JPH01309444A - Circulation mail approval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To report the intention of each recipient of a circulation mail to a sender by providing a content approval column recording whether or not each user being a circulation destination approves the content of the said mail for each mail. CONSTITUTION:A user B(109) confirms the content of a mail sent from a mail service control section 111 and issues a mail sending command for the circulation to the succeeding destination. In this case, whether or not the content of the mail is approved is set to an auxiliary parameter. A user A(108) in order to recognize the state of the mail sent from itself issues an information list read command of the sent mail, then the mail service control section 111 reads the attribute information of the sent mail of the user A(108) stored in a sent mail box area 113 and sends the result to a work station 1(102). Thus, whether or not the user approves the content of the mail is recognized.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a circular mail approval method in an electronic mail system, and in particular, the present invention relates to a circular mail approval method in an electronic mail system. to report to
This relates to a circular mail approval method.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, an increasing number of users are introducing e-mail systems as part of integrated OA within their companies. This usage situation is “
It is introduced in Nikkei Communication J (November 18, 1985 issue) on pages 59 to 73 under the title ``E-mail is being introduced as a core of in-house OA.''

In-company email, along with simple person-to-person emails,
Circular emails and circular emails that target multiple recipients are also essential. Particularly important in circulating mail is the function of notifying the sender whether each recipient approves the contents of the circulated mail. Such a function related to circular mail was reported, for example, at the Information Processing Society of Japan's 33rd National Conference under the title ``Support for Office Documents in rPO8-E.''

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In a circular mail, each recipient communicates whether or not to approve the contents of the circulated mail by (1) each recipient individually contacting the sender using a single-core mail.

(2) Each recipient communicates by adding an additional note to the body of the circular mail.

There is a method. However, the former method is troublesome to operate, and the latter method has the problem that the contents of the email may be changed intentionally or by mistake.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional technology, and to make it possible to report the intentions of each recipient of a circular mail to the sender with a simple operation. The purpose is to provide a circular mail approval method.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above object of the present invention is to provide a mail system in which users of a plurality of workstations connected to an information processing apparatus send and receive documents via the information processing apparatus.
In the mail service control unit of the information processing device that controls the operation of the mail system, when a circular mail process is performed in which documents are sequentially transmitted among the plurality of users, each of the circulation destinations of the circular mail is transmitted for each circular mail. A content approval column is provided to record whether or not the user has approved the content of the email, and information is set in the content approval column by the email service control unit based on instructions from the user. This is achieved by the featured circular mail approval method.

[Effect]

In the circular mail approval method of the present invention, content approval is recorded for each circular mail, in the mail service control unit that controls the operation of the mail system, as to whether or not each user of the circulation destination has approved the content of this mail. A column is provided, and information is set in the content approval column by the mail service control section based on an instruction from the user who currently holds the circulating mail. Therefore, there is no chance that information indicating whether or not the contents of the email have been approved will be added to the email entity, and there is no possibility that the email entity will be changed on this occasion. Since the user is the specified mail recipient, it can be confirmed that the user is the correct user, and it is possible to realize an easy-to-use and highly reliable circular mail approval method.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of the system 11 for implementing the present invention. In the figure, 101 is a host 1-computer, 1
02-104 are the host 1-computer 101 and line 105-
Workstations connected by 107, 10
8 to 110 are users using the workstations 102 to 104, respectively; 111 is the host 1 to H1;
A mail service control unit uses software installed in the computer 101 to control the operation of a mail system using a mailbox 116. Reference numeral 112 indicates a disk device that is an auxiliary storage device for the host computer 1 inch.

- To - The disk device 112 includes a mail service control unit 111.
Outgoing mailbox area 1×3° and receiving mailbox area 114. Email entity storage area 115
including. Further, 117 is a user management unit that performs correspondence between user registration names and passwords of users who are permitted to use the host computer.

The mail system described below is a host 1 type mail system in which a mailbox is installed only in the host computer. Therefore, since each workstation does not have a mailbox, the user of each workstation instructs the mail service control unit 111 to execute a process using a command.

FIG. 3 shows a list of commands supported by the mail service control section 111. Mailbox generation command 2
01 is when a user uses a mailbox.
The mailbox deletion command 202, which is a command used when registering to the system in advance, is unnecessary. This is a command that instructs to delete the email that has been sent. Other commands will be specifically explained later.

The mailbox 116 is composed of a receiving mailbox and a sending mailbox for each user, and the mailbox 116 actually exists in a mailbox area 113 for sending and a mailbox area 114 for receiving in the disk device 112. FIG. 4 shows the structure of the outgoing mailbox area 113.

The sending mailbox area 113 stores attribute information of mail sent by this user for each user. Attribute information includes email name 3052 date and time of sending 306 email type (
2nd Vehicle Report 2nd Circular) 307. The destination and the status of the email there (delivered, viewed, content approved and sent to the next destination, content not approved and sent to the next destination, acceptance or rejection of the content pending and sent to the next destination) ) 308. Among these, the second circular mail has a plurality of pairs of destination and status. Further, among the states, those related to "calling to the next destination" occur only in circular mail. These attribute information are stored in the data section 302. Data section 3
Mail entries 304 for each attribute information of 02 are stored in the intex section 301 using the user registration name 303 of the mailbox owner as a key.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of the mail library 304. As shown in FIG.

The mail entry 304 stores mail entry numbers 401 for the maximum number of outgoing mails that the user 303 can register in the mailbox 116, and a pointer 402 to the attribute information of the corresponding mails. pointer 4
If 02 is "o o o o", it indicates that this mail en 1-reference number 4 old is unused.

In this embodiment, mail N[1510 is introduced as an identifier to make each mail unique in this mail system.
0 consists of a user registration name 303 and a mail order number 401, as will be described later.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the receiving mailbox area 114. The receiving mailbox area 114 stores, for each user, attribute information of mails received by this user.

Attribute information is email name 5059 sent □ believer base 5062 sent date and time 507. Delivery date and time 508. Email type 509. It consists of mail Nα510. These attribute information are stored in the data section 502. Further, the mail entitlement 504 for each attribute information in the data section 502 is stored in the index section 5 old using the user registration name 503 of the mailbox owner as a key. The structure of the mail entry 504 is as follows: ■ The upper limit of the mail entry number is the upper limit of the number of received mails that the user 303 can register in the mailbox 116, and ■ The mail entry number is unrelated to the mail number. Except for the outgoing mailbox mailboxes 1 to 1 shown in FIG.
This is the same as 304.

FIG. 7 shows the structure of the mail entity storage area 115. The mail entity storage area 115 consists of an index section 601 and a data section 602 that stores the mail entity. The index section 601 is composed of a pair of a mail Nα 510 for making each mail unique within the mail system and a pointer 603 to the substance of the mail.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained according to FIGS. 1(a) and (b) to (g). Here, as an example, we will take up a case where one workstation sends a circular mail to users on other workstations and checks whether the other users approve or disapprove of the contents of this mail. Figure 1 (a) shows computer 1 connected to workstation and host 1.
01 and the mail service control unit 111, and (b) to (g) show the operation flow of the mail service control unit 111. Further, FIG. 8 shows a general format of a data stream 901 accepted by the mail service control unit 111.

In FIG. 8, 902 is the mail service control unit 1.
903 is the user registration name in the old host computer 1 of the user who issued the data stream 901, 904 is the user's password for the host computer 101, and 905 is Command 1-1906 shown in Figure 3 is the object name to be processed by the command 905,
E-mail name 505. depending on the type of command 905. Mail number, 510 (in the case of midway transmission) or type of mailbox 116 (in the case of mail information - reading),
In addition, 907 is an auxiliary parameter for making more detailed specifications, and 908 and 909 are the email type (in the case of the first transmission) or the intermediate transmission type (in the case of intermediate transmission) such as approval, disapproval, and hold. These are the destination and mail entity that need to be set using the command 203. However, even with the mail sending command 203, if the circular mail is sent midway, the destination 908 and mail entity 909 do not need to be set, and the mid-send type described in - is set as the auxiliary parameter 907.
Set to .

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1(a) and (b) to (g).

The general operation of the mail service control unit 111 is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 1(b), when a data stream is received, its contents are determined and corresponding processing is performed. In the following explanation, the command 20 shown in FIG.
The operations corresponding to 3 to 205 will be explained.

FIG. 1(c) Step 801: User AlO3 is at workstation 1 (1,02)
In order to send a circular mail to each user including the user B 109, a data storm message of a mail sending command 203 ((2) in FIG. 1(a)) is issued to the mail service control unit]11. The mail service control section 111 sends the user registration name 903 and passwords 1 to 904 in the data stream (2) to the user management section 117, and confirms that they are registered.

If passwords 1 to 904 are incorrect, command 1 notifies the workstation 102 that execution is not possible.

Step 802: Mail service control unit] 11 is the mail name 906. in the data stream ■. Email type 907. Destination 908
The date on which Delus 1-Ream (2) is received is stored in the outgoing mailbox area 113 as the outgoing date. At this time, the substance of the circular mail is stored in the mail substance storage area 115 using the mail number 510 formed from the determined mail entry number 401 as a key.

Step 803: The received circular mail is sent to the first destination, user B (
109), this attribute information is stored in the receiving mailbox area 114. Among the attribute information, email name 5o59 sender time 508. The mail type 509 is the same as the one for sending stored in step 802, the sender name 506 is the registered user name of user A (10g), and the mail number 5]0 is the same as the one stored in step 802.
The distribution date and time 508 is set to the date and time at which the value obtained in the above is stored in the receiving mailbox area 114, respectively.

FIG. 1(d) Step 804: User B (109) using workstation 2 (103) requests the mail service control unit 111 to read received mail information in order to obtain a list of mail addressed to him. Delus 1-ream of command 205 (Figure 1 (
a) Issue ■). The mail service control unit 111
Similarly to step 801, the user name 903 and password 904 in the second data stream 112 are confirmed.

Step 805: The mail service control unit 111 reads the attribute information of the mail addressed to user B (109) registered in the reception mailbox area 1]4, and sends the mail to the workstation 2 (1).
03).

FIG. 1(e) Step 806: User B (1,09) selects the email (from user A) that he wants to view from the list of emails sent from the email service control unit 111 in step 805. Data stream of mail read command 204 (Fig. 1(a)
)■) is issued. Similarly to step 801, the mail service control unit 1] confirms the user name 903 and password 904 in the data stream.

Step 807: The mail service control unit 111 sends Demes1-Ream■
Using the mail number 906 inside as a key, the body of the corresponding mail is read from the mail body storage area 115 and sent to the workstation 2 (103).

FIG. 1(f) Step 808: User B (109) confirms the substance of the email sent from the email service control unit 11 in Step 8o7, and then sends the email sending command 20 to forward it to the next destination.
3 data stream ■ is issued.

At this time, whether or not to approve the content of the email is set in the auxiliary parameter 907 (here, approval). Similarly to step 801, the mail service control unit 111 checks the user registration name 903 and password 904 in Delas 1 to Ream (2).

Step 809: The mail service control unit 111, in accordance with the specification of the auxiliary parameter 907 in the data stream ■, sends the user r3 to the destination/letter 8308 of the circular mail attribute information originating from user A (108) in the outgoing mailbox area 113. (10
9) records that the email content has been approved. Furthermore, this circular mail is registered as a received mail for the next destination, user M (110).

From then on, at each destination specified by user A (108),
Repeat the operations shown in steps 804 to 809 above,
The email will be circulated.

FIG. 1(g) Step 810 On the other hand, in order to know the status of the mail he has sent, user A (1,08) uses the data stream of the outgoing mail information-read command F 205 (FIG. 1(a) )■) is issued. The mail service control unit], 1] checks the user registration name 903 and password 904 in the data stream (2), similarly to step 80].

Step 811: The mail service control unit 111 reads the attribute information of the outgoing mail of user A (108) stored in the outgoing mailbox area 113, and sends it to the workstation 1 (
1,02). User A (108) determines from the destination/status 308 of the attribute information of the outgoing email that was sent whether or not the destination user has viewed the email, and if it is a circulating email, to which destination it has been circulated. Furthermore, it is possible to know whether or not the user who has already completed the circulation has approved the contents of the mail.

According to the above embodiment, the content of the circular email is
□Change the substance of the email to let each recipient know whether they agree or reject the email. You can let us know whether you agree or not. Furthermore, since the mail service control unit can confirm that the user is the correct user based on the user's registered name, Pass2', etc., it is possible to realize a circular mail approval system with excellent operability and high reliability.

The above embodiment is shown as an example of the present invention,
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in a mail system in which users of a plurality of work stages 9 connected to an information processing device send and receive documents via the information processing device, the mail system In the mail service control unit of the information processing equipment that controls the operation of the information processing device, when a circular mail process is performed in which documents are sent in order among the plurality of users, each user to whom the circular mail is circulated is A content approval column is provided to record whether or not the content of the email has been approved, and information is set in the content approval column by the email service control unit based on instructions from the user, allowing easy operation. This has the remarkable effect of realizing a circular mail approval system in which the intentions of each recipient of a circular mail can be reported to the sender.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 (a) shows the command sequence chart 1-1 (b) between the workstation and the mail service control section.
) to (g) are flowcharts showing the operation of the mail service control section - 1 selection. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the system for implementing the present invention, and FIG. Figure 4 shows the structure of the outgoing mailbox area, Figure 5 shows the structure of the mail entry, Figure 6 shows the structure of the receiving mailbox area, and Figure 7 shows the list. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of the mail entity storage area, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the general format of the data storm room accepted by the mail service control section. 101: host computer, 102-104: workstation, 105-107: line, 108-110: user, 111: mail service control unit, 112: disk device, 113: outgoing mailbox area, 114: receiving mailbox Area, 115: Mail entity storage area, 116: Mailbox, 117: User management section, 3
03: User registration name, 304: Mail en I.S, 30
5: E-mail name, 306: Sent date and time, 307: E-mail type, 308: Destination/Status, 401: E-mail entry number,
503: User registration name, 504: Mail en I.S, 5
05: E-mail name, 506 Sender's name, 507: Sending date and time, 508: Delivery date and time, 509: E-mail type, 510: E-mail number, 901: Delus 1 Hereem. Patent applicant: Hitachi, Ltd. Figure 1 (f) Figure 1 (g)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a mail system in which users of a plurality of workstations connected to an information processing device send and receive documents via the information processing device, a mail service control of the information processing device that controls the operation of the mail system. In the department, when processing a circular mail in which documents are sent in order among the plurality of users, it is recorded for each circular mail whether or not each user to whom the circular mail is circulated has approved the contents of the mail. 1. A circular mail approval method, characterized in that a content approval field is provided, and information is set in the content approval field by the mail service control unit according to instructions from a user.