JPH09102796A - Terminal equipment for electronic mail delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten response time to the user's instruction by curtailing the quantity of data communication with an electronic mail box device. SOLUTION: A display range designating part 72 designates the display range of an electronic mail in response to the user's instruction. A display control part 73 takes data out of a one-line taking out part 74 for every line in the display range, and makes a display part 8 display its contents. If there is the designates line in the storage part 6, the one-line taking out part 74 reads it out of the storage part 6. On the other hand, if there is not the designated line in the storage part 6, the one-line taking out part 74 requests the electronic mail box device to transmit the data of that line. The electronic mail box device transmits the data of the requested line to an electronic mail terminal 2 as a packet through a radio base station. The one-line taking out part 74 transmits the received data to the display control part 73.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal device of an electronic mail delivery system for directly transmitting digital data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, along with the widespread use of information equipment that handles digital data such as computers, electronic mail delivery systems for transmitting digital data representing characters and the like are rapidly becoming widespread. These e-mail delivery systems are composed of an e-mail box device for accumulating e-mail and an e-mail terminal, and the e-mail terminal communicates with the e-mail box device to retrieve and display a desired e-mail. To do. Today, due to the sophistication of e-mail terminals and the improvement of communication speed of transmission lines, e-mail delivery systems can send and receive various types of digital data such as images, videos, and voices in addition to the above-mentioned characters. This is the case, and further development is expected in the future.

A conventional electronic mail terminal, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-49348, uses 1 when extracting an electronic mail from an electronic mail box device.
The entire data of the electronic mail in question is taken out and stored in the storage unit in the terminal, and then the portion to be displayed on the screen is taken out from the storage unit and displayed. In this way, by communicating asynchronously with the display, the electronic mail terminal can display the electronic mail taken out in advance even when the communication line with the electronic mail box device is unavailable. Therefore,
Even when the e-mail terminal is taken out to a place where it cannot communicate with the e-mail box device, such as when going out or moving, it is possible to display the e-mail that has been taken out up to that point.

However, the above-mentioned e-mail terminal cannot take out e-mails that have arrived at the e-mail box device and accumulated at any time while going out or moving. Therefore, inconvenience arises when the e-mail needs to be read immediately, such as when an urgent message arrives.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-236541 discloses an electronic mail terminal for taking out an electronic mail from an electronic mail box device via a wireless packet communication network which can be used in a wide area. Thus, even when an urgent message arrives, the e-mail terminal can detect this and take out the e-mail, and the user can read the e-mail almost at the same time as the arrival of the urgent message.

[0006] By the way, in the electronic mail delivery system, the urgency of the electronic mail, that is, whether or not it is necessary to read the electronic mail is based on information that can be confirmed before reading the contents of the electronic mail, such as the sender and subject of the electronic mail. Although it can be roughly guessed, the user cannot accurately judge the urgency until the content of the e-mail is confirmed. Therefore, when the user recognizes the arrival of the electronic mail, it is necessary to confirm the contents of the electronic mail that can be estimated to be important from the subject.

[0007]

However, the conventional electronic mail terminal takes out the entire data for one electronic mail. Therefore, even when the user has determined that it is not necessary to immediately read the remaining portion at the time of reading a portion, the electronic mail terminal extracts the remaining portion of the electronic mail. As a result, the amount of data communication actually transmitted / received is larger than the amount of data communication required for display, which causes a problem that the band of the communication line is not effectively used. The increase in data communication volume causes an increase in communication time and communication cost.

Further, the electronic mail terminal cannot perform other processing such as taking out another electronic mail while taking out the remaining portion. Therefore, there is a possibility that the response time to the user's operation becomes long.

In particular, in order to widen the communicable range, when a wireless communication network which can be used in a wide area is adopted as a transmission line between the electronic mail box device and the electronic mail terminal,
Since the data transfer speed is lower than that of a communication network whose usage range is specified or a wired communication network, the harmful effect of communicating useless data is great.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to reduce the amount of data communication with an electronic mail box device when a user confirms the contents of an electronic mail. It is possible to realize a terminal device of an electronic mail delivery system that can be operated and has a short response time to a user operation.

[0011]

A terminal device of an electronic mail delivery system according to a first aspect of the present invention stores an electronic mail and delivers the data within a requested range of the electronic mail, and an electronic mail delivery device. A terminal device of an electronic mail delivery system, which comprises a terminal device for displaying the displayed data, and in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a range designating means for designating a display range of the email and the range designating means designates the range. Retrieval means for retrieving the range data, display means for displaying the data of the electronic mail retrieved by the retrieving means, storage means for storing the data of the electronic mail,
The electronic mail delivery device is provided with communication means for communicating with the electronic mail delivery device to retrieve data in a desired range of the electronic mail, and data storage means for storing the data retrieved by the communication means in the storage means.

Further, the extraction means reads out from the storage means a portion of the display range of the electronic mail designated by the range designation means, which is stored in the storage means, and the storage means in the display range stores It is characterized in that the part not stored is taken out from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means.

The storage means is, for example, R
A readable / writable storage medium such as an AM, a flash memory, or a hard disk is used, and the communication unit includes, for example, a modem and an antenna that perform wireless packet communication.

In the above structure, the range designation means designates the range to be displayed in the electronic mail. The take-out means takes out the portion of the display range stored in the storage means from the storage means. On the other hand, for the portion not stored in the storage means, the takeout means requests the electronic mail delivery device to send out the portion via the communication means. As a result, the electronic mail delivery device sends out the requested portion of the electronic mail, and the extracting means receives the portion via the communication means. When the extracting means extracts the data indicating the display range of the electronic mail from the electronic mail delivery device or the storage means, the display means displays the extracted data. Further, the data storage means stores the portion taken out by the communication means from the electronic mail delivery device in the storage means.

Therefore, the take-out means can take out only the portion of the display range of the electronic mail designated by the range designation means, which is not stored in the storage means, from the electronic mail delivery device through the communication means. Further, since the data storage means stores the newly extracted portion in the storage means, the next time the same portion is displayed, the extraction means can retrieve the portion from the storage means at an extremely high speed compared to the previous time. it can.

Therefore, the amount of data communication between the electronic mail delivery device and the terminal device can be significantly reduced, and the bandwidth of the communication line can be effectively used, as compared with the conventional case of collectively transmitting one electronic mail. it can. Since the data communication volume is reduced, the communication time is also shortened, and the user's instructions such as the time from the user specifying the display range to the start of the display and the time from the display until the next operation is processed. It is possible to shorten the response time of the terminal device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the invention of claim 2 has the structure of the invention of claim 1 in which the display means displays an electronic mail with a high probability of being displayed next. The range is estimated, and during the period in which the electronic mail delivery device and the communication means are not communicating with each other, the data of the estimated range is extracted in advance from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means and stored in the storage means. It is characterized in that it is provided with a pre-reading means.

Therefore, the pre-reading means, for example, while the user is reading the electronic mail displayed by the user, is in the period in which the taking-out means is not taking out the data through the communication means. Before and after the range,
The part of the electronic mail that is likely to be displayed next can be saved in the storage means.

Therefore, when a new display range is designated, the probability that the display range of the electronic mail is stored in the storage means can be increased. If the storage means stores the data, the retrieval means can retrieve the data much faster than when it is retrieved from the e-mail delivery device, so that the terminal device can display the e-mail display range at a higher speed. . As a result, the response time of the terminal device to the instruction of the user can be further shortened as compared with the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the first aspect of the invention.

Further, the prefetching means and the fetching means are different from each other in the period for fetching the data via the communication means. Therefore, the retrieval means does not prevent the retrieval of the data within the current display range from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means. As a result, the prefetching unit can retrieve the data without reducing the display speed of the current display range.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the invention of claim 3, in the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the extracting means is from the electronic mail delivery device to the communication means. When the data of the electronic mail is taken out via, the extraction control means for thinning out a part of the data and extracting the data is provided.

In the above structure, the extracting means extracts, from the storage means, a portion of the display range of the electronic mail designated by the range designating means, which is stored in the storage means. On the other hand, the part not stored in the storage means is taken out from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means.
A part of the portion taken out via the communication means is thinned out and taken out. The display means displays the part taken out by the takeout means as it is, and displays the part taken out by the takeout means by thinning it out.

When the contents of the display range of the electronic mail are displayed roughly, the user guesses the contents of the thinned part from the contents of the displayed part and determines whether or not the contents of the display range are important. Can be determined. When it is determined that the content of the display range is not important, the user can specify a new display range. When it is determined that the contents of the display range are important, the extracting unit newly extracts the thinned-out portion from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication unit, and the displaying unit also includes the contents of the portion. Can be displayed.

Therefore, since the portion taken out from the electronic mail delivery device can be reduced by the end of the display, the terminal device has a display range smaller than that of the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the invention of claim 1 or 2. The outline of contents can be displayed faster.

Further, from the contents displayed by thinning out, it is possible to skip the part which the user judges to be unimportant. Therefore, the amount of data communication and the communication time between the electronic mail delivery device and the terminal can be further reduced, and the band of the communication line between them can be used more effectively.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The electronic mail delivery system according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, retrieves a desired electronic mail by communicating with an electronic mail box device (electronic mail delivery device) 1 that stores electronic mail. It is mainly composed of an electronic mail terminal (terminal device) 2.

Further, the electronic mail box device 1 is connected to the wireless base station 4 via the wired data communication network 3, and the electronic mail terminal 2 communicates with the wireless base station 4 wirelessly to send an electronic mail. An electronic mail can be received from the box device 1.

The electronic mail box device 1 is installed in an office or the like, and stores electronic mails sent from the electronic mail terminal 2 and other terminals (not shown) as files. Then, when the electronic mail terminal 2 specifies, for example, from what line of the electronic mail to what line of the electronic mail it requests, in response to this request, the specified part of the specified electronic mail file is transferred to the wired data. It can be transmitted via the communication network 3 and the wireless base station 4. If the desired range of the electronic mail can be specified, various methods can be used for specifying the range in the electronic mail box device 1 and the electronic mail terminal 2.

The electronic mail terminal 2 and the wireless base station 4 are terminals and base stations that form a packet communication network that can be used in a wide area, and can exchange data of a predetermined size by packet exchange between them. . As the above-mentioned wireless data communication network, for example, services such as a teleterminal provided by Japan City Media are available in Japan, and in the United States, ARDIS (advanced radio data information) provided by ARDIS is provided.
service), or CDPD (c provided by McCow Cellular Communications, Bell Atlantic, Ameritec, GTE, etc.)
services such as ellular digital packet data) can be used.

The electronic mail terminal 2 may have a function required as a terminal for a plurality of services among the above services. As a result, it is possible to communicate with the wireless base stations 4 ... Which compose different services, and it is possible to retrieve the electronic mail from the electronic mail box devices 1 ... Connected to the respective wireless base stations 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail terminal 2
The input unit (range designating unit) 5 detects a user's instruction, and the control unit 7 reads the data of the electronic mail stored in the storage unit (storage unit) 6 according to the instruction and displays the read data. This is a configuration for displaying on the section (display means) 8. The electronic mail terminal 2 includes a communication unit (communication means) 9 that communicates with the wireless base station 4 shown in FIG. 2, and the control unit 7 sends the electronic mail shown in FIG. 2 via the communication unit 9. Data not stored in the storage unit 6 in the display range of the electronic mail can be taken out from the box device 1, displayed on the display unit 8, and stored in the storage unit 6.

The display section 8 includes a thin display device such as a liquid crystal display from the viewpoint of portability. The display unit 8 is controlled by the control unit 7 and can display characters and images. As shown in the display example of FIG. 4, on the screen of the display unit 8, a mail display area 81 for displaying the content of the electronic mail and an operation area for displaying buttons and the like used when operating the electronic mail terminal 2. 82 and a number display area 83 used when designating a display start line.

In the mail display area 81, characters and images can be displayed line by line. The control unit 7 can control the display of the display unit 8 for each line when displaying the image data by dividing the image data by the height when displaying one line of text data. In the mail display area 81 according to the present embodiment, the display height of one line of text is set to 16 dots, for example.
Therefore, for example, when there is image data having a width of 100 dots and a height of 160 dots, the image data is handled as 10 pieces of image data having a width of 100 dots and a height of 16 dots. The number of lines displayed in the mail display area 81 is set to 10 lines, for example.

Buttons corresponding to various operations on the electronic mail terminal 2 are displayed in the operation area 82. Number button 8 with numbers "0" to "9" drawn
2a ... Are used when designating a numeral. The entered number is displayed in the number display area 83, and the user can confirm the designated number.

On the other hand, a line feed button 82 drawn as "next"
b, the line return button 82c drawn as "previous", the line designation button 82d drawn as "eye", and the top button 82e drawn as "start" are used for displaying the e-mail in the mail display area 8
This is a button for designating the display range when displaying on 1. Since the number of lines displayed in the mail display area 81 according to the present embodiment is set to a constant value, the display range can be specified by specifying the line number at which the display is started.

When the line feed button 82b is selected, the display unit 8 displays the entered number, that is,
When the line return button 82c is selected by displaying the e-mail from the line after the number displayed in the number display area 83, the display unit 8 displays the e-mail from the line preceding the number by the number. . Further, the display unit 8 has a row designation button 82d.
When the user selects, the electronic mail is displayed from the designated line, and when the head button 82e is selected, the display is started from the first line.

Further, the operation area 82 is also provided with an end button 82f drawn as "end". The end button 82f is a button for instructing to end the operation of the electronic mail terminal 2.

As the input unit 5, a transparent tablet or the like arranged on the display screen of the display unit 8 is used, and when the user touches a button or the like drawn on the display unit 8, the input unit 5 5 recognizes the coordinates and the like, and can determine the presence or absence of input and the operation content.

The storage unit 6 is a RAM (Random
access memory), a flash memory, a hard disk, or other readable / writable recording device. The storage unit 6 stores a set MEM that stores e-mail data and various other variables and parameters.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the storage unit 6 has a MEM area 61 for storing a set MEM. The MEM area 61 is, for example, a plurality of row data areas 62 for storing row data indicating a row of an electronic mail.
The row data area 62 further includes a row number area 63 for storing the row number and a data area 64 for storing the data of the row. In the data area 64, when the corresponding row is a character string, a data string in which data indicating each character is arranged in order is stored, and when the corresponding row is image data, a data string indicating image data is stored. To be done.

The storage unit 6 also includes a buffer area 65 for temporarily storing the data received by the communication unit 9. Further, the storage unit 6 has an area for storing various parameters and variables, an area for storing a control program executed by the control unit 7, a work area used by the control unit 7 when executing the control program, and the like. (Neither shown) is also provided.

On the other hand, the control unit 7 has a CPU (Central Proc
essing unit) and the like, and according to the instruction of the input unit 5, retrieves data necessary for display from the storage unit 6 or the communication unit 9 and displays it on the display unit 8 and controls the entire electronic mail terminal 2. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 7 includes an input unit 5
An input processing unit 71 for controlling the input and processing the input, a display range designating unit 72 for designating the display range of the e-mail based on an instruction from the input processing unit 71, and a display unit for displaying the contents of the display range line by line. The display control unit 73 for displaying the data on the display 8 and the one-line extracting unit (the extraction unit and the data storage unit) 74 for extracting the data of the line to be displayed on the display unit 8 according to the instruction of the display control unit 73. In addition, the control unit 7 includes a communication control unit 75 that controls the communication unit 9. When the storage unit 6 stores the data of the designated line, the one-row extracting unit 74 stores the data. 6 and is not stored, the communication control unit 75
The data is taken out from the electronic mailbox device 1 shown in FIG. It should be noted that the above-mentioned respective units 71 to 75 are equivalent to the control unit 7.
CPU is a functional module realized by executing a predetermined program.

The communication unit 9 is equipped with a modem and an antenna for communicating with the wireless base station 4 shown in FIG. 2 in a packet switching system, and an electronic mail is sent from the electronic mail box device 1 connected to the wireless base station 4. The desired range of data can be retrieved.

The operation of each part of the electronic mail terminal 2 when there is an input in the above configuration will be described for each step based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 with reference to the display example shown in FIG.

First, in the first step 1 (abbreviated as S1 below), the line number n at which display is started is set to an initial value of 1, and the variable NUM used when designating the display range is set. Set to 0 which is the initial value.

Wait until there is an input. When the user gives an instruction for operation by touching a button displayed in the operation area 82 shown in FIG. 4, the input unit 5 detects this.
The input processing unit 71 recognizes which button the user has selected based on the detection of the input unit 5, and stores the input value indicating the selected button in the variable a (S2). The numerical values corresponding to the numerical buttons 82a shown in FIG.
It is set so as to match the numerical values depicted in 2a, and the numerical values corresponding to the other buttons are set to be different from each other.

Subsequently, the input value stored in the variable a is compared with the numerical value indicating the predetermined numeral buttons 82a ...
It is determined whether any one of the number buttons 82a ... Is selected (S3). When the selected button is any of the number buttons 82a, the variable NUM used when designating the display range based on the selected number button 82a.
Is newly set (S4). After setting the numerical value, S
Return to 2 and wait for the next input.

To set the numerical values in S4, specifically,
It is performed as follows. That is, the variable a stores the numerical value drawn on the selected numeral button 82a, and the input processing unit 71 uses this numerical value as a new variable NUM.
Set as The display unit 8 displays the set numerical value in the numerical display area 83 shown in FIG. Also, the number button 8
When 2a ... are continuously selected, the input processing unit 71 increments the numerical value stored in the variable NUM by one digit, and further adds the numerical value drawn on the selected numeral button 82a to newly set the variable NUM. . Therefore, the number display area 8
The numerical value displayed in 3 is shifted one digit to the left and displayed, and the numerical value drawn on the selected numeric button 82a is displayed in the opened ones place. The user can select the number display area 83
The content of the variable NUM, that is, the currently specified numerical value can be confirmed by displaying.

For example, when the "1" button which is one of the number buttons 82a ... Is selected, the input processing section 71
“1” is displayed in the number display area 83 while 1 is stored in the variable NUM. Then, when the button “2” is selected, “12” is displayed in the number display area 83, and the input processing unit 71 stores 12 in the variable NUM.

If the selected button is not the number buttons 82a ... In S3, the input processing section 71 is a button for designating the display range such as the line feed button 82b shown in FIG. 4 in the following steps S5 to S12. Whether or not there is any, and if any one of the above buttons is selected, the display range designation unit 72 sets a new display range in accordance with the selected button. Since the number of lines that can be displayed is constant in the mail display area 81 according to the present embodiment, the display range specifying unit 72 specifies the display range by specifying the line number n at which the display is started. There is.

That is, in S5, the input processing unit 71
When it is determined that the selected button is the line feed button 82b, the display range designation unit 72 causes the number display area 83 to be displayed.
The variable n is increased by the numerical value displayed in step 1, that is, the numerical value stored in the variable NUM (S6). As a result, a range that is behind the currently displayed display range by NUM lines is set as a new display range.

Further, when it is determined in S7 that the button selected by the input processing unit 71 is the line return button 82c, the display range designation unit 72 reduces the variable n by the variable NUM (S8). As a result, a range that is NUM lines before the currently displayed display range is set as a new display range.

When the selected button is the row designation button 82d (Yes in S9), the display range designation section 72
Newly stores the numerical value stored in the variable NUM in the variable n (S10). As a result, the range from the NUM line of the electronic mail is set as a new display range.

The selected button is the top button 82e.
If it is (Yes in S11), the display range designation unit 72 stores “0” in the variable n and sets the range from the head of the electronic mail as a new display range (S1).
2).

When the display range designation unit 72 sets a new display range in S5 to S12 (S5, S
If any of S7, S9, or S11 is Yes), the display control unit 73 displays the e-mail in the newly designated display range in the mail display area 81 shown in FIG. 4 (S13). When the display ends, the process returns to S2, and the electronic mail terminal 2 waits for the next input.

On the other hand, if S5, S7, S9, and S11 are all NO, then in step S14,
The input processing unit 71 determines whether or not the end button 82f has been selected. When the end button 82f is selected, the display process of the electronic mail in the electronic mail terminal 2 ends. If the selected button is not any button (NO in the determination in S14), the process returns to S2 and waits for the next input.

By operating as in S1 to S14, the input processing section 71 recognizes the user's operation detected by the input section 5, and the display range designating section 72 indicates the new display range of the electronic mail. Setting and display control unit 7
3 can display that portion on the display unit 8.

Next, the display operation shown in S13 of FIG. 5 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The variable n indicating the display start line number indicating the display range of the electronic mail is set in advance by the operation at the time of the input operation described above. Also, the mail display area 8
The variable N indicating the number of display rows of 1 is also set in advance.

In S21, the display control unit 73 clears the variable i indicating the line to be displayed to 0 and confirms whether the display start line number n of the electronic mail is a normal value. If the value is an abnormal value such as n <1, the display control unit 73 stores 1 as the initial value in the variable n.

In subsequent steps S22 to S32, the display control section 73 controls the display section 8 so that the row from the top row (first row) to the bottom row (N rows) of the mail display area 81 shown in FIG. From the nth line of the e-mail to n + N-
Display up to the first line. In addition, in the processing of each line,
The one-line fetching unit 74 fetches the (n + i) th line of the electronic mail, and the display control unit 73 causes the (i + 1) -th line of the mail display area 81.
The line is displayed in the line.

That is, in S22, the display controller 7
3 instructs to retrieve the data of the n + ith row,
In the one-row extracting unit 74, the data in the (n + i) th row is stored in the storage unit 6.
It is determined whether or not it is included in the set MEM stored in (S22).

The one-line fetching unit 74 according to this embodiment determines whether or not it is included in the set MEM as follows. That is, the one-row extracting unit 74 reads out the row number of the data stored in each row data area 62 from the row number areas 63 ... Provided in the MEM area 61 of the storage unit 6 shown in FIG. If n + i is included in the read row number, the set MEM is n
It is determined that the data of the + i-th row is included, and if n + i is not included, it is determined that the set M does not include the data of the n + i-th row.

In S22, the n + i-th row is the set MEM.
If it is not included in the e-mail, the one-line extracting unit 74 uses the e-mail n + i from the e-mail box device 1 shown in FIG.
The communication control unit 75 is instructed to take out the data indicating the line. The communication control unit 75 controls the communication unit 9 so that n +
A message requesting the data of the i-th row is transmitted (S23).

As shown in FIG. 2, the radio base station 4 receives the message sent from the electronic mail terminal 2 and transmits it to the electronic mail box device 1 via the wired data communication network 3. Upon receiving the message, the electronic mailbox device 1 extracts a data string indicating the requested range of the electronic mail and sends it to the wireless base station 4 via the wired data communication network 3. The wireless base station 4 sends the received data string as a packet to the electronic mail terminal 2. Note that if the requested data string cannot be extracted, such as when instructing to extract a data string having a line number larger than the total number of lines of the electronic mail, the electronic mail box device 1
Sends a message to the effect that it cannot be retrieved to the electronic mail terminal 2 via the wireless base station 4.

N of the electronic mail sent from the wireless base station 4
The data string indicating the + i-th row or the message indicating that the data cannot be extracted is sent to the one-line extraction unit 74 via the communication unit 9 and the communication control unit 75, as shown in FIG. When the one-row extracting unit 74 receives the data string indicating the (n + i) th row of the electronic mail, the one-row extracting unit 74 stores the data string in the buffer area 65 of the storage unit 6 illustrated in FIG.
If you receive a message indicating that you can not retrieve it,
The buffer area 65 is emptied (S24).

Subsequently, the display control section 73 determines whether or not the buffer area 65 is empty (S25). If the buffer area 65 is empty, the display control section 73 controls the display section 8 to display i + 1 in the mail display area 81 shown in FIG.
On the line, for example, a mark indicating the end of the sentence of the e-mail, such as "[EOT]" (End of Text), is displayed, and a blank is displayed from the line i + 2 to the line N (S).
26). As a result, the display operation of the electronic mail terminal 2 ends.

In S25, if the buffer area 65 contains a data string, the display control section 73
The display unit 8 is controlled to display the data column on the (i + 1) th row of the mail display area 81 (S27).

Further, the one-row extracting unit 74 adds the combination of the extracted data string and row number to the set MEM (S28). That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the one-row extracting unit 74 searches for an empty area from the row data areas 62 ... Provided in the MEM area 61 of the storage unit 6. Then, the data string stored in the buffer area 65 is stored in the data area 64 of the searched row data area 62, and the row number n + i of the data is stored.
Is stored in the line number area 63. Thereby, the combination of the data column and the row number is added to the set MEM.

On the other hand, in S22, n +
When the i-th row is included in the set MEM stored in the storage unit 6, that is, when the row number read from the row number area 63 ...
Reads out the data string indicating the n + ith row from the data area 64 corresponding to the row number area 63 storing n + i and stores it in the buffer area 65 (S29). continue,
The display control unit 73 controls the display unit 8 to display the data string on the (i + 1) th row of the mail display area 81 shown in FIG. 4 (S30).

When S28 or S30 is finished, n +
When the processing of the i-th row is completed, the display control unit 73 increments the variable i by 1 (S31). Then, the display control unit 73
It is determined whether or not the newly set variable i is smaller than the number of display lines N in the mail display area 81 shown in FIG. 4 (S3).
2). If the variable i <N, the display unit 8 is displaying the middle of the mail display area 81, and therefore the process returns to S22 and the process of the next line is performed.

By repeating the steps S22 to S32, the display section 8 displays from the top to the bottom of the mail display area 81, and the display operation of the electronic mail terminal 2 ends.

As described above, in the electronic mail terminal 2 according to the present embodiment, the display range designating section 72 can specify the display range of the electronic mail according to the user's instruction. The display control unit 73 takes out the data of the display range designated by the electronic mail from the one-line taking unit 74 line by line. The one-line fetching unit 74 fetches the data of the line stored in the storage unit 6 from the storage unit 6, and only the lines in the display range that are not stored in the storage unit 6 are transferred to the communication control unit 75. 2 via the communication unit 9 controlled by
The electronic mail box device 1 shown in FIG.

While transmitting only the display range data,
Since it is possible to prevent the same line data from being resent, compared to the conventional electronic mail terminal that receives the entire electronic mail and displays it on the screen, the wireless base station 4 and the electronic mail terminal 2 shown in FIG. The amount of data communication transmitted via the packet communication line can be significantly reduced. Therefore, the communication time can be shortened and the band of the communication line between the two can be effectively used.

In packet communication, it is not necessary to occupy one line, and each time data to be transmitted is generated, the data is divided into packets of a predetermined length or less and sent out. Therefore, normally, the communication fee is charged not for the connection time of the line but for the amount of packets and the amount of data. As a result, there is an additional effect that the communication charge can be suppressed by reducing the unnecessary communication amount.

Since the communication time is greatly reduced,
The time from when the user specifies the display range to when the display starts and the time after the display until the next operation is processed can be shortened. In the packet communication performed between the two, the time until the communication with the other party becomes possible, that is, the time required for the connection is relatively short. Therefore, the response time of the electronic mail terminal 2 to the user's operation can be shortened. As a result,
The electronic mail terminal 2 can provide the user with a comfortable electronic mail reading environment.

[Second Embodiment] The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention in reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. For convenience of description, members having the same functions as the members described in the drawings of the first embodiment will be designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, the electronic mail terminal 2a according to this embodiment, in place of the control unit 7 shown in FIG. 1, estimates the data required by the following operation, and the communication unit 9 communicates. The control unit 7a is provided with a pre-reading unit (pre-reading unit) 76a for taking out the data and storing it in the storage unit 6 during the non-reading period. The prefetching unit 76a is also the control unit 7
It is a functional module realized by executing a predetermined program by a CPU (not shown) or the like included in a.

The prefetch section 76a is a display range designation section 7
From the current display range specified by 2, the range of the email that is likely to be displayed next is estimated. Usually, when reading an important e-mail, it is natural for the user to read the part currently displayed and then read the continuation in sequence, and the probability is high. Therefore, the prefetch unit 76 according to the present embodiment.
In a, as an example of the part that is likely to be displayed next,
The part following the current display range is specified.

Presuming the pre-reading range of the electronic mail, the pre-reading unit 76a determines that the pre-reading unit 76a detects the next operation after the display of the electronic mail terminal 2 such as the time when the user is reading the mail. The communication control unit 75 is instructed to take out, out of the data in the range, data not stored in the storage unit 6 from the electronic mailbox device 1 shown in FIG. Further, the prefetch unit 76a stores the extracted data in the storage unit 6.

Since the electronic mail terminal 2 does not display a new line on the display unit 8 during the above period, the one-line extraction unit 74
Does not instruct the communication control unit 75 to communicate. Therefore,
The prefetching unit 76a can take out the data from the electronic mailbox device 1 shown in FIG. 2 without disturbing the data taking out by the one-line taking unit 74.

In the above structure, the electronic mail terminal 2a is operated when the input unit 5 is operated or when an electronic mail is displayed.
The operation of each unit is the same as the operation of each unit of the electronic mail terminal 2 shown in FIG. 1 shown in FIG. 5 or FIG.

When the display on the display unit 8 is completed in the same manner as the electronic mail terminal 2 shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail terminal 2a according to the present embodiment continues the current display range until the next operation is performed. The range data is stored in the storage unit 6 in advance.
The operation of each part of the electronic mail terminal 2a during the data prefetching operation will be described below step by step based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

As a result of the display operation of the electronic mail terminal 2a, the line number at which the display unit 8 is currently starting to display is stored in the variable n, and the line number next to the display range is the variable i. Can be represented by n + i. Further, the buffer area 65 shown in FIG. 3 stores the data string extracted from the communication section 9 by the one-row extracting section 74 at the end of the display operation, and the buffer area 65 is electronically determined depending on whether or not the buffer area 65 is empty. You can determine whether you have reached the end of the email.

First, the prefetch section 76a determines whether or not the buffer area 65 is empty (S41). When the buffer area 65 is empty, the end of the sentence of the electronic mail has been reached and no more data can be taken out, so the prefetch operation of the electronic mail terminal 2a ends. S
In 41, if the buffer area 65 is not empty, the e-mail has a continuation of the current display range.
Continue read ahead operation.

When there is a continuation of the electronic mail, the input processing unit 71 detects the input from the input unit 5 and determines whether or not there is an input (S42). When there is an input, the read-ahead operation of the electronic mail terminal 2a ends, and the processing corresponding to the input is performed as in the electronic mail terminal 2 of the first embodiment.

When there is no input, in the subsequent steps S43 to S47, the prefetching unit 76a determines, for each line, whether or not the portion following the current display range is included in the set MEM stored in the storage unit 6. If it is not included, the data of that row is taken out from the electronic mailbox device 1 shown in FIG.

That is, in S43, the prefetching unit 76
The a performs substantially the same processing as the one-row extracting unit 74 in S22 shown in FIG. 6, and determines whether or not the (n + i) th row is included in the set MEM.

If the set MEM does not contain n + i,
In subsequent steps S44 and S45, S2 shown in FIG.
3 and S24, the data of the (n + i) th row is stored in the buffer area 65 provided in the storage unit 6 shown in FIG. When the end of the email is reached, the prefetching unit 76a empties the buffer area 65. further,
The prefetch unit 76a determines whether or not the buffer area 65 is empty (S46). When the buffer area 65 is empty, that is, when the end of the sentence of the electronic mail is reached, the prefetch operation of the control unit 7a ends.

In S45, the buffer area 6
If the data string is stored in 5, the prefetch unit 76a performs the same process as the one-row extracting unit 74 in S26 illustrated in FIG. 6 and adds the combination of the row number n + i and the data string to the set MEM. (S47).

In S43, n + i is added to the set MEM.
When it is determined that the row is already stored, or when the above S47 ends and the n + i row is newly added to the set MEM, the prefetch unit 76a increments the variable i by 1 (S48), Returning to S42, the next line is prefetched.

The above steps S42 to S48 are repeated until the user operates the input unit 5 to give a new instruction, or when the end of the sentence of the electronic mail is reached and it is impossible to read any more.

As a result, the prefetch unit 76a, prior to the user's instruction, selects the portion of the portion following the current display range of the electronic mail, which is not stored in the storage unit 6, from the electronic mail box shown in FIG. It can be taken out of the device 1 and stored in the storage unit 6.

Therefore, when the portion following the current display range is designated as the new display range, the one-line fetch section 7
4 can retrieve the data instructed by the display control unit 73 from the storage unit 6. Since the data in the display range is surely stored in the storage unit 6, it is not necessary to communicate with the electronic mail box device 1 during the display operation of the electronic mail terminal 2a. As a result, the electronic mail terminal 2a can display the display range of the electronic mail at a higher speed, and the response time to the user's operation can be significantly shortened.

When reading an important mail, the user has a high probability of reading the continuation of the current display range. Therefore, the e-mail terminal 2a pre-reads the portion following the current display range, thereby speeding up the operation. The probability that data can be displayed can be increased. As a result, the electronic mail terminal 2a can shorten the average response time to the user's operation.

Further, according to an instruction from the prefetching unit 76a, the electronic mail terminal 2 finishes displaying the period during which the communication unit 9 is communicating with the electronic mail box device 1, such as a period during which the user is reading mail. It is the period from to the detection of the next operation. On the other hand, according to the instruction from the one-line fetching unit 74, the e-mail terminal 2 is used while the communication unit 9 is communicating.
The display operation of a is in progress. Since the periods in which the communication unit 9 is used are different from each other, the prefetch unit 76a can prefetch the email data in preparation for the next operation without reducing the display speed of the email terminal 2a.

In addition, the prefetching unit 76a takes out the data line by line from the electronic mail box device 1 and checks each time whether or not there is an input. Therefore, the amount of data communication per time is relatively small,
The time required for one communication can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less. As a result, when the user gives a new instruction,
Even if communication is performed for prefetching, the waiting time until the processing according to a new instruction is started can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less, and the response time of the email terminal 2a is a certain value or less. Can be limited to

The look-ahead unit 76a according to the present embodiment.
Sets the part following the current display range as the part that is likely to be displayed next, but is not limited to this. You can also specify other parts of the email, such as the part before the current display range. Also, another e-mail may be read ahead. The same effect as that of the present embodiment can be obtained by reading the part that is likely to be displayed next from the electronic mailbox device 1.

[Third Embodiment] The following description will explain still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13. For convenience of explanation, a member having the same function as the member described in the drawing of the first embodiment is
The same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 9, the e-mail terminal 2b according to the present embodiment normally sends data to the one-line take-out unit 74b and the display control unit 73b instead of the control unit 7 shown in FIG. And thin the display,
When there is an instruction from the input processing unit 71, a thinning control unit (extraction control means) that displays the thinned lines
The control unit 7b newly added with 77b is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, on the screen of the display unit 8 according to the present embodiment, in addition to the various buttons displayed in the operation area 82 shown in FIG. A button 82g and a display button 82h drawn as "display" are newly provided.

By selecting the setting button 82g, the user can set the lines that may be thinned out of the lines displayed in the mail display area 81 of the display unit 8. The user sets the number of lines to be thinned out by, for example, instructing to thin out the following one line after reading one line, or to instruct to thin out the following two lines after reading one line. You can specify the density of the display. Further, the display button 82h is used to instruct the display of the thinned lines when the display unit 8 thins and displays the electronic mail.

As will be described below, when thinning out and displaying an electronic mail, the electronic mail terminal 2b displays the lines not designated by the storage unit 6 among the lines designated to be thinned out as shown in FIG. The data extraction from the electronic mailbox device 1 shown is omitted and the display is thinned out. Therefore, when the storage unit 6 records a line designated to be thinned out, the line is displayed without thinning out. In the following description, when the e-mail terminal 2b is displaying while determining whether or not to thin out or display the above data,
It is referred to as the thinned display regardless of whether or not the display is actually thinned.

The other parts of the display unit 8 are the same as those in the first embodiment.
The display unit 8 is the same as the display unit 8 of No. 1 above, and the user can operate various buttons drawn in the operation area 82 to instruct the display range of the electronic mail to the electronic mail terminal 2b.

As shown in FIG. 9, the thinning-out control unit 77.
b is when the user operates the setting button 82g,
According to an instruction from the input processing unit 71, it is possible to set the number of lines to be thinned out in the thinning-out display and notify the one-line extracting unit 74b.

The one-line fetch section 74b has a display control section 73.
When b requests to retrieve a row that is not stored in the storage unit 6, whether or not to thin out the row is determined based on the number of rows to be thinned out. When the one-row extracting unit 74b determines to omit the extraction of the row, the display control unit 73
In step b, an untaken mark such as "*****" is displayed in the corresponding line of the mail display area 81 shown in FIG. In this case, the email terminal 2b
It does not communicate with the electronic mailbox device 1 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the one-line fetching unit 74b determines that the fetching of the requested line is not thinned, or when this line is stored in the storage unit 6, the electronic mail terminal 2b displays Like the email terminal 2 shown,
The data of the row is retrieved from the electronic mailbox device 1 or the storage unit 6 and displayed.

Further, the thinning-out control unit 77b has the display unit 8
When the user operates the display button 82h shown in FIG. 10 while displaying the thinned e-mail, the input processing unit 71 detects this and retrieves and displays the thinned-out line data. In addition, the display control unit 73b and the one-line extraction unit 74b can be instructed.

The display control unit 73b, the one-line fetching unit 74b, and the thinning-out control unit 77b are functional modules realized by a CPU (not shown) included in the control unit 7b executing a predetermined program.

The operation of each part of the electronic mail terminal 2b in the above-mentioned configuration when there is an input will be described for each step based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 with reference to the display example shown in FIG.

In S1 to S14 shown in FIG. 11, the electronic mail terminal 2b has the S1 to S1 shown in FIG.
The operation is substantially similar to that of 4 and processing according to the input is performed. However, in the email terminal 2b according to the present embodiment, a thinning line for thinning display is set between S2 and S3. Steps S15 and S16 are newly provided.

At S15, a variable a indicating the selected button is displayed.
The input value stored in and the preset setting button 82
It is determined whether or not the setting button 82g is selected by comparing it with the numerical value indicating g. When the input processing unit 71 determines in S15 that the button selected by the user is the setting button 82g, the electronic mail terminal 2b prompts the user to subsequently input a numerical value. Then, the thinning-out control unit 77b sets a variable SKIP indicating a line to be thinned out according to the input (S16). For example, after reading a line,
When thinning display, such as when instructing to thin out the next line,
2 is stored in the variable SKIP when displaying 1 of 2 lines, and variable SKIP is displayed when displaying 1 line of 3 lines
3 is stored. After setting the variable SKIP, S
Return to 2 and wait for the next input. In addition, the setting button 8
If 2g is not selected, the email terminal 2b
By performing the processing after S3, the display range and the like can be set as in the case of the electronic mail terminal 2 shown in FIG.

Further, in the electronic mail terminal 2b, step S shown in FIG. 5, which is a step of displaying the entire display range.
Instead of 13, a step of thinning out and displaying a part of the lines of the display range for thinning out is provided as in S13b shown in FIG.

By repeating the above S1 to S16, the electronic mail terminal 2b causes the variable S indicating the number of lines to be thinned out.
It is possible to set a KIP, a display range, and the like, and display a desired range of electronic mail in accordance with a user's instruction.

Next, the operation in the thinning display in S13b will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The email terminal 2b is S
51 through S62, S21 through S shown in FIG.
Although the process similar to that of 32 is performed to display the electronic mail, steps S63 and S64 are newly provided between S52 and S53 for thinning out the data not stored in the storage unit 6 and displaying. ing.

The variable n indicating the display start line number indicating the display range of the electronic mail and the variable S indicating the number of lines to be thinned out.
The KIP is preset by the operation at the time of the input operation shown in FIG. Further, a variable N indicating the number of lines displayed in the mail display area 81 is also set in advance.

In S52 to S60, each part of the electronic mail terminal 2b performs substantially the same processing as S22 to S30 shown in FIG. 6, and the (i + 1) th line of the mail display area 81 shown in FIG. The line is displayed.

In S53, if the set MEM stored in the storage unit 6 does not include the data of the n + i line, the electronic mail terminal 2b needs to retrieve the data of this line from the electronic mail box device 1 shown in FIG. There is.

Here, in the newly provided S63, the one-row extracting unit 74b calculates the remainder by dividing i by SKIP, and determines whether or not to thin out the row depending on whether or not the remainder is 1. To decide.

If the remainder is not 1 in S63, the one-line fetching unit 74b does not fetch this line, and the display control unit 73b controls the display unit 8 to display the unextracted mark "*****". "*" Is displayed on the (i + 1) th line of the mail display area 81 (S64). Subsequently, the process proceeds to S61, and the process regarding the (n + i) th line of the electronic mail ends.

As a result, when the line for which the thinning display is instructed is not stored in the storage unit 6, the one-line extraction unit 74
b does not take out the data of the line from the electronic mailbox device 1, and the display control unit 73b displays the untaken mark instead of displaying the contents of the line.
Since communication with the wireless base station 4 shown in FIG. 2 is omitted,
The electronic mail terminal 2b can display the untaken mark at an extremely high speed as compared with the case of displaying the contents of this line.

On the other hand, if the remainder is 1 in S63, the electronic mail terminal 2b carries out the processing from S53. In this case, or if the n + ith row is not included in the set MEM, the electronic mail terminal 2b performs the same processing as the electronic mail terminal 2 shown in FIG. The data of the n + ith row is fetched and displayed, and the fetched data is newly added to the set MEM.

The electronic mail terminal 2b repeatedly thins and displays S51 to S64 until the display of all the lines included in the display range is completed or the end of the sentence of the electronic mail is reached.

Here, an example of the operation of the electronic mail terminal 2b in each of the above steps will be described with reference to the display example of FIG. The number of lines displayed in the mail display area 81 for displaying an electronic mail is
It is set to 10 lines. In addition, the user has instructed to thin out every other row, and 2 is stored in the variable SKIP. Further, it is assumed that the set MEM stored in the storage unit 6 includes the first to tenth lines of the electronic mail, and does not include the other lines.

In this state, the user selects the row designation button 82d.
Select a new display range from the 6th line to 1
If the fifth line is designated, the electronic mail terminal 2b performs the process of each step and displays the lines one by one.

When the electronic mail terminal 2b displays each line from the 6th line to the 10th line, step S5 shown in FIG.
In 2, the one-row extracting unit 74b determines that each row is included in the set MEM. Therefore, S59 and S60 are executed, and the electronic mail terminal 2b immediately displays each line from the 6th line to the 10th line.

In the case of the 11th, 13th, and 15th rows, the one-row extracting unit 74b executes the step S shown in FIG.
At 63, it is determined that the extraction of each row is not thinned. Therefore, S53 to S58 are executed, and the electronic mail terminal 2b extracts the data of each line from the electronic mail box device 1 shown in FIG. 2 and displays it in the mail display area 81.

On the other hand, in the case of the 12th and 14th rows, the one-row extracting unit 74b determines in S63 that the extraction of each row is thinned out. Therefore, S64 is executed, and the electronic mail terminal 2b immediately displays the untaken mark "*****" in each line. These rows are displayed very fast because the retrieval of data via the wireless line is omitted.

By the way, as a result of the thinning-out display, the contents of the line in which the untaken mark is displayed are displayed in the display button 82h shown in FIG. 10 between the end of the thinning-out display and the new designation of the display range. Can be displayed by selecting.

Next, the operation of each part of the electronic mail terminal 2b after the completion of the thinning-out display will be described step by step based on the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, the input processing unit 7
1 waits until the input unit 5 detects a user's input (S71). When there is an input, the input processing unit 71
Based on the detection of the input unit 5, it is determined whether or not the button selected by the user is the display button 82h shown in FIG. 10 (S72).

If the selected button is the display button 82h, the e-mail terminal 2b performs substantially the same processing as each step shown in FIG. 6 and displays all the lines (S7).
3). As a result, the electronic mail terminal 2b interpolates and displays the contents of the thinned and displayed portion. For example, FIG.
In the case of displaying as in the mail display area 81 shown in 0, the electronic mail terminal 2b displays the data of the 12th and 14th lines of the electronic mail from the electronic mail box device 1 (the 7th line in the mail display area 81). And the data on the 9th line) are extracted and displayed, and the data are stored in the storage unit 6.

When it is determined in S72 that the button selected by the input processing section 71 is not the display button 82h,
Alternatively, when the interpolation display in S73 ends, the display operation of the electronic mail terminal 2b ends, and the process returns to S2 illustrated in FIG. 11 to wait for the next operation.

As described above, the electronic mail terminal 2b according to the present embodiment, when displaying the display range of the electronic mail,
The part to be taken out from the electronic mail box device 1 shown in FIG. 2 can be thinned out and taken out. As a result, the amount of communication between the electronic mail box device 1 and the electronic mail terminal 2b can be further reduced. Therefore, the response time of the electronic mail terminal 2b to the operation of the user can be further shortened.

The electronic mail terminal 2b displays the untaken mark in the thinned portion and does not display the original data. However, in the case of a sentence or the like, the contents of thinned lines can often be inferred from the contents of unthinned lines displayed before and after the thinned lines. Therefore, the user can roughly understand the contents of the entire display range. Moreover, since the number of lines to be thinned can be set in advance, the user can set the number of lines to an appropriate value in consideration of the easy understanding of the display contents and the display speed.

In addition, since the electronic mail terminal 2b displays the undisplayed mark in the thinned-out portion, the user can surely determine whether or not the thinned-out portion is thinned and the number of thinned lines. it can. Therefore, the user can more reliably infer the content of the thinned-out portion without mistaking the lines before and after the thinned-out display as continuous lines, as in the case of displaying the thinned-out portions in a narrow manner.

The electronic mail terminal 2 according to the present embodiment.
Although the line b is displayed by thinning out the entire line, it is not limited to this. For example, a part of the line such as the right half of the line may be thinned out and displayed. As long as the communication amount between the electronic mail box device 1 and the electronic mail terminal 2b shown in FIG. 2 is reduced, and the thinning method allows the user to grasp the outline of the contents from the thinned display, the present embodiment The same effect as the form is obtained.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 3, the storage unit 6 according to each of the above-mentioned embodiments stores the MEM area 6 in the MEM area 6.
Although a plurality of row data areas 62 each including a combination of the row number area 63 and the data area 64 are provided in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an area for storing a plurality of line numbers, an area for storing a plurality of data, and an area for storing data indicating a combination of both may be provided. A collective MEM stored in the MEM area 61
If it is possible to determine whether or not the data of the specified line is included in the data, and to retrieve the data of the specified line and store the combination of the line content and the line number, It is possible to obtain substantially the same effect as.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the tablet arranged on the screen of the display unit 8 is used as the input unit 5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, if at least one input device such as a tablet, a keyboard, a button, and a mouse is provided and the user's instruction can be recognized by the electronic mail terminal 2, substantially the same effect as each of the above-described embodiments can be obtained. .

Furthermore, in the electronic mail terminal 2 according to each of the above-described embodiments, a case has been described in which one electronic mail is taken out, stored in the storage unit 6 and displayed on the display unit 8. The present invention can also be applied to the case of taking out.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where a wide area wireless packet communication line is used as the communication line between the electronic mail box device 1 and the electronic mail terminal 2 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, the present invention can be applied to a case where another communication line such as a wireless line or a wired line using infrared rays is used. Due to the limitation of the transfer rate, when the electronic mail is displayed, the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system in which the ratio of the communication time with the electronic mail box device 1 is large can obtain substantially the same effects as those of the above embodiments. be able to. However, a wide area wireless packet communication line can communicate in a wide range,
Since the time required for connection is relatively short and the line is not occupied while data is not communicated, the effect of applying the present invention is particularly great.

[0142]

As described above, the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the first aspect of the present invention communicates with the electronic mail delivery device to communicate with the communication means for extracting data in a desired range of the electronic mail. Data storing means for storing the data taken out by the means in the storage means, and the taking out means stores the portion of the display range of the electronic mail designated by the range designating means stored in the storage means by the storage means. A part of the display range that is not stored in the storage means is read out from the electronic mail delivery device through the communication means.

Therefore, the take-out means can take out only the portion of the display range of the electronic mail that is not stored in the storage means from the electronic mail delivery device through the communication means. Therefore, the amount of data communication and communication time between the electronic mail delivery device and the terminal device can be significantly reduced, and the bandwidth of the communication line between the two can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional case of collectively transmitting one electronic mail. It has an effect that it can be effectively used.

Also, since the communication time at the time of display can be reduced, the response time of the terminal device to the instruction of the user, that is, the waiting time of the user can be shortened, and a comfortable e-mail reading environment can be provided. Play.

As described above, the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the second aspect of the present invention estimates the range of the electronic mail that is likely to be displayed next by the display means in the configuration of the first aspect of the invention. Then, in a period in which the electronic mail delivery device and the communication means are not in communication with each other, the pre-reading means for preliminarily fetching data in the estimated range from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means and storing the data in the storage means. It is a configuration provided with.

Therefore, the read-ahead means can store the part of the electronic mail having a high probability of being displayed next in the storage means, and when a new display range is designated, the display range of the electronic mail is changed. The probability of being stored in the storage means can be increased. Further, since the prefetching means and the fetching means are different from each other in the period for fetching the data via the communication means, the fetching of the data within the current display range is not hindered.

Therefore, the response time of the terminal device to the next operation by the user can be further shortened without lowering the display speed of the currently designated display range.

As described above, in the terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to the invention of claim 3, in the configuration of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the extracting means is from the electronic mail delivery apparatus via the communication means. When the data of the electronic mail is taken out, it is configured to include a take-out control unit that thins out a part of the data and takes it out.

Therefore, the take-out means thins out a part of the take-out part through the communication means in response to the instruction of the take-out control means, and the display means thins out and displays the picked-out part. it can. Therefore, the terminal device has an effect that it can approximately display the contents of the display range of the electronic mail faster than the terminal according to the invention of claim 1 or 2.

Further, since it is possible to skip the part which the user judges to be unimportant from the thinned and displayed contents, it is possible to further reduce the data communication amount between the electronic mail delivery device and the terminal device. The effect that the band of the communication line between them can be used more effectively is also brought together.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a terminal device of an electronic mail delivery system.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the electronic mail delivery system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of storing each data in a storage unit of the terminal device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an electronic mail on the terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of each unit when an input is made in the terminal device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of each unit when displaying an electronic mail in the terminal device.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the terminal device and is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of each unit after displaying an electronic mail in the terminal device.

FIG. 9 shows still another embodiment of the terminal device and is a block diagram showing a main configuration.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an electronic mail on the terminal device.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of each unit when an input is made in the terminal device.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of each unit when thinning out and displaying an electronic mail in the terminal device.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of each unit in the terminal device when an instruction to display the thinned-out portion is displayed after the thinned-out display of the electronic mail.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 E-mail box device (e-mail delivery device) 2 E-mail terminal (terminal device) 5 Input section (range designation means) 6 Storage section (storage means) 8 Display section (display means) 9 Communication section (communication means) 74 One line Take-out unit (take-out means and data storage means) 76a Pre-reading section (pre-reading means) 77b Thinning-out control section (take-out control means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A terminal device of an electronic mail delivery system comprising an electronic mail delivery device for storing electronic mail and delivering data in a requested range of the electronic mail, and a terminal device for displaying the delivered data. A range designating means for designating a display range of the electronic mail, a fetching means for fetching data in the range designated by the range designating means, a display means for displaying the data of the email fetched by the fetching means, and an electronic mail Storage means for storing the data, communication means for communicating with the electronic mail delivery device to retrieve data in a desired range of the electronic mail, and data storage means for storing the data retrieved by the communication means in the storage means. And the storage means stores in the display range of the electronic mail designated by the range designating means. And a portion of the display range that is not stored in the storage means is retrieved from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means. apparatus. 2. The range of an electronic mail having a high probability of being displayed next by the display means is estimated, and the electronic mail is transmitted via the communication means during a period in which the electronic mail delivery device and the communication means are not communicating. 2. The terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to claim 1, further comprising a pre-reading unit for preliminarily fetching data in the range estimated from the mail delivery device and storing the data in the storage unit. 3. The extraction means comprises extraction control means for thinning out and extracting a part of the electronic mail data from the electronic mail delivery device via the communication means. The terminal device of the electronic mail delivery system according to 1 or 2.