JP6809060B2 - Mail data management device, mail data management method, and mail data management program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a mail data management device or the like capable of storing received mail data.

In recent years, e-mail systems have been widely used. The number and size of e-mails sent and received using an e-mail system tend to increase, and a huge size storage device (storage) is required to store (store) such e-mails. In addition, as the number of stored e-mails increases, it may take time to acquire (view, search, etc.) data related to the e-mails.

Techniques for managing such e-mails are described, for example, in the following patent documents.

Patent Document 1 describes a search system in which each part constituting an e-mail is individually accumulated using a plurality of databases, and an e-mail corresponding to a search condition is searched for each database.

Patent Document 2 describes a technique related to a mail system that centrally manages mails of the same content sent to a plurality of people by a shared mailbox. The mail system disclosed in Patent Document 2 reduces the storage capacity required for storing mail by controlling the storage in the shared mailbox so that the mail bodies having the same contents are not stored in duplicate.

JP-A-2009-128973 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-2009

As a technique for reducing the storage capacity required for storing e-mail, a technique for compressing data is known. However, there is a problem that it takes time to compress the data, and it also takes time to perform a decompression process when reading the compressed data. Therefore, if the e-mail data is simply compressed, the processing performance of viewing, searching, etc. of the e-mail may deteriorate. That is, regarding the storage and management of e-mail, there is a problem that the data size is reduced and the deterioration of the data reading performance is suppressed.

On the other hand, the system described in Patent Document 1 uses an individual database according to the information to be searched in order to streamline the search of mail data. The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 may not be able to reduce the storage capacity required for accumulating mail data. Further, in the system of Patent Document 2, the emails subject to centralized management are limited. In such a system, it may be difficult to reduce the storage capacity required for storing emails that are not subject to centralized management.

The technology according to the present disclosure has been developed in view of the above circumstances. That is, one of the main purposes of the present disclosure is to provide a mail data management device or the like capable of suppressing a decrease in the reading performance of mail data while reducing the storage capacity required for storing mail data.

In order to achieve the above object, the mail data management device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a mail data storage unit that can store data related to e-mail and whether or not one or more e-mails are included in the same thread. The thread determination unit for determining the above, and the mail data constituting the e-mail, the first partial data included in the thread data stored in the mail data storage unit for each thread containing the e-mail, and the electronic Based on the mail data decomposition unit that is individually stored in the mail data storage unit for each mail and decomposed into the second partial data, and the first partial data related to the e-mail included in the thread for each thread. A data size adjusting unit for creating the thread data having a data size smaller than the sum of the data sizes of the e-mails included in the thread is provided.

Further, the mail data management method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is whether or not an information processing apparatus provided with a mail data storage unit capable of storing data related to e-mail includes one or more e-mails in the same thread. The mail data constituting the e-mail is individually divided into the first partial data included in the thread data stored in the mail data storage unit for each thread containing the e-mail and the e-mail. It is stored in the mail data storage unit and decomposed into a second partial data, and for each thread, at least the electronic data included in the thread is based on the first partial data related to the electronic mail included in the thread. This is a method of creating the above thread data having a data size smaller than the total data size of the mail.

The same purpose is also achieved by a mail data management device having the above configuration, a computer program that realizes a mail data management method by a computer, a computer-readable recording medium in which the computer program is stored, and the like. To.

According to the technique according to the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the reading performance of the mail data while reducing the storage capacity required for storing the mail data.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the mail data management device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the operation (storing of mail) of the mail data management device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the operation (request processing) of the mail data management device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a sample (specific example) of received mail. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the related data table. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the mail stored in the mailbox. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the mail data management device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the operation (storing of mail) of the mail data management device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the operation (request processing) of the mail data management device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the mail data management device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating another functional configuration of the mail data management device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a drawing illustrating the configuration of a hardware device capable of realizing the mail data management device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments in which the mail data management device and the like in the present disclosure can be realized will be described in detail. The configuration of the mail data management device described in each of the following embodiments is an example, and the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The classification of the components constituting the mail data management device (for example, division by functional unit) in each of the following embodiments is an example in which the mail data management device can be realized. When implementing the mail data management device, various configurations are assumed without being limited to the following examples. That is, the components constituting the mail data management device in each of the following embodiments may be further divided. In addition, one or more components constituting the mail data management device in each of the following embodiments may be integrated.

The mail data management device described below may be configured by using a single device (physical or virtual device), or a system using a plurality of separated devices (physical or virtual device) (physical or virtual device). It may be realized as a mail data management system). When the mail data management device is composed of a plurality of devices, the devices may be communicably connected by a wired, wireless, or communication network (communication line) in which they are appropriately combined. The communication network may be a physical communication network or a virtual communication network. The mail data management device described below or the hardware configuration capable of realizing the components thereof will be described later.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the technique according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, e-mail (including data constituting the e-mail) may be simply referred to as "e-mail" (the same applies to each of the following embodiments).

[Constitution]
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the mail data management device 1 is communicably connected to the mail server 2 and the mail client 3 by using an appropriate communication network.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the mail data management device 1 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the mail data management device 1 includes a mail receiving unit 101, a thread determination unit 102, a related mail management unit 103, a thread data acquisition unit 104, a mail data decomposition unit 105, a compression unit 106, and a storage unit 107. , And mailbox 108. Further, the mail data management device 1 includes an expansion unit 109, a mail data combination unit 110, an acquisition unit 111, and a response unit 112.

Among the above-mentioned components included in the mail data management device 1, one or more components may be integrated, or one or more components may be further decomposed. The components included in the mail data management device 1 may be connected to each other so as to be historic by using an appropriate communication method. The connection line connecting each component shown in FIG. 1 represents a specific example of the connection relationship between the components. Each component is not limited to the connection relationship indicated by the connection line, and may appropriately communicate with other components (including sending and receiving data and commands). Hereinafter, each component will be described.

The mail receiving unit 101 receives the mail from the mail server 2. The mail receiving unit 101 may receive an e-mail from the mail server 2 by using, for example, SMTP (Simple Mail Transer Protocol).

The thread determination unit 102 determines whether or not one or more e-mails are in the same thread (whether or not they are included in the same thread).

The related mail management unit 103 manages the mail related to the mail for each received mail. The related mail management unit 103 holds information relating to each mail by using, for example, a related mail table (described later). The related mail management unit 103 may be configured to provide the information included in the related mail table to the thread determination unit 102.

The thread data acquisition unit 104 acquires thread data related to the same thread as a certain mail (thread including the mail).

Thread data is data generated from at least a part of each email contained in the same thread. At least one thread data is associated with each thread. For example, it is assumed that one thread includes mail A, mail B, and mail C. In this case, thread data is generated from at least a part of mail A, at least a part of mail B, and at least a part of mail C. The thread data undergoes predetermined processing (for example, compression processing, extraction of common parts and difference parts, etc.) for reducing the size of at least a part of mail A, at least a part of mail B, and at least a part of mail C. It may include data generated by execution.

The mail data decomposition unit 105 decomposes the mail into a compressed part and an uncompressed part. The compressed part is a part of the data constituting a certain mail in which the compression process is executed. That is, the data size of the compressed portion is reduced by the compression process. The compressed partial data of the mail included in the same thread is collectively compressed for each thread to form the above thread data. Hereinafter, the data of the compressed portion may be described as the compressed portion data. The uncompressed part is the part of the data that constitutes a certain mail that is not executed by the compression process. Hereinafter, the data of the partially compressed portion may be described as uncompressed partial data.

The compression unit 106 executes a compression process related to the compressed partial data. The compression unit 106 may appropriately select an appropriate compression algorithm. Further, the compression unit 106 may execute an archive process together with the data compression process. For example, the compression unit 106 can combine a plurality of data (for example, compressed partial data of a plurality of emails) into one data by the archiving process. The compression process and the archive process can be realized, for example, by using a well-known technique at present.

The compression unit 106 may be configured to execute a process of updating or generating thread data by using the data obtained by compressing the compressed partial data. As a specific example, it is assumed that a certain mail (mail A) is included in the thread (thread X). The compression unit 106 may update the thread data of the thread X so as to include the compressed data of the compressed partial data of the mail A, for example. For example, the compression unit 106 may add data obtained by compressing the compressed portion of the mail A to the thread data of the thread X. For example, the compression unit 106 may temporarily expand the thread data of the thread X, add the compressed portion of the mail A, and then compress the thread data of the thread X again. For example, the compression unit 106 may use an archive command to compress the compressed portion of the mail A and add the thread X to the thread data.

When a certain mail (for example, mail A) is not included in any thread (that is, when mail A is the starting point of a new thread), the compression unit 106 uses the compressed data of the compressed part of the mail. , You may generate thread data for a new thread.

The data size of the thread data generated (or updated) as described above is smaller than the total data size of all the mails included in the thread. This is because the compressed portion data of each mail is compressed by the compression unit 106, so that the data size is reduced.

The storage unit 107 stores the mail in the mailbox 108 (described later). For example, when a certain mail is included in a certain thread, the storage unit 107 may separately store the uncompressed portion of the mail and the thread data including the compressed part of the mail in the mailbox 108.

The mailbox 108 stores (stores) mail. The mailbox may be implemented using, for example, a file system and files, or may be implemented using a database. If the mailbox 108 is implemented using a file system, for example, each mail may be stored as a single file. Further, the thread data may be saved as one file for each thread. Unique identification information (ID: Identifier) that can identify each mail may be added to the mail stored (stored) in the mailbox 108. Hereinafter, such identification information may be described as "uid".

The decompression unit 109 executes a process of decompressing the mail data compressed by the compression unit 106. The expansion unit 109 may expand the entire thread data including the compressed partial data of each mail, for example. For example, the expansion unit 109 may expand only the compressed partial data related to a specific mail among the thread data.

The mail data combining unit 110 combines the compressed partial data and the uncompressed partial data to generate the original mail. Specifically, the mail data combining unit 110 combines the uncompressed partial data and the expanded data of the (compressed) compressed partial data included in the thread data for a certain mail to combine the original mail. Generate.

The acquisition unit 111 acquires data related to the saved mail from the mailbox 108. Specifically, the acquisition unit 111 may be configured to acquire the uncompressed partial data of each mail and the thread data related to the thread including the mail from the mailbox 108.

The response unit 112 receives various requests from the mail client 3 and responds to the requests. The response unit 112 may be configured to send and receive a request and a response to and from the mail client 3 by using IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), for example.

Hereinafter, the outline of the mail server 2 and the mail client 3 that are communicably connected to the mail data management device 1 will be described.

The mail server 2 may be a general e-mail server capable of executing a forwarding process related to e-mail using, for example, SMTP. The mail data management device 1 can receive e-mails from the mail server 2 by using, for example, SMTP. The mail server 2 may be realized by, for example, a dedicated device (e-mail appliance) or a physical or virtual information processing device (computer or the like). The mail data management device 1 and the mail server 2 may be realized by using the same device (or system).

The mail client 3 may be, for example, a general e-mail client, and receives e-mail from the mail data management device 1 by using, for example, IMAP. The mail client 3 may be realized by an information processing device having a communication function (or an application program executed in the information processing device).

The communication protocol used between the mail data management device 1, the mail server 2, and the mail client 3 is not limited to the above, and may be appropriately selected.

[motion]
The operation of the mail data management device 1 configured as described above will be described. For each step in each of the flowcharts illustrated below, the execution order may be changed or one or more steps may be executed in parallel as long as the operation is not affected. This is the same in each of the following embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which the mail data management device 1 receives mail from the mail server 2 and stores the mail in the mailbox 108.

The mail receiving unit 101 receives the mail from the mail server 2 (step S201). The mail receiving unit 101 may provide the received mail data to the thread determination unit 102.

The thread determination unit 102 determines whether or not the received mail is a part of a thread that is already managed. That is, the thread determination unit 102 determines whether or not the received mail is included in the same thread as other mail that has already been received.

The thread determination unit 102 uses, for example, "Message-Id" and "In-Reply-To" included in the mail header of the received mail to determine whether or not the received mail is a part of a certain thread. (Whether or not it is included in a certain thread) can be determined.

"Message-Id" in the mail header is data indicating identification information that can identify a certain mail. Further, "In-Retry-To" in the mail header is data indicating to which mail a certain mail is a reply. In general, "Message-Id" related to the original mail (replied mail) can be set in "In-Reply-To".

If the mail header of the received mail does not include "In-Retry-To", the thread determination unit 102 may process the received mail as a new thread. That is, in this case, the thread determination unit 102 may process the received mail as the starting point of a new thread.

When the mail header of the received mail includes "In-Reply-To", the thread determination unit 102 sets the value to "Message-Id" of another mail (mail data to which another "uid" is added). Check if it is the same as ". When the thread determination unit 102 has the same "In-Retry-To" included in the mail header of the received mail and the "Message-Id" of the other mail, those mails are in the same thread (same). Included in the thread). If "In-Reply-To" included in the mail header of the received mail and "Message-Id" of other mail data are not the same, the received mail may be processed as a new thread. The thread determination unit 102 can execute the above determination by using the related table managed by the related mail management unit 103.

When the received mail is a part of a certain thread (included in a certain thread) (YES in step S203), the thread data acquisition unit 104 acquires the thread data related to the thread (step S204). As described above, the thread data includes compressed data of the compressed partial data of each mail included in the thread.

The mail data decomposition unit 105 decomposes the mail received by the mail reception unit 101 into compressed partial data and uncompressed partial data (step S205).

As described above, the uncompressed partial data is not compressed. Therefore, the access related to the uncompressed partial data (for example, search, classification, browsing, etc.) can be executed without being affected by the processing time caused by the compression and decompression processing. Therefore, the mail data decomposition unit 105 decomposes the portion referred to with a relatively high frequency in the access to the mail into uncompressed partial data. Further, the mail data decomposition unit 105 decomposes a part other than the uncompressed part data (the remaining part in the mail body) into the compressed part data.

It is considered that the user can often determine whether or not to further read the e-mail by browsing the part relatively close to the beginning of the e-mail body. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the mail data decomposition unit 105 decomposes, for example, a part of the mail header and the mail body into uncompressed partial data.

For example, the mail data decomposition unit 105 may decompose the following parts of the data constituting the mail into uncompressed part data. That is, for example, the mail data decomposition unit 105 sets a specific part (for example, the first N lines or N bytes (N is a natural number)) of the mail header and the mail body (mail body part) among the data constituting the mail. It may be decomposed into uncompressed partial data. The specific part of the mail body can be appropriately set from the knowledge obtained by, for example, an experiment or a test operation. Not limited to the above, the mail data decomposition unit 105, for example, when the received mail is in a multi-part format defined by, for example, MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), the mail header and a specific part are uncompressed. It may be decomposed into data. The part included in the uncompressed partial data may be appropriately set. As such a part, typically the first part in the mail body part may be selected. When the received mail contains an attached file, the mail data decomposition unit 105 may decompose the parts other than the mail header and the attached file into uncompressed partial data. By decomposing the compressed partial data and the uncompressed partial data as described above, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity required for storing (storing) a certain mail and suppress the deterioration of the reading performance for the mail. it is conceivable that.

The compression unit 106 compresses the compressed partial data decomposed by the mail data decomposition unit 105 (step S206). In step S204, when the thread data related to the thread including the received mail is acquired, the compression unit 106 may add the compressed partial data to the acquired thread data and compress the data.

The storage unit 107 stores the uncompressed partial data decomposed from the received mail and the thread data including the compressed compressed partial data in the mailbox 108 (step S207).

By the above operation, the mail data management device 1 can decompose the mail received from the mail server 2 and store it in the mailbox 108.

Hereinafter, a process in which the mail data management device 1 returns a response to the mail client 3 in response to a request from the mail client 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.

The response unit 112 receives the information acquisition request (request) from the mail client 3 (step S301). The request may be, for example, a request for reading a part of a certain mail (for example, a header or the like), or a request for reading the whole of a certain mail. Such request may include, for example, a command specified by IMAP.

When the received request is a request for acquiring only the mail header ([mail header only] in step S302), the acquisition unit 111 executes the process of step S303. That is, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the uncompressed portion of the mail specified by the request from the mailbox 108 (step S303). Specifically, for example, the response unit 112 may request the acquisition unit 111 to acquire the information of the mail header, and the acquisition unit 111 may take out the uncompressed portion of the mail in response to the request.

As a modification of the above, even when the received request is a request for acquiring data other than the header portion included in the uncompressed portion of the mail body, the acquisition unit 111 may execute the process in step S303. For example, in the case of IMAP, it is possible to acquire a part of the mail by using the "FETCH" command or the like.

The response unit 112 returns a response including the data acquired in step S303 to the mail client 3.

On the other hand, when the received request is a request for acquiring the entire mail ([whole mail data] in step S302), the acquisition unit 111 executes the process of step S304. That is, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the uncompressed portion of the mail specified by the request and the thread data related to the thread including the mail from the mailbox 108 (step S304). In this case, the response unit 112 may request the acquisition unit 111 to acquire the information of the entire mail. The acquisition unit 111 may supply the acquired thread data to the expansion unit 109.

The expansion unit 109 expands the thread data (step S305). Specifically, the expansion unit 109 extracts the compressed partial data related to the mail specified by the request from the thread data and expands it. After decompressing the thread data, the decompression unit 109 may extract the compressed partial data related to the mail specified by the request.

The mail data combining unit 110 combines the uncompressed partial data related to the mail specified by the request and the compressed partial data extracted from the expanded thread data, and restores the original mail (step S306). The mail data combining unit 110 may supply the restored mail to the response unit 112.

The response unit 112 returns a response including the mail restored in step S306 to the mail client 3 (step S309).

As a modification of the above, even when the received request is a request for acquiring a part of the data included in the compressed partial data in the mail body, the mail data management device 1 executes the processes in steps S304 to S306. Good. Then, in this case, in step S309, the response unit 112 may make a portion (for example, a part of the mail body portion) specified in the received request against the mail client 3.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the related table held by the related mail management unit 103 and the mail stored in the mailbox 108 will be described with reference to a specific example. In the following specific example, it is assumed that five emails 1 to 5 as illustrated in FIG. 4 are received. FIG. 4 illustrates a part of the headers of the mails 1 to 5. Appropriate data may be appropriately set in the portion where the hidden characters ("*") are displayed in FIG. 4. For each mail, a uid may be set at the timing when the mail is received or when the mail is stored in the mailbox 108. In the following, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that uid1 to uid5 are set for each email illustrated in FIG. Further, in the following specific example, it is assumed that the mailbox 108 is realized by using the file system.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a related table held by the related mail management unit 103 when the mails of uid1 to uid5 are stored in the mailbox 108. In FIG. 5, a uid that can identify a mail in the mailbox is set in the uid attribute (column). In the Message-Id attribute (column), the value of Message-Id provided in the mail specified by the uid attribute is set. In the In-reply-to attribute (column), the value of In-reply-to provided in the mail specified by the uid attribute is set. In the prev-id attribute (column), the uid of the mail that is the reply source of the mail specified by the uid attribute is set. Further, in the Lead-Id attribute (column), Threat-Id, which is an ID (Identifier: identification information) capable of identifying the thread including the mail specified by the uid attribute, is set.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the arrangement of mails in the mailbox 108 when the mails of uid1 to uid5 are stored in the mailbox 108.

The mail data management device 1 (mail receiving unit 101) receives the mail of uid1 from the mail server 2. Since the mail of uid1 does not include the "In-Reply-To" header, the mail data management device 1 (thread determination unit 102) has a new thread for the mail of uid1 (that is, the mail of uid1 is new). It is the starting point of a thread). The mail data management device 1 allocates "thr1" as the identification information ("Thread-ID") of the thread and registers it in the related data table of the related mail management unit 103 (501 in FIG. 5).

The mail data management device 1 (mail data decomposition unit 105) decomposes the mail of uid1 into compressed partial data and uncompressed partial data. The mail data management device 1 decomposes, for example, a mail header and a specific part (for example, the first N lines) of the mail body (mail body part) into uncompressed partial data, and the remaining part of the mail body is compressed partial data. It may be disassembled into. The mail data management device 1 (compression unit 106) compresses the compressed partial data and generates thread data of thr1. The mail data management device 1 (storage unit 107) stores the mail of uid1 (uncompressed part sentence data and thread data of thr1) in the mailbox 108.

By the above processing, the configuration of the mailbox 108 illustrated in FIG. 6 (“mailbox1 / # msg / thr1” (thread data) and “mailbox1 / # msg / uid1” file) is created. The "mailbox1" illustrated in FIG. 6 is, for example, a mailbox in which mail corresponding to a user's mail account is stored, and can be realized as a directory (folder) in a file system. “Thr1” illustrated in FIG. 6 is a file containing thread data of a thread whose thread ID (Thread-Id) is “thr1”. “Uid1” illustrated in FIG. 6 is a file containing uncompressed partial data related to the mail of uid1.

The mail data management device 1 receives the mail of uid2 from the mail server 2. The uid2 mail contains an In-Reply-To header whose value matches the message-Id of uid1 (FIG. 4). Therefore, the mail data management device 1 (thread determination unit 102) determines that the mail of uid1 and the mail of uid2 are the same thread (included in the same thread). That is, the mail data management device 1 (thread determination unit 102) determines that the mail of uid2 is included in the thread of thr1 (Thread-Id is thr1). The mail data management device 1 updates the related data table according to the determination (502 in FIG. 5). Further, the mail data management device 1 (thread data acquisition unit 104) acquires thread data related to thr1 from the mailbox 108.

The mail data management device 1 (mail data decomposition unit 105) decomposes the mail of uid2 into uncompressed partial data and compressed partial data in the same manner as the mail of uid1 described above. The mail data management device 1 (mail data decomposition unit 105) compresses the compressed partial data related to the mail of uid2 and the thread data of thr1 together. For example, the mail data management device 1 (mail data decomposition unit 105) uses a well-known compression command (or a combination of a compression command and an archive command) to combine a thread data file and a uid2 compressed partial data file. It is possible to compress according to. In this case, the mail data management device 1 (mail data decomposition unit 105) expands the thread data, extracts the compressed partial data file related to the mail of uid1, and obtains the file and the compressed partial data file of uid2. May be recompressed together.

The mail data management device 1 registers mail related to uid2 (thread data including uncompressed partial data and compressed partial data related to the mail data of uid2) in the mailbox 108.

By the above processing, "mailbox1 / # msg / thr1" is updated in the configuration of the mailbox 108 illustrated in FIG. 6, and a file of "mailbox1 / # msg / uid2" is created.

The mail data management device 1 receives the mail of uid 3 from the mail server 2. Since the "In-Reply-To" header is not included in the mail of uid3, the mail data management device 1 (thread determination unit 102) uses the mail of uid3 as a new thread (that is, the mail of uid3 is a new thread). It is the starting point of a new thread). The mail data management device 1 allocates "thr2" as the identification information ("Thread-Id") of the thread and registers it in the related data table of the related mail management unit 103 (503 in FIG. 5). Hereinafter, the mail data management device 1 can execute the same processing as the mail of uid1 described above for the mail of uid3. By such processing, the configuration of the mailbox 108 illustrated in FIG. 6 (“mailbox1 / # msg / thr2” (thread data) and “mailbox1 / # msg / uid3” file) is created.

The mail data management device 1 receives the mail of uid4 from the mail server 2. The uid4 email contains an In-Reply-To header whose value matches the uid3 Message-Id (FIG. 4). Therefore, the mail data management device 1 (thread determination unit 102) determines that the mail of uid4 and the mail of uid3 are the same thread (included in the same thread). That is, the mail data management device 1 (thread determination unit 102) determines that the mail of uid4 is included in the thread of thr2 (Thread-Id is thr2). The mail data management device 1 updates the related data table according to the determination (504 in FIG. 5). Further, the mail data management device 1 (thread data acquisition unit 104) acquires thread data related to thr2 from the mailbox 108. Hereinafter, the mail data management device 1 can execute the same processing as the mail of uid2 described above for the mail of uid4. The same applies to uid5 mail. By this process, "mailbox1 / # msg / thr2" is updated in the configuration of the mailbox 108 illustrated in FIG. 6, and "mailbox1 / # msg / uid4" and "mailbox1 / # msg / uid5" files are created. Will be done.

Since the mail data management device 1 configured as described above compresses the data of each mail included in the thread for each thread, it is possible to efficiently compress the data. Further, the mail data management device 1 stores a specific part (for example, the first N lines) of the mail header part and the mail body part of each mail in the mailbox as uncompressed part data in which the compression process is not executed. That is, the mail data management device 1 can provide an uncompressed data portion of each mail without being affected by the processing time related to data compression and decompression. As a result, the mail data management device 1 can maintain the response time to the mail client 3, for example.

From the above, the mail data management device 1 configured as described above can suppress the deterioration of the reading performance of the mail data while reducing the storage capacity required for storing the mail data. The reason is that the mail data management device 1 decomposes each mail into uncompressed data in which the compression process is not executed and compressed data in which the compression process is executed, and compresses and manages the compressed partial data. .. Further, the mail data management device 1 does not compress the compressed partial data of each mail individually, but collectively compresses each thread including each mail.

Regarding a mail having a large capacity (data size), it is generally considered that the capacity (data size) of the data part of the mail body (mail body part) is large. Since the mail data management device 1 can compress the mail body portion, a mail having a particularly large capacity is compressed. Further, the mail client 3 can provide a list display, a summary display, and the like by using the information of the uncompressed partial data. That is, the mail data management device 1 can provide the mail client 3 with data necessary for list display, summary display, and the like without performing decompression processing on the compressed data (compressed partial data). Therefore, the mail data management device 1 can maintain the same response performance as when the entire mail data is uncompressed.

From the viewpoint of compression efficiency, when all mails are collectively compressed as one data (for example, as one file), the data can be efficiently compressed (that is, the compression efficiency is high). ). However, in this case, the expansion process may take a lot of time (the expansion process becomes inefficient). For example, in order to acquire data related to one mail, compressed data including all mails may be expanded. On the other hand, when each mail is compressed individually, the time required for the decompression process is shorter than when all the mails are compressed as one file, but the compression efficiency is lower.

On the other hand, in general, when replying to an email, the original email (replied email) is often quoted. That is, it is considered that the mails included in the series of threads have many common parts. The mail data management device 1 collectively compresses the mail included in the thread for each thread in consideration of the characteristics. As a result, the mail data management device 1 can achieve high compression efficiency as compared with the case where each mail is individually compressed. Further, the mail data management device 1 can execute the decompression process in a shorter time than when all the mails are compressed as one data. This is because, in general, the size of the compressed data of the mail contained in the thread is smaller than the size of the compressed data of all the mails in one thread, and the number of mails contained is also smaller. Because. In addition, since it is common to operate mail for each thread (for example, refer to mail for each thread) in general, the mail data management device 1 efficiently responds to such a request. Is possible.

[Modification example]
Hereinafter, a modified example of the mail data management device 1 will be described. The configuration of the mail data management device 1 in this modification may be the same as that of the first embodiment.

In this modification, the operations of a part of the expansion unit 109, the mail data combination unit 110, and the response unit 112 are different from those of the first embodiment. The differences will be described below.

When the response unit 112 in this modification provides the data of the mail body including the compressed partial data in response to the request from the mail client 3, first, the uncompressed partial data acquired through the acquisition unit 111 is used as the mail client. Provided to 3. Since the response unit 112 can provide the uncompressed partial data without executing the decompression process, the mail data management device 1 in this modification can maintain, for example, the response time to the mail client 3. is there.

Further, the decompression unit 109 and the mail data combination unit 110 in this modification execute, for example, a process related to the expansion and combination of the compressed portion data in parallel with the provision of the uncompressed portion data in the response unit 112. That is, the mail data management device 1 in this modification can execute the provision of the uncompressed partial data and the restoration of the entire mail data including the compressed partial data in parallel. As a result, the mail data management device 1 in this modification can suppress a decrease in the turnaround time including the provision of the entire mail data to the mail client 3.

<Second embodiment>
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the technique according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Constitution]
As illustrated in FIG. 7, the mail data management device 7 in the present embodiment has a difference confirmation unit 701 instead of the mail data decomposition unit 105 in the mail data management device 1. The mail data management device 7 has a difference management unit 702 instead of the compression unit 106 in the mail data management device 1. The mail data management device 7 has a difference coupling unit 703 instead of the mail data combining unit 110 in the mail data management device 1. Hereinafter, the difference from the mail data management device 1 in the first embodiment will be described.

The difference confirmation unit 701 confirms (identifies) a common part (common part) and a different part (difference part) for one or more emails included in the same thread. For example, the difference confirmation unit 701 may specify a common part in the mail body part as a common part for all the mails included in the same thread. In this case, the difference portion may include a mail header part and a part other than the common part in the mail body part. Hereinafter, the data of the common part in one or more mails included in the same thread may be described as the common part data. In addition, data other than common partial data may be described as difference partial data.

The difference management unit 702 manages the relationship between the difference portion and the common portion confirmed by the difference confirmation unit 701. Specifically, the difference management unit 702 may generate thread data for each thread using the common portion of each mail included in the thread, for example. Further, the difference management unit 702 may generate the difference partial data by removing the common partial data from the received mail data. The difference management unit 702 may also manage information (arrangement information) that can specify the position including the common portion (the position where the common portion is arranged in the data of each email) for each email. The arrangement information includes, for example, a uid that can identify an email, a Thread-Id of a thread that includes the email, and information that can identify one or more locations where common parts are arranged in the email (for example, a mail body). Offset from the beginning of the portion, etc.) and may be included.

The difference management unit 702 may individually store the difference partial data and the thread data for each mail in the mailbox via the storage unit 107.

The difference coupling unit 703 restores the original mail data by referring to the difference management unit 702 and combining the difference portion and the common portion.

The other components in FIG. 7 may be the same as those in the first embodiment.

[motion]
The operation of the mail data management device 7 will be described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which the mail data management device 1 receives mail from the mail server 2 and stores the mail in the mailbox 108.

Steps S201 to S204 and step S207 in FIG. 8 may be the same as steps S201 to S204 and step S207 illustrated in FIG. 2 described in the first embodiment.

The mail data management device 7 (difference confirmation unit 701) confirms (identifies) the common part and the difference part between the received mail and other mail included in the same thread as the mail (step S801).

The mail data management device 7 (difference confirmation unit 701) may specify the common portion and the difference portion by, for example, the following method. As one of such methods, the mail data management device 7 may check, for example, whether or not the common partial data included in the thread data is included in the received mail. When the received mail contains the same data as the thread data, that data is specified as a common part, and the other data is specified as a difference part. As another method, the mail data management device 7 may check, for example, the common part and the difference part between the received mail and all the other mails included in the same thread as the mail. In this case, the mail data management device 7 restores all the other mails included in the same thread as the received mail once, and restores the common part and the difference part between each restored mail and the received mail. You may specify. Not limited to the above, the mail data management device 7 uses another appropriate method to check the common part and the difference part between the received mail and other mail included in the same thread as the mail. Good.

When the received mail is the starting point of a new thread (NO in step S203), in step S801, the difference confirmation unit 701 shares a part of the mail (typically, for example, the mail body part). It may be specified as a part as appropriate, and the remaining part may be specified as a difference part.

The difference confirmation unit 701 may provide the confirmed difference portion and the common portion to the difference management unit 702.

The mail data management device 7 (difference management unit 702) may generate thread data including the common portion confirmed in step S801 (step S802). Further, the difference management unit 702 may generate the difference partial data of the mail by removing the common partial data (thread data) from the data of the mail included in the thread. The data size of the thread data created in step S802 is smaller than the sum of the data sizes of all the mails included in the thread. This is because the data size is reduced by removing the duplicated portion commonly included in each mail by the difference management unit 702. For example, when the mail A, the mail B, and the mail C include the common part D, the thread data need only include one common part D. By eliminating duplication of the common portion D by using thread data, the mail data management device 7 can reduce the size of the data stored in the mailbox 108.

Note that the difference management unit 702 may update the arrangement information that can specify the position including the common part for each mail based on the common part and the difference part confirmed in step S801.

Hereinafter, a process in which the mail data management device 7 returns a response to the mail client 3 in response to a request from the mail client 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.

Step S301, step S302, and step S309 in FIG. 9 may be the same as steps S301, S302, and S309 exemplified in FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment.

When the received request is a request for acquiring the header part of the mail ([mail header only] in step S302), the mail data management device 7 (acquisition unit 111) receives the difference partial data related to the mail from the mailbox 108. (Step S901).

When the received request is a request for acquiring the entire mail ([whole mail data] in step S302), the mail data management device 7 (acquisition unit 111) is designated as the difference partial data of the requested mail. The thread data of the thread including the mail is acquired (step S901). Such thread data includes intersection data related to the requested mail.

The mail data management device 7 (difference joining unit 703) restores the original mail from the common partial data and the difference partial data acquired in step S902 (step S903). The difference combining unit 703 may restore the original mail by, for example, referring to the arrangement information managed by the difference management unit 702 and combining the difference portion data and the common portion data. Specifically, the difference management unit 702 can restore the original mail by arranging the difference partial data at a specific place in the common partial data shown in the arrangement information, for example.

The mail data management device 7 configured as described above can reduce the storage capacity required for storing mails by managing mails for each thread and managing common parts and difference parts of each mail. The reason is that the mail data management device 7 decomposes each mail included in the same thread into a common part and a difference part, stores the common part as thread data, and stores only the difference part for each mail. Is. As a result, the mail data management device 7 can remove the duplicated portion from each mail included in the same thread. By removing the duplicated portion (common portion), the capacity (data size) of each mail stored in the mailbox 108 is reduced. In other words, the mail data management device 7 can store in the mailbox 108 the minimum size data (difference portion data) from which the duplicated portion is removed for each mail included in the same thread. As a result, the mail data management device 7 can reduce the storage capacity required for storing the mail data.

Further, as in the first embodiment, the mail data management device 7 can individually store, for example, the mail header of each mail as the difference partial data. Therefore, the mail data management device 7 can provide the mail client 3 with the data necessary for the list display, the summary display, and the like without performing the combination processing of the common partial data and the difference data. Therefore, the mail data management device 7 can maintain the same response performance (response time) as when the entire mail data is not divided. From the above, the mail data management device 7 can suppress the deterioration of the reading performance of the mail data.

[Modification example]
Hereinafter, a modified example of the mail data management device 7 will be described. The configuration of the mail data management device 7 in this modification may be the same as that of the second embodiment.

In this modification, some operations of the difference management unit 702 and the difference coupling unit 703 are different from those of the second embodiment. The differences will be described below.

The difference management unit 702 in this modification compresses the thread data for each thread. The difference management unit 702 in this modification stores the compressed thread data in the mailbox 108 via the storage unit 107. A specific compression algorithm may be appropriately selected.

The difference coupling unit 703 in this modification acquires the compressed thread data from the mailbox 108 via the acquisition unit 111, and expands the thread data.

According to this modification, since the mail data management device 7 compresses the thread data of each thread, the size of the data related to the mail stored in the mailbox 108 can be further reduced.

<Third embodiment>
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. The third embodiment is a basic embodiment common to each of the above embodiments.

As illustrated in FIG. 10A, the mail data management device 10 in the present embodiment includes a mail data storage unit 1001, a thread determination unit 1002, a mail data decomposition unit 1003, and a data size adjustment unit 1004. These components constituting the mail data management device 10 may be communicably connected by using an appropriate communication method. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

The mail data storage unit 1001 is configured to be able to store data related to mail. As will be described later, the mail data storage unit 1001 may store data related to threads including each mail, for example. The mail data storage unit 1001 may store individual data for each mail in addition to the data related to the thread. The mailbox 108 in each of the above embodiments is considered to be an embodiment of the mail data storage unit 1001. The mail data storage unit 1001 may have the same configuration as the mailbox 108 in each of the above embodiments, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The thread determination unit 1002 is configured to determine whether or not one or more emails are included in the same thread. The thread determination unit 1002 refers to, for example, the data set in the mail header of each mail (for example, "Message-Id", "In-Reply-To", etc.), and each mail is included in the same thread. It may be determined whether or not. The thread determination unit 1002 in each of the above embodiments is considered to be, for example, one implementation example of the thread determination unit 102. The thread determination unit 1002 may have the same configuration as the thread determination unit 102 in each of the above embodiments, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The mail data decomposition unit 1003 decomposes the mail data constituting the mail into the first partial data and the second partial data. The first partial data is, for example, data included in thread data, which is data associated with the thread containing the mail. The thread data may be stored in the mail data storage unit 1001 individually for each thread, for example. The second partial data is, for example, individual data for each e-mail, and may be individually stored in the e-mail data storage unit 1001 for each e-mail.

The compressed partial data in the first embodiment and the common partial data in the second embodiment are both considered to be examples of the first partial data. Further, the uncompressed partial data in the first embodiment and the difference partial data in the second embodiment are both considered to be examples of the second partial data.

The mail data decomposition unit 105 in the first embodiment is considered to be an example of the mail data decomposition unit 1003. The mail data decomposition unit 1003 may have the same configuration as the mail data decomposition unit 105 in the first embodiment, and may be capable of executing the same processing. Similarly, the difference confirmation unit 701 and the difference management unit 702 in the second embodiment are considered to be examples of the mail data decomposition unit 1003. The mail data decomposition unit 1003 may have the same configuration as the difference confirmation unit 701 and the difference management unit 702 in the second embodiment, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The data size adjusting unit 1004 is a thread having a data size smaller than the sum of the data sizes of the mails included in the thread, based on at least a part of the first partial data related to the mails contained in the thread. Configured to create data.

The data size adjusting unit 1004 may create thread data for each thread, for example, by compressing the first partial data regarding each mail included in the thread. This reduces the size of the first partial data for each email contained in the thread. Therefore, the data size adjusting unit 1004 can create thread data having a data size smaller than the total data size of each mail included in the thread.

For example, the data size adjusting unit 1004 may extract a common portion common to each mail included in the thread as the first partial data for each thread, and create thread data including the extracted common portion. As a result, the data size adjusting unit 1004 can create thread data having a data size smaller than the total data size of each mail included in the thread. Further, the data size adjusting unit 1004 can reduce the data size of the mail stored in the mail data storage unit 1001 by removing the common portion included in the thread data from each mail.

The compression unit 106 in the first embodiment is considered to be an example of the data size adjustment unit 1004. The data size adjusting unit 1004 may have the same configuration as the compression unit 106 in the first embodiment, or may be capable of executing the same processing.

Similarly, the difference confirmation unit 701 and the difference management unit 702 in the second embodiment are considered to be examples of the data size adjustment unit 1004. The data size adjustment unit 1004 may have the same configuration as the difference confirmation unit 701 and the difference management unit 702 in the second embodiment, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The mail data management device 10 may further include an acquisition unit 1005, a mail data combination unit 1006, and a response unit 1007, as illustrated in FIG. 10B.

The acquisition unit 1005 is configured to acquire at least one of the thread data related to the thread including the mail and the second partial data related to the mail from the mail data storage unit 1001 for a certain mail. For example, the acquisition unit 111 in each of the above embodiments is considered to be one realization example of the acquisition unit 1005. The acquisition unit 1005 may have the same configuration as the acquisition unit 111 in each of the above embodiments, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The mail data combining unit 1006 is configured to generate (restore) the original mail based on the thread data acquired by the acquisition unit 1005 for a certain mail and the second partial data. For example, when the thread data includes data obtained by compressing the first partial data related to a certain mail, the mail data combining unit 1006 expands the thread data, extracts the first partial data, and extracts the first partial data. The original mail may be restored by combining the partial data and the second partial data. For example, when the thread data contains a common part common to each mail included in a certain thread, the mail data combining unit 1006 appropriately joins the common part and the second mail data to obtain the original. You may restore the email.

The expansion unit 109 and the mail data combination unit 110 in the first embodiment are considered to be one implementation example of the mail data combination unit 1006. In this case, the mail data combining unit 1006 may have the same configuration as the expanding unit 109 and the mail data combining unit 110 in the first embodiment, or may be capable of executing the same processing. Further, the difference management unit 702 and the difference coupling unit 703 in the second embodiment are considered to be one implementation example of the mail data coupling unit 1006. In this case, the mail data combining unit 1006 may have the same configuration as the difference management unit 702 and the difference combining unit 703 in the second embodiment, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The response unit 1007 is configured to provide at least a part of the mail specified by a request from, for example, a mail client or the like. Specifically, the response unit 1007 provides at least a part of the second partial data acquired by the acquisition unit 1005 in response to the request, or the mail data related to the mail restored by the mail data combination unit. At least a portion of the above (which may include the first partial data) is provided. The response unit 112 in each of the above embodiments is considered to be an embodiment of the response unit 1007. The response unit 1007 may have the same configuration as the response unit 112, and may be capable of executing the same processing.

The mail data management device 10 configured as described above can reduce the storage capacity required for storing the mail data and suppress the deterioration of the reading performance of the mail data.

The reason is as follows. The mail data management device 10 divides the mail into a first partial data and a second partial data. Further, the mail data management device 10 creates thread data whose data size is smaller than the total data size of the mail included in the thread, based on the first partial data, for each thread including the mail. As a result, the mail data management device 10 can reduce the data size of the mail stored in the mail data storage unit 1001 for each thread. That is, the mail data management device 10 can reduce the storage capacity required for storing the mail data.

In addition, the first partial data for each mail is stored in the mail data storage unit for each thread as thread data for the thread including the mail. On the other hand, the second partial data for each mail is individually recorded in the mail data storage unit for each mail. The mail data management device 10 restores the entire mail data related to a certain mail by, for example, extracting the first partial data from the thread data of the thread including the mail and combining it with the second partial data related to the mail. To do. From this, for example, by decomposing the portion (for example, the header portion) that is read relatively frequently in response to the request from the mail client as the second partial data, the mail data management device 10 can use the second partial data. It is possible to respond to the request using only. That is, since the mail data management device 10 can quickly respond to the request without restoring the entire mail data, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the reading performance of the mail data.

<Structure of hardware and software programs (computer programs)>
Hereinafter, a hardware configuration capable of realizing each of the above-described embodiments will be described.

In the following description, the mail data management devices (1, 7, 10) described in each of the above embodiments are collectively referred to as "mail data management device". In addition, each component of these mail data management devices may be simply described as "components of the mail data management device".

The mail data management device described in each of the above embodiments may be configured by one or a plurality of dedicated hardware devices. In that case, each component shown in each of the above figures (FIGS. 1, 7, 10A, 10B) includes hardware (integrated circuit or storage device on which processing logic is implemented) in which a part or all of them are integrated. It may be realized by using an appliance, etc. configured in use.

When the mail data management device is realized by dedicated hardware, the components of the mail data management device may be realized by, for example, a circuit configuration capable of providing each function. Such a circuit configuration includes, for example, an integrated circuit such as a SoC (System on a Chip), a chipset realized by using the integrated circuit, and the like. In this case, the data held by the components of the mail data management device is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) area integrated as a SoC, a flash memory area, or a storage device (semiconductor storage device, etc.) connected to the SoC. ) May be stored. Further, in this case, a well-known communication bus or the like may be adopted as the communication line for connecting each component of the mail data management device. Further, the communication line connecting each component may be connected peer-to-peer between each component.

Further, the above-mentioned mail data management device is composed of a general-purpose hardware device 1100 (for example, a computer or the like) as illustrated in FIG. 11 and various software programs (computer programs) executed by the hardware device 1100. It may be configured. In this case, the mail data management device may be composed of a combination of one or more appropriate number of general-purpose hardware devices 1100 and a software program.

The arithmetic unit 1101 in FIG. 11 is an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit: Central Processing Unit) or a microprocessor. The arithmetic device 1101 may read various software programs stored in the non-volatile storage device 1103, which will be described later, into the memory 1102 and execute processing according to the software programs. For example, the function of each component of the mail data management device in each of the above embodiments may be realized by using a software program executed by the arithmetic unit 1101.

The memory 1102 is a memory device such as a RAM that can be referred to by the arithmetic unit 1101, and stores software programs, various data, and the like. The memory 1102 may be a volatile memory.

The non-volatile storage device 1103 is a non-volatile storage device (storage device) such as a magnetic disk drive or a semiconductor storage device using a flash memory. The non-volatile storage device 1103 can store various software programs, data, and the like. For example, a program capable of realizing each component of the mail data management device may be stored in the non-volatile storage device 1103. For example, the mailbox 108 and the mail data storage unit 1001 in each of the above embodiments may store mail data in the non-volatile storage device 1103.

The drive device 1104 is, for example, a device that processes data reading and writing to the recording medium 1105, which will be described later.

The recording medium 1105 is any recording medium capable of recording data, such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a semiconductor flash memory. For example, a program capable of realizing each component of the mail data management device may be recorded on the recording medium 1105.

The network interface 1106 is a device that controls the transmission and reception of communication data to and from the communication network. The network interface 1106 may include, for example, one or more communication ports, and may send and receive communication data to and from the communication network via the communication ports. For example, the mail data management device described above may be connected to the mail server 2 and the mail client 3 by a communication network connected via the network interface 1106.

Each component of the hardware apparatus 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11 may be connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other by using, for example, an appropriate communication method (communication bus or the like).

The mail data management device or its component in the present disclosure described by taking each of the above-described embodiments as an example can realize the functions described in the above-described embodiments with respect to the hardware device 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11, for example. It may be realized by supplying various software programs.

More specifically, for example, the technique according to the present disclosure may be realized by the arithmetic unit 1101 executing the software program supplied to the hardware device 1100. In this case, the operating system running on the hardware device 1100, the database management software, the network software, the middleware such as the virtual environment infrastructure, and the like may execute a part of each process.

In each of the above-described embodiments, each part shown in each of the above-described figures can be realized as a software module which is a function (processing) unit of a software program executed by the above-mentioned hardware. However, the division of each software module shown in these drawings is a configuration for convenience of explanation, and various configurations can be assumed at the time of implementation. When each component of the mail data management device illustrated in each of FIGS. 1, 7, 10A and 10B is realized as a software module, for example, even if these software modules are stored in the non-volatile storage device 1103. Good. Then, when the arithmetic unit 1101 executes each process, these software modules may be read into the memory 1102. Further, these software modules may be configured so that various data can be transmitted to each other by an appropriate method such as shared memory or interprocess communication. With such a configuration, these software modules are communicably connected to each other.

Further, the software program may be recorded on the recording medium 1105. In this case, the software program may be configured to be appropriately stored in the non-volatile storage device 1103 through the drive device 1104 at the shipping stage, the operation stage, or the like of the mail data management device.

The various software programs described above may be installed in the hardware device 1100 by using an appropriate jig (tool) at a manufacturing stage before shipment, a maintenance stage after shipment, or the like. Further, various software programs may be installed in the hardware device 1100 by a general procedure at present, such as a method of downloading from the outside via a communication line such as the Internet. Then, in such a case, the technology according to the present disclosure can be regarded as being composed of a code constituting the software program or a computer-readable recording medium in which the code is recorded. In this case, the recording medium is not limited to a medium independent of the hardware device 1100, but includes a recording medium in which a software program transmitted via a LAN, the Internet, or the like is downloaded and stored or temporarily stored.

Further, the components of the mail data management device described above are composed of a virtual environment in which the hardware device 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11 is virtualized and various software programs (computer programs) executed in the virtual environment. It may be configured. In this case, the components of the hardware device 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11 are provided as virtual devices in the virtualized environment. Also in this case, the technique according to the present disclosure can be realized by the same configuration as when the hardware device 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11 is configured as a physical device.

The present disclosure has been described above as an example of applying the above-mentioned exemplary embodiment. In each of the above embodiments, an example in which the technique related to the present disclosure is applied to the mail data management device (1, 7, 10) has been described. For example, by operating the mail data management devices (1, 7, 10) in each of the above embodiments, the mail data management method related to the present disclosure can be realized. The present disclosure may be realized as a system including a plurality of devices.

Further, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope described in the above-described embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to such embodiments. In such cases, new embodiments with such modifications or improvements may also be included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. Embodiments that combine the above-described embodiments and specific examples are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. Further, an embodiment in which the above-described embodiment is combined with a new embodiment obtained by modifying or improving the above-described embodiment may also be included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. And this is clear from the matters stated in the claims.

1 Mail data management device 2 Mail server 3 Mail client 101 Mail receiving unit 102 Thread judgment unit 103 Related mail management unit 104 Same thread data acquisition unit 105 Mail data decomposition unit 106 Compression unit 107 Storage unit 108 Mailbox 109 Expansion unit 110 Mail data Joining part 111 Acquisition part 112 Response part 701 Difference confirmation part 702 Difference management part 703 Difference joining part 1001 Mail data storage part 1002 Thread judgment part 1003 Mail data decomposition part 1004 Data size adjustment part 1005 Acquisition part 1006 Mail data joining part

Claims (5)

A mail data storage unit that can store data related to e-mail,
A thread determination unit that determines whether or not one or more of the e-mails are included in the same thread,
The mail data constituting the e-mail is the first partial data included in the thread data stored in the mail data storage unit for each thread containing the e-mail, and the mail data individually for each e-mail. decomposing mail data decomposition section and a second partial data that is stored in the storage unit,
Data for each thread to create the thread data having a data size smaller than the total data size of the e-mail contained in the thread, based on the first partial data regarding the e-mail contained in the thread. With the size adjustment part
Equipped with a,
The mail data decomposition unit
Of the mail data constituting the e-mail, the mail header part and the part from the beginning to the specific position in the mail body part are decomposed as the second part data which is an uncompressed part, and the mail body part is decomposed. The remaining part in the above is decomposed as the first part data which is the part to be compressed.
The data size adjustment unit
When it is determined that the e-mail is included in a thread, the first partial data relating to the e-mail is added to the thread data relating to the thread and compressed.
If it is determined that the e-mail is not included in any thread, new thread data including compressed data of the first partial data relating to the e-mail is generated.
Mail data management device. An information processing device equipped with a mail data storage unit that can store data related to e-mail
Determine if one or more emails are in the same thread and
The mail data constituting the e-mail is the first partial data included in the thread data stored in the mail data storage unit for each thread containing the e-mail, and the mail data individually for each e-mail. It is stored in the storage unit and decomposed into a second partial data. For each thread, at least the data size of the e-mail contained in the thread is based on the first partial data relating to the e-mail contained in the thread. Create the thread data with a data size smaller than the sum,
Execute the process and
In the disassembling process,
Of the mail data constituting the e-mail, the mail header part and the part from the beginning to the specific position in the mail body part are decomposed as the second part data which is an uncompressed part, and the mail body part is decomposed. The remaining part in the above is decomposed as the first part data which is the part to be compressed.
In the process of creating thread data,
When it is determined that the e-mail is included in a thread, the first partial data relating to the e-mail is added to the thread data relating to the thread and compressed.
If it is determined that the e-mail is not included in any thread, new thread data including compressed data of the first partial data relating to the e-mail is generated.
Mail data management method. On a computer equipped with a mail data storage unit that can store data related to e-mail,
The process of determining whether one or more emails are included in the same thread,
The mail data constituting the e-mail is the first partial data included in the thread data stored in the mail data storage unit for each thread containing the e-mail, and the mail data individually for each e-mail. The process of storing in the storage unit and decomposing it into the second partial data,
For each thread, a process of creating the thread data having a data size smaller than the total data size of the e-mail contained in the thread, based on the first partial data regarding the e-mail contained in the thread. And let it run ,
In the disassembling process,
Of the mail data constituting the e-mail, the mail header part and the part from the beginning to the specific position in the mail body part are decomposed as the second part data which is an uncompressed part, and the mail body part is decomposed. The remaining part in the above is decomposed as the first part data which is the part to be compressed.
In the process of creating thread data,
When it is determined that the e-mail is included in a thread, the first partial data relating to the e-mail is added to the thread data relating to the thread and compressed.
If it is determined that the e-mail is not included in any thread, new thread data including compressed data of the first partial data relating to the e-mail is generated.
Email data management program. A response unit that receives a request to read at least a part of the e-mail stored in the mail data storage unit, and a response unit.
From the mail data storage unit, at least one of the second partial data regarding the e-mail specified by the request and the thread data regarding the thread including the e-mail specified by the request can be obtained. Acquisition department and
By expanding the acquired thread data, the first partial data regarding the e-mail specified by the request is acquired, and the acquired first partial data and the second partial data are combined. By doing so, a mail data combining unit capable of restoring the mail data constituting the e-mail specified by the request is further provided.
In response to the request, the response unit provides at least a part of the second partial data acquired by the acquisition unit, or constitutes the e-mail restored by the mail data combination unit. Provide at least part of the email data,
The mail data management device according to claim 1. When the response unit provides at least a part of the mail data constituting the e-mail restored by the mail data combining unit in response to the request, the response unit constitutes the e-mail executed by the mail data combining unit. In parallel with the process of restoring the mail data to be executed, the process of providing the second partial data regarding the e-mail is executed.
The mail data management device according to claim 4.

Images