JPH04372080A - Device for questionnaire utilizing electronic mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically totalize/edit replies in a questionnaire distribution origin without preparing a return main with tag information, etc., by repliers when they are giving replies in the distribution/collection of the questionnaire utilizing electronic mail. CONSTITUTION:A replay column designation part 102 of a transmission origin designates a reply column. Based on it, a reply column data input part 109 of a transmission destination restricts the position of the reply column at the transmission destination. This enables a replier to insert his reply into the designated reply column and return it and a reply totalizing part 111 to automatically totalize/edit replies.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a questionnaire device using electronic mail in a computer system connected to a network.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers and workstations are connected via networks such as LANs, and electronic mail is used as one of the services on such networks. Further, electronic mail is being used for distributing, collecting, and tabulating various questionnaires, which is one form of its usage.

[0003] By the way, when distributing and collecting questionnaires using e-mail, if the format is such that each person to whom the questionnaire is distributed uses a free format to create responses, the results after collection will be as follows: All e-mails will be organized. It has to be done manually by a person, which reduces efficiency. Therefore, we decided on a format for the response column in advance, and each respondent who received the e-mail answered according to that format and replied, and the survey collection source could automate aggregation etc. based on that format. A system has been adopted that allows for efficient work.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of such an electronic mail device. In this figure, 501 is a data editing unit that edits data, 502 is a destination designation unit that specifies a destination, and 503 is an identifier assignment unit that assigns an identifier that identifies the type of e-mail to transmission data. Department,
504 is a reply status holding table that holds the reply status from the destination, 505 is an e-mail transmitter that sends e-mail, 506 is an e-mail receiver that receives e-mail, and 507 is an e-mail 508 is an aggregation result storage file that aggregates and stores the answer data from each respondent, and 509 stores the answer data in the e-mail in the aggregation result storage file 508. 510 is a data display unit that displays email data and the input cursor position; 511 is an answer display unit that controls the display method of response data displayed in the data display unit 510; These operate under the judgment and control of an integrated microcomputer. As shown in FIG. 6, the reply status holding table 504 contains the questionnaire number uniquely assigned to the questionnaire email sent by the email device, and the sender, which is the total number of senders of the questionnaire. The number of respondents, the number of respondents representing the current number of respondents, and the name of a file storing the total results of the questionnaire are stored. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the identifier assigned by the identifier assigning unit 503 is made up of a set of a questionnaire number that uniquely identifies the questionnaire, a type, the total number of answer columns, and a sender address. There is. In addition, the type indicates whether the sent data is a questionnaire from another person or a response to a sent questionnaire.
There is a QUESTION and an ANSWER. In addition, at this time, each user will be given the following message when answering the questionnaire:
The format is such that character strings such as "[Answer 1]", "[End]", "[Answer 2]", "[End]", etc. are added.

[0005] The operation of a questionnaire survey in a conventional system in which each user is equipped with an e-mail device configured as described above and connected via a network such as a LAN will be described below. First, the operation when sending a questionnaire will be explained. In the following description of operations, unless otherwise noted, operations are assumed to be performed in numerical order.

(1) Data editing section 501 edits transmission data. (2) The destination designation unit 502 stores the total number of destinations specified in the editing operation in (2) in the temporary storage area S_SOUSU. (3) The destination specifying unit 502 specifies the destinations in response to a user's request, and also stores the total number of destinations in the temporary storage area S.
Store in _SOUSU.

(4) The destination designation unit 502 selects the smallest number AN among the unused survey numbers in the reply status holding table 504, and stores (questionnaire number, number of senders, responders) in the reply status holding table 504. number, total result storage file name) = (AN, S_SOUSU, 0, ``
resultAN'') is registered. In addition, at this time, the name of the aggregation result storage file is the character string ''result.
'' and the questionnaire number AN.

(5) The identifier adding unit 503 adds a set of the selected questionnaire number AN, type QUESTION, total number of answer columns K_SOUSU, and sender address as an identifier to the beginning of the e-mail data. (6) The e-mail transmitter 505 transmits the identifier-attached transmission data to the destination specified in (3). (End of operation during transmission) Next, each operation when a questionnaire is received and when an answer to the questionnaire is received will be explained.

First, regarding the receiving operation, (7) E-mail receiving section 506 receives an e-mail. (8) The identifier determining unit 507 on the receiving side determines the type in the identifier added to the beginning of the received mail. If the type is QUESTION, proceed to the next step (9).

On the other hand, if the type is ANSWER (12)
Proceed to. (9) The data editing unit 501 on the receiving side creates response data in response to a user's request. At this time, the user creates response data in a predetermined format in response to the questionnaire content of the received e-mail. (10) The identifier assigning unit 503 on the receiving side sets the type in the identifier of the data of the replied e-mail to ANSWER.

(11) E-mail transmitter 505 on the receiving side
sends the e-mail data passed from (10) to the questionnaire sender in the identifier, and proceeds to (18). Next, regarding the operation when a response is received, (12) the response aggregation unit 509 extracts the questionnaire number from the identifier of the e-mail data, and selects the item from the reply status holding table 504 that corresponds to the extracted questionnaire number. The name of the tally result storage file is extracted, and the e-mail data from which the identifier has been removed is added to the end of the tally result storage file.

(13) Increase the number of responders by 1 in the item of the reply status holding table 504 that corresponds to the questionnaire number. If the number of replies = number of senders, then the following (14
). On the other hand, if the number of replies < the number of senders, wait for replies. (14) Set answer number N = 1.

(15) The answer display unit 511 sequentially extracts the answer data with the answer number N of the answer tag assigned by the user from the beginning of the total result storage file 508 to the “[end]” position, and displays the answer data in the data display unit 510. request to be displayed. (16) The data display section 510 displays answer data. (17) Increase N by 1.

If N is less than or equal to the total number of answer columns in the identifier, return to (15). On the other hand, if N exceeds the total number of answer columns in the identifier, proceed to the next step (18). (18) End the operation of the e-mail device. The end of the operation of the signal that received the questionnaire and the answer to the questionnaire. Next, specific operations for distributing, collecting, and tabulating questionnaires in the conventional e-mail device operating as described above will be explained based on the schematic diagram of FIG. 8.

Here, assume that the distribution source of the questionnaire is user a of electronic mail device A, and the distribution destinations are user b of electronic mail device B and user c of electronic mail device C. Further, it is assumed that the address of the e-mail destination is represented by (user name)@(e-mail device name). (101) The data editing unit 501 of the e-mail device A:
The questionnaire data to be sent is edited in response to a request from user a, and the results are stored in the e-mail data. Here, as shown in part (a) of FIG. 8, a total of three data records are generated, two with character attributes and one with graphic attributes.

(102) In response to a request from user a, the destination specifying unit 502 of e-mail device A sends b@B, c@C
is designated as the e-mail destination, and the total number of destinations, 2, is stored in the temporary storage area S_SOUSU. (103) The destination designation unit 502 of the e-mail device A selects the smallest number 1 among the unused questionnaire numbers in the reply status holding table 504, and selects the lowest number 1 from the reply status holding table 504.
04 (questionnaire number, number of senders, number of replies, file name for storing tally results) = (1, S_SOUSU, 0,
``result1'') is registered.

(104) The identifier assigning unit 503 of the e-mail device A adds the questionnaire number 1 selected in (103), the type of QUESTION, and the total number of answer columns K_S to the identifier.
OUSU and sender address a@A are stored and added to the beginning of the e-mail data. (105) As shown in part (b) of FIG. 8, the e-mail sending unit 505 of e-mail device A sends (
Send the e-mail created in step 104).

(106) The e-mail receiving section 506 of e-mail device B receives the e-mail sent in (105). (107) The identifier determination unit 507 of the email device B:
Since the type of identifier in the e-mail received at (106) is QUESTION, the e-mail is passed to the data editing section 501.

(108) Data editing section 501 connected to electronic mail device B creates response data to the questionnaire in response to a request from user b. At this time, Figure 8
As shown in part (c) of , user b uses "[answer 1]", "[end]", "[answer 2]", "[end]" before and after the answer.
The data editing unit 501 is requested to create response data based on a format in which the character string ``...'' is added.

(109) The identifier assigning unit 503 of the electronic mail device B sets the type in the identifier of the electronic mail data passed from (108) to ANSWER. (110) As shown in part (d) of FIG. 8, the e-mail sending unit 505 of e-mail device B extracts the questionnaire sender from the identifier, and sends it from (109) to a@A, which is the retrieved questionnaire sender. Send the provided email data.

(111) E-mail device C also has (106
) to (110) are performed. (112) E-mail receiving section 506 of e-mail device A
receives the returned e-mail at (110). (113) The identifier determination unit 507 of the electronic mail device A:
Since the type in the identifier given at the beginning of the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving section 506 is ANSWER, the answer aggregation section 509 is called.

(114) The response aggregation unit 509 of the e-mail device A extracts the questionnaire number 1 from the identifier of the e-mail data, and uses the aggregation result storage file name' in the item of the reply status holding table 504 corresponding to the questionnaire number 1.
Take out 'result1'' and
Add the e-mail data with the identifier removed at the end of ''. (115) E-mail device A increases the number of responders in the item of reply status holding table 504 corresponding to questionnaire number 1 by one.

(116) E-mail device A also processes (112) to (11) regarding the e-mail returned from c@C.
Perform the same operation as 5). (117) As a result of (116), reply status holding table 5
The number of replies in item 04 = number of senders = 2, and the response display section 511 is activated here. (118) The reply display section 511 of the e-mail device A is
From the answer data in sult1, "[Answer 1]", "[End]", "
The answer column is specified from the answer column tags such as "[Answer 2]", "[End]", etc., the answer number N is extracted, and the result is displayed on the data display section 510.

(119) The data display unit 510 of electronic mail device A displays the answers b and c whose answer number is 1. (120) The data display section 510 of the electronic mail device A displays the answers b and c whose answer number is 2. (121) In this case, since the total number of answer columns=2, the e-mail device ends its operation. As a result, the tally result storage file is organized by each answer number as shown in part (e) of the figure, and is finally displayed on the CRT of the answer display section. (End of explanation of distribution, collection, and aggregation operations) A series of questionnaire operations are performed using the e-mail device through the above steps.

[0025]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above-mentioned configuration, respondents are required to write information before and after the answer column themselves, even though they are equipped with expensive microcomputers, electronic devices, and various programs associated with e-mail. Only when you reply to an e-mail after creating answer data that follows the answer format, such as by inserting tags indicating each answer column, will the answer display section search for the tags and retrieve the answer data. , the data can be displayed in aggregated form using the data display section 510. This not only complicates the work of each respondent, but also makes it impossible to tally if one of the respondents makes an error, such as forgetting a form.

[0026] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a questionnaire device that can reduce the work of respondents, and can also prevent aggregation from becoming impossible even if a respondent makes an error. .

[0027]

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, there is provided a data editing means for editing data, a destination specifying means for specifying a destination, and an electronic mail data an identifier assigning means for assigning an identifier to identify the type of email, a reply status holding unit for retaining the status of replies from destinations, an email transmitting unit for transmitting emails, and an email for receiving emails. a receiving means, an identifier determining means for determining an identifier of an e-mail, an aggregation result storage means for aggregating and storing answer data from each respondent, and storing the answer data in the e-mail in the aggregation result storage means. Answer aggregation means,
In an e-mail device, the e-mail device has data display means for displaying e-mail data and an input position of an answer, and an answer display means for controlling a display method of answer data displayed on the data display section. An answer column specifying means for specifying an answer column in the data edited by the editing means to create e-mail data, and inputting answer data only in the answer column according to the answer column specification in the sent e-mail. The electronic mail device is characterized in that it has a response data input means for binding.

[0028] The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that it comprises display method designation means for designating the display method of data to be displayed on the data display section in response to a request from the answer display means. It is used as an e-mail device. The invention according to claim 3 is characterized by comprising a response data record retrieval unit for extracting only the response data record from the e-mail data returned after inputting the response data by the response data input means. An electronic mail device according to claim 1.

[0029]

[Operation] According to the above structure, in the invention according to claim 1, an answer column is specified by the sender's transmission data answer column specifying means, and based on this, the answer column constraining means of the sender specifies the answer column specified by the sender. The position of the sender will be restricted, and the sender will be able to reply by inserting an answer only in the restricted answer column, and the sender will be able to automatically tally and edit the answers.

In the invention according to claim 2, the display method specifying means specifies the tally result storage file,
By specifying the aggregation method on the file, the sender can automatically aggregate and edit the responses. In the invention according to claim 3, only the answer column data is extracted from the data edited by the data editing means, and the identifier assigning means assigns an identifier to the answer column data, so that only the answer column data is included. The e-mail can be sent by the e-mail sending means.

[0031]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a structural diagram of an electronic mail device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 101 is a data editing section that edits data. Reference numeral 102 denotes an answer column specifying section that specifies an answer column in the data edited by the data editing section 101 to create electronic mail data. Reference numeral 103 is a destination designation unit for specifying a destination. 1
Reference numeral 04 denotes an identifier adding unit that adds an identifier for identifying the type of e-mail to e-mail data. 105 is a reply status holding table that holds the reply status from the destination. Reference numeral 106 denotes an e-mail transmitter that sends e-mail. Reference numeral 107 is an e-mail receiving unit that receives e-mail. Reference numeral 108 denotes an identifier determination unit that determines the identifier of an e-mail. Reference numeral 109 is an answer data input unit that restricts the input of answer data only to the answer column according to the instructions of the answer column designation record tag in the transmitted e-mail. Reference numeral 110 denotes a total result storage file that totals and stores answer data from each respondent. Reference numeral 111 denotes a response aggregation unit that stores response data in the e-mail into the aggregation result storage file 110. Reference numeral 112 is a data display section that displays electronic mail data and the input cursor position. Reference numeral 113 denotes an answer display section that controls the display method of answer data displayed on the data display section 112. Reference numeral 114 denotes a display method designation unit that designates the display method of the tally result storage file 110 in the data editing unit 101. Reference numeral 115 denotes an answer data record extracting unit that extracts only the answer column from the answer data edited by the data editing unit 101.

As shown in FIG. 3, the reply status holding table 105 stores the questionnaire number uniquely assigned to the questionnaire e-mail sent by the e-mail device, and
This is a table that holds information that includes the number of senders, which is the total number of senders of the questionnaire, the number of respondents, which is the current number of respondents, and the file name of the file that stores the aggregated results of the questionnaire. , has the same configuration as that related to the prior art.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the identifier assigned by the identifier assigning unit 104 consists of a set of a questionnaire number that uniquely identifies the questionnaire, a type, the total number of answer columns, and a sender address. . The types include QUESTION and ASW, which indicate whether the sent data is a questionnaire from another person or a response to a questionnaire sent by you.
There is an ER. Therefore, the e-mail device according to the present invention does not differ from the e-mail device of the prior art in its main configuration and operation. However, since it is used in a network such as a LAN with an expensive built-in microcomputer, various electronic devices, and attached programs, in order to make them even more effective, we will ask the recipients of the questionnaire how to write their responses. The difference is that it naturally forces such things. Below, these functions will be mainly explained.

First, the data structure of e-mail data when sending and replying to a questionnaire will be explained. As shown in FIG. 4(b), the data structure of the e-mail data at the time of sending and responding to the questionnaire consists of multiple records starting with the identifier assigned by the identifier assigning unit 104. It has a tag structure consisting of a variable length record indicating the type of record at the beginning. Note that the tags here include a "data record tag" that represents a record that stores the data of the survey contents, an "answer field specification record tag" that represents a record that stores the specified contents of the answer field when sending the survey, and a "answer field specification record tag" that represents the record that stores the data of the survey contents. There are three types of "answer data record tags" that represent records that store answer data. Records with these tags are classified as data records, answer column specification records, and records with these tags.
This will be called an answer data record.

The structure of each record is shown in FIGS. 4(c) and 4(d), respectively.
) and (e). As shown in Figure 4(c), a data record includes a data record tag, the size of the data in the record, the display position of the data, attributes indicating the type of character data, graphic data, etc., and the actual data. Become. As shown in Figure 4(d), the answer column specification record includes an answer column specification record tag, an answer number given to each answer column as a serial number, the maximum data size, the display position of the answer column, character data, It consists of attributes that indicate the type of data that allows input such as graphic data, and the response data input section 1 of the receiving destination.
09 will be subject to restrictions on the answer column.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 4(e), the answer data record includes an answer data record tag, an answer number given to each answer column as a serial number, the size of the data in the record, and the display position of the answer column. , an attribute representing the type of data such as character data, graphic data, etc., and actual data. next,
Regarding the structure of e-mail data, when sending a questionnaire, multiple data records are created as shown in Figure 4(f).
It has a structure consisting of a plurality of answer column designation records, and when answering a questionnaire, it has a structure consisting of a plurality of data records and a plurality of response data records, as shown in FIG. 4(g). Furthermore, in this embodiment, the display method specifying section 11
4 is configured to organize the tally result storage file for each answer number and display it using the data display section 112.

The operation of the electronic mail device in this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below. First, the operation when sending a questionnaire will be explained. (201) After creating and editing the e-mail data for each question (questionnaire), the data editing unit 101 stores the results as a data record in the e-mail data.

(202) In response to a user's request, the answer column specifying unit 102 assigns each answer column to the e-mail edited by the data editing unit 101 according to a program determined for each question (questionnaire) recognized by the tag. Specify the display after the question, display size, answer method, etc. (203) The answer column designation unit 102 inputs the designation result (
201) as an answer column designation record in the e-mail data created in step 201).

(204) The answer column designation section 102 specifies (20
The total number of answer columns specified in 2) is stored in the temporary storage area K.
Store in _SOUSU. (205) In response to a request from the user, the display method specifying section 114 sets a display method for displaying the answer data records for each answer number when the answer aggregation is completed from among predetermined options (programs), and then selects the answer display section. 113
Specify for.

(206) The destination specifying unit 103 specifies destinations in response to a user's request, and stores the total number of destinations in the temporary storage area S_SOUSU. (207) The destination designation unit 103 selects the smallest number AN among the unused survey numbers in the reply status holding table 105.
Select , and add it to the reply status holding table 105 (questionnaire number, number of senders, number of responders, file name for storing aggregated results).
=(AN, S_SOUSU, 0, 'resul
tAN'') is registered. At this time, it is assumed that the name of the tally result storage file is a combination of the character string ``result'' and the questionnaire number AN.

(208) The identifier assigning unit 104 assigns (207
) selected questionnaire number AN and type QUEST
A set of ION, the total number of answer columns K_SOUSU, and the sender address is added to the beginning of the e-mail data as an identifier. (209) The e-mail transmission unit 106 sends the transmission data (2
Send to the destination specified in step 06). (End of operation during transmission) Next, the operation when receiving a questionnaire and when receiving an answer to the questionnaire will be explained.

First, the case of reception will be explained. (210) The e-mail receiving unit 107 on the receiving side receives the e-mail. (211) The identifier determining unit 108 on the receiving side determines the type in the identifier added to the beginning of the email received by the email receiving unit 107. If the type is QUESTIO
If N, proceed to (212).

On the other hand, if the type is ANSWER (221
). (212) Set temporary storage area N=1. (213) The answer column data input section 109 on the receiving side requests the data display section 112 to display the e-mail data. (214) The data display unit 112 on the receiving side decodes each of the data record, answer field specification record, and answer data record in the e-mail data, and displays them according to the display position stored in each record, Further, the cursor is moved to the beginning of the answer column corresponding to the answer column specification record whose answer number is N according to the program written in the answer column specification record. That is, the entry field for the answer is fixed.

(215) Receiving side answer column data input section 1
09 accepts only the user's input of answer data for answer column designation records whose answer number is N under the above program. (216) Similarly, the answer column data input unit 109 adds an answer column data tag, the answer number of the answer column designation record with the answer number N, the size of the answer data, the display position, and the attributes to the beginning of the input answer data. The e-mail data is updated by replacing the generated answer data record with the answer column designation record.

(217) Let N=N+1. After that, if N is less than the total number of answer fields in the identifier (
Return to 213). On the other hand, if N is the total number of answer columns in the identifier, the process proceeds to (218). (218) Answer data record retrieval unit 11 on the receiving side
5 extracts only the answer data records from the e-mail data passed from the answer column data input section 109. Note that as a result, only the reply data record is included in the e-mail data to be sent back.

(219) The identifier assigning unit 104 on the receiving side determines the type in the identifier of the passed e-mail data by ASW.
ER. (220) The e-mail transmitter 106 on the receiving side sends the e-mail data passed to the questionnaire sender in the identifier, and then proceeds to (227). Next, the operation when a reply is received will be explained.

(221) The response aggregation unit 111 on the sending side, that is, on the response receiving side, extracts the questionnaire number from the identifier of the e-mail data, and aggregates the items in the reply status holding table 105 corresponding to the extracted questionnaire number. The name of the result storage file is extracted, and the e-mail data from which the identifier has been removed is added to the end of the total result storage file.

(222) The number of respondents in the item of the reply status holding table 105 corresponding to the questionnaire number is increased by 1. After that, if the number of replies = the number of senders, then (2
Proceed to 23). On the other hand, if the number of replies < the number of senders, wait for replies. (223) Set temporary storage area N=1.

(224) The response display section 113 on the sending side displays the response numbers N sequentially from the top of the total result storage file 110.
The answer data record is taken out and displayed in the data display section 11.
2 to request display. (225) In response to the above request, the data display section 112 displays the answer data record.

(226) Let N=N+1. After that, if N is less than or equal to the total number of answer fields in the identifier (224
) Return to On the other hand, if N exceeds the total number of answer columns in the identifier, the process proceeds to (227). (227) The operation of the e-mail device is ended. (End of reception operation) In the operation (216) above, if the input exceeds the maximum data size or if data with different attributes is input, error processing is performed.

The operation of the e-mail device of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below. (Figure 2
) is a schematic diagram showing an example of the process of distributing, collecting, and tabulating questionnaires using the e-mail device according to the embodiment of the present invention. At this time, the distribution source of the questionnaire is user a of e-mail device A, the distribution destinations are user b of e-mail device B and user c of e-mail device C, and the address of the e-mail destination is (user name). Represented by @ (email device name).

(301) The data editing section 101 of the e-mail device A edits data for the questionnaire to be sent in response to a request from the user a, and stores the results as a data record in the e-mail data. Here, a total of three data records are generated: two with text attributes and one with graphic attributes. (Part (a) of Figure 2) (302
) The answer field specifying unit 102 of the e-mail device A instructs the maximum data size, display position, and attributes for each data edited by the data editing unit 101, and specifies the two answer fields for each question. After filling out the questionnaire at the end, add the results to the e-mail data created in (301) as two response field specification records,
The total number of answer columns specified to the identifier assigning unit 104, 2, is stored in the temporary storage area K_SOUSU. ((b in Figure 2)
) part) (303) In response to a request from user a, the display method specifying unit 114 of e-mail device A specifies a predetermined option (program) for displaying a display method for displaying the response data records for each response number when response aggregation is completed. Select one from among them and specify it on the answer display section 113.

(304) In response to a request from user a, the destination specifying unit 103 of e-mail device A sends b@B, c@C
is specified as the e-mail destination, and the total number of destinations, 2, is stored in the temporary storage area S_SOUSU. (305) The destination designation unit 103 of the e-mail device A selects the smallest number 1 among the unused questionnaire numbers in the reply status holding table 105, and selects the lowest number 1 from the reply status holding table 105.
05 (questionnaire number, number of senders, number of replies, file name for storing tally results) = (1, S_SOUSU, 0,
'result1'') is registered.

(306) The identifier assigning unit 104 of the e-mail device A adds the questionnaire number 1 selected in (305), the type of QUESTION, and the total number of answer columns K_S to the identifier.
OUSU and sender address a@A are stored and added to the beginning of the e-mail data. (307) E-mail transmitter 106 of e-mail device A
sends the created e-mail to b@B and c@C. (Part (c) of FIG. 2) (308) E-mail receiving section 107 of e-mail device B
receives sent emails.

(309) Since the type of the identifier in the received e-mail is QUESTION, the identifier determination unit 108 of the e-mail device B determines that the answer field data input unit 1
Give the email to 09. (310) Set temporary storage area N=1. (311) Answer column data input section 10 of e-mail device B
9 requests the data display section 112 to display e-mail data.

(312) The data display unit 112 of the e-mail device B displays the three data records and the two answer column designation records in the specified e-mail data according to the display position stored in each record. In addition, the cursor is moved to the beginning of the answer column corresponding to the answer column designation record whose answer number is N for each question (questionnaire).

(313) At the request of user b, the answer field data input section 109 of electronic mail device B inputs the answer number N.
Accepts input of answer data for the answer column specified record. (Part (d) of FIG. 2) (314) Answer field data input section 10 of electronic mail device B
9 is an answer data record generated by adding an answer column data tag, the answer number, answer data size, display position, and attributes of the answer column specification record with the current flag of 1 to the beginning of the input answer data, The e-mail data is updated by replacing the answer column designation record. At this time, if the input exceeds the maximum data size or if data with different attributes is input, error handling is performed according to a predetermined program. However, since the structure is such that answers are entered immediately after each question (survey),
Input errors by respondents will be kept to a minimum.

(315) E-mail device B increases N by 1. E-mail device B repeats the operations (311) to (315) once again. (316) The response data record extraction unit 114 of the email device B extracts only the response data record from the email data passed from the response field data input unit 109.

(317) The identifier assigning unit 104 of the electronic mail device B determines the type in the identifier of the electronic mail data passed from the answer data record retrieving unit 114 as ANSWE.
Let it be R. (318) E-mail transmission section 106 of e-mail device B
extracts the questionnaire sender from the identifier and sends the identifier to a@A, which is the retrieved questionnaire sender, to the identifier assigning unit 104.
Send the e-mail data passed from . (Figure 2 (
Part e) (319) E-mail device C also performs the above (308) to (3)
18).

(320) The e-mail receiving section 107 of the e-mail device A receives the e-mail from b@B. (321) The identifier determination unit 108 of the electronic mail device A:
Since the type in the identifier given at the beginning of the email received by the email receiving unit 107 is ANSWER,
The response aggregation unit 111 is called.

(322) The response aggregation unit 111 of the e-mail device A extracts the questionnaire number 1 from the identifier of the e-mail data, and uses the aggregation result storage file name' in the item of the reply status holding table 105 corresponding to the questionnaire number 1.
Take out 'result1'' and
Add the e-mail data with the identifier removed at the end of 1''. (323) E-mail device A increases the number of responders in the item of reply status holding table 105 corresponding to questionnaire number 1 by one.

(324) E-mail device A also performs the above (318)-(
323). As a result of (325) and (324), reply status holding table 1
The number of replies in item 05 = number of senders = 2, and the response display section 113 is activated. (326) The reply display section 113 of e-mail device A
Sequentially from the beginning of the answer data records in sult1, answers with answer numbers N are taken out and requested to be displayed on the data display section 112.

(327) The data display section 112 of electronic mail device A displays the answers b and c whose answer number is 1. (328) The data display unit 112 of the electronic mail device A displays the answers b and c whose answer number is 2. (329) In this case, since the total number of answer columns=2, the e-mail device ends its operation. As a result, the total result storage file is organized and displayed for each answer number. (Part (f) of FIG. 2) (End) As described above, according to the present embodiment, the answer column designation section 102 of the e-mail device A and the answer column data of the e-mail device B (e-mail device C) The input unit 109 restricts the user b (user c) to write the answer column in the e-mail device B (e-mail device C) immediately after each question (questionnaire) without being conscious of the format of the answer. Of course, an e-mail device is provided in which the e-mail device A can automatically tally and edit the answers by inserting the answers into a designated answer field and sending them back.

Note that in this embodiment, user a uses the data editing section 101 of electronic mail device A to
After finishing editing the data to be sent to (user c),
Although the answer column specifying unit 102 is used to specify the answer column, a configuration may be adopted in which the answer column is specified while editing the data. In addition, if the content of the questionnaire is so simple that only YES or NO can be answered, YES and NO will be displayed in the answer column, and each recipient can specify one of them with the cursor. Of course, various modifications and applications can be made.

Further, in this embodiment, the display method specifying unit 113 of the electronic mail device A organizes the tally result storage file by each answer number as shown in FIG. 2, and displays it using the data display unit. However, it is of course not limited to this. That is, a configuration may be adopted in which various aggregation methods can be specified, such as determining the sum, average, and variance based on each answer data in the aggregation result storage file.

[0066] Next, the sending and receiving addresses of the questionnaire are fixed, such as the TV audience rating research organization and each viewer, the newspaper's questionnaire staff and each reader, and the sending address and receiving address are always fixed. Of course, if the destination is always a receiving destination, each sending destination and receiving destination need not be equipped with all the devices shown in the embodiment.

[0067]

[Effect of the Invention] As explained above, according to the invention according to claim 1, even if the respondent does not create a reply mail by adding tag information indicating the reply by himself while replying, the sender can The responses can be automatically aggregated, reducing the user's burden and preventing automatic aggregation failures due to tag input errors by the user.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the questionnaire distributor can select a processing method during aggregation depending on the content of the questionnaire to be distributed. Further, according to the invention of claim 3, only the answer data records are extracted from the data edited by the data editing section and are used as answer data, and then the identifier assigning section assigns an identifier to the answer data. It becomes possible to reply to an e-mail containing only data records, reducing the amount of data when replying to a questionnaire.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the process of distributing, collecting, and aggregating questionnaires using the electronic mail device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the structure of a reply status holding table according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment of an electronic mail data structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional electronic mail device.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the structure of a conventional e-mail reply status holding table.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional electronic mail data structure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the process of distributing, collecting, and tabulating questionnaires using a conventional electronic mail device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Data editing section 102 Answer column specification section 103 Destination specification section 104 Identifier assignment section 105 Reply status holding table 106
E-mail transmitting section 107 E-mail receiving section 108 Identifier determining section 109 Answer column data input section 110
Edit result storage file 111 Answer aggregation section 112 Data display section 113 Answer display section 114 Display method section

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: data editing means for editing data; destination specifying means for specifying a destination; e-mail transmitting means for transmitting e-mail, e-mail receiving means for receiving e-mail, and identifier determining means for determining an identifier of the e-mail;
a totalization result storage means for totalizing and storing answer data from each respondent; an answer aggregation section means for storing the response data in the e-mail in the aggregation result storage means; In an e-mail device having a data display means for displaying an input position and an answer display means for controlling a display method of answer data displayed by the data display means, an answer is included in the data edited by the data editing means. The method includes an answer column specifying means for specifying a column and creating e-mail data, and an answer data input means for restricting input of answer data only to the answer column according to the answer column specification in the transmitted e-mail. Featured e-mail device. [Claim 2] According to a request from the answer display means,
Claim 1 further comprising display method designation means for designating a display method of data displayed by the data display means.
E-mail device as described. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an answer data record extracting means for extracting only an answer data record from the e-mail data returned after inputting the answer data by the answer data input means. E-mail device as described.