JP2009200999A - Mail system, server device, mail management method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail system for reducing an access time required for receiving mail and disk resources required for storing mail data by effectively managing, in a unified way, mail of the same contents sent to a plurality of persons in a mail server on a large-scaled system. <P>SOLUTION: A mail system is constituted of a plurality of mail servers each for managing in a unified way, using a shared receiving box, contents of mail text of mail transmitted from the same sender to a plurality of destinations with the same contents. Each mail server includes: a unitary management target determining means for determining whether or not received mail is mail to be managed in the unified way while using mail information; a matching table for holding mail information of mail being managed in the unified way; a matching determining means for determining whether or not received mail includes been already managed in the unified way while using the matching table when the mail is determined as mail to be managed in the unified way; and a mail data storage means for storing in a user receiving box or in a shared receiving box mail text or compressed data of the received mail on the basis of a determination result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail system, a server device, a mail management method, a program, and a recording medium, and in particular, in a mail system that manages mail transmitted and received in the Internet or an intranet, for example, the same subject, the same time, such as a mail magazine The present invention relates to a technique that is preferably applied when centrally managing e-mails having the same contents transmitted to.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an e-mail system as a technique for preventing the storage capacity of a mail server from being compressed when an e-mail having the same content is stored for a plurality of clients. The electronic mail system includes a mail authentication means for confirming addresses and the like, a mail comparison means for comparing contents of electronic mails, and a mail distribution means for distributing electronic mails to necessary storage areas. Using these means, unified management of electronic mail with the same contents and suppression of storage capacity of the mail server are realized.

For example, Patent Document 2 discloses an example of a broadcast received mail management method. The broadcast received mail management method is composed of a mail control data mailbox file for each user and a single body mailbox file. The broadcast received mail management method having such a configuration operates as follows. That is, the header part of the mail transmitted to the own station is analyzed, and when the mail is broadcast, a plurality of mail control data addressed to the own station and a single body are associated with each other and stored in the mailbox. The user can read the mail from the mail control data addressed to him and the single body stored in association with the data. With this operation, the file access time can be reduced even when a plurality of broadcasts are received.
JP 2002-44120 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-104345

  In general, the same contents of e-mail magazines and in-house notifications are sent to many people. However, in the e-mail system, e-mails are stored in inboxes for each user, and the amount of data required for storage (disk Resource) will increase. In order to solve this, when the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is adopted, it is necessary to hold a large amount of received mails to be compared in order to confirm that the contents are the same, and the comparison process is difficult. Since it becomes heavy, it cannot be an effective means for a general mail server. In addition, a configuration for comparing mails as to whether a plurality of mails received within a predetermined time are mails having the same subject and transmitted at the same time is not clearly disclosed.

  In order to solve this problem, when the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is adopted, it is determined whether or not the same mail is sent to a plurality of people by utilizing the “broadcast” included in the header information of the mail. However, for the same mail, the mail body is managed in a single manner, thereby reducing the access time required for mail reception and the disk resources required for storing mail data. However, since this technology relies on the “broadcast” information in the mail header to determine whether or not they are the same mail, it is not judged as the same mail for mail that has not been “broadcasted” and is effective. There is a problem that the effect cannot be obtained. Since information that can identify an individual, e-mail address, is generally operated on the principle that it is not disclosed, it is an effective means for e-mail magazines and internal notifications that send the same content to many people. No.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. In a mail server on a large-scale system, the same content mail sent to a plurality of people is effectively and centrally managed, and the user receives the mail. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mail system or the like that can reduce the access time required for storage and the disk resources required for storing mail data.

  In order to achieve such an object, the mail system of the present invention provides a plurality of mails that centrally manage the contents of the mail texts of mails sent from the same sender to a plurality of destinations with the same mail text. It is a mail system composed of servers, and the mail server uses the mail information acquired from the mail header of the received mail to determine whether the mail received from other mail servers is the mail to be centrally managed. When the central management object judgment means for judging, the matching table holding the mail information related to the mail whose contents are centrally managed, and the mail received by the central management object judgment means are judged as the central management target mail Matching determination means for determining whether or not unified management has already been performed using a matching table; Based on the determination result by etching judging means, with respect to the received mail has the compressed data of the data or the data including a mail body, a mail data storage means for storing the inbox or shared inbox for each user.

  The server device of the present invention is a server device that centrally manages the content of the mail text of mail sent to a plurality of destinations with the same mail text from the same sender, using another shared server. Centralized management target determination means for determining whether the email received from the device is the email subject to centralized management, using the email information acquired from the email header of the received email, and the content of the email text are centrally managed A matching table that holds email information related to existing emails, and when the email received by the unified management target judgment means is judged to be a unified management target email, it is judged using the matching table whether or not unified management has already been performed The matching message is determined based on the matching determination means and the determination result by the matching determination means. The compressed data of the non-data or the data has a mail data storage means for storing the inbox or shared inbox for each user.

  Further, the mail management method of the present invention is a mail receiving system comprising a plurality of mail servers, wherein the contents of the mail text of mail sent from the same sender to the plurality of destinations with the same mail text are shared inbox. Centralized management that uses email information acquired from the email header of received emails to determine whether emails received from other email servers are subject to centralized management. When the mail received by the target determination step and the central management target determination step is determined to be the central management target mail, a matching table that holds mail information related to the mail whose contents are centrally managed is already used. Matching determination step for determining whether or not centralized management is performed, and matching determination step Based on the determination result by, for mail received, with the compressed data of the data or the data including a mail body, a mail data storing step of storing the inbox or shared inbox for each user.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is a mail system composed of a plurality of mail servers, which unifies the contents of the mail body of mail sent from the same sender to the plurality of destinations with the same mail body in a shared inbox. A program used for a server device to be managed, using a mail information acquired from a mail header of a received mail to determine whether or not a mail received from another mail server is a target mail to be centrally managed. A matching table that holds mail information related to mail whose contents are centrally managed when it is determined that the mail received by the central management target judgment function and the central management target judgment function is a central management target mail. And a matching judgment function that judges whether or not centralized management has already been performed, Based on the determination result by the ring determining function, with respect to the received mail, the compressed data of the data or the data including a mail body, a mail data storage function of storing in the inbox or shared inbox for each user, to realize.

  The recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium on which the above program is recorded.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively centrally manage mails having the same contents sent to a plurality of people, and to realize a reduction in access time required for the user to receive the mail and disk resources required for storing the mail data.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a sending / receiving mail server in the embodiment of the present invention. The sending / receiving mail server 1 includes a mail receiving means 2, a unified management object judging means 3, a matching judging means 4, a mail data storing means 5, a user receiving box 6, a matching table 7, a shared receiving box 8, and a mail reading means 9. Prepare.

  The mail receiving means 2 receives mail from other sending / receiving mail servers. The central management object determination unit 3 determines whether or not the mail received by the mail reception unit 2 should be centrally managed, ie, matching target determination processing. The matching determination unit 4 uses the data held in the matching table 7 as to whether or not the received mail that has been determined to be the mail subject to the centralized management by the centralized management target determining unit 3 has already been centrally managed. Use to determine. The mail data storage means 5 stores the received mail data in the user reception box 6 and the shared reception box 8.

  The matching table 7 holds data used for the matching process by the matching determination unit 4, specifically, information such as a sender and a subject extracted from the mail header, key information for specifying the mail text, and a shared inbox The link information to 8 is held. The user reception box 6 is a reception box for each user, and the shared reception box 8 is a reception box shared by all users. The mail reading means 9 reads the received mail stored in the user receiving box 6 and the shared receiving box 8.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the mail system according to the present embodiment. The mail system according to this embodiment includes a transmission / reception mail server 11, a transmission / reception mail server 21, and a transmission / reception mail server 31 connected via the Internet / intranet 100. The sending / receiving mail server 11 has a domain A10, and includes a receiving box 12 for A1, a receiving box 13 for A2, and a shared receiving box 14. The sending / receiving mail server 21 has a domain B20 and is provided with an inbox 22 for Mr. B. The sending / receiving mail server 31 has a domain C30 and is provided with an inbox 32 for Mr. C.

  Mail transmission / reception and mail management performed in the mail system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, an email to Mr. A1, Mr. A2, and Mr. B is transmitted from Mr. C's terminal 130. At this time, a transmission mail is stored in the transmission box 33. When Mr. B receives a mail addressed to himself / herself using the terminal 120, a mail having the same content as the mail transmitted by Mr. C is stored in his / her inbox 22. On the other hand, when A1 or A2 receives mail addressed to himself / herself at the terminal 110 or 111, mail data different from the mail transmitted by Mr. C is stored in the A1 inbox 12 or A2 inbox 13. Stored. Each inbox stores information for linking to the common mail text data stored in the shared inbox 14. That is, the data of the mail body of the mail sent from Mr. C to Mr. A1, Mr. A2, and Mr. B is centrally managed as contents 001 in the shared inbox 14, and Mr. A1 and Mr. A2 record the contents 001 in the inbox. Stores mail data and accesses the shared inbox based on the link information when reading mail.

  Next, processing in the mail system of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of mail storing processing in the inbox according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the processing of the mail system according to the present embodiment includes a matching target determination process and a matching determination process. After receiving mail addressed to the own domain from another server, these processes are performed. The mail data is stored in the receiving mailbox for each user via.

  First, the mail system determines a matching target for the mail transferred in its own domain (step S1). Here, it is determined whether or not the same mail is transmitted from the same sender to a plurality of persons by a matching target determination process described later. If it is determined that the same mail is transmitted to a plurality of persons (step S1 / YES), the process proceeds to the next matching determination process (step S2). If it is not determined that the mail is the same (step S1 / NO), the forwarded mail is saved in the inbox for each user, and the mail saving process is completed (step S6).

  In the matching determination process, a matching table to be described later is referred to and it is determined whether or not the same mail text is managed in a single shared inbox which will also be described later. If they are managed in a single manner (step S2 / YES), two pieces of information are stored in the inbox for each user: the mail header information and the link to the shared inbox where the mail text is stored (step S5). ). If not managed singly (step S2 / NO), the following five pieces of information are stored in the matching table (step S3).

When saving, a storage area of a shared inbox for managing a single mail body is secured.
-Email sender / subject / sent date / time-Total size of email body (including attachments)-Hash value calculated from email body (including attachments)-Share to store email body (including attachments) Next, the mail body of the same mail is compressed and the compressed data is stored in the secured shared reception box area (step S4). Thereafter, two pieces of information, ie, the header information of the mail and the link to the shared reception box in which the mail text is stored, are stored in the inbox for each user, and the mail storage process is completed (step S5).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of mail acquisition processing from the inbox according to the present embodiment. First, the user instructs the received mail server to acquire mail addressed to himself / herself through the mail client (step S11). Next, in accordance with an instruction from the user, the received mail server acquires the mail header and the mail content (the mail text or the link to the shared inbox) from the corresponding user's inbox (step S12).

  Next, when the content of the mail is a link to the shared inbox (step S13 / YES), the received mail server acquires the compressed mail body stored in the destination indicated by the link in the shared inbox. The data is decompressed (step S14). And a mail header and a mail text are transmitted to a user via a mail client, and mail acquisition processing is completed (Step S15). On the other hand, when the content of the mail is not a link to the shared inbox (step S13 / NO), the received mail server transmits the acquired mail header and mail body to the user via the mail client, and performs mail acquisition processing. Completion (step S15).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the matching target determination process in the present embodiment. First, the destination mail address and the broadcast mail address are extracted from the mail header. With reference to these addresses, if a plurality of users in the own domain are included in the destination or broadcast (step S21 / YES), it is determined as a matching target and this processing is completed (step S24).

On the other hand, when a plurality of users in the own domain are not included in the destination or broadcast (step S21 / NO), the following items are further extracted from the mail header.
-Email sender-Email subject-Email send date / time In these items, search for multiple emails that match the conditions of the same email sender, the same email subject, and almost the same email send date / time. (Step S23). If there is a matching mail (step S23 / YES), it is determined as a matching target and this processing is completed (step S24). If there is no matching mail (step S23 / NO), it is determined that it is not a matching target and this processing is completed (step S25).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the matching determination process in the present embodiment. First, the total size of the mail text including the attached file is extracted from the mail (step S31). Subsequently, a hash value is calculated based on the data of the mail body (step S32).

  The total size of the extracted mail text and the calculated hash value are matched with the matching table, and a mail matching these values is searched (step S33). If there is a matching mail (step S33 / YES), it is determined as matching (step S34), and a link to the shared inbox in which the body of the corresponding mail is compressed and saved is acquired from the matching table, and this processing is performed. Completion (step S35). If there is no matching mail (step S33 / NO), it is determined that it is not a matching target and this processing is completed (step S36).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the data structure of the matching table, and also shows the relationship of the link to the shared inbox. The matching table holds a sender, a subject, a transmission date and time, key information for specifying a mail text, and link information to a shared inbox. The key information for specifying the mail body includes a hash value calculated from the total size of the mail body and the data of the mail body. Link information to the shared inbox identifies compressed mail body data that is centrally managed in the shared inbox, and users link from the mail data in their own receive mailbox to the compressed data in the shared inbox. It is information for.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the same mail is sent to a plurality of people from the same sender, regardless of whether or not the same mail was sent at the time of transmission, and the same mail is managed as a single user. Can effectively reduce the access time required for mail reception and the disk resources required for storing mail data.

  The embodiments described so far are the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited only to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Implementation in the applied form is possible. That is, the present invention can also be applied to an application in which a user does not receive a mail addressed to himself / herself with a mail client, but reads a mail addressed to himself / herself by accessing a Web mail system. Further, the terminal used by the user is not limited to a personal computer, but can also be applied to applications such as accessing from a mobile terminal. In addition, it is possible to multiplex servers used in the enterprise area by sharing a matching table between servers. The present invention can also be implemented as a program for causing the sending / receiving mail server in the mail system to execute the operation as described above, and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  That is, the program executed by the transmission / reception mail server in this embodiment has a module configuration including the above-described units (unified management target determination unit, matching determination unit, etc.), and actual hardware is installed. Use to realize concrete means. That is, when the computer (CPU) reads a program from a predetermined recording medium and executes the program, the above-described units are loaded onto the main storage device, and a unified management target determination unit, a matching determination unit, and the like are generated on the main storage unit. The

  The program executed by the transmission / reception mail server in the present embodiment may be configured to be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. Further, the program may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The program is a file in an installable or executable format, such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD, nonvolatile memory card, or the like. It may be configured to be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Further, the program may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium or loaded and executed through the communication line realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments. And the recording medium which recorded the program code comprises this invention.

It is the figure which showed the internal structure of the transmission / reception mail server in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the system configuration | structure of the mail system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the mail preservation | save process to the inbox in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the mail acquisition process from the inbox in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the matching object judgment process in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the matching judgment process in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the data structure of the matching table in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmission / reception mail server 2 Mail reception means 3 Centralized management object determination means 4 Matching determination means 5 Mail data storage means 6 User reception box 7 Matching table 8 Shared reception box 9 Mail reading means 10, 20, 30 Domain A,
11, 21, 31 Sending / receiving mail server 12, 13, 22 Inbox 14 Shared inbox 20 Domain B,
30 Domain C
33 Outbox 100 Internet / Intranet 110, 111, 120, 130 Terminal equipment

Claims (17)

A mail system composed of a plurality of mail servers that centrally manage the contents of the mail body of mail transmitted from the same sender to a plurality of destinations with the same body of mail,
The mail server is
Centralized management target determination means for determining whether or not a mail received from another mail server is a target mail for performing the centralized management using mail information acquired from a mail header of the received mail;
A matching table that holds the mail information related to the mail in which the content of the mail body is centrally managed;
When the received mail is determined to be the central management target mail by the central management target determination unit, the matching determination unit determines whether or not the central management is already performed using the matching table;
Mail data storage means for storing data including the mail text or compressed data of the data in the received box of each user or the shared inbox based on the determination result by the matching determination means,
A mail system characterized by comprising:   The centralized management target determining unit obtains a destination mail address or a broadcast mail address from a mail header of the received mail and performs a first determination as to whether the centralized management target mail is the target mail. When it is determined that the mail is outside, the mail information including a mail sender, a mail subject, and a mail transmission date / time is acquired from the mail header, and a second determination is made as to whether or not the mail is a target mail for centralized management. The mail system according to claim 1.   The matching determination unit calculates a total size of the mail body and a hash value based on the mail body from the received mail, and calculates the total size of the mail body and the mail body included in the mail information held in the matching table. 3. The mail system according to claim 1, wherein the hash value based on the information is compared with the calculated total size and the hash value to determine whether or not the unified management is performed.   The mail data storage means includes a mail header of the received mail and link information to the shared inbox when it is determined by the matching determination means that the received mail has already been managed by the unified management. The mail system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data is stored in an inbox of each user.   The mail data storage means, when the matching judgment means judges that the received mail is not centrally managed, the mail sender, the mail subject, the mail transmission date and time, the total size of the mail text, the mail The mail information including a hash value based on the text and link information to the shared inbox is stored in the matching table, the mail text data is compressed and stored in the shared inbox, and the received mail The mail system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein data including a header and link information to the shared inbox is stored in each user's inbox. A server device that centrally manages the content of the email text of emails sent to multiple recipients with the same email content from the same sender in a shared inbox,
Centralized management target determination means for determining whether or not the mail received from another server device is a target mail for performing the centralized management using mail information acquired from the mail header of the received mail;
A matching table that holds the mail information related to the mail in which the content of the mail body is centrally managed;
When the received mail is determined to be the central management target mail by the central management target determination unit, the matching determination unit determines whether or not the central management is already performed using the matching table;
Mail data storage means for storing data including the mail text or compressed data of the data in the received box of each user or the shared inbox based on the determination result by the matching determination means,
The server apparatus characterized by having.   The centralized management target determining unit obtains a destination mail address or a broadcast mail address from a mail header of the received mail and performs a first determination as to whether the centralized management target mail is the target mail. When it is determined that the mail is outside, the mail information including a mail sender, a mail subject, and a mail transmission date / time is acquired from the mail header, and a second determination is made as to whether or not the mail is a target mail for centralized management. The server device according to claim 6.   The matching determination unit calculates a total size of the mail body and a hash value based on the mail body from the received mail, and calculates the total size of the mail body and the mail body included in the mail information held in the matching table. The server apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a hash value based on the server is compared with the calculated total size and the hash value to determine whether or not the unified management is performed.   The mail data storage means includes a mail header of the received mail and link information to the shared inbox when it is determined by the matching determination means that the received mail has already been managed by the unified management. The server apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein data is stored in an inbox of each user.   The mail data storage means, when the matching judgment means judges that the received mail is not centrally managed, the mail sender, the mail subject, the mail transmission date and time, the total size of the mail text, the mail The mail information including a hash value based on the text and link information to the shared inbox is stored in the matching table, the mail text data is compressed and stored in the shared inbox, and the received mail The server apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein data including a header and link information to the shared inbox is stored in an inbox of each user. In a mail system composed of a plurality of mail servers, a mail management method for centrally managing the contents of the mail body of mail sent from the same sender to a plurality of destinations with the same mail body using a shared inbox. And
A centralized management target determination step for determining whether or not a mail received from another mail server is a target mail for performing the centralized management using mail information acquired from a mail header of the received mail;
When the received mail is determined to be the central management target mail by the central management target determination step, using the matching table that holds the mail information about the mail that is centrally managed as the content of the mail body, A matching determination step for determining whether or not the unified management has already been performed;
Based on the determination result of the matching determination step, with respect to the received mail, the mail data storage step of storing the data including the mail text or the compressed data of the data in each user's inbox or the shared inbox,
A mail management method characterized by comprising:   The central management object determination step obtains a destination mail address or a broadcast mail address from the mail header of the received mail and performs a first determination as to whether the mail is a central management target mail. When it is determined that the mail is outside, the mail information including a mail sender, a mail subject, and a mail transmission date / time is acquired from the mail header, and a second determination is made as to whether or not the mail is a target mail for centralized management. The mail management method according to claim 11.   The matching determination step calculates a total size of a mail body and a hash value based on the mail body from the received mail, and calculates a total size of the mail body and the mail body included in the mail information held in the matching table. 13. The mail management method according to claim 11, wherein the hash value based on the hash value is compared with the calculated total size and the hash value to determine whether or not the unified management is performed. . In a mail system composed of a plurality of mail servers, it is used for a server apparatus that centrally manages the contents of the mail text of mail sent to a plurality of destinations with the same mail text from the same sender using a shared inbox. A program,
On the computer,
A centralized management target determination function for determining whether or not a mail received from another mail server is a target mail for performing the centralized management using mail information acquired from a mail header of the received mail;
When the received mail is determined to be the central management target mail by the central management target determination function, using the matching table that holds the mail information about the mail that is centrally managed as the content of the mail body, A matching determination function for determining whether or not the centralized management has already been performed;
Based on the determination result by the matching determination function, with respect to the received mail, a mail data storage function for storing data including the mail text or compressed data of the data in each user's inbox or the shared inbox;
A program characterized by realizing.   The central management object determination function obtains a destination mail address or a broadcast mail address from the mail header of the received mail and performs a first determination as to whether the mail is a target of the central management. When it is determined that the mail is outside, the mail information including a mail sender, a mail subject, and a mail transmission date / time is acquired from the mail header, and a second determination is made as to whether or not the mail is a target mail for centralized management. The program according to claim 14.   The matching determination function calculates a total size of a mail text and a hash value based on the mail text from the received mail, and calculates a total size of the mail text and the mail text included in the mail information held in the matching table. 16. The program according to claim 14, wherein the hash value based on the value is compared with the calculated total size and the hash value to determine whether or not the unified management is performed.   A recording medium that records the program according to any one of claims 14 to 16 and is readable by a computer.

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