JPH1141403A - Communication terminal equipment with electronic mail function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To receive font data by electronic mail by providing a storage means for storing the font data, storing the font data in electronic mail received through a computer communication network in the storage means and providing a control means for using these stored font data for the font conversion of the text data. SOLUTION: A binary text converting part 1 receives the font data to be loaded in a font memory 6a through the computer communication network by electronic mail and performs the font conversion of the text data font by a character generator 14 while using the received font data. Thus, it is not necessary to exchange a font ROM and even when an unmounted special font (such as Japanese or Arabic) is required, the electronic mail of font data from a service center is received and can be utilized for font conversion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a font conversion function of a communication terminal device having an electronic mail function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer communication networks such as the Internet tend to be used more and more, and recently, the number of people who use them also in general homes is increasing. The use of such a computer communication network can reduce the communication time because the user only has to bear the communication cost from the personal computer (PC) to the nearest contract provider (connection company to the computer communication network). Also, communication with overseas computers can be done at low cost.

[0003] In view of such circumstances, communication terminal devices such as facsimile devices capable of connecting to a computer communication network have been developed at present. Facsimile transmission,
Alternatively, it can be transmitted to the other party's communication terminal device by any of e-mail transmission. That is, when facsimile transmission is selected when transmitting image data, the image data is directly transmitted using a telephone network or the like. On the other hand, when e-mail transmission is selected, the image data is converted into e-mail format, this data is stored in a mailbox on the network, and many of the receiving parties use a dial-up connection at an appropriate time. A computer communication network is connected via a telephone line, and if e-mail has arrived, image data is extracted from a mailbox.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional communication terminal device with an e-mail function, if this device is an overseas specification, when text data is received as an e-mail, a kanji font memory is not mounted. Therefore, unless a font ROM is exchanged or font data is obtained and registered, a Japanese sentence consisting of 2-byte codes cannot be converted into a correct image.

[0005] In view of such circumstances, the present invention is proposed with the object of providing a communication terminal device with an electronic mail function capable of receiving font data by electronic mail by effectively utilizing a computer communication network. .

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal device with an e-mail function, which receives font data via a computer communication network. And a control unit for storing the font data in the electronic mail in a storage unit and using the stored font data for font conversion of text data.

Here, the communication terminal device according to the present invention corresponds to a facsimile device capable of connecting to a computer communication network, a personal computer having a data communication function, and the like. The computer communication network includes the Internet and NIFTY-S, a personal computer communication service.
erve, PC-VAN, etc., which use an e-mail service which is one of these services.

According to a second aspect, the control means stores the font data in the received e-mail in the storage means when the text data of the received e-mail cannot be converted into a font, and stores the stored font data in the storage means. Is used for font conversion of text data. When it is determined that the text data cannot be converted to image data, the font data stored in the mailbox of the own device is transferred in advance, or the font data arriving in the mailbox addressed to itself on the network (provider) is transferred. Receive e-mail.

According to a third aspect, when the font data is required, the control means of the first or second aspect transmits an electronic mail or a facsimile image requesting transmission of the font data to the communication terminal device of the center. It is characterized by transmitting. Here, when the font data is required, as described in claim 2, when the text data cannot be converted, when a new device is installed, when the font data is not stored at the time of login, etc. And sends a font data transmission request to a service center or the like automatically or by a specific key operation.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a communication terminal device with an electronic mail function of the present invention. Here, a configuration example of a facsimile apparatus with an e-mail function F, which is one of the communication terminal apparatuses of the present invention, is shown. That is, the facsimile apparatus F has a communication function via a computer communication network in addition to the conventional G3 and G4 facsimile communication functions via a public line network. As an example, a case where the Internet is used and an electronic mail (e-mail) service is used on the Internet will be described.

The main control unit 1 constitutes a control means of the present invention by a CPU or the like, and not only controls each unit of the facsimile apparatus F, but also performs encoding and decoding, image conversion,
Executes various processes such as binary / text conversion and mail editing. The NCU 2 closes and opens the communication line L1 (analog line). The modem 3 modulates and demodulates a signal for facsimile communication. The data modem 4 modulates and demodulates a signal to transmit and receive an electronic mail. The external interface 5 is for connecting another communication terminal device such as a personal computer, and enables facsimile communication and transmission / reception of e-mail by the connected personal computer or the like.

In G4 communication, the modem 3, the NCU 2
DSU9 (data line terminator, DIGI
TAL SERVICE UNIT), and is connected to the ISDN line L2 and the like. The image memory 6 is composed of a DRAM or the like and stores image data. The RAM 7 stores temporary data generated when the processing is executed, and also registers a user ID for logging in to the Internet, an e-mail address of each user, an e-mail address of the other party, a facsimile number, and the like. The ROM 8 stores a device control program and the like necessary for the operation of the facsimile machine F.

The image memory 6, RAM 7, (flash) ROM 8, and hard disk (not shown) correspond to the storage means of the present invention. However, when the stored font data is used for font conversion of text data using the character generator 14, the font data is stored in a font memory (described later) in the image memory 6.
To be loaded.

The display unit 10 includes a liquid crystal display device and the like, and displays the operation state of the facsimile machine F and image data. The operation unit 11 includes various keys such as numeric keys, and performs various input settings for the facsimile machine F. The reading unit 12 reads an original with a CCD or the like,
Outputs the image data of the value. The recording unit 13 includes a printer of an electrophotographic system or the like, and records (prints and outputs) data received from another facsimile apparatus or via the Internet as image data.

The external recording medium reading section 15 reads program data from a recording medium fd such as a floppy disk. The main control unit 1 controls the operation of the facsimile machine F according to the read command in addition to the program stored in the ROM 8 in advance. FIG.
5 schematically shows the flow of data in the facsimile machine F shown in FIG. Each part in FIG.
, But is processed by the main controller 1 based on a program stored in the ROM 8.

The encoding / decoding section 1a encodes the image data read by the reading section 12 by an encoding method such as MH, MR, MMR or the like, or decodes the encoded data for printing out by the recording section 13. Become Hereinafter, data encoded by these encoding methods is referred to as “encoded data”. The image conversion unit 1b converts the encoded data into a TIFF (Tagged Image), which is a general image format used by a computer, at the time of sending an e-mail.
ge File format), while receiving, TIF
Convert F to encoded data.

TIFF is published by adobe, and defines various Classes that handle not only black and white binary but also black and white multi-valued and full color. One of them defines a Class F that handles facsimile images.
If FF header information is added, it can be converted to TIFF. Hereinafter, the encoded data to which the Class F TIFF header information is added is referred to as “TIFF data”.

A mail sent from a text mail terminal (a terminal that handles only e-mail of text data)
The binary / text converter 1c converts the text data into image data using the character generator 14 because it is composed of a JIS 7-unit code or a 7-bit ASCII code text code. At this time, the font data loaded in the font memory 6a of the image memory 6 is used.

The binary-to-text converter 1c includes:
At the time of sending an e-mail, the function of converting the binary data into text data is performed, and at the time of receiving, the function of converting the text data into binary data. In some cases, computers (text mail terminals) that cannot handle binary data e-mails are connected to the Internet. To ensure that e-mails reach the recipient, TIFF data Binary data must be converted to text data at the time of transmission.

Text data handled on the Internet is:
Documents issued by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Fore), RFC (Request For Comments) 82
2, it is defined as a 7-bit code, but MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension)
If base64 or the like in s) is used, binary data can be converted to text data. It should be noted that base64 is 8 bits x 3 bytes of binary data of 6 bits x
This is an encoding method in which binary data is converted into text data by regarding each byte as a character code and assigning a character code to each byte.

That is, the binary / text converter 1c
Has a function of mutually converting text data and image data and a function of mutually converting binary data such as TIFF and a pseudo text code. The mail editing unit 1d adds the mail header information to the TIFF data converted into text data and edits the mail header information from the data in the e-mail format when receiving the e-mail. Removed and used as TIFF data of text data.

Here, the mail header information is predetermined header information of an electronic mail on the Internet.
"From:", "To:", "" at the beginning of the TIFF data to be transmitted
It is stipulated that items such as "Subject:", "cc:", "Date:", etc. should be added. In some cases, the signal passes through only the encoding / decoding unit 1a.

The present invention is characterized in that font data to be loaded into the font memory 6a is received by e-mail via a computer communication network. When the font data is received, the binary / text converter 1c uses this data to
Font conversion of text data. This eliminates the need to replace the font ROM (not shown),
Even when a special font (Japanese, Arabic, etc.) that is not implemented is required, an e-mail of font data can be received from a service center or the like, and this can be used for font conversion. Note that a plurality of special font data can be received.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation at this time. Call the provider, log in, and check if the special font has been loaded.
If it has not been loaded, check whether the special font mail has been transferred from the service center to the mailbox. If the mail has been transferred, download the mail. If not, download the font data to the service center. Automatically send an e-mail or facsimile image requesting transmission of
105).

After the special font has been loaded, or the execution of the font data download or transmission request has been made, the presence or absence of an e-mail is checked according to the usual processing. It is determined whether or not the mail has been loaded and a special font is required. If the mail has been loaded, a mail reception for performing font conversion using the loaded special font is executed. On the other hand, if a special font data transmission request has been made to the center and the special font has not been loaded, or a special font is not required, normal mail reception without using the special font is performed (106 to 112).

FIG. 3 shows another operation, in which an electronic mail of special font data is downloaded not when the user logs in but when a special font is required. After calling and logging in, check whether the mail has arrived. If the mail that arrives needs special fonts, check if the special fonts have been loaded. Check if the e-mail is forwarded from the service center. Here, if the mail of the special font data has been transferred, the mail is downloaded and stored in the font memory 6a. If not transferred, the mail or the request for transmission of the font data to the service center is sent. Notification of facsimile (200-210).

As described above, when the text data of the received e-mail cannot be font-converted, the font data in the received e-mail is stored in the font memory 6a and used for the font conversion of the text data. Font data is loaded only when needed, saving memory. The determination that the text data cannot be converted to image data is made based on the destination or the title of the arriving mail, or based on the text code of the received data. For example, shift JIS
If it is a code, it can be determined from the fact that the first bit of the first byte, which is a two-byte code, is “1”.

The font memory 6 for font data
The loading to a may be performed by receiving a mail in advance and transferring the font data stored in the mailbox in the RAM 7. In the present invention, FIG.
As shown in step 105 of FIG. 4 and step 210 of FIG. 4, when font data is needed, an e-mail requesting transmission of font data or a facsimile image is automatically sent to the communication terminal device of the service center. Since transmission is performed, there is no need to contact the service center by telephone or the like.

When the font data becomes necessary, there are times when the text data cannot be converted, when the font data is not stored at the time of login, at an arbitrary time, and the like. It is also possible to request transmission of font data.

[0030]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the communication terminal device with the electronic mail function according to the first aspect of the present invention, font data is received by electronic mail via a computer communication network. This font data can be used for font conversion of text data. Thus, for example, even if the communication terminal device has an e-mail function of an overseas specification, if the font data of Japanese (Kana-Kanji) is received by e-mail, there is no need to replace the font ROM, and It is possible to obtain an image of a correctly translated Japanese sentence without any garbage.

According to the second aspect, when it is determined that the text data of the received e-mail cannot be font-converted,
Since the font data received as e-mail is used, unnecessary font data is not loaded, and the memory is not wasted. According to the third aspect, when font data is required, a font data transmission request is automatically transmitted to the service center by e-mail or facsimile image.
There is no need to request mail transmission of font data by telephone or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a communication terminal device with an e-mail function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data flow in the communication terminal device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a basic operation of the communication terminal device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the basic operation of the communication terminal device in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 F: Facsimile machine with electronic mail function 1: Main control unit 1c: Binary / text conversion unit 6: Image memory 6a: Font memory 14: Character generator

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing font data, and font data in an e-mail received via a computer communication network are stored in the storage means, and the stored font data is used for font conversion of text data. A communication terminal device with an e-mail function, comprising: 2. The control means stores font data in the received e-mail in the storage means when the text data of the received e-mail cannot be converted into a font, and stores the stored font data in the text data. The communication terminal device with an e-mail function according to claim 1, wherein the communication terminal device is used for font conversion. 3. The control means transmits an e-mail or a facsimile image requesting transmission of font data to a communication terminal of the center when font data is required. A communication terminal device with an e-mail function according to claim 2.