email is received, it is determined that all received emails are reply mails requiring notification, and a notification is output by the notification output means. Thus, for example, even if the majority of received mails are reply mails that are required, the user only needs to make settings in advance, and it is not necessary to set whether or not to reply for each received mail.

  Further, the setting means has a function of setting whether or not a reply is required for each mail address of the sender of the received mail, and the judging means determines whether or not a reply is required based on the mail address of the sender set by the setting means. It is characterized by judging.

  According to such a configuration, whether or not a reply is necessary is set in advance for each mail address, and when a mail from the set mail address is received, the received mail is a reply mail that is required by the judging means. It is determined that the notification is output by the notification output means. Therefore, the user does not need to set whether or not a reply is required for each received mail, and in particular, only a specific mail can be automatically set as a reply required mail.

  The notification output means is characterized in that the output is performed after the elapse of a predetermined time from the reception of the reply mail required or at all times.

  According to this configuration, when it is determined that the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be sent, the notification output means always notifies that there is a reply mail that needs to be sent. Alternatively, a predetermined time is measured after the mail is received, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, a notification that there is a reply mail that is required is notified. As a result, the user can grasp the presence of the reply mail that is required and can prevent the user from forgetting to reply to the reply mail.

  Furthermore, the notification output means has a function of stopping output in response to a user's operation.

  According to such a configuration, even when the user stops the notification by the notification output unit and the determination unit determines that the received mail is a reply mail that requires the notification, the notification output unit performs the notification. Absent. Thereby, when the notification by the notification output unit is unnecessary, the notification by the notification output unit can be stopped, and the setting according to the use situation can be performed.

  Then, depending on the operation results of the judging means and the mail transmitting / receiving means, a received mail display that indicates that a reply is necessary, a reply is unnecessary, or that the reply has been completed for each received mail. It is characterized by having means.

  According to such a configuration, the mail transmission / reception means receives the mail, the determination means determines whether or not a reply is necessary according to the mail information of the received mail, and the received mail display means that receives this determination result, for each received mail, A message indicating that a reply is necessary, a reply is unnecessary, or a reply indicating that a reply has been made to these mails is displayed. Thereby, since the user can grasp the reply status of the received mail, the user can easily grasp the presence of the reply mail that requires, and can prevent the user from forgetting to reply to the reply mail that requires.

  In addition, when the received mail is received, it is determined whether or not the received mail is set as the reply forced mail according to the setting of the transmission source. If the received mail is the reply forced mail, the setting means is set. Regardless, it is characterized by having a compulsory mail judging means for judging a reply compulsory mail as a reply mail requiring reply.

  According to such a configuration, even if the recipient has previously set the necessity setting of the received mail as a setting that does not require a reply by the setting means, it is transmitted that the reply is necessary according to the setting of the transmission source. When the forced reply mail is received, the forced mail determination means determines that the reply mail is required, and the notification output means notifies. As a result, regardless of the necessity of reply setting on the receiver side, a notification that there is a reply mail required is made according to the reply necessity setting set by the sender, Forgetting to reply can be prevented.

  Furthermore, it is characterized by comprising a forced mail determination stop means for stopping the operation of the forced mail determination means in response to a user operation.

  According to such a configuration, when the user stops the operation of the forced mail determination unit, the determination by the forced mail determination unit is not performed, and the received mail that is set to require a reply at the transmission source is also determined as a reply required mail. Not. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the notification of the presence of the forced reply mail from the user's judgment on the mail that is determined to require a reply at the transmission source.

  Furthermore, in the reply mail notification method according to another aspect of the present invention, there is an email that needs a reply to the received mail in an information processing apparatus having a mail transmission / reception unit that transmits and receives an electronic mail via a network. A setting step for presetting whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary by a setting operation of the operation unit, a storing step for storing the setting information set by the setting means, and receiving the received mail A determination step for determining whether the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be replied based on the setting information, and a received mail for which the received mail is determined to be a reply mail that requires the reply by the determination process. And a notification output step of outputting so as to notify the user of the presence.

  The determination step is characterized in that it operates on all received mails. In addition, the setting step sets whether or not a reply is necessary for each email address of the transmission source of the received mail, and the determination step determines whether or not a reply is necessary based on the email address of the transmission source set in the setting step. It is characterized by that.

  Furthermore, the notification output step is characterized in that the notification is output after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the reply mail required or at all times.

  In addition, after the determination step, depending on the operation result of the determination step and the mail transmission / reception means, for each received mail, a reply is necessary, a reply is unnecessary, or a reply is completed. It is characterized by having a received mail display step of displaying.

  When the received mail is received, it is determined whether or not the received mail is set as a reply forced mail according to the setting of the transmission source. If the received mail is a reply forced mail, the setting process is set. Regardless, there is a compulsory mail determination step of determining a reply compulsory mail as a reply mail that requires reply.

  Furthermore, a program according to another aspect of the present invention may determine whether a reply to a received mail is required by a setting operation of the operation unit to a control unit of an information processing apparatus including a mail transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives an email via a network. A setting means for presetting and storing as setting information; a determination means for determining whether or not the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be replied based on the setting information when the received mail is received; And a notification output means for performing output so as to notify the user that there is a received mail that is determined to be a reply mail that is required by the means.

  Note that even the method and program configured as described above operate in the same manner as the information processing apparatus described above, and thus the object of the present invention can be achieved.

  Since the present invention is configured and functions as described above, according to this, the user (recipient) does not need to set whether or not to reply for each received mail, and the presence of a reply mail that is required. It has an unprecedented superior effect that it can be grasped as appropriate, and forgetting to reply to a reply mail that is required can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, by setting in advance whether or not a reply is necessary as a setting of the received mail, when the received mail is received, it is automatically determined that the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be sent. It is characterized in that the user is notified that there is a message. Hereinafter, specific configurations and operations will be described with reference to examples.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a state diagram showing a setting screen for setting the function of the mobile phone in the present embodiment. FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D are state diagrams showing a reply state of the mobile phone in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone in this embodiment.

[Constitution]
The information processing apparatus in the present invention is, for example, a mobile phone 1. The mobile phone 1 includes a display unit 2 that displays characters, images, and the like, and an operation unit 3 that performs character input operations and setting inputs for each function. And a storage unit 5. In the present embodiment, the mobile phone 1 will be described as an example of the information processing apparatus. However, this is an example, and another information processing apparatus may be used.

  The display unit 2 is controlled by the control unit 4 and displays a display screen corresponding to each function of the mobile phone 1. For example, in response to a mail screen display command from the mail transmission / reception unit 42, the mail screen is displayed on the display screen. Here, on the mail screen, a transmitted mail indicating an already transmitted mail and a received mail indicating a received mail are displayed. Further, as will be described later, the received mail is displayed by being divided into “OPEN” (requires a reply), “CLOSE” (replies are not required), and “reply completed” (replies are completed). Further, the display unit 2 receives an instruction command from the notification unit 44 described later and displays an OPEN mail on the display screen (shown in FIG. 3A).

  The operation unit 3 sends commands to the control unit 4 and includes operation buttons (not shown). Then, when the user (recipient) operates the operation unit 3, each command is sent to the control unit 4 to be described later, and each function is set.

  The control unit 4 is, for example, a CPU, and a setting unit 41, a mail transmission / reception unit 42, a determination processing unit 43, and a notification unit 44 are constructed by incorporating a program. The control unit 4 is connected to the operation unit 3, the display unit 2, and a storage unit 5 described later.

  The setting unit 41 (setting unit) is configured to set each function of the mobile phone 1 in response to a setting operation of the operation unit 3, and is connected to a setting storage unit 51 described later. Specifically, upon receiving a function setting command from the operation unit 3, the setting unit 41 controls the display unit 2 to display a setting screen (shown in FIG. 2) for setting whether or not to reply to the received mail. . Then, when the user performs a setting operation on the setting screen, the setting unit 41 sets whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary and whether or not a notification by the notification unit 44 described later is present. At this time, setting information representing the set contents is sent to and stored in a setting storage unit 51 described later. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the necessity of replying received mail is set to “OPEN” in advance for all received mail. Thus, for example, when most of the received mails are reply mails that need to be returned, it is possible to set in advance that all the received mails need to be replied. It is not necessary to set whether or not a reply is required every time.

  The mail transmission / reception unit 42 (received mail display means, mail transmission / reception means) transmits or receives mail, and is connected to a mail storage unit 52 and a determination processing unit 43 described later. Then, the mail transmission / reception unit 42 sends the mail information of the received mail to the determination processing unit 43 and receives the determination result by the determination processing unit 43. Based on the determination result from the determination processing unit 43, the mail information of the received mail is divided into “OPEN” (requires a reply) and “CLOSE” (requires no reply). Here, “OPEN” indicates that the reply to the received mail is set by the setting unit 41, and OPEN mail (reply mail required) indicates a received mail that requires a reply. “CLOSE” indicates that no reply is required, and CLOSE mail indicates a received mail that does not require a reply. Then, the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 sends the mail information of the received mail to the mail storage unit 52 and stores it in the mail storage unit 52. Here, when a reply is made to the received mail that is “OPEN” or “CLOSE”, the mail transmission / reception unit 42 changes the mail information of the returned received mail to “reply completed”. To the mail storage unit 52. Further, when this reply is a reply to the OPEN mail, information indicating that the reply is completed is sent to the notification unit 44 described later. In the present embodiment, the case where the mail information of the received mail is divided into “OPEN” and “CLOSE” has been described. However, this is an example, and other division methods (for example, a reply is necessary, Alternatively, it may be a pictograph indicating that it is unnecessary.

  The determination processing unit 43 (determination means) distributes received mail to OPEN mail or CLOSE mail based on setting information. Specifically, it reads from the setting storage unit 51 whether the setting for whether or not to reply to received mail is “OPEN” or “CLOSE”. If the setting is “OPEN”, the received mail is changed to OPEN mail. Judge as. Then, this determination result is sent to the mail transmission / reception unit 42 and the notification unit 44.

  The notification unit 44 (notification output unit) reads the setting state of notification by the notification unit 44 from the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 51 described later. If the notification unit 44 is set to be notified, when the determination result by the determination processing unit 43 is received, the display unit 2 is controlled to notify that the received mail is an OPEN mail. I do. Specifically, when the determination processing unit 43 determines that the received mail is an OPEN mail, the notification unit 44 that has received the determination result reads the mail information of the OPEN mail from the mail storage unit 52, By controlling the display unit 2, as shown in FIG. 3A, the OPEN mail is displayed on the standby screen. At this time, for example, a letter “OPEN” larger than the other letters is displayed at the top of the mail screen so that the displayed OPEN mail can be easily recognized by the user on the mail screen. This notification is always displayed on the standby screen from when the OPEN mail is received until a reply is made to the OPEN mail. Then, the process is terminated by receiving from the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 information indicating that the reply to the OPEN mail has been completed. Here, when the reply mail is displayed on the display screen, “Reply completed” is displayed on the mail screen as shown in FIG. Further, when it is determined that the received mail is a CLOSE mail, when this CLOSE mail is displayed on the display screen, “CLOSE” is displayed on the mail screen as shown in FIG. Furthermore, in the received mail BOX in which all received mails are displayed as a list, “OPEN”, “CLOSE”, or “Replied” is displayed for each received mail as shown in FIG. Thereby, since the user can grasp the reply status of the received mail, the user can easily grasp the presence of the reply mail that requires, and can prevent the user from forgetting to reply to the reply mail that requires. In the present embodiment, it has been described that the OPEN mail is displayed on the standby screen when the received mail is the OPEN mail. However, this is an example, and is not limited to the case where the OPEN mail is displayed. An icon indicating that there is an OPEN mail may be displayed on the standby screen. When there are a plurality of OPEN mails, the OPEN mail with the oldest received date / time is selected from the mail storage unit 52 and displayed on the standby screen. However, this is only an example, and the latest OPEN mail may be displayed. As a result, the presence of the OPEN mail can be appropriately grasped, and forgetting to reply to the OPEN mail can be prevented.

  The storage unit 5 (storage means) is, for example, a flash memory provided inside the mobile phone 1. A setting storage unit 51 and a mail storage unit 52 are built in the storage unit 5.

  The setting storage unit 51 (storage means) sets whether or not there is an OPEN mail notification set by the setting unit 41 (reply mail notification function shown in FIG. 2), or whether a reply to the received mail is necessary (reception shown in FIG. The mail initial state) is stored as setting information. The setting storage unit 51 is connected to the setting unit 41 and the determination processing unit 43.

  The mail storage unit 52 (storage means, received mail display means) stores the transmitted mail transmitted and received by the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 and the mail information of the received mail. As described above, the received mail is: Depending on the reply status, “OPEN”, “CLOSE”, and “Replied” are stored. The mail storage unit 52 is connected to the mail transmission / reception unit 42 and the notification unit 44.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the mobile phone 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the necessity of replying received mail is set in advance for all received mail.

  First, an operation for setting a mail function is performed by the operation unit 3 of the mobile phone 1. Then, in response to this operation, the setting unit 41 sends a command to display a setting screen for setting the mail function on the display unit 2. The display unit 2 that has received this command displays a setting screen (shown in FIG. 2) for setting the mail function of the mobile phone 1 on the display screen (step S1). Further, on this setting screen, the user turns on the setting of the reply mail notification function (step S2) and selects “OPEN” as the initial state of the received mail (positive determination in step S3). Then, the reply status of all received mails is set to “OPEN” (step S4), and the mail function setting operation ends. Then, the setting information set on the setting screen is sent to and stored in the setting storage unit 51, and a standby screen is displayed on the display screen (step S5).

  Next, the mobile phone 1 receives the mail (affirmative determination in step S6). At this time, the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 sends the mail information of the received mail to the determination processing unit 43, and the determination processing unit 43 that has received the mail information determines whether the received mail is an OPEN mail or a CLOSE mail. Read from the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 51. Then, it is determined from the read result that the received mail is an OPEN mail, and the determination result is sent to the notification unit 44 and the mail transmission / reception unit 42. The mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 that has received the determination result sets the reply state of the received mail to “OPEN” (step S7), and sends the mail information of the received mail to the mail storage unit 52 for storage. Further, the notification unit 44 that has received the determination result sent from the determination processing unit 43 reads the mail information of the OPEN mail from the mail storage unit 52 and sends a command to display the OPEN mail on the display unit 2. Upon receiving the command, the display unit 2 displays the OPEN mail on the standby screen as shown in FIG. 3A (step S8).

  Subsequently, a reply to the OPEN mail is made (step S9). At this time, the mail transmission / reception unit 42 that sent the reply changes the reply status of the sent OPEN mail from “OPEN” to “Replied” and stores it in the mail storage unit 52 (step S10). Here, when the reply mail is displayed on the display screen, “Reply completed” is displayed on the mail screen as shown in FIG.

  If “CLOSE” is selected as the initial state of the received mail (No in step S3), the reply status of all received mails is set to “CLOSE” (step S11). Then, the mail function setting operation ends, and a standby screen is displayed on the display screen (step S12). Then, the setting information set on the setting screen is sent to the setting storage unit 51 and stored therein.

  Next, the mobile phone 1 receives the mail (positive determination in step S13). At this time, the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 sends the mail information of the received mail to the determination processing unit 43, and the determination processing unit 43 that has received the mail information determines whether the received mail is an OPEN mail or a CLOSE mail. Read from the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 51. Then, it is determined from the read result that the received mail is a CLOSE mail, and this determination result is sent to the notification unit 44 and the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42. The mail transmission / reception unit 42 that has received the determination result sets the reply state of the received mail to “CLOSE” (step S14), and sends the mail information of the received mail to the mail storage unit 52 for storage. When this CLOSE mail is displayed on the display screen, “CLOSE” is displayed on the mail screen as shown in FIG. Here, when a reply is made to the CLOSE mail (step S9), the mail transmission / reception unit 42 that made the reply changes the reply status of the reply CLOSE mail from “CLOSE” to “Replied”. To be stored in the mail storage unit 52 (step S10). Here, when the reply mail is displayed on the display screen, “Reply completed” is displayed on the mail screen as shown in FIG.

  The notification by the notification unit 44 has been described on the assumption that the OPEN mail is displayed on the standby screen. However, the OPEN mail is displayed on the standby screen, and an incoming call LED (not shown) provided on the mobile phone 1 is displayed. You may notify by making it light.

  In this embodiment, the case where the setting of “OPEN” or “CLOSE” is set in advance by a setting operation has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the case of setting in advance for all received mails by the setting operation. For example, in the received mail BOX in which all received mails are displayed as a list (shown in FIG. 3 (d)) or the like, “OPEN” or “CLOSE” is set individually or by selecting a plurality of mails. It may be a thing. At this time, for example, an operation button may be provided to set “OPEN” or “CLOSE”, and the setting may be performed by pressing the operation button.

  This eliminates the need for the user to set whether or not a reply is required for each received mail, and can appropriately grasp the presence of the OPEN mail, thereby preventing a user from forgetting to reply to the OPEN mail.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the personal computer in this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a state diagram showing a setting screen for setting functions of the personal computer in this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the personal computer in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the configuration is almost the same as that of the mobile phone 1 in the first embodiment described above, but the information processing apparatus is a personal computer, the timer section 441 is provided in the notification section 44, This is different from the point that the necessity of reply of received mail is set in advance for each mail address. Hereinafter, a configuration different from that of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  The information processing apparatus in the present invention is, for example, a personal computer 6. The personal computer 6 includes a display unit 2 that displays characters, images, and the like, and an operation unit 3 that performs character input operations and setting of each function, and also includes a control unit 4 and storage inside the mobile phone 1. Part 5.

  The setting unit 41 (setting unit) is configured to set each function of the personal computer 6 in response to a setting operation of the operation unit 3, and is connected to a setting storage unit 51 described later. Specifically, upon receiving a function setting command from the operation unit 3, the setting unit 41 controls the display unit 2 to display a setting screen (shown in FIG. 6) for setting whether or not to return a received mail. Let Here, in the present embodiment, the necessity setting for reply of received mail is set in advance for each mail address. For this reason, by inputting or selecting an e-mail address on the setting screen and performing a setting operation for each e-mail address, whether or not a reply to the received e-mail is necessary and whether or not notification by the notification unit 44 described later is set are set. . At this time, the setting information set by the setting unit 41 is sent to the storage unit 5 and stored in a setting storage unit 51 described later. In addition, a time for performing notification by the notification unit 44 can be set in advance, and the set notification time is also stored in the setting storage unit 51. In the present embodiment, the user designates a notification time in advance, and performs notification by the notification unit 44 at the designated time.

  The determination processing unit 43 (determination means) distributes received mail to OPEN mail or CLOSE mail based on setting information. Specifically, it is read from the setting storage unit 51 whether the setting of necessity of reply of the mail address of the received mail is “OPEN” or “CLOSE”, and if the setting is “OPEN”, the reception is performed. Judge mail as OPEN mail. Then, this determination result is sent to the mail transmission / reception unit 42 and the notification unit 44.

  When receiving the determination result by the determination processing unit 43, the notification unit 44 (notification output unit) controls the display unit 2 to notify that the received mail is an OPEN mail. Specifically, if the determination processing unit 43 determines that the received mail is an OPEN mail, and further determines that the mail address of the received mail is to be notified by the notification unit 44, the determination result is Based on this, the notification unit 44 reads the mail information of the OPEN mail from the mail storage unit 52 and controls the display unit 2 to display the OPEN mail on the standby screen as shown in FIG. Here, in this embodiment, the notification by the notification unit 44 is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed after receiving the OPEN mail. Specifically, the user designates the notification time in advance, and when the designated time comes, notification by the notification unit 44 is performed. Here, whether or not it is the notification time is determined by the notification unit 44 reading the notification time set by the setting operation from the setting storage unit 51, and the set notification time and the measurement time by the timer unit 441 described later. It is done to compare with. When it is determined that it is the notification time, the notification as described above is performed. This notification is performed until information indicating that the reply to the OPEN mail has been completed from the set time is received from the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42.

  The timer unit 441 (notification output means) receives the measurement start command from the notification unit 44 and starts measurement.

  Next, the operation of the personal computer 6 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the necessity setting for reply of received mail is set in advance for each mail address. In addition, the user designates the notification time in advance, and performs notification by the notification unit 44 at the designated time.

  First, the user operates the operation unit 3 of the personal computer 6 in order to set the mail function. Then, the setting unit 41 that has received this operation sends a command to the display unit 2 to display a setting screen for setting the mail function, and the display unit 2 that has received the command displays the mail of the personal computer 6 on the display screen. A setting screen (shown in FIG. 6) for setting functions is displayed (step S21). Then, the user arbitrarily inputs or selects a mail address on the setting screen, turns on the reply mail notification function for each mail address (step S22), and sets “OPEN” as the initial state of the received mail. Select (Yes in step S23). Further, the user arbitrarily sets the time for performing notification that OPEN mail exists on the setting screen. Then, the reply state of the received mail from the selected mail address is set to “OPEN” (step S24), and the mail function setting operation ends. Then, the setting information set on the setting screen is sent to and stored in the setting storage unit 51, and a standby screen is displayed on the display screen (step S25).

  Next, the personal computer 6 receives the mail (Yes determination in step S26). At this time, the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 sends the mail information of the received mail to the determination processing unit 43, and the determination processing unit 43 that has received the mail information sets whether the received mail is set to OPEN mail or CLOSE mail. Is read from the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 51. Then, from the read result, it is determined that the received mail is an OPEN mail, and this determination result is sent to the notification unit 44 and the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42. The mail transmission / reception unit 42 that has received the determination result sets the reply state of the received mail to “OPEN” (step S27), and stores the mail information of the received mail in the mail storage unit 52. Further, the notification unit 44 sends a measurement start command to the timer unit 441 to activate the timer unit 441. Thereafter, a state in which no reply is made to the OPEN mail continues (No determination in step S28). At this time, the notification unit 44 reads the notification time set on the setting screen from the setting storage unit 51 and also reads the measurement time from the timer unit 441. If it is determined from the read result that the notification time is reached (Yes in step S29), the notification unit 44 reads the mail information of the OPEN mail from the mail storage unit 52, and displays the OPEN message on the display unit 2. A command is sent to display the mail. Upon receiving this command, the display unit 2 displays an OPEN mail on the standby screen as shown in FIG. 3A (step S30).

  This eliminates the need for the user to set whether or not a reply is required for each received mail, allows the user to appropriately grasp the presence of the OPEN mail, and prevents forgetting to reply to the OPEN mail. .

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the configuration is almost the same as that of the mobile phone 1 in the first embodiment described above. However, when a reply compulsory mail for which a reply is forced from the transmission source is received, a reply of the received mail by the user is received. Regardless of the necessity setting, it is different in that a notification that a reply compulsory mail exists exists. Hereinafter, the configuration different from that of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The setting unit 41 (setting unit, forced mail determination stop unit) is configured to set each function of the mobile phone 1 in response to the setting operation of the operation unit 3, and is connected to a setting storage unit 51 described later. Specifically, the setting unit 41 that has received the operation of the operation unit 3 controls the display unit 2 to display a setting screen (shown in FIG. 2) for setting whether or not to reply to the received mail. Then, when the user performs a setting operation on the setting screen, the setting unit 41 sets whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary and whether or not a notification by the notification unit 44 described later is present. At this time, setting information representing the set contents is stored in the setting storage unit 51. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the necessity of replying received mail is set to “CLOSE” in advance for all received mail. Also, in this embodiment, when a reply compulsory mail whose reply is compulsory due to the setting of the transmission source is received, the setting of the transmission source is set to “valid” (the reply compulsory mail is determined as an OPEN mail), or “ "Invalid" (return compulsory mail is not determined as OPEN mail) can be set. When “valid” is set, a reply forced mail notification is performed. When “invalid” is set, a reply forced mail notification is not performed. In this embodiment, a case where the transmission source setting is “valid” will be described. As a result, even if the user sets the necessity of receiving mail to “CLOSE”, the reply compulsory mail determined that the sender needs to reply is notified, so the reply compulsory mail Forgetting to reply to can be prevented.

  The determination processing unit 43 (determination means, forced mail determination means) distributes received mail to OPEN mail or CLOSE mail based on setting information. Specifically, it reads from the setting storage unit 51 whether the setting for whether or not to reply to received mail is “OPEN” or “CLOSE”. If the setting is “OPEN”, the received mail is changed to OPEN mail. Judge as. Then, the read result is sent to the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 and the notification unit 44. Further, in this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the received mail is a mail that is set as a reply compulsory mail according to the setting of the transmission source. This determination is made based on whether or not the header of the received mail includes information indicating that it is a reply forced mail. Then, when a reply compulsory mail is received, whether or not the setting of the transmission source is “valid” is read from the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 51. If the setting of the transmission source is “valid” as a result of reading from the setting storage unit 51, the reply compulsory mail is determined as an OPEN mail, and the determination result is sent to the mail transmission / reception unit 42, the notification unit 44, , Send to. In this embodiment, it is determined whether or not it is a reply mandatory mail depending on whether or not the header of the received mail includes information indicating that it is a reply mandatory mail. However, this is only an example. It may be determined by other methods.

  The notification unit 44 (notification output unit) reads from the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 51 whether or not the notification unit 44 is set to be notified. If the notification unit 44 is set to perform notification, when the determination result by the determination processing unit 43 is received, the display unit 2 is controlled to notify that there is an OPEN mail. . Specifically, when the determination processing unit 43 determines that the received mail is an OPEN mail, the notification unit 44 that has received the determination result reads the mail information of the OPEN mail from the mail storage unit 52 and displays the display unit. 2 is displayed, the OPEN mail is displayed on the standby screen as shown in FIG. This notification is always displayed on the standby screen from when the OPEN mail is received until a reply is made to the OPEN mail. Then, the process is terminated by receiving from the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 information indicating that the reply to the OPEN mail has been completed. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when the reply compulsory mail transmitted as needing a reply is received based on the judgment of the transmission source, the judgment processing unit 43 judges the reply compulsory mail as an OPEN mail. As a result, the presence of the OPEN mail can be appropriately grasped, and forgetting to reply to the OPEN mail can be prevented.

  Next, the operation of the mobile phone 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the setting of the sender is “valid” when the reply compulsory mail whose reply is compulsory is received according to the setting of the sender, and the reply of the received mail of the mobile phone 1 is made. It is assumed that the necessity setting of “CLOSE” is “CLOSE”.

  First, a standby screen is displayed on the mobile phone 1 (step S41), and an e-mail is received (affirmed in step S42). Then, the mail information of the received mail is sent from the mail transmitting / receiving unit 42 to the determination processing unit 43. At this time, the determination processing unit 43 determines whether the received mail is a reply compulsory mail whose reply is compulsory due to the setting of the transmission source. As a result of the determination by the determination processing unit 43, if it is determined that the reply compulsory mail is determined (Yes in step S43), the mail transmission / reception unit 42 that has received the determination result by the determination processing unit 43 sends the reply compulsory mail. It is set as “OPEN” (step S44), and is stored in the mail storage unit 52. Further, the notification unit 44 that receives the determination result from the determination processing unit 43 reads the mail information of the reply compulsory mail from the mail storage unit 52 and sends a command to display the reply compulsory mail on the display unit 2. Upon receiving this instruction, the display unit 2 displays a reply forcing mail on the standby screen (step S45).

  As a result, even if the user sets the necessity of receiving mail to “CLOSE”, the reply compulsory mail determined that the sender needs to reply is notified, so the reply compulsory mail Forgetting to reply to can be prevented.

  The present invention can be used for an information processing apparatus having a mail function, and has industrial applicability.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone in Example 1. FIG. It is the state figure which showed the setting screen which sets the function of the mobile telephone in Example 1. FIG. (A) thru | or (d) are the state diagrams which showed the reply state of the mobile telephone in Example 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a personal computer according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a state diagram illustrating a setting screen for setting functions of a personal computer according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a personal computer according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the mobile phone according to the third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Mobile phone (information processing device)
2 Display unit 3 Operation unit 4 Control unit 5 Storage unit (storage means)
6 Personal computer (information processing equipment)
41 Setting section (setting means, forced mail judgment stopping means)
42 Mail transmission / reception unit (reception mail display means, mail transmission / reception means)
43 Judgment processing part (judgment means, forced mail judgment means)
44 Notification section (notification output means)
51 Setting storage section (storage means)
52 Mail storage (storage means, received mail display means)
441 Timer part

Claims (15)

An information processing apparatus comprising mail transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving electronic mail via a network,
A setting means for setting in advance whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary by a setting operation of the operation unit;
Storage means for storing setting information set by the setting means;
A determination means for determining whether the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be replied based on the setting information when the received mail is received;
A notification output means for performing an output so as to notify the user that the received mail is determined to be the reply mail required by the determination means;
An information processing apparatus characterized by that.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit operates on all the received mails.   The setting means has a function of setting whether or not a reply is necessary for each mail address of the sender of the received mail, and the determination means requires a reply based on the mail address of the sender set by the setting means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein NO is determined.   4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification output unit performs output after a predetermined time has elapsed from reception of the reply-needed mail or at all times.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification output unit has a function of stopping output in response to a user operation.   A received mail that indicates that a reply is required, a reply is unnecessary, or that a reply has been completed for each received mail according to the operation results of the determination means and the mail transmission / reception means. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means.   When the received mail is received, it is determined whether or not the received mail is set as a reply forced mail according to the setting of the transmission source, and if the received mail is the reply forced mail, the setting means 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising forced mail determination means for determining the forced reply mail as the reply-needed mail regardless of the setting. .   8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising forced mail determination stop means for stopping the operation of the forced mail determination means in response to a user operation. A method for notifying that there is a mail that needs to be replied to a received mail in an information processing apparatus having a mail transmitting / receiving means for transmitting and receiving an electronic mail via a network,
A setting step for setting in advance whether or not a reply to the received mail is necessary by a setting operation of the operation unit;
A storage step for storing the setting information set by the setting means;
A determination step of determining whether or not the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be replied based on the setting information when the received mail is received;
A notification output step of performing an output so as to notify a user that the received mail is determined to be the reply mail required by the determination step;
A reply e-mail notification method characterized by comprising:   The reply mail notification method according to claim 9, wherein the determination step operates for all the received mails.   The setting step sets whether or not a reply is necessary for each email address of the sender of the received mail, and the determination step judges whether or not a reply is necessary based on the sender email address set in the setting step. The reply mail notification method according to claim 9, wherein:   12. The reply mail notification method according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the notification output step performs output after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the reply mail required or at all times.   After the determination step, depending on the operation result of the determination step and the mail transmission / reception means, a reply is necessary for each received mail, a reply is unnecessary, or the reply is completed 13. The reply mail notification method according to claim 9, further comprising a received mail display step for displaying a message.   When the received mail is received, it is determined whether or not the received mail is set as a reply forced mail according to the setting of the transmission source, and if the received mail is the reply forced mail, the setting step 14. The reply mail notification method according to claim 9, further comprising a compulsory mail determination step of determining the reply compulsory mail as the reply mail that is required regardless of the setting. In the control unit of the information processing apparatus provided with mail transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving e-mail via the network,
Setting means for presetting necessity of reply to the received mail by setting operation of the operation unit and storing it as setting information;
Determining means for determining whether or not the received mail is a reply mail that needs to be replied based on the setting information when the received mail is received;
Notification output means for performing output so as to notify the user that the received mail is determined to be the reply mail required by the determination means;
A program to realize

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