JPH11259390A - System and method for transmitting electronic mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method for transmitting electronic mail with which transmission information containing map information can be easily prepared as mail information and this information can be transmitted as electronic mail. SOLUTION: The user of a transmitter terminal acquires map image data at the desired spot by connecting the terminal to a map information providing system 20. Next, when handwriting is arbitrarily inputted onto the acquired map image data, the map image data with this handwriting input are prepared as new image data. Further, the user inputs any arbitrary document data. Afterwards, the transmitter terminal transmits the map image data with handwriting input and the document data to the mail server of a recipient as electronic mail information. Thus, the map image data, to which any arbitrary handwiring input is added by the user, can be transmitted as electronic mail together with ordinary document data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail transmission technique for transmitting mail information, for example, via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, electronic mail for transmitting and receiving mail information between arbitrary terminals using the Internet is widely used. In transmitting an e-mail, a user of one terminal connected to the Internet creates mail information and transmits the mail information to a mail server of a recipient of the mail. The mail server stores the received mail information in a mailbox. The terminal user who is the recipient of the e-mail accesses the e-mail server to check whether the e-mail addressed to the user is stored in the e-mail server, and if so, downloads the information and reads the contents. Can be. In this way, it is possible to mutually transmit and receive mail information between a plurality of terminals via the Internet.

On the other hand, at present, on the Internet using the Internet protocol, WWW (World Wide WWW) is used.
eb) A server provides a wide variety of information from all over the world, and a user can obtain desired information by operating a terminal connected to the Internet and performing a search.

[0004] There are various types of information services provided through the Internet, one of which is a map information search and display service. This is a WWW that has a map database and is connected to the Internet.
This is a service that can obtain desired map information and display it on a terminal by accessing the server.
Specifically, the user inputs an address, a place name, or a station name from a terminal,
Alternatively, when a facility name, a store name, or the like is input, a map of the place and the surrounding area is displayed on the terminal as image information. Therefore, the user can easily recognize where the target station, facility, or the like is, by referring to the displayed map information.

One of the effective uses of such map information is transmission of map information by electronic mail.
That is, the map information displayed by a certain user as a search result is transmitted as an e-mail to a desired destination by an e-mail.
The sending party opens the mail, displays the map information included in the mail on the terminal, and checks the contents. For example, by transmitting map information around a home or a meeting place to a partner, geographical information can be easily and accurately transmitted by displaying a map.

[0006]

However, even if only the map information is transmitted, the recipient of the e-mail may not know what the received map information means, and the other party may receive accurate information. May be difficult to convey. Therefore, it may be necessary to separately exchange information such as messages by e-mail.

[0007] In order to solve such inconvenience, the transmitting user temporarily stores the map information obtained by the map information search and display service in a memory of his / her own terminal.
A message to be transmitted to the other party is created as a mail document by the document creation application, and the mail information is transmitted as an e-mail with map information stored in advance attached thereto.

However, in such an e-mail transmission method, it is necessary to perform editing work such as switching input processing screens or attaching map information in the terminal, and the mail information creation work on the sender side is very complicated. However, there is a disadvantage that it takes time. Even when the map information and the message are transmitted in such a manner, the recipient needs to search for the destination on the map information, and it is often difficult to understand the destination.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and creates transmission information including map information as e-mail information in such a manner that a destination on a map or the like becomes clearer. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic mail system that can be transmitted as an electronic mail and a transmission method thereof.

[0010]

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 includes a sender terminal and a map information providing system each connected to a network, and sends an electronic mail to a recipient's mail server. In an e-mail transmission system that transmits an e-mail, the sender terminal connects to the map information providing system to obtain map image data, and performs arbitrary handwriting input on the obtained map image data, Means for creating map image data with handwriting input, means for inputting arbitrary document data, means for transmitting the map image data with handwriting input and the document data to the recipient's mail address as e-mail information And so on.

[0011] According to the system configured as described above, the user of the sender terminal connects to the map information providing system and acquires map image data of a desired point. Next, when an arbitrary handwriting input is performed on the acquired map image data, the map image data with the handwriting input is created as new image data. Further, the user inputs arbitrary document data. Thereafter, the sender terminal transmits the map image data with handwriting input and the document data to the recipient's mail server as electronic mail information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting system according to the first aspect, the sender terminal includes means for acquiring a drawing program for handwriting input from the map information providing system through the network. The means for creating the map image data with handwriting input is configured to execute handwriting input using the drawing program. Thereby, the handwriting input operation in the sender terminal is executed by the program acquired from the map information providing system.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission system according to the first aspect, the map information providing system is configured to include a map database center connected to the network and having a map database. . As a result, the map information providing system accesses the map database and acquires arbitrary map information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission system according to the first aspect, the document data is a message related to map image data transmitted at the same time as the electronic mail information. As a result, information related to the map image and the handwritten input can be created and transmitted as a document.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmission system according to the first aspect, the handwriting input is at least one of a position of an arbitrary point on the map image data and a route between the arbitrary points. FIG. Thereby, the destination, the route, and the like on the map image can be more clearly transmitted to the transmission partner.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for transmitting an electronic mail from a sender terminal to a recipient's mail server in a system including a sender terminal and a map information providing system each connected to a network. Connecting to the map information providing system to obtain map image data; performing arbitrary handwriting input on the obtained map image data to create map image data with handwriting input; It is configured to include a step of inputting document data, and a step of transmitting the map image data with handwriting input and the document data as electronic mail information to the mail server of the recipient.

According to the e-mail transmission method configured as described above, the user of the sender terminal connects to the map information providing system and acquires map image data of a desired point. Next, when an arbitrary handwriting input is performed on the acquired map image data, the map image data with the handwriting input is created as new image data. Further, the user inputs arbitrary document data. Thereafter, the sender terminal transmits the map image data with handwriting input and the document data to the recipient's mail server as electronic mail information.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail transmitting method according to the sixth aspect, the step of creating the map image data with handwriting input includes providing the drawing program for handwriting input with the map information providing. Acquiring from the system through the network, performing a handwriting input on the acquired map image data using the drawing program, and executing the map image data on which the handwriting input is superimposed by the drawing program. Creating step. Thereby, the handwriting input operation in the sender terminal is executed by the program acquired from the map information providing system.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention enables a sender to freely overwrite characters, symbols, and the like on map information obtained by a map information providing service, and to transmit mail information including the map information as an electronic mail. It is characterized by the following. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[1] System Configuration FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electronic mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a map database center 10 and a map information providing site 20 are connected to the Internet 5. Further, terminals A and B are connected to the Internet 5.

The map database center 10 is a center for implementing a map search and display service on the Internet, and includes a map server 12 and a map database 14. The map database 14 includes position information (coordinate information) on a map, for example, latitude and longitude information, and image data of map information corresponding to the position information. The image data of the map information has a plurality of hierarchical structures according to the scale. In other words, multiple scales of image data are prepared, such as a diagram of Japan as a whole, a diagram at the prefecture level,
A map file name for specifying the image data is given to each of them. The scale information and the map file are associated with each other.

The map server 12 retrieves and acquires image data of corresponding map information from the map database 14 in accordance with a designation, instruction, or the like from the user terminal, and transmits the image data to the user terminal via the Internet 5. The map server 12 also searches and transmits map information in response to a request from the WWW server.

The map information providing site 20 is a WWW site. WWW is a wide-area information system on the Internet that provides multimedia information such as character information, image information, and audio information using hypertext. W
The WWW server is a server on the Internet linked by the WWW, and a site that provides services by the WWW is called a WWW site. The map information providing site 20 uses W
A WW server 22 and a landmark database 24 are provided.

The landmark database 24 stores data indicating the correspondence between a specific address, station name, landmark (facility, amusement park, amusement park, store, etc.) and their positional information. Therefore, by accessing the landmark database 24, the WWW server 22 can specify the address, station name, and landmark corresponding to the specific position information. Conversely, corresponding position information can be obtained from a specific address, station name, landmark name, or the like.

The terminals A and B are user terminals, and can receive WWW services by using an application program called a WWW browser.
In the example of FIG. 1, the terminals A and B connect to the map information providing site 20 using the WWW browser, and can receive the map information providing service by browsing the homepage.

[2] Basic Operation for Providing Map Information Next, the basic operation for providing map information will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of providing map information, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are examples of a map display screen at each stage. Hereinafter, a case where the user A of the terminal A connects to the map information providing site and acquires the map information will be described as an example.

First, the user A uses the WWW browser of the terminal A to open the URL (Uniform Re
source Locator) (step S2). URL
Is address information for specifying a specific link destination on the WWW. Thereby, the terminal A connects to the WWW server 22 of the map information providing site 20 via the Internet 5.

In response, the WWW server 22 sends an HTML (Hypertext Matrix) of the homepage of the map information providing site.
rkup Language) text to terminal A. The HTML text is a text file described in a language called HTML, and can include storage destination information such as associated image information and audio information. The WWW browser of the terminal A displays the HTML text (Step S4).

FIG. 3 shows an example of the initial screen of the home page displayed in this way. In FIG. 3, a map display unit 30 is provided at the upper part of the display screen, and a map image is displayed there. Immediately below the map display unit 30, there is a scale designation unit 32, which indicates the scale of the map displayed in the map display unit 30. Scale designation part 3
Each button in 2 (11 levels in this example) corresponds to a different scale. In the example of FIG. 3, the map is displayed at the largest scale (closer to the left Japanese map mark).
To enlarge the displayed map image, click the button on the right (close to "street") in the scale designation section 32 to display a map image with a small scale.

On the left side of the scale designation section 32, a scroll section 34 is displayed. The scroll section 34 is used when it is desired to display the periphery of the currently displayed map, and arrows are displayed in eight directions around the current display position. For example, when the user clicks an upward arrow in the scroll section 34, a map of a peripheral portion located just north of the currently displayed location is displayed.

Below the scale designating section 32, an input field 36 for designating or inputting a place to be searched is displayed. On the left side of the input box 36, buttons of "address list", "station list" and "landmark list" are displayed. By clicking these, a list of candidates for the address, station name, and landmark name is displayed. The user can display a map image of the place by selecting a desired candidate from them. Input boxes for an address, a station name, and a landmark name are displayed on the right side of the input box 36.
The user can directly input a desired address, station name, and the like using the keyboard. For example, if the user enters
When "Kamata Station" is input in the station name input box No. 6, a map image centering on Kamata Station is displayed in the map display section 30 as shown in FIG.

Various special function buttons are displayed on the right side of the input field 36. When transmitting an electronic mail with map information according to the present invention, the second mail processing button 38 from the top is used, and the details of the transmission processing will be described later.

While the home page is displayed, the user specifies and inputs a destination to be displayed. This specification may be performed by specifying a candidate from the list on the left side of the input field 36, or may be performed by directly typing an address or the like in the input box. The destination information specified in this way is transmitted from terminal A via the Internet 5 to W
It is sent to the WW server 22 (step S6). At the same time, the currently selected scale information is also stored in the WWW server 22.
Sent to

The WWW server 22 receives this information, obtains position information (coordinate information) corresponding to the destination by referring to the landmark database 24, creates an HTML text including the position information, and generates a terminal A (Step S8). The HTML text further includes a server name to be accessed by terminal A that has received the HTML text (that is, map server 12), a map file name selected according to the currently selected scale, and a display on terminal A. The sentence is included.

The WWW browser of the terminal A uses the HTML
Receives text and displays the sentences contained in it. Also, the map server 1 described in the HTML text
2, information such as a map file name, position information, size information, and scale information is sent (step S10).

The map server 12 has a map database 14
To obtain image data corresponding to a range determined by the size information, centering on the position information, from the image data of the map file specified by the scale information and the position information, data)
To the terminal A (step S12).

The terminal A transmits the map image data transmitted from the map server 12 to the H previously transmitted from the WWW server.
It is displayed at the display location specified by the TML text (step S14). Thus, the map image data of the destination designated by the user is displayed in the map display unit 30 of the terminal A. If the destination is changed by the user's re-designation or re-entry in the input field 36, the steps S6 to S14 are performed.
Is repeated based on the changed position information and the like to update the map display.

If the scale is changed or the display position is changed while the map image is displayed, the process returns to step S6, and the changed position information, scale information, etc. are sent to the WWW server 22. Send. After that, WWW server 2
2. The map server 12 and the terminal A perform similar processing based on the changed information, and change the map display.

For example, when the scale information is changed by the user operating the scale specifying unit 32, the map file to be accessed by the map server 12 is changed, or the map file to the terminal A in the same map file is changed. The range of the transmitted map image data is changed. On the other hand, when the user clicks on a place of interest on the map displayed in the map display unit 30, the position information of the place is transmitted, and the map server 12 sends the map image data centered on the place to the terminal A. Send. As a result, the map in the map display unit 30
The display is changed to a display centered on the location clicked by the user.

In the above description, the map server 1
2, the map file is directly designated by its file name, but the map file of the map server 12 may be constructed according to a unique management system. In that case, instead of directly specifying the map file name,
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) that serves as an interface between the WWW server and the program running on the server
Access the map file using. For example, in step S10, the map server 12
Send the GI name.

[3] E-mail Transmission Process Next, an e-mail transmission process according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the e-mail transmission process. 6 and 7 show
9 shows an example of a mail creation screen displayed on a terminal in an electronic mail transmission process.

Hereinafter, a process in which the user A of the terminal A transmits an electronic mail with map information according to the present invention to the user B of the terminal B will be described. Now, it is assumed that the user A is connected to the map information providing site. Here, first, the user A
Displays the map image to be transmitted to the user B on the terminal A according to the procedure described above (step S20). This is performed by the method described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, on the page of the map information providing site displayed on the terminal A, the user inputs an address, a station name, and the like, and causes the map display unit 30 to display map information of a desired place. If necessary, an appropriate scale is selected by clicking a button in the scale designation section 32.

Next, the user A clicks the mail processing button 38 (step S22). Then, the terminal A
The position information (center position of display), size information, and scale information of the currently displayed map image are sent to the WWW server 22, which is the URL to which the HTML text is linked (step S24). The WWW server 22 sends this data to the map server 12 (Step S26). The map server 12 refers to the map database 14, selects a map file based on the scale information, and acquires a map image in a range determined by the position information and the size information. And
This map image is sent to the WWW server 22 as GIF data (step S28). The WWW server 22 saves the map image data with a file name (for example, “image C”).

Next, the WWW server 22 sends the file name (“image C”), position information, scale information,
And an HT including a description of the name of a drawing program (JAVA applet) used for handwriting input at terminal A.
An ML text is created and transmitted to the terminal A (step S30).

Terminal A receives the HTML text transmitted from WWW server 22, and reads the contents.
Further, it requests the WWW server 22 for a program with the name described therein, and downloads the program (step S32).

Next, the terminal A obtains the file name, position information, scale information, etc. of the map image data from the HTML text, obtains the map image file from the WWW server, and displays it. In addition, the downloaded drawing program is started. As a result, the mail creation screen 40 shown in FIG. 6 appears on the terminal A (step S34).

On the mail creation screen 40, a destination input box 46, a subject input box 48, and a message input box 50 are displayed on the right side thereof. This is similar to ordinary email software. Therefore, user A
Use the keyboard to enter the recipient's email address, subject, and message in these boxes.

In addition, on the mail creation screen 40, the map image determined previously is displayed in the map display section 42. Thus, the user A can check the map image transmitted to the destination together with the e-mail being created.

Below the map display section 42, a handwriting input tool 44 is displayed. One major feature of the present invention is that arbitrary handwriting input can be performed on a transmitted map image. In other words, not only can a map image be attached to an e-mail and transmitted, but also the mail sender performs arbitrary handwriting input on the map image, and a map image on which such handwriting input is superimposed is sent by e-mail. You can send it.

User A performs mail creation on mail creation screen 40 (step S34). Now, suppose, for example, that user A sends an e-mail regarding a meeting with user B. In this case, the user A inputs the mail address of the user B in the destination input box 46, and inputs a subject and a message in the subject input box 48 and the message input box 50, respectively. For example, the subject is "3/3 meeting", and "3/3
3, I am waiting at 7:00 pm at the XX Burger at the west exit of JR Kamata Station. Look at the map. ".

Next, the user A uses the handwriting input tool 44 to perform handwriting input on the map image displayed in the map display section 42. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the route from JR Kamata Station to XX Burger is connected by a line, and the XX burger is surrounded by a line. When the handwriting input is completed, the user A clicks the send button 52. Thereby, the created mail document and map information are determined. When the user wants to specify the map image again or to stop sending the e-mail, the display on the terminal A returns to the main screen shown in FIG. 4 by clicking the reset button 52.

When the send button 52 is pressed, the drawing program in the terminal A converts the map image to which the handwriting input of the user A has been added into image data in the GIF format. The terminal A transmits the converted map image data and the input data such as the destination mail address, the subject, and the message to the WWW server 22 (step S3).
6). The WWW server 22 stores the received map image data and sends the mail information to the destination mail address (step S38).

User B receives this mail at terminal B,
indicate. The mail is attached with map image data (image in the map display unit 42 in FIG. 7) on which the handwriting input of the user A is superimposed, and the user B can see the map image together with the message. Thus, the map image including the handwritten input is transmitted as an e-mail.

In the above embodiment, the drawing program for the mail sender to perform handwriting input on the map image is J
It is downloaded as an AVA applet from the WWW server to the terminal of the mail sender. Instead, it is also possible to use a drawing software prepared in advance in each terminal to perform a handwriting input and to convert the map image after the handwriting input into data. In this embodiment, JA
The reason for using the VA applet is that drawing software having appropriate compatibility does not always exist in each terminal, security problems, and the like.

As described above, according to the present invention, a map image to which a handwritten input of a sender has been added can be transmitted to a destination as an electronic mail together with a normal message or the like.
Therefore, more accurate information can be easily transmitted to the other party based on the map information.

[0056]

As described above, according to the first or sixth aspect of the present invention, the map image data to which the user has given an arbitrary handwritten input can be transmitted as an electronic mail together with the ordinary document data. it can. Therefore, the mail receiver can receive the handwritten input of the map image information together with the document by mail, and can easily and accurately convey the meeting place.

According to the second or seventh aspect of the present invention, the handwriting input operation in the sender terminal is executed by the drawing program acquired from the map information providing system.
There is no need to prepare a special drawing program at the sender terminal. In addition, since the drawing program used by the user of the system can be unified, errors in data processing with handwriting input in each terminal due to incompatibility of the drawing program can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the updating of the map database and the like can be managed independently of the map information providing processing, and the system management is simplified.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, information related to a map image and handwritten input can be created and transmitted as a document. Therefore, the content to be transmitted can be transmitted to the other party more accurately.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to more clearly convey a destination, a route, and the like on a map image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an electronic mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of providing map information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of a map information providing site.

FIG. 4 is another diagram showing an example of a display screen of a map information providing site.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission process of an e-mail with map information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mail creation screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a mail creation screen after handwriting input.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Terminal 5 Internet 10 Map database center 12 Map server 14 Map database 20 Map information providing site 22 WWW server 24 Landmark database 30, 42 Map display unit 32 Scale reduction unit 34 Scroll part 36 ... input field 38 ... mail processing button 40 ... mail creation screen 44 ... handwriting input tool 46 ... destination input box 48 ... subject input box 50 ... message input box 52 ... send button 54 ... reset button

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masayo Sekiguchi 1-7-1, Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Increment P Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Takahashi 1-chome Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Increment P Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Isao Koizumi 7-1 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 1-71 Increment P Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazushige Kawano Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 1-7-1-1 Increment P Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An e-mail transmission system, which includes a sender terminal and a map information providing system each connected to a network, and transmits an e-mail to a recipient's mail server, wherein the sender terminal comprises: Means for connecting to a system to obtain map image data; means for performing arbitrary handwriting input on the obtained map image data to create map image data with handwriting input; and inputting arbitrary document data. Means for transmitting the handwritten input map image data and the document data to the mail server of the recipient as electronic mail information. 2. The sender terminal has means for acquiring a drawing program for handwriting input from the map information providing system through the network, and the means for creating the map image data with handwriting input comprises: 2. The electronic mail transmission system according to claim 1, wherein a handwriting input is executed using a program. 3. The electronic mail transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the map information providing system includes a map database center connected to the network and having a map database. 4. The electronic mail transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the document data is a message related to map image data transmitted simultaneously as the electronic mail information. 5. The electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein the handwritten input is a diagram showing at least one of a position of an arbitrary point on the map image data and a route between the arbitrary points. Transmission system. 6. A method for transmitting an electronic mail from a sender terminal to a recipient mail server in a system including a sender terminal and a map information providing system each connected to a network, wherein the map information providing system is provided. To obtain map image data by connecting to the computer; performing arbitrary handwriting input on the obtained map image data to create map image data with handwriting input; and inputting arbitrary document data Transmitting the map image data with handwriting input and the document data to the mail server of the recipient as electronic mail information. 7. The step of creating the map image data with handwriting input includes: acquiring a drawing program for handwriting input from the map information providing system through the network; and acquiring the drawing program using the drawing program. 7. The electronic mail according to claim 6, further comprising: executing a handwriting input on the generated map image data; and generating, by the drawing program, map image data on which the handwriting input is superimposed. Transmission method.