JP2015153081A - e-mail creation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an input operation burden of a user by automatically adding a letter subject of created e-mail when necessary.SOLUTION: An e-mail creation device comprises: a mail creation unit for creating e-mail; a storage unit for storing the created e-mail; a communication unit for transmitting and receiving e-mail; a letter subject addition determination unit for, when the created e-mail does not have a letter subject, determining whether a letter subject should be added to the e-mail on the basis of information on a transmission destination of the created e-mail; and a mail setting management unit for, when it is determined that a letter subject should be added, creating a letter subject of the created e-mail by using a letter subject added to e-mail transmitted and received in the past.

Description

  The present invention relates to an e-mail creating apparatus, and more particularly to an e-mail creating apparatus having a function of automatically assigning a mail subject when an e-mail is created.

An information processing apparatus having an electronic mail function is generally equipped with a function of displaying a list of a plurality of received mails in order to select and browse received mails.
Some have a function of classifying received mails and a function of changing the display order based on the sender and subject of received mails in order to improve the readability of many received mails.
For example, a list of received mails may be displayed by displaying the received date of the received mail, the sender, the subject, and a part of the body in order of the received date. In addition, there is a type in which received mails having the same subject name are grouped together and displayed as a list by classifying them according to the subject of received mails.
When it is desired to view the full text of a specific received mail, the full text of one received mail is displayed on another display screen by selecting the received mail.

In addition, one thread is used so that e-mails with the same sender, destination, and subject can be extracted from the sent mail and received mail, grouped into one group, and a series of mail exchanges between the two parties can be understood. Some of them are displayed as a list.
Furthermore, those having a mail display function using a conversational UI (user interface) are also used.
5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of a mail list display screen using a conventional conversational UI.
As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, for example, the individual or group of the mail partner is fixed, the subject of the mail is not displayed, and part or all of the text of the sent mail and the received mail are alternately displayed. Display e-mails as if they were talking in time series.
In FIG. 5, the mail partner is fixed to “Mr. A”, and the body of the mail sent to Mr. A and the body of the received mail sent from Mr. A are surrounded by a balloon and distributed to the left and right of the screen. it's shown.

Further, in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to displaying a list of a series of sent / received mails with a fixed destination, the mail is transmitted to the same fixed destination in a state where the list is displayed. It shows what has a function.
In FIG. 6, after entering the mail text to be sent in the left frame of the “Send” icon displayed on the screen, touch the send icon to send the mail to the fixed partner (Mr. A). Is sent.
In the case of having an email function using such a conversational UI, even if a reply email to the received email is sent, an email without a subject will not be sent unless the subject is explicitly entered. Many things are sent.

In addition, a technique for automatically setting a subject is proposed in order to improve user convenience when creating an e-mail or creating a reply mail.
For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an e-mail system in which a response candidate list or the like is added to the body of a received mail and the body of a reply mail is easily created by using this list.
Patent Documents 2 and 3 propose a technique for creating a subject by extracting a word string or a sentence that can be a subject (subject) from the content of the text of the created e-mail.
Further, in Patent Document 4, subject information of an e-mail is stored in advance for each group, and when an e-mail is created from an outgoing call history or incoming call history in which a telephone number is stored, the group to which the telephone number belongs is assigned. There has been proposed an e-mail creation device that sets a subject using stored subject information.

JP-A-10-27141 JP-A-10-31380 JP 2000-339241 A JP 2005-260555 A

Conventionally, when creating a reply mail for a received mail, the subject of the reply mail is automatically set using the subject of the received mail and adding characters such as “Re:” in front of the subject. Although there are many things, as described above, a reply mail without a subject may be transmitted to a transmission mail using the conversational UI.
However, as described above, if received mail is classified by subject and displayed as a list, received mail without a subject cannot be classified and cannot be added to the list display.
In other words, there is no particular problem with the mail list display between terminals that send and receive e-mail using the mail function that handles incoming mail without a subject, but the terminal has a mail function that displays a list using the subject. When a received mail without a subject is received, the list cannot be displayed, and a problem occurs in the list display. When the transmission destination uses a mail function for displaying a list using the subject, it is desirable to send an email with a subject.

Also, even when creating a reply e-mail using the conversational UI, the user can explicitly enter the subject or set the subject using the automatic generation function as shown in the above patent document. Although it is possible to provide an input frame on the display screen of the conversational UI and display the subject to be input, there is a problem that the display area of the mail text etc. is reduced, and the user can perform a predetermined input operation or There is a problem in that it is necessary to perform a function selection operation, which increases the burden of input operation on the user.
In addition, the conventional method for automatically generating the subject of outgoing mail does not consider the circumstances of the recipient, and the subject is determined based on the result of determining whether or not there is a need to assign a subject. It is not an addition.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and when creating an e-mail, if there is a need to add a subject, an e-mail with the subject automatically added It is an object of the present invention to provide an e-mail creation device that can generate a message.

  The present invention creates a mail creation unit that creates an email, a storage unit that stores the created email, a communication unit that transmits and receives emails, and a created email that has no subject Sent and received when it is determined that a subject should be given, and a subject assignment determination unit that determines whether or not a subject should be given to the email based on information about the destination of the received email The present invention provides a mail creating apparatus comprising: a mail setting management unit that generates a subject of the created email using a subject given to a past email.

  In addition, a subject assignment condition for determining whether or not a subject should be given to the e-mail is stored in the storage unit in advance, and the subject assignment condition includes information on the transmission destination and the created e-mail Is an information that associates a determination result indicating whether or not to give a subject when an address that specifies a destination of the information satisfies information on the destination, and an address that specifies the destination is Including the domain identification information, in the subject assignment condition, if the information on the destination is domain identification information providing an email function for displaying the received mail without displaying the subject, the subject is not given If the first condition to be sent and the information about the destination are domain identification information that provides an email function that displays the received mail including the subject, the subject is A second condition to Azukasuru, characterized in that it is at least set.

According to this, when the address specifying the destination of the created electronic mail has the domain identification information of the first condition, no subject is given, so the subject input function at the time of creating the electronic mail is omitted. In particular, when an electronic mail is displayed using a conversational user interface that displays a received mail without displaying a subject, an appropriate electronic mail can be transmitted and received.
In addition, when the address specifying the transmission destination of the created e-mail has the domain identification information of the second condition, the subject is given to the created e-mail, so the user manually inputs the subject. The subject entry work can be omitted, and when the email destination uses the email function that displays the received email including the subject, the email with the subject is received. Therefore, you can check the received mail using the subject.

The electronic mail function for displaying received mail without displaying the subject is characterized in that the received mail and the transmitted mail are displayed in time series using a conversational user interface.
The storage unit stores a plurality of e-mails including past received mails and outgoing mails, and the e-mail created when the mail setting management unit determines that a subject should be given. Generating a subject of the created e-mail using a subject given to the newest e-mail to the destination among past e-mails including an address for specifying a destination of the e-mail To do.
According to this, since the subject of the created email is generated using the subject given to the newest email in the past for the destination of the created email, the user's subject input operation is not performed. It can be omitted, and a subject that is considered appropriate for the created e-mail can be given without checking the subject of the past e-mail.

In addition, when the subject assignment determination unit determines that a subject should not be provided, the mail setting management unit does not generate a subject of the created email.
According to this, since the subject of the created email is not generated when the subject is not required, for example, an appropriate email that can enjoy the convenience of the email function using the conversational user interface is transmitted. it can.

In addition, the storage unit stores a plurality of e-mails including past received mails and transmission mails, and the past e-mail stored in the storage unit when the e-mail is created by the mail creation unit. When a character string included in an email is cited, or when a past email stored in the storage unit is referred to, when the email setting management unit determines that a subject should be given, The subject of the created email is generated using the subject set in the quoted email or the referenced email.
According to this, the subject of the created email is generated using the subject set in the quoted email or the referenced email, so the user's subject input operation can be omitted, A subject that is considered appropriate for the created e-mail can be assigned without considering the subject to be given at the time or at the time of reference.

In addition, a display unit and an operation unit for a user to input information are further provided, and when the user has not input a subject in the created e-mail using the operation unit, the subject is given When the determination unit determines that the subject should be given, the confirmation unit displays a confirmation display screen asking the user whether or not the subject may be automatically given, and using the operation unit, The mail setting management unit generates a subject of the created e-mail when an instruction input indicating that a subject is permitted is given.
According to this, when it is determined that a subject should be given and an instruction input indicating that the subject is allowed is given, the subject of the created email is generated. Subject assignment can be controlled by the user's intention to input instructions.

  The subject assignment condition is stored in a server connected via a network, and the mail setting management unit acquires the subject assignment condition from the server and stores it in the storage unit. .

  According to this invention, when it is determined that a subject should be given to an email without a subject, the subject of the email created using the subject assigned to the email sent and received in the past is used. Since the subject is generated, the subject can be generated quickly and appropriately, and the operation burden on the subject input work of the user can be reduced.

It is a block diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the mail creating apparatus of the present invention. It is a flowchart of Example 1 of the mail preparation and subject name generation process in the mail preparation apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart of Example 2 of the mail preparation and subject name generation process in the mail preparation apparatus of this invention. It is a part of flowchart of Example 2 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the mail list display screen using the conventional conversational UI. It is explanatory drawing of the mail list display screen using the conventional conversational UI.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, this does not limit the present invention.
<Configuration of email creation device>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a mail creating apparatus according to the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a control unit 10 is a part for controlling the operation of each functional block of the present invention, and a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O interface, a timer and the like is mainly used.
In addition, the mail creation function and the automatic subject assignment function of the present invention are executed when the CPU organically operates various hardware based on a program stored in a ROM or the like.

The operation unit 11 is a part where the user inputs information such as characters or selects and inputs a function, and a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or the like is used.
The communication unit 12 is a part that transmits and receives electronic mail and other information via the network 2 such as the Internet.
The communication function is not particularly limited, and any conventionally used communication method may be used, and either wired communication or wireless communication may be used.
The display unit 13 is a part that displays a list of received mails and transmitted mails, information necessary for mail creation, and the like, and an LCD or an organic EL display is used.

The display management unit 14 is a part that manages information to be displayed on the display unit 13, and in particular, is a part that displays transmitted and received e-mails on the display unit 13 in a predetermined display format.
The mail creation unit 15 is a part that creates and edits an email to be transmitted. The user uses the operation unit 11 to create an email body, set a destination, set a subject (or title), This is the part that attaches attached files.
The mail setting management unit 16 is a part that manages information and functions necessary for creating an electronic mail.
For example, monitoring whether or not other electronic mail stored in the storage unit 21 has been browsed and browsed, and an operation of copying a character string included in the other electronic mail and pasting it into the body of the outgoing mail (quotation Operation), confirming to the user whether the subject line may be automatically assigned to the email being created, and sent to past emails sent and received This is the part that generates the subject of the created email using the subject.

The subject assignment determination unit 17 is a part that determines whether or not a subject is to be assigned to the e-mail being created or a reply mail to the received mail.
In particular, when there is no subject in the created electronic mail, it is determined whether or not a subject should be given to the electronic mail based on information regarding the destination of the created electronic mail.
Whether or not to add a subject is determined based on a subject provision condition 25 stored in advance in the storage unit 21.
For example, if the recipient of the e-mail uses the function that sorts the received mail based on the subject or the e-mail function that displays the received mail including the subject, give the subject to the sent mail Is preferable.
On the other hand, when using a conversational UI like e-mail sent and received between mobile terminals such as mobile phones, the received mail is displayed without displaying the subject, so the subject is not given to the outgoing mail. It is thought that it may be.
However, if the user intentionally enters the subject, the subject will be assigned to the outgoing email. If the user tries to send the email without entering the subject, or if the user automatically gives the subject The determination by the subject assignment determination unit 17 may be performed when permission is given in advance.
The subject assignment condition 25 will be described later.

If the subject assignment determination unit 17 determines that a subject is to be assigned, the subject of the created e-mail is automatically generated.
At this time, for example, the latest e-mail sent to the destination of the created mail and the past received mail received from the destination, the latest e-mail for the destination, that is, the date and time of transmission / reception The subject of the created e-mail is generated using the subject given to the latest mail.
Alternatively, in the case of a reply mail, a subject obtained by adding a character string “Re:” to the head of the subject of the newest email may be generated as the subject of the created email.
For example, if the subject of the newest e-mail in the past is “Meeting Information”, “Meeting Information” or “Re: Meeting Information” is automatically used as the subject of the created e-mail. Set to
If the subject assignment determination unit 17 determines that the subject should not be provided, the mail setting management unit 16 does not generate the subject of the created email.

The storage unit 21 is a part for storing information necessary for executing each function of the mail creation device 1, setting information, a program, and the like, a semiconductor storage element such as a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, an HDD, an SSD, and the like. And other storage media are used.
The storage unit 21 mainly stores a created mail 22, a received mail 23, a transmitted mail 24, a subject assignment condition 25, and subject information 26.
The created mail 22 corresponds to a sent mail currently being created and a reply mail to the received mail.
The created mail 22 includes a mail text, a destination mail address, a subject, an attached file, and the like.
The mail text and the destination mail address are input by the user. However, in the case of a reply mail to the received mail, the destination mail address is automatically set to the address of the sender of the received mail and does not need to be input by the user.
About a subject, a user may input directly, but when a user does not input, based on the determination result of above-mentioned subject addition determination part 17, a predetermined subject is automatically given, or a subject is changed. Do not grant.

The received mail 23 is a plurality of e-mails received in the past, and the sent mail 24 is a plurality of e-mails transmitted in the past. The received mail 23 and the transmitted mail 24 are used when the creation mail 22 is being created.
For example, when it is desired to quote the content of the mail body of the received mail 23 in the created mail 22 as it is, the content may be copied and pasted into the body of the created mail.
If it is desired to refer to the transmitted mail 24 that has been transmitted in the past, the transmitted mail may be read out and displayed on the display unit 13 to confirm the content of the transmitted mail.
As will be described later, when quoting or referring to past received mail 23 or transmitted mail 24 stored in the storage unit 21, the subject set in the quoted or referenced received mail or transmitted mail is used. Then, the subject of the created mail 22 may be generated.

As described above, the subject assignment condition 25 is a condition for determining whether or not a subject should be assigned to the created e-mail.
The subject provision condition 25 should be set in advance and may be set in a fixed manner, but the user may be able to set and change the condition.
One subject provision condition 25 is information in which the condition contents to be satisfied are associated with the determination result when the condition contents are satisfied.

Here, the condition content to be satisfied is information related to the destination of the email, and the determination result is the subject when the address specifying the destination of the created email satisfies the information related to the destination. Is information indicating whether or not to be assigned.
In addition, as information regarding the transmission destination, domain identification information and an X-mailer field included in the header part of the received mail are used.
As the subject assignment condition 25, for example, when the information about the transmission destination is domain identification information that provides an e-mail function for displaying the received mail without displaying the subject, the subject is not given (first 1 condition). Such an e-mail function corresponds to, for example, a function that displays received mail and transmitted mail on the display unit 13 in time series using a conversational user interface.
Further, when the information regarding the transmission destination is domain identification information that provides an electronic mail function for displaying received mail including the subject, a subject is given (second condition).

As a specific example of the subject assignment condition, for example, the following condition is set.
(Example of first condition) If the address of the destination of the created mail has the domain of the email server of the carrier that provides the portable terminal, no subject is given.
For example, the character string behind the @ that composes the email address represents the domain of the email that is originally sent and received between mobile phones. The domain used today is “@ docomo.ne Things like “.jp” and “@ ezweb.ne.jp” are subject to information about the destination of this condition.

(Example of second condition) When the address of the destination of the created mail has the domain of an electronic mail server implemented by a company (provider) that provides a communication business such as the Internet, a subject is given.
For example, the character string behind the @ that composes the email address identifies the provider that provides Internet-based email, and the domains used today include “@ gmail.com” and “ Things like “@ yahoo.co.jp” are the targets of information regarding the destination of this condition.

Further, the following third condition may be set.
(Third condition) If the value of the X-mailer field does not include a specific character string in the header part of the mail received in the past from the destination of the created mail, a subject is given.
On the other hand, when the value of the X-mailer field includes a specific character string, for example, “sbm-myrmailer” or the like, no subject is given.
Since the value of the X-mailer field generally represents the name of the mail function used by the sender, it is possible to estimate the mail function that the destination will be using by checking this value.
Therefore, as described above, when the X-mailer field does not include a specific character string, it is considered that a subject is often required, so it is preferable to add a subject.
Also, if the X-mailer field contains a specific character string, such as “sbm-myrmailer”, the subject of the email is likely to be a mail function that uses a conversational UI. It is considered that there is little problem in receiving and displaying mail even if there is no message, so it is not necessary to give a subject.

In addition to this, the user may set a unique subject provision condition.
For example, when a promise is made that two specific users can send and receive e-mails without adding a subject, e-mails with the other party's e-mail address as the destination address are sent to each other. In such a case, a subject assignment condition of not assigning a subject may be set. In this case, as the information regarding the transmission destination, the address itself of the other party's electronic mail may be set.

The subject information 26 stores information that becomes subject candidates when creating a creation mail.
For example, when the user performs an operation of copying the desired text content in the received mail 23 and pasting it in the e-mail being created, the subject of the received mail subjected to the copy operation is stored as the subject information 26. .
In addition, when the user performs a browsing operation for displaying the received mail on the display unit 13 in order to confirm the contents of the past received mail 23, the subject of the received mail that has been browsed is stored as the subject information 26. To do.
Further, the operation information performed by the user may be stored in association with the subject information 26.
As will be described later, the subject information 26 and the operation content are used when automatically assigning a subject, and the subject information 26 becomes a part of the subject of the created mail.

The subject assignment condition 25 may be stored in the server using the server 3 connected to the network 2.
The server 3 includes at least a determination condition storage unit 31 and a communication unit 32.
The communication unit 32 is a part that performs data communication with one or a plurality of mail creation devices 1 via the network 2.
The determination condition storage unit 31 is a part that stores preset subject assignment conditions. The mail setting management unit 16 of the mail creating apparatus 1 may acquire the subject assignment condition from the server 3 and store it in the storage unit 21.
In addition, when the user sets the subject assignment condition 25 in the mail creation device 1, the set subject assignment condition 25 may be transmitted to the server 3 and stored in the server 3 for each user.
Alternatively, by adding, updating, or deleting the subject assignment condition 25 in the server 3, the latest subject assignment condition is always stored, and each time the subject assignment condition of the server is updated, a predetermined mail creation device 1 may be distributed and stored in the storage unit 21 of the mail creating apparatus 1.

<E-mail creation and subject generation processing>
Example 1
FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the first embodiment regarding the e-mail creation and subject generation processing of the present invention.
Here, after the user creates an e-mail and the creation is completed, if the subject is not assigned, it is determined whether the subject needs to be assigned, and the subject is set based on the determination result To do.
In step S <b> 1 of FIG. 2, the control unit 10 checks whether or not the user has made an input meaning to start creating mail by an input operation using the operation unit 11.
If there is a start input, the process proceeds to step S2. If there is no start input, step S1 is looped.

In step S <b> 2, the mail creation unit 15 displays a screen for creating an email on the display unit 12, and the user creates an email using the operation unit 11.
In step S <b> 3, the control unit 10 checks whether or not an input indicating the end of mail creation has been made.
If the user inputs to signify the end of mail creation, the process proceeds to step S4. Otherwise, the process returns to step S2.
In step S4, the subject of the created mail is acquired.
When a user explicitly enters a subject at the time of mail creation, the entered subject is acquired, but when no subject is entered, there is no subject.
In step S5, it is checked whether or not there is no acquired subject.

When there is no subject, it progresses to step S6, and when there is a subject, it progresses to step S13.
In step S6, the transmission destination address of the created mail is acquired.
In step S <b> 7, the subject assignment determination unit 17 executes subject assignment determination processing and checks whether or not it is necessary to assign a subject to the acquired transmission destination.
Here, the subject assignment determination unit 17 determines whether or not the acquired transmission destination address matches the condition (information regarding the transmission destination) set in the subject assignment condition 25 stored in the storage unit 21. Confirm.
If there is a matching condition in the subject assignment condition 25, the determination result (subject to subject or not subject) is read when the condition is satisfied.
When there is no matching condition, it is considered that it is often preferable to give a subject, so a subject is given. However, you may display the display screen which inquires a user whether a subject should be provided.

If it is determined in step S8 that the subject is to be assigned, the process proceeds to step S9. If not, the process proceeds to step S13.
In step S <b> 9, the mail setting management unit 16 searches for past received mails 23 and transmitted mails 24 that have been transmitted to and received from the acquired transmission destination from among the emails stored in the storage unit 12. . Here, the past e-mail including the address specifying the acquired transmission destination is extracted.
In step S10, if there is a past e-mail including the acquired destination address, the process proceeds to step S11, and if not, the process proceeds to step S13.
In step S11, among the past e-mails including the acquired destination address, the e-mail with the newest transmission date / time and reception date / time, that is, the subject given to the e-mail sent or received immediately before To get.
In step S12, the mail setting management unit 16 generates a subject of the created mail using the acquired subject.
Here, the generated subject may be the same as the acquired subject, or in the case of a reply mail, “Re:” may be added before the acquired subject.

In step S <b> 13, the mail setting management unit 16 stores the created mail in the storage unit 21. Alternatively, when an instruction to send a created mail is input, the communication unit 12 transmits the created mail 22.
Here, when the process proceeds from step S5 to step S13 and when the process proceeds from step S12 to step S13, a subject is assigned to the created mail 22.
On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step S8 to step S13 and when the process proceeds from step S10 to step S13, no subject is assigned to the created mail 22.
As described above, it is determined whether or not a subject should be granted based on preset subject assignment conditions, and even if no subject is entered, a subject is automatically assigned when it is necessary to give it. The
On the other hand, when it is determined that it is not necessary to give a subject when no subject is entered, no subject is given.

  Therefore, by setting the subject assignment conditions in advance, the subject line is automatically included in the created mail if you did not intentionally enter the subject line when creating the outgoing mail, or if you forgot to enter the subject line. Generated or sent without a subject, the subject can be quickly and appropriately set, and the operation burden on the subject subject input operation can be reduced.

(Example 2)
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the second embodiment regarding the e-mail creation and subject generation processing of the present invention.
Here, in addition to the processing of the first embodiment, a description will be given of a case where a subject of a created mail is generated using another electronic mail stored in the storage unit 21 when it is necessary to assign a subject. .
In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals are given to steps that perform the same processing as the steps shown in FIG. 2.

First, steps S1 and S2 in FIG. 3 are the same as those in FIG. 2, and when the user inputs mail start, mail creation is started.
Next, in step S21, it is checked whether or not a character string included in another electronic mail stored in the storage unit 21 is quoted.
Here, quoting means copying a character string and inserting the character string into the body of an e-mail currently being created.
If such an input operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S23, and if not, the process proceeds to step S22.
In step S23, the subject set in the quoted e-mail is read and stored in the subject information 26.
That is, the subject of the quoted electronic mail is temporarily stored as one candidate for the subject of the created mail. At this time, information indicating that the e-mail is quoted may be stored in association with it.
Thereafter, the process returns to step S2 to continue the creation of the mail.

In step S22, it is checked whether or not another electronic mail stored in the storage unit 21 has been referred to.
Here, the reference means browsing past received mail and transmitted mail, for example, selecting a desired received mail and causing the display unit 13 to display the text of the mail.
If such an input operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S24, and if not, the process proceeds to step S3.
In step S 24, the subject set in the referenced e-mail is read and stored in the subject information 26.
That is, the subject of the referred electronic mail is temporarily stored as one candidate for the subject of the created mail.
If there are multiple referenced emails, you may temporarily store the subject of all the emails that you have referenced, but you may temporarily store only the subject of the email that you referenced first or last. . In addition to storing the subject information 26, information indicating that the electronic mail has been referred to may be stored in association with each other.
Thereafter, the process returns to step S2 to continue the creation of the mail.

If it is determined in step S3 that input of mail creation has been completed, the process proceeds to step S4.
In step S4, the subject of the created mail is acquired, and then the processing of steps S5 to S8 is performed as in FIG.
If it is determined in the subject assignment determination process in step S7 that it is necessary to assign a subject, the process proceeds to step S25 in step S8. On the other hand, if it is determined that it is not necessary to give, the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S25, it is checked whether or not a character string of another electronic mail is quoted.
If it is cited, the process proceeds to step S27 corresponding to “A” in FIG.
If the e-mail is not quoted, the process proceeds to step S26.
In step S26, it is checked whether another electronic mail has been referred to.
When the electronic mail is referred to, the process proceeds to step S27 corresponding to “B” in FIG.
If the e-mail is not referenced, the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, the past transmission mail and reception mail of the transmission destination acquired in step S6 are searched.
In step S10, if there is a transmission mail or a reception mail of the acquired transmission destination in the storage unit 21, the process proceeds to step S27, and if it does not exist, the process proceeds to step S13.
In step S27, a confirmation display screen for prompting the user to confirm whether or not the subject may be automatically given is displayed on the display unit 13.
The user looks at this confirmation display screen and uses the operation unit 11 to input an instruction indicating whether or not to permit subject assignment.
In step S28, if an instruction input indicating that the assignment of the subject is permitted by the operation unit 11, the process proceeds to step S11, and if not, the process proceeds to step S13.

For steps S11 and S12, the same processing as in FIG. 2 is performed, a subject is acquired from the acquired past e-mail of the transmission destination, and a subject of the created mail is generated using the acquired subject.
In step S13, the created mail 22 is stored, or the created mail 22 is transmitted when there is an input requesting transmission.
Here, when the process proceeds from step S5 to step S13, the subject inputted by the user is given and the created mail 22 is stored or transmitted.
On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step S8, S10, and S28 to step S13, the subject mail is not given and the created mail 22 is stored or transmitted.

Steps S27 and S28 in FIG. 4 are processed in the same manner as steps S27 and S28 in FIG.
Further, in step S31 of FIG. 4, the subject information 26 acquired from the quoted electronic mail and stored in the storage unit 21 is read.
In step S <b> 32, the subject of the created mail 22 is generated using the read subject information 26.
Here, the same subject as the subject information 26 may be used, and when the created mail is a reply mail, a subject with “Re:” added to the head may be generated.
Thereafter, in step S13, the created mail 22 to which the subject is assigned is stored or transmitted.
Alternatively, in step S28, if an input that does not permit subject assignment is made, the created mail without subject assignment is stored or transmitted.

In step S33 of FIG. 4, the subject information 26 acquired from the referenced e-mail and stored in the storage unit 21 is read out.
In step S <b> 34, as in step S <b> 32, the subject of the created mail 22 is generated using the read subject information 26.
The generated subject may be the same as the subject information 26, or “Re:” may be added at the head in the case of a reply mail.
Thereafter, in step S13, the created mail 22 is stored or transmitted.
According to this embodiment, when no subject is entered in the created email, if it is necessary to add a subject, the created email is based on other email citation and reference operations used during creation. Since the subject is automatically given to the subject, the required subject can be easily and quickly added without performing a special input operation of the user for adding the subject.
In addition, before the subject is automatically given, the subject can be given based on the user's intention by displaying the confirmation and requesting the user to input whether to grant the subject.

(Other examples)
In the flowchart of the second embodiment, when it is necessary to assign a subject, when a character string of another electronic mail is cited, priority is given to using the subject of the quoted email.
However, when it is determined that subject assignment is necessary, it may be possible to set in advance which email subject to use.
For example, priorities may be set in advance for the latest e-mails in the past, cited e-mails, and referenced e-mails, and the subject to be assigned may be determined according to the priorities.
In addition, when assigning a subject, a selection screen is displayed to select the email subject to be used from the latest email, quoted email, and referenced email. The user may select and input an e-mail to be used.

In addition, if there are multiple past e-mails sent and received to the destination of the created e-mail, the user may be asked to confirm whether or not the subject of the latest e-mail can be used. The user may select whether to use the subject of the e-mail.
In addition, when a specific past e-mail is displayed on the display unit 13 and an operation for starting the creation of the mail is performed, the past e-mail displayed on the display unit 13 is set. The same subject as the subject may be automatically set as the subject of the e-mail to be created.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mail preparation apparatus 2 Network 3 Server 10 Control part 11 Operation part 12 Communication part 13 Display part 14 Display management part 15 Mail preparation part 16 Mail setting management part 17 Subject assignment determination part 21 Storage part 22 Compose mail 23 Incoming mail 24 Outgoing mail 25 Subject condition 26 Subject information

Claims (5)

A mail creation unit for creating emails;
A storage unit for storing the created e-mail;
A communication unit for sending and receiving e-mails;
A subject assignment determination unit that determines whether or not a subject should be given to an email based on information about a destination of the created email when the created email does not have a subject;
A mail setting management unit that generates a subject of the created e-mail using a subject given to a past e-mail transmitted and received when it is determined that a subject should be given; E-mail creation device characterized by. In the storage unit, a subject assignment condition for determining whether or not a subject is to be assigned to the email is stored in advance.
The subject assignment condition is information indicating whether the subject is given or not given when the information about the destination and the address for specifying the destination of the created e-mail satisfy the information about the destination Information that correlates the results,
The address specifying the destination includes domain identification information,
In the subject assignment condition, when the information on the transmission destination is domain identification information that provides an email function for displaying received mail without displaying the subject, a first condition that no subject is given,
When the information on the destination is domain identification information that provides an email function that displays a received mail including a subject, at least a second condition for assigning a subject is set. The mail creating apparatus according to claim 1.   3. The mail creating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the electronic mail function for displaying the received mail without displaying the subject displays the received mail and the transmitted mail in time series using a conversational user interface. . A plurality of e-mails including past received mails and transmitted mails are stored in the storage unit,
When the mail setting management unit determines that a subject should be given, among the past e-mails including an address for specifying the transmission destination of the created e-mail, the newest e-mail for the transmission destination 4. The mail creation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a subject of the created electronic mail is generated using a given subject.   2. The mail creation device according to claim 1, wherein the mail setting management unit does not generate a subject of the created e-mail when the subject addition determination unit determines that a subject should not be given. 3. .

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