JPS63294156A - Mail service system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a hindrance in works influenced by a delay in mail retrieval so as to solve the troublesome work of mail retrieval, by installing a function for making decision whether arrived mails are to be presented to a recipient or stored in a mail box and another function with which a recipient can set conditions for the above-mentioned selection to a mail receiving section. CONSTITUTION:When a recipient utilizes a computer connected with a communication network, the recipient sets a reference for selection of received mails through a selection reference setting function 1 after he declares starting of utilization. At a mail selecting function 3, discrimination is made whether each mail meets the selection reference or not at every arrival of mails and, when mail meets the reference, the mail is displayed on the screen of the said computer. When no mail meets the reference, the mails are accumulated in a local mail box. Therefore, a delay in works caused by a delay in mail retrieval can be prevented and troublesome mail retrieving works can be solved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a mail service system that provides a message transmission service between users via a computer.

[Conventional technology]

Regarding conventional mail service systems, see Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers, Vol. 69, No. 7 (1'986).

As described on pages 675 to 681, it is composed of a set of MTA (message transfer agent) and UA (user agent). The MTA transfers messages between UAs. At UA, you can send/receive emails,
Edit messages and store locally.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Among the messages received, there are messages that the recipient can view immediately and messages that can be viewed at a later time. The classification criteria differ for each recipient, and even for the same recipient, they change depending on the time. The above-mentioned conventional technology handles all messages using the same standard.

Specifically, each time a mail arrives, "mail arrival" is notified to the recipient. Alternatively, the ``arrival of mail'' is stored in the mailbox without being communicated to the recipient.

Therefore, in the former case, (1) the recipient is bothered; in the latter case, (2) there is a delay in searching for the email, which hinders the work that spreads from the email; and (3) inconvenience in the email search. There were problems such as the appearance of harshness.

The object of the present invention is to solve the problems mentioned in section 2 and to improve services for users.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose of the above is to provide the e-mail receiving section with (1) a function to select whether or not an incoming e-mail should be immediately transmitted to the recipient, and (2) the above selection criteria (conditions) This can be achieved by providing a function that allows the time to be set at any time, and by providing the following.

[Effect]

When a recipient uses a computer connected to a communication network, after declaring the start of use, the recipient sets selection criteria for received mail via the selection criteria setting function ((1) above). In the mail selection function ((2) above), each time a mail arrives, it is determined whether the mail satisfies the above selection criteria, and if the selection criteria are met, the mail is displayed on the screen of the computer. If unsatisfied, the mail is stored in a local mailbox.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. After the recipient activates the mail service system via the computer terminal 4, the recipient activates the mail setting function 1. The mail selection condition setting function 1 receives mail selection conditions from the recipient according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, and stores the received conditions in the mail selection condition table 5. below,
The processing contents will be described according to each step of the flowchart shown in FIG.

5tepl 1 : A message 4 requesting selection condition input by the caller is outputted to the computer terminal 4 in the format shown in FIG.

5step 12: Output the selection condition manual request message 42 based on the reception time to the computer terminal 4, and input the input field 42]
The selection start time is received from the input field 422, and the selection end time is received from the input field 422.

5tepl 3: A message 43 requesting input of selection conditions based on the subject of the email is output to the computer terminal 41, and the subject of the email is accepted from the input field 431.

5 step i 4: Enter the received sender's name, reception time, and mail subject in the mail selection condition table 5 in the format shown in FIG. 4 in the sender name table 51. Reception time table 52. It is stored in the mail subject table 53.

The above process sets the email selection conditions.

Assume that mail 6 arrives in the format shown in FIG.

Here, the envelope 61 is information indicating ``who sent the e-mail to whom?'' The content 62 is the sent document, which consists of a heading 63 and a body 64. Heading 63
'I'0631. Mail/L/(7
) Consists of SUB indicating the subject and JIECT 632. The body 64 stores messages that have been sent.

When the message 6 is sent, the mail receiving section 21 of the mail service system 2, similar to the conventional method, sends the message 6.
and passes the received mail 6 to the mail selection function 3. The mail selection function 3 selects mail according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

5tep31: It is determined whether the sender name shown in the envelope 61 is included in the sender name table 51 of the mail selection condition table 5, and if it is included, the process moves to 5tep34.

5step32: Extract the time when mail 6 was received from the system's built-in clock, determine whether or not that time is included in the time in the reception time table 52 of the mail selection condition table 5, and if it is included, proceed to 5step34. Transfer processing.

5tep 33: 5UBJECT with heading 63
Determine whether or not the email subject shown in 632 is included in the email selection condition cheaple 53. If it is included, go to 5 step 34; if not, go to step 5.
Processing moves to step35.

5tep34: Output the message written in the body 64 of the received mail 6 to the computer terminal 4.

5step 35: Store the received email in the email storage unit 22.
give it to

Repeat the above steps for each email that arrives.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, individual recipients can classify e-mails that they want to see immediately and e-mails that can be viewed later, at any time, using any selection criteria. It can be prevented.

(2) Eliminates the hassle of searching for emails.

This effect can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the function-information relationship of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a processing flowchart of the e-mail selection condition setting function, Fig. 3 is an example of an e-mail selection condition reception screen, and Fig. 4
The figure is a configuration diagram of the email selection condition table, Figure 5 is a configuration diagram of the email, and Figure 6 is the configuration of the email selection condition table.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a mail service system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a communication network and messages generated by users are transferred, stored and searched, the mail receiving section of each computer receives: (1) Arrival An email service system characterized by having a function of selecting whether to present an email to a recipient or storing it in a mailbox, and (2) a function of allowing the recipient to set selection conditions for the above selection. .