JP2010198114A - Electronic mail management device, electronic mail management method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic mail management apparatus is provided that manages so as to leave only the latest N update mails.
The received e-mail is updated depending on whether the e-mail includes a receiving unit that receives the e-mail and update mail feature information indicating that the update mail is updated by overwriting. Judgment unit 12 for judging whether or not it is a mail, e-mail storage unit 14 for storing an e-mail, and the latest N pieces (N is an integer of 1 or more) determined by the judgment unit 12 to be an update mail An e-mail management unit 13 that accumulates the received e-mail in the e-mail storage unit 14 and an output unit 15 that outputs the stored e-mail so that only e-mail is stored.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an e-mail management apparatus that manages e-mails.

  Conventionally, as a method for distributing information in real time, there are a push type in which transmission is performed unilaterally from the sender to the receiver side, and a pull type in which the sender transmits in response to a transmission request from the receiver. An example of the push type is e-mail.

  The pull type has the advantage that the latest information can be obtained when desired, but has the disadvantage that the load on the server that distributes information is very large. On the other hand, push-type e-mail has the merit that the load on the server is small, but the receiving side fills up the receiving folder with unnecessary e-mail on the client side, There was a disadvantage that it was difficult to pick up necessary information from the delivered e-mail. For example, when distributing stock price information by e-mail, the client-side user generally wants only the latest stock price information, but receives other past stock price information by e-mail. If the folder was full and it was terrible, it could be impossible to receive new emails. Further, for example, when a stock price e-mail, an e-mail from a friend, an e-mail such as a mail magazine, etc. are mixed, it is difficult to find a desired e-mail from among them.

  As a related technique, a technique is known in which an expiration date is set for an e-mail and an e-mail whose expiration date has passed is deleted (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-24151 A

  However, in the technique of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since deletion of an e-mail is determined based on an expiration date, when only the latest one or the latest several e-mails are meaningful, the following is performed. There were some disadvantages. For example, when the latest stock price information is delivered by email every 5 minutes and the expiration date is set to 1 hour, about 10 unnecessary past emails are deleted. There was a demerit that it would remain. In addition, when the stock transaction ends and the closing price information of the day is delivered by e-mail, and the expiration date is set to 1 hour, 1 hour after the delivery, Even the latest information is deleted, and there is a demerit that even if the user wants to confirm the closing price of the previous day in the early morning of the next day, it cannot be confirmed.

  Generally speaking, when only the latest one or the latest few e-mails are meaningful, there is a problem that only the meaningful e-mails need to be managed appropriately. . In addition, there is another problem that it is desired to improve the viewability of e-mails sent in a push type.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and one object of the present invention is to provide the meaning of the latest one or only the latest few e-mails that are meaningful. It is to provide an e-mail management device or the like that can appropriately manage a certain e-mail. Another object is to provide an e-mail management device or the like that can improve the browsing property of e-mails sent in a push type.

  In order to achieve the above object, an e-mail management apparatus according to the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives an e-mail and update e-mail feature information that is information indicating that the e-mail is updated by overwriting. The determination unit determines whether or not the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an update mail, the e-mail storage unit in which the e-mail is stored, and the determination unit determines that the e-mail is an update mail. An e-mail management unit for storing e-mails received by the receiving unit in the e-mail storage unit so that only the latest N e-mails (N is an integer equal to or greater than 1) are stored; And an output unit that outputs an email stored in the email storage unit.

  With such a configuration, only the latest N pieces of update mail are left. As a result, deletion of the latest update mail can be avoided, and the inbox is filled with older update mails, for example, or many older update mails are important emails. Can be prevented from being buried.

  Moreover, in the electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the electronic mail management unit receives the reception unit so that only the latest N update mails are stored in the electronic mail storage unit for each source address. The e-mail may be stored in the e-mail storage unit.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to manage so as to leave the latest N update mails for each address of the transmission source. Therefore, for example, when stock price update mail, currency exchange update mail, weather update mail, and traffic condition update mail are delivered from different addresses, each information such as stock price and currency exchange , You can leave the latest information.

In the electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention, N may be 1.
With such a configuration, it is possible to manage so as to leave only the latest one update mail.

  In the electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the output unit may display an electronic mail, and the electronic mail management apparatus may be an electronic mail management apparatus that is a mobile phone.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to manage so that the latest N number of update mails remain in a mobile phone that is considered to have a strict limit on the capacity of the inbox, and the inbox is filled with unnecessary mail. It can be avoided.

  The electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives an electronic mail, an electronic mail storage unit that stores the electronic mail, and an accumulation that stores the electronic mail received by the receiving unit in the electronic mail storage unit. And the initial screen mail feature information, which is information indicating the initial screen mail displayed on the initial screen, is included in the initial screen mail. And a display unit for displaying the initial screen mail on the initial screen among the electronic mails stored in the electronic mail storage unit.

  With such a configuration, the initial screen mail can be browsed on the initial screen without being browsed by the mailer, and the browsing property is improved. For example, the initial screen mail can be prevented from being overlooked by setting the electronic mail that should not be overlooked as the initial screen mail.

Further, in the electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the determination unit determines whether the electronic mail includes time-series mail feature information that is information indicating that the time-series mail is displayed in time series. The receiving unit also determines whether or not the received e-mail is a time series mail, and the display unit converts the time series mail among the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit to a time series. May be displayed side by side.
With such a configuration, time-series mails can be displayed side by side in time series.

  In the electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the electronic mail management apparatus may be a mobile phone, and the initial screen may be a standby screen.

  With such a configuration, the initial screen mail can be displayed on the standby screen that the user frequently views on the mobile phone, and the possibility of browsing the initial screen mail can be increased.

  In the electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention, the initial screen may be an electronic mail management apparatus that is a desktop picture of a desktop environment.

  With such a configuration, for example, an initial screen mail can be displayed on a desktop picture that a user frequently views on a personal computer or the like, and the possibility of browsing the initial screen mail can be increased.

  According to the electronic mail management apparatus or the like according to the present invention, for example, when only the latest N electronic mails are meaningful, the meaningful electronic mails can be appropriately managed. Further, according to the electronic mail management apparatus or the like according to the present invention, for example, it is possible to improve the viewability of electronic mail transmitted in a push type.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail management apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail management apparatus according to the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the update mail characteristic information etc. in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the received email in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the accumulate | stored email in the same embodiment The figure which shows an example of the accumulate | stored email in the same embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment Block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail management apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. A flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail management apparatus according to the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the initial screen mail characteristic information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the time series mail characteristic information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the accumulate | stored email in the same embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment Schematic diagram showing an example of the appearance of the computer system in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer system in the embodiment

  Hereinafter, an electronic mail management apparatus according to the present invention will be described using embodiments. In the following embodiments, components and steps denoted by the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repetitive description may be omitted.

(Embodiment 1)
An electronic mail management apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The e-mail management apparatus according to the present embodiment manages e-mails so that only the latest N pieces of e-mails determined to be update e-mails updated by overwriting are stored. It is.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. The electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a reception unit 11, a determination unit 12, an electronic mail management unit 13, an electronic mail storage unit 14, and an output unit 15. The e-mail management apparatus 1 may be, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a personal computer, or the like, and may be an apparatus that receives and outputs an e-mail. For example, it doesn't matter.

  The receiving unit 11 receives an e-mail. The e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 may be transmitted from a POP server, for example. The receiving unit 11 may or may not include a wired or wireless receiving device (for example, a modem or a network card) for receiving. The receiving unit 11 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives the receiving device.

  The determination unit 12 determines whether the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 is an update mail according to whether the update mail feature information is included in the e-mail. The update mail feature information is information indicating an update mail. The update mail is an electronic mail that is updated by overwriting. The update mail is an electronic mail in which only the latest one or several are meaningful. The update mail may be, for example, an email for weather forecasts, an email for traffic conditions, or an email for stock price information or currency exchange information. The update mail feature information may be included, for example, in the “subject” of the e-mail, may be included in the “text”, may be included in the “source address”, or other It may be included in the location. In addition, it is preferable that for each update mail feature information, it is determined in which part of the e-mail the update mail feature information is determined that the e-mail is an update mail. . For example, when the update mail feature information is a character string “update mail” and an e-mail including the character string in the subject is determined to be an update mail, the determination unit 12 receives the update mail feature information. The subject of the email is searched using the update email feature information “update email” as a search key. If a hit is found, it is determined that the email is an update email. It may be determined that the mail is not an update mail. Further, for example, when the update mail feature information is an e-mail address, and the e-mail whose e-mail address is the source address is determined to be an update mail, the determination unit 12 has received For the address of the sender of the e-mail, it is determined whether it is the update mail feature information, and if it is the update mail feature information, it is determined that the email is an update mail, and if it is not the update mail feature information, It may be determined that the electronic mail is not an update mail. The updated mail feature information may be stored in a recording medium included in the determination unit 12 or a recording medium accessible by the determination unit 12. Further, this update mail feature information may be included in the information associated with the e-mail instead of the e-mail itself. Then, the determination unit 12 may determine that the e-mail is an update mail when the update mail characteristic information is included in the information associated with the e-mail. As described above, when the association with the electronic mail is clear, the information associated with the electronic mail is also handled as information included in the electronic mail. The information associated with the e-mail may be, for example, information described on a site accessible by a URL described in the e-mail.

  The e-mail management unit 13 stores the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 so that only the latest N e-mails (N is an integer equal to or greater than 1) determined by the determination unit 12 to be update mails are stored. The mail is stored in the email storage unit 14. For example, when an e-mail that is N update mails is already stored in the e-mail storage unit 14 and the receiving unit 11 receives an e-mail that is a new update mail, the e-mail management unit 13 Deletes the oldest of the stored N update mails and accumulates the newly received update mails. Note that the oldest update mail may be deleted and the newly received update mail may be accumulated at once by accumulating the received update mail over the oldest update mail. In addition, the oldest update mail may be deleted after accumulating the received update mail. The value “N” may be set in advance on a recording medium (not shown). In addition, the e-mail management unit 13 stores the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 in the e-mail storage unit 14 so that only the latest N update mails are stored in the e-mail storage unit 14 for each update mail feature information. You may accumulate in In addition, the e-mail management unit 13 sends the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 to the e-mail storage unit 14 so that only the latest N update mails are stored in the e-mail storage unit 14 for each source address. You may accumulate in Further, the value of “N” may or may not be set for each update mail feature information or for each sender address.

  Further, when the update mail is stored in the email storage unit 14, the email management unit 13 stores the update mail and the other emails so that they can be distinguished from each other in the email storage unit 14. It may or may not be. In the former case, for example, the e-mail management unit 13 may store update mail and other e-mails in different folders, or set different flags for the update mail and other e-mails. May be accumulated.

  The e-mail storage unit 14 stores e-mails accumulated by the e-mail management unit 13. Storage in the e-mail storage unit 14 may be temporary storage in a RAM or the like, or may be long-term storage. The e-mail storage unit 14 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.).

  The output unit 15 outputs the email stored in the email storage unit 14. Here, the output may be, for example, display on a display device (for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display), printing by a printer, transmission via a communication line to a predetermined device, and recording. It may be stored on a medium or delivered to another component. In the present embodiment, a case where this output is a display will be described. In other words, the output unit 15 displays an e-mail. The output unit 15 may or may not include an output device (for example, a display device or a printer). The output unit 15 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives these devices.

  Note that the timing of the output does not matter. For example, an e-mail may be output in response to an output instruction from a user or the like, a new e-mail may be output at the time when it is stored in the e-mail storage unit 14, or output at another timing. May be.

  Next, the operation of the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. In this flowchart, a case will be described in which e-mails are accumulated so that the latest N update mails are stored in the e-mail storage unit 14 for each address of the transmission source.

  (Step S101) The receiving unit 11 determines whether an e-mail has been received. If an e-mail is received, the process proceeds to step S102. If not, the process proceeds to step S106.

  (Step S102) The determination unit 12 determines whether the electronic mail received by the reception unit 11 is an update mail. If it is an update mail, the process proceeds to step S103, and if not, the process proceeds to step S105.

  (Step S <b> 103) The e-mail management unit 13 determines that the e-mail storage unit 14 has the same transmission source address as the transmission source address of the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 and is an update mail. It is determined whether or not N or more determined electronic mails are stored. If it is stored, the process proceeds to step S104, and if not, the process proceeds to step S105.

  (Step S104) The e-mail management unit 13 determines that an e-mail whose transmission source address is the same as the transmission source address of the e-mail received by the reception unit 11 and is determined to be an update mail is N. The e-mails received by the receiving unit 11 are accumulated in the e-mail storage unit 14 so as to be stored in the e-mail storage unit 14. For example, the e-mail management unit 13 has the same e-mail as the transmission source address of the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 and is the most out of e-mails determined to be update mails. The old ones may be deleted, and the new email received by the receiving unit 11 may be stored in the email storage unit 14. Then, the process returns to step S101.

  (Step S <b> 105) The e-mail management unit 13 additionally accumulates e-mails received by the receiving unit 11 in the e-mail storage unit 14. That is, at the time of this accumulation, the already stored electronic mail is not deleted. Then, the process returns to step S101.

  (Step S106) The output unit 15 determines whether or not to output the electronic mail stored in the electronic mail storage unit 14. And when outputting, it progresses to step S107, and when that is not right, it returns to step S101. For example, the output unit 15 may determine to output an e-mail when the e-mail management apparatus 1 receives an instruction to output the e-mail.

  (Step S107) The output unit 15 reads and outputs an email from the email storage unit 14. Then, the process returns to step S101.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt. In the flowchart of FIG. 2, when two or more e-mails are received in a batch, the processing from step S102 to step S105 is executed for each e-mail. In addition, although not described in the flowchart of FIG. 2, when the email output process (step S <b> 107) is an email display process, a process performed by a normal mailer after the email is displayed, For example, a process of deleting the displayed e-mail, a process of creating an e-mail for replying to the displayed e-mail, a process of sending, and the like may be performed.

  Next, the operation of the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described using a specific example. In this specific example, a case where the electronic mail management apparatus 1 is a mobile phone will be described. In this specific example, the update mail feature information is assumed to be a transmission source address. The determination unit 12 determines whether the received electronic mail is an update mail using the information shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows information associating the updated mail characteristic information, which is a transmission source address, with the number of e-mails to be left (N). For example, the first record specifies that only the most recent e-mail whose transmission source address is “exchange @ abc ... com” is left. In this specific example, the e-mail transmitted from the address relates to exchange information. Generally, only the latest exchange information is important, so N = 1 is set. It is specified that only the latest five e-mails whose sender address is “security @ xyz ... com” are left. In this specific example, the e-mail transmitted from the address relates to a service for notifying the name of a station that has passed through a ticket gate of a certain person (for example, a child) and the time. With such information, it is important to know how it is moving, and since the latest information is important, N = 5 is set. It is assumed that the information shown in FIG. 3 is stored in a recording medium (not shown) that the determination unit 12 has.

  The company sending the exchange information composes an e-mail including the exchange information at that time at 10:10, and sets an e-mail address “user001 @ bcd ... ne.jp” corresponding to the e-mail management apparatus 1 Assume that the message is sent as a destination. Then, it is assumed that the electronic mail is transmitted to the electronic mail management apparatus 1 via an SMTP server, a POP server, or the like, and the receiving unit 11 receives the electronic mail (step S101). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the electronic mail. The subject of the e-mail includes “$ 1 89.45 yen (10:10)”, which is exchange information.

  The determination unit 12 reads each update mail feature information of FIG. 3 and determines whether any of them is included in the transmission source address of the electronic mail of FIG. In this case, since the transmission source address of the first record in FIG. 4 is the transmission source address of the electronic mail in FIG. 4, the determination unit 12 determines that the electronic mail in FIG. 4 is an update mail ( Step S102). Corresponding to the fact that the received e-mail is an update mail, the update mail feature information “exchange @ abc ... com” used to determine that the received email is the update mail, and the update mail feature information N value “1” to be sent to the e-mail management unit 13.

  At this time, it is assumed that the electronic mail storage unit 14 stores the electronic mail shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, each record corresponds to one electronic mail. Each e-mail has information on date / time, transmission source address, transmission destination address, subject, and text.

  The e-mail management unit 13 searches the e-mail of FIG. 5 stored in the e-mail storage unit 14 using the update mail feature information received from the determination unit 12 as a search key. In this case, it is assumed that only the first record in FIG. 5 is hit. Then, the email management unit 13 determines that the number of update emails stored in the email storage unit 14 is N (= 1) or more (step S103), deletes the hit email, The e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 is accumulated in the e-mail storage unit 14 (step S104). As a result, the email stored in the email storage unit 14 is as shown in FIG.

  In this specific example, since the update mail feature information is a source address, the case where the email management unit 13 searches for an email using only the update mail feature information as a search key has been described. When managing so as to leave the latest N e-mails for each source address instead of the source address, the update mail feature information and the source address of the e-mail received by the receiving unit 11 are An email may be searched as a search key. As described above, when the update mail and other mails are stored in the email storage unit 14 so as to be distinguishable, the email management unit 13 receives the update mail from the reception unit 11. A search may be performed using the e-mail source address as a search key.

  It is assumed that after the accumulation, the user operates the electronic mail management apparatus 1 which is a mobile phone and inputs an instruction to display an electronic mail inbox. Then, the output unit 15 determines that it is time to display an e-mail (step S106), and displays an e-mail inbox as shown in FIG. 7 (step S107). In this display, only the e-mail date and subject are displayed for each e-mail. As shown in FIG. 7, only the latest e-mail regarding exchange information is displayed. Further, only the latest five e-mails regarding the service for notifying the station name and time are displayed. By doing this, you can avoid the situation where your inbox overflows with unnecessary emails, the visibility of emails is improved, and necessary emails are not buried in unnecessary emails. Can be. Further, in the display of FIG. 7, when the user selects a subject of a desired electronic mail, other information of the electronic mail, for example, a text, a transmission source address, and the like may be displayed.

  In this specific example, the case where the electronic mail management apparatus 1 is a mobile phone has been described, but this need not be the case. For example, the electronic mail management apparatus 1 may be a personal computer as described above.

  As described above, according to the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, only the latest N pieces of update mail are left. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation where the old e-mail fills up the inbox or other e-mails are buried in the old e-mail. Further, according to the technique of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, when the expiration date comes, even the latest N update mails are deleted, but according to the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. For example, such a situation that the latest N update mails are deleted can be avoided.

  In addition, when the update mail feature information is a specific symbol or character string included in the subject or text, the e-mail sender can freely set whether or not the e-mail to be sent is an update mail. Will be able to.

  Note that the e-mail management apparatus 1 may be a POP server. In other words, the update mail may be managed in advance so that only the latest N emails remain in the POP server. In this case, the processing described in this embodiment may be performed for each destination address. By doing in this way, the apparatus which receives an electronic mail can prevent receiving an unnecessary electronic mail, and can also reduce the amount of communication data. In this case, the receiving unit 11 may receive an e-mail from the SMTP server. In this case, the output unit 15 may read and transmit the email stored in the email storage unit 14 in response to a transmission request from a device that receives the email.

(Embodiment 2)
An electronic mail management apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The e-mail management device according to the present embodiment displays e-mails according to initial screen e-mails that are e-mails displayed on the initial screen, time-series e-mails that are displayed in time series, and the like. To change.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the electronic mail management apparatus 2 according to this embodiment. The electronic mail management apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment includes a reception unit 21, a determination unit 22, a storage unit 23, an electronic mail storage unit 24, and a display unit 25. The electronic mail management device 2 may be, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, a personal computer, or the like, and may be of any type as long as it is a device that displays electronic mail.

  The receiving unit 21 receives an e-mail. The receiving unit 21 is the same as the receiving unit 11 of the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted.

  The determination unit 22 determines whether the e-mail received by the receiving unit 21 is the initial screen mail according to whether the initial screen mail feature information, which is information indicating the initial screen mail, is included in the e-mail. to decide. Further, the determination unit 22 determines that the e-mail received by the receiving unit 21 is a time-series mail depending on whether or not the time-series mail feature information, which is information indicating a time-series mail, is included in the e-mail. Also determine whether or not. Therefore, the determination unit 22 classifies the e-mail as one of the initial screen mail, time series mail, and other mail. The initial screen mail is an electronic mail displayed on the initial screen. The initial screen is an initial screen on which the display unit 25 of the e-mail management apparatus 2 displays information. For example, a standby screen displayed when a mobile phone is waiting to receive a call, Desktop picture (wallpaper) of desktop environment. A time series mail is an e-mail displayed side by side in time series. To display in chronological order is to display the e-mail reception time and transmission time in ascending or descending order (that is, sorted).

  Note that the initial screen mail feature information and time-series mail feature information may be included in the “subject” of the email, may be included in the “text”, or included in the “source address”, for example. It may be included, or may be included in other parts, as in the case of the update mail feature information of the first embodiment. In addition, it is assumed that other features related to the updated mail feature information can be appropriately applied to the initial screen mail feature information and the time-series mail feature information. The determination method by the determination unit 22 is the same as the determination method by the determination unit 12 according to the first embodiment, except that the update mail feature information is replaced with the initial screen mail feature information and the time-series mail feature information. The detailed explanation is omitted.

  The determination by the determination unit 22 may be performed, for example, before the storage unit 23 described later stores the email in the email storage unit 24 or after the storage. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the determination is made before the e-mail is accumulated.

  The storage unit 23 stores the email received by the receiving unit 21 in the email storage unit 24. If the determination unit 22 makes the above determination before this storage, the storage unit 23 determines that the initial screen mail is the initial screen mail and the time series mail is the time series mail. Alternatively, it may be stored in the e-mail storage unit 24. Specifically, the storage unit 23 stores the initial screen mail in the initial screen mail folder, stores the time series mail in the time series mail folder, and stores other e-mails in the other e-mail folders. May be. Further, the storage unit 23 may set a flag indicating that it is an initial screen mail and store the initial screen mail, and may set a flag indicating that it is a time series mail and store the time series mail. Needless to say, when initial screen mail or the like is stored in a distinguishable manner, the method is not limited thereto.

  The e-mail storage unit 24 stores the e-mail accumulated by the accumulation unit 23. The e-mail storage unit 24 is the same as the e-mail storage unit 14 of the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted.

  The display unit 25 displays the initial screen mail on the initial screen among the electronic mails stored in the electronic mail storage unit 24. The display unit 25 also displays time-series mails arranged in time series among the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit 24. The display unit 25 may display other emails stored in the email storage unit 24 in the same manner as a mailer that displays normal emails.

  If the determination unit 22 does not make the above-described determination before storing the e-mail, the display unit 25 displays the initial screen e-mail among the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit 24. When the e-mail that is determined to be the initial screen mail by the determination unit 22 is displayed and the time-series mail is displayed, the e-mail stored in the e-mail storage unit 24 is time-series by the determination unit 22. When an e-mail that is determined to be a mail is displayed and other e-mails are displayed, the e-mail stored in the e-mail storage unit 24 is determined as another e-mail by the determination unit 22. An e-mail, that is, an e-mail that is neither an initial screen mail nor a time-series mail may be displayed.

  Further, when displaying the initial screen mail and the time series mail, the number of electronic mails to be displayed may or may not be determined. For example, the display unit 25 may display only N initial screen mails on the initial screen. For example, the display unit 25 may display only N time-series mails arranged in time series. The value of N may be 1 or an integer of 2 or more, for example. The value of N may be different between the initial screen mail and the time series mail. For example, N = 1 may be used for the initial screen mail, and N = 5 may be used for the time series mail. The number of e-mails to be displayed may be determined for each e-mail transmission source address. For example, the number of e-mails to be displayed may be the same for each e-mail transmission source address, or the number of e-mails to be displayed may be different. Further, when displaying N initial screen mails from N initial screen mails or time-series mails, for example, the latest N initial screen mails may be displayed.

  The timing at which the display unit 25 displays the e-mail does not matter. For example, when the initial screen is displayed, the display unit 25 may determine that it is time to display the initial screen mail and display the initial screen mail on the initial screen. When the electronic mail management apparatus 2 receives an instruction to display time series mail, the display unit 25 determines that it is time to display the time series mail, and displays the time series mail in time series. May be. Further, when the e-mail management apparatus 2 receives an instruction to display other e-mail, the display unit 25 determines that it is time to display the other e-mail, and displays the other e-mail. May be.

  Further, the display unit 25 may or may not include a display device (for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display) that performs such display. The display unit 25 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a display device.

  Next, the operation of the electronic mail management apparatus 2 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this flowchart, as described above, it is assumed that, before the e-mail is accumulated, it is determined whether or not the e-mail is an initial screen mail.

  (Step S201) The receiving unit 21 determines whether an e-mail has been received. If an e-mail is received, the process proceeds to step S202. If not, the process proceeds to step S207.

  (Step S202) The determination unit 22 determines whether the electronic mail received by the reception unit 21 is an initial screen mail. If it is an initial screen mail, the process proceeds to step S203, and if not, the process proceeds to step S204.

  (Step S203) The storage unit 23 stores the e-mail in the e-mail storage unit 24 so that the e-mail received by the receiving unit 21 is determined to be an initial screen mail. For example, as described above, the storage unit 23 may store the e-mail in the initial screen mail folder, or set and store a flag indicating that the e-mail is the initial screen mail. Also good. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S204) The determination unit 22 determines whether the electronic mail received by the reception unit 21 is a time-series mail. If it is a time series mail, the process proceeds to step S205. Otherwise, the e-mail is another e-mail, and the process proceeds to step S206.

  (Step S205) The storage unit 23 stores the e-mail in the e-mail storage unit 24 so that the e-mail received by the receiving unit 21 is determined to be a time series mail. For example, as described above, the storage unit 23 may store the e-mail in a time-series mail folder, or set and store a flag indicating that the e-mail is a time-series mail. Also good. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S206) The storage unit 23 stores the e-mail in the e-mail storage unit 24 so that the e-mail received by the receiving unit 21 is determined as another e-mail. For example, the storage unit 23 may store the e-mail in another e-mail folder, or may set and store a flag indicating that the e-mail is another e-mail. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S207) The display unit 25 determines whether to display an initial screen mail. If the initial screen mail is to be displayed, the process proceeds to step S208; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S209.

  (Step S208) The display unit 25 reads out the initial screen mail stored in the electronic mail storage unit 24 and displays it on the initial screen. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S209) The display unit 25 determines whether to display a time series mail. And when displaying a time series mail, it progresses to Step S210, and when that is not right, it progresses to Step S211.

  (Step S210) The display unit 25 reads out the time series mail stored in the electronic mail storage unit 24, and displays the mails in time series. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S211) The display unit 25 determines whether to display other mail. And when displaying other electronic mail, it progresses to step S212, and when that is not right, it returns to step S201.

  (Step S212) The display unit 25 reads and displays other electronic mails stored in the electronic mail storage unit 24. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 9, the process is terminated by power-off or a process termination interrupt. Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9, after an e-mail is displayed, a process performed by a normal mailer, for example, a process of deleting the displayed e-mail or a reply to the displayed e-mail For example, an e-mail creation process or a transmission process may be performed.

  Next, the operation of the electronic mail management apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment will be described using a specific example. Also in this specific example, a case where the electronic mail management apparatus 2 is a mobile phone will be described as in the first embodiment. In this specific example, it is assumed that the initial screen mail feature information and the time-series mail feature information are transmission source addresses. Then, the determination unit 22 uses the initial screen mail feature information and the time series mail feature information shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 to determine whether the received electronic mail is an initial screen mail or whether it is a time series mail. Judgment should be made.

  FIG. 10 is information indicating initial screen mail feature information that is a source address. For example, an e-mail whose transmission source address is “exchange @ abc ... com” is shown to be an initial screen mail. FIG. 11 is information indicating time-series mail feature information that is a source address. For example, it is indicated that an electronic mail whose sender address is “security @ xyz ... com” is a time-series mail. Also, in this specific example, a case will be described in which only the latest one e-mail is displayed as the initial screen mail, and all e-mails are displayed in order from the latest e-mail as the time series mail.

  The company sending the exchange information composes an e-mail including the exchange information at that time at 10:10, and sets an e-mail address “user001 @ bcd ... ne.jp” corresponding to the e-mail management device 2 Assume that the message is sent as a destination. Then, it is assumed that the electronic mail is transmitted to the electronic mail management apparatus 2 via an SMTP server, a POP server, or the like, and the receiving unit 21 receives the electronic mail (step S201). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the electronic mail. The subject of the e-mail includes “$ 1 89.45 yen (10:10)”, which is exchange information.

  The determination unit 22 reads each initial screen mail feature information of FIG. 10 and determines whether any of them is included in the transmission source address of the electronic mail of FIG. In this case, since the first transmission source address in FIG. 10 is the transmission source address of the electronic mail in FIG. 4, the determination unit 22 determines that the electronic mail in FIG. S202). Then, the storage unit 23 is notified that the received electronic mail is an initial screen mail.

  Then, the storage unit 23 sets a flag indicating that it is an initial screen mail in the electronic mail of FIG. 4 and stores the flag in the electronic mail storage unit 24 (step S203). The first record in FIG. 12 is an e-mail stored in this way. The flag “1” is set for the initial screen mail, the flag “2” is set for the time series mail, and the flag “0” is set for the other e-mails.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the e-mail management apparatus 2 receives an e-mail whose sender address is “security @ xyz ... com” (step S201), FIG. Using the time series mail feature information, it is determined that the electronic mail is a time series mail (step S204), and the flag “2” is set and stored (step S205). Further, in the electronic mail management apparatus 2, an electronic mail whose transmission source address is not included in both the initial screen mail characteristic information in FIG. 10 and the time-series mail characteristic information in FIG. 11, for example, the transmission source address is “coupon”. When an e-mail “@cba ... com” is received (step S201), it is determined that the e-mail is another e-mail using the information in FIGS. 10 and 11 (step S204). ), The flag “0” is set and accumulated (step S206).

  Next, it is assumed that the user opens the electronic mail management apparatus 2 that is a folding mobile phone and displays the initial screen. Then, at that timing, the display unit 25 determines that the initial screen mail is displayed (step S207). Then, the display unit 25 reads the latest screen e-mail from among the e-mails in FIG. 12, that is, the e-mail whose flag is “1”, and displays the subject on the initial screen. (Step S208). Here, the subject of the first record in FIG. 12 is displayed as shown in FIG. In the display of FIG. 13, when the user selects the displayed subject, the display unit 25 may also display information such as the text other than the subject of the first record in FIG. Good.

  Further, it is assumed that the user inputs an instruction to display a time series mail by operating the electronic mail management apparatus 2 which is a mobile phone. Then, the instruction is accepted by the display unit 25, and the display unit 25 determines to display the time series mail (step S209). Then, the display unit 25 reads a time-series mail, that is, an electronic mail whose flag is “2” from the electronic mail of FIG. 12, and displays the subject in descending order of date and time (step S210). As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, time series mails are displayed in time series. In the display of FIG. 14 as well, when the user selects any subject displayed, the display unit 25 displays information other than the subject of the e-mail according to the subject. Also good.

  Further, it is assumed that the user inputs an instruction to display other e-mails by operating the e-mail management apparatus 2 which is a mobile phone. Then, the instruction is accepted by the display unit 25, and the display unit 25 determines to display another electronic mail (step S211). Then, the display unit 25 reads and displays other e-mails, that is, e-mails whose flag is “0” from the e-mail of FIG. 12 (step S212). As a result, for example, other emails are displayed as shown in FIG. In the display of FIG. 15 also, when the user selects any subject displayed, the display unit 25 displays information other than the subject of the e-mail according to the subject. Also good. In FIG. 15, the subject lines are displayed in chronological order, but it goes without saying that the emails may be sorted according to other information according to the user's settings. For example, the e-mails may be sorted and displayed by the source address.

  As described above, according to the e-mail management apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, the initial screen mail can be browsed on the initial screen without being browsed by the mailer, and the visibility is improved. You can prevent the initial screen mail from being overlooked. Therefore, for example, by setting an e-mail that is not to be overlooked as an initial screen mail, or setting an e-mail that is frequently checked as an initial screen mail, it is possible to improve the visibility of the initial screen mail.

  In addition, when the initial screen mail feature information or time-series mail feature information is a specific symbol or character string included in the subject or text, the email to be sent is referred to as the initial screen mail. You can freely set whether or not to use time-series mail.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the determination unit 22 determines whether the received e-mail is an initial screen mail and whether it is a time-series mail has been described. Good. The determination unit 22 may determine only whether the received electronic mail is an initial screen mail. Then, the display unit 25 may display the initial screen mail on the initial screen and display an electronic mail other than the initial screen mail by a normal mailer. As described above, it is not necessary to perform the determination process regarding the time series mail and the display process regarding the time series mail.

  Further, the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment may be combined with the electronic mail management apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment. For example, in the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the output unit 15 may display the update mail on the initial screen as being the initial screen mail, and the time series based on the update mail being the time series mail. They may be displayed side by side. For example, the output unit 15 may display an update mail with N = 1 as an initial screen mail on the initial screen, and an update mail with N ≧ 2 as a time series mail. They may be displayed side by side. Alternatively, the update mail includes a first determination unit that determines whether the mail is an update mail, and a second determination unit that determines whether the mail is an initial screen mail or a time-series mail. As described in the first embodiment, only the latest N mails may be stored, the initial screen mail may be displayed on the initial screen, and the time series mail may be displayed side by side in time series. When the electronic mail management apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment is combined with the electronic mail management apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment, the output unit 15 displays the electronic mail. Further, when displaying time series mail, the time of the latest time series mail to be displayed may be designated instead of designating the number of the latest time series mail to be displayed. For example, for time series mail, time series mail received within the latest predetermined time (for example, 20 minutes, 1 hour, etc.) may be displayed.

  In the above embodiment, each process or each function may be realized by centralized processing by a single device or a single system, or may be distributedly processed by a plurality of devices or a plurality of systems. It may be realized by doing.

  In the above embodiment, information related to processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component In addition, information such as threshold values, mathematical formulas, addresses, etc. used by each component in processing is retained temporarily or over a long period of time on a recording medium (not shown) even when not explicitly stated in the above description. It may be. Further, the storage of information in the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Further, reading of information from the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

  In the above embodiment, when information used by each component, for example, information such as a threshold value, an address, and various setting values used by each component may be changed by the user Even if it is not specified in the above description, the user may be able to change the information as appropriate, or it may not be. If the information can be changed by the user, the change is realized by, for example, a not-shown receiving unit that receives a change instruction from the user and a changing unit (not shown) that changes the information in accordance with the change instruction. May be. The change instruction received by the receiving unit (not shown) may be received from an input device, information received via a communication line, or information read from a predetermined recording medium, for example. .

  In the above embodiment, when two or more components included in the e-mail management apparatuses 1 and 2 have a communication device, an input device, etc., the two or more components have a physically single device. Or you may have separate devices.

  In the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. The software that realizes the electronic mail management apparatus 1 in the above embodiment is the following program. In other words, the program determines whether the computer includes a receiving unit that receives an e-mail, and update mail feature information that is information indicating that the update mail is updated by overwriting. A determination unit for determining whether or not the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an update mail, and only the latest N e-mails (N is an integer of 1 or more) determined by the determination unit as an update mail are stored. An e-mail management unit that accumulates e-mails received by the receiving unit in an e-mail storage unit that stores e-mails, and an output unit that outputs e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit , To function as.

  Moreover, the software which implement | achieves the electronic mail management apparatus 2 in the said embodiment is the following programs. That is, the program includes a computer, a receiving unit that receives an e-mail, an accumulation unit that accumulates an e-mail received by the receiving unit in an e-mail storage unit that stores the e-mail, and an initial screen displayed on an initial screen. A determination unit that determines whether the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an initial screen mail according to whether the e-mail includes initial screen mail feature information that is information indicating a screen mail; Of the e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit, this is to function as a display unit that displays the initial screen mail on the initial screen.

  In the program, the functions realized by the program do not include functions that can be realized only by hardware. For example, a function that can be realized only by hardware such as a modem and an interface card in a receiving unit that receives information, an output unit that outputs information, and the like is not included at least in the functions realized by the program.

  Further, this program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, and a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disc such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disc, a semiconductor memory, etc.) is read out. May be executed. Further, this program may be used as a program constituting a program product.

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the external appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the e-mail management apparatuses 1 and 2 according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  In FIG. 16, a computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905 and an FD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disk) drive 906, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, a monitor 904, and the like. Is provided.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the computer system 900. In FIG. 17, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 905 and the FD drive 906, a computer 901 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing a program such as a bootup program, and the MPU 911. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 that temporarily stores program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, and an MPU 911 and a ROM 912 are interconnected. And a bus 915. Note that the computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to the LAN, a communication device for performing wireless communication, and the like.

  A program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the electronic mail management apparatuses 1 and 2 according to the above-described embodiments is stored in the CD-ROM 921 or the FD 922 and inserted into the CD-ROM drive 905 or the FD drive 906. It may be transferred to the hard disk 914. Instead, the program may be transmitted to the computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921, the FD 922, or the network.

  The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the electronic mail management apparatuses 1 and 2 according to the above embodiments. The program may include only a part of an instruction that calls an appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and obtains a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, according to the e-mail management device or the like according to the present invention, for example, it is possible to manage so that only the latest update mail remains appropriately. It is useful as a personal computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 E-mail management apparatus 11, 21 Receiving part 12, 22 Judgment part 13 E-mail management part 14, 24 E-mail memory | storage part 15 Output part 23 Storage part 25 Display part

Claims (11)

A receiver for receiving e-mail;
Judgment to determine whether or not the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an update mail according to whether or not the update mail feature information, which is information indicating that the update mail is updated by overwriting, is included in the e-mail And
An email storage unit for storing emails;
The e-mail storage unit stores the e-mail received by the receiving unit so that only the latest N (N is an integer equal to or greater than 1) e-mails determined by the determining unit as being update mails are stored. E-mail management unit to be stored in
An e-mail management apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs an e-mail stored in the e-mail storage unit. The e-mail management unit accumulates e-mails received by the receiving unit in the e-mail storage unit so that only the latest N update mails are stored in the e-mail storage unit for each source address The electronic mail management apparatus according to claim 1. The electronic mail management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein N is 1. 3. The output unit displays an email,
The electronic mail management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail management apparatus is a mobile phone. A receiver for receiving e-mail;
An email storage unit for storing emails;
A storage unit that stores the email received by the receiver in the email storage unit;
Whether the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an initial screen mail according to whether or not the initial screen mail feature information, which is information indicating the initial screen mail displayed on the initial screen, is included in the e-mail. A determination unit for determining whether or not
An e-mail management apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays an initial screen mail on an initial screen among e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit. The determination unit determines whether the e-mail received by the receiving unit depends on whether the e-mail includes time-series mail feature information that is information indicating that the time-series mail is displayed in time series. Also determine whether it is a time series email,
The e-mail management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display unit displays time-series mails arranged in time series among e-mails stored in the e-mail storage unit. The e-mail management device is a mobile phone;
The electronic mail management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the initial screen is a standby screen. The electronic mail management apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the initial screen is a desktop picture of a desktop environment. An e-mail management method that is processed using a receiving unit, a determination unit, an e-mail storage unit that stores e-mails, an e-mail management unit, and an output unit,
A receiving step in which the receiving unit receives an email;
The e-mail received in the receiving step is an update mail depending on whether the e-mail includes update mail feature information that is information indicating that the determination unit is an update mail updated by overwriting. A determination step for determining whether or not
The electronic mail received in the receiving step so that only the latest N pieces of email (N is an integer equal to or greater than 1) determined in the determination step as the update mail is stored in the electronic mail management unit. An e-mail management step of storing e-mail in the e-mail storage unit;
An e-mail management method, comprising: an output step in which the output unit outputs an e-mail stored in the e-mail storage unit. Computer
A receiver for receiving emails,
Judgment to determine whether or not the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an update mail according to whether or not the update mail feature information, which is information indicating that the update mail is updated by overwriting, is included in the e-mail Part,
The e-mail stores the e-mail received by the receiving unit so that only the latest N e-mails (N is an integer equal to or greater than 1) determined by the determining unit to be an update mail are stored. E-mail management unit to be stored in the e-mail storage unit,
The program for functioning as an output part which outputs the email memorize | stored in the said email storage part. Computer
A receiver for receiving emails,
An accumulator that accumulates the e-mail received by the receiving unit in an e-mail storage unit in which the e-mail is stored;
Whether the e-mail received by the receiving unit is an initial screen mail according to whether or not the initial screen mail feature information, which is information indicating the initial screen mail displayed on the initial screen, is included in the e-mail. Judgment part to judge whether
The program for functioning as a display part which displays an initial screen mail on an initial screen among the electronic mail memorize | stored in the said electronic mail memory | storage part.

Images