JPH10145421A - Electronic picture postcard system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain exchange of electronic picture postcards between users in a computer network and to allow the user to have a higher opportunity to access to a home page of enterprises or the like. SOLUTION: In the case of a generation request of an electronic picture postcard from a computer of a party making the request to a computer of a party to generate the electronic picture postcard, the party to generate the electronic picture postcard allows the party making the request to select a desired electronic picture postcard and to enter the name of the party making the request and a recipient and a content of a message from the party making the request to the recipient. Then the party to generate the electronic picture postcard generates a page of the electronic picture postcard including the entered information and information guiding an information service source. In the case of access to the page of the electronic picture postcard from the recipient that designates a prescribed access number, the page of the electronic picture postcard is displayed on a screen. the information guiding an information service source of the page of the electronic picture postcard and a home page of the information service source are linked to allow the user to access the home page of the information service source from the page of the electronic picture postcard.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic postcard system for creating an electronic postcard page in a computer network in response to a request from a requester, and enabling a recipient to access the electronic postcard page. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, information such as messages is transmitted and received between users in a computer network, and as typical methods, e-mail and a homepage are known. The e-mail is sent to a destination domain connected to the Internet, that is, a computer under its jurisdiction. The responsible computer delivers the message to the designated destination user's mailbox and stores it. That is, the message is stored in the memory of the computer under its jurisdiction in a state associated with the destination user. On the other hand, the destination user retrieves the message from his / her mailbox at an appropriate time. Thereby, messages can be transmitted and received between users.

[0003] On the other hand, a home page is an initial screen of an Internet information transmission software WWW server or a WWW server.
This is a generic term for screens provided by the server. A homepage is established by setting information including characters, images, and the like in a memory of a WWW server. Anyone can freely access the homepage stored in the WWW server by specifying the URL assigned to the homepage. The URL is
This is a standard that defines means for accessing various information resources on the Internet and how to specify resource names, and is described as "protocol name // server name / file name".

[0004] One of the features of a homepage is that a hypertext is provided in the screen. Hypertext is a set of linked (associated) texts. When a hypertext is selected on the computer screen, another homepage linked to the text can be accessed and the homepage can be referred to. That is, by using hypertext, an arbitrary homepage can be accessed and information can be obtained through a link structure constructed on the Internet.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, although e-mail can transmit character information such as a message, it cannot transmit picture image information such as a moving image. was there. On the other hand, a homepage can display a picture image including a moving image. However, the number of accesses to the homepage greatly depends on the reputation of the company, and it has been extremely difficult to increase the number of accesses to the homepage. In addition, since the homepage is disclosed to an unspecified number of people, there is a problem that the accessing user cannot be specified.

An object of the present invention is to enable exchange of electronic postcards between users in a computer network, and to increase opportunities to access homepages of companies and the like by using the exchange of electronic postcards.

[0007]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic postcard creator which communicates with a computer of an electronic postcard creator and a computer of a receiver of the electronic postcard. Connected by a line,
When there is a request for the creation of an electronic postcard from the computer of the creation requester to the computer of the creator, a page of the creation requester's electronic postcard is created, and the recipient can access the page of the electronic painting postcard. An electronic picture postcard system, comprising: displaying an electronic picture postcard of a plurality of types; displaying an electronic picture postcard; and selecting the desired electronic picture postcard by the requester; and a name of the requester and the recipient; It has information input means for allowing the requester to input the content to be transmitted to the recipient by the requester, information input by the information input means, and information for guiding a specific information provider. An electronic picture postcard creating means for creating the electronic picture postcard page; and an electronic picture postcard created by the electronic picture postcard creating means. Electronic picture postcard storage means for storing the page in association with a predetermined access number, and when the electronic picture postcard page is accessed by designating the predetermined access number, the electronic picture postcard storage means is stored in the electronic picture postcard storage means. Electronic picture postcard display means for displaying an image of the electronic picture postcard page corresponding to the access number, information for guiding the information provider of the electronic picture postcard page displayed by the electronic picture postcard display means, and the information provider And an access means for linking to the homepage of the information provider from the page of the electronic picture postcard.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic postcard system according to the first aspect, the information input means causes the creation requester to input an e-mail address of the recipient, and A mail box of the recipient's e-mail corresponding to the input recipient's e-mail address is provided, together with the predetermined access number corresponding to the electronic picture postcard page, to indicate that the electronic picture postcard has arrived. Electronic picture post guide means for controlling information to be stored is provided.

[0009] The invention of claim 3 is claim 1 or claim 2.
The electronic postcard system according to (1), further comprising access storage means for storing that the homepage of the information provider has been accessed by the access means. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic postcard system according to the third aspect, the access storage means comprises:
It is characterized by storing that there is access in association with the attribute information of the creation requester or the recipient.

[0010] The invention of claim 5 is the invention of claims 1 to 4.
In the electronic postcard system according to any one of the above, the electronic postcard creation means may include information for guiding an information provider related to a picture image represented on the electronic postcard selected by the electronic postcard selection means. And creating a page of the electronic picture postcard.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the electronic picture postcard is selected by the creation requester by the electronic picture postcard selection means, and the name of the recipient is input by the creation requester by the information input means. Based on this, an electronic picture postcard is created by the electronic picture postcard creating means, and is stored in association with the access number by the electronic picture postcard storage means. When the recipient accesses the electronic picture postcard page, the electronic picture postcard display means displays the image of the electronic picture postcard, and the access means makes it possible to access the homepage of the information provider from the electronic picture postcard page.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the electronic picture postcard guiding means informs the recipient that the electronic picture postcard has arrived. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the access storage means stores the presence or absence of access to the homepage of the information provider.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the presence / absence of access is stored in the access storage means in association with the attribute information of the creation requester or recipient. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the electronic postcard creating means creates an electronic postcard page having information for guiding an information provider corresponding to the image of the electronic postcard.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a computer hardware of a creator of an electronic postcard in an electronic postcard system according to the present invention. Computer 10 on the creator side of the electronic postcard
Is connected to a user's computer (not shown) via the Internet (communication line). When the computer of the requester of the electronic picture postcard requests the computer 10 to create the electronic postcard, the computer 10 prepares the electronic postcard. Then, the created electronic picture postcard is made accessible to a recipient via a communication line.

In FIG. 1, a computer 10 has a CPU 11 electrically connected to each other so that information can be transmitted and received.
, A program 12, an electronic postcard storage unit 13, and an access storage unit 14. The CPU 11 controls the computer 10 and controls the execution of the program 12, the creation of an electronic postcard, the storage of the created electronic postcard, and the like. The program 12 includes a program for creating an electronic postcard and data accompanying the program. Electronic postcard storage unit 13
Is a part for storing the created electronic picture postcard. The access storage unit 14 is a part for storing whether or not the created electronic picture postcard has been accessed.

First, a requester for preparing an electronic postcard accesses the homepage of the creator of the electronic postcard on the Internet. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen display of the homepage of the creator of the electronic postcard. The creation requester selects an electronic postcard creation menu provided as one service on the homepage. Computer 1
Samples of a plurality of types of electronic postcards prepared in advance are stored in 0, and the computer 10 displays the electronic postcards on the screen as shown in FIG. This electronic picture postcard has a picture image (including a moving image) such as a main character of an animation or a popular talent.

Further, the electronic postcard is provided with a hypertext linked to a homepage of a specific company. This is provided to introduce the homepage of a company or the like to the recipient of the electronic postcard. The picture image of the electronic postcard and the company linked by the hypertext may be completely unrelated, but are preferably related. For example, when a cat's picture image is provided on an electronic postcard, if a hypertext linked to the pet food company's homepage is provided, the homepage of interest to the recipient of the electronic postcard can be introduced. Therefore, it is possible to acquire an accessor to the homepage for the purpose of establishing the homepage of the company.

The requester of the creation designates a desired electronic postcard from these by clicking. When an electronic postcard is designated, the screen is switched to a data input screen shown in FIG. Here, the creation requester is the sender (self)
And the recipient's name and email address.
Further, a message to be transmitted to the recipient is input.

When these inputs are completed, the CPU 11
Confirms the input contents, creates a page for the electronic picture postcard, and stores it in the electronic postcard storage unit 13. Here, when the page of the electronic picture postcard is created, the URL of the page is set. The URL is similar to the conventionally used method, "protocol name // server name /
File name ".

Then, the CPU 11 stores the URL of the electronic picture postcard in the mailbox corresponding to the e-mail address of the recipient input by the creation requester,
Control is performed so that a message indicating that an electronic postcard has arrived is sent. That is, the CPU 11 transmits the information to the recipient's email managing computer, and the responsible computer sends the information to the designated recipient's mailbox and stores the information.

When the recipient opens his mailbox,
There is displayed that the electronic picture postcard has arrived. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen display of the recipient's mailbox displayed at this time. Then, the recipient accesses the electronic postcard page based on the URL displayed in the mailbox. When an access is made based on the URL, the CPU 11 permits to refer to the page of the electronic postcard. The CPU 11 displays an image of a page corresponding to the URL from the pages of the electronic postcard stored in the electronic postcard storage unit 13 on the computer screen of the recipient. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an electronic postcard displayed on the computer screen of the recipient.

As shown in FIG. 6, on the page of the electronic picture postcard, the name and message of the recipient and the sender (the requester of the electronic picture postcard) are displayed. In addition, the hypertext of a particular company is displayed. This hypertext is linked to the home page of the company as described above. Therefore, by clicking the hypertext, the recipient can jump from the electronic postcard page to the home page of the company. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen display of a home page when the user has jumped to the company.

The access storage unit 14 stores whether or not the recipient has accessed the electronic picture postcard page. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a database formed in the access storage unit 14 when a page for an electronic picture postcard is created. The access storage unit 14 stores the names of senders (creation requesters) and recipients, e-mail addresses, types of electronic postcards, presence / absence of access to electronic postcards, presence / absence of access to company homepages, and the like. Region is provided. Therefore, when the recipient accesses the electronic picture postcard page or accesses the company homepage from the electronic picture postcard page, the fact is stored.

The presence or absence of these accesses is tabulated as needed. Therefore, the computer 10 can grasp the access status to the homepage from the hypertext provided on the electronic picture postcard. further,
By storing the name and the like of the recipient, the person accessing the home page can be specified, and the computer 10 or another computer connected to the computer 10 stores attribute information such as the sender or the hobby of the recipient. Then, the quality of access to the company's homepage can be confirmed.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within an equivalent range. For example,
In the embodiment, the recipient of the electronic picture postcard is notified of the URL of the page of the electronic picture postcard by e-mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
By setting a password in addition to the URL and notifying the recipient of the password together with the URL by e-mail, the probability of anyone other than the recipient seeing the electronic postcard by chance can be significantly reduced, and security can be improved.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an electronic picture postcard can be exchanged between users. Also, at this time, since the homepage of the information provider can be accessed, the chance of accessing the homepage can be increased. According to the invention of claim 2, the recipient of the electronic postcard can be notified of the address of the page of the electronic postcard quickly and efficiently.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the access status to the homepage of the information provider can be grasped.
According to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to specify a person who has accessed the homepage of the information provider. According to the invention of claim 5, the recipient of the electronic picture postcard can be guided to the homepage of the information provider of interest.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an electronic postcard system according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of computer hardware on a creator side of an electronic postcard.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen display of a homepage of a creator of an electronic postcard.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen display of a plurality of electronic picture postcards.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data input screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen display of a recipient's mailbox.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an electronic postcard displayed on the computer screen of the recipient.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen display of a company homepage.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a database formed in the access storage unit 14 when an electronic postcard page is created.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 computer 11 CPU 12 program 13 electronic postcard storage unit 14 access storage unit

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 9, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claim 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0007]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic postcard creator which communicates with a computer of an electronic postcard creator and a computer of a receiver of the electronic postcard. Connected by a line,
When there is a request for the creation of an electronic postcard from the computer of the creation requester to the computer of the creator, a page of the creation requester's electronic postcard is created, and the recipient can access the page of the electronic painting postcard. Electronic picture postcard system, comprising: electronic picture postcard selecting means for displaying a plurality of types of electronic picture postcards and allowing the requester to select a desired electronic picture postcard;
Inputting the creation requester's name and the recipient's name of the recipient , and the contents to be transmitted to the recipient by the creation requester, by the information input means for allowing the creation requester to input, and the information input means Electronic postcard creating means for creating the electronic picture postcard page having information provided and information for guiding a specific information provider, and the electronic picture postcard page created by the electronic picture postcard creating means is accessed by a predetermined access. An electronic picture postcard storing means for storing the electronic picture data in association with a number, and when the electronic picture postcard page is accessed by designating the predetermined access number, the electronic picture data corresponds to the access number stored in the electronic picture postcard storing means. Electronic picture postcard display means for displaying an image of the electronic picture postcard page, and the electronic picture displayed by the electronic picture postcard display means And information to guide the pages of the information providing source and link and the information provider of the home page,
Access means for accessing the homepage of the information provider from the page of the electronic picture postcard.

Claims (5)

[Claims] An electronic postcard creator's computer is connected to a computer of an electronic postcard creator and a recipient's computer by a communication line, and the computer of the creator of the electronic postcard is connected to the computer of the creator. An electronic picture postcard system in which, when an electronic picture postcard creation request is received, an electronic picture postcard page of the creation requester is created, and the recipient can access the electronic picture postcard page. An electronic postcard selecting means for displaying the image as an image and allowing the requester to select a desired electronic picture postcard, the names of the requester and the receiver, and the contents to be transmitted to the receiver by the requester Information input means for allowing the creation requester to input the information, information input by the information input means, and a specific information provider Electronic picture postcard creating means for creating the electronic picture postcard page having information for guiding the electronic picture postcard, and electronic picture postcard storage for storing the electronic picture postcard page created by the electronic picture postcard creating means in association with a predetermined access number. Means for displaying the page of the electronic picture postcard corresponding to the access number stored in the electronic picture postcard storage means when the page of the electronic picture postcard is accessed by designating the predetermined access number. Picture postcard display means, linking the information providing source of the information providing source of the electronic picture postcard page displayed by the electronic picture postcard displaying means with the homepage of the information providing source, and linking the information providing source from the electronic picture postcard page Access means for accessing the homepage of Electronic postcard system. 2. The electronic postcard system according to claim 1, wherein the information input means causes the creation requester to input an e-mail address of the recipient, and the reception input by the information input means. In the mailbox of the recipient's e-mail corresponding to the address of the recipient's e-mail, put the information indicating that the e-postcard has arrived, together with the predetermined access number corresponding to the e-postcard page. An electronic postcard system comprising electronic postcard guiding means for controlling. 3. The electronic postcard system according to claim 1, further comprising an access storage unit for storing that the access unit has accessed the homepage of the information provider. Postcard system. 4. The electronic postcard system according to claim 3, wherein said access storage means stores that there is an access in association with attribute information of said creation requester or said recipient. Electronic postcard system. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein:
The electronic picture postcard system according to the item, wherein the electronic picture postcard creation means includes information for guiding an information provider related to a picture image represented by the electronic picture postcard selected by the electronic picture postcard selection means. An electronic postcard system characterized by creating an image.