JP2022103246A - Information processing apparatus, control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform transmission control of a transmission destination division mail obtained by creating envelope information for each transmission destination by using envelope information before transmission destination division.

SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus determines whether another e-mail having the same identification information as received e-mail data has been already acquired. When determining that the another e-mail having the same identification information has been already acquired, the information processing apparatus performs integration of envelope information. The information processing apparatus collates the integrated envelope information with transmission control rules, and when a condition set in the transmission control rules is satisfied, executes processing set in the transmission control rules.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission control process.

In recent years, e-mail has been widely used as a means for transmitting and receiving information. In order to reduce the risk of information leakage, companies, etc., when sending e-mail to the outside, take measures such as prohibiting the sending of e-mail to the outside depending on the content of the e-mail and the destination etc. It became necessary to take.

Therefore, in order to prevent erroneous transmission of e-mail and intentional leakage of information, companies and the like may provide a server device for controlling the transmission of e-mail. In the server device, the conditions of the e-mail destinations and their combinations, the number of destinations, the keywords included in the subject and body of the e-mail, the contents of the attached file, etc. are used as conditions, and multiple conditions of those items are combined. A rule for controlling the transmission of e-mail is set, and the transmission of e-mail is controlled according to the rule.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention relating to e-mail transmission control using e-mail domain information, and Patent Document 2 discloses an invention relating to e-mail transmission control based on organizational information within a company. There is.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-102334 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-171523

Some e-mail servers and e-mail clients create individual envelopes for each destination when sending e-mail to multiple destinations. When the envelope information is created in this way, when the combination of destinations is used as the condition of the rule for transmission control, the transmission control intended by the system administrator who created the rule is not performed. There is. The reason is that if the envelope is created individually for each destination, all the destinations set in the email may not be set in the envelope.

Therefore, the present invention is set at the time of composing an e-mail even in an e-mail system in which an envelope is generated for each destination when a plurality of destinations (TO, CC, BCC) are set. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of controlling the transmission of e-mail based on a plurality of destination information.

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing apparatus of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that controls the transmission of e-mail data, and stores a plurality of transmission control rules used for controlling the transmission of the e-mail data. A means, an acquisition means for acquiring the e-mail data, and a first determination means for determining whether or not another e-mail having the same identification information as the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means has already been acquired. When it is determined that the data is acquired by the first determination means, the coupling means for binding the envelope of the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means and the envelope of the other e-mail data, and the electron coupled by the coupling means. When the second determination means for determining whether the condition of the transmission control rule is satisfied by collating the mail data with the transmission control rule and the second determination means for determining whether the condition is satisfied are determined. The second determination means is combined with the transmission destination condition of the transmission control rule condition by the combination means. It is characterized in that it collates with the destination information set in the created envelope.

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing method of the present invention includes a storage device that stores a plurality of transmission control rules used for controlling the transmission of the e-mail data, and e-mails using the plurality of transmission control rules. An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus that controls data relay, and is an acquisition process for acquiring the e-mail data and another e-mail having the same identification information as the e-mail data acquired in the acquisition process. The envelope of the e-mail data acquired in the acquisition step and the other e-mail data when it is determined in the first determination step of determining whether or not the acquisition has already been performed and in the first determination step. A second determination step of determining whether or not the conditions of the relay control rule are met by collating the integration step of integrating the envelopes of the above, the e-mail data integrated in the integration step, and the relay control rule. The second determination step includes an execution step of executing the operation defined in the relay control rule on the e-mail data when it is determined in the second determination step that the conditions are met. It is characterized in that the condition regarding the destination of the condition of the relay control rule is collated with the destination information set in the envelope.

In order to achieve the above object, the computer program of the present invention includes a storage device for storing a plurality of transmission control rules used for controlling the transmission of the e-mail data, and e-mail data using the plurality of transmission control rules. It is determined whether the information processing apparatus that performs relay control of the above has already acquired the acquisition means for acquiring the e-mail data and other e-mails having the same identification information as the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means. A first determination means, and an integration means for integrating the envelope of the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means and the envelope of the other e-mail data when it is determined that the first determination means has acquired the data. A second determination means for determining whether or not the conditions of the relay control rule are met by collating the e-mail data integrated by the integration means with the relay control rule, and a condition for the second determination means. When it is determined that the information is satisfied, the operation defined in the relay control rule is made to function as an execution means for executing the operation on the e-mail data, and the second determination step relates to a transmission destination of the condition of the relay control rule. It is characterized in that the condition and the destination information set in the envelope are collated.

According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately control the transmission of e-mail data created by an e-mail system in which an envelope is created for each destination, using a plurality of destination information set at the time of composing the e-mail. can.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system structure of the information processing system of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware composition of the information processing apparatus applicable to the proxy server 101 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of the processing performed by the CPU 201 of a proxy server 101. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the e-mail storage process of step S302 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the e-mail transmission control processing of step S304 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the hold e-mail audit process of step S306 of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the e-mail DB (database) stored in the external memory 211 of a proxy server 101. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the hold e-mail DB (database) stored in the external memory 211 of a proxy server 101. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the transmission control rule DB (database) of the e-mail stored in the external memory 211 of a proxy server 101. It is a figure which shows an example of the hold e-mail list screen 1000. It is a figure which shows an example of the hold e-mail detailed confirmation screen 1100. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure of a proxy server 101. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the e-mail transmission control processing of step S304 of FIG. 3 (second embodiment). It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the e-mail transmission processing of step S304 of FIG. 3 (second embodiment). It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the e-mail transmission control execution processing of step S1415 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the hold e-mail audit process of step S306 of FIG. 3 (the second embodiment). 16 is a flowchart showing details of the hold e-mail transmission control execution process in step S1613 of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of the hold e-mail detailed confirmation screen 1800. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the mail transmission control rule DB (database) 1900 (second embodiment). It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the e-mail transmission history DB 2000. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the hold e-mail DB (database) 2100. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the pause e-mail DB (database) 2200. It is an image diagram which shows the envelope division of an e-mail. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure of the proxy server 101 in 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of the information processing system of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system of the present invention includes a proxy server 101, a mail server 102, and client devices 103-1 to 103-3 (hereinafter collectively referred to as client devices 103). Further, the above devices are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a LAN (Local Area Network) 104.

Further, the mail server 102 and the client device 103 are connected to the external mail servers 106-1 and 106-2 connected to the wide area network 105 via the proxy server 101 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

The proxy server 101 is a server device that functions as an information processing device of the present invention, and performs transmission control processing for e-mails transmitted from the mail server 102 and the client device 103 by using a transmission control rule described later.

Further, the proxy server 101 has a web server function, and uses the function to input a transmission control rule used for e-mail transmission control processing in response to a request from a user who operates the client device 103. It accepts, and as a result of transmission control processing, it accepts transmission and transmission prohibition input (audit input) for e-mail whose transmission is suspended.

The mail server 102 is a server device used for sending and receiving e-mails, and has functions such as e-mail address management of e-mails and storage of e-mails sent to the e-mail addresses. .. The client device 103 is a terminal device operated by a user who exchanges e-mails using a mail address managed by the mail server 102.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus applicable to the proxy server 101 of FIG. 1 will be described.

In the figure, the CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller described later connected to the system bus 204. Further, the ROM 203 or the external memory 211 is necessary for causing the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and the operating system program (hereinafter, OS), which are the control programs of the CPU 201, and the proxy server 101 to execute various processes described later. Various programs and data are stored. The RAM 202 functions as the main memory of the CPU 201, a work area, and the like.

The CPU 201 realizes various processes described later by loading a program or the like necessary for executing the process into the RAM 202 and executing the program. Further, the input controller (input C) 205 controls the input from the input device 209 including a keyboard, a pointing device, and the like. The video controller (VC) 206 controls the display on a display device such as the display device 210. The display device 210 is composed of, for example, a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, or the like.

The memory controller (MC) 207 is a hard disk (HD), a floppy disk (registered trademark FD), or a PCMCIA card slot for storing boot programs, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. It controls access to an external memory 211 such as a compact flash (registered trademark) memory connected to the disk via an adapter.

The communication I / F controller (communication I / FC) 208 connects and communicates with an external device via a network, and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, Internet communication using TCP / IP is possible.

The CPU 201 enables display on the display device 210 by, for example, executing an outline font expansion (rasterization) process in the display information area in the RAM 202. Further, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the display device 210. The above is a description of the hardware configuration of the information processing device applicable to the proxy server 101. However, if various processes described later can be executed, the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2 is not necessarily required. Needless to say, it doesn't matter.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an outline of the processing performed by the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 will be described. The program for causing the proxy server 101 to execute the process shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the external memory 211 or the like, and the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 executes the process according to the control by the program.

During the execution of this process, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 makes an audit process request for the pending e-mail, whether a new e-mail is received (step S301), whether there is an e-mail for determining whether or not the e-mail can be transmitted (step S303). It is constantly determined whether the reception has been received from the client device 103 (step S305).

If it is determined that a new e-mail has been received (YES in step S301), the e-mail storage process is performed (step S302). Details of this e-mail storage process will be described later with reference to FIG.

If it is determined that there is an e-mail for determining whether or not the e-mail can be transmitted (YES in step S303), the e-mail transmission control process is performed (step S304). Details of this e-mail transmission control process will be described later with reference to FIG.

Further, when the audit request for the pending e-mail is received (YES in step S305), the pending e-mail audit processing is performed (step S306). Details of this pending email audit process will be described later with reference to FIG. The above is an outline of the processing performed by the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the details of the e-mail storage process in step S302 of FIG. 3 will be described. In this process, when an e-mail is sent, if the size becomes large, it is divided into preset sizes and sent (hereinafter referred to as size-divided mail), and the mail server 102 or client device is also used. Depending on the mail client software installed in 103, an envelope for each destination is created and an e-mail is sent to each destination (hereinafter referred to as "divided destination mail"). , These divided e-mails are combined into one original e-mail (hereinafter, the combined e-mail is referred to as combined e-mail), and it is a process performed to enable transmission control based on the original e-mail. be.

First, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 determines whether the received mail is a size-divided email (step S401). When the Content-type of the mail header of the received e-mail is message / partial, the CPU 201 determines that the e-mail is a size-divided e-mail.

If the determination process in step S401 determines YES, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S402 and stores the e-mail in the size-divided e-mail storage unit. Then, it is determined whether or not all the size-divided e-mails are prepared (step S403). In this determination, information such as the number of divided mails (total) and the number of divided mails (number) is set in the Content-type of the mail header, so all sizes are divided according to this information. It will be determined whether the e-mails are complete. If it is determined that all the size-divided emails are complete (YES in step S403), the size-divided emails are combined to create a combined email that is the email before the size division (step S404), and then. , The process proceeds to step S405. If it is determined as NO, this process is terminated.

When NO is determined in step S401, or after the processing in step S404 is completed, the CPU 201 stores an e-mail having the same e-mail ID as the received e-mail in the e-mail DB 700 stored in the external memory 211. (Step S405). This e-mail ID refers to the information set in the Message-id of the mail header.

Here, with reference to FIG. 7, the data structure of the e-mail DB 700 stored in the external memory 211 of the proxy server 101 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the e-mail DB 700 has a mail ID 701, a transmission date and time 702, a sender (FROM) 703, a destination 704, a subject 705, a text 706, an attachment 707, a combination 708, a division size 709, and a transmission control result 710. It is configured with data items such as.

The mail ID 701 is a data item in which the identification information of the e-mail is registered, and for example, a value set in the Message-id of the mail header is registered. In the transmission date and time 702, information on the date and time when the e-mail was transmitted is registered. For example, the value set in Date of the mail header is registered.

The sender (FROM) 703 is a data item in which the sender information of the e-mail is registered, and the e-mail address set as the FROM information of the e-mail is registered. For example, the sender email address set in the envelope of the email is registered.

The destination 704 is a data item in which the destination information of the e-mail is registered, and the e-mail address set as the destination (TO, CC, BCC) of the e-mail is registered. The e-mail address set in TO is registered in TO704-1, the e-mail address set in CC is registered in CC704-2, and the e-mail address set in BCC is registered in BCC704-3. This information will be registered according to the email header and envelope of the email.

The subject 705 is a data item in which the subject information of the e-mail is registered, and the information set in the subject (Subject) of the e-mail is registered. For example, the value set in Subject of the mail header will be registered.

The text 706 is a data item in which the text information of the e-mail is registered. Attachment 707 is a data item in which attachment file information attached to an e-mail is registered.

The combination 708 is a data item in which information indicating whether the mail data is a combination of size-divided emails is registered. For example, in the case of a combined e-mail of size-divided e-mail, "○" is registered, and in other cases, "x" is registered. The registration method is not limited to this method. The divided size 709 is a data item in which the maximum size information of the size-divided e-mail that is the source of the divided e-mail is registered when the e-mail is a combined e-mail of the size-divided e-mail.

The transmission control result 710 is a data item in which the transmission control result or the like for the e-mail by the proxy server 101 is registered. The above is the description of the e-mail DB 700 stored in the external memory 211 of the proxy server 101.

Returning to the description of FIG. The CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 determines whether the received e-mail or the e-mail data having the same message ID as the combined e-mail created in step S404 is registered in the e-mail DB 700 (step S405). If it is determined that an e-mail having the same message ID is registered in the e-mail DB 700 (YES in step S405), the process proceeds to step S406, and the transmission set in the envelope of the e-mail is performed. Envelopes are combined by additionally registering destinations that are not set in the e-mail with the same message ID among the destination information.

Normally, if the envelopes are created individually, the envelopes do not have all the destinations for the email. Since TO and CC are set in the header information of e-mail, it is possible to use that information, but there is a problem that BCC is not included in the header information of e-mail.

In addition, checking both the envelope and the header information to specify the destination is inefficient in processing. Therefore, in the present invention, in the case of an e-mail system or the like in which an envelope is set for each destination, the same e-mail is specified based on the mail ID, and the destinations set in those envelopes are combined. This will generate an envelope similar to the one created in an email system where the envelope is not created individually. As a result, when the destination condition is set in the transmission control rule, it is possible to acquire the information regarding the destination of the e-mail used for determining whether the condition is satisfied only from the envelope. Further, when the envelope is divided and a plurality of destinations are set to BCC, a condition such that a plurality of destinations are set at the same time is set in the transmission control rule. Appropriate transmission control may not be possible. By performing the envelope combination in this way, even in such a case, it is possible to appropriately perform the transmission control process in a form in accordance with the transmission destination condition of the transmission control rule.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the e-mail having the same message ID is not registered in the e-mail DB 700 (NO in step S405), the e-mail is saved in the e-mail DB 700 (step S407). The above is the details of the e-mail storage process in step S302 of FIG.

By performing such processing, in the present invention, the destinations are divided into e-mails whose size is divided by the mail client software operated by the client device 103, the mail server application operated by the mail server 102, and the like. It is possible to restore the e-mail to the original e-mail and control the transmission based on the original e-mail.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the details of the e-mail transmission control process in step S304 of FIG. 3 will be described. The CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 checks the e-mail DB 700 at regular intervals, and is an e-mail in which data is not registered in the transmission control result 710 (the transmission control process has not been performed yet), and the final update time (non-existence). If there is an item (shown) that is earlier than a predetermined time, YES is determined in step S303 of FIG. 3, and this process is performed.

First, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 determines whether or not there is a transmission control rule that has not yet been applied to the e-mail to be controlled for transmission (step S501), and if it is determined that there is a transmission control rule that has not been applied. (YES in step S501), the process proceeds to step S502, and the unapplied transmission control rule is acquired according to the priority.

Here, with reference to FIG. 9, an example of the data structure of the transmission control rule DB 900 stored in the external memory 211 of the proxy server 101 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 9, the transmission control rule DB 900 includes rule ID 901, priority 902, rule name 903, comment 904, condition 905, and operation 906 as data items.

Rule ID 901 is a data item in which identification information for uniquely identifying a transmission control rule is registered. The priority 902 is a data item in which priority information indicating the priority order in which the transmission control rule is applied is registered.

The rule name 903 is a data item in which the name of the transmission control rule is registered. The comment 904 is a data item in which a comment regarding a transmission control rule is registered. For example, information indicating for what purpose the transmission control rule is provided is registered.

Condition 905 is a data item to which the condition of the e-mail to which the transmission control rule is applied is set, and the sender condition 905-1, the destination condition 905-2, the subject / text condition 905-3, and the attachment file condition 905- 4 is set.

The sender condition 905-1 is a data item in which the sender condition of the e-mail is registered, and is, for example, "*@exple.co.jp" and "other than *@expample.co.jp" (* is Conditions such as wildcard) will be registered.

The destination condition 905-2 is a data item in which the destination condition of the e-mail is registered. For example, an address other than *@exple.co.jp is set in any of TO, CC, and BCC. , "The number of addresses set in TO and CC is n or more", "Domains of n or more are included", "The sender's administrator's email address is not set in CC", Conditions such as will be registered.

Subject / body condition 905-3 is a data item in which conditions related to the subject and character string set in the body of the e-mail are registered. For example, "subject is not entered", "subject or body," Conditions such as "included in any of confidential, confidential, confidential, and confidential" will be registered.

Attachment condition 905-4 is a data item in which conditions related to attachments attached to e-mails are registered, and MIME type conditions 905-41, keyword conditions 905-42, and size conditions 905-43 are set. There is.

The MIME type condition 905-41 is a data item in which information regarding a file type is registered. For example, "image / jpeg" is registered in the case of a JPEG file, and "text / plane" is registered in the case of a text file. Will be.

The keyword condition 905-42 is a data item in which a condition related to a character string included in the attached file is registered, and is, for example, "includes any of" confidential, confidential, confidential, and confidential "." The condition will be registered.

The size condition 905-43 is a data item in which a condition relating to the size of the attached file is registered, and for example, a condition such as "30 MB or more" or "less than 20 MB" is registered.

Of course, it is not necessary to set all of the sender condition 905-1, the destination condition 905-2, the subject / text condition 905-3, and the attachment file condition 905-4 in one transmission control rule. If a plurality of conditions are registered among the sender condition 905-1, the destination condition 905-2, the subject / text condition 905-3, and the attachment file condition 905-4, an electronic device including all of these conditions is registered. The e-mail is an e-mail that meets the conditions of the transmission control rule and performs transmission control processing according to the operation 906 of the transmission control rule.

The operation 906 is a data item in which the process applied to the e-mail data satisfying the condition 905 is registered, and any one of "send", "send prohibited", and "hold" is registered. If "Send" is set, the e-mail will be sent to the specified destination. If "Send prohibited" is set, sending of e-mail is prohibited. When "hold" is set, the transmission of the e-mail is suspended, and the transmission control is performed according to the "send" or "send prohibition" instruction received from the administrator.

The above is an explanation of an example of the data structure of the transmission control rule DB 900 stored in the external memory 211 of the proxy server 101.

Returning to the description of FIG. In step S502, the CPU 201 sets the e-mail targeted for transmission control under the transmission control rule condition 905 acquired according to the priority information registered in the priority 902 of each transmission control rule in the transmission control rule DB 900. It is determined whether they match (step S503).

If it is determined in the determination process of step S503 that the condition 905 set in the transmission control rule is met (YES), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S504 and is set to the operation 906 of the transmission control rule. Decide to perform the action. At this time, if conditions related to destinations (TO, CC, BCC) are set in the transmission control rule, the information about those destinations set in the envelope is collated with the destination conditions, and the conditions are met. It will be judged whether it is done.

On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process of step S503 that the condition 905 is not met (NO), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S501, determines whether or not there is an unapplied transmission control rule, and says (YES). If it is determined, the processing after step S502 is performed. If it is determined that there is no (NO), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S505 and determines that the operation set as the default process is executed.

In step S506, the CPU 201 determines whether the process determined to be executed for the e-mail in step S504 or step S505 is "send", "hold", or "send prohibited".

If it is determined in the determination process of step S506 that it is "send", the CPU 201 advances the process to step S507, and determines whether the e-mail to be transmitted is a combined e-mail to which the size-divided e-mail is combined. judge. If it is determined that the email is a combined email (YES), the process proceeds to step S508, and the email is sent based on the email size of the split email before the merge registered in the split size 709 of the email. Perform size division processing. Then, an e-mail is sent to the designated destination (step S509).

If it is determined in the determination process of step S506 that it is "pending", the process proceeds to step S510, and the information of the e-mail is registered in the pending e-mail DB 800 shown in FIG.

Here, an example of the data structure of the reserved e-mail DB 800 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the hold e-mail DB 800 is configured to include data items such as a mail ID 801 and a sender 802, an auditor 803, and a hold date and time 804.

The mail ID 801 is a data item in which identification information for uniquely identifying an e-mail is registered. The information of the e-mail registered in the e-mail DB 700 will be acquired by using the information registered in the e-mail ID 801.

The sender 802 is a data item registered by the user who sent the e-mail. The auditor 803 is a data item in which user information of a user who performs an audit input for instructing "send" or "send prohibition" to an e-mail specified by a mail ID is registered. For example, the superior of the sender of the email will be registered as an auditor.

The hold date / time 804 is a data item in which the date / time information in which the e-mail is held is registered. Of course, if a certain period of time elapses while the e-mail is on hold, the e-mail may be sent or the e-mail may be prohibited from being sent without instructions from the auditor.

The above is an explanation of an example of the data structure of the reserved e-mail DB 800.

Returning to the description of FIG. After adding the information about the e-mail determined to be put on hold in step S510 to the hold e-mail DB 800, the sender is notified that the e-mail has been put on hold (step S511). In addition, the user set as the auditor of the held e-mail is also notified that the e-mail has been put on hold (step S512).

If it is determined in the determination process of step S506 that the process to be executed is "transmission prohibited", the process proceeds to step S513 and the transmission of the e-mail is prohibited. Then, the sender of the e-mail is notified that the transmission of the e-mail is prohibited (step S514).

After the processing of any one of steps S509, S512, and S514 is completed, the CPU 201 proceeds to the processing in step S515 and registers the transmission control result in the transmission control result 710 of the e-mail in the e-mail DB 700. The above is the details of the e-mail transmission control process in step S304 of FIG.

In the present invention, for an e-mail in which the envelope of one e-mail is divided, a transmission control process using a transmission control rule is executed after the envelopes are combined. If the transmission control process is performed without enclosing the envelopes, if the e-mail is put on hold or prohibited from being sent, the number of notifications that the e-mail is put on hold will be divided into envelopes. It can be done by the auditor or sender. However, in the present invention, since the transmission control process is performed after the original e-mail is converted into one e-mail, there is also an effect that a plurality of notifications are not given.

next. The details of the pending email audit process in step S306 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. This process is performed when there is an access request from the client device 103 used by the auditor to the web page for auditing the pending e-mail provided by the proxy server 101.

The CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 performs a process of specifying a user who operates the client device 103 that has made an access request (step S601). For example, when input of a user ID and password is accepted and the information is registered in a user management database (not shown), the user specified by the user ID is specified as a user who audits e-mail. ..

Then, after the user is identified in step S601, the CPU 201 determines whether the pending e-mail to be audited by the user is stored in the pending e-mail DB 800 (step S602).

If the determination process in step S602 determines that there is no pending email to be audited by the user (NO), the CPU 201 proceeds to step S603 and notifies that there is no pending email to be audited. ..

On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process of step S602 that there is a pending email to be audited by the user (YES), the process proceeds to step S604, and the pending email to be audited by the user from the pending email DB 800. To get. Then, screen information including the list of pending e-mails to be audited is generated (step S605), and the screen information is transmitted to the client device 103 (step S606).

Here, with reference to FIG. 10, an example of the hold e-mail list display screen 1000 displayed on the display device of the client device 103 that has received the screen information transmitted in step S606 of FIG. 6 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 10, the hold e-mail list display unit 1001, the send button 1002, and the send prohibition button 1003 are set on the hold e-mail list display screen 1000.

The hold e-mail list display unit 1001 is a display unit that displays a list of hold e-mails, and is an audit target mail selection check box 1001-1, a mail ID display unit 1001-2, a transmission date / time display unit 1001-3, and a transmission. The person / subject display unit 1001-4, the attached file presence / absence display unit 1001-5, and the detail button 1001-6 are set.

The audit target mail selection check box 1001-1 is a check box for selecting the e-mail to be the target of the summary audit. If the send button 1002 is instructed to be pressed while the audit target mail selection check box 1001-1 is checked, the send process for the checked pending e-mail is performed by pressing the send prohibition button 1003. When the instruction is received, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 executes the transmission prohibition process.

The mail ID 1001-2 is a display unit for displaying the mail ID of the reserved mail. The transmission date / time display unit 1001-3 is a display unit that displays time information when the reserved e-mail is transmitted. The sender / subject display unit 1001-4 is a display unit that displays the sender information and the subject information of the pending e-mail.

The attachment presence / absence display unit 1001-5 is a display unit that displays the presence / absence of an attachment file of the pending e-mail. The detail button 1001-6 is a button used to make a detailed data request for the pending email to the proxy server 101. The above is an example of the hold e-mail list screen 1000 of FIG.

Returning to the description of FIG. When the detailed data request of the hold e-mail is received from the client device 103 after transmitting the screen information for displaying the hold e-mail list screen 1000 (YES in step S607), the CPU 201 steps the process. Proceed to S608, the e-mail for which the detailed data is requested is acquired from the e-mail DB 700, and the screen information including the detailed data of the pending e-mail is generated using the e-mail. Then, the CPU 201 transmits the screen information to the client device 103 that has made the request (step S609).

Here, with reference to FIG. 11, an example of the hold e-mail detailed confirmation screen 1100 displayed on the display device of the client device 103 that has received the screen information transmitted in step S609 of FIG. 6 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11, on the hold e-mail detail confirmation screen 1100, the sender (FROM) information display column 1101, the TO information display column 1102, the CC information display column 1103, the BCC information display column 1104, and the subject information display column 1105 are displayed. , Text information display field 1106, attached file information display field 1107, audit input field 1108, and decision button 1109 are set.

The sender (FROM) information display field 1101 is a display field for displaying information on the sender of the pending e-mail, and is a display field for displaying information registered in the sender (FROM) 703 of the e-mail DB 700. be. The TO information display field 1102 is a display field for displaying the destination (TO) information of the reserved e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in TO704-1 of the e-mail DB 700. The CC information display field 1103 is a display field for displaying the destination (CC) information of the reserved e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in CC704-2 of the e-mail DB 700. The BCC information display field 1104 is a display field for displaying the destination (BCC) information of the pending e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in the BCC 704-3 of the e-mail DB 700.

The subject information display column 1105 is a display column for displaying the subject of the pending e-mail, and is a display column for displaying the information registered in the subject 705 of the e-mail DB 700. The body information display field 1106 is a display field for displaying the body of the reserved e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in the body 706 of the e-mail DB 700. The attachment file information display field 1107 is a display field for displaying an icon according to the file format when an attachment file is set in the pending e-mail, and is registered in the attachment 707 of the e-mail DB 700. This is a display field for displaying information. It is possible to confirm the contents of the file by performing a double-click process on the icon displayed in the attached file information display field 1107.

The audit input field 1108 is an input field for accepting input of audit information (“transmission” or “transmission prohibited”) for the pending e-mail. The decision button 1109 is a button used to execute the process specified in the audit input field 1108 for the pending e-mail. The above is an explanation of an example of the hold e-mail detailed confirmation screen 1100 of FIG.

Returning to the description of FIG. When the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 receives the audit result for the pending e-mail from the client device 103 (YES in step S610), the process proceeds to step S611, and the received audit result is "send" or "send prohibited". Is determined. If it is determined to be "send" in this determination process ("send" in step S611), the hold e-mail transmission process is performed (step S612). At this time, if the pending e-mail is a combined e-mail of the size-divided e-mail, the e-mail is sent by performing the division process again. On the other hand, if it is determined that "transmission is prohibited" ("transmission prohibited" in step S611), transmission of the pending e-mail is prohibited (step S613).

After the processing of step S612 or S613 is completed, the sender of the pending e-mail is notified that the processing has been performed on the pending e-mail. At this time, a notification will be given in a form that indicates whether the pending e-mail has been sent or has been prohibited from being sent. Then, according to this audit result, the control result 710 of the data in the e-mail DB 700 corresponding to the pending e-mail is updated (step S615). When the audit result of transmission is input, "hold → send", and when the audit result of prohibition of transmission is input, "hold → prohibition of transmission", the information of the relevant data item is changed. In addition, the record related to the pending e-mail is deleted from the pending e-mail DB 800.

Then, the above processing is performed until it is determined in step S616 that the main processing is completed (YES). The above is a detailed description of the pending email audit process in step S306 of FIG.

Here, with reference to FIG. 12, an example of the functional configuration of the proxy server 101 of FIG. 1 that functions as the information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 12, the proxy server 101 includes a transmission control rule storage unit 1201, an e-mail acquisition unit 1202, an e-mail storage unit 1203, a hold e-mail storage unit 1204, an e-mail combination unit 1205, and an e-mail division unit 1206. It is configured to include the same e-mail presence / absence determination unit 1207, condition match determination unit 1208, e-mail transmission control processing execution unit 1209, audit reception unit 1210, and the like.

The transmission control rule storage unit 1201 is a functional unit that stores the transmission control rule DB 900 and the like shown in FIG. The e-mail acquisition unit 1202 is a functional unit that acquires e-mails transmitted from the client device 103 and the mail server 102. The e-mail storage unit 1203 is a storage unit that stores the e-mail acquired by the e-mail acquisition unit 1202, and stores and manages the e-mail DB 700 shown in FIG. 7. The reserved e-mail storage unit 1204 is a storage unit that stores e-mails whose transmission has been suspended as a result of transmission control processing by the e-mail transmission control processing execution unit 1209, which will be described later, and stores the pending e-mail DB 800 shown in FIG. ,to manage.

The e-mail combining unit 1205 is a unit for determining the presence or absence of the same e-mail, which will be described later. It is a functional unit that combines envelopes into one combined email, or a size-divided size-divided email into one combined email. The e-mail dividing unit 1206 is a functional unit that subdivides the combined e-mail combined by the e-mail combining unit 1205 based on the size before the combination before sending the e-mail.

The same e-mail presence / absence determination unit 1207 is a functional unit that determines whether an e-mail having the same e-mail ID as the e-mail acquired by the e-mail acquisition unit 1202 is stored in the e-mail DB 700. The condition match determination unit 1208 is a functional unit that determines whether or not the e-mail that is the target of the transmission control process matches the conditions of the transmission control rule. The e-mail transmission control processing execution unit 1209 is a functional unit that controls the transmission of e-mail according to the operation set in the transmission control rule determined by the condition match determination unit 1208.

The audit reception unit 1210 is a functional unit that accepts input of audit information (transmission, transmission prohibition) for the hold e-mail stored in the hold e-mail DB 800. The above is an explanation of an example of the functional configuration of the proxy server 101.

By adopting the above configuration, even if the envelope information is divided for each destination, it is possible to control the transmission of the e-mail according to the originally set destination information. .. In particular, it is effective when transmission control is performed for a true destination condition such as BCC, which does not exist in the header information of the e-mail.

<Second embodiment>
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the second embodiment, an example in which different transmission controls can be performed for a plurality of addresses set in one e-mail will be described.

In this way, the reason for performing different transmission control for a plurality of destinations set in one e-mail is to send the e-mail to some of the destinations set in the e-mail. However, if it is not necessary to send to the remaining destinations, the remaining destinations are set in the e-mail transmission control process according to the first embodiment. Sending of e-mail is also prohibited for the destination of the department.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, different transmission controls can be performed for each destination set in one e-mail. However, in such cases, the following must also be considered.

As a result of performing transmission control processing for an e-mail (referred to as e-mail X) in which a plurality of destinations (destination A, destination B, destination C) are set, the destination A and the destination B are subjected to transmission control processing. When the e-mail X was sent, but the transmission was suspended to the destination C, the e-mail Y, which is the reply mail of the e-mail X, was sent from the destination A. At that time, the destination B, the destination C, and the sender of the e-mail X are set as the destinations of the e-mail Y.

At that time, when it is determined that the e-mail Y is transmitted to all the destinations as a result of performing the transmission control process for the e-mail Y, the e-mail Y is sent to the destination C before the e-mail X that should originally arrive first. Can occur, which can lead to the possibility of delivery.

Further, in the audit of the e-mail X, it is conceivable that the e-mail X is prohibited from being sent to the destination C. In that case, there is also a problem that the e-mail Y, which is the reply e-mail of the e-mail X, may arrive at the destination C to which the e-mail X should not be sent.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, when the transmission of the e-mail to a part of the recipients set in one e-mail is suspended or prohibited, the e-mail is suspended or prohibited. The transmission control of the e-mail by the proxy server 101, which enables the transmission control so that the e-mail related to the e-mail (reply mail or the like) is not sent to the part of the destinations, will be described.

Also in the second embodiment, the outline of the process performed by the proxy server 101 (the process shown in FIG. 3) is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted. From this point onward, only the points where the processing differs from that of the first embodiment will be described, and the description of the other processing will be omitted.

13 and 14 are flowcharts showing the details of the e-mail transmission control process (process of step S304 in FIG. 3) according to the second embodiment. The program for causing the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 to execute the process shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 is stored in the external memory 211 or the like, and when the process is executed, the CPU 201 loads the program into the RAM 202. This process is executed according to the control by the loaded program.

First, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 determines whether there is a transmission control rule that has not yet been applied (not applied) to the transmission control target e-mail (step S1301). If it is determined that there is an unapplied transmission control rule (YES in step S1301), the process proceeds to step S1302, and the unapplied transmission control rule is acquired according to the priority set in the transmission control rule.

Here, with reference to FIG. 19, the data structure of the transmission control rule DB 1900 used in the second embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 19, the transmission control rule DB 1900 includes data items such as rule ID 1901, priority 1902, rule name 1903, comment 1904, division evaluation 1905, condition 1906, operation setting 1907, and auditor 1908 as data items. It is composed of.

The rule ID 1901 is a data item in which identification information for uniquely identifying a transmission control rule is registered. The priority 1902 is a data item in which priority information indicating the priority order in which the transmission control rule is applied is registered.

The rule name 1903 is a data item in which the name of the transmission control rule is registered. Comment 1904 is a data item in which a comment regarding a transmission control rule is registered. For example, information indicating for what purpose the transmission control rule is provided is registered.

The division evaluation 1905 is a data item in which information on whether or not to apply a transmission control rule is registered for each destination set in the e-mail destination (TO, CC, BCC).

When the division evaluation 1905 sets a transmission control rule for each destination, the proxy server 101 applies the transmission control rule for each destination included in the e-mail. .. As a result, transmission control processing using the transmission control rule is performed on some of the destinations set in one e-mail, and transmission control processing of the e-mail to the remaining destinations is performed on other transmissions. There may be cases where the control rules are followed.

Condition 1906 is a data item in which an e-mail condition to which a transmission control rule is applied is registered, and as data items, sender condition 1906-1, destination condition 1906-2, subject / text condition 1906-3, Attachment condition 1906-4 etc. are provided.

The sender condition 1906-1 is a data item in which the sender condition of the e-mail is registered, and is, for example, a destination condition of "*@exple.co.jp" or "other than *@sample.co.jp". Can be registered. It is also possible to set group information in which e-mail addresses of "section manager or higher" and "department manager or higher" are registered, and to register the group. In that case, the e-mail whose e-mail address included in the group information is set as the sender (FROM) will meet this sender condition.

The destination condition 1906-2 is a data item in which the destination condition of the e-mail is registered. For example, "TO, CC, BCC are set to an address other than * @ exchange.co.jp", " Conditions such as "the number of addresses set in TO and CC is n or more", "domains of n or more are included", "the sender's administrator's email address is not set in CC", etc. Can be registered.

Subject / body condition 1906-3 is a data item in which conditions related to the subject and character string set in the body of the e-mail are registered. For example, "the subject is not entered", "the subject or body, Conditions such as "included in any of confidential, confidential, confidential, and confidential" can be registered.

Attachment condition 1906-4 is a data item in which conditions related to attachments attached to e-mails are registered, and MIME type condition 1906-41, keyword condition 1906-42, and size condition 1906-43 are set. There is.

The MIME type condition 1906-41 is a data item in which information regarding the file type is registered. For example, when registering the condition that "the attached file contains a JPEG file", "includes image / jpeg", and when registering the condition that "the attached file is other than a text file", "ext / The information "It is not a plane" will be registered.

The keyword condition 1906-42 is a data item in which a condition related to a character string included in an attached file is registered, and is, for example, "includes any of" confidential, confidential, confidential, and confidential "." Conditions can be registered.

The size condition 1906-43 is a data item in which a condition relating to the size of the attached file is registered, and for example, a condition such as "30 MB or more" or "less than 20 MB" is registered. The MIME type condition 1906-41, the keyword condition 1906-42, and the size condition 1906-43 do not necessarily have to be set, and only those that are necessary need to be registered. For example, if it is a transmission control rule for controlling transmission for an e-mail to which a file of 5 MB or more is attached regardless of the file type or content, it is sufficient to register only 5 MB or more in the size condition 1906-43. ..

Further, it is of course not necessary to set all of the sender condition 1906-1, the destination condition 1906-2, the subject / text condition 1906-3, and the attachment file condition 1906-4 in one transmission control rule. If multiple conditions are registered among the sender condition 1906-1, the destination condition 1906-2, the subject / text condition 1906-3, and the attachment file condition 1906-4, an e-mail containing all of these conditions is registered. The email is considered to be an email to which the transmission control rule is applied.

The operation setting 1907 is a data item in which the process to be executed for the e-mail data that matches the condition set in the condition 1906 is registered, and the destination condition 1907-1 and the operation 1907-2 are set. .. It should be noted that a plurality of operation settings 1907 can be registered in order to enable different operations (transmission control processing for e-mails) for each of a plurality of destinations set in one e-mail. ..

The destination condition 1907-1 is a data item in which a destination condition for specifying to which destination the process set in the operation 1907-2 of the operation setting 1907 is executed is registered. ..

Operation 1907-2 is the transmission of the e-mail to be executed for the destinations (TO, CC, BCC) set in the e-mail that meet the conditions set in the destination condition 1907-1. It is a data item for which processing is registered, and any one of "send", "send prohibited", and "pending" is registered. When "Send" is set in the operation 1907-2, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 sends an e-mail to a destination that matches the condition set in the destination condition 1907-1. Similarly, when the operation 1907-2 is set to "send prohibition", the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 sends an e-mail to a destination that matches the condition set in the destination condition 1907-1. If the sending of e-mail is prohibited and "pending" is set, the e-mail is put on hold to the destinations that meet the conditions set in the destination condition 1907-1, and the administrator sends the e-mail. Transmission control is performed according to the audit input of "transmission" or "transmission prohibited" to be accepted.

The auditor 1908 is a data item registered by an auditor (administrator) who inputs a "send" or "send prohibition" instruction to an e-mail that meets the relevant conditions and has been put on hold. .. The above is the description of the data structure of the transmission control rule DB 1900 in the second embodiment.

Returning to the description of FIG. After acquiring the transmission control rule to be applied to the e-mail in step S1302, the CPU 201 is the transmission control rule for the division evaluation according to the information registered in the division evaluation 1905 of the acquired transmission control rule. (Step S1303).

When the transmission control rule acquired in step S1302 is the transmission control rule for division evaluation, as described above, whether or not the CPU 201 matches the transmission control rule for each destination set in the e-mail. It is determined whether or not, and the transmission control process of the e-mail set in the operation 1907-2 of the operation setting 1907 of any of the transmission control rules is performed only to the destinations that meet the conditions.

If the CPU 201 determines that the transmission control rule acquired in step S1302 is not the transmission control rule for division evaluation (NO in step S1303), the process proceeds to step S1304, and the e-mail subject to transmission control processing is step S1302. It is determined whether or not the various conditions of the transmission control rule condition 1906 acquired in 1906 are satisfied.

If it is determined in the determination process of step S1304 that the various conditions of the condition 1906 are met (YES), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1305, and the operation is set according to the operation set in the operation setting 1907 of the transmission control rule. Determine what to do with the email. At this time, when a plurality of operation settings 1907 are set, it is determined according to the destination condition 1907 which operation setting 1907 is to be processed for each destination, and the determined operation of the operation setting 1907 is determined. Based on the settings of 1907-2, the processing of the e-mail for the destination will be determined. At this time, if the operation of the e-mail for a plurality of destinations set in one e-mail is different, the CPU 201 divides the e-mail into an envelope and for each of the envelope-divided e-mails. Will set the operation. The envelope division will be described with reference to FIG. 23. After the process of step S1305 is completed, the CPU 201 proceeds to step S1401 of FIG.

On the other hand, in the determination process of step S1304, when the CPU 201 determines that the e-mail to be the transmission control process does not meet the various conditions set in the transmission control rule condition 1906 acquired in step S1302 (NO), the process is processed. To step S1301.

If the determination process in step S1303 determines that the transmission control rule acquired in step S1302 is the transmission control rule for division evaluation, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1306 and sets the envelope of the e-mail for each destination. Divide into envelopes of. If the envelope division has already been performed, or if only one destination is set, the envelope division process in step S1306 is not performed. An image of the envelope division of an email is shown in FIG.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an image of envelope division of e-mail. In the e-mail before the envelope division in FIG. 23, a plurality of destinations (A, B, C) are set in the envelope of the e-mail.

When envelope division is performed on such e-mail data, it becomes as after the envelope division. That is, a plurality of e-mails in which each destination is individually set in the envelope will be created. As can be seen from the envelope-divided e-mail in FIG. 23, an e-mail is created in which one destination (A, B, C) set in the envelope of the original e-mail is set.

The above is the explanation of the envelope division of e-mail.

Returning to the description of FIG. After performing the envelope division processing in step S1306, the CPU 201 performs the envelope division e-mails created by the envelope division (that is, for individual e-mails for all destinations) in steps S1307 to. The process of step S1309 is executed.

In step 1307, the CPU 201 acquires envelope-split emails for undetermined destinations. Then, it is determined whether the envelope-divided e-mail acquired in step S1307 meets the condition 1906 set in the transmission control rule acquired in step S1302 (step S1308). Then, if it is determined in the determination process of step S1308 that the result is matched (YES), the CPU 201 determines the envelope division e-mail acquired in step S1307 according to the operation set in the transmission control rule acquired in step S1302. (Step S1309). At this time, if a plurality of operation settings 1907 are set for each destination in the transmission control rule, the operation is determined according to the destination. In the process of step S1308, it is individually determined whether each envelope-divided e-mail matches the transmission control rule, and if so, the operation of the envelope-divided e-mail set in the transmission control rule. The envelope split mail that does not match the transmission control rule is not determined by the transmission control rule.

Then, for the envelope-divided e-mails for all the destinations, it is determined whether there is an envelope-divided e-mail whose operation has not been determined after the processing of steps S1307 to S1309 is completed (step S1310). If YES is determined in this determination process, the envelopes of the envelope-divided emails for the destinations whose operation has not been determined are combined to create one email (step S1311). In order to combine envelopes and create one e-mail, the reverse process of envelope division is performed. If there is only one envelope-divided e-mail whose operation has not been determined, the e-mail combination process is not performed.

After the processing in step S1311 is completed, the processing is returned to step S1301 and the processing after step S1301 is performed. The operation of the e-mail for the destination whose operation has already been determined in step S1309 is not changed in the subsequent processing.

If the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 determines NO in the determination process of step S1310, the process proceeds to step S1401 of FIG.

As a result of applying all the transmission control rules to the e-mail, if there is no transmission control rule that matches the condition 1906 (in this case, it is determined as NO in the determination process of step S1301). To step S1312, and the operation of the e-mail is determined according to the preset default operation. After that, the process proceeds to step S1401 of FIG.

If NO is determined in the determination process of step S1310 after the process of step S1305 in FIG. 13 is completed, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 continues to perform the process shown in FIG. 14 after the process of step S1312 is completed. In FIG. 14, for each destination set in the e-mail, a process of determining the final transmission control (operation) is performed based on the status of the transmission control process of other e-mails related to the e-mail. It will be.

In the second embodiment, when a plurality of destinations are set in one e-mail, different transmission control may be performed for each destination. For example, X is the result of the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 performing transmission control processing using the transmission control rule for the e-mail A in which the sender P sets a plurality of destinations X, Y, and Z. E-mail A is sent to Z, e-mail A is not sent to Y immediately, and control is performed according to the instruction of the auditor's decision of transmission / prohibition (that is, transmission is suspended). It may be decided.

In the above case, when X who received the e-mail A creates the e-mail B which is the reply mail of the e-mail A to all the members, the destination (TO, CC) is P. Y and Z will be set. It is conceivable that the result of the transmission control processing using the transmission control rule by the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 for the e-mail B is to allow transmission to all the destinations.

If the above situation occurs, the e-mail B will reach the destination Y in a state where the e-mail A that should originally arrive has not been sent to the destination Y. Since the auditor may determine that the e-mail A should not be sent to the destination Y, the e-mail A has not been determined to be able to be sent to the destination Y. There is a problem in sending mail B to destination Y.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, particularly when the e-mail targeted for the transmission control process in FIG. 13 is a reply e-mail of another e-mail (in the future, such another e-mail will be referred to as a "reply source". "E-mail"), the transmission control result of the reply source e-mail is confirmed, and the transmission control method of the e-mail is finally decided.

First, in step S1401, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 determines whether it is a reply mail of another e-mail based on the header information of the e-mail which is the target of the transmission control process.

If the determination process in step S1401 determines that the CPU 201 is not a reply mail (NO), the process proceeds to step S1402, and each set in the e-mail determined by performing the process shown in FIG. The operation of the e-mail for each destination is set as the operation for the e-mail. After that, the process proceeds to step S1412.

If the CPU 201 determines in the determination process of step S1401 that the e-mail is a reply mail (YES), the process of steps S1403 to S1411 is performed for all the destinations set in the e-mail.

First, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 acquires, in step S1403, the destinations set in the e-mail that have not yet been processed in steps S1403 to S1411. Then, it is determined whether or not the operation for the destination determined by the CPU 201 executing the transmission control process shown in FIG. 13 is transmission prohibition (step S1404). If the CPU 201 determines that transmission is prohibited (YES) in the determination process of step S1404, the process proceeds to step S1407. On the other hand, if it is determined that the transmission is not prohibited (NO: transmission or hold), the process proceeds to step S1405.

In step S1405, the CPU 201 acquires the transmission history information of the reply source e-mail of the e-mail to be controlled to be transmitted from the e-mail transmission history DB 2000.

Here, with reference to FIG. 20, the data structure of the e-mail transmission history DB 2000 will be described. As shown in FIG. 20, the e-mail transmission history DB 2000 includes a mail ID 2001, a destination 2002, a transmission control result 2003, and the like as data items.

Information for uniquely identifying the e-mail is registered in the mail ID 2001. For example, the information set in the Message-id in the e-mail header will be registered.

The destination (TO, CC, BCC) set for the e-mail specified by the mail ID 2001 is registered in the destination 2002. When a plurality of destinations are set for one e-mail, a record is created in the e-mail transmission history DB 2000 for each destination.

In the transmission control result 2003, the transmission control result for the destination set in the destination 2002 of the e-mail identified by the mail ID registered in the mail ID 2001 is registered. Information such as transmission, hold, transmission prohibition, hold → transmission, hold → transmission prohibition, etc. will be registered in this transmission control result 2003. The above is an explanation of an example of the data structure of the e-mail transmission history DB 2000 of FIG.

Returning to the description of FIG. In step S1405, the CPU 201 electronically uses the information (reply source e-mail ID) set in the In-reply-to in the e-mail header of the e-mail to be transmitted and controlled, and the destination information acquired in step S1403. By searching the mail transmission history DB 2000 and searching for records that match them, the transmission history information of the reply source e-mail is acquired. Then, after acquiring the transmission history information of the reply source e-mail to the destination acquired in step S1403, it is determined whether the transmission control result of the reply source e-mail to the destination is the transmission prohibition (step S1406). .. If the CPU 201 determines (YES) that transmission is prohibited (including hold → transmission prohibition) in this determination process, the process proceeds to step S1407. On the other hand, if it is determined that the transmission is not prohibited (NO), the process proceeds to step S1408. If there is a matching record in the mail ID 2001, but it does not match any of the destinations 2002, the destination is the sender of the reply source e-mail, or the newly added destination. Is. In this case, since the reply source e-mail is not held for the destination, the same processing as the destination to which the reply source e-mail has already been sent is performed.

If it is determined to be YES in step S1404, or if it is determined to be YES in step S1406, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1407 and prohibits transmission of the operation to the destination acquired in step S1403 of the e-mail to be transmitted and controlled. To decide.

In step S1408, the CPU 201 determines whether the reply source e-mail is on hold for the destination acquired in step S1403. If YES is determined in step S1408, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 advances the process to step S1409, suspends the transmission control process for the e-mail, and then determines that the operation determined by the transmission control rule is performed. Note that suspending the transmission control process means that the transmission control process for the reply source e-mail is performed after the transmission control process for the reply source e-mail is completed.

The e-mail whose transmission control process has been suspended is registered in the pause e-mail DB 2200 shown in FIG. 22 in the process of step S1412 described later.

Here, with reference to FIG. 22, the data structure of the pause e-mail DB 2200 will be described. As shown in FIG. 22, the paused e-mail DB 2200 includes a mail ID 2201, a destination 2202, a transmission control result 2203, an auditor 2204, a reply source e-mail ID 2205, and the like.

Information for uniquely identifying the e-mail is registered in the mail ID 2201. For example, the information set in the Message-id in the e-mail header will be registered.

The destination (TO, CC, BCC) set for the e-mail specified by the mail ID 2201 is registered in the destination 2202. When the transmission control process of the e-mail is suspended for a plurality of destinations set in one e-mail, a record is created in the pause e-mail DB 2200 for each destination. It will be.

In the transmission control result 2203, an operation determined as a result of the transmission control process using the transmission control rule for the e-mail whose transmission control is suspended is registered. In the auditor 2204, when the operation registered in the transmission control result 2203 is "pending", the information of the auditor who audits the held e-mail is registered in the auditor 2204.

In the reply source e-mail ID 2205, the mail ID of the reply source e-mail of the suspended e-mail is registered. For example, the information set in In-reply-to in the e-mail header of the suspended e-mail is registered.

The above is an explanation of an example of the data structure of the paused e-mail DB 2200.

Returning to the description of FIG. If it is determined in the process of step S1408 that the reply source e-mail is not in the hold state, the CPU 201 determines the information set in In-reply-to in the mail header of the e-mail to be sent and controlled (reply source e-mail). The pause e-mail DB 2200 is searched using the e-mail ID) and the destination information acquired in step S1403, and the transmission control of the reply source e-mail is suspended depending on whether or not a record matching them can be acquired. (Step S1410). If YES is determined in this determination process, it is determined that the process proceeds to step S1409, the transmission control process for the e-mail is suspended, and then the transmission control for the e-mail is performed.

On the other hand, if NO is determined in the process of step S1410, the process proceeds to step S1411, and the operation determined by the transmission control process (in any one of steps S1305, S1309, and S1312 of FIG. 13) is sent to the e-mail. It is decided to perform the determined operation).

After determining the operation for all the destinations set in the e-mail by any of the processes of step S1402, step S1407, step S1409, and step S1411, the CPU 201 performs the e-mail transmission control execution process (step). S1412). The details of this process will be described with reference to FIG.

Here, with reference to FIG. 15, the details of the e-mail transmission control execution process in step S1412 of FIG. 14 will be described. This process is a process performed by the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101, and a program for causing the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 to execute this process is stored in an external memory 211 or the like. The program is loaded into the RAM 202, and the process shown in this figure is executed according to the control of the loaded program.

First, the CPU 201 performs the processes of steps S1501 to S1504 for the destinations determined to suspend the e-mail transmission control process as a result of executing the e-mail transmission control process shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.

In step S1501, the CPU 201 acquires a destination that has not yet been processed after step S1502 among the destinations that are determined to suspend the transmission control process of e-mail.

After that, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the other destination to which the e-mail is set has a destination determined to prohibit the transmission of the e-mail (step S1502). If YES is determined by the CPU 201 in this determination process, the process proceeds to step S1503, and the destination for which transmission of the e-mail is prohibited is deleted from the mail header of the e-mail. The purpose of this processing is when the client device 103 that receives the e-mail after the e-mail is sent to the specified destination creates a reply mail to the e-mail (reply source e-mail). This is to prevent the destination of the reply mail from being set to the destination for which the sending of the reply source e-mail is prohibited. Steps S1507 and S1513, which will be described later, are also performed for the same purpose.

Then, the record having the destination and the mail ID of the e-mail is additionally registered in the pause e-mail DB 2200 (step S1504).

After that, the CPU 201 performs the processes of steps S1505 to S1508 for the destination determined to suspend the transmission of the e-mail as a result of executing the e-mail transmission control process shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.

In step S1505, the CPU 201 acquires a destination that has not yet been processed after step S1506, among the destinations determined to suspend the transmission of the e-mail.

After that, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the other destination to which the e-mail is set has a destination determined to prohibit the transmission of the e-mail (step S1506). If YES is determined by the CPU 201 in this determination process, the CPU 201 proceeds to step S1507 and deletes the destination for which the transmission of the e-mail is prohibited from the mail header of the e-mail.

Then, the record having the destination and the mail ID of the e-mail is additionally registered in the hold e-mail DB 2100 (step S1508).

Here, with reference to FIG. 21, the data structure of the reserved e-mail DB 2100 in the second embodiment will be described. The hold e-mail DB 2100 in the second embodiment includes data items such as a mail ID 2101, a sender 2102, an auditor 2103, a destination 2104, and a hold date and time 2105 as data items.

The mail ID 2101, the sender 2102, the auditor 2103, and the hold date and time 2105 correspond to the mail ID 801, the sender 802, the auditor 803, and the hold date and time 804 of the hold e-mail DB 800 in the first embodiment, respectively. Since it is a thing, detailed explanation here is omitted.

The destination 2104 is a data item for registering the destination of the e-mail. The purpose of providing such a data item is that, in the second embodiment, the transmission control process of the e-mail for each destination set for one e-mail may be different. The reason why the transmission of the e-mail is suspended is to identify the destination.

The above is the description of the data structure of the reserved e-mail DB 2100 in the second embodiment.

Returning to the description of FIG. Next, the CPU 201 performs the processes of steps S1509 to S1516 for the destination determined to transmit the e-mail as a result of the e-mail transmission control process shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.

The CPU 201 acquires, among the destinations determined to transmit the e-mail in step S1509, the destinations that have not yet been processed after step S1510. Then, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the destination set for the e-mail includes a destination determined to hold the e-mail and a destination determined to suspend the transmission control process (step S1510).

If it is determined in the determination process of step S1510 that there is a destination determined to hold the e-mail and a destination determined to suspend the transmission control process (YES), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1511, and the e-mail is concerned. Add a notification to the body of the email that there are destinations for which the email has not yet been sent. At this time, add a notification that can recognize those destinations.

Further, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the e-mail has a destination determined to be prohibited (step S1512). If it is determined in this determination process that there is a destination determined to be prohibited from transmission (YES), the process proceeds to step S1513, and the destination is deleted from the mail header of the e-mail.

Of course, the processes of steps S1512 and S1513 may be performed before the processes of steps S1510 and S1511.

Then, it is determined whether the e-mail is a combined e-mail size-combined in step S404 of FIG. 4 (step S1514). If YES is determined in this determination process, the process proceeds to step S1515, and the size of the e-mail is divided based on the mail size before the combination (size division process of the combined e-mail). After that, a process of transmitting a size-divided e-mail to the destination selected in step S1509 is performed (step S1516).

After completing the above processing, the CPU 201 registers the transmission control result of the e-mail to the destination to which the transmission control processing is not suspended in the e-mail transmission history DB 2000. The above is the description of the e-mail transmission control execution process in step S1412 of FIG.

Returning to the description of FIG. After the e-mail transmission control execution process of step S1412 is completed, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1413, and among the destinations set for the e-mail targeted for the transmission control process, the transmission of the e-mail is suspended. Determine if there is a tip. If YES is determined in this determination process, the CPU 201 proceeds to step S1414 and notifies the sender and the auditor of the e-mail that there is a reserved destination.

Further, in step S1415, the CPU 201 determines whether or not there is a destination for which e-mail is prohibited from being transmitted among the destinations set for the e-mail that is the target of the transmission control process. If it is determined in this determination process that there is a transmission-prohibited destination (YES), the process proceeds to step S1416, and the CPU 201 notifies the sender that there is a transmission-prohibited destination. It will be. If there are both destinations for which transmission of e-mail is suspended and destinations for which transmission is prohibited, one notification e-mail notifies the sender of the e-mail that there are such destinations. Of course, it does not matter even if the process of step S1414 and the process of S1416 are performed at the same time.

The above is a description of the e-mail transmission control process performed by the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101.

Next, with reference to FIG. 16, the pending email audit process (step S306 in FIG. 3) according to the second embodiment will be described. A program for causing the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 to execute this process is stored in an external memory 211 or the like. When executing this process, the CPU 201 loads the program into the RAM 202 and follows the control of the loaded program. The process will be executed.

First, the CPU 201 identifies a user who has made an audit request by acquiring an ID, password, etc. used for user authentication from the client device 103 and collating it with user information registered in a user table (not shown). (User identification process: step S1601).

After identifying the user who has made the audit request by the user identification process in step S1601, the CPU 201 determines whether there is an e-mail to be audited by the user (step S1602). The CPU 201 makes this determination based on whether or not the hold e-mail DB 2100 has a record in which the user information of the user specified in step S1601 is registered in the auditor 2103. If the determination process in step S1602 determines that the user specified in step S1601 does not have an e-mail to be audited (NO), the CPU 201 proceeds to step S1603 and audits the user. Notify that there is no e-mail and end this process.

On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process of step S1602 that there is an e-mail to be audited by the user (YES), the process proceeds to step S1604, and the pending e-mail DB 2100 is audited by the user (the user). Should be audited) Get pending email. At this time, the hold e-mail indicated by the record in which the user information of the user is registered in the auditor 2103 is acquired as the e-mail to be audited by the user. Then, the CPU 201 generates screen information including the acquired pending e-mail list (step S1605), and transmits the screen information to the client device 103 used by the user who has made the audit request (step S1606). The display device of the client device 103 displays the hold e-mail list screen 1000 shown in FIG. 10 according to this screen information.

After that, the CPU 201 receives detailed data of the hold e-mail issued by the client device 103 by receiving a pressing instruction for any of the detail buttons 1001-6 in the hold e-mail list screen displayed on the display device of the client device 103. If it is determined that the request has been accepted (YES in step S1607), the process proceeds to step S1608 to generate screen information including the detailed data of the designated pending email. When generating the screen information, the CPU 201 searches the e-mail transmission history DB2000 based on the e-mail ID of the pending e-mail, and the transmission history to other destinations of the same e-mail as the reserved e-mail to be audited. Information will be acquired and screen information including such information will be generated.

After creating the screen information in step S1608, the screen information is transmitted to the client device 103 that requested the detailed data (step S1609). The display device of the client device 103 will display the hold e-mail detail confirmation screen 1800 shown in FIG. 18 according to the screen information transmitted in step S1609.

Here, with reference to FIG. 18, the reserved e-mail detail confirmation screen 1800 according to the second embodiment, which is displayed on the display device of the client device 103 that has received the screen information transmitted in step S1609 of FIG. An example of the configuration will be described.

As shown in FIG. 18, on the hold e-mail detail confirmation screen 1800, the sender (FROM) information display column 1801, the TO information display column 1802, the CC information display column 1803, the BCC information display column 1804, the subject display column 1805, The text information display field 1806, the attached file information display field 1807, the transmitted destination display field 1808, the transmission prohibition destination display field 1809, the audit input field 1810, and the decision button 1815 are set.

Further, in the audit input field 1810, an audit target (all destinations / individual) designation field 1811, all destination audit input fields 1812, individual destination audit input fields 1813, and audit input fields 1814 of individual audit non-input destinations are provided. It has been set.

The sender (FROM) information display field 1801 is a display field for displaying information on the sender of the pending e-mail, and is a display field for displaying information registered in the sender (FROM) 703 of the e-mail DB 700. be. The TO information display field 1802 is a display field for displaying destination (TO) information of the reserved e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in TO704-1 of the e-mail DB 700. The CC information display field 1803 is a display field for displaying the destination (CC) information of the reserved e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in CC704-2 of the e-mail DB 700. The BCC information display field 1804 is a display field for displaying the destination (BCC) information of the pending e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in the BCC 704-3 of the e-mail DB 700.

The subject information display column 1805 is a display column for displaying the subject of the pending e-mail, and is a display column for displaying the information registered in the subject 705 of the e-mail DB 700. The body information display field 1806 is a display field for displaying the body of the reserved e-mail, and is a display field for displaying the information registered in the body 706 of the e-mail DB 700. The attachment file information display field 1807 is a display field for displaying an icon according to the file format when an attachment file is set in the pending e-mail, and is registered in the attachment 707 of the e-mail DB 700. This is a display field for displaying information. It is possible to confirm the contents of the file by performing a double-click process on the icon displayed in the attached file information display field 1807.

The sent destination display field 1808 is a display field in which among the destinations set for the e-mail, the destinations for which the transmission processing of the e-mail has already been performed are displayed. In the case of this figure, TO is set zzzzz @ asdf. co. For jp, it means that the e-mail displayed on this screen has already been sent.

The transmission prohibited destination display field 1809 is a display field in which among the destinations set for the e-mail, the destinations for which the transmission of the e-mail has already been prohibited are displayed. In the case of this figure, it means that there is no destination for which the transmission of the e-mail displayed on this screen is prohibited.

The audit input field 1810 is a reception field for accepting input of audit information (“sending” or “sending prohibited”) for each destination to which the transmission of the e-mail is suspended.

In the audit target (all destinations / individual) designation field 1811, whether to input audits collectively for all the pending destinations (all destinations) or to input audits for each individual destination (all destinations). It is a reception field that accepts the specified input of (individual).

The all-destination audit input field 1812 is an input field used for collectively accepting audit input for all the destinations for which transmission of the e-mail is suspended. This all-destination audit input field 1812 becomes effective when "all-destination" is specified in the audit target (all-destination / individual) designated field 1811, and it becomes possible to accept the input of audit information.

The individual destination audit input field 1813 is an input field used for accepting an audit input for an individual destination for which transmission of the e-mail is suspended. This individual destination audit input field 1813 is valid when "individual" is specified in the audit target (all destinations / individual) designation field 1811, and it is possible to accept the input of audit information for each destination. Is. By doing so, it is possible to input different audit information to the destination set in one e-mail.

The audit input field 1814 of the destination for which the individual audit has not been input is for accepting the audit input for the destinations for which the audit information is not input in the individual destination audit input field among the destinations for which the transmission of the e-mail is suspended. It is an input field used for. The audit input field 1814 of the individual audit non-input destination is also valid when "individual" is specified in the audit target (all destinations / individual) designation field 1811. By providing such an input field, even when individually performing an audit input, the audit is input in the individual destination audit input field 1813 only for the destination to be exceptionally audited, and other transmissions are performed. For destinations, it is possible to input audits to the audit input field 1814 of the destinations for which individual audits have not been input. Therefore, when audit input is performed for each individual destination, the processing efficiency should be improved. Is possible.

The decision button 1815 is a button used to confirm the audit information input via the hold e-mail detail confirmation screen 1800. It should be noted that the e-mail to the destination for which the audit input has not been made will continue to be on hold.

The above is an explanation of an example of the configuration of the hold e-mail detailed confirmation screen 1800 of FIG.

Returning to the description of FIG. After transmitting the screen information in step S1609, the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 is an individual transmission input via the hold e-mail detail confirmation screen 1800 displayed on the display device of the client device 103 based on the transmitted screen information. The input of the audit to the destination is received from the client device 103 (step S1610).

On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process of step S1607 that the request for sending the pending e-mail is not accepted (NO) from the client device 103, the process proceeds to step S1611 and the audit target of the pending e-mail list screen 1000 is performed. The input of the audit is accepted by designating the e-mail to be audited by checking or not checking the mail selection check box 1001-1 and receiving the pressing instruction for the send button 1002 or the send prohibition button 1003 (step S1611, step S1612). ). If an audit is input via this screen, the same audit input will be made to all the destinations for which transmission is suspended set in the pending email. ..

When the input of the audit information is received by step S1610 and step S1612, the CPU 201 shifts the process to step S1613 and executes the hold e-mail transmission control execution process. The details of this process will be described with reference to FIG.

Then, the processing from step S1606 to step S1613 is performed until it is determined that the audit processing is completed (YES in step S1614). The CPU 201 determines that the audit process is terminated when the user has received the audit input for all the pending emails to be audited or when the display of the pending email list display screen is finished.

The above is the description of the pending email audit process (step S306 in FIG. 3) in the second embodiment.

Next, with reference to FIG. 17, details of the hold e-mail transmission control execution process in step S1613 of FIG. 16 will be described. The program for causing the CPU 201 of the proxy server 101 to execute this process is stored in the external memory 211 or the like, and when executing the process shown in this figure, the CPU 201 loads the program into the RAM 202 and depends on the loaded program. The process shown in this figure will be performed according to the control.

The CPU 201 performs the processes of steps S1701 to S1714 for all the transmission destinations that have received the audit input in steps S1610 and S1612 of FIG.

First, the CPU 201 acquires an e-mail that has not executed the process shown in this figure among the e-mails that have received the audit input (step S1701). Then, among the destinations set in the acquired e-mail, the destinations that have received the audit input are processed in steps S1702 to S1714.

The CPU 201 acquires, in step S1702, the destinations set in the e-mail whose selection has been accepted in step S1701 and which have received the audit input but have not completed this process. .. Then, it is determined whether the audit input (operation input) of the e-mail to the destination acquired in step S1702 is "sending" or "sending prohibited" (step S1703).

If it is determined in the determination process of step S1703 that the received audit input is "send", the process proceeds to step S1704, and the e-mail acquired in step S1701 is sent to the destination selected in step S1702. Send (email sending process). At this time, if the destination set in the e-mail includes a destination for which transmission of the e-mail is prohibited (including hold → transmission prohibition), the destination for which the transmission is prohibited is e-mailed. Delete from the mail header of. In addition, if there are destinations that are still pending or whose transmission control is suspended, a notification to that effect is added to the body of the email. Will be done.

After that, the pause e-mail DB 2200 is searched and determined whether there is a pause e-mail corresponding to the mail ID of the e-mail whose transmission process was executed in step S1704 and the destination (step S1705). The CPU 201 sent an e-mail of an e-mail whose transmission process was executed in S1704, an e-mail whose destination is the original e-mail ID 2205, and an e-mail indicated by a record registered in the destination 2202, respectively, in step S1704. It will be a paused email corresponding to the ID and destination.

If it is determined in the determination process of step S1705 that there is a pause e-mail (YES), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1706, cancels the pause state of the pause e-mail, and responds to the pause e-mail. Then, the e-mail transmission control execution process shown in FIG. 15 is performed.

After the e-mail transmission control execution process (step S1706) for the paused e-mail is completed, the CPU 201 deletes the paused e-mail from the paused e-mail DB 2200 (step S1707).

If it is determined that the audit input received in the determination process of step S1703 is "transmission prohibited", the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1708, and a pending email having the same email ID as the email for which the audit input is accepted is sent. Determines if it is in the hold e-mail DB 2100.

If it is determined in the determination process of step S1708 that a hold e-mail having the same mail ID as the e-mail for which the audit input has been accepted is in the hold e-mail DB 2100 (YES), the process proceeds to step S1709 and the hold e-mail is held. Delete the destination that accepted the audit input of prohibition of transmission from the mail header of the mail.

After determining NO in step S1708 and after the processing of step S1709 is completed, the CPU 201 registers the mail ID of the e-mail acquired in step S1701 in the mail ID 2201 and the destination selected in step S1702 in the destination 2202. It is determined whether the paused email is in the paused email DB2200 (is there a related paused email list? Step S1710).

If it is determined in the determination process of step S1710 that there is a pause e-mail as described above (YES), the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1711 and sets the pause e-mail as a transmission-prohibited e-mail. (Processing to prohibit sending of suspended e-mail). At that time, the transmission history information of the paused e-mail is created in the e-mail transmission history DB 2000, and the transmission control result 2003 is set to prohibit transmission. After the processing of step S1711 is completed, the paused e-mail is deleted from the paused e-mail DB 2200 (step S1712).

After the processing of step S1707 and step S1712 is completed, the CPU 201 advances the processing to step S1713 and updates the transmission history information of the e-mail that has received the audit input to the destination. Then, the record related to the e-mail in the pending e-mail DB 2100 is deleted (step S1714).

The CPU 201 executes the process of steps S1701 to S1714 described above for all the pending e-mails that have received the audit input. When it is determined that this processing for all the pending e-mails has been completed, the processing shown in this figure is terminated.

Next, with reference to FIG. 24, the functional configuration of the proxy server 101 in the second embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 24, the proxy server 101 includes a transmission control rule storage unit 2401, an e-mail acquisition unit 2402, an e-mail storage unit 2403, a hold e-mail storage unit 2404, an e-mail combination unit 2405, and an e-mail division unit 2406. Same e-mail presence / absence determination unit 2407, condition match determination unit 2408, e-mail transmission control processing execution unit 2409, audit reception unit 2410, pause e-mail storage unit 2411, transmission control result storage unit 2412, related e-mail presence / absence determination unit 2413. Etc. are provided.

The transmission control rule storage unit 2401 is a functional unit that stores the transmission control rule DB 1900 shown in FIG. The e-mail acquisition unit 2402 is a functional unit that acquires e-mails transmitted from the client device 103 and the mail server 102.

The e-mail storage unit 2403 is a storage unit that stores the e-mail acquired by the e-mail acquisition unit 2402, and stores and manages the e-mail DB 700 shown in FIG. 7. The hold e-mail storage unit 2404 is a storage unit that stores the e-mail whose transmission is suspended as a result of the transmission control process by the e-mail transmission control process execution unit 2409 described later, and stores the hold e-mail DB 2100 shown in FIG. ,to manage.

The e-mail combining unit 2405 sets an envelope of an e-mail having the same e-mail ID when it is determined by the same e-mail presence / absence determination unit 2407 described later that there is an e-mail having the same e-mail ID in the e-mail DB 700. It is a functional unit that combines into one e-mail or combines size-divided e-mails into one e-mail. The e-mail splitting unit 2406 subdivides the combined e-mail combined by the e-mail combining unit 2405 based on the size before the combination before sending the combined e-mail, or an e-mail having a plurality of destinations. It is a functional part that divides the envelope.

The same e-mail presence / absence determination unit 2407 is a functional unit that determines whether an e-mail having the same e-mail ID as the e-mail acquired by the e-mail acquisition unit 2402 is stored in the e-mail DB 700. The condition match determination unit 2408 is a functional unit that determines whether or not the e-mail that is the target of the transmission control process matches the conditions set in the transmission control rule. The e-mail transmission control processing execution unit 2409 is a functional unit that controls the transmission of e-mail according to the operation set in the transmission control rule determined to match the conditions set by the condition match determination unit 2408.

The audit reception unit 2410 is a functional unit that accepts input of audit information (transmission, transmission prohibition) for the hold e-mail stored in the hold e-mail DB 2100.

The pause e-mail storage unit 2411 is a storage unit for storing the pause e-mail, and stores and manages the pause e-mail DB 2200. The transmission control result storage unit 2412 is a functional unit that stores the result of the transmission control process for the e-mail, and stores and manages the result of the transmission control process for the e-mail by the e-mail transmission history DB 2000 shown in FIG.

In the related e-mail presence / absence determination unit 2413, whether the e-mail related to the e-mail to be controlled to be transmitted or the e-mail related to the e-mail for which the audit input is accepted is included in the pause e-mail DB 2200 or the hold e-mail DB 2100. It is a functional unit that determines.

The above is an explanation of an example of the functional configuration of the proxy server 101 in the second embodiment.

By adopting the above configuration, it is possible to make the transmission control of the e-mail different for each of the plurality of destinations set in one e-mail.

Further, even if the transmission control of the e-mail is different for each of the plurality of destinations set in one e-mail, the e-mail is preceded by the e-mail whose transmission to some destinations is suspended. The problem that the reply mail of the mail arrives at the partial destination first, and the problem that the reply mail of the e-mail is sent to the destination for which the sending of the e-mail is prohibited. It becomes possible to prevent it from occurring.

An object of the present invention is to supply a system or device with a recording medium (or storage medium) in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment is recorded, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or device. Needless to say, this can be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the recording medium on which the program code is recorded constitutes the present invention.

Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the function of the above-described embodiment is realized, but also the operating system (OS) or the like running on the computer is realized based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, there are cases where a part or all of the actual processing is performed and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment.

Further, after the program code read from the recording medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function is based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, there are cases where a CPU provided in an expansion card or a function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment.

When the present invention is applied to the recording medium, the program code corresponding to the flowchart described above is stored in the recording medium.

101 Proxy server 102 Mail server 103-1 to 103-3 Client device 104 LAN
105 Wide area network 106-1, 106-2 External mail server 201 CPU
202 RAM
203 ROM
204 System Bus 205 Input Controller 206 Video Controller 207 Memory Controller 208 Communication I / F (Interface) Controller 209 Input Device 210 Display Device 211 External Memory

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for confirming information related to the e-mail destination in a list based on the transmission control result for the e-mail destination .

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing apparatus of the present invention controls to display a list of information related to the e-mail destination based on the result of applying the transmission control rule for each of the same e-mail destinations. It is characterized by comprising a control means and a reception means for receiving an input relating to whether or not transmission is possible to the destination corresponding to the information related to the destination of the e-mail displayed in a list by the display control means .

In order to achieve the above object, the control method of the present invention displays a list of information related to the e-mail destination based on the result of the display control means applying the transmission control rule for each of the same e-mail destinations. The reception means includes a display control step for controlling the e-mail, and a reception step for receiving an input relating to whether or not transmission to the destination corresponding to the information related to the destination of the e-mail listed by the display control means is provided . It is a feature.

In order to achieve the above object, the program of the present invention displays a list of information related to the e-mail destination based on the result of applying the transmission control rule to the information processing apparatus for each of the same e-mail destinations. It is a program for functioning as a display control means for controlling the display control means and a reception means for accepting an input regarding whether or not to send to a destination corresponding to the information related to the destination of the e-mail displayed in a list by the display control means. ..

According to the present invention, information related to the e-mail destination can be confirmed in a list based on the transmission control result for the e-mail destination .

Claims (6)

An information processing device that controls the transmission of e-mail data.
A storage means for storing a plurality of transmission control rules used for transmission control of the e-mail data, and a storage means.
The acquisition means for acquiring the e-mail data and
A first determination means for determining whether or not another e-mail having the same identification information as the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means has already been acquired.
When it is determined that the e-mail data has been acquired by the first determination means, the binding means for combining the envelope of the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means and the envelope of the other e-mail data,
A second determination means for determining whether or not the conditions of the transmission control rule are met by collating the e-mail data combined by the combination means with the transmission control rule.
It is provided with an execution means for executing the operation defined in the transmission control rule on the e-mail data when it is determined by the second determination means that the condition is satisfied.
The second determination means is an information processing apparatus characterized in that the condition relating to the destination of the condition of the transmission control rule is collated with the destination information set in the envelope combined by the combination means. The combining means creates an envelope including all of the destination information set in the envelope of the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means and the destination information set in the envelope of the other e-mail data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the envelopes are combined. The application priority is set in the transmission control rule, and the application priority is set.
A determination means for determining a transmission control rule to be collated with the e-mail data in the order of application priority, and
Equipped with
The second determination means is characterized in that it determines whether or not the conditions of the transmission control rule are met by collating the e-mail data with the transmission control rule determined by the determination means. Item 1. The information processing apparatus according to Item 1. The e-mail is size-combined e-mail data to which size-divided e-mails are combined, and the operation set in the transmission control rule that the e-mail data meets the conditions by the second determination means is the e-mail. In the case of transmission, the size-combined e-mail data is further divided based on the size before division, and a division means for generating subdivided electronic data is further provided.
The information processing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the executing means executes a process of transmitting the subdivided e-mail data divided by the dividing means to a designated destination. Device. It is an information processing method performed by an information processing device provided with a storage device for storing a plurality of transmission control rules used for transmission control of the e-mail data and performing relay control of the e-mail data using the plurality of transmission control rules. hand,
The acquisition process for acquiring the e-mail data and
The first determination step of determining whether another e-mail having the same identification information as the e-mail data acquired in the acquisition step has already been acquired, and the first determination step.
When it is determined that the data has been acquired in the first determination step, an integration step of integrating the envelope of the e-mail data acquired in the acquisition step and the envelope of the other e-mail data, and the integration step.
A second determination step of determining whether or not the conditions of the relay control rule are met by collating the e-mail data integrated in the integration step with the relay control rule.
It is provided with an execution step of executing the operation defined in the relay control rule on the e-mail data when it is determined in the second determination step that the condition is satisfied.
The second determination step is an information processing method characterized in that the condition relating to the destination of the condition of the relay control rule is collated with the destination information set in the envelope. An information processing device having a storage device for storing a plurality of transmission control rules used for transmission control of the e-mail data and performing relay control of the e-mail data using the plurality of transmission control rules.
The acquisition means for acquiring the e-mail data and
A first determination means for determining whether or not another e-mail having the same identification information as the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means has already been acquired.
When it is determined that the e-mail data has been acquired by the first determination means, an integration means for integrating the envelope of the e-mail data acquired by the acquisition means and the envelope of the other e-mail data, and the integration means.
A second determination means for determining whether or not the conditions of the relay control rule are met by collating the e-mail data integrated by the integration means with the relay control rule.
When it is determined by the second determination means that the condition is satisfied, the operation defined in the relay control rule is made to function as an execution means to execute the e-mail data.
The second determination step is a computer program characterized in that the condition relating to the destination of the condition of the relay control rule is collated with the destination information set in the envelope.

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