JPH11259399A - Information receiving and distributing system having electronic mail link function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire/read an electronic mail as one information of an information receiving and distributing system by providing a server and a client of the information receiving and distributing system with a means which converts electronic mail data in a format to be displayed. SOLUTION: An information server 1 and an information client 300 are provided with mail property information setting parts 101 and 301, mail receiving parts 102 and 302 and mail account formatting parts 103 and 303, respectively. The parts 101 and 301 set a server name to acquire an electronic mail, an account name, a time interval to receive electronic mails, etc., and store them in an information file. The parts 102 and 302 receive a mail from a mail server 2, based on the information file set by the parts 101 and 301 and transfer the received mail to the parts 103 and 303. The parts 103 and 303 format the mail transferred from the parts 102 and 302 into a format by which the mail can be distributed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information receiving / distributing system having an electronic mail coordination function, and more particularly, to receiving a predetermined electronic mail from a predetermined electronic mail server and displaying the received electronic mail on the information receiving / distributing system. By providing a means for converting electronic mail data into a format in a server and a client of the information receiving / distributing system, the electronic mail is acquired / browsed as one piece of information of the information receiving / distributing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the role of a server is to store information, and it is necessary for a client to acquire data from the server in order to transmit information. However, in recent years, an information receiving / distributing system for distributing information from the server to the client, instead of the client acquiring the information, has been developed, and the client can automatically acquire necessary information. The information receiving / distributing system includes a server that distributes information and a client that receives and displays information.

[0003] In addition, the existing electronic mail system has the same purpose as the information receiving / distributing system from the viewpoint of acquiring / distributing information, and the electronic mail system has a feature that information can be distributed to individuals. System.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional information receiving / distributing system for receiving / distributing information and an electronic mail system. In the figure, 81 is an information distribution server that distributes information, 82
Reference numeral 83 denotes an electronic mail server; and 83, a client provided with an information receiving client 801 for receiving information distributed from the information distribution server 81 and an electronic mail client 802 for receiving electronic mail from the electronic mail server 82.

The client 83 can receive information distributed from the information distribution server 81 by activating the information receiving client 801 after the operation system has started up. By activating the e-mail client 802, the e-mail stored in the e-mail server 82 can be received.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a display screen on which information of an information distribution server is displayed by an information receiving client. In this example, the information selected by the information receiving client 91 is
It is displayed via the WWW browser 92.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a display screen on which electronic mail information is displayed by an electronic mail client.

[0008]

However, the prior art shown in FIG. 8 has the following problems due to the presence of two mechanisms for acquiring information, namely, an information receiving / distributing system and an e-mail system. It has occurred.

[0009] The client machine has to start two pieces of software, an information receiving system and an electronic mail system, and the performance of the machine is degraded. For example, the memory resource usage, the disk capacity for storing the received information, the network load for extracting the information, and the like are raised.

[0010] Further, in order to receive information, it is necessary to learn the operation of two software, an information receiving system and an e-mail system, so that the workability is poor and the usage rate is low.

[0011] Further, the information registration work in the information distribution system requires manual registration of articles created for information distribution, which is extremely troublesome.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems. In an information receiving / distributing system having an e-mail coordination function, a predetermined e-mail is transmitted from a predetermined e-mail server. A server and a client of the information receiving / distributing system are provided with means for receiving and converting the electronic mail data into a format displayed by the information receiving / distributing system, so that the electronic mail is acquired / browsed as one piece of information of the information receiving / distributing system. It becomes possible.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In an information receiving / distributing system having an electronic mail coordination function, at least a server name for acquiring an electronic mail, an account name and a time interval for receiving an electronic mail are set, and mail property information stored in an information file is set. A setting unit, a mail receiving unit that receives mail from the e-mail server based on the information file set in the mail property information setting unit, and transfers the received mail to the mail article formatting unit, and a mail receiving unit that transfers the received mail. By providing an information distribution server and an information receiving client with a mail article formatting unit for formatting a mail in a format that can deliver the email, the information receiving / distributing system receives an e-mail and acquires / acquires it as one information of the information receiving / distributing system. It can be browsed.

In the mail property information setting section, a sender name to be selected in the received mail, a title of the mail to be selected in the received mail, a mail type to be selected in the received mail, and the like are set. This makes it possible to narrow down the e-mail to be acquired / browsed.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an information distribution server for distributing information, 2 is an e-mail server, and 3 is a client provided with an information receiving client 300 for receiving information distributed from the information distribution server 1.

Further, in the information distribution server 1 and the information receiving client 300, a server name for acquiring an e-mail, an account name, a time interval for receiving an e-mail, and the like are set, and a mail property information setting section stored in an information file. A mail receiving unit that receives mail from the electronic mail server 2 based on the information files set by the mail property information setting units 101 and 301 and transfers the received mail to the mail article formatting units 103 and 303. 102 and 302, and mail article manipulating units 103 and 303 for manipulating mail transferred from the mail receiving units 102 and 302 into a format that can be delivered.

FIG. 2 shows a processing flowchart of one embodiment of the mail property information setting section. Hereinafter, the operation will be described according to this flow. This process is started by a menu or a command of the information distribution server and the information receiving client, and is executed once at the first time or when the set data is changed.

Step S201: Name of mail server to be connected, name of mail account to be received, time interval of mail check, name of sender to be selected in received mail, title of mail to be selected in received mail, reception of mail Set the mail type to be selected in the mail.

Step S202: Data such as the mail server name, mail account name, mail check time interval, sender name, title, and mail type set in step S201 are saved as a file. Then, the process ends.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the mail property information file stored in step S202. In this example, a mail server name, a mail account name, a mail check time interval, a sender name, a title, and a mail type are set in the mail property information file 31.

FIG. 4 shows a processing flowchart (1) of one embodiment of the mail receiving section. Hereinafter, the operation will be described according to this flow.

Step S401: The data of the mail check time interval set in the mail property information file is set as the time of the e-mail reception interval.

Step S402: It is determined whether or not it is an electronic mail reception time. If it is the reception time, the process proceeds to step S403, and if it is not the reception time, the process returns to step S402.

Step S403: Connect to the e-mail server using the mail server name and mail account name set in the mail property information file.

Step S404: As a result of the processing in step S403, if the connection is completed, the process proceeds to step S405. If the connection is not completed, the process returns to step S402, and the connection to the e-mail server is made again after a short time.

Step S405: Check whether there is any unread mail in the mailbox.

Step S406: As a result of the processing in step S405, if there is an unread mail, the process proceeds to step S407; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S409.

Step S407: Only unread mail is received from the mailbox.

Step S408: The received mail is converted into an HTML format that can be displayed on the information distribution server / information receiving client by the mail article formatting unit, and the data is stored in the mail storage unit of the information distribution server / information receiving client. .

Step S409: The connection with the electronic mail server is terminated.

Step S410: It is determined whether the process is completed. If the processing is completed, the processing is ended. If not, the processing returns to step S402.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flowchart of one embodiment of the mail article manipulating section. Hereinafter, the operation will be described according to this flow. This process is started by the mail receiving unit.

Step S501: Of the data passed from the mail receiving unit, unnecessary data for converting to HTML format is deleted.

Step S502: The data is converted into an HTML format that can be displayed on the information distribution server / information receiving client.

Step S503: The headline information is added to the data converted into the HTML format.

Step S504: The data prepared in the processing of steps S501 to S503 is stored as an article of the information receiving / distributing system. Then, the process ends.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a display screen on which the information receiving client of the present invention displays information distributed from the information distribution server and electronic mail information. In this example, one piece of information of the electronic mail selected by the information receiving client 61 is displayed via the WWW browser 62.

FIG. 7 shows a processing flowchart (2) of one embodiment of the mail receiving section. Hereinafter, the operation will be described according to this flow.

Step S701: The data of the mail check time interval set in the mail property information file is set as the time of the electronic mail reception interval.

Step S702: It is determined whether or not it is an electronic mail reception time. If it is the reception time, the process proceeds to step S703, and if it is not the reception time, the process returns to step S702.

Step S703: Connect to the e-mail server using the mail server name and mail account name set in the mail property information file.

Step S704: As a result of the processing in step S703, if the connection is completed, the process proceeds to step S705. If the connection is not completed, the process returns to step S702, and the connection to the e-mail server is performed again after a short time.

Step S705: The unread mail in the mailbox is compared with the already received article list to check whether there is any unreceived mail.

Step S706: As a result of the processing in step S705, if there is an unreceived mail, the process proceeds to step S707; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S710.

Step S707: Only unreceived mail is received from the mailbox.

Step S708: The received mail is converted into an HTML format that can be displayed on the information distribution server / information receiving client by the mail article formatting unit, and the data is stored in the mail storage unit of the information distribution server / information receiving client. .

Step S709: Create an article list of the received mail.

Step S710: Terminate the connection with the e-mail server.

Step S711: It is determined whether the processing is completed. If the processing is completed, the processing is ended. If not, the processing returns to step S702.

[0050]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above, and has the following effects.

Information distributed by the information distribution server and electronic mail can be received only by the information receiving client. That is, two pieces of information can be obtained /
Being able to browse makes it possible to greatly improve workability.

Also, since the information distribution server and the information distribution server can receive the information and the e-mail only by the information receiving client, it is possible to reduce the memory usage, the disk usage, and the network load of the client machine, and to achieve a smoother operation. Operability can be obtained.

Also, the electronic mail to be obtained / browsed by the information distribution server and the information receiving client can be narrowed down, and only more appropriate information can be transmitted.

In the information distribution server, an e-mail can be used for information registration, which facilitates the registration work and enables quicker information transmission.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart of an embodiment of a mail property information setting unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mail property information file.

FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart (1) of an embodiment of a mail receiving unit.

FIG. 5 is a processing flowchart of an embodiment of a mail article formatting unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displaying information distributed from an information distribution server and information of an e-mail in the information receiving client of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart (2) of an embodiment of a mail receiving unit.

FIG. 8 is a configuration block diagram of a conventional information receiving and delivering system for receiving and delivering information and an electronic mail system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen on which information of an information distribution server is displayed by an information receiving client.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of a display screen on which electronic mail information is displayed by an electronic mail client.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 301 mail property information setting section 102, 302 mail receiving section 103, 303 mail article formatting section

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yoshiki Nakamura 98, Unoki-nu, Unoki-cho, Hebei-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture 2 PFU Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An information receiving / distributing system having an e-mail coordination function, a mail property information setting unit for setting at least a server name for acquiring an e-mail, an account name and a time interval for receiving an e-mail, and storing the information in an information file (10
1, 301) and a mail receiving unit (1) for receiving a mail from an electronic mail server based on the information file set in the mail property information setting unit and transferring the received mail to a mail article formatting unit.
02, 302) and a mail article manipulating unit (103, 303) that arranges mail transferred from the mail receiving unit into a format that can be delivered, in the information distribution server and the information receiving client. An information receiving / distributing system having an e-mail cooperation function, wherein the information is received / obtained as one piece of information of the information receiving / distributing system. 2. The mail property information setting section sets a sender name to be selected in the received mail, a title of the mail to be selected in the received mail, a mail type to be selected in the received mail, and the like. The information receiving / distributing system having an electronic mail coordination function according to claim 1.