JPH1115750A - Electronic mail equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the retrieval of electronic mails or their related information by preparing the sending and receiving parts to send and receive the electronic mails and their related information and suppressing the resending of the sent related information when the unsent related information is automatically sent to a sending destination. SOLUTION: A related information management part 103 generates a related information identifier to the related information sent from a user interface part 106 and stores the related information and the information identifier. The part 103 also stores the sent user name information on the related information received from a sending part 204 together with the related information received at a receiving part 205 and its identifier and sent user name information. Then the related information is complemented by the received related information stored at the part 103, so that the sending request of the related information is automatically treated and also the resending is suppressed for the sent related information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic mail system.

[0002]

[Prior art]

(Prior Art 1) As a conventional e-mail apparatus, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-1405. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a conventional e-mail device. 201 is an e-mail device, 202 is a communication path, 203 is a processing unit, 204
Is a transmission unit for transmitting an e-mail and related information, 205
Is a receiving unit for receiving e-mail and related information, 206
Is a user interface unit, 207 is a user, 208
Is a related information processing unit. FIG. 3 shows a format of an e-mail used in a conventional e-mail device. The e-mail has a header section 301 and a body 305. The header section 301 includes a source user name column 302 and a destination user name column 303. , A related information identifier column 304, a date and time column 307, and other information necessary for controlling the e-mail, and the body 305 includes a related information identifier 306, text, and the like.

Next, the operation of the conventional electronic mail apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. First, a case where an e-mail is transmitted will be described. The user 207 on the transmission side
Related information of the e-mail to be transmitted is sent to the e-mail device 201
To enter. The input related information is accumulated in the related information processing unit 208 via the user interface unit 206 and the processing unit 203. Next, the user 207 inputs an e-mail to which the related information identifier of the related information to be transmitted is added to the e-mail device 201. The input e-mail is sent to the processing unit 203 via the user interface unit 206. The processing unit 203 transmits the received e-mail via the transmission unit 104 to the destination e-mail device 201.
Send to In the destination e-mail device 201, the received e-mail is received by the receiving unit 205. The receiving unit 205 sends the received e-mail to the processing unit 203. The user 207 extracts the e-mail sent through the user interface unit 206.

Next, a case where a receiver requests related information will be described. The user 207 inputs the related information identifier to the user interface unit 206. The input related information identifier is sent to the related information processing unit 208 via the user interface unit 206 and the processing unit 203.
The related information processing unit 208 determines the e-mail device 201 storing the related information from the sent related information identifier, generates a related information transmission request, and transmits the related information transmission request to the processing unit 203. The related information is transmitted to the e-mail device 201 storing the related information via the unit 204. The e-mail device 201 of the transmission destination of the related information transmission request receives the related information transmission request by the receiving unit 205. Receiver 2
05 sends a related information transmission request to the related information processing unit 208 via the processing unit 203. Related information processing unit 20
8 transmits the related information requested to be transmitted to the e-mail device 201 that transmitted the related information transmission request via the processing unit 203 and the transmission unit 204. The e-mail device 201 of the transmission source of the related information transmission request receives the transmitted related information in the receiving unit 205 and processes the received related information in the processing unit 2.
03 and stored in the related information processing unit 208. The related information stored in the related information processing unit 208 is the user 207
Can be referenced from.

(Prior Art 2) Another example of a conventional e-mail apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-54733. A conventional e-mail device includes a transmission management table and a reception management table. The transmission management table includes, when an e-mail is transmitted, ancillary information such as an e-mail identifier, date and time, a destination, and a related e-mail field in the case of a reply e-mail. Enter the e-mail identifier of the e-mail to be replied to, or in the case of forwarded e-mail, the e-mail identifier of the e-mail to be transmitted. Also, in the reception management table, in the case of a reply mail, enter the e-mail identifier of the e-mail to be replied in a predetermined column together with the attached information at the time of reception of the e-mail, search the transmission management table, and If it is a reply mail to the sent mail,
Write the email identifier in the relevant email field.

The relation between transmitted and received e-mails can be displayed by referring to the transmission management table and the reception management table, and the relation between the e-mails is automatically extracted by searching the transmission management table and the reception management table. It becomes possible.

[0007]

In a conventional e-mail apparatus, a user needs to perform an operation of instructing a transmission request for each piece of related information. Since the amount of operation increases and burdens the user, and because the information on whether the related information has not been transmitted or has not been transmitted is not managed, every time the user instructs the related information transmission request, the related information is A request to send related information is sent to the stored e-mail device, and the e-mail device that stores the related information requires processing to transmit the related information, resulting in low responsiveness and load on the communication path. The problem is that only the reference relation between e-mails is managed, and information indicating the reference relation between e-mails and related information is not managed, so that only e-mail search using the reference relation between e-mails can be performed. There is a problem.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a transmitting-side e-mail device which transmits related information that has been transmitted to a destination user in the relevant information of an e-mail to be transmitted. In the e-mail device on the receiving side, the related information of the received e-mail is stored in the related information management unit, and the related information of which transmission is suppressed on the transmitting side by the related information of the received e-mail is managed. Automated operation of related information transmission requests by supplementing with received related information stored in the section and reduce retransmission of transmitted related information to reduce the load on the communication path, The reference relationship between the e-mail and the related information of the e-mail is stored and managed in the reference relationship management unit using the e-mail identifier and the related information identifier,
An electronic mail device capable of searching for an electronic mail or related information that has a reference relationship with a specific electronic mail or related information.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 4, 5, and 6. FIG. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic mail apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 101 is an e-mail device, 103 is a user interface unit 10
6 generates a related information identifier for the related information sent from the communication unit 6, stores the related information and the related information identifier of the related information, and stores the transmitted user name information of the related information transmitted from the transmitting unit 204. The related information management unit 104 stores the related information received by the receiving unit 205, the related information identifier of the related information, and the transmitted user name information of the related information. A transmission information processing unit that omits the related information that has been transmitted to the user of the transmission destination, and notifies the related information management unit 103 of the user name of the transmission destination that transmitted the relevant information to the transmitted user name of the relevant information; 105 complements the received related information omitted at the destination in the received e-mail, related information in the received e-mail, the related information identifier, the source user name, and the destination use Receiving information processing unit that notifies the name to related information management unit 103, 106 is a user interface unit, for performing the creation and display e-mail and related information in accordance with the input from the user 207.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a related information database and a related information record used by the related information management unit 103 to store and manage related information. 402, a related information identifier field in which a related information identifier is stored;
Is a related information field storing related information, 404 is a transmitted / received user name field storing the name of a user who has transmitted and received related information, 401 is a related information identifier field 402, a related information field 403, and a transmitted / received field. This is a related information record including a completed user name field 404. Reference numeral 405 denotes a related information database capable of storing a plurality of related information records 401.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of transmission / reception of e-mail by two users, where 501 and 502 are users,
It is.

FIG. 6 shows an electronic mail, and
Is an e-mail, 602 is a sender user name field indicating the user name of the e-mail sender, 603 is a destination user name field indicating the e-mail destination user name, and 604 is a related information identifier. A related information identifier column 605 indicates a related information column indicating related information, and 606 indicates a text of the e-mail 601.

Next, an outline of the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a user 501 sends an e-mail 6
01 is assumed to be transmitted. Sending user 501
Input an e-mail 601 including a related information identifier field and related information through the user interface unit 106 of the e-mail device 101.

FIG. 6 shows an e-mail 601 inputted by the user 501, a source user name 602 describing the user who created the e-mail 601, and a user who receives the e-mail 601. 603, a related information identifier 604 indicating a unique identifier of the related information 605, related information 605, and a text 606 of the e-mail.

The user interface unit 106 sends the electronic mail 601 input by the user 501 to the transmission information processing unit 104. The transmission information processing unit 104 sends the e-mail 6
01 destination user name 603, source user name 602,
The related information identifier 604 and the related information 605 are extracted and sent to the related information management unit 103.

When the related information identifier 604 sent from the transmission information processing unit 104 is empty, the related information managing unit 103 generates a related information identifier, and generates the related information identifier, the related information 605, and the transmission source. A related information record 401 is generated from the user name 602 and the related information database 4
05, and sends the related information record 401 to the transmission information processing unit 104. If the related information identifier 604 is not empty, the related information record 401 corresponding to the related information identifier 604 is extracted from the related information database 405 and sent to the transmission information processing unit 104.

The transmission information processing unit 104 receives the related information record 401 sent from the related information management unit 103, and writes the related information identifier field 402 to the related information identifier 604 when the related information identifier 604 is empty. Transmitted / received user name field 404 of related information record 401 and destination user name 60 of e-mail 601
The related information 605 is omitted from the e-mail addressed to this user name for the user name that is commonly included in both of them. If there is a plurality of pieces of related information in the email 601, the same process is repeated for each piece of related information to create an email addressed to each destination user name and send it to the transmission unit 204.

Further, the transmission information processing unit 104 adds the destination user name 603 to which the related information 605 has been transmitted to the transmitted user name field 404 of the related information record 401, and adds this related information record 401 to the related information record 401. Management unit 1
Send to 03. The related information management unit 103 updates the related information database 405 with the related information record 401 sent from the transmission information processing unit 104. The transmission unit 204 transmits the e-mail 601 sent from the transmission information processing unit 104.
Is transmitted to the electronic mail device 101 of the user 502 via the communication path 202. Email device 10 of user 502
1 receives the transmitted e-mail 601 from the receiving unit 205
To receive. The receiving unit 205 receives the e-mail 601
To the reception information processing unit 105. Reception information processing unit 105
Are the source user name 602 and the destination user name 60 included in the electronic mail 601 sent from the receiving unit 205.
3. The related information 605 and the related information identifier 604 are extracted and sent to the related information management unit 103. Related information management unit 10
3 attempts to extract the related information record 401 corresponding to the related information identifier 604 received from the reception information processing unit 105 from the related information database 405.

If the related information record 401 corresponding to the related information identifier 604 cannot be extracted, the related information record 401 is generated from the related information identifier 604, the related information 605, the destination user name 603, and the source user name 602. Then, the related information record 401 is registered in the related information database 405, and the related information record 401 is sent to the reception information processing unit 105. When the related information record 401 corresponding to the related information identifier 604 is extracted, the transmitted user name field 404 of the related information 401 is extracted.
The source user name 602 or the destination user name 603
, And adds the user name not included in the transmitted user name field 403b, updates the related information database 405, and sends the related information record 401 to the reception information processing unit 105.

The reception information processing unit 105 receives the related information record 401 sent from the related information management unit 103. When the related information 605 corresponding to the related information identifier 604 of the electronic mail 601 is omitted, the omitted related information is complemented by the related information stored in the related information field 403 of the related information record 401. After the end of the above processing, the reception information processing unit 105
An e-mail 601 is sent to the user interface unit 106. The user interface unit 106 includes the user 50
2, when there is a display request for the e-mail 601 received from the user 501, the e-mail 601 is displayed together with the related information.

Next, referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10, the operation from the state where no related information is transmitted and received between all the users of the electronic mail apparatus. explain. FIG. 7 shows a state of the related information record, where 701a and 701b are related information records and 702a.
Is a related information identifier field, 703a is a related information field, and 704a and 702b are transmitted / received user name fields.

FIG. 8 shows the structure of a related information database. Reference numeral 801 denotes related information records 701a and 701b.
Is a related information database that holds.

FIG. 9 shows an e-mail to be transmitted, 901a is an e-mail to be transmitted, 902a is a source user name, 903a is a destination user name, 904a is a text of the e-mail 901a, and 906a is an electronic mail. Email 901a
905a is the related information identifier of the related information 906a. First, a case where the electronic mail 901a is transmitted from the user 501 to the user 502 will be described. The user 501 creates the related information 90 newly created through the user interface unit 106 of the electronic mail device 101.
An e-mail 901a accompanied by 6a is input. At this time, the related information identifier 905a associated with the newly created related information 906a is empty.

The user interface unit 106 sends the electronic mail 901a input by the user 501 to the transmission information processing unit 104. The transmission information processing unit 104 extracts a source user name 902a, a destination user name 903a, a related information identifier 905a, and related information 906a included in the electronic mail 901a sent from the user interface unit 106. . Source user name 902 extracted
a, destination user name 903a, and related information identifier 905a
And the related information 906a to the related information management unit 103.

Since the related information identifier 905a sent from the transmission information processing unit 104 is empty, the related information management unit 103 newly adds the related information identifier 9 of the related information 906a.
02b, a related information record 701a is generated from the generated related information identifier 902b, the related information 906a, and the transmission source user name 902a, and the generated related information record 701a is registered in the related information database 801. 701a is transmitted to the transmission information processing unit 104. Here, FIG. 7A shows the related information 906 at this time.
a related information record 701a of the related information 906a, a related information identifier of the related information 906a in a related information field 702a, a related information 906a in a related information field 702b,
In this state, the user 501 is stored in the transmitted user name field 704a. FIG. 8A shows the state of the related information database 801 of the related information managing unit 103 of the user 501 at this time, and the related information 90 is displayed.
The related information record 701a regarding 6a is stored.

The transmission information processing unit 104 receives the related information record 701a sent from the related information management unit 103, writes the related information identifier 702a stored in the related information record 701a into the related information identifier 905a, Update like the identifier 902b. Thus, the e-mail 901a becomes the state of the e-mail 901b. In the related information record 701a, the user 502 described in the destination user name column 903a is the related information 9
06a is not included in the transmitted user name field 704a, and the e-mail 90 sent to the user 501
The process of omitting the related information 906a in 1b is not performed. The transmission information processing unit 104 sends the processed e-mail 901b to the transmission unit 204, and sends the related information record 7
The user name of the user 502 who has newly transmitted the related information 703a is added to the user name field 704a of the user 01a.
Update to the user name field 702b. This allows
Related information record 701a is related information record 701b.
Is updated to the state. The related information processing unit 103 transmits the related information record 70 transmitted from the transmission information processing unit 104.
1b, the related information database 801 is updated. Thereby, the related information 702 in the related information database 801
The related information record 701b is registered as the related information record regarding a as shown in FIG. Transmission section 2
04 transmits the e-mail 901 b sent from the transmission information processing unit 104 to the e-mail device 101 of the user 502 via the communication path 202.

The operation when the electronic mail device 101 of the receiver 502 of the transmission destination receives the electronic mail 901b will be described below. The e-mail device 101 includes a receiving unit 2
The electronic mail 901b transmitted at step 05 is received.
The receiving unit 205 sends the received e-mail 901b to the reception information processing unit 105. The reception information processing unit 105 extracts the related information identifier 902b and related information 906a, the source user name 902a, and the destination user name 903a in the received e-mail 901b, and sends them to the related information management unit 103.

The related information management unit 103 uses the related information identifier 902b sent from the reception information processing unit 105 to read the related information identifier 902b from the related information database 801.
Of the related information record 701a corresponding to the related information, the related information identifier 902b is not registered in the related information database 801 because the related information identifier 902b is the related information identifier of the related information received for the first time. Therefore, the related information management unit 103 newly generates a related information record 701b from the related information identifier 902b, the related information 906a, the source user name 902a, and the destination user name 903a sent from the reception information processing unit 105. I do. The generated related information record 701b includes the related information identifier 902b in the related information identifier field 702a, the related information 906a in the related information field 703a, and the destination user name 903a.
And the source user name 902a are stored in the transmitted / received user name field 702b.

Therefore, the related information record 701b of the user 502 on the receiving side relating to the related information 906a is
It has the same structure as the related information record 701b of the related information database 801 of the transmitting user 501 shown in FIG. 8B. The related information management unit 103 registers the generated related information record 701b in the related information database 801. Since the same related information record 701b as that of the user 501 on the transmitting side is registered, the related information database 801 of the user 502 on the receiving side is also registered in the user 501 on the transmitting side.
Has the same structure as the related information database 801. Since there is no related information in the e-mail 901b whose transmission is omitted on the transmission side, the e-mail 901b is sent to the user interface unit 106 as it is. The user interface unit 106 displays the e-mail 901b received in response to a request from the user 502.

With the above processing, the e-mail 901b
In the related information database 801 of the related information management unit 103 of the user 501 and the user 502 that transmitted and received the related information, an equivalent related information record 901b related to the related information 703a is accumulated.

Next, the user 502 enters the related information 906a and the related information identifier 90 transmitted from the user 501.
The e-mail 1001a citing 2b is sent to the user 501.
A description will be given of the case of transmitting to. Here, FIG.
This is an e-mail that the user 502 sends to the user 501, and 1001a and 1001b are e-mails and 1002a
Is the source user name, 1003a is the destination user name, 10
04a is the text of the e-mail 1001a.

The e-mail 1001a is the e-mail 90
1a, it is sent to the transmission information processing unit 104 via the user interface unit 106. Transmission information processing unit 1
04 extracts a source user name 1002a, a destination user name 1003a, a related information identifier 902b, and related information 906a included in the e-mail 1001a sent from the user interface unit 106, and Send to 103.

The related information management unit 103 receives the source user name 1002a, destination user name 1003a, related information identifier 902b, and related information 906a sent from the transmission information processing unit 104. The related information management unit 103
Related information record 7 corresponding to related information identifier 902b
01b is extracted from the related information database 801 and the related information record 701b is sent to the transmission information processing unit 104.

The transmission information processing unit 104 receives the related information record 701b sent from the related information management unit 103. Since the user 501 described in the destination user name 1003a is included in the transmitted user name field 702b of the related information record 701b, the user 501
Related information 906 from the e-mail 1001a sent to
a is omitted, and an e-mail 1001b is generated.

Transmission information processing section 104 sends electronic mail 1001b to transmission section 204. Further, the transmission information processing unit 104 stores the transmitted user name 1002a and the destination user name 1003a in the transmitted / received user name field 702b.
02b is not added. Therefore, since the related information record 701b is not updated, the updating process for the related information database 801 is not performed. Transmission section 204
Transmits the e-mail 1001b sent from the transmission information processing unit 104 to the e-mail device 101 of the user 501. Hereinafter, an operation when the electronic mail device 101 of the user 501 receives the electronic mail 1001b will be described.

The e-mail 1001b is the e-mail 90
1a, the data is sent to the reception information processing unit 105 via the reception unit 205. The reception information processing unit 105 includes the reception unit 2
The related information identifier 902b, the source user name 1002a, and the destination user name 1003a in the e-mail 1001b sent from the client device 05 are extracted from the related information management unit 103.
Send to The related information management unit 103 includes the reception information processing unit 10
5 extracts the related information record 701b corresponding to the related information identifier 902b sent from
Send to 05. The reception information processing unit 105 receives the related information record 701b sent from the related information management unit 103, complements the electronic mail 1001b with the related information 906a stored in the related information field 703a,
E-mail 1001 before related information 906a is omitted
a is generated and sent to the user interface unit 106.
In addition, the reception information processing unit 105
An attempt is made to update the transmitted / received user name field 702b of 1b, but the update process is not performed because the user 502 of the source user name 1002a and the user 501 of the destination user name 1003a have already been registered. . Since the related information record 701b is not updated, the related information database 8
No update process is performed on 01 as well.

The user interface unit 106 receives the electronic mail 100 received in response to a request from the user 501.
1a is displayed. By the above processing, the e-mail 1
The related information database 801 of the related information management unit 103 of the user 501 and the user 502 that transmitted and received 001a has a related information record 701 related to the related information 906a.
b is accumulated.

In the first embodiment, the related information is added to the electronic mail and transmitted. However, the same effect can be obtained by transmitting the relevant information separately from the electronic mail. In the first embodiment, an e-mail to be transmitted for each destination user is generated. However, an e-mail having a different destination user name is the same e-mail listing the destination user names. The same effect can be obtained by transmitting.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an electronic mail apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1101
Is an e-mail device, 1102 is a device that has transmitted or received related information to a user to whom the related information has not been transmitted. Is a user name notifying section for notifying the user name of the user who newly transmits the.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of transmission / reception of e-mail by three users.
1 is a user. As shown in FIG.
Sends an e-mail to the user 502, the user 502 creates an e-mail including the related information included in the e-mail of the user 501, and sends the created e-mail to the user 12
01 is assumed to be transmitted. The user 501 transmits the e-mail to the user 50 by the processing described in the first embodiment.
Send to 2. Further, the user 502 receives the electronic mail by the processing described in the first embodiment. The related information and the related information identifier are stored in the related information management unit 103 by the processing described in the first embodiment. User 5
In step 02, the user inputs an e-mail 601 to the user 1201 including the related information included in the e-mail received from the user 501 through the user interface unit 106 of the e-mail device 1101. The user interface unit 106 displays the electronic mail 6 input by the user 502.
01 to the transmission information processing unit 104. Transmission information processing unit 1
In step 04, processing related to transmission of an e-mail to the user 1201 and storage management of related information is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In addition, the processing related to the reception of the electronic mail and the accumulation management of the related information in the electronic mail device 101 of the user 1201 is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. If the destination user of the e-mail is not included in the transmitted / received user name field 404 of the related information record 401, the user name notifying unit 1102 of the user 502 Among them, the user excluding the user who created the e-mail is notified of the user name to which the related information has been newly transmitted. The e-mail device 101 of the user 501 who has received the notification transmits the transmitted / received user name field 4 in the related information field 401 of the related information database 405.
At 04, the notified user is registered. With this processing, regarding the related information included in the e-mail transmitted by the user 502 to the user 1201, even if the user 501 has not transmitted the e-mail including the relevant information to the user 1201, the user 501 The user 1201 can be stored in the transmitted / received user name field of the related information database.

Next, referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, and FIG.
User 1 sends an email containing related information sent from User 1.
The operation in the case of transmitting to 201 will be described.

FIG. 13 shows the state of the related information record, where 1301a and 1301b are related information records,
1302a is a related information identifier field, 1303a is a related information field, 1304a and 1302b are transmitted / received user name fields.

FIG. 14 shows that the user 502 is the user 1201
1401 is an e-mail to be transmitted, 1402 is a source user name, 1403 is a destination user name, and 1404 is related information 140 of the e-mail to be transmitted.
5, 1405 is the related information of the e-mail to be transmitted, and 1406 is the text of the e-mail 1401.

The user 501 has transmitted an e-mail including the related information 1405 only to the user 502, and the user 1201 has no information about the related information 1405 in the related information database, and A case where an e-mail including the related information 1405 received from the user 501 is transmitted to the user 1201 will be described.

The user 501 transmits an e-mail including the related information 1405 to the user 502 by the processing described in the first embodiment. Further, the user 502 receives this e-mail by the processing described in the first embodiment. As a result, the related information record 1301 related to the related information field 1301a is stored in the related information database 801 of the related information management unit 103 of the user 501 and the user 502.
1a is accumulated.

The user 502 sets the e-mail device 1101
, An electronic mail 1401 addressed to the user 1201 is created. E-mail 1401 is transmitted to user 1201 by the processing described in the first embodiment. The user 1201 receives the e-mail 1401 from the e-mail device 1101 of the user 502 by the processing described in the first embodiment.

User name notification section 1102 of user 502
Is related information field 13 related to related information 1405
01a, which is the user name of the destination of the e-mail 1401, is entered in the transmitted / received user name field 1304a.
1 is not included, and among the users registered in the transmitted / received user name field 1304a, the user 501 excluding the user 502 who is the transmission source user is
The user 1201 that is the destination of the e-mail 1401 including the related information 1405 is notified.

The user name notifying unit 1102 of the electronic mail device 1101 of the user 501 sends the notified user 1201
In the related information field 13 related to the related information 1405.
01a is registered in the transmitted / received user name field 1304a. As a result, the related information record 1301a related to the related information 1405 of the user 501 is stored in the user 1201.
Is added to the sent / received user name field, and 1301b
State. Thereby, the user 501 and the user 50
The related information records relating to the second related information 1405 have the same configuration.

Therefore, even if the user 501 has not previously transmitted an e-mail including the related information 1405 to the user 1201, it is possible to know that the user 1201 already holds the related information 1405, User 501
When transmitting an e-mail including the related information 1405 to the user 1201, the transmission amount can be reduced by omitting the related information 1405 and transmitting the e-mail.

Embodiment 3 Hereinafter, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 15, 16, 17, 18, and 1.
9, FIG. 20, FIG. 21, FIG. 22, FIG. 23, and FIG. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the drawings.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an electronic mail apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1501 denotes an e-mail device; 1503, a reference relationship between e-mail and related information using transmitted / received e-mail and related information, an e-mail identifier for identifying the e-mail, and a related information identifier for identifying the related information. The reference relationship management unit 1504 that accumulates and manages, generates and adds an e-mail identifier of the e-mail to the e-mail to be transmitted, and extracts the e-mail to be transmitted and the e-mail identifier and the related information identifier in the e-mail. A sending e-mail processing unit for sending to the reference relation managing unit, a receiving e-mail processing unit for extracting the received e-mail and the e-mail identifier and the related information identifier in the e-mail, and sending the extracted e-mail identifier and the related information identifier to the reference relation managing unit , 1502 are an e-mail or an e-mail according to a request from the user 207 in addition to the functions of the first embodiment. The user interface unit for displaying the search and the above results for the fine-related information is. However, the related information management unit 103, the transmission information processing unit 104, the reception information processing unit 10
5. The functions of the transmission unit 204, the reception unit 205, and the communication path 202 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a format of an e-mail used in the third embodiment. Reference numeral 1601 denotes an e-mail body. The e-mail includes an e-mail identifier column 1602 in which an e-mail identifier of the e-mail 1601 can be described, and an e-mail. Email 16
Reference destination e-mail identifier field 1603 in which a plurality of e-mail identifiers of other e-mails referenced by 01 can be described.
6 includes a source user name 602, a destination user name 603, a text 606, a related information identifier 604, and related information 605 equivalent to those in FIG.

FIGS. 17A and 17B show reference relationship records used by the reference relationship management unit 1503 to store and manage e-mail transmitted / received by the e-mail device 1501 or information related to the e-mail. And the configuration of a reference relation database. Reference numeral 1702 denotes an identifier field in which an e-mail identifier or related information identifier is stored, and reference numeral 1703 denotes a reference destination in which an e-mail corresponding to the identifier field or an identifier corresponding to another e-mail or related information referred to by the relevant information is stored. An identifier field 1704 is a reference source identifier field in which an identifier corresponding to another email or related information referring to the email or the related information corresponding to the identifier field is stored. This is a reference relation record including a destination identifier field 1703 and a reference source identifier field 1704. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a reference relation database,
The reference relation database can store a plurality of reference relation records 1701.

Next, an outline of the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 15, FIG. 16, and FIG. The user 207 has the e-mail device 150
The user inputs an e-mail 1601 through the first user interface unit 1502. Email 160 entered
1 is a transmission information processing unit 104 similar to the first embodiment.
And is transmitted to the transmission electronic mail processing unit 1504 through the processing of the related information processing unit 103. Outgoing email processing unit 15
In step 04, an electronic mail 1601b is generated by adding an electronic mail identifier 1602 to the electronic mail 1601 sent from the transmission information processing unit 104.

However, when a plurality of e-mails input by the user 207 are generated in the course of the processing of the first embodiment, the same e-mail identifier is added to the plurality of e-mails. Is performed only for one of these e-mails.

First, a procedure for creating an e-mail database 1709 used when searching for an e-mail 1601 from an e-mail identifier 1602 will be described. An e-mail record 1706 in which the e-mail identifier 1602 is stored in the e-mail identifier field 1707 and the e-mail 1601b is stored in the e-mail field 1708 is registered in the e-mail database 1705.

Next, a procedure for generating and updating the reference relation database 1705 used for searching for a reference relation from the electronic mail identifier 1602 or the related information identifier 604 will be described. The e-mail identifier 1602 is stored in the identifier field 1702 and the reference destination e-mail identifier 1603 and the related information identifier 604 are stored in the reference destination identifier field 1703
Is generated and registered in the reference relation database 1705. Further, the reference destination e-mail identifier 1603 and the related information identifier 604, which are the identifiers stored in the reference destination identifier field 1703, are stored.
Relation record 1 having an identifier field 1702
701, and the extracted reference relation record 1701
The electronic mail identifier 1602 is added to the reference source identifier field 1704 of, and the reference relation database 1705 is updated. However, the specific identifier is identifier field 1
If the reference relationship record 1705 stored in the field 702 cannot be extracted, the above-described identifier is set in the identifier field 17.
02 is stored, and a reference relationship record 1701 in which the reference destination identifier field 1703 and the reference source identifier field 1704 are empty is generated.

After the above processing, the e-mail 1601b
Is transmitted to the transmission unit 204 as in the first embodiment. The receiving-side e-mail device 1501 performs the same processing except that the e-mail identifier 1602 is used instead of generating and adding the e-mail identifier 1602. The database 1709 is generated and updated.

Hereinafter, a case will be described where the user 207 makes a search request for information having a reference relationship with information corresponding to a specific identifier through the user interface unit 1502. The user interface unit 1502 sends the identifier input by the user to the reference relationship management unit 1503. The reference relation management unit 1503 stores the reference relation record 1701 in which the identifier sent from the user interface unit 1502 is stored in the identifier field 1902.
Is extracted from the reference relation database 1705. The reference identifier field 1903 of the extracted reference relationship record 1701 contains the identifier of the information referred to by the search-requested identifier, and the reference source identifier field 1904 contains the information referencing the search-requested identifier. Are described, and it is possible to search for other information having a reference relationship with the identifier requested to be searched using these identifiers.

Next, FIG. 15, FIG. 18, FIG. 19, FIG.
Details of the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 22, 23, and 24.

FIG. 18, FIG. 21, and FIG.
And an electronic mail transmitted and received between the user 502 and the user 502.
1801, 2101, 2201 are e-mails, 180
Reference numerals 2, 2102 and 2202 denote sender user name fields indicating senders of the e-mail, 1803, 2103 and 2203 denote destination user name fields indicating receivers of the e-mail, and 1804 and 2204.
104 and 2204 are e-mail identifier columns indicating unique e-mail identifiers, 1805, 2105 and 2205 are reference destination e-mail identifier columns indicating e-mail identifiers corresponding to the referred e-mails, 1806, 2106 and 2
Reference numeral 206 denotes the text of the e-mail, 1807 denotes a related information identifier column indicating a related information identifier corresponding to the following related information, and 1808 denotes a related information column indicating related related information.

First, the case of transmitting and receiving an electronic mail 1801 shown in FIG. 18 will be described. The user 501
User interface unit 1 of electronic mail device 1501
502, the related information 1808 and the related information 1810
Is input. At this time, the email identifier column 1802 and the reference destination email identifier column 1803 of the email 2101 are empty. The e-mail 1801 input to the user interface unit 1502 as in the first embodiment is transmitted to the transmission e-mail processing unit 1504 through the same processing as in the first embodiment in the transmission information processing unit 104 and the related information management unit 103. Sent. The transmission e-mail processing unit 1504 generates an e-mail identifier for the e-mail 1801 sent from the transmission information processing unit 104, stores the e-mail identifier in the e-mail identifier column, and generates an e-mail 1801b. An e-mail record is generated from the e-mail identifier column 1802 and the e-mail 1801b, and registered in the e-mail database.

Further, the electronic mail identifier stored in the electronic mail identifier column 1804b of the electronic mail 1801b, the reference electronic mail identifier stored in the reference electronic mail identifier column 1805, the related information identifier column 1807, and the relevant information identifier column 1807 The related information identifier stored in the reference relation record 1 is extracted by the procedure shown in the outline of the operation.
901a and a reference relation record 1901b are generated, and FIG.
The reference relation database 1705 shown in FIG.
The e-mail 1801b is transmitted to the destination user via the transmission unit 204 in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In the e-mail device 1501 on the receiving side, the receiving unit 104
Is received, the received e-mail 1801b is sent to the received e-mail processing unit 1505.

The received e-mail processing unit 1505 extracts the e-mail identifier stored in the e-mail identifier column, instead of generating the e-mail identifier and storing it in the e-mail identifier column with the e-mail device 1501 on the transmitting side. By performing the same processing except for the points, the reference relation database 1705 and the e-mail database 1709 are constructed, and the reception information processing unit 105 and the related information processing unit 103
Are sent to the user interface unit 1502 through the same processing as in the first embodiment.

After the e-mail 1801, the e-mail 2101, the e-mail 1801, and the pertinent information 1808 referred to by the e-mail 1801 are referred to. FIGS. 23 and 2 show the states of the reference relation database 1705 and the reference relation records in the reference relation database 1705 after the electronic mail 2201 is transmitted and received.
It is shown in FIG.

Next, referring to FIGS. 15, 23 and 24,
An operation for searching for an e-mail containing the related information 1808 will be described.

The user retrieves related information 18 for searching for a reference relationship.
08 related information identifier 1807 is input to the user interface unit 1502. User interface unit 1
The related information identifier 1807 input to 502 is sent to the reference relationship management unit 1503, and the reference relationship management unit 1503
Is the identifier field 1702 in the reference relation record 1701 registered in the reference relation database 1705.
Then, the reference relation record 2301 in which the related information identifier 1807 is stored is extracted. In the reference source identifier field 2403a of the extracted reference relationship record 2301, the related information 180 corresponding to the related information identifier 1807 is displayed.
8 is stored, and the e-mail database 170 is obtained from the e-mail identifier stored in the reference source identifier field 2403a.
By searching “9”, it is possible to obtain the electronic mail to be searched.

By repeating this operation, an electronic mail referring to the related information 1807 can be searched and presented to the user.

Similarly, a search for another e-mail referenced by the e-mail corresponding to the specific e-mail identifier and a search for another e-mail referencing the e-mail corresponding to the specific e-mail identifier are performed. It is also possible to perform a search.

The transmitted / received e-mail is stored in the e-mail field of the e-mail record 1706 in the e-mail database 1709. However, when the related information is omitted from the stored e-mail and is presented to the user, the received e-mail is received. By supplementing the related information omitted through the information processing unit, the effect of the third embodiment does not change even if the amount of information stored in the e-mail database is suppressed.

In the third embodiment, the search for the e-mail including the related information is performed from the reference destination e-mail to the reference source e-mail. Searching for the referenced e-mail is also possible.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 25 is a block diagram of an electronic mail apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2501
Is an e-mail device, and 2502 is a user interface unit 2502, 2503 which has a function of inputting control information for controlling the e-mail device of the destination user to the user interface unit 1502 of the first embodiment. The information according to the information is referred to the reference relation management unit 15
03 is a control information processing unit generated from the control information 03.

The user 207 inputs, to the user interface unit 2502, transmission conditions including a destination user name and conditions to be satisfied by the e-mail to be transmitted.
The user interface unit 106 sends the destination user name and the transmission condition input by the user 207 to the control information processing unit 2503.

The control information processing section 2503 uses the destination user name and the transmission condition sent from the user interface section 106 to send an e-mail and an e-mail satisfying the transmission condition to the e-mail device of the destination user name. Control information for requesting transmission of information including a list of identifiers is generated and transmitted to the transmission information processing unit 104.

The transmission section 204 is provided with a control information processing section 2503
Is transmitted to the electronic mail device 2501 of the destination user. The e-mail device 2501 of the destination user receives the transmitted control information in the receiving unit 205, and sends it to the control information processing unit 2503 via the reception information processing unit 105.

Control information processing unit 2503 of destination user
Transmits the information that satisfies the transmission conditions described in the transmitted control information to the e-mail device 2501 of the user 207 via the transmission information processing unit 204 and the transmission unit 104. Information sent from the e-mail device 2501 of the destination user can be presented in response to a request from the user 207 through the same processing as in the third embodiment.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention, by using the source user name and destination user name of the transmitted / received e-mail and suppressing the transmission of the related information transmitted / received by the source. By reducing the amount of communication, by sharing the names of users who have sent and received related information between users who have sent and received related information, and by completely suppressing the transmission of related information sent and received by the destination Thus, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication. In addition, by omitting the related information from the related information and the related information identifier included in the e-mail and storing the related information, the amount of information to be held can be reduced, and the reference relationship between the related information and the e-mail is accumulated and managed. By doing so, a more accurate search can be performed using the reference relation. Further, a remarkable effect is obtained in that it is possible to acquire an e-mail transmitted and received by the other party while suppressing the retransmission of the transmitted and received related information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic mail device according to a conventional example 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an e-mail transmitted and received by an e-mail device according to Conventional Example 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an e-mail transmitted and received by the e-mail device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of sending and receiving e-mail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an electronic mail transmitted and received by the electronic mail device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a related information record stored in a related information management unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a related information database storing related information records according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail transmitted and received by the electronic mail device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail transmitted and received by the e-mail device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic mail device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram of sending and receiving e-mail.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of a related information record stored in a related information management unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an e-mail transmitted and received by the e-mail device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic mail device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of an electronic mail transmitted and received by the electronic mail device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of a reference relation record, a reference relation database storing the reference relation record, an e-mail record and an e-mail database storing the same according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail transmitted and received by the e-mail device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a reference relation record according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a reference relation database according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail transmitted and received by the electronic mail device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail transmitted and received by the e-mail device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a reference relation record according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a reference relation record according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic mail device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 e-mail device 103 related information management unit 104 transmission information processing unit 105 reception information processing unit 201 e-mail device 202 communication path 203 processing unit 204 transmission unit 205 reception unit 206 user interface unit 207 related information processing unit 301 header unit 302 transmission source User name field 303 Destination user name field 304 Related information identifier field 305 Body text 306 Related information identifier 307 Date / time field 401 Related information record 402 Related information identifier field 403 Related information field 404 Transmitted / received user name field 405 Related information database 501 User 502 User 601 E-mail 602 Source user name field 603 Destination user name field 604 Related information identifier field 605 Related information field 606 Text 701a Related information record 702a Information identifier field 703a related information field 704a sent / received user name field 701b related information record 702b sent / received user name field 801 related information database 901a e-mail 902a source user name 903a destination user name 904a text 905a related information identifier 906a Related information 901b Email 902b Related information identifier 1001a Email 1002a Source user name 1003a Destination user name 1004a Text 1001b Email 1101 Electronic mail device 1102 User name notification unit 1201 User 1301a Related information record 1302a Related information Identifier field 1303a Related information field 1304a Transmitted / received user name field 1301b Related information record 130 b Transmitted / received user name field 1401 E-mail 1402 Sender user name 1403 Destination user name 1404 Related information identifier 1405 Related information 1406 Text 1501 E-mail device 1502 User interface unit 1503 Reference relation management unit 1504 Sent e-mail processing unit 1505 Received email processing unit 1601 Email 1602 Email identifier field 1603 Reference email identifier 1601b Email 1701 Reference relationship record 1702 Identifier field 1703 Reference identifier field 1704 Reference identifier field 1705 Reference relationship database 1706 Email record 1707 Electronic Email identifier field 1708 Email field 1709 Email database 1801 E-mail 1802 Destination user name column 1803 Sender user name column 1804 E-mail identifier column 1805 Referenced e-mail identifier column 1806 Body 1807 Related information identifier column 1808 Related information column 1801b E-mail 1804b E-mail identifier column 1901a Reference related record 1902a identifier field 1903a reference destination identifier field 1904a reference source identifier field 1901b reference relation record 1902b identifier field 1903b reference destination identifier field 1904b reference source identifier field 2001 reference relation record 2002 reference relation record 2101 e-mail 2102 sender user name field 2103 transmission Destination user name column 2104 E-mail identifier column 2105 Referenced e-mail identifier column 2106 Body 2 201 e-mail 2202 sender user name field 2203 destination user name field 2204 e-mail identifier field 2205 reference e-mail identifier field 2206 text 2301 reference relation record 2302 reference relation record 2303 reference relation record 2304 reference relation record 2401a identifier field 2402a Reference identifier field 2403a Reference identifier field 2401b Identifier field 2402b Reference identifier field 2403b Reference identifier field 2401c Identifier field 2402c Reference identifier field 2403c Reference identifier field 2401d Identifier field 2402d Reference identifier field 2403d Reference identifier field 2501 E-mail device 2502 User interface Eisu portion 2503 control information processing unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsushi Kajita 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A user interface unit for inputting and displaying electronic mail and related information, related information, a related information identifier for identifying the related information, and a list of users to whom the related information has been transmitted. A related information management unit that accumulates and manages a certain transmitted user name; a transmission information processing unit that suppresses retransmission of related information that has been transmitted to a transmission destination user with relevant information of an e-mail to be transmitted; A receiving information processing unit that sends the related information to the related information managing unit and supplements the related information whose transmission is suppressed by the transmitting side with the related information of the received e-mail; a transmitting unit that transmits the e-mail and the related information; A receiving unit for receiving mail and related information, wherein when automatically transmitting related information that has not been transmitted to the destination to the destination, suppressing retransmission of the transmitted related information. Email device. 2. When transmitting related information that has been transmitted / received to a user to whom the related information has not been transmitted, newly transmitting the relevant information to an e-mail device of a user who has transmitted / received the related information. It has a user name notifying section that notifies the user name, stores and manages the user names to which other users have transmitted related information, and suppresses transmission of related information that has been received by the transmission destination. The electronic mail device according to claim 1, wherein 3. An outgoing e-mail processing unit for adding an e-mail identifier for uniquely identifying the e-mail to an e-mail to be transmitted and extracting between the e-mail and related information of the e-mail, An e-mail identifier and a received e-mail processing unit that extracts a relevant information identifier of the relevant information of the e-mail; anda reference relation between the e-mail and the relevant information of the e-mail. A reference relationship management unit that stores and manages the information using the related information identifier; and a user interface unit that inputs and displays an email and related information, and searches for a sent / received email or related information. By accumulating and managing the reference relation between the mail and the related information of the e-mail, the e-mail and the Email apparatus characterized by performing a search among communicating information. 4. An electronic mail list, which is a list of transmitted and received e-mails, or control information requesting transmission of a specific e-mail included in the e-mail list. Therefore, it has a control information processing section for extracting an e-mail list or a specific e-mail, and obtains an e-mail transmitted / received by a destination user while suppressing retransmission of the transmitted relevant information in the relevant information of the e-mail. The electronic mail device according to claim 3, wherein