JPH11331242A - Method and device for multiplexing electronic mail address - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a state similar to that respective users have an electronic mail address individually while keeping secrecy of the contents of electronic mails by newly adding a transmission destination user specification column and a transmission source user specification column to the header part of the electronic mail. SOLUTION: After the electronic mail is received (S1), in the case of transmitting the electronic mail, the transmission destination and transmission source user specification columns are newly added to the header part of the electronic mail and these columns or the main body part of the electronic mail is described. Then, the analytic work of transmission destination user specification information clearing any one of plural users is performed (S2). Based on the analyzed result, the electronic mail is preserved by a preservation method determined in an electronic mail preservation step (S4). Thus, plural users share one electronic mail address and keep the secrecy for the contents of electronic mail and the state similar to that respective users have the electronic mail address individually can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an analysis method and apparatus for analyzing an electronic mail used on the Internet or an intranet on a receiving side, and a recording medium recording a computer-readable program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The use of electronic mail has become widespread as a means for transmitting messages on the Internet and intranets. An email typically has a header portion and an optional body portion that contains the text of the message. In the header portion, a “TO” field for specifying a destination of an e-mail addressed to a specific individual, and a “CC” for specifying a destination to be sent to a group
Column, a “FROM” column indicating the source of the e-mail, and the like.

[0003] An e-mail sent from the transmitting side is stored in a server that stores the e-mail on the receiving side via a plurality of servers. When an e-mail transmission request is sent from the receiving side to this server, the e-mail is received. Forward the email to the side.

[0004] Further, when an e-mail is requested to be transmitted from the receiving side, authentication is performed by inputting a password or the like, thereby keeping the contents of the e-mail confidential. By these methods,
E-mail systems allow messages to be transmitted.

[0005]

In order to use one e-mail address by one person in a company or school, there is no problem with the conventional technology. However, when used by a large number of people, such as a family, it is necessary to prepare e-mail addresses for each person, and there is a problem that a financial burden increases. Further, if a single e-mail address is shared by a plurality of users in the related art, the confidentiality of the contents of the e-mail cannot be protected. Even if e-mail addresses are prepared by the number of persons, sharing of one e-mail address by a large number of persons causes inconvenience due to the nature of the personal computer when sending and receiving e-mail with a personal computer. An object of the present invention is to allow one user to share one e-mail address, protect the confidentiality of the contents of the e-mail, and create a situation similar to each user having an e-mail address individually. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for multiplexing electronic mail addresses.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an e-mail system which solves the above-mentioned problem, and which does not cause the above-mentioned problem even if a plurality of users share one e-mail address. An address multiplexing method, a system, and a recording medium recording a computer program are provided.

One aspect of the present invention is to newly add a destination user identification field and a source user identification field to the header of an e-mail.

[0008] In addition to the destination e-mail address on the transmitting side, destination user specifying information for specifying to which of the plurality of users on the receiving side the e-mail is addressed is described in the destination user specifying field. The receiving side identifies the user by comparing the destination user identification information with the user identification information of the receiving side, and stores the e-mail in the storage area of the user based on the determination result.

[0009] If it cannot be determined, a column for specifying a destination of an electronic mail addressed to a specific individual, a column for specifying a destination to be sent to a group, a column indicating a source of the electronic mail, and the like are further included in the email header portion. Analyze the e-mail address described in.

[0010] Further, when any of a plurality of users on the receiving side sends an e-mail, it is possible to determine from which user the e-mail is sent simply by describing the source e-mail address. Is incomprehensible, causing inconvenience when replying.

Therefore, the source user identification information is described in the source user identification column.

However, in this case, since the contents of the e-mail can be seen by a user sharing the e-mail address, etc.,
You can't keep confidential. Therefore, a password is set for each user, and when accessing an e-mail, the access is made only when a correct password is input.

[0013] The system further includes an e-mail transmission mechanism and a mechanism for receiving e-mail from the e-mail server at set time intervals.

An e-mail address multiplexing system or an e-mail address multiplexing device including these series of mechanisms.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an e-mail creating mechanism, wherein the created e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail address multiplexing device by radio or a communication line, and transmitted through the e-mail address multiplexing device. A mechanism for distributing e-mail on the Internet or an intranet, and a mechanism for requesting transmission of e-mail held by the e-mail address multiplexing device from the e-mail address multiplexing device toward the terminal device. A mechanism that allows individual encryption processing to be performed for each user when sending an electronic mail through the electronic mail address multiplexing device.

Another aspect of the invention is a computer software product having a computer readable program embodied on a computer usable recording medium. This program, when executed on a computer, instructs the computer to be an electronic mail address multiplexing system.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Notation and Glossary E-mail system-a system composed of a plurality of computers connected by a network such as the Internet or an intranet. An e-mail created by an e-mail sender is transmitted through a plurality of servers. Can be sent to the receiving side.

Mailing list-receiving an e-mail,
A recipient or computer-managed server that forwards the email to all mailing list subscribers.

[0019] User-email multiplexing method, system, or device, the designation of individual co-owners who share one e-mail address.

Sender-A sender or computer-managed server and surrounding environment that creates and sends an e-mail to a particular or multiple recipients.

Receiving side—receiving an electronic mail from a transmitting side;
Recipient and surrounding environment.

Text document-an array of, on a computer, a collection of data representing text. It generally consists of an 8-bit sequence, each containing an ASCII representation of one character. If you are an information industry person,
It seems that he has deeper knowledge.

E-mail server-mediates the e-mail sent by the e-mail sender, and has a storage area for storing the e-mail addressed to the sender. In this case, if there is an electronic mail transfer request from the transmitting side, the electronic mail is transferred to the transmitting side.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Overview In the present invention, a situation is created in which one e-mail address is shared by a plurality of users, and each user has an individual e-mail.

Operating Environment FIG. 1 shows a computer system 100 which is a part of a general electronic mail system. The computer system includes an input / output (I / O) 101, a central processing unit (CP)
U) 102, a memory 103, and a keyboard 104, a disk drive unit 105,
A network interface 106, a pointing device 107, a display 120, and a CD-ROM drive unit 108 are connected. CD-ROM
The drive is capable of reading data such as the program 109 stored in a CD-ROM storage medium, and the disk drive unit is also capable of writing files to a disk and reading from the disk. The computer system further includes a storage mechanism of a technology such as a RAM. Such a computer system can execute an email application that implements the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the general concept of a general electronic mail system. E-mail system 200 on the sending side
Includes an e-mail creation mechanism 201, and further includes an e-mail transmission mechanism 202. By describing a destination e-mail address, a destination can be specified and transmitted. Generally, this e-mail is sent to the Internet 203
Sent to the recipient. At that time, a copy of the e-mail is stored in the storage area 204 on the transmission side. Due to the nature of the Internet, transmission to the e-mail server 205 that manages e-mail on the transmission side is often performed. The e-mail transmitted from the transmission side is sent to the e-mail server 2 for managing the e-mail on the reception side through the Internet.
51, and is transmitted to the receiving-side e-mail system in response to a transmission request by the receiving mechanism of the receiving-side e-mail system 250.
2 is stored. The recipient operates the e-mail in the e-mail storage area of the e-mail by using the e-mail application 253 of the e-mail system on the reception side.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a flowchart of a method for multiplexing electronic mail addresses. After receiving the e-mail S1, when transmitting the e-mail, a new source user identification field is added to the header part of the e-mail and described in the field, or described in the main part of the e-mail. A destination user identification information analysis step S2 is performed to analyze destination user identification information that indicates which one of a plurality of users sharing an e-mail, and a storage method determined in S4 based on the analysis result. Save your email with.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flowchart for accessing an electronic mail addressed to the user specified by the electronic mail access request S5 when accessing the electronic mail in the storage area. The presence or absence of the access right is checked in S6, and if yes, the electronic mail access of the designated storage area is permitted in S7. If there is no access, the access to the e-mail in the designated storage area is rejected in S8.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the access right check method in FIG. In S9, the password input by the e-mail access requester is received, and in S10, it is checked whether the password for e-mail access to the designated user set in advance matches the password input in S9. If they match, the process moves to S11 and the access right is given. If they do not match, the process moves to S12 and the access right is not given.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an electronic mail format in the electronic mail multiplexing method. Email address of sender in FROM field, destination address to individual in TO field, C
The mail address of the transmission destination to the group is described in column C. At the time of sending an e-mail, a source user identification field (SU) describing source user identification information that clearly indicates which of a plurality of users sharing the e-mail is the user.
SP) 601, a new destination user identification field (RUSP) 602 in which destination user identification information that specifies which one of a plurality of users sharing the e-mail is the user when receiving the e-mail is newly added. to add.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the analysis of the destination user identification information in FIG. In step S13, it is checked whether the destination user identification information is described in the destination user identification field (RUSP). If YES, step S1 is performed.
Move to 4. If NO, the process moves to S18. In S14, the user discrimination information 1 is compared with the description in the RUSP column, and if there is a match, the process proceeds to S16 to identify the user.
If there is no match, the process moves to S17, and there is no user specification.

In S18, the user is identified based on the description in the FROM field. For example, when the transmission source of the e-mail is a mailing list, there is a case where transmission destination user identification information cannot be added. At this time, a user who uses the method of multiplexing e-mail addresses cannot receive an e-mail as an e-mail addressed to the user, but this problem is solved by using the e-mail address of the sender as user identification information. Can be avoided. E-mail to individuals can be done in a similar way. That is, the e-mail sent from anywhere is registered in advance as being addressed to this user.

If there is a description in the FROM column, the process proceeds to S20.
If not, the process proceeds to S21. In S20, the description in the FROM column is compared with the user identification information 1. As a result, if it matches any of the user determination information, the process proceeds to S16, and if not, the process proceeds to S17. In S21, it is checked whether there is a description in the CC column. If there is, move to S22; otherwise, move to S17. In S22, the description in the CC column and the user identification information 1
Compare with. As a result of the determination, if any one of them matches, S
The process moves to S16, and if they do not match, the process moves to S17. In S16, the user is specified. In S16, a determination result indicating that there is no user identification is issued.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the method of storing the electronic mail in FIG. Where A,
Assume that four users B, C, and D share an email address. In S25, branching is performed based on the results of the user A, B, C, D determined based on the result of the transmission destination user identification information analysis and the result without user identification.

If the user A is S26, if the user B is S27, if the user C, the process proceeds to S28. If the user D, the process proceeds to S29. If the user is not specified, the process proceeds to S30.
The e-mail is stored in the storage area allocated to each. If there is no user identification, the e-mail is stored in a storage area allocated as a public electronic mail. The public e-mail can be accessed by anyone sharing the e-mail address.

FIG. 9 shows how the storage area of the electronic mail is divided.

FIG. 10 shows an example of an electronic mail address multiplexing apparatus employing an electronic mail address multiplexing method. Reference numeral 1001 denotes a terminal device provided with an e-mail creation mechanism. If a user shares an e-mail address, an e-mail is stored in an e-mail address multiplexing device 1000 connected to the network 1006. It is possible to request transmission of an e-mail addressed to a user specified by the user and access the terminal device.

Further, by sending the e-mail created by the terminal device to the e-mail address multiplexing device wirelessly, the e-mail can be used as if it were a cordless telephone handset. Is to increase. In addition, by using a portable terminal device as a terminal device, it is possible to use the terminal device from a remote place. Further, the terminal device can be the computer 1005. The encryption mechanism at the time of sending an e-mail can be set for each user or not.

FIG. 11 shows an example of an electronic mail address multiplexing system. Central Processing Unit (CPU) 110
1, memory 1102, and file storage mechanism 11
03 is connected to the network 1104, and an email address multiplexing method is adopted to form an email address multiplexing system.

FIG. 12 shows a computer 12 for realizing an electronic mail address multiplexing device on the computer.
00, and an example of a recording medium 1201 including a computer-readable program configured to instruct the computer to realize each mechanism of an email multiplexing method, system, and apparatus. By executing this program on a computer, each mechanism of the method, system, and apparatus for electronic mail multiplexing can be realized on the computer.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the user identification information.
Here, the e-mail address joho @ a. or. j
Four users sharing p are registered. This is shown in the registered user name 800. Also, it shows the discrimination information 801 used when discriminating the user from the description in the FROM column. Further, it shows the discrimination information 802 used when discriminating the user from the description in the CC column.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the analysis of the destination user identification information of the incoming electronic mail using the user identification information of FIG. The incoming e-mail 851 is determined to be an e-mail addressed to Yoshinori based on the description in the RUSP column. Since the incoming e-mail 852 has no description in the RUSP column, it is determined to be an e-mail addressed to Bancho based on the description in the FROM column. Incoming email 85
In No. 3, since there is no description in the RUSP column, none of the user identification information matches the description in the FROM column, and there is no description in the CC column, it is determined to be a public electronic mail.

[0043]

[Effect] In the case where e-mail is used by a large number of people, such as family members, it is necessary to prepare e-mail addresses for each person, and there is a problem that a financial burden is increased. Further, if a single e-mail address is shared by a plurality of users in the related art, the confidentiality of the contents of the e-mail cannot be protected.

Even if e-mail addresses are prepared by the number of persons, if e-mails are transmitted and received by a personal computer, sharing one e-mail address by a large number of persons due to the nature of the personal computer causes inconvenience in terms of confidentiality of sentences. Occurs. An object of the present invention is to allow one user to share one e-mail address, protect the confidentiality of the contents of the e-mail, and create a situation similar to each user having an e-mail address individually. It is to be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a part of a computer system which is a part of a general electronic mail system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a general concept of a general electronic mail system.

FIG. 3 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a method of multiplexing e-mail addresses.

FIG. 4 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a flowchart when accessing an e-mail addressed to a user designated at the time of an e-mail access request when accessing an e-mail in a storage area. is there.

5 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a method of checking an access right in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a format of an e-mail in an e-mail multiplexing method.

FIG. 7 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a flowchart of the transmission destination user identification information analysis in FIG. 3;

8 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram of a flowchart showing a method of saving an e-mail in FIG. 3. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention, showing how an electronic mail storage area is divided.

FIG. 10 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram of an e-mail address multiplexing apparatus employing an e-mail address multiplexing method.

FIG. 11 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram of an electronic mail address multiplexing system.

FIG. 12 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, in which a computer for realizing an electronic mail address multiplexing device on a computer, and a recording medium, each of which is an electronic mail multiplexing method, system, and mechanism. FIG. 9 is an illustration of a recording medium including a computer readable program configured to instruct the computer to implement.

FIG. 13 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram of an example of user identification information.

14 is an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and is an example of analysis of destination user identification information of an incoming electronic mail using the user identification information of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 100 computer system 101 input / output (I / O) 103, 1101 CPU 103, 1102 memory 104 keyboard 105 disk drive unit 106 network interface 107 pointing device 120 display 108 CD-ROM drive unit 109 CD-ROM storage medium 201 e-mail creation mechanism 202 E-mail transmission mechanism 203 Internet 204, 252 Storage area 205, 251 E-mail server 250, 1100 E-mail system 253 E-mail application 601 Source user identification field 602 Destination user identification field 1001 Terminal device 1000 Email multiplexer 1005 , 1200 Computer 1004, 1006 Network 1 Determination information 851, 852, and 853 incoming mail to be used to determine the user from the description of discrimination information 802 CC field to use when from 03 file storage mechanism 1201 storage medium 800 registered user name 801 describing the FROM field to determine the user

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A method for controlling a computer for processing an e-mail, comprising: (a) a header part of the e-mail attached by the e-mail transmission side when the e-mail is transmitted;
Or, described in the body of the e-mail, the destination user identification information to identify the user of the e-mail destination, perform the destination user identification information analysis to analyze the destination user identification information on the receiving side, on the receiving side Determining which of the plurality of users sharing the previously registered e-mail address is the e-mail to;
(B) storing in the storage area on the receiving side as an e-mail addressed to the user according to the result of the determination method;
(C) When accessing the e-mail in the storage area,
By only permitting access to the specified user's e-mail if he has the right to access the e-mail to the user specified by the e-mail access requester, unauthorized operations such as browsing and deleting e-mails are prevented. A method of multiplexing e-mail addresses, comprising the steps of: making one e-mail address look like a plurality of e-mail addresses. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when one of the users sharing the e-mail address on the receiving side transmits the e-mail, the e-mail is sent from any of a plurality of users sharing the e-mail. A method of multiplexing e-mail addresses, characterized in that source user identification information indicating whether the transmission is a transmission is described in a header part of the e-mail or in a main part of the e-mail. 3. The electronic mail address multiplexing method according to claim 1, wherein the destination user identification information analysis compares the destination user identification information with user identification information of a receiving side. the method of. 4. The transmission destination user identification information analysis includes: a column for specifying a transmission destination of an electronic mail addressed to a specific individual; a column for specifying a transmission destination to a group;
The method of multiplexing e-mail addresses according to claim 1, wherein an e-mail address described in a column indicating an e-mail transmission source or transmission source user identification information is analyzed. 5. The access right includes a password set in advance for each user on a receiving side and an e-mail addressed to a user specified by an e-mail access requester when accessing an e-mail in the storage area. An access right of an e-mail addressed to the designated user is given only when a password entered by the access requester at the time of the access request matches the password of the designated user.
The method for multiplexing e-mail addresses according to claim 1. 6. An e-mail system having a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, and a file storage mechanism, wherein: (a) an e-mail header attached to an e-mail transmission side at the time of e-mail transmission; Or, described in the body of the e-mail, the destination user identification information to identify the user of the e-mail destination, perform the destination user identification information analysis to analyze the destination user identification information on the receiving side, on the receiving side A mechanism for determining to which of the plurality of users sharing the pre-registered e-mail address the e-mail is directed; and (b) receiving the e-mail directed to the relevant user based on the result of the determination method. And (c) when accessing an e-mail in the storage area, an e-mail access requestor Includes a mechanism to prevent unauthorized e-mail browsing, deletion, etc. by permitting e-mail access to the designated user only if the user has the right to access the e-mail addressed to the designated user,
An e-mail address multiplexing system that enables one e-mail address to be in a state like a plurality of e-mail addresses. 7. An e-mail apparatus having a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, and a file storage mechanism, wherein: (a) an e-mail header attached to the e-mail transmission side at the time of e-mail transmission; Or, described in the body of the e-mail, the destination user identification information to identify the user of the e-mail destination, perform the destination user identification information analysis to analyze the destination user identification information on the receiving side, and on the receiving side Of a plurality of users sharing an e-mail address, a mechanism for judging to which e-mail the user is addressed; and (b) storing the e-mail destined for the user in a storage area on the receiving side according to the result of the judgment method And (c) when accessing the e-mail in the storage area, the e-mail addressed to the user specified by the e-mail access requester. Includes a mechanism to prevent unauthorized e-mail browsing, deletion, and other operations by permitting e-mail access to designated users only if they have child mail access rights. An e-mail address multiplexing device that enables a state like an e-mail address. 8. An electronic mail transmission mechanism,
The electronic mail address multiplexing system according to claim 6, further comprising: (b) a mechanism for receiving an electronic mail from an electronic mail server at set time intervals. Device. 9. The mechanism for storing data in the storage area is as follows:
9. The method of multiplexing an e-mail address according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the e-mail address is stored in a corresponding storage area among storage areas allocated to each user. Multiplexing system and email address multiplexing device. 10. A terminal device having a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, a character input, and a file storage mechanism, wherein: (a) an electronic mail creation mechanism; A mechanism for transmitting to the address multiplexing device by radio or a communication line and distributing the e-mail on the Internet or an intranet through the e-mail address multiplexing device; and (b) the e-mail address to the terminal device. A mechanism for requesting transmission of an e-mail held by the e-mail address multiplexing apparatus from the multiplexing apparatus; and (c) transmitting an e-mail through the e-mail address multiplexing apparatus for each user. Terminal device or a portable terminal including a mechanism for enabling individual encryption processing End device. 11. A recording medium for storing a computer program, comprising: (a) a computer readable program for instructing a computer to process an e-mail, wherein the computer readable program is: (b) A recording medium including a computer-readable program configured to instruct the computer to implement each mechanism described in 1.