JP2803120B2 - Email sending device, email sending method, email receiving device, email receiving method, and email system - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an e-mail transmitting apparatus for transmitting an e-mail, an e-mail transmitting method, an e-mail receiving apparatus for receiving an e-mail, and an e-mail receiving apparatus. The present invention relates to a receiving method and an e-mail system for transmitting / receiving an e-mail, and particularly to an e-mail transmitting apparatus and an e-mail transmitting method for facilitating the processing when a related document such as a reference is cited in an e-mail text. The present invention relates to an electronic mail receiving apparatus, an electronic mail receiving method, and an electronic mail system.

[Prior art] With the progress of office automation, workstations are being installed in various places in offices. Under such an environment, transmission / reception of e-mail using a workstation can be performed in the same office or building, or with another office or the like using a telephone line or the like.

By the way, when creating an e-mail, it is often the case that a material or reference sent previously is quoted in the e-mail. For example, it is assumed that after sending a communication about the schedule of a travel meeting by e-mail, a communication about the change or additional matter is also sent by e-mail. In such a case, quoting the previous letter makes it easier to create the letter, and the receiver can conveniently extract necessary information.

"Problems to be solved by the invention" However, there is a problem here as well. Conventionally, a related document is pointed out in a form such as "Please refer to a memorandum of travel money schedule" in a mail text. Therefore, on the recipient side, for example, the corresponding correspondence will be drawn out with reference to the title of the document, but if multiple e-mails with one title have been received in another department or another year before There is a case where it takes time to select the applicable one. Also, the creator of the email may not recognize the title correctly.In this case, the search for the title containing the words "Travel money" or "Schedule" will be performed, and the corresponding letter will not be found. Could take even more time. A similar problem arises when trying to identify the correspondence by another method such as the date of reception.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail transmission device, an e-mail transmission method, and an e-mail system that allow a creator of an e-mail text to accurately specify materials.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail receiving apparatus, an e-mail receiving method, and an e-mail system that allow a recipient of an e-mail message to search for an appropriate e-mail message accurately and quickly. It is in.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In the present invention, for example, as shown in principle in FIG. 1A,
E-mail message creating means 11 for creating an e-mail message, material designating means 12 for designating a related document appearing in the e-mail message from a plurality of related documents, and identification information of the related document designated by the material designating means 12 by e-mail. An e-mail transmission means 13 for transmitting an e-mail to the destination as an e-mail
As also shown in principle in FIG. B, discriminating means 15 for discriminating the mail text and the identification information of the related document from the received e-mail, mail text displaying means 16 for displaying the discriminated mail text, A material search means 17 for searching for the related document based on the identification information of the related document determined by the means, and a material output means 18 for outputting the content of the searched related document are provided by an e-mail system or an electronic It is provided in a mail transmitting device and a mail receiving device.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail transmitting apparatus, wherein (a) a mail text creating means for creating a mail text, and (b) a related document specifying means for specifying a document related to the mail text. And (c) transmitting means for transmitting the identification information of the related document specified by the related document specifying means to the transmission destination together with the mail text, in the electronic mail transmitting apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the electronic mail transmitting apparatus according to the first aspect further includes a display device that displays a title of the document specified by the related document specifying unit together with the mail text.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, an electronic mail receiving device for displaying the received electronic mail on a display device,
(A) first display control means for receiving an electronic mail including a mail text and identification information of a related document and displaying the mail text and the presence of the related document on the display device; and (b) the related document. Search instruction means for instructing a search for a document; (c) search means for searching for a related document based on identification information of a related document in accordance with the instruction of the search instruction means; and (d) related document searched by the search means. And a second display control means for displaying on the display device the electronic mail receiving device.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, in the electronic mail receiving device according to claim 3, the first display control means displays the existence of a plurality of related documents for each related document, and the search means is displayed. The retrieval of a related document selected from a plurality of related documents is instructed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail receiving apparatus according to the third or fourth aspect, the first display control means displays a title of a related document.

In the invention according to claim 6, in the electronic mail receiving apparatus according to claim 3, the first display control means displays the first window, and the second display control means displays the first window. It is characterized in that it is displayed in a different second window.

Further, in the invention according to claim 7, in the electronic mail receiving device according to claim 3, the second display control means displays the existence of another related document included in the related document, and displays the other related document. The other related document is searched and displayed according to the search instruction.

In the invention according to claim 8, in the electronic mail receiving device according to claim 3, the search means searches an external storage device in which a related document is stored.

Further, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail receiving device according to the eighth aspect, the search means searches an external storage device when a related document to be searched is not stored in the device. It is characterized by.

In the invention according to claim 10, there is provided an electronic mail system for transmitting and receiving an electronic mail, wherein (a) a mail text creating means for creating a mail text, and a related document specifying means for specifying a document related to the mail text. A transmitting unit for transmitting identification information of the related document specified by the related document specifying unit as an electronic mail to the transmission destination together with the mail text; and (b) the electronic mail transmitted from the transmitting device. A first display control unit that displays the mail text and the existence of the related document on a display device, a search instruction unit that instructs a search of the related document, and a response to the instruction of the search instruction unit. Means for searching for a related document based on the identification information of the related document, and a second means for displaying the related document searched by the searching means on the display device.
And (c) a communication medium for connecting the receiving device and the transmitting device to the electronic mail system.

Further, the invention according to claim 11 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 10, a server device for storing a related document is connected to a communication medium, and the search means searches the server device for the related document.

The invention according to claim 12 is a transmission method for transmitting an electronic mail, wherein (a) a step of creating a mail message; (b) a step of designating a document related to the mail message; Transmitting the identification information of the specified related document to the destination together with the mail text.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 13, an electronic mail receiving method of displaying the received electronic mail on a display device,
(A) receiving an e-mail including a mail text and identification information of a related document, and displaying the mail text and the presence of the related document on the display device; and (b) instructing a search for the related document. (C) searching for a related document based on the identification information of the related document in accordance with the instruction of the search instruction means, and (d) displaying the related document searched by the search means on the display device. Are provided in an e-mail receiving method.

In the invention according to claim 14, in the electronic mail receiving method according to claim 13, the step of displaying the mail text and the presence of the related document on the display device includes a step of displaying a plurality of related documents for each related document. The step of displaying the existence of the related document and instructing the search of the related document is characterized by instructing the search of the related document selected from the displayed plurality of related documents.

Further, in the invention according to claim 15, in the electronic mail receiving method according to claim 13, the step of displaying the searched related document on a display device includes displaying the presence of another related document included in the searched related document. And searching for and displaying the other related document in response to a search instruction for the other related document.

Further, in the invention according to claim 16, in the invention according to claim 15, the step of searching for a related document includes searching an external storage device when the related document to be searched is not stored in the device. It is characterized by.

In the present invention, for example, an icon for each related document is displayed on a display, and a related document is designated by a method such as designating a document cited as a related document from the icons. The identification information of the related document and the mail text are transmitted to the transmission destination as an e-mail.
This can eliminate mistakes such as making a mistake in the title.

In addition, since the identification information is determined, the relevant related document is searched and its contents are output, there is no manual search operation, and since the relevant document is specified by the identification number, there is no mistake in searching. When the mail text is displayed on the display, it may be displayed in one of the multi-windows and the content of the related document may be displayed in another window. Of course, if the voice information is first sent as a mail, it will be searched and the content will be output from the speaker.

"Example" Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of a communication system to which an electronic mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In this communication system, a plurality of workstations 22-1 to 22-N, a file service 23, a mail service 24, a print service 25, and a Services 26 are respectively connected.

In the case of the present embodiment, the workstations 22-1 to 22-N
Are the control unit 27, display 28, keyboard
29, and a mouse 31 as a pointing device. The file service 23 is for storing files commonly used in the Ethernet, and the mail service 24 is for managing electronic mail. The print service 25 is for printing out a document from the laser printer 35. The communication service 26 is for communicating with another local area network via a line 37. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the communication service 26 is connected to a communication service 42 constituting another local area network 41.

The electronic mail system according to the present embodiment is applied not only to each workstation in the same local area network but also to an electronic mail connected between two local area networks.

FIG. 3 shows a functional configuration of a mail transmitting side of the electronic mail system. The content of the e-mail, that is, the e-mail text is created by the e-mail creation unit 51. On the other hand, information necessary for controlling the processing of the electronic mail is created by the mail control information creating unit 52. In the present invention, the identification information of the material is also included as part of the control information.
52 will be created. The mail text information 53 output from the e-mail creation unit 51 and the mail control information 54 output from the mail control information creation unit 52 are sent to the mail transmission unit 55 and transmitted as one e-mail. Become.

In this embodiment, the e-mail creating section 51 and the mail control information creating section 52 directly correspond to the work station 22-1 to 22-N which is currently trying to transmit. In addition, the mail transmission unit 55 is a mail service
24 corresponds directly. The term “direct” is used because the file service 23 and the communication service 26 may be included as a part of these cases depending on the usage form.

FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration of the mail receiving side of the electronic mail. The e-mail is received by the mail receiving unit 57. The content of the received e-mail, that is, the mail text 58, is sent to the mail display / printing unit 59, where the content is visually displayed or printed out. The mail control information 61 in the received electronic mail is sent to the mail control information interpreting section 62, and it is determined whether or not the identification information of the material is included. When the identification information 63 is output as a result from the mail control information interpretation unit 62, the material search unit 64 searches for a material corresponding to the identification information. At this time, the contents of the material accumulation management unit 65 are referred to. The retrieved data 66 of the material is sent to the material display / printing unit 68 via the material searching unit 64, where the contents are displayed or printed.

The part shown in FIG.
The part of the workstation which is currently trying to receive data among 1 to 22-N, the file service 23, the mail service 24, the print service 25 and the like are related.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the operation performed on the transmission side of the electronic mail system will be described more specifically.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the contents displayed on the display of the workstation on the transmitting side. On the display 28, a window 71 for displaying a mail sheet is opened. The window 71 is provided with a bibliographic item column 72 for describing a subject, an address, and the like, and a body column 73 for describing a mail body. Bibliographic field 72
Above is provided a command column 74 displaying commands. When the command “close” in the command field 74 is designated by a cursor (not shown), the mail sheet window 71 is closed. On the other hand, when the command of “send” is specified, the mail is sent. When the command “designate related document” is selected, a related document as a material to be cited is specified in the text box 73. When this designation is made, the title of the designated related document is automatically displayed at the place where "related document" is described in the bibliographic item column 72.

In the display space on the right side of the mail sheet window 71, icons 75 of the respective documents stored in the document file are displayed. Here, the document file may be a file stored in a storage device of its own workstation 22, or a file service 23.
It may be a file that calls out a necessary one of the files stored in the file. The e-mail sender selects icons corresponding to necessary materials sequentially while composing the e-mail text, and at the end of the selection, a bibliographic item column 72.
Will be selected.

The state of control of the system will be described with reference to FIG. The transmitting CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the electronic mail system, for example, the CPU (not shown) of the transmitting workstation monitors the selection of any command in the command field 74 shown in FIG. Yes (step,
). When the "related document" is designated by operating the mouse 31 (FIG. 2) (step; Y), it is determined whether at least one icon 75 has been selected by that time (step). If "Related Document" is designated in a state where no icon 75 is selected (N), this is an operation error. Therefore, in this case, an error message is displayed on the display 28, and the process ends (step).

On the other hand, if the command of "related document" is selected after designating some icons 75 corresponding to the material, that is, the related document (step; Y), the unique identification number of the related document is set in the mail sheet. The file is set in a storage location called an associated document control field of a file for sending an e-mail called a file (step). The next titles of those related documents are also set in the related document control field (step). In this way, information relating to the “related document” of the electronic mail control information is prepared.

On the other hand, when a command other than the “related document” is selected in the step (Y), the operation for the selected command is executed (step). For example, when the "send" shown in FIG. 5 is selected after the creation of the mail message is completed, the mail message and the control information stored in the mail sheet file are transmitted together to the transmission destination. Will be.

FIGS. 7 and 8 specifically show the work performed on the receiving side.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the contents displayed on the display of the workstation on the receiving side. In the left half of the display 28, a window 81 for displaying the received mail sheet is opened. At the top of the right half, the icon 82 of the "related document" at that time is displayed. Below these icons 82, a window 83 for displaying the document content of the designated icon is opened.

The display 28 initially shows a window 81
And an icon 82 related to the icon are displayed. Here, the window 82 displays a bibliographic item column 72 and a body column 73,
A command field 74 is displayed above them. However,
On the receiving side of the mail, there is no command “send” in the command column 74.

If the receiving operator wants to see the material,
The corresponding icon 82 is selected, and the window 83 is opened. This window also has a bibliographic field 72 and a text box 7
3 and the command field 74 are displayed. Bibliographic column 7
The information about the “related document” specified by the icon 82 is displayed in 2 and the body column 73.
Since the operator can also know the "related document" that precedes this "related document", depending on the device, the preceding "related document" can be displayed on the same screen by further expanding the window.

FIG. 8 shows the control operation of the system on the receiving side in the device of this embodiment. The CPU on the receiving side of the e-mail system, for example, the CPU (not shown) of the workstation on the receiving side is the command column 74 shown in FIG.
(Step,). Then, when the "related document search" is instructed by operating the mouse 31 (FIG. 2) (step
; Y), it is determined whether or not the icon 82 has been selected by then (step). If "Related Document Search" is instructed in a state where the icon 82 is not selected (N), this is an operation error. Therefore, in this case, the display 28
And an error message is displayed, and the process is terminated (step).

On the other hand, if the command of “related document search” is selected after designating the icon 82 corresponding to the material, that is, the related document (step; Y), the corresponding “related document control field” Search for the place where "exists." Then, if this is present in the workstation, that is, if it is local (step; Y), a window 83 is opened and the “related document” is opened.
Is displayed (step).

On the other hand, if the "related document" does not exist locally (step; N), the file of the "related document" is read from its remote location to its own workstation (step). Then, this is displayed in the window 83 (step). Here, "the related document" is located at a remote location is defined as (i) when it is located at another location within its own local area network, and (ii) when it is located at another local area network. There is. In the case of (i),
For example, a document file is called from the file service 23 (FIG. 2) in the local area network. In the case of (ii), in many cases, the corresponding document file is called from the local area network of the transmission destination. At this time, the communication service 26 is used.

On the other hand, if a command other than “Related Document Search” is selected in the step (Y), the operation for the selected command is executed (step). For example,
If the "close" command shown in FIG. 7 is selected after reading the mail text, the window 81 is closed and the mail processing ends.

In the embodiment described above, one display 28 is provided in each of the workstations 22 to display information in a multi-window format. However, a plurality of displays are prepared in one workstation, and for example, a mail message and The document and the material may be displayed on separate displays.

Further, in the embodiment, the device portions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are realized by being distributed to a plurality of devices of the e-mail system. This can be shared by e-mail users, and system flexibility can be achieved. Of course, the device portions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be configured as dedicated hardware. Thereby, the cost of the system can be reduced.

Further, in the embodiment, the electronic document is handled. However, the present invention is similarly applied to a system that converts voice information into digital information and transmits the same as a mail text, and a system that also handles image information as a mail text. can do.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the identification information of the related document specified by the related document specifying means is transmitted to the destination together with the mail message. Even if there are a plurality of them, it can be prevented from being confused with them, and the time required for the search on the receiving side can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the title of the document is displayed together with the mail text, it is possible to confirm the related document to be transmitted together with the mail text at the time of transmission.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the display of the mail text and the display of the related document can be performed in parallel on the same display device, not only the comparison with the related document becomes easy, but also There is an effect that a new document including the mail text and the related document can be created accurately and quickly.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first display control means displays a plurality of related documents, and the search means searches for the related document selected from the displayed related documents. Even when a large number of documents exist, a desired related document can be quickly obtained.

Further, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the first display control means displays the title of the related document, there is an advantage that it is easy to infer the contents of the related document.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the first display control means and the second display control means perform different displays on the same display device in different windows. Can be used in general, such as displaying a window on the front, temporarily closing the other display, or enlarging and displaying one window. Can effectively display two types of display contents even if the device is small.

Further, according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the second display control means displays the presence of another related document included in the related document, and displays the other related document in response to a search instruction of the other related document. Since search and display are performed, a wide range of search can be easily performed.

According to the invention described in claims 8 and 9,
Since the search means searches the external storage device in which the related document is stored, the search target can be expanded. Moreover, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the search targets are ranked, so that the search can be performed accurately.

Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 10, since the identification information of the related document is transmitted to the transmission destination together with the mail text, even if there are a plurality of e-mails with the same name, it can be prevented from being confused with them. In addition, the time required for the search on the receiving side can be reduced. In addition, since the display of the mail text and the display of the related document can be performed in parallel on the same display device, not only the comparison with the related document becomes easy, but also the new text combining the mail text and the related document is provided. There is an effect that a document can be created accurately and quickly.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 11, a server device that stores the related document in the communication medium is connected, and the search unit searches the server device for the related document, so that the related document can be searched collectively, Processing is fast and simple.

Further, according to the invention of claim 12, a step of creating a mail message, a step of specifying a document related to the mail message, and transmitting identification information of the specified related document together with the mail message to a destination. Since the step is provided in the method of transmitting an e-mail, when there is a related document, the identification information can be reliably transmitted to the transmission destination.

Further, according to the invention according to claim 13, a step of receiving an electronic mail including the mail text and the identification information of the related document and displaying the mail text and the presence of the related document on a display device,
A step of instructing a search for a related document, a step of searching for a related document based on identification information of the related document in accordance with an instruction of the search instructing means, and a step of displaying the related document searched by the searching means on a display device Is provided in the method of receiving an e-mail, so that when a related document exists, it can be retrieved without fail and displayed on a display device.

Further, according to the invention of claim 14, when displaying the mail text and the existence of the related document on the display device, the presence of a plurality of related documents is displayed for each related document, and the search of the related document is performed. In the instructing step, the search of the related document selected from the displayed related documents is instructed, so that the accuracy of the search of the related document is improved.

According to the invention of claim 15, when displaying the searched related document on the display device, the presence of the other related document included in the searched related document is displayed, and the search instruction of the other related document is given. In response, other related documents are searched and displayed, so that a wide range of search can be performed.

Further, in the invention according to claim 16, when the related document to be searched is not stored in the device, the external storage device is searched, so that the search range can be efficiently improved without unnecessarily expanding the search range. Becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention described in claim 1, FIG. 1B is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention described in claim 2, and FIGS. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an electronic mail system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an outline of a communication system to which the electronic mail system is applied, and FIG. 3 is a mail transmitting side of the electronic mail system. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mail receiving side of the electronic mail system, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a display example of a display of a workstation on a transmitting side,
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation on the transmitting side, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a display example of a display of a workstation on the receiving side, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control operation on the receiving side. 11 ... Email text creation means, 12 ... Material designation means, 13 ... E-mail transmission means, 15 ... Discrimination means, 16 ... Email text display means, 17 ... Material search means, 18 ... Material output means , 22 ... Workstation, 23 ... File service, 24 ... Mail service, 25 ... Print service, 26,42 ... Communication service.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04L 12/54 H04L 12/58 G06F 13/00 351

Claims (16)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electronic mail transmitting apparatus, comprising: a mail text creating means for creating a mail text; a related document specifying means for specifying a document related to the mail text; A transmission unit for transmitting identification information of a related document together with the mail text to a transmission destination. 2. An electronic mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display device for displaying a title of the document specified by said related document specifying means together with said mail text. 3. An e-mail receiving apparatus for displaying a received e-mail on a display device, comprising the steps of: receiving an e-mail including a mail message and identification information of a related document; Display control means for displaying on the display device, search instructing means for instructing a search for the related document, and searching for the related document based on the identification information of the related document according to the instruction of the search instructing means. An electronic mail receiving apparatus comprising: a search unit; and a second display control unit that displays a related document searched by the search unit on the display device. 4. The first display control means displays the presence of a plurality of related documents for each related document, and the search means instructs a search for a related document selected from the displayed plurality of related documents. The electronic mail receiving device according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The electronic mail receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first display control means displays a title of a related document. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first display control means displays in a first window, and said second display control means displays in a second window different from said first window. 3. The e-mail receiving device according to 3. 7. The second display control means displays the presence of another related document included in the related document, and searches for the other related document in response to a search instruction for the other related document. The electronic mail receiving device according to claim 3, wherein the electronic mail is displayed. 8. The electronic mail receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said search means searches an external storage device in which a related document is stored. 9. An electronic mail receiving apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said search means searches an external storage device when a related document to be searched is not stored in the apparatus. 10. An electronic mail system for transmitting and receiving an electronic mail, comprising: a mail sentence creating means for creating a mail sentence; a related document designating means for designating a document related to the mail sentence; A transmitting device for transmitting identification information of a designated related document as an e-mail to the destination together with the e-mail message; and receiving the e-mail transmitted from the transmitting device, First display control means for displaying the presence of a document on a display device, search instructing means for instructing a search for the related document, and a related document based on identification information of the related document in accordance with the instruction of the search instructing means A receiving device comprising: a search unit for searching for a document; a second display control unit for displaying a related document searched by the search unit on the display device; E-mail system, characterized by comprising a communication medium that connects the sending device. 11. The electronic mail system according to claim 10, wherein a server device that stores a related document is connected to the communication medium, and the search unit searches for the related document from the server device. 12. A transmission method for transmitting an electronic mail, comprising: a step of creating a mail message; a step of specifying a document related to the mail message; and identification information of the specified related document together with the mail message. Transmitting an e-mail to a transmission destination. 13. An e-mail receiving method for displaying a received e-mail on a display device, comprising the steps of: receiving an e-mail including a mail text and identification information of a related document; Displaying on the display device; instructing a search for the related document; searching for a related document based on identification information of the related document in accordance with an instruction of the search instructing unit; Displaying the related document obtained on the display device. 14. The step of displaying the mail text and the presence of a related document on the display device includes displaying the presence of a plurality of related documents for each related document, and instructing a search for the related document. 14. The method for receiving an e-mail according to claim 13, wherein a search for a related document selected from the displayed plurality of related documents is instructed. 15. The step of displaying the searched related document on a display device includes displaying the presence of another related document included in the searched related document, and displaying the other related document in response to a search instruction of the other related document. 14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of searching for and displaying a related document. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of searching for a related document searches an external storage device when the related document to be searched is not stored in the device. Receiving method.