JPH0477030A - Electronic mail circulation method and electronic mail circulation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To circulate an electronic mail efficiently in a short time by allowing a circulation caller to designate the circulation method so as to limit unread time of a recipient. CONSTITUTION:In the case of sending an electronic mail, a circulation control information generating section 4 of a transmission section 1 generates a circulation destination, its order and an unread limit time or the like as circulation control information, a circulation information generating section 5 generates the circulation information, and sends the information to a network 3 as an electronic mail. After the mail is received by a mail reception section 6 of a reception section 2, each information is stored in a circulation information storage section 7 and a circulation control information storage section 8. Simultaneously, a timer 9 is started and when an unread time measured by the timer exceeds a reference value designated by the circulation control information while the circulation information in the circulation information storage section 7 is not read, a circulation processing section 12 extracts the circulation information and the circulation control information to apply processing and sends a mail to a succeeding designated destination.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Table of contents] Overview Industrial field of application Prior art (Figure 7) Means for solving the problems to be solved by the invention (Figure 1) Working examples (Figure 2) ~6th circle) Effects of the invention [Summary] Regarding an e-mail circulation method and an e-mail circulation system, the present invention enables the sender of the circular to control the circulation method and limits the unread time of the recipient. The purpose of this method is to circulate e-mails efficiently in a short period of time.In an e-mail circulation method that circulates e-mails via a network, circulation information and circulation control information are created when sending an e-mail. When the e-mail is sent and received, the circulation information and circulation control information are retained, and when the retained circulation information is read or unread, the information specified as the circulation control information is When the reading limit time has elapsed, the above-mentioned circulation information and circulation control information held are retrieved, predetermined processing is performed, and the email is sent to the next destination specified by the circulation control information. do.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an e-mail circulation method and an e-mail circulation system. More specifically, the present invention relates to an e-mail circulation method and an e-mail circulation system, and more specifically, it is used in an e-mail system using a public line, LAN, etc. This invention relates to an improved e-mail circulation method and e-mail circulation system.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of conventional e-mail, where A shows an example of a reply, B shows an example of a circular, and C shows an example of a transfer.

In recent years, e-mail using public lines and LANs has become popular, and there is a demand for e-mail to not only be faster than paper e-mail, but also to have the same or higher functionality and ease of use. There are many ways to use e-mail, and there is a strong desire to use it to correct the opinions of multiple people.

In this case, the e-mail is passed around among the people in charge,
By adding each other's opinions, it is possible to state your own opinion while looking at the opinions of others.

By the way, in conventional e-mail, the recipient sends a reply to the sender (see Figure 7C), the same message is sent to multiple people (see Figure 7C), and the received email is sent to other people. There was a function to send data from person to person (see Figure 7C).

In the above reply, when the sender sends an email, the recipient who receives the email sends a reply to the sender.

In the case of a circular, one sender sends an email with the same content to 7M recipients, and there are no replies from 97 recipients.

In the case of forwarding, when a sender sends an e-mail, the recipient receives the e-mail and forwards it to another destination.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional method as described in Section 1 had the following drawbacks.

(1) In the case of a reply, the sender and receiver can exchange opinions with each other, but it is not possible to exchange opinions with three people.

(2) In the case of circular notifications, it is possible to issue notifications over 3 Å, but since each recipient has a one-on-one relationship with the sender, it is difficult to exchange opinions between recipients even when combined with replies.

(3) In the case of forwarding, if the recipients forward one after another,
Opinions can be exchanged even if the distance is 3 Å or more, but the recipient must specify the next destination one by one.

Additionally, the original sender cannot control who the exchange is with, and if the recipient does not forward the message to the next person, the conversation ends there.

Furthermore, the information may remain unread in one place for a long time, so it takes time to transfer and the transfer efficiency is poor.

The present invention solves these conventional drawbacks, allows the sender of a circular to control the method of circulation, and limits the unread time of the recipient. Good (the purpose is to be able to circulate.

[Means to solve the problem:.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a circulation information storage section, 8 is a circulation control 'b' information storage section, 9 is a timer, 10 is a comparison section, 11 is a read processing section, and 12 is a post-read circulation processing section.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

(1) In the e-mail circulation method of circulating e-mails via a network, when sending e-mails, the circulation light, its 11)7i order, unread time limit, etc. are used to control the circulation information and the circulation method. Create the circulation control information for LL'b, when you receive the above e-mail, save the received circulation information and circulation control information, and if you read this retained circulation information or unread it. - When the unread time limit specified as the circulation control information has passed, Riko retrieves the above-mentioned circulation information and circulation control information held, performs the prescribed processing, and reads the information specified in the circulation control information. An e-mail circulation method characterized by sending an e-mail to the next destination.

(2) In an e-mail circulation system that performs circulation according to the e-mail circulation method described in (1) above, each transmission section l that performs an e-mail transmission process includes a circulation information creation section 5 that creates circulation information; A circulation control information creation unit 4 is provided to create circulation control information such as a circulation light, its order, and unread time limit in order to control the circulation method, and each reception unit 2 that processes e-mail reception includes a , a mail receiving section 6 for receiving e-mails, a circulation information storage section 7 for storing received circulation information, a circulation control information storage section 8 for storing received circulation control information, which are activated when an e-mail is received, 1. A timer 9 that measures the unread time of e-mail, and a comparison unit 10 that compares the unread time measured by the timer with a reference value specified by ■-record circulation control information; 1. After the reading processing unit 11 extracts the circular information stored in the circular information storage unit 7 and the reading processing unit finishes the reading processing, or the comparison result by the comparison unit 10, A post-read circulation processing unit 12 is provided which extracts the above-mentioned circulation information and circulation control information and performs processing to circulate the mail to the next destination specified by the circulation control information when the unread time exceeds a reference value. An e-mail circulation system featuring:

[Effect]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

The cabinet that sends the e-mail uses the circulation control information creation section 4 of the transmission section 1 to generate the circulation control information i-report as the circulation light and part 1 @.
Foreword, unread time limit, etc. are created, and the circulation information creation section 5
Create the circular information and send it as an e-mail to Network 3.
Send to.

The receiving unit 2 receives the e-mail from the network 3.
After being received by the mail receiving section 6, each piece of information is stored in the circulation information storage section 7 and the circulation control information storage section 8.

At the same time, the timer 9 is started, and in the comparison section 10,
The unread time measured by the timer is compared with the reference value specified by the circulation control information.

If the circulation information in the circulation information storage section 7 remains unread and the unread time measured by the timer exceeds the reference value, a time-over output signal is sent to the post-read circulation processing section 12.

The post-read circulation processing unit 12 that receives this information extracts the circulation information and circulation control information, processes it, and sends the mail to the next specified destination.

In addition, if the reading processing unit 11 reads out the circulation information from the circulation information storage unit 7 before the unread time exceeds the reference value, the post-reading circulation processing unit I2 performs the same process as above, and then Send destination Hemel.

In this way, the sending side of the mail can control the circulation light, circulation conditions, etc., and the receiving side of the mail only needs to process according to the instructions from the sending side, so that the mail can be circulated efficiently.

Additionally, by limiting the unread time on the receiving side, circulation time is shortened.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

2 to 6 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2 is a system configuration example, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a transmitter, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a receiver. , FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the e-mail circulation process, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the e-mail circulation process.

In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts.

Further, 13 indicates an e-mail processing device, and 14.15 indicates a mail transmitting unit.

In this embodiment, the second e-mail circulation system is
Use the system shown in the diagram.

That is, a large number (plurality) of e-mail processing devices 13 are connected to a network 3 such as a LAN or a public network to configure an e-mail circulation system.

In this case, various terminal devices, hosts, etc. are used as the e-mail processing device 13.

Further, each e-mail processing device 13 includes both or one of a transmitting section that performs an e-mail sending process and a receiving section that performs an e-mail receiving process.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transmitting section 1 is comprised of a circulation control information creating section 4, a circulating information creating section 5, and a transmitting section 4.

The receiving unit 2 also includes a mail receiving unit 6, as shown in FIG.
timer 7, circulation information storage section 8, circulation control information storage section 9,
Comparison unit 10, reading processing unit 11, post-reading circulation processing unit 12
, and a mail transmitting section 15 are provided.

The circulation control information creation section 4 creates information such as the destination of the circulation, its order, and the time limit (reference value) for unreading as the circulation control information on the sending side.

The timer 7 is activated when the mail reception section 6 receives the mail, and is reset after the processing by the post-read circulation processing section 12, and measures the time period between 11 and 285 of the mail to be circulated.

The post-read circulation processing unit 12 controls the circulation control when the read processing unit 11 reads the circulation information and the process is completed, or when the unread time measured by the timer 7 is determined by the comparison process of the comparison unit IO. The time limit specified by the information (
When the reading exceeds the reference value), post-reading processing is performed.

This post-reading process involves extracting the circulation information stored in the circulation information storage section 8 and the circulation control information stored in the circulation control information storage section 9, and deleting the part for the own device among Merle's destinations. or add opinions, etc. from the own device to other devices.

The mail transmitting section 15 transmits the mail received from the post-read circulation processing section 12 to the next destination.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when a sender (a) sends a mail and circulates it in the order of (b) → (c) → ~ (k) → (a), the circulation of the transmitter 1 is The control information creation unit 4 creates viewing control information as in the fifth time.

This circulation control information includes destinations (b), (C),
In (k) and (a), the circulation order is sender (a) → (
b)→(c)−(k)→(a).

Further, an unread time limit (reference value) may be set for each recipient, or the same unread time limit may be set for all recipients.

In addition, it is also possible to arbitrarily set various circulation conditions and the like as circulation control information.

Next, the e-mail circulation process will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that each process number in the figure is shown in brackets.

When sending an e-mail, when the sender of the e-mail instructs circulation, the sending section 1 is activated, and the circulation control information creation section 4
At the same time, the circulation information creation unit 5 creates the circulation information l01), and the mail transmission unit I4
send an e-mail from (102).

In the receiving section 2, when the above-mentioned mail is received by the mail receiving section 6, the circulation information and the circulation control information are immediately stored in the circulation information storage section 8 and the circulation control information creation section 9, respectively. At this time, the timer 7 is activated by the mail receiving unit 6 to measure the unread time (103).

Thereafter, the circulation information stored in the circulation information storage section 8 is processed by the readout processing section 11 (step 104), and after the processing is completed, the circulation processing section 12 is activated after reading. and performs post-reading processing (+06). After completing this post-reading process, the processed email is sent to the email sending unit 15,
At the same time as superstition to the specified destination (107), the timer 7
Reset.

However, if the read processing section II does not perform the above-mentioned read processing, the timer 7 continues to measure time, and the comparison section 10 compares this with a reference value (specified unread time limit), and When the time exceeds the base 4 value (1
05), the above-mentioned post-read circulation processing unit 12 is activated, the same processing as above is performed, and the mail is sent to the next destination.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention can also be implemented as follows.

(1) Since the circulation method can be freely controlled by setting the circulation control information, it is possible to circulate in any circulation method by this setting.

For example, in the example of FIG. 5, if the destination is set to (b) and the circulation order is set as (b)→(a), the result will be as shown in FIG. 7.

Furthermore, if the destinations are set as (b), (c), and -(k), and the circulation order is set as (b)→(c)→-→(k), the result will be as shown in FIG. 7C.

(2) Each receiving section can add opinions or write other information to the circulation information when sending the mail to the next destination.

(2) On the receiving side, processing is performed according to the route specified by the circulation control report, so processing can be performed efficiently.

(3) Even if the receiving side reads the circular information: Even if the receiving side does not read the circular information,
Since the mail is always sent to the next recipient within the specified time limit, there is no chance of the mail being interrupted or staying in one place for too long.

(4) If the unread time limit is set very short, emails will be sent to multiple people frequently, and people with opinions can catch them, write their opinions, and circulate them again.

In this way, it can also be used as a substitute for a meeting.

(5) E-mail circulation can be done in a short time and efficiently.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention has the following effects.

(1) Circulation control information is created on the sending side of the email, so
The circulation method etc. can be controlled freely.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 6 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an example of a system configuration, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a transmitter, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the receiving section, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of e-mail circulation processing, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of e-mail circulation processing. Further, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of conventional e-mail. 1 - Transmission section 2 - Receiving section 3 - Network 4 - Circulation control information creation section 5 - Circulation information creation section 6 - Mail reception section 7 - Circulation information storage section 8 - Circulation control information storage section 9 - Timer 10 - Comparison Section IL--Reading processing section 12--Post-reading circulation processing section C1 Heavy transmission〉〉〉㉂L Alumni J Gairi's Monthly Figure 5-G

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an e-mail circulation method that circulates e-mails via a network, when sending an e-mail, circulation information and circulation control information such as the destination and order of circulation and unread time limit for controlling the circulation method are required. When you create and send the e-mail and receive the above e-mail, retain the received circulation information and circulation control information, and if you read this retained circulation information or leave it unread, the above circulation control When the unread time limit specified as information has passed, the above-mentioned circulation information and circulation control information held are retrieved, predetermined processing is performed, and the email is sent to the next destination specified in the circulation control information. An e-mail circulation method characterized by sending. (2) In an e-mail circulation system that performs circulation according to the e-mail circulation method according to claim (1) above, each transmitting unit (1) that performs an e-mail transmission process includes a circular information creation method that creates circulation information. (5) and a circulation control information creation section (4) that creates circulation control information such as circulation destinations, order, unread time limit, etc. for controlling the circulation method, and performs email reception processing. Each receiving section (2) includes a mail receiving section (6) that receives e-mail, a circulation information storage section (7) that stores received circulation information, and a circulation control information storage section that stores received circulation control information. Department (
8), a timer (9) that is activated when an email is received and measures the unread time of the email, and a comparison unit (9) that compares the unread time measured by the timer with a reference value specified by the circulation control information. 10), a read processing unit (11) that reads the circular information stored in the circular information storage unit (7), and after the read processing in the read processing unit (11) is completed, or the comparison unit (10) When the unread time exceeds the standard value in the comparison result, the post-read circulation process extracts the above circulation information and circulation control information and performs processing to circulate the mail to the next destination specified by the circulation control information. An e-mail circulation system characterized by comprising a section (12).