JPH088965A - Electronic mail management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To utilize an electronic mail system effectively by revising a handling time of a received message as time elapses. CONSTITUTION:When attribute information added to a message at a transmitter side is stored in a receiver side mail box 24, a time message management section 27 starts its management. For example, a message up to a prescribed time is handled as a regular message and when the prescribed period passes, urgency is gradually revised. The urgency is maximized just before the dead-line and after the lapse of the validity, the urgency is automatically deleted. The message whose validity is closer at hand is made visually distinct to the recipient by revising automatically the attribute information by a prescribed rule.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail management method in an electronic mail system in which computers are connected via a network to exchange messages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic mail system connects computers by a communication line such as a public line or a local area network so that messages can be exchanged with each other. The message sent from the sender is stored in the mailbox of the receiver. The sending side of the electronic mail creates a message body using a document creating device such as a word processor, and further adds attribute information such as the destination, subject, urgency, priority, etc. to this body and sends it to the receiving side. On the receiving side, the desired message is taken out based on the list of many messages stored in the mailbox, displayed on a display or the like, and the content is read.

[0003]

The electronic mail management method in the conventional system as described above has the following problems to be solved. At the time of transmission, attribute information such as urgency and importance is added to the message, but there are various types of messages, and the urgency and importance often change with time. For example, a message or the like to be processed by a certain deadline has a higher urgency when the deadline approaches. It becomes unnecessary if the deadline has passed. If such messages are handled uniformly along with other messages, important messages may not be promptly transmitted.

[0004]

The present invention adopts the following constitution in order to solve the above problems. This e-mail management method is characterized in that the attribute information that is added to the message stored in the mailbox and that determines the handling of the e-mail is sequentially changed over time according to a preset pattern.

[0005]

When the attribute information added to the message on the sending side is stored in the recipient's mailbox, the time message management unit starts its management. For example, the message is treated as a normal message until a certain time, and the urgency is gradually changed after a certain time. Immediately before the deadline, the urgency is maximized, and after the deadline, it is automatically deleted. By automatically changing the attribute information according to a certain rule, it is possible to handle the message so that it is noticeable to the recipient when the message has a nearer deadline.

[0006]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an electronic mail system for implementing the present invention. In this system, a sending computer 10 and a receiving computer 20 are connected via a network 1. Each computer
Any hardware can be used as long as it has a workstation, a personal computer, and other functions for creating documents and transmitting / receiving electronic mail. As the network 1, for example, a public line such as a telephone network or a facsimile network, a local area network, or the like is used.

The sending computer 10 is provided with a document creation unit 11, an attribute designation unit 12, a user agent module (UA) 13, a transmission history log unit 14, a message transfer agent module (MTA) 15 and a communication control unit 16. ing. The receiving computer 20 includes a communication control unit 21, a message transfer agent module (MTA) 22, a message store module (MS) 23, a recipient mailbox 24, and a user agent module (UA).
25, message display unit 26, time message management unit 2
7 and a receiver side message management table 28 are provided.

In the illustrated embodiment, the sending computer 10
Is a functional block for transmission, and the receiving computer 20
In the figure, the functional blocks on the receiving side are mainly displayed. But,
When exchanging messages with each other, exactly the same functional blocks may be provided in both. The document creating unit 11 in the sending computer 10 is composed of a device having various document creating functions such as a word processor and a personal computer. The attribute designation unit 12
It is a portion on the transmission side for the sender to specify attributes such as the destination, and is composed of a keyboard and menu display means for displaying attribute candidates. Therefore, specifically, a computer keyboard or a display is used here.

The user agent module 13 is
It is a part having a function of analyzing and confirming whether or not the destination designated by the attribute designating unit 12 is valid, and automatically adding a sender name, a message ID and the like to the message. The transmission history log unit 14 is a unit for recording and accumulating attribute information of messages transmitted in the past. This is used when correcting a message transmitted in the past in one embodiment of the present invention. The message transfer agent module 15 is a part in the electronic mail system that performs control for sending a message to a destination. The communication control unit 16 is an interface for connecting the sending computer 10 to the network 1.

Communication controller 21 of receiving computer 20
Is an interface for connecting the network 1 and the receiving computer 20. The message transfer agent module 22, like the one connected to the sending computer 10, is a part for controlling the sending and receiving of messages in the electronic mail system. The message store module 23 is a part that controls the storage of the received message, and the message is stored in the recipient-side mailbox 24.

The user agent module 25
This is a part for analyzing the attribute information and the like of the received message. The message display unit 26 is composed of a display or the like for pulling out and displaying an arbitrary message from the recipient-side mailbox 24 according to a request from the recipient. The time message management unit 27, when changing the attribute information of the message with the passage of time in the present invention,
This is the part that controls it. The receiver-side message management table 28 is composed of a table showing how the attribute information is changed over time.

FIG. 2 shows an explanatory diagram of a message structure example.
Messages sent and received by the electronic mail system generally include a header part and a body part. The header portion constitutes attribute information, and in this example, for example, information such as a destination, a subject, a sender, a message ID, an urgency level, an original, a deadline, a deadline, and read has been included. The destination is a destination for transmitting a message, and the destination is displayed as A here. The subject is the title of the message, which is, for example, "about holding a meeting" here. The sender is the person who sends the message, here B
Has become.

The message ID is a number assigned to each message to distinguish the message, and is "3051" in this case. The urgency is given by managing the importance of the message, and this example is common. The original is a part for distinguishing the first transmitted message when the contents of the message are changed and added with the passage of time in the present invention. Therefore, if this original part is blank, it is the original message. If the message ID of another message is entered, that message ID
It can be seen that the message with is the original, the other messages are modified.

The deadline is a portion for displaying the date and the like. The part overdue indicates the handling of the message when the deadline is exceeded. In this example, it is transfer. That is,
When the deadline has passed, it means that this message is transferred to the transfer destination C displayed on the right side. This is attribute information applied to circulation and the like. "Read" means that the message has been taken out of the mailbox and has been read by the recipient, and that the message has been read (Yes), and has not been read (No). The main body is the body of the message, and in this example, it is said that "the meeting will be held in the 101st meeting room from 3:00 on December 13th."

FIG. 3 shows the contents of the information stored in the transmission history log unit 14 of the transmission side computer 10 shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, each time a message is sent, the date and time it was sent, the recipient of the message,
The subject, message ID, etc. are recorded and accumulated in order. Further, this transmission history log can be retrieved later by using the destination, message ID, etc. as a key, and the contents can be read and used. For example, in the example shown here, 9
It is shown that a message was sent to the address K at 3:00 pm on December 3, 3rd, with a subject of "meeting matter". The message ID is “3020”.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the message management table on the receiver side. In one embodiment of the present invention, the message stored in the mailbox of the recipient side is treated according to a certain rule over time. The handling is changed by rewriting the attribute information each time. The message management table on the receiver side shows rules for the change. For example, as for a certain message, as shown in this example, it is treated as a normal mail until four days before the deadline. That is, once stored in the recipient's mailbox, it is left as it is until the recipient takes it out. Also, three days before the deadline, the attribute information is rewritten so that the message is treated as a new mail even though the message has been stored for a certain period of time.

This prevents the message from being forgotten and alerts the recipient to read it as a new mail. One day before the deadline, handle it as an emergency mail. This is executed by changing the content of the urgency level from normal to urgent in the header part of the message shown in FIG. Also, the deadline 1
After a week, the message itself is deleted from the mailbox. This is because a message with a certain deadline becomes worthless after the deadline has passed.

The time message management unit 27 of the receiving computer 20 shown in FIG. 1 has a built-in clock and the like, and the attribute information of the message stored in the recipient mailbox 24 and the recipient message as time passes. The attribute information is sequentially changed while comparing and referring to the management table 28. Hereinafter, the operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 in use will be sequentially described with reference to a flowchart and the like.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a message creating procedure. The sending computer 10 shown in FIG. 1 creates a message according to this procedure. First, step S
1, a document is created, that is, the body of a message is created using the function of a word processor, a personal computer, or the like. This is performed by the document creation unit 11 shown in FIG. Then, in step S2 of FIG. 5, the attribute designating unit 12 inputs the attribute information such as the destination, the subject, and the urgency. Next, in step S3, it is determined whether the message has a deadline. If there is a deadline, the process moves to step S4 and the deadline is set.

Next, in step S5, a transfer destination is designated. That is, if the mail is forwarded to a certain forwarding destination after a certain period of time has passed, this step S
4 and S5 are executed. In step S6, it is determined whether the message modifies the content of the already transmitted message. If the contents are to be changed, the transmission history log unit 14 shown in FIG.
The transmission history log stored in is read. This is performed in step S7, and the message ID of the corresponding message already transmitted at this time is obtained.

Then, in step S8, the message ID of the already transmitted message is entered in the original portion of the attribute information of the message to be transmitted for change. The designation of the attribute information as described above is performed by operating the keyboard or the like by the attribute designating unit 12 shown in FIG. Then, in step S9, the user agent module 1
The sender and the message ID and the like are automatically added by the operations such as 3. Then, the message is transmitted in step S10, and the transmission history log is updated based on the attribute information of the message transmitted in step S11.

FIG. 6 shows a time message management operation flowchart on the receiving side. This operation is performed by the time message management unit 27 of the receiving computer 20 shown in FIG. First, in step S1, the current time is read from a clock or the like built in the computer.
Then, in step S2, one message is extracted from the recipient-side mailbox 24. Then step S
At 3, it is determined whether the attribute information of the message includes the original message display. If there is an original message, step S4
And find the corresponding message in the mailbox. Then, the message newly received this time and the corresponding message are merged. This merging is actually done by arranging the message bodies in chronological order.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the result of the change of the attribute information and the merging of the text accompanying the change of the message.
FIG. 7A shows an original message, and FIG. 7B shows a change message. The original message has an address of A, the subject is “about a meeting”, and the message ID is “305.
It is 1 "and the text is" A meeting will be held in the 101st conference room from 3:00 on December 13th. " This original message has already been stored in the recipient's mailbox. After that, it is assumed that a new change message is sent.

In this case, the content of the change message is, for example, the destination is A, the subject is "conference holding {change}",
The message ID is “3052”. Then, the body of the message has the content of "Change to the 102nd conference room." When such a change message is received, the receiving side performs merging as shown in FIG. That is, the new merged message has a destination of A, a subject of “conference holding {change}”, and a message ID of “3052”. The message body is "102nd
It is changed to the meeting room. Next to this, the contents of the messages that have already arrived and have been received are continuously displayed. That is, the message is such that the subject is "Conference holding" and the body is "Conference is held in the 101st conference room from 3:00 on December 13th."

Looking at such merged messages, it becomes clear that the first arrived message was modified by the newly arrived message. That is, by including information that correlates a plurality of messages stored with different arrival times before and after each other, the related messages can be displayed in a merged manner. This attribute information is shown in FIG.
For example, the item "original" shown in. It suffices that the message IDs displayed here are the same. Therefore, no matter how many times the original message is changed, all the messages can be associated and displayed in a merged manner. Further, by displaying the contents of the message in order according to the passage of time, the progress of the change of the contents of the message is clarified, and the changed contents of the message are transmitted without error. The sending side can also send a new message while effectively utilizing the messages sent in the past.

Next, returning to step S5 in FIG. 6, it is judged whether or not the message is to be transferred due to the deadline. If the message is to be transferred due to the deadline, the process moves to step S6 and the message is transferred to the transfer destination. This is executed by referring to the attribute information of the item "deadline exceeded" shown in FIG. This prevents, for example, messages that should be circulated on a fixed schedule from remaining in the mailboxes of any of the recipients.

Then, in step S7, the message management table is read. The contents of the message management table are as described above with reference to FIG.
In step S8, if there is a corresponding attribute change part, the attribute information of the message is changed. That is, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the number of days before the deadline is determined with reference to the deadline, and the attribute of the message is changed to the corresponding attribute. Therefore, a message with a sufficient deadline is handled normally, and when the deadline is approaching to some extent, the recipient's attention is called as a new mail, and when it is imminent, such as one day ago, the recipient is treated as an emergency mail. Make an eye-catching appeal.

Further, in step S9, if there is a corresponding action, it is executed. In the example shown in FIG. 4, no action is taken before the deadline. However, the deadline is 1
Actions such as automatically deleting the message after a week has passed are specified. In step S9, such a process is executed to prevent unnecessary messages from being accumulated in the mailbox and limiting the capacity of the mailbox. In step S10, it is determined whether the above-mentioned processing has been executed for all the messages, and if other messages remain in the mailbox, the process returns to step S1 and the processing of steps S1 to S9 is repeated.

For example, when the attribute information is changed and the handling of the message is changed from normal handling to new arrival handling, a message such as "A message has arrived" is displayed on the message display unit 26. Further, when the attribute information is changed to a state of high urgency, a message such as "Emergency message has arrived" is displayed on the message display unit 26. Such time management is performed by, for example, CRON of UNIX system.
It can be easily implemented using an existing system such as (time activation system).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. When exchanging messages between computers, the attribute information added to the messages may include various contents other than the above. Then, as attribute information that is worth changing with the passage of time, other than the urgency level of the message as described above, the importance level and various other types can be considered. In addition, the timing and method of changing may be freely set. Furthermore, when a message is transferred to another place after a predetermined period of time, the message may be transferred as it is, or the message having the same content may be copied and transferred to the transfer destination. . That is, the contents may be transferred to another place with the same message left on the receiving side.

The message operation according to the management information, such as performing a preset action with the passage of time, may be not only the discarding of the message but also the filing of the message to another place and other operations.
Further, as attribute information for associating a plurality of messages, in addition to adding the original message ID,
Appropriate common numbers and symbols can be used in combination. There are various methods for merging messages, such as simply arranging the message bodies in the order of arrival, rearranging them in an appropriate form according to the item, extracting certain keywords and arranging them in that order. Conceivable.

[0032]

According to the electronic mail management method of the present invention described above, the attribute information is sequentially changed with the passage of time in accordance with a preset pattern. According to the degree
The message can be handled appropriately and the information can be used more effectively.

Further, since the data can be transferred to the designated transfer destination after a lapse of a certain period after reception, the flow of documents such as approval documents requiring circulation on a fixed schedule is automatically smoothed. it can. Further, it becomes possible to easily change the content using the content of the already transmitted message by using the attribute information. In addition, the merge can make the message easier to read and easier to handle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an electronic mail system for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a message configuration example.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a transmission history log.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a message management table on the receiver side.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a message creation procedure.

FIG. 6 is a time message management operation flowchart.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an original message and a change message.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of merged messages.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 sender computer 20 receiver computer 11 document creation unit 12 attribute designation unit 14 transmission history log unit 24 recipient mailbox 27 time message management unit 28 recipient message management table

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail management method characterized in that attribute information that is added to a message stored in a mailbox and determines its handling is sequentially changed over time according to a preset pattern. 2. An e-mail management method, wherein a message stored in a mailbox is transferred to a corresponding destination according to transfer information included in the attribute information when a predetermined period has elapsed after the message was stored in the mailbox. . 3. An electronic mail management method, wherein when a message is stored in a mailbox, an operation of the message is sequentially executed according to preset management information as time passes. 4. With respect to a plurality of messages stored in a mailbox with their arrival times shifted, attribute information for associating each message with each other is added, and the related messages are merged by this attribute information. An electronic mail management method characterized by displaying. 5. The electronic mail management method according to claim 4, wherein the content of the already transmitted message is changed by a message to be transmitted later, and the progress of the content change of the message is displayed.