JP5268165B2 - Information processing apparatus, web mail system, control method and program. - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which displays a warning when re-reply mail is to be created for mail having already been replied when mail is replied. <P>SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus which transmits and receives mail includes means of confirming whether mail is created by a user when a reply to the mail is instructed by user's operation, and distributing the mail to remind mail processing and reply mail processing; retrieval means of retrieving whether or not the reply mail is already created or transmitted when the reply mail is determined by the distribution means; means of determining whether the mail retrieved by the retrieval means is already transmitted; and display means of displaying a warning indicating that unreplied mail is present when the creation of re-reply mail to the replay mail is retrieved through the determination by the retrieval means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to control during transmission of electronic mail.

  In recent years, patents have been conceived in which e-mail transmission / reception apparatuses manage e-mail status (reply mail, unreply mail, etc.) and display them at an appropriate timing.

  As one of them, Patent Document 1 discloses a system that displays a list of reception statuses of reply mails to transmitted mails. Specifically, when sending multiple types of e-mail to many people and expecting a reply e-mail, who sent the reply and who did not come for each sent e-mail Resolves the problem that it is necessary to perform cumbersome manual operations to know etc., and checking the reply status to the email received by the mail sending / receiving device becomes very complicated as the number of received emails increases Therefore, this is a technique for making it possible to know at a glance the reception status of a reply mail for a transmitted mail.

JP-A-10-187561

  According to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, information (destination, title, etc.) related to transmitted or received electronic mail is stored in a transmission mail book file and a reception mail book file in the RAM. The CPU 11 executes an application program stored in the storage medium 16-1 of the storage device 16, and creates and updates a reply mail book file based on the contents of the transmission mail book file and the received mail book file. In the reply mail book file, the sent mail is grouped by destination, and when it is determined that the reply mail has been received, the reception status column of the corresponding sent mail is updated. Then, the contents of the reply mail book file are displayed as a list on the display device 13 in response to the request.

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, it cannot be confirmed at a glance that the mail selected to generate the reply mail for the received mail has already been replied. Nowadays, it has become common to receive a large number of emails that require a reply, so it takes a lot of time to check whether it has been replied, what kind of reply has been made, It is cumbersome to manage which mail was replied to which of the mails received as reply-needed mails.

  For this reason, there is a possibility that, even though the mail has already been replied, forgetting that it has been replied, creating a reply mail again, and sending it as it is. Despite the reply to the same mail, if there is a difference between the contents of the previous reply mail and the current reply mail, or if the same mail is replied many times, the reply mail recipient Can cause confusion and confirmation.

  Therefore, the present invention is a system for displaying a warning when replying to a received mail, checking whether the mail has already been replied, and attempting to reply to a mail that has already been replied. It is intended to provide.

That is, according to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus that transmits and receives mail, a management unit that manages status information regarding whether or not a reply process for a received mail received by the information processing apparatus has been performed; and a reply instruction for the received mail A reply instruction accepting unit for accepting, and determining whether the received mail whose reply instruction has been accepted by the reply instruction accepting unit is managing the status information as the received mail subjected to the reply process by the managing unit When it is determined that the status information is managed by the management means as a received mail that has undergone a reply process to the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the first determining means and the first determining means , especially in that it comprises a first warning means for warning that it has already transmitted the reply mail to the received mail To.

  According to the present invention, when an attempt is made to reply to a mail that has already been replied, a warning is displayed if it is not a reply to the mail created by the user, and a reminder mail is displayed in the case of a reply to the mail created by the user. It becomes possible to provide a system for creating

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process process at the time of mail transmission of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the reply mail preparation process process of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process process at the time of producing a reply mail again with respect to the reply mail of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the mail transmission process process of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of preparation of the remind mail of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process process at the time of editing the reply mail stored in the draft box in preparation of the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the warning screen example displayed with the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the warning screen example displayed with the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the warning screen example displayed with the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a data table structure of the reply mail management table memorize | stored and managed with the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the warning screen example displayed with the information processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus used in an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 100 transmits and receives electronic mail to the mail server 101 via the network 10.

  The destination specifying unit 110 of the information processing apparatus 100 specifies an address of a destination of an e-mail transmitted by the information processing apparatus 100 in response to an operation of the operator via the KB 209 or the like. In the present embodiment, the destination designating unit 110, like a general application for sending and receiving e-mails, manages a To field (destination unit), a CC field (carbon copy unit), and a BCC field (blind carbon copy). The address of the transmission destination can be individually specified for (part).

  The editing unit 120 (email creating unit) of the information processing apparatus 100 creates a body part of an e-mail transmitted by the information processing apparatus 100 in response to an operation of the operator via the KB 209 or the like.

  The address storage unit 130 (address book) of the information processing apparatus 100 is stored in the external memory 211 or the like, and includes an e-mail address of a transmission destination and a plurality of address attributes (attribute information) such as names and organizations. A plurality of associated address information is included.

  The mail storage unit 140 (mail box) of the information processing apparatus 100 is stored in the external memory 211 of the information processing apparatus 100, and stores the bibliographic information of the received mail and the text together.

  The mail status management unit 150 of the information processing apparatus 100 stores and manages a status that indicates whether the mail received by the transmission / reception control unit 160 and stored in the mail storage unit 140 has been replied or not replied. The status management is performed by a reply mail management table 1200 shown in FIG. A transmission / reception control unit 160 of the information processing apparatus 100 is connected to a mail server through a network such as the Internet or an intranet, and controls transmission / reception of electronic mail.

  At least an information processing apparatus 100 and a mail server 101 are connected to the network 10. The mail server 101 transmits an electronic mail transmitted from the information processing apparatus 100 via the network 10 to the outside of the network.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus (computer) in the embodiment of the present invention. The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204. Further, the ROM 203 or the external memory 211 is necessary for realizing a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) or an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as an OS), which is a control program of the CPU 201, or a function executed by each server or each PC. Various programs to be described later are stored. The RAM 202 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201.

  The CPU 201 loads a program or the like necessary for execution of processing from the ROM 203 or the external memory 211 to the RAM 202 and executes the program, thereby realizing functions to be described later or processing according to a flowchart. An input controller (input C) 205 controls input from a pointing device such as a keyboard 209 or a mouse (not shown).

  A video controller (VC) 206 controls display on a display device such as a CRT display (CRT) 210. The display device is not limited to the CRT, but may be a display using another method such as liquid crystal. These are used by the administrator as needed.

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

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

  Note that the CPU 201 enables display on the CRT 210 by executing outline font rasterization processing on a display information area in the RAM 202, for example. In addition, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 210.

  A program 212 for realizing the present invention is recorded in the external memory 211 and is executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 202 as necessary. Furthermore, the definition file 213 and various information tables 214 used by the program 212 according to the present invention are stored in the external memory 211, and detailed description thereof will be described later.

  In order to realize the embodiment of the present invention, it is necessary to create the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 for managing reply mail information. The reply mail information management table of FIG. 12 is generated at the timing when a reply mail is created and transmitted.

  Next, a series of mail reply processing in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of mail reply of the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The process shown in FIG. 3 executes the following process when a reply button displayed on the user interface of the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus is pressed.

  First, in step S101 of FIG. 3, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 refers to the sender (FROM) of the mail information for which the reply button is selected, and is sent by himself or from a third party. It is determined whether it is an email.

  If it is determined that the mail is not sent by yourself (that is, a mail transmitted from a third party is selected), it is determined that the process proceeds to a process for generating a reply mail, and the process proceeds to step S103. The reply mail creation process explained in is performed. If it is determined in step S101 that the mail has been transmitted by itself, it is determined that a remind mail is to be transmitted based on the selected mail content, and the process proceeds to step S102, where the remind mail in FIG. Proceed to the creation process.

Here, the remind mail creating process in step S102 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step S501, the text of the selected mail is transcribed as it is, and in step S502, a sent mail setting box for creating the address set in the sent mail setting box (specifically, the TO box of the sent mail) as it is. Set to and create a reminder email.

Next, the reply mail creation processing in step S103 described above will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
In step S201 of FIG. 4, the information processing apparatus 100 refers to the information of the mail selected to be replied by pressing the reply button, and already creates a reply mail or sends a reply mail to the mail. It is determined by searching using the reply mail subject 1201 and the transmission date and time (not shown) in the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 as a key.

The reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 includes the reply mail subject 1201, MESSSEAGE.
It is assumed that at least the items of ID 1202, reply mail storage destination (path) 1203, and reply mail transmission flag 1204 are provided.

  The reply mail subject 1201 is set with the subject of the reply mail as a value when a reply mail is sent to the received mail. For example, in the case of a reply mail to the mail “Notice of meeting schedule”, the subject of the reply mail “Re: Meeting schedule notice” is set as the value of the reply mail subject 1201. If the reply mail for the received mail is stored in the draft box during creation, the subject of the received mail is set to 1201.

MESSSEAGE
The ID 1202 is an identification character that is uniquely assigned when the mail management software (mailer) receives the mail. A reply mail storage destination (path) 1203 indicates the storage destination of the reply mail or the mail being created stored in the draft box.

  The reply mail sent flag 1204 has a value of “Done” when a reply mail is sent to the received mail. If the reply mail for the received mail is stored in the draft box while it is being created, Status flag.

  12 is stored and stored in a predetermined path in the external memory 211 of the information processing apparatus 100 and the reply mail management table 1200 in FIG. Records are added to and updated from the table, and are also stored in a predetermined path when writing.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 4, in step S201, if there is a mail that matches the selected mail as a result of the search from the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12, the process proceeds to step S202. If there is no matching information in the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 (NO in step S202), it is determined that the reply mail has not yet been created, and the process proceeds to step S206 to send the reply mail. Process to create. If matching information can be retrieved from the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 (YES in step S202), the process proceeds to step S203, and it is determined whether or not a reply mail for the selected mail has been transmitted. To do.

  In step S203, the reply in the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 indicates whether a reply mail for the selected mail has already been sent or whether it has been created but has not yet been sent and saved in the draft box (storage box). Judgment is made by looking at the value of the mail sent flag 1204. As described above, when the reply mail for the received mail that is selected for replying the mail has already been sent, the value of the reply mail sent flag 1204 is “done”. Further, if the reply mail has not been sent (the reply mail has been created but is not sent and stored in the unsent box (draft box)), the value is “not yet”. When it is determined in the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 that the reply mail transmission flag 1204 of the selected mail is “done”, that is, it is determined that the reply mail has been sent (YES in step S203). Advances to step S204. The processing in step S204 proceeds to step S301 in FIG. 5 in order to explain in detail in FIG.

  In step S203, it is determined that the reply mail transmission flag 1204 of the selected mail is “not yet”, that is, a reply mail has been created but is stored in the draft box (storage box) as an unsent mail. If YES (NO in step S203), the process proceeds to the reply mail editing process being created in step S205. Since the process in step S205 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8, the process proceeds to step S601 in FIG.

  Next, the “reply mail editing process being created” executed by the information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 8 corresponds to the detailed processing of step S205 of FIG.

  In step S601 in FIG. 8, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus displays a warning message “Reply mail for the following mail has already been created. Do you want to edit the reply mail?” On the display unit. The warning screen displayed at this time is the dialog screen (first warning screen) in FIG.

  In the first warning screen of FIG. 13, a warning “Reply mail for the following mail has already been created. Do you want to edit the reply mail?” Is displayed along with the subject of the target mail. . In step S602, the process waits until the button is pressed.

  In step S603, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 presses the button on the dialog screen in response to the inquiry “Do you want to edit the reply mail?” On the warning screen in S601, and the received button press event is “Yes” ( If YES, the process proceeds to step S604, and the reply mail that has been created is extracted from the reply mail storage destination 1203 of the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. To do. Further, when the pressing of the “No” button is accepted from the first warning screen in S601 (NO in Step S603), the reply mail is processed.

  Next, re-reply processing for reply mail will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of “reply processing for a mail that has been sent a reply mail” executed by the information processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 corresponds to the detailed processing in step S204 of FIG. 4 described above.

  In step S <b> 301, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus displays a first warning stating that “the following mail has already been replied. Do you want to display the reply mail?”. The warning screen displayed at this time is the dialog screen (second warning screen) in FIG.

  In the second warning screen of FIG. 9, a warning “You have already replied to the following e-mail. Do you want to display the replied e-mail?” Is displayed along with the subject of the target e-mail. In step S302, the process waits until the button on the second warning screen in FIG. 9 is pressed.

  In step S303, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 accepts the warning screen button that is pressed in response to the inquiry “Do you want to display the reply mail?” On the second warning screen displayed in step S301. If the button press event is “Yes” (YES), the process proceeds to step S304, and the reply mail of the target mail is extracted from the reply mail storage destination 1203 of the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. And displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus.

  Further, when the “No” button is pressed from the second warning screen shown in FIG. 9 displayed in step S301 (NO in step S303), the process proceeds to step S305 without displaying the reply mail.

  Further, when the pressing of the “cancel” button is accepted from the second warning screen of FIG. 9 in step S303 (cancellation of step S303), the process of this flowchart is terminated without performing the migration process.

  In step S305, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 displays a warning “Do you want to create a reply mail?”. The warning screen displayed at this time is the dialog screen (third warning screen) in FIG.

  On the third warning screen in FIG. 10, a warning “Do you want to create a reply mail?” Is displayed. Here, in response to an inquiry “Do you want to display a reply mail?”, The process waits until the button is pressed in step S306.

  In step S307, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 presses the button on the dialog screen in response to an inquiry “Do you want to create a reply mail?” On the third warning screen in FIG. If “yes” (YES) is selected, in step S308, the process again proceeds to the reply mail creation process for the reply mail. If “No” (NO) is selected on the third warning screen in FIG. 10, the present process is terminated without creating an email.

  At this time, an email editing screen (not shown) is displayed in step S308, but the editing screen is configured as an editing screen that can be used inline with the first reply email when the reply has already been made once. As another method, it is possible to adopt an edit screen configuration in which only received mail can be used inline. The order displayed on the edit screen is displayed in the order of the first reply mail ⇒ received mail from the top.

  Returning to FIG. 3, after the process of creating the reply mail in step S102 or the remind mail in step S103 ends, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 determines whether the mail is created in step S104 (not canceled). Whether or not).

  If it is determined in step S104 that a mail has been created, the process proceeds to a mail transmission process in step S105. If it is determined in step S104 that no mail has been created, this process ends.

  Next, the mail transmission process in step S105 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the “mail transmission process” executed by the information processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 corresponds to the detailed processing in step S105 of FIG. The process shown in FIG. 6 is to execute the following process when the transmission button, the save button, or the cancel button displayed on the user interface of the electronic mail transmitting / receiving apparatus is received.

  In a mail editing screen (not shown), when the button pressed by the user and displayed on the received user interface is a “send” button, in step S402, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 reads “this mail”. "Would you like to reply?" Is displayed. The warning screen displayed at this time is the dialog screen (fourth warning screen) in FIG.

  On the fourth warning screen in FIG. 11, a warning “Do you want to send this mail?” Is displayed. Here, in response to the inquiry “Do you want to send this mail?”, In step S403, the process waits until the button is pressed.

  If the button pressed by the user in step 401 and displayed on the received user interface is not a “send” button but a “save” button (not shown) is pressed, the process proceeds to step S407. The CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 stops the creation of the currently created mail and saves the mail in the draft box.

  When the button pressed by the user in step S401 and displayed on the received user interface is a “cancel” button (not shown), the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 stores the currently created mail. Stops creating, closes the email editing screen, and ends the process.

  In step S404, if “Yes” is selected on the fourth warning screen in FIG. 11 (YES), the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 proceeds to step S405, and the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 instructs the transmission. Is sent, and the process proceeds to step S406.

  If “No” is selected on the fourth warning screen in FIG. 11 in step S404 (NO), the transmission of the mail that is currently being transmitted is stopped, and the process returns to step S401.

  In step S406, the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 100 updates the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. In the case of update after sending a reply mail (in the case of the flow from step S405), the reply mail subject 1201 is added with the reply mail item, and the MessageID 1202 is added by the mail server possessed by the reply mail. The reply mail storage destination 1203, the reply mail storage destination sent in step S405, and the reply mail flag indicating "completed" information indicating that the reply has already been made, This process ends.

  When the reply mail management table 1200 is updated after the mail is stored in the document box, the reply mail subject 1201 includes the original mail (that is, the received mail) for creating the reply mail, In MessageID 1202, the identification number of the mail added by the mail server possessed by the original mail (that is, the received mail) for creating the reply mail is stored in the reply mail storage destination 1203, and the mail ID stored in the draft box in step S407 is not stored. The information of “not yet” indicating that the sent mail is saved and the reply mail flag has not yet been replied is entered, and this processing is terminated.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a mechanism for realizing efficient mail operation by displaying a warning when replying to a reply mail again.

Specifically, when a mail reply instruction is given by the user's operation, it is confirmed whether it is a mail created by himself, and is a reply mail by means of sorting the reminder mail and reply mail processing, and the sorting means A search means for searching whether the reply mail has already been created or transmitted, a means for determining whether the mail searched by the search means has already been transmitted, the search means, And display means for displaying a warning that there is a non-reply mail when a reply mail creation for a reply mail is found by the determination.

(Second embodiment)
In the first embodiment, in the information processing apparatus 100 in which the e-mail transmission / reception apparatus (mailer software) is installed, when creating a reply mail for the received mail, it is confirmed whether the reply mail has already been transmitted. Although the embodiment has been described, in the next second embodiment, a web mail system in which the information processing apparatus 100 and the mail server 101 are connected via a network typified by the Internet to send and receive e-mails. The processing steps in the case where the present invention is used will be described.

  The web mail system refers to a mail system that can be used by the web browser of the information processing apparatus 100. The mail server 101 generates a browsing screen for browsing mail received for each user account and transmits it to the information processing apparatus 100. When a new message is created / transmitted, it is displayed on the web browser of the information processing apparatus 100. The mail editing screen is used to edit the text of the mail, and a transmission instruction is executed from the information processing apparatus 100. The text and attached file of the mail instructed to be sent are received once by the mail server and the mail is generated.

  Unlike a mail system that manages mail transmission / reception by installing mailer software on the information processing apparatus 100, the user manages all mail transmission / reception on the server side. You can send, receive, create, and browse. The communication between the web browser as a client and the server generally uses the HTTPS scheme for security reasons.

  Therefore, in a general web mail system, the mail server 101 is configured to manage mail (status management) sent and received for each user account, a mail editing screen for sending and receiving mail with the information processing apparatus 100, and received mail. The HTML data of the list display screen and the received mail browsing screen are generated and transmitted to the information processing apparatus 100. The information processing apparatus analyzes the HTML data of each screen transmitted from the mail server 101 using a web browser and displays the screen. In addition, it functions to send data that has received an input instruction from the user to the mail server 101 on the displayed screen. The second embodiment of the present invention is also executed by the role of each device of this general web mail system.

  That is, in each step of the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 8, processing for displaying a screen and processing for receiving an instruction from the user are executed by the information processing apparatus 100 and mail based on data input by the information processing apparatus 100. Generation and transmission / reception of mail are executed by the mail server 101.

  In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the reply mail management table 1200 of FIG. 12 is stored in the external memory 211 of the mail server. As a storage method, the screen information of the setting screen of the non-reply mail condition table in FIG. The information processing apparatus 100 analyzes the screen information generated using the web browser and displays the setting screen of FIG. When a set value is input to a necessary location in FIG. 14 and the OK button is pressed, the set value is transmitted to the mail server, and a value is set in each item of the unreply mail condition table in FIG.

  9 to 11 and 13 are generated by the mail server and transmitted to the information processing apparatus. That is, the mail server generates screen information to be displayed on the information processing apparatus 100 and executes a process of transmitting to the information processing apparatus 100. The information processing apparatus 100 analyzes screen information received using a web browser, displays the information on a display, and receives input of items that need to be set on each screen. When the received setting value (parameter) is received from the input interface of the information processing apparatus 100, a mail address generated by the mail editing screen, data such as the text is transmitted to the mail server, and the mail server Generate mail based on the data set on the mail edit screen.

  Based on the above processing premise, it proceeds by using FIGS. 3 to 13 described in the first embodiment. In each of the processing steps of the second embodiment, description of steps for performing the same processing steps as in the first embodiment of the present invention is omitted.

First, the reply mail creation process in FIG. 4 is executed when a mail is selected by the information processing apparatus 100 and the [Reply] button is pressed. The search using the reply mail management table 1200 in steps S201 to S203 is executed by the mail server 101.
Regarding the mail editing and creation processing in each step of steps S204 to S206, the mail server 101 generates screen information (HTML data) of a mail creation screen and transmits the screen information to the information processing apparatus 100. The actual editing is executed on the 100 side.

Next, in the reply mail creation process for the received mail that has already been sent the reply mail of FIG. 5, the screen information of the second warning screen of FIG. Display based on screen information. In steps S302 to S303, when the information processing apparatus 100 accepts an instruction and accepts pressing of a button, a screen information acquisition request is transmitted to the mail server 101 for acquiring screen information for displaying a reply mail. .
In step S305, the mail display screen information that has been returned is transmitted from the mail server 101 to the information processing apparatus 100, and the information processing apparatus 100 displays the returned mail. Thereafter, in steps S306 to S307, the information processing apparatus 100 accepts the processing, and when the button is pressed, an acquisition request is transmitted to the mail server 101 in order to acquire a mail editing screen for creating a reply mail again.

Next, in the mail transmission process of FIG. 6, when a transmission instruction is received for a mail edited in the information processing apparatus 100, a screen information acquisition request for displaying a transmission confirmation screen (step S <b> 402) is received from the information processing apparatus 100. It is transmitted to the mail server 101.
When the information processing apparatus 100 receives a user instruction in step S402 to step S404, the information processing apparatus 100 transmits the mail address information and text text to the mail server 101 in order to transmit the mail that has been edited on the edit screen in step S405. Send information. When the mail server 101 receives the transmission mail information, the mail server 101 generates a mail based on the transmission mail information and transmits the mail to the destination account. Thereafter, in step S406, the management table 1200 of FIG. 12 is updated.

  Next, in the reply e-mail editing process being created in FIG. 8, the screen information of the first warning screen in FIG. 13 is generated by the mail server 101 in step S601 and displayed on the information processing apparatus 100 based on the screen information. In steps S602 to S603, when the information processing apparatus 100 accepts an instruction and accepts pressing of a button, an acquisition request is sent to the mail server 101 to obtain a mail editing screen for editing a stored reply mail. To do.

  Each of the warning screens in FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 and FIG. 13 is generated based on screen information generated by the mail server 101, transmitted to the information processing apparatus 100, and displayed.

According to the above, in the web mail system, as in the first embodiment, when sending mail, providing a web mail system that displays a warning when there is mail that has already replied to the received mail It becomes possible to do.
That is, the present invention is an information processing apparatus that transmits and receives mail, a management unit that manages status information of a received mail that has transmitted a reply mail, and a reply instruction reception unit that receives a reply instruction to the received mail. A first determination unit that determines whether or not the mail that has received a reply instruction by the reply instruction reception unit is managed as a received mail that has been transmitted by the management unit; When it is determined that the management unit manages the received mail as a reply mail for the mail for which the reply instruction has been accepted by the determination means, the reply mail has already been created for the received mail. And a warning means for warning.

  Further, the web mail system of the present invention is a web mail system in which an information processing apparatus that transmits and receives mail and a mail server are connectable, and the status information of the received mail that has sent a reply mail in the mail server And a first determination unit that determines whether or not a mail that has received a reply instruction from the information processing device is managed as a received mail that has been transmitted by the management unit. If it is determined that the management unit manages the received mail as a reply mail for the mail for which the reply instruction has been accepted by the first determination means, the reply mail has already been sent to the received mail. A warning screen information generation means for generating screen information of a warning screen that warns that the information has been created, and the notification screen information generation means Warning screen information transmitting means for transmitting the formed screen information to the information processing apparatus, reply instruction receiving means for receiving a reply instruction for the received mail in the information processing apparatus, and warning screen information transmitting means for the information processing apparatus Warning screen information receiving means for receiving the screen information transmitted in step (b), and warning screen display means for displaying on a browser based on the screen information received by the warning screen information receiving means.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment and the specific example were mainly explained in full detail, this invention can take the embodiment as a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, a storage medium, etc., for example, specifically, multiple The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a single device or an apparatus composed of a single device.

  The program in the present invention is a program that can be executed by a computer as the information processing apparatus 100 in accordance with the processing of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, and the storage medium of the present invention uses the processing method in FIGS. 100 stores an executable program. Note that the program in the present invention may be a separate independent program for each processing method of each apparatus in FIGS.

  As described above, a recording medium that records a program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the program stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by executing the reading.

  In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, silicon A disk or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program read by the information processing apparatus 100, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program However, it is needless to say that some or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

Furthermore, by downloading and reading a program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network by a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.
In addition, all the structures which combined each embodiment mentioned above and its modification are also included in this invention.

  In addition, each process realized by the above-described software can be realized as firmware or hardware configuration, and each process can be realized as each means. The technical scope of the present invention is realized by such firmware or hardware configuration. Is also included.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network 100 Information processing apparatus 101 Mail server 110 Destination designation | designated part 120 Editing part 130 Address storage part 140 Mail storage part 150 Mail status management part 160 Transmission / reception control part

Claims (10)

In an information processing device that sends and receives mail,
Management means for managing status information regarding whether or not reply processing has been performed on the received mail received by the information processing apparatus;
Reply instruction accepting means for accepting a reply instruction to the received mail;
First determination means for determining whether or not the status information as the received mail that has been subjected to the reply processing by the management means is managed as the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the reply instruction reception means;
When it is determined that the status information is managed by the management unit as a received mail that has been processed for reply to the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the first determination unit, The first warning means to warn you that you have already sent a reply email,
Reply mail display means for displaying on the display unit of the information processing apparatus information indicating the reply mail that has already been sent in response to the received mail;
An information processing apparatus comprising: A display instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction as to whether or not to display the reply mail when the reply mail has already been transmitted to the received mail by the first warning means;
The Replied mail display means further when accepting an instruction to display the Replied mail on the display instruction accepting means, to claim 1, characterized in that to display the Replied mail on the display unit The information processing apparatus described. Destination address setting means for setting again the destination address set as the destination address of the reply mail when the reply process is performed again on the reply mail displayed by the reply mail display means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Sending means for sending the reply mail;
Status update means for updating the status information of the received mail,
The status update unit updates the status information of the received mail to reply completed when the transmission unit performs a reply process on the received mail, and replies to the received mail that has received a reply instruction by the reply instruction accepting unit. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein status information of a mail for which reply processing is interrupted during mail editing is updated to unreply. The management means manages the received mail that has been subjected to the reply process as a reply status, and is a reply mail for the received mail that has received a reply instruction by the reply instruction accepting means, and is processed during editing of the reply mail Manage emails that have been suspended as unanswered status,
The first determination means is a second determination means for determining whether or not the mail for which the reply instruction has been received by the management means is managed as the replied or unanswered,
If the mail for which the reply instruction has been accepted by the second determination means is managed as an unreply by the management means, a warning is given that the edited mail whose processing was interrupted during the editing is stored in the storage unit second warning means and that the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in comprising the Re-edit instruction accepting means for accepting an instruction to re-edit the email being edited that has been warned by the second warning means;
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising: an editing mail display unit that calls and displays the editing mail that has received an instruction to re-edit by the re-editing instruction reception unit, from the storage unit. . When it is determined that the status information is not managed by the management means as a received mail that has been processed for reply to the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the first determination means, the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a mail editing screen display means for displaying an editing screen for editing the reply mail. A web mail system in which an information processing apparatus for sending and receiving mail and a mail server can be connected,
In the mail server,
Management means for managing status information regarding whether or not reply processing has been performed on the received mail received by the information processing apparatus;
First determination means for determining whether or not the status information as the received mail that has been subjected to the reply process by the management means is managed for the mail that has received a reply instruction from the information processing apparatus;
When it is determined that the status information is managed by the management unit as a received mail that has been processed for reply to the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the first determination unit, Warning information generating means for generating warning information for warning that a reply mail has already been sent,
Warning information transmitting means for transmitting warning information generated by the warning information generating means to the information processing apparatus;
Reply mail information sending means for sending information for displaying on the display unit of the information processing apparatus information indicating the reply mail that has already been sent to the received mail;
With
In the information processing apparatus,
Reply instruction accepting means for accepting a reply instruction to the received mail;
Warning information receiving means for receiving warning information transmitted by the warning information transmitting means of the mail server;
Based on the warning information received by the warning information receiving means, warning means for warning that a reply mail has already been sent to the received mail;
A reply mail information receiving means for receiving information for displaying information indicating the reply mail sent by the reply mail information sending means of the mail server;
Based on the reply mail information received by the reply mail information receiving means, a reply mail display means for displaying information for identifying the reply mail on the display unit;
A web mail system comprising: A control method for an information processing apparatus comprising a management means for managing status information regarding whether or not a reply process for a received mail received by the information processing apparatus has been performed by sending and receiving mail,
A reply instruction accepting step in which a reply instruction accepting unit of the information processing apparatus accepts a reply instruction to the received mail;
Whether the received mail that the first determination means of the information processing apparatus has received the reply instruction in the reply instruction reception step is managing the status information as the received mail that has been subjected to the reply process by the management means A first determination step for determining whether or not;
The status information is managed by the management means as a received mail in which the first warning means of the information processing apparatus performs a reply process on the received mail that has received the reply instruction in the first determination step. A first warning step to warn that a reply email has already been sent in response to the received email,
A reply mail display step in which the reply mail display means of the information processing apparatus displays on the display unit of the information processing apparatus information indicating the reply mail that has already been transmitted in response to the received mail;
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: A program for controlling an information processing apparatus including a management unit that manages status information regarding whether or not a reply process for a received mail received by the information processing apparatus has been performed by sending and receiving mail.
The information processing apparatus;
Reply instruction accepting means for accepting a reply instruction to the received mail;
First determination means for determining whether or not the status information as the received mail that has been subjected to the reply processing by the management means is managed as the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the reply instruction reception means;
When it is determined that the status information is managed by the management unit as a received mail that has been processed for reply to the received mail that has received the reply instruction by the first determination unit, The first warning means to warn you that you have already sent a reply email,
A computer-readable and executable program that causes information indicating a reply mail that has already been sent in response to the received mail to function as a reply mail display unit that displays on a display unit of the information processing apparatus .

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