JPH11154130A - Electronic mail system, electronic mail opening method and computer readable recording medium recording electronic mail program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic mail system with which the contents of mail can be reported without bothering a recipient. SOLUTION: Electronic mail is periodically received from an electronic mail server 11A and stored in a RAM 61. A CPU 51 counts the number of non-opened mail among the received mail stored in the RAM 61 and when that number is not less than a prescribed value, the first received mail among the non-opened mail is automatically opened and displayed on a display device 42. The non- opened mail to be automatically opened can be limited to the mail, which registers the mail address of its transmitter in the RAM 61, as well. When the number of non-opened mail exceeds the prescribed value, all the non-opened mail can be automatically opened as well.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for performing electronic mail communication using a programmed computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic mail (hereinafter, also simply referred to as mail) is rapidly permeating society with the explosive spread of the Internet.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a configuration block of a conventional electronic mail device and an example of the configuration of the entire electronic mail system. The electronic mail system will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The electronic mail apparatuses 1A, 1B, 1C,... Have the same internal configuration and are client computers connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 5. Email device 1
A will be further described. A UA (User Agent) 2 is an application program for realizing a user interface of mail used on a client side of a computer network, and is a program for sending mail, SMTP.
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Client 3
And POP (Post O)
ffice Protocol) client 4.

When sending a mail from the electronic mail device 1A, the sender of the mail causes the SMTP client 3 to execute, inputs a mail text, an electronic mail address of the destination of the mail, etc., and gives a mail transmission instruction.
The SMTP client 3 sends the input e-mail
The e-mail address of the sender of the e-mail is added, and the e-mail address is transferred to the e-mail server 11A connected to the LAN 5.

[0005] The electronic mail server 11A is a server computer installed to provide an electronic mail service on the LAN 5. The mail transferred from the electronic mail device 1A is stored in an electronic mail server by an MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) 12, which is a program for delivering the mail, based on the electronic mail address specified as the destination of the mail to be transferred. Mailboxes 14A, 14B, 14C,
, Or other e-mail servers 11B, 11C, 11D via a WAN (Wide Area Network) 15
Is transferred to the server to which the destination mail address belongs.

When receiving an e-mail with the e-mail device 1A, the recipient of the e-mail causes the POP client 4 to be executed and an input requesting the e-mail transmission is made.
The client 4 transfers the mail sending request to the electronic mail server 11A connected to the LAN 5.

[0007] In the e-mail server 11A, in response to a mail transmission request from the e-mail 1A, the POP server 13 which is a program for delivering mail in the LAN 9 stores the mail in the mailboxes 14A, 14B, 14C,. Search for emails that are addressed to
After authentication, mail arriving there is sent to LAN
5 to the electronic mail device 1A.

[0008] The PO executed by the electronic mail device 1A
The P client 4 displays the mail transferred from the electronic mail server 11A on a display device. By the way, POP
Some clients 4 have a function of temporarily storing the mail transferred from the electronic mail server 11A in the electronic mail device 1A and displaying a list of mails addressed to the recipients on a display device. In this list display, unopened /
In many cases, an identification code indicating that the package has been opened has been added. An email with an unopened identification means that the body has never been displayed, while an email with an opened identification indicates that the recipient has instructed to open this email,
This means that the body of the email was displayed at least once. The e-mail recipient refers to this identification display to prevent the user from forgetting to read the body of the received e-mail, and to organize the stored e-mail such as erasing unnecessary storage among the e-mails displayed as opened. Can be convenient.

[0009]

The sender of an e-mail usually expects the recipient to open the e-mail as soon as possible and read the text. However, because they are busy or sometimes troublesome,
We often see recipients who never open their unopened emails. In this case, it goes without saying that the contents of the mail text are not transmitted to the recipient, but the importance of the contents of the mail is not understood by the recipient, so that the stored mail is not arranged at all. Since the amount of received mail that can be stored in the electronic mail device 1A is naturally limited, in this case, there is a possibility that newly received mail cannot be stored.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic mail apparatus capable of automatically opening an electronic mail without performing any operation in view of the above-mentioned problem.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail receiving means for receiving an electronic mail, and an electronic mail receiving means for receiving the electronic mail. E-mail storage means for storing the e-mail received in the e-mail storage means, unopened e-mail detection means for detecting an unopened e-mail among the e-mail stored in the e-mail storage means, the unopened e-mail An e-mail opening means for opening any of the unopened e-mails when the number of unopened e-mails detected by the detection means exceeds a predetermined number. With this configuration, when the number of stored unopened received e-mails exceeds a predetermined number, the receiver can automatically perform the opening processing without instructing the e-mail apparatus to perform the opening processing. Become.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the electronic mail opening means includes an unopened electronic mail which is transmitted by the electronic mail receiving means. It is characterized by opening from the e-mail received earlier. With this configuration, the electronic mail that has been left unopened for a longer time is automatically opened with priority.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an electronic mail address storage means for storing a plurality of electronic mail addresses, The mail opening means opens one of the unopened e-mails from the sender having the e-mail address stored in the e-mail address storage means. With this configuration, if an e-mail address of a sender who frequently sends a highly important mail is set, an unopened e-mail from the set sender is automatically opened with priority. Become.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the electronic mail opening means opens all unopened electronic mails. . With this configuration, it is possible to eliminate the unopened received mail.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an e-mail receiving procedure for receiving an e-mail, an e-mail storing procedure for storing the e-mail received in the e-mail receiving procedure, Among the emails stored in the email storage procedure, an unopened email detection procedure for detecting an unopened email, and the number of unopened emails detected in the unopened email detection procedure is a predetermined number. An e-mail opening method characterized by including an e-mail opening procedure for opening one of unopened e-mails when the number is exceeded. By performing this method on a computer, for example, the same effect as the first aspect of the invention can be obtained.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium having recorded thereon a program which is read out when used by a computer, the method comprising the steps of: An e-mail storage procedure for storing the e-mail received in the e-mail reception procedure; and an unopened e-mail detection procedure for detecting an unopened e-mail in the e-mail stored in the e-mail storage procedure. And, when the number of unopened emails detected in the unopened email detection procedure exceeds a predetermined number, an email opening procedure for opening any of the unopened emails. This is a computer-readable recording medium that stores an e-mail program to be executed. In this configuration, by loading the program to be recorded on the recording medium into the main memory of the computer and executing the program, the same operation as that of the first aspect can be obtained by the computer.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, when the number of stored unopened received mails exceeds a predetermined number in the e-mail device, an electronic mail with a longer time left unopened among the unopened e-mails is automatically given priority. It is opened. This is a major feature of the present invention, and the present invention enables an e-mail to be opened without any trouble for the recipient. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an electronic mail device of the present invention. In the figure, the e-mail device 21 has an input unit 2
2, each functional block of an output unit 23, a main control unit 24, a storage unit 25, and a communication control unit 26.

The input unit 22 is for acquiring an input from the operator of the electronic mail device 21 and includes an input device such as a mouse 31 and a keyboard 32 and an input control unit 23 for controlling these devices. It is also possible to use a so-called pointing device such as a trackball instead of the mouse 31, and it is also possible to use a touch panel or the like instead of the keyboard 32.

The output unit 23 presents an output to the operator of the electronic mail device 21 and performs a CR for displaying a screen.
It comprises a display device 42 such as a T (CRT) or a liquid crystal display, and an output control unit 41 for controlling the display device 42.

The main control section 24 controls the whole of the electronic mail device 21 comprehensively, and has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 5.
It is composed of 1. The storage unit 25 is used for storing a processing program executed by the CPU 51, data necessary for processing, and the like, and storing an e-mail address, a mail body, and the like to be described later. The storage unit 25 includes a RAM 61 for storing data and a ROM 62 for storing programs. Note that the RAM 61 is also used as a work area for processing executed by the CPU 51 depending on the program to be processed.

The communication control unit 26 communicates with the electronic mail device 21
It interfaces with the AN 5 and enables communication with other devices connected to the LAN 5. LAN 5 and e-mail servers 11A, 11B, 11 in FIG.
C, 11D, and WAN 15 are the same as those in the related art described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment of the electronic mail device shown in FIG. 1, the received mail display function, the received mail opening function,
A function relating to transmission and reception of mail including functions according to the present invention, such as a mail creation function, an address list display function, an address input processing function, an automatic mail reception function, and an automatic mail opening function, is described in a processing program executable by the CPU 51 and is stored in the ROM 62. This is realized by reading and executing these programs by the CPU 51. Next, this program will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an overall operation flowchart of a processing program for realizing the e-mail function executed by the CPU 51 stored in the ROM 62. This flowchart is a process for receiving an execution request for the received mail display process.

First, at step 101, it is determined whether or not a mail mode flag (hereinafter abbreviated as MMF) stored in a register in the CPU 51 or the RAM 61 is 1, and if MMF is 1, the process proceeds to step 102. On the other hand, if MMF is not 1, the routine proceeds to step 103. MM
F is set to MMF = 1 in step 106 to be described later when the operator of the electronic mail device 21 inputs an instruction to execute the received mail display process to the input unit 22.

In step 102, a received mail display process is executed, and the flow advances to step 104. In the received mail display processing, a list of received e-mails is displayed, and it is possible to instruct an execution request of each processing of opening a mail, creating a mail, and inputting a mail address.

In step 103, the e-mail device 21 does not perform the received mail display process. If the e-mail device 21 has another function unrelated to the e-mail, it executes that function. move on.

In step 104, it is checked whether or not there is a click input of the 31 mouse of the input unit or an input of the keyboard 32, and if there is an input, the process proceeds to step 105; move on.

In step 105, it is checked whether or not the input detected in step 104 indicates a request for executing the received mail display process. If the input indicates a request for executing the received mail display process, the process proceeds to step 106. on the other hand,
If it does not indicate an execution request, the process proceeds to step 107.

At step 106, the MMF is set to 1 to indicate that the operator has made a request to execute the received mail display processing, and the routine proceeds to step 107. In step 107, an automatic mail opening process is executed.
01 and the above-described processing is repeated. This step 1
At 07, the unopened received mail is automatically opened under a predetermined condition, and is seen by the recipient. The automatic mail opening process will be described later. Next, FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of data relating to the e-mail function stored in the RAM 61.

In FIG. 3A, a mail creation area is an area for creating and storing an outgoing mail. As shown in FIG. 3B, the mail creation area includes a destination address area for storing a mail address which is a destination of the created mail, a sender address area for storing the mail address of the sender of the mail, and a title of the mail. It can be subdivided into a title area to store and a body area to store the mail body.

The address area in FIG. 3A is an area for storing a registered mail address. Looking at the address area in detail, in the example of FIG.
N mail address data from to the address (N) have already been registered. Each mail address data includes a name (Name) and a mail address, as shown in FIG.

The received mail store area shown in FIG. 3A is an area for storing received electronic mail. FIG.
Shows an example in which M mails from MAIL (1) to MAIL (M) are stored in this area. As shown in FIG. 3C, each received mail includes the mail address, title, mail text, TIME,
It has KAIFUF. Among them, TIME is data indicating the arrival time of a mail (including the date). KAIFUF is a flag indicating that the received mail has been opened. When the mail is not opened, KAIFUF is set to 0, but when the mail is opened, KAIFUF is set to 1. Next, the received mail display process in step 102 of the overall operation flowchart (FIG. 2) will be described.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts of the received mail display process. In addition, the display device 42
6 is shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 111 of FIG. 4, the current display screen is cleared, and functions are selected by mouse clicks such as opening, deleting, creating a mail, and terminating the frame of the list in FIG. Perform drawing such as display.

Steps 112 to 118 correspond to FIG.
Is a process for displaying the mail list shown in FIG. Step 11
In step 2, 1 is assigned to a variable n.

At step 113, referring to MAIL (n) in the received mail store area shown in FIG.
(N) (Email arrival time) is displayed in one column of the list. Here, the sender address of the mail is shown in FIG.
When the address is stored in the address area, the corresponding name may be read from the address area instead of the address and displayed, and the display in FIG. 6 is obtained by performing this processing.

In step 114, the received mail opening flag KAIFUF (n) is compared with 0, and KAIFUF
If (n) indicates 0, that is, indicates that the document has not been opened, step 1 is executed.
Going to step 15, a double circle mark indicating unopened is displayed at the left end of the line of the received mail list display in FIG.
Proceed to 16. On the other hand, if KAIFUF (n) is 1, that is, it indicates that the package has been opened, step 1 is performed without displaying a new message.
Proceed to 16.

In step 116, the variable n is advanced by one. In step 117, it is checked whether or not the contents of MAIL (n) corresponding to the variable n changed in step 116 exist in the received mail area shown in FIG.
If the contents of L (n) are empty data due to a mail deletion operation or the like described later, the process returns to step 116 to repeat the processing. On the other hand, when the contents of MAIL (n) exist, the process proceeds to step 118.

In step 118, it is checked whether or not the number of displayed mails in the mail list has exceeded the number of mails that can be displayed on one screen. If display is still possible, the process returns to step 113 to repeat the subsequent processing. On the other hand, if new display is impossible, the process proceeds to step 119.

Steps 119 to 128 are processing for changing the display screen in accordance with the operation of the mouse 31 and selecting each function. First, step 119
Substitutes 1 for variable A, and sets MAIL in step 120
(A) (that is, MAIL (1)) performs a so-called inverted display of inverting the color between the character display color and the background color of the table. In FIG. 6, the lines are indicated by oblique lines instead of the reverse display.

In step 121, a mouse cursor is displayed at an arbitrary position on the display screen. At step 122, it is checked whether or not the mouse 31 has moved. If the mouse movement has been detected, at step 123 the mouse cursor is moved so as to correspond to the moving direction and the moving distance of the mouse, and the routine proceeds to step. On the other hand, if the movement of the mouse 31 is not detected, the process directly proceeds to step 124 without doing anything.

In step 124, it is determined whether or not a click operation has been performed on the mouse 31. If a click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 125. If no click operation has been performed, the process returns to step 122. Monitor the situation repeatedly.

In step 125, the position of the mouse cursor on the display screen when the mouse 31 is clicked is checked. If the mouse cursor is located in the mail list, the flow advances to step 126. If the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process proceeds to step 129 (FIG. 5).

In step 126, the mail number corresponding to the display line where the mouse cursor is located is obtained, and its value is substituted for variable A. In step 127, the display of MAIL (A) corresponding to variable A is performed. Highlight the line text and background color.

In step 128, the reversed display other than that processed in step 127 is returned to the normal display.
The process returns to step S22 to repeat the above-described processing. Referring to FIG. 5, the processes in steps 129 to 134 are processes for selecting and executing another function related to the e-mail.

In step 129, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when a click operation is performed on the mouse 31 is in the "open" display portion at the top of the display screen of FIG. After executing the mail opening process, the process returns to step 111 (FIG. 4). On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, step 13
Proceed to 1. Details of the received mail opening process will be described later.

In step 131, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the “mail creation” display portion at the top of the display screen of FIG. After executing the mail creation process, the process returns to step 111 (FIG. 4). On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 133. Details of the mail creation process will be described later.

In step 133, the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is set to the "address input" at the top of the display screen of FIG.
If so, the process returns to step 111 (FIG. 4) after executing the mail creation process of step 134. on the other hand,
If the mouse cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 135. The details of the address input process will also be described later.

The processing from step 135 to step 138 is processing for deleting the stored received mail. In step 135, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the click operation is performed on the mouse 31 is in the “delete” display portion at the top of the display screen of FIG. 6, the process proceeds to step 136. If the mouse cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 139.

In step 136, MAIL displayed in reverse by the processing in step 127 (FIG. 4) is displayed.
The contents of (A) (sender address, title, text, and TIME (A) shown in FIG. 3C) are deleted from the display screen list and the RAM 61, and the received mail open flag KAIFUF (A) is set at step 137. Set to 0 (unopened).

In step 138, MAIL is entered in the list.
The line displaying (A) is displayed in step 136.
, The line display below the empty line is shifted upward by one line to delete the empty line, and the mail is stored in the RAM 61 shown in FIG. 3B. For the contents, a process of reducing the number after the deleted MAIL (A) by 1 is performed, and the process returns to step 111 (FIG. 4).

Steps 139 to 141 are processing for terminating the reception display processing. In step 139,
If the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when a click operation is applied to the mouse 31 is in the “end” display portion at the top of the display screen of FIG. 6, the process proceeds to step 140, while the mouse cursor is If it is at another position, the process returns to step 122 (FIG. 4) to repeatedly monitor the operation of the mouse.

In step 140, all the screens of the reception display processing are erased, and in step 141, the mail mode flag MMF described in the flowchart of the entire operation is set to 0, and the reception display processing ends. Next, the received mail opening processing of step 130 (FIG. 5) in the flowchart of the received mail display processing will be described. The received mail opening process is a process of displaying the text of the received mail on the display device 42, and has a function of deleting the displayed mail when it is no longer necessary to save the mail. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the received mail opening process, and FIG. 8 shows a screen displayed on the display device 42 by the received mail opening process. The flowchart of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

Steps 151 to 156 are processing for displaying the opening screen and operating the opening flag. First, in step 151, the current display screen is cleared once, the display frame of the opening screen shown in FIG.
Characters such as m, Title, end, and delete are displayed.

In steps 152, 153 and 154, M
The address, title, and body of the sender of the mail included in the data of AIL (A) are respectively described in the From column of FIG.
It is displayed in the Title column and the text display column. Here, when the sender address of the mail is stored in the address area of FIG. 3A, the corresponding name may be read from the address area instead of the address and displayed. The display shows the result of this processing.

At step 155, the opening flag KAIF
1 is substituted for UF (A), and MAIL (A) indicates that display has been performed on the opening screen at least once. Steps 156 to 164 are performed by operating the mouse 31 to select the deletion of the display mail or the end of the opening processing.

In step 156, a mouse cursor is displayed at an arbitrary position on the display screen. In step 157, it is checked whether or not the mouse 31 has moved. If the mouse movement has been detected, in step 158, the moving direction of the mouse 31
The mouse cursor is moved so as to correspond to the movement distance, and the process proceeds to step 159. On the other hand, if the movement of the mouse 31 is not detected, the process directly proceeds to step 159 without doing anything.

In step 159, it is determined whether or not a click operation has been performed on the mouse 31. If a click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 160. If no click operation has been performed, the process returns to step 157. Repeat monitoring.

In step 160, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the click operation is performed on the mouse 31 is in the "end" display portion at the upper right of the display screen of FIG. If the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process proceeds to step 16.
Proceed to 1.

In step 161, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the “delete” display portion at the upper right of the display screen of FIG. If the mouse cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 15.
7 and the monitoring of the operation status of the mouse 31 is repeated.

In steps 162 and 163, MAIL
The contents of (A) (sender address, title, body, and TIME (A) shown in FIG. 3C) are deleted from the RAM 61, and the contents of the mail stored in the RAM 61 shown in FIG. 3B are deleted. A process is performed to reduce the numbers after MAIL (A) by one.

In step 164, the entire screen of the opening process is deleted, the opening process is completed, and the process returns to the received mail display process. Next, the mail creation processing of step 132 (FIG. 5) in the flowchart of the received mail display processing will be described. The mail creation process is a function that composes mail,
The function of transmitting a mail to the electronic mail server 11A connected to the LAN 5 is realized. 9 and 1
0 is a flowchart of the mail creation process, and FIG.
9 shows a screen displayed on the display device 42 by the mail creation process. 9 and 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 171, the contents of the mail creation area of the RAM 61 shown in FIG. Steps 172 to 174 are processing for displaying the screen of FIG. First, in step 172, the current display screen is temporarily cleared, and the drawing of the display frame of the mail creation screen shown in FIG.
Characters such as o, Title, address list, transmission, and end are displayed, and the contents of the mail creation area of the RAM 61 shown in FIG. 3A are displayed in a corresponding column. In step 173, a character cursor indicating a character input position is displayed. Is displayed in the address input area (To column in FIG. 11).

Steps 174 to 192 are performed by operating the mouse 31 to select creation of mail, display of an address list, transmission of mail, or termination of mail creation processing.

In step 174, a mouse cursor is displayed at an arbitrary position on the display screen. At step 175, it is checked whether or not the mouse 31 has moved. If the mouse movement has been detected, at step 176, the moving direction of the mouse 31
The mouse cursor is moved so as to correspond to the movement distance, and the process proceeds to step 177. On the other hand, if the movement of the mouse 31 is not detected, the process directly proceeds to the step 177 without doing anything.

In step 177, it is determined whether or not a click operation has been performed on the mouse 31. If a click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 178. If no click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 193 (FIG. 10).

In step 178, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the address input area (To column in FIG. 11) on the display screen of FIG. Proceed to
Move the character cursor to the address input area and proceed to step 180. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, the process directly proceeds to step 180 without doing anything.

In step 180, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the title input area (Title column in FIG. 11) on the display screen in FIG. To move the character cursor to the title input area, and then to step 182. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process goes to step 18 without any operation.
Proceed to 2.

In step 182, the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is set to the text input area (FIG. 1) in the display screen of FIG.
1 (lower center column), go to step 183,
Move the character cursor to the title input area and proceed to step 184. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process directly proceeds to step 184 without doing anything.

In step 184, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the "address list" display area at the upper right of the display screen in FIG. After executing the address list display process, the process returns to step 172, and the processes after the drawing of the mail creation screen in FIG. 11 are repeated. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process directly proceeds to step 186 without doing anything. The details of the address list display processing will be described later.

In step 186, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the "send" display portion at the upper right of the display screen of FIG. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, the process directly proceeds to step 190 without doing anything.

In step 187, the mail address of the mail creator is stored in the sender address area in the mail creation area of FIG. 3B. This address may store an input from the keyboard 32, or may copy an address previously stored in another area of the RAM 61 (not shown in FIG. 3) into the sender address area. Good.

In step 188, the data in the mail creation area is transmitted from the communication control unit 26 to the electronic mail server 11A via the LAN 5. In step 189, the progress of the transmission process in step 188 is checked, and if the transmission process is completed, the process proceeds to step 192.

In step 190, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the "cancel" display portion at the upper right of the display screen of FIG. 11, the process proceeds to step 191. , Clear the mail creation area and proceed to step 192,
If the mouse cursor is located at another position, it is determined that the current mouse click detected in step 177 is meaningless, and the process returns to step 175 to monitor the operation of the mouse 31 repeatedly.

In step 192, all the screens of the mail creation processing are erased, the mail creation processing ends, and the flow returns to the received mail display processing. Referring to FIG. 10, the processing from step 193 to step 205 is processing for creating an e-mail based on input from the keyboard 32.

In step 193, an input to the keyboard 32 is detected. If there is an input, the process proceeds to step 194. If no input is detected, the process returns to step 175 (FIG. 9) to repeatedly monitor the operation of the mouse 31.

In step 194, the position of the display screen of the character cursor when the input operation is applied to the keyboard 32 is changed to the address input area (FIG. 1) in the display screen of FIG.
(To column 1), the process proceeds to step 195 to display the character corresponding to the input from the keyboard 32 in the address input area, and to step 196 to proceed to the destination address area in the mail creation area in FIG. Is stored, and the character cursor is moved in step 197 by the number of input characters detected, and the
Return to (FIG. 9). On the other hand, if the character cursor is at another position, the process directly proceeds to step 198 without doing anything.

In step 198, the position of the display screen of the character cursor when the input operation is applied to the keyboard 32 is changed to the title input area (FIG. 1) in the display screen of FIG.
1 (Title column), go to step 199,
The characters corresponding to the input of the keyboard 32 are displayed in the title input area, and the process proceeds to step 200 to proceed to FIG.
The data corresponding to the title area in the mail creation area of (b) is stored, and the character cursor is moved by the number of input characters detected in step 201, and step 17 is executed.
5 (FIG. 9). On the other hand, if the character cursor is at another position, the process directly proceeds to step 202 without doing anything.

In step 202, if the position of the display screen of the character cursor when the input operation is applied to the keyboard 32 is in the text input area (the lower center column in FIG. 11) on the display screen of FIG. In step 203, the character corresponding to the input from the keyboard 32 is displayed in the text input area, and in step 204, the data corresponding to the text area in the mail creation area shown in FIG. Then, the character cursor is moved by the number of detected input characters, and the process returns to step 175 (FIG. 9). On the other hand, if the character cursor is at another position,
It is determined that the current keyboard input detected in step 193 is meaningless, and the process returns to step 175 (FIG. 9). Next, the address list display processing in step 185 (FIG. 9) of the mail creation processing will be described. The address list display processing is to display a list of registered e-mail addresses stored in the address area shown in FIG. 3 (a) and select the destination of the created e-mail from this list, and FIG. 3 (b) This is a function for storing a mail address in the destination address area in the mail creation area, and reducing the complexity of inputting an address from the keyboard 32. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the received mail opening process.
FIG. 13 shows the display device 4 by opening the received mail.
2 shows a screen displayed. The flowchart of FIG. 12 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 211, the current display screen is cleared, and a drawing such as a display for selecting a function by a mouse click such as a new entry, a deletion, an OK, and an end at the top of the screen of the list in FIG. Do.

Steps 212 to 215 correspond to FIG.
This is a process for displaying the address list shown in FIG. In step 212, 1 is substituted for a variable m.

In step 213, referring to the address (m) in the address area shown in FIG. 3, the corresponding name and mail address are displayed in one line of the list. In step 214, the variable m is advanced by one.

In step 215, it is checked whether or not the number of display addresses in the address list has exceeded the number of addresses that can be displayed on one screen.
Return to and repeat the subsequent processing. On the other hand, if a new display is not possible, the process proceeds to step 216.

Steps 216 to 235 are for selecting an e-mail destination from the e-mail addresses in the list, registering and inputting a new e-mail address, confirming and deleting the e-mail address, or registering the registered e-mail address by operating the mouse 31. The user is allowed to select each function such as a detailed display of the information to be processed.

At step 216, a mouse cursor is displayed at an arbitrary position on the display screen. In step 217, it is checked whether or not the mouse 31 has moved. If the mouse movement has been detected, the mouse cursor is moved in step 218 so as to correspond to the moving direction and moving distance of the mouse, and the flow advances to step 219. On the other hand, if the movement of the mouse 31 is not detected, the process directly proceeds to the step 219 without doing anything.

At step 219, it is determined whether or not a click operation has been performed on the mouse 31. If a click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 220. If no click operation has been performed, the process returns to step 217. Repeat monitoring.

In step 220, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is on the address list on the display screen of FIG. 13, the process proceeds to step 221. If the cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 224.

In step 221, the number of the mail address corresponding to the display line where the mouse cursor is located is obtained, and its value is substituted for variable A. In step 222,
The characters on the display line of the address (A) corresponding to the variable A and the background color are highlighted. In FIG. 13, the lines are indicated by oblique lines instead of the reverse display.

At step 223, the reversed display other than the one processed at step 222 is returned to the normal display.
Returning to step 17, the monitoring of the operation of the mouse 31 is repeated. In step 224, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the click operation is performed on the mouse 31 is in the "new input" display portion at the upper left of the display screen in FIG. 13, the process proceeds to step 225. After executing the address list input process, the process returns to step 211, and the processes after the drawing of the address list display screen in FIG. 13 are repeated. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process proceeds to step 226 without doing anything. Details of the address list input processing will be described later.

In step 226, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the click operation is performed on the mouse 31 is in the "end" display portion at the upper right of the display screen of FIG. Then, the screen for displaying the address list is entirely erased, the address list display processing is ended, and the processing returns to the mail creation processing. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 228.

At step 228, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the "delete" display portion at the top of the display screen of FIG. 13, the process proceeds to step 229. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process proceeds to step 231.

In step 229, the contents (name (Name), mail address, alarm selection number shown in FIG. 3 (c)) of the address (A) which is highlighted by the processing in step 222 are displayed on a list on the display screen. RAM
Delete from 61.

At step 230, the line for which the address (A) has been displayed in the mail address list has become blank due to the processing at step 229, so the lines below this blank line are shifted upward by one line. 3B, the contents of the mail address stored in the RAM 61 shown in FIG. 3B are reduced by one at a time after the deleted address (A), and the process returns to step 217 to return to the mouse 31. Repeat the operation monitoring.

In step 231, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the “OK” display at the top of the display screen of FIG. 13, the process proceeds to step 232. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, the process returns to step 217 to monitor the operation of the mouse 31 repeatedly.

In step 232, the mail address of the address (A) is stored in the destination address area in the mail creation area of FIG. 3B, and the flow advances to step 233 to delete all the screens of the address list display. The list display process ends, and the process returns to the mail creation process. Next, the address input processing of step 134 (FIG. 5) of the received mail display processing and step 225 (FIG. 12) of the address list display processing will be described. The address input process is a process of newly registering and storing mail address data in the address area shown in FIG. FIG.
4 and FIG. 15 show a flowchart of the address input processing, and FIG. 16 shows a screen displayed on the display device 42 by the address input processing. The flowcharts of FIGS. 14 and 15 will be described with reference to FIG.

Steps 241 to 245 perform processing for detecting whether or not an area for registering new mail address data exists in the address area of the RAM 61 shown in FIG. 3A.

First, at step 241, 1 is substituted for a variable m. In step 242, the contents of the address (m) in the address area shown in FIG. 3 are referred to. If there is data, the process proceeds to step 243. On the other hand, if there is no data, the process proceeds to step 246.

In step 243, the variable m is advanced by one. In step 244, it is determined whether or not the value of m has exceeded the number of mail address data that can be stored in the address area of the RAM 61 shown in FIG. 3A, and if not, the flow returns to step 242 to return to the address 242. The process of searching for an empty area in the area is repeated. On the other hand, if it has already exceeded, the process proceeds to step 245.

In step 245, a warning display indicating that new mail address data cannot be stored in the address area is displayed on the display device 42 for a certain period of time.
Thereafter, the address input process is terminated, and the process returns to the received mail display process or the address list display process. The display time is arbitrary, but long enough to call attention.

In step 246, the current display screen is cleared, and the drawing of the frame of each column in FIG.
display of characters such as "ress" and OK at the bottom of the screen,
A display for selecting a function is performed by a mouse click such as termination.

Steps 247 to 272 (FIG. 1)
5) is operated by operating the mouse 31 and the keyboard 32.
This is for inputting and registering mail address data.

At step 247, a mouse cursor is displayed at an arbitrary position on the display screen. At step 248, a character cursor indicating the character input position is displayed in the name input area (Name column in FIG. 16).

At step 249, it is checked whether or not the mouse 31 has moved. If the mouse movement is detected, at step 250, the mouse cursor is moved so as to correspond to the moving direction and the moving distance of the mouse. Go to 251. On the other hand, if the movement of the mouse 31 is not detected, the process directly proceeds to step 251 without doing anything.

In step 251, it is checked whether or not a click operation has been performed on the mouse 31. If a click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 252. If no click operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step 262 (FIG. 15).

In step 252, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the "OK" display portion at the bottom of the display screen of FIG. 16, the flow advances to step 253. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, the process proceeds to step 254.

In step 253, all the screens of the address input processing are deleted, the address input processing is terminated, and the process returns to the received mail display processing or the address list display processing. In step 254, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the click operation is performed on the mouse 31 is in the "cancel" display portion at the bottom of the display screen of FIG. 16, the process proceeds to step 255, where the address (m ) Is cleared and the routine proceeds to step 253. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is at another position, step 2
Proceed to 56 (FIG. 15).

Turning to FIG. 15, in step 256, the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is displayed in the name input area (Name column in FIG. 16) on the display screen of FIG. If so, step 2
Go to 57 and move the character cursor to the name input area.
Returning to step 249 (FIG. 14), the processing after monitoring the mouse operation is repeated. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, do nothing and go directly to step 2.
Proceed to 58.

In step 258, if the position of the display screen of the mouse cursor when the mouse 31 is clicked is in the address input area (Address column in FIG. 16) in the display screen of FIG.
Move the character cursor to the address input area,
Returning to step 249 (FIG. 14), the processing after monitoring the mouse operation is repeated. On the other hand, if the mouse cursor is located at another position, it is determined that the current mouse click detected in step 251 (FIG. 14) is meaningless,
The process returns to step 249 (FIG. 14) without doing anything, and the monitoring process of the operation of the mouse 31 is repeated.

At step 260, the input to the keyboard 32 is detected. If there is an input, the process proceeds to step 261. If no input is detected, the process returns to step 249 (FIG. 14) to repeat the monitoring process of the operation of the mouse 31. .

At step 261, if the position of the display screen of the character cursor when the input operation is applied to the keyboard 32 is in the name input area (Name column in FIG. 16) on the display screen of FIG. 16, the process proceeds to step 262. The character corresponding to the input from the keyboard 32 is displayed in the address input area, and the process proceeds to step 263 to store the data in the name (Name) area of the address (m) in the address area of FIG. Proceed to 267. On the other hand, if the character cursor is located at another position, the process proceeds to step 264 without doing anything.

In step 264, the position of the display screen of the character cursor when the input operation is applied to the keyboard 32 is changed to the address input area (FIG. 1) in the display screen of FIG.
If it is in the Address column of FIG. 6), the process proceeds to step 265 to display the character corresponding to the input from the keyboard 32 in the address input area, and the process proceeds to step 266, where the address (m) in the address area of FIG. The data is stored in the mail address area, and the process proceeds to step 267. On the other hand, if the character cursor is at another position,
It is determined that the current keyboard input detected in step 262 is meaningless, and the process returns to step 249 (FIG. 14).

In step 267, the character cursor is moved by the number of detected input characters, and step 249 (FIG. 14)
Return to Next, the automatic mail opening process will be described. This processing counts the number of unopened mails among the received mails stored in the received mail store area in FIG. 3A, and if the number exceeds a predetermined number, the unopened mails are counted. This is a process of automatically opening the first incoming call, and this process realizes a major feature related to the present invention. FIG. 17 shows a flowchart of the automatic mail opening process. Hereinafter, this figure will be described.

First, at step 281, 0 is set to the variable N.
And 1 is assigned to a variable n, and in step 282, the current time is assigned to a variable OTIME. Step 2
The processing from 83 to step 286 is processing for extracting an unopened mail from all the mails stored in the received mail store area in FIG.

In step 283, the open flag KAIFUF (n) of MAIL (n) stored in the received mail store area shown in FIG.
If (n) is 0, that is, if MAIL (n) has not been opened, the process proceeds to step 287. On the other hand, KAIFUF
If (n) is other than 0, that is, if MAIL (n) has been opened, the process proceeds to step 284.

At step 284, the value of the variable n is advanced by one. In step 285, it is checked whether or not the value of the variable n has exceeded the maximum number of mails that can be stored in the received mail store area in FIG. 3A. If not, the process proceeds to step 286. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 291.

At step 286, the existence of the received mail in MAIL (n) is checked. If the received mail exists, the process returns to step 283 to repeat the processing after the confirmation of opening of MAIL (n). If does not exist, the process proceeds to step 291.

The processing from step 287 to step 290 is processing for specifying the unopened mail that has arrived first and counting the number of unopened received mails. Step 2
At 87, the arrival time TIME (n) of MAIL (n) is compared with the variable OTIME, and if TIME (n) indicates an earlier time, the process proceeds to step 288. If yes, go to step 290.

In step 288, the variable OTIME is set to T
IME (n) is substituted, and in step 289, the variable ON
Is substituted for the value of the variable n. In step 290, the value of N is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step 284 to continue searching for a new unopened received mail in the received mail store area in FIG.

The processing from step 291 to step 293 is processing for automatically opening an unopened received mail meeting the predetermined condition. In step 291, the value of the variable N having the total number of unopened received mails is checked, and the received mail shown in FIG. If it is equal to or greater than the number of unopened received mails stored in the store area, step 2
Go to 92. On the other hand, at other times, the mail automatic opening process is terminated without performing the automatic opening of the unopened received mail this time.

In step 292, the value of the variable ON having the number of the unopened mail that has arrived first and stored in the received mail store area in FIG. Then, in step 293, after the opening process described with reference to FIG. 7 is executed for MAIL (A), the mail automatic opening process ends. Next, an interrupt process performed by the CPU 51 will be described. In the present embodiment, the automatic mail receiving process is performed at fixed time intervals by a timer interrupt. The timer is realized by a method in which a timer device is provided outside the CPU 51, or a method in which a count program is executed by the CPU 51 and an interrupt process is executed every predetermined number of times. Less than,
The incoming mail automatic reception process will be described.

In the automatic mail receiving process, the above-described timer requests the electronic mail server 11A to transfer a newly arrived mail at regular intervals, and the electronic mail server 11
When the mail is transferred from A to the electronic mail device 21, the process of instructing the start of sounding of the notification sound corresponding to the sender of the mail is performed. The shorter the time interval at which the timer interrupt for starting the mail arrival detection process is generated, the shorter the time lag until the mail arrival is detected.
Since there is an adverse effect of increasing the traffic of AN5, it is set in consideration of the balance between the two.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart of the automatic mail receiving process. First, in step 301, the electronic mail server 11A is requested to transfer a newly arrived mail.

At step 302, the e-mail server 1
It is checked whether or not the mail has been transferred from 1A. If the mail has been transferred, the process proceeds to step 303. If the mail has not been transferred, it is determined that no new mail has arrived. The automatic reception processing ends.

The processing of steps 303 to 309 is for storing the received mail in the RAM 61. In step 303, 1 is substituted for a variable n.

In step 304, the data contents of MAIL (n) in the received mail store area shown in FIG. 3A are checked, and if the data contents are not clear but exist, the flow advances to step 305. On the other hand, if the data content has been cleared, the process proceeds to step 2308.

In step 305, the value of the variable n is increased by one. In step 306, it is checked whether or not the value of the variable n has exceeded the maximum number of received mails that can be stored in the received mail store area in FIG. 3 (a). If not, the flow returns to step 304 to check the data content of MAIL (n) again.

In step 307, it is determined that the received mail store area shown in FIG. 3A is full and there is no area for storing new mail, and the arrival time (TIME) in the received mail stored in the area is determined. ) Is checked, the number of the received mail is substituted for n, and the routine proceeds to step 308.

In step 308, the newly received mail is stored in MAIL (n).
Opening flag KAIFUF (n) of (n) is set to 0 (not opened)
And the current automatic mail receiving process ends. In the above-described e-mail device, when the number of stored unopened received mails exceeds a predetermined number, the e-mail with the longer time being left unopened is preferentially automatically opened. I was trying. However,
Not all e-mails opened in this way have content that is so important that the recipient must immediately check the contents. It is of course difficult to judge the importance of the contents of unopened mail without reading the text, but if information exchange by mail is repeated, mail from a particular sender will be of high importance It is often possible to empirically determine that there are many. It would be very convenient if the unopened received mail from such a specific sender could be preferentially opened and displayed. Hereinafter, the realization of the function of giving priority to the unopened received mail from the specific sender will be described.

This function can be realized by changing the program corresponding to the flowchart of the automatic mail opening process described with reference to FIG. 17 among the programs processed by the CPU 51 of the electronic mail device 21 described above. FIG.
11 shows a flowchart of the second mail automatic opening process changed from the above.

In the figure, the processing of substituting the initial values for the variables N, n, and OTIME in steps 311 and 312 and the processing in steps 313 to 316 in FIG.
The process of extracting an unopened mail from among all the mails stored in the received mail store area in (a) is the same as the process from step 281 to step 286 in FIG. 17, and the description is omitted.

The processing from step 317 to step 320 is performed in such a manner that the sender address of the extracted unopened received mail is
This is a process for checking whether or not the information is registered in the address area of FIG.

At step 317, 1 is substituted for the variable m. In step 318, the sender address of MAIL (n) is compared with the address data of the address (m) in the address area in FIG. 3A, and if the addresses match, the process proceeds to step 321; Proceed to 319.

At step 319, the variable m is advanced by one.
In step 320, it is checked whether or not the value of the variable m has exceeded the maximum number of address data that can be stored in the address area of FIG. 3A. If not, the process returns to step 318 to return to step 318. The comparison process is repeated. Otherwise, the process returns to step 314 to continue the process of extracting the unopened received mail.

The processing from step 321 to step 324 is performed for the unopened mail that has arrived first among the unopened mails from the sender, which is the address data registered in the address area of FIG. Identify and count the number of unopened received mails. Step 325
The process from Step 327 to Step 327 is a process of automatically opening an unopened received mail that meets a predetermined condition. These processes are the same as the processes from step 287 to step 293 in FIG. 17, and the description is omitted.

In this embodiment, FIG.
The unopened mail from the sender, which is all the address data registered in the address area (a), is set to be automatically opened. However, a priority flag is added to the address data, and the address data is referred to for registration. It is also possible to add a function of selectively excluding an unopened mail from a sender, which is address data having a certain address, from being automatically opened.
In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the number of unopened received mails is counted, and the number is set arbitrarily in advance by the mail receiver. If the number of unopened received mails in the received mail store area is equal to or more than the number of unopened received mails, the unopened mails that have arrived first by the number of mails corresponding to the difference are automatically opened in order. Instead of opening only the number of mails corresponding to the difference, it is also possible to automatically open all the unopened received mails. For this purpose, it is only necessary to change steps 292 and 293 of the flowchart of the automatic mail opening process in FIG. 17 so that the opening process is performed for all unopened mails. For the detection of an unopened mail, the processing from step 283 to step 286 in FIG.

By the way, the present invention can be implemented by executing, for example, a computer with an e-mail program that describes a procedure corresponding to the flowchart of each process described in the present embodiment.

It is also possible to implement the present invention by pre-recording this program on a computer-readable recording medium and loading and executing an e-mail program included in the recording medium on a main memory of the computer. It is. FIG. 20 shows an example of a computer-readable recording medium for recording an e-mail program. As shown in the drawing, a computer-readable recording medium includes a storage device 402 such as a ROM or a hard disk provided inside or outside the computer 401.
And a floppy disk, MO, CD-RO readable by a reading device provided in the computer 401.
The storage device 406 in the program server 405 that can be downloaded from the computer 401 via the network 404 may be any of a portable recording medium 403 such as an M and a DVD-ROM. Also,
This e-mail program is divided, recorded in a plurality of readable recording media in a distributed manner, and the program is loaded from the respective recording media into the main memory of the computer 401 as necessary and executed. It is also possible.

[0136]

According to the present invention, as described in detail above,
Automatically receive emails, and if the number of unopened emails exceeds a predetermined number, the unopened emails will be automatically opened, so the recipient can open the email without any trouble. By leaving the mail unopened for a long period of time, it is possible to prevent the problem that the contents of the mail are not transmitted to the recipient forever. Further, by actually seeing the operation of this function, it is possible to obtain an effect of alerting the mail user to frequently open the mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an overall operation of a processing program for realizing an e-mail function.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of data relating to an e-mail function stored in a RAM 61;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (part 1) of a received mail display process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 2) of a received mail display process.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen display by a received mail display process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a received mail opening process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen display by a received mail opening process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart (part 1) of a mail creation process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a mail creation process (part 2).
It is.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen display by a mail creation process.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an address list display process.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen display by an address list display process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart (part 1) of an address input process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart (part 2) of an address input process.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen display by an address input process.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a mail automatic opening process.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an automatic mail receiving process.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a second automatic mail opening process.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a computer-readable recording medium for storing an e-mail program.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a conventional e-mail device and a configuration of an entire e-mail system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B, 1C E-mail device 2 UA 3 SMTP client 4 POP client 5 LAN 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D E-mail server 12 MTA 13 POP server 14A, 14B, 14C Mailbox 15 WAN 21 E-mail device 22 Input unit 23 Output unit 24 Main control unit 25 Storage unit 26 Communication control unit 31 Mouse 32 Keyboard 33 Input control unit 41 Output control unit 42 Display device 51 CPU 61 RAM 62 ROM 101 to 324 Processing steps 401 Computer 402 Storage device 403 Portable recording medium 404 Network 405 Program server 406 Storage device

Claims (6)

[Claims] An electronic mail receiving means for receiving an electronic mail, an electronic mail storage means for storing an electronic mail received by the electronic mail receiving means, and an electronic mail stored in the electronic mail storage means,
Unopened email detection means for detecting unopened emails, and when the number of unopened emails detected by the unopened email detection means exceeds a predetermined number, the An e-mail apparatus comprising: an e-mail opening means for opening any of the e-mails. 2. The e-mail apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail opening means opens an e-mail received by the e-mail receiving means in an unopened e-mail. . 3. An electronic mail address storing means for storing a plurality of electronic mail addresses, wherein said electronic mail opening means includes an electronic mail stored in said electronic mail address storing means among unopened electronic mails. 3. The e-mail apparatus according to claim 1, wherein any one of e-mails from a sender having an address is opened. 4. The electronic mail apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail opening means opens all unopened electronic mails. 5. An e-mail receiving procedure for receiving an e-mail, an e-mail storing procedure for storing the e-mail received in the e-mail receiving procedure, and an e-mail storing in the e-mail storing procedure.
An unopened e-mail detection procedure for detecting an unopened e-mail, and when the number of unopened e-mails detected in the unopened e-mail detection procedure exceeds a predetermined number, An e-mail opening method, comprising: opening an e-mail. 6. A recording medium recording a program read by the computer when used by a computer, the method comprising receiving an e-mail, and storing the e-mail received in the e-mail receiving procedure. An e-mail storage procedure to be performed, an unopened e-mail detection procedure for detecting an unopened e-mail in the e-mail stored in the e-mail storage procedure, and an undetected e-mail detected in the unopened e-mail detection procedure. An e-mail opening procedure for opening one of the unopened e-mails when the number of opened e-mails exceeds a predetermined number, and a computer-readable recording medium storing an e-mail program for causing a computer to execute .