JP2001356984A - Mail transmitting / receiving device and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An object of the present invention is to provide a mail transmission / reception device and a storage medium that automatically perform notification of mail address change related information and automatically update a destination address book associated with the notification. It is. SOLUTION: An address storage means for storing a plurality of mail addresses as mail destination candidates, and when receiving a mail, judges whether or not the received mail is a mail for notifying a change of a mail address of a sender. Address change determining means for performing, and when it is determined that the mail is a notification of the change of the sender's mail address, an address for determining the mail address before the change and the mail address after the change in the received mail. Determining means, from among the plurality of mail addresses stored in the address storage means,
Address updating means for extracting the pre-change mail address determined by the address determination means, updating the extracted pre-change mail address to the changed mail address, and storing the updated mail address. .

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail transmitting / receiving apparatus for controlling transmission of a mail to a mail address designated as a destination according to an input operation of a mail sender, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of communication networks such as the Internet and personal computer communication, e-mail transmission / reception services via providers (Internet connection business operators), personal computer communication business, and the like have rapidly spread, and communication means has been rapidly increasing. Status has been established. Also,
Recently, with the launch of high-speed packet communication services for digital terminals, mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assemblies)
Electronic mail is also transmitted and received using portable information terminals such as istant).

Such a mail transmitting / receiving apparatus transmits desired mail data to a mail address designated as a destination from an address book by a mail sender according to various application programs such as mail management software and a scheduler. Therefore, if the sender's e-mail address is changed, to continue using the e-mail after that, all e-mail recipients registered in the sender's address book will be notified that the address has been changed. Notification of change-related information such as a later mail address and a change date and time was sent by e-mail. On the other hand, the recipient of the e-mail manually updates the e-mail address registered in his / her own address book based on the change-related information.

[0004]

However, every time a mail address is changed, the operation of notifying the change-related information to all mail partners is cumbersome and inefficient. In addition, it is inconvenient for the recipient of the mail because the mail address registered in the address book must be corrected and re-registered. Such a work usually has many problems due to the manual operation of the user, and takes a long time, and there is a problem that correction of a new mail address is missed or erroneous input is frequent.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a mail transmitting / receiving apparatus and a storage medium for automatically notifying the change-related information of a mail address and automatically updating the address book of the destination accompanying the notification.

[0006]

The present invention has the following features to solve the above-mentioned problems. In the description of the following means, a configuration corresponding to the embodiment is exemplified by parentheses. Reference numerals and the like correspond to reference numerals in the drawings described later.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail transmitting / receiving apparatus (for example, the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1) for controlling transmission of a mail to a mail address designated as a destination according to an input operation of a mail sender. Address storage means (e.g., the mail address memory 7a in FIG. 2) for storing a plurality of mail addresses as mail destination candidates, and when receiving a mail, notifies the received mail of a change in the mail address of the sender. Address change determination means (for example, CP in FIG. 1)
U2) and when the address change determination means determines that the mail is a notification of a change in the sender's mail address, the mail address before the change, the mail address after the change in the received mail, (E.g., CPU 2 in FIG. 1) for determining the mail address, and extracting the pre-change mail address determined by the address determining means from the plurality of mail addresses stored in the address storage means, Address updating means (for example, the CPU 2 in FIG. 1 and the mail address memory 7a in FIG. 2) for updating and storing the extracted mail address before the change to the mail address after the change. I do.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the apparatus includes the address storage unit, the address change determination unit, the address determination unit, and the address update unit. Therefore, when an e-mail notifying of a change in the e-mail address is received, the function of automatically updating an old e-mail address to a new e-mail address based on the change-related information of the e-mail and storing the received e-mail is provided. This eliminates the need for the user to manually correct the e-mail address and allows the user to use an address book in which the latest e-mail address is always reflected. In addition, omission of correction and erroneous input of the e-mail address due to manual operation can be prevented, and the convenience and reliability of the e-mail transmission / reception device can be improved.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0010] First, referring to FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the mail transmitting / receiving device 1. As shown in FIG.
The mail transmitting / receiving device 1 includes a CPU 2, an input unit 3, a RAM,
4, a transmission control unit 5, a display unit 6, a storage unit 7 having a storage medium 8, and a printing unit 9. Each unit is connected by a bus 10.

The CPU 2 stores a program designated from among various programs corresponding to the mail transmitting / receiving device 1 stored in the storage unit 7, various instructions input from the input unit 3, or data into a work area ( (Not shown), executes various processes according to the above-mentioned program according to the input instruction and the input data, stores the processing results in a predetermined area in the RAM 4, and displays the result on the display unit 6.
To be displayed. Then, the processing result stored in the work area is stored in a predetermined storage destination of the storage unit 7 or the storage medium 8.

The CPU 2 controls the operation of each block in a unified manner based on an operation signal input from the input unit 3, and also controls a mail address designated as a transmission destination (hereinafter simply referred to as an "address"). .), A mail transmission / reception process (see FIG. 5) described later is executed to transmit / receive a desired e-mail (hereinafter simply referred to as “mail”). That is, the CPU 2 performs automatic change processing (see FIG. 6), automatic creation processing of change notification mail (see FIG. 7), change notification mail creation processing (see FIG. 8), mail reception processing (see FIG. 10), own mail address Execution control such as a telephone number change process (see FIG. 11) is performed.

The input unit 3 includes a keyboard having cursor keys, numeric input keys, various function keys, and the like, and a mouse as a pointing device, and sends a pressing signal of a key pressed by the keyboard to the CPU 2. At the same time, the operation signal from the mouse is output to the CPU 2. For example, in a mail transmission / reception process (see FIG. 5) described later, a mail text is input to a predetermined input area. In a change notification mail creation process (see FIG. 8) described later, various change-related information (change contents) such as a transmission destination address, a planned change address (new address), and a planned change date is input to predetermined items.

A RAM (Random Access Memory) 4 is a C
In the mail transmission / reception process controlled by the PU 2, a work area for temporarily storing programs, input data, parameters, and the like corresponding to various processes acquired from the storage unit 7 is formed.

The transmission control unit 5 has a modem (MODEM: MO
dulator / DEModulator), terminal adapter (Termin
al Adapter) or a router, etc., and controls communication with an external device connected to the network N via a communication line such as a telephone line, an ISDN line, or a dedicated line.

The modem has a CPU for communicating with an external device such as a mail server (not shown) via a telephone line.
2 is a device that modulates the digital data processed by 2 into an analog signal suitable for the frequency band of the telephone line and demodulates the analog signal input via the telephone line into a digital signal. The terminal adapter is an ISDN line. Is a device that converts an existing interface into an interface corresponding to ISDN in order to communicate with an external device such as a mail server via the Internet. A router is connected to a mail server connected via a dedicated line using a LAN (Local). Area Net
work), the LAN on the provider side including the mail server and the LA including the mail transmitting / receiving device 1
It is a device that connects between N.

The display unit 6 is a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
And a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and performs screen display of various display data according to display instructions input from the CPU 2. For example, in an e-mail transmission / reception process (see FIG. 5) described later, an initial screen and an operation menu are displayed. In a change notification mail creation process (see FIG. 8) described later, an input screen for various change-related information such as a transmission destination address, a planned change address, and a planned change date is displayed.

The storage unit 7 has a storage medium 8 in which programs, data, and the like are stored in advance, and the storage medium 8 is formed of a magnetic or optical recording medium, or a nonvolatile memory such as a semiconductor. The storage medium 8 is fixedly provided in the storage unit 7 or is detachably mounted. The storage medium 8 or the storage unit 7 includes a system program corresponding to the mail transmitting / receiving device 1, The corresponding various processing programs and data processed by these programs are stored.

The processing program includes, for example, a mail transmission / reception processing program (see FIG. 5), an automatic change process (see FIG. 6) constituting the program, and a change notification mail automatic creation process (see FIG. 7). , A change notification mail creation process (see FIG. 8), a mail reception process (see FIG. 10), a self-mail address telephone number change process (see FIG. 11), and the like. Each of these processing programs is stored in the form of a readable program code, and the CPU 2 sequentially executes operations according to the program code.

The program, data, and the like stored in the storage medium 8 are partially or entirely received from an external device such as a server or a client from the transmission control unit 5 via a transmission medium such as a network line. The storage medium may be configured to be stored, and the storage medium 8 may be a storage medium of a server constructed on the network N. Further, the program may be configured to be transmitted to a server or a client via a transmission medium such as a network line and installed in these devices.

The network N is a communication network constituted by wired or wireless communication means, such as the Internet or a personal computer communication network. For example, a normal public telephone line, an ISDN capable of transmitting digital data.
(Integrated Services DigitalNetwork) It has a public line such as a line or a plurality of independently constructed dedicated lines.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 7 includes a mail address memory 7a, a self mail address memory 7b, an address change notification mail recognition subject data memory 7c, a mail address recognition text data memory 7d,
It has a predetermined storage area such as a change address recognition text data memory 7e and a work memory 7f.

The e-mail address memory 7a has various storage areas to be described later. The e-mail address is used to store various e-mail addresses related to changes such as a telephone number to be changed, an e-mail address to be changed, and a corresponding change date. The information is stored in association with the information (change-related information). That is, the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 1 creates an address book by diverting the data stored in the mail address memory 7a to an application such as mail management software or a scheduler.

More specifically, the mail address memory 7a
As shown in FIG. 3A, for example, "Yamada x husband"
A name storage area 71a for storing character string data representing the name of the user's mail partner, a name abbreviation storage area 72a for storing name abbreviation data in which only surname data is extracted from the name data and the title is added. As address data of the mail partner corresponding to the name data, for example, "1-
Address storage area 73 for storing character string data such as "2-3"
a, as the telephone number data of the mail partner, for example, "01
It has a telephone number storage area 74a for storing numerical data such as "2-345-6789".

Further, the mail address memory 7a is provided in FIG.
As shown in (a), when the telephone number data stored in the telephone number storage area 74a is scheduled to be changed, a telephone number storage area 75a to be changed stores the telephone number (new telephone number) data after the change. For example, a date and time data such as "2001.08.05" is stored as a telephone number change expected date storage area 76a for storing telephone number change date information. In addition, the change date information of the telephone number may be configured to include change date information.

Further, the mail address memory 7a stores the mail address in FIG.
As shown in (a), as the address data of the mail partner corresponding to the above name data, for example, "nameA @ domainA"
Address storage area 77a for storing character string data such as
If the address data stored in the address storage area 77a is scheduled to be changed, the scheduled address storage area 78 for storing the changed address (new address) data.
a, and an address change scheduled date storage area 79a for storing character string data such as “nameA @ domainB” as scheduled address change date information. It should be noted that the planned date of change of the address may be configured to include change date and time information.

Further, the mail address memory 7a is provided in FIG.
As shown in (a), it has a change broadcast flag storage area 80a and an unusable flag storage area 81a. In the change broadcast flag storage area 80a, the telephone number data or the address data belonging to the same record (a series of data constituting one row of data in the memory) is changed broadcast (record group to be changed). , That is, numerical data of either “0” or “1” that functions as a flag for identifying whether or not the data is to be changed. “0” indicates that it is not a change target, and “1” indicates that it is a change target. The numerical data can be appropriately switched according to a change operation from the input unit 3.

The unusable flag storage area 81a contains a flag for identifying whether or not the telephone number data to be changed or the address data to be changed belonging to the same record is new data after the change, that is, whether or not the data can be used at the present time. Numerical data of either “0” or “1” that functions as “0” indicates a state where the changed data cannot be used, and “1” indicates a usable state. The numerical data is automatically switched based on the scheduled change date data.

The own mail address memory 7b stores the sender information of the mail by the mail transmitting / receiving device 1. That is, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), a name storage area 71b for storing character string data such as "OO Hanako" as the sender's name information, and "Tokyo XX" as the address information. An address storage area 72b for storing character string data such as "city 3-2-1" and telephone number information such as "011-
022-3333 ”or the like, and a telephone number storage area 73b for storing numeric data.

The self mail address memory 7b
As shown in FIG. 3B, when there is a telephone number to be changed, as the telephone number to be changed (new telephone number) information,
For example, a planned telephone number storage area 74b for storing numeric data such as “011-044-5555” and date and time data such as “2000.11.01” as planned change date information to the planned telephone number are stored. Phone number change planned date storage area 7
5b and its own e-mail address, for example, "hanako
@ pqr.ne.jp "and an address storage area 76b for storing character string data.

Further, the own mail address memory 7b
As shown in FIG. 3B, when there is an address to be changed, the address to be changed (new address) information is
For example, a scheduled address storage area 77b for storing character string data such as “hanako@xyz.ne.jp” and “2001.07.22” as the scheduled date information for the scheduled address to be changed
And the like, and has a predetermined storage area such as an address change scheduled date storage area 78b for storing date and time data. In addition, the above date and time information of the change of phone number and address is
It may be configured to include date and time information.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the address change notification mail recognizing subject data memory 7c stores, as subject information for identifying that the received mail is a mail for notifying the address change, for example, " Character string data such as "address change notification" is stored.

Body data memory 7 for mail address recognition
As shown in FIG. 4 (b), d is text information for recognizing the address (old address) portion before change from the text data of the received mail, for example, "e-mail address change notification. << Character string data such as "address >>" is stored. The << address >> contains, for example, "hanako@pqr.n
e.jp "corresponds to the address of the sender of the mail before the change stored in the address storage area 76b.

Text data memory 7e for recognizing changed addresses
As shown in FIG. 4C, as the body information for recognizing the changed address (new address) part from the body data of the received mail, for example, "This mail address is << changed date From >>, it is changed to << change address >>. Thank you. " The << change date >> includes, for example, `` 2001.07.2
2), the address change date information of the sender of the mail stored in the scheduled address change date storage area 78b corresponds to the <change address>, for example, "hanako @ xy
z.ne.jp ", the changed address of the sender of the mail stored in the scheduled change address storage area 77b corresponds to the address.

The work memory 7f stores today's date and time data,
Various data required for executing the above-described processes, such as template sentence data of the address change notification mail, are stored.

The printing unit 9 prints out print data such as received mail and change-related information displayed on the display unit 6 on a predetermined sheet in accordance with a print instruction from the CPU 2, and outputs the print data.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, an e-mail transmission / reception process executed when the user of the e-mail transmission / reception device 1 transmits desired e-mail data will be described with reference to flowcharts in FIGS. Here, programs for realizing the functions described in the following flowcharts are stored in the recording medium 8 in the form of readable program codes, and the CPU 2 sequentially executes operations according to the program codes. . Also, CPU2
Can sequentially execute operations in accordance with the program code transmitted via the transmission medium. That is,
The operation unique to the present embodiment can be executed using a program / data externally supplied via a transmission medium other than the recording medium.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the mail transmission / reception processing. When the power button of the mail transmission / reception device 1 is pressed, power is supplied to each unit from the power supply unit. Execute various operations according to.

In FIG. 5, first, the CPU 2 executes an automatic change process to reflect the new address of the sender in the address book of the recipient when the mail is received (step S).
1). Hereinafter, the automatic change process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, first, the CPU 2 reads out the character string data of “address change notification” from the address change notification mail recognizing subject data memory 7c in the storage unit 7, and the subject data of the received mail matches the character string data. Then, it is determined whether or not the subject data of the received mail is the subject data for recognizing the address change notification mail based on whether or not the character string data is included (step S101).

Here, if the subject data of the received mail is the subject data for address change notification mail recognition (step S101; YES), the CPU 2 sends the "mail address change notification" from the mail address recognition body data memory 7d. Is read, and it is determined whether or not the body data of the received mail is body data for recognizing the mail address based on whether or not the body data of the received mail includes the character string data. (Step S
102).

Here, if the text data of the received mail is text data for recognizing a mail address (step S102; YES), the text data is, for example, "Notification of change of mail address. The mail address of [Character string] is changed from [Date (change date)] to [Character string that seems to be mail address]. "
CPU2 follows "Notification of change of mail address."
<< Email address >> is extracted and the address is temporarily stored in the work area of the RAM 4 as an old address (step S103).

Next, the CPU 2 extracts << date >> information following "the e-mail address is" in the above-mentioned text data example,
The date information is temporarily stored in the work area of the RAM 4 as the effective date of the new address (effective date) (step S104). Similarly, the CPU 2 extracts the << mail address >> sandwiched between "from" and "changed to" in the above-described example of the text data, and sets the extracted address as a new address in the RA.
It is temporarily stored in the work area of M4 (step S1).
05).

Next, the CPU 2 determines whether the address of the sender (sender) of the received mail matches one of the old address and the new address (step S106). Here, when the sender's address matches any of the above addresses (step S106; YE
S), the CPU 2 determines from today's date information whether or not today is after the effective date of the new address (step S10).
7).

If today is after the effective date of the new address (step S107; YES), the CPU 2 determines whether the old address has been registered in the address storage area 77a in the mail address memory 7a (address book). Is determined (step S108). If the old address is not registered (step S108; NO), the CPU 2
Determines whether an address is to be registered in the address book based on an input signal from the input unit 3 (step S10).
9).

Here, if there is an address registration instruction from the input unit 3 (step S109; YES), the CPU 2 registers the new address in the address storage area 77a, the scheduled address storage area 78 in the mail address memory 7a.
a (step S110), and then goes to the next process (step S2 in FIG. 5).

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S108 that the old address has been registered (step S108; YE
S), the CPU 2 accesses the mail address memory 7a, reads the record to which the old address belongs, shifts the unusable flag in the unusable flag storage area 81a from "0" to "1", and stores the unusable flag in step S105. The new address is additionally registered in the scheduled address storage area 78a in the record (step S11).
1). As a result, the old address becomes invalid, and the switching from the old address to the new address is completed.

If the mail address memory 7a does not have the address storage area 78a to be changed, the old address stored in the address storage area 77a may be replaced with a new address. In addition, the above steps S101, S1
In each of the determination processes 02, 106, 107, and 109, when the determination of “NO” in the drawing is made, the automatic change process ends, and the process proceeds to the next process (step S2 in FIG. 5).

After the end of the new address addition registration processing in step S111, the process proceeds to the next processing (step S2 in FIG. 5). In FIG. 5, the CPU 2 executes a process of automatically creating a change notification mail, which will be described later, in order to notify the mail partner of the address book of the address change of the CPU 2 (step S).
2).

Hereinafter, the process of automatically creating a change notification mail will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, first, the CP
U2 reads today's date and time data from the work memory 7f, and then reads own date change date data from the scheduled address change date / time storage area 78b of the own mail address memory 7b. Is determined (step S201).

Here, if the CPU 2 determines that the date is the scheduled change date (step S201; Yes), it reads out the template sentence data of the address change notification mail from the work memory 7f and then reads it from the own mail address memory 7b before the change. Get the address and the changed address. Then, an address change notification mail is automatically created by inserting the addresses before and after the change into the predetermined position of the template sentence data (step S202).

Next, the CPU 2 sets the mail address memory 7
All the flag data are read from the change broadcast flag storage area 80a in the address a, and the address corresponding to the record in which these data are “1” (the address to be notified of the change)
Is set as the transmission destination (step S203), and the process moves to the next process (step S3 in FIG. 5). In step S201, if today is not the scheduled change date (step S201; No), the next process (step S201 in FIG. 5) is performed.
Go to 3).

Next, the CPU 2 displays an initial screen having icons (buttons) capable of selecting various operation modes such as “creating mail”, “creating change notification mail”, and “receiving mail” in accordance with the application program. Display section 6
(Step S3). At the same time, the CPU 2 enters a monitoring state of a key input from the input unit 3 instructing selection of various modes (step S4). Here, if there is any key input (Step S4; Yes), the CPU 2 analyzes the mode desired by the operator based on the key input (Step S5). If there is no key input in step S4 (step S4; No), the standby state for the key input is continued.

If the analysis result of the selection mode in step S5 is, for example, "creation of mail", the CPU 2
Shifts the display content of the display unit 6 to a screen for inputting the content of the outgoing mail, and enters a state of waiting for the input of the content (text data) of the outgoing mail. Here, after the input of the mail content from the input unit 3 according to the input operation of the mail sender is completed (step S
6) If an e-mail address is entered in the destination input field from the input unit 3, the e-mail address is set as a destination of the e-mail (step S7).

Next, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the user has pressed the "send key" of the mail based on the input signal from the input unit 3 (step S8). Where C
When the PU 2 determines that the “send key” is pressed (step S 8; send key), the CPU 2 connects the mail transmitting / receiving device 1 to the network N via the transmission control unit 5 (step S 9), and inputs in step S 6. The e-mail data having the contents described above is transmitted to the transmission destination set in step S7 (step S10).

Then, the CPU 2 disconnects the connection to the network N upon completion of the mail transmission (step S11), and returns to step S1 again to execute the above-described automatic change processing and the automatic creation processing of the change notification mail. After the end, an initial screen is displayed on the display unit 6 to enter a monitoring state for the presence or absence of a key input. The subsequent processing is repeatedly executed. Note that when it is determined in step S6 that the "transmission cancel key" is pressed (step S8; cancel key), the same applies.
The processing after step S1 is repeatedly executed.

Next, the case where the mode analysis result in step S5 is "creation of change notification mail" will be described. In step S4, the mail sender selects the "create change notification mail" process by the input operation of the input unit 3. The CPU 2 controls execution of a change notification mail creation process described in detail below.

The change notification mail creation processing will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, first, the CPU 2
Displays an input screen for a change notification mail in a predetermined display area of the display unit 6 and allows the mail sender to change the address (new address) and the effective date of the address (use start date).
(Step S121).

The change content input screen at this time is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in the change content input screen 6a of (a), a message text "Please input the change content." Is provided at the top, and a destination address input area 69a and a telephone number to be changed are sequentially input therebelow. The respective input areas of an area 65a and a telephone number change scheduled date input area 66a are displayed.

That is, the transmission destination address input area 67a
Is a destination input area for inputting an e-mail address such as "ichiro@xyz.com" or "hanako@pqr.ne.jp" to further specify a destination, and a cc mail such as "jiro@jk.com" It is divided into a cc address input area for inputting an address. The sender inputs a desired address of the change notification destination in one or both input areas. In addition, the input of the destination may be performed by individually selecting and specifying recipients,
A preset broadcast may be specified collectively.

Also, a change address input area 68a
Is an area for inputting a new address after a change such as “nameA @ domainB”, and an expected address change date / time input area 69a is a date for changing to a new address such as “2001.07.21” (effective date). ) Area. Note that a configuration may be employed in which a change date and time are input. Similarly, the expected change telephone number input area 65a is an area for inputting a new telephone number, and the expected change number input area 66a is an area for inputting a change date to a new telephone number.

Next, the CPU 2 receives an input of desired change contents for each of the above input areas (step S12).
2) It is determined whether or not the input prompted in step S121 has been made (step S123). Here, the determination of the input completion is not necessarily made in all the input areas, and it is sufficient that, for example, the transmission destination address, the address to be changed or the telephone number, and the date of the change are input at least.

If there is a desired input in step S123 (step S123; YES), CPU 2 automatically creates the message data of the notification mail of the address change (step S124). If there is no desired input in step S123 (step S123; NO), the process returns to step S122 again to continue the state of waiting for input of the changed content.
Thereafter, the CPU 2 sets a destination as a notification destination of the change content and a cc address based on the input content in the transmission destination address input area 67a (step S125).

Then, based on the input signal from the input unit 3, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the user has pressed the "send key" of the mail (step S126). Here, when the CPU 2 determines that the “transmit key” is pressed (step S126; YES), the process shifts to the next process (the process after step S9 in FIG. 5). That is, CPU2
Connects the mail transmission / reception process 1 to the network N via the transmission control unit 5 (step S9), and proceeds to step S124.
The mail data of the content created in step S125
(Step S10).

FIG. 9B is a diagram showing a display example of a change notification mail created based on the input contents. As shown in FIG. 6B, the destination address display area 61b,
62b displays input data to the destination address input area 67a, and the subject display area 63b displays, for example, character string data such as "mail address change notification" as subject data.

[0065] In addition, the mail text display area 64b, as the message data that is automatically created in step S124, is for example, "Yamada. Hello. You change the contents of the notification e-mail address. The e-mail address of" nameA @ domainA "" 2001 July 21 "is changed to" nameA @ domainB ". Thank you." The notification content including a simple greeting is displayed. Further, the sender name display area 65
In b, the sender's name "Yamada x husband" is displayed as the sender of the notification mail.

Next, the case where the mode analysis result in step S5 is "mail reception" will be described. In step S5, when the mail sender selects the "mail reception" process on the input unit 3, the CPU 2 controls execution of the mail reception process described in detail below.

First, in FIG. 8, the CPU 2 connects the mail transmission / reception processing 1 to the network N via the transmission control unit 5 (step S13). Next, the CPU 2 reads “hanako@pqr.ne.jp”, which is the user's own mail address, from the self-mail address memory 7b described above.
It is determined whether there is a received mail for the mail address (step S14). Here, when it is determined that there is a received mail (step S14; YES), the CPU 2 shifts to a mail receiving process (step S15) described later.

Hereinafter, the mail receiving process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, the CPU 2 stores the received mail data in a predetermined area in the work memory 7f of the storage unit 7 and in a display buffer (not shown) for the display unit 6 (step S151). Next, the CPU 2 executes the above-described automatic change processing (see FIG. 6) (step S152),
The process moves to the next process (step S16 in FIG. 5).

Next, the CPU 2 displays the mail received in the mail receiving process in a predetermined display area of the display unit 6 (step S16), and also displays message data such as "Do you want to finish receiving mail?" Then, the user is urged to confirm the end of the mail reception. That is, CPU2
Enters a standby state for an end instruction input from the input unit 3, and if there is such an input (step S17; YES), the CPU 2 disconnects the connection with the network N (step S1).
8) The processing after step S1 is executed again.

If it is determined in step S14 that there is no received mail (step S14; NO), the processing in steps S15 to S17 is omitted to disconnect the connection to the network N (step S18). If there is no end instruction input in step S17 (step S17; N
O), returning to step S14 again and repeatedly executing the subsequent processing.

Next, a case where the mode analysis result in step S5 is "change of own address / telephone number" will be described. In step S4, when the mail sender selects the "change own mail address / phone number" process, the CPU 2 executes and controls the change process of the own address / phone number described in detail below.

Hereinafter, the change processing of the own address / telephone number will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG.
First, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the process desired by the user is a process for setting a new telephone number based on an input operation from the input unit 3 (step S191). Here, if it is the process of setting a new telephone number (step S191; YES), C
The PU 2 shifts to a standby state for inputting a new telephone number, and when a new telephone number is input, the telephone number data is temporarily stored in the work area 4a in the RAM 4 (step S19).
2).

Next, the CPU 2 enters the telephone number confirmation standby state, and monitors the confirmation input signal from the input unit 3 (step S193). Here, when the CPU 2 detects the input signal (step S193; YES), the own telephone number data to be changed based on the input content in step S192 is stored in the telephone number storage area 74b of the own mail address memory 7b. (Step S1
94). If the new telephone number is not set in step S191 (step S191; NO), step S191 is executed.
The processing of steps 192 to 194 is omitted, and the flow shifts to step S195.

Next, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the process desired by the user is a process of setting a new address based on an input operation from the input unit 3 (step S195). Here, when the process is a new address setting process (step S19)
5; YES), the CPU 2 shifts to a standby state for inputting a new address, and when a new address is input, temporarily stores the address data in the work area 4a in the RAM 4 (step S196).

Next, the CPU 2 enters the address determination standby state, and monitors a determination input signal from the input unit 3 (step S197). Here, when the CPU 2 detects the input signal (step S197; YES), the CPU 2 stores the self-change planned address data based on the input content in step S196 in the planned change address storage area 77b of the self-mail address memory 7b (step S197). S1
98). If it is not the new address setting process in step S195 (step S195; NO), the process proceeds to step S195.
The processing of steps 196 to 198 is omitted, and the flow shifts to step S195.

Next, the CPU 2 shifts to a standby state for inputting a new telephone number or a planned date of change of a new address, and when a new address is input, the address data is stored in the RAM.
4 is temporarily stored in the work area 4a (step S199). Next, the CPU 2 enters a state of waiting for input of the planned change date and monitors the input signal from the input unit 3 (step S200).

Here, when the CPU 2 detects the input signal (step S200; YES), step S199.
Then, the planned date of change of the own telephone number or the address based on the input contents in (1) is stored in the corresponding planned telephone number change date / time storage area 75b or the address change expected date / time storage area 78b (step S211).

If the confirmed input signal of the date to be changed is not verified in step S200 (step S20)
0; NO), the CPU 2 determines the presence / absence of an input signal of the "cancel" key for the finalization (step S212). here,
When the CPU 2 detects the release input signal (step S2
12; YES), invalidates the current setting data to be written entered in steps S192, 196, and 199 (step S213), and proceeds to the next process (step S1 in FIG. 5). If the cancel input signal is not detected in step S212 (step S212; NO), step S212 is performed again.
Returning to 199, the CPU 2 continues to wait for input of the planned date of change data.

Finally, the case where the mode analysis result in step S5 is "other" will be described. In step S4, when the mail sender selects the "other" processing, the CPU 2 executes processing other than the above-mentioned processing (step S20), and after completion, returns to step S1 and proceeds to the subsequent processing.

As described above, when the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment functions as a mail transmitting apparatus, before or after the change of the mail address of the mail sender, the changed mail address and mail address are used. Register the various information related to the change of the e-mail address, such as the change date and date and the completion of the e-mail address change,
As a notification destination of the registered various change-related information, an arbitrary mail address is designated from a plurality of mail addresses stored in a mail address memory 7a such as an address book, and the mail sender's own mail address is designated. With the update (change), you will be notified by email
It has a function to automatically send to the specified mail address together with the mail address before the change.

Accordingly, the mail sender can reliably and promptly notify the desired mail partner of the change-related information such as the changed mail address and the change date and time. As a result, compared to the case where the notification destination is manually designated and transmitted, it is possible to prevent the omission of the designation or the forgetting of the notification beforehand, and to improve the convenience of the mail transmitting / receiving device 1,
Reliability can be improved.

Further, when functioning as a mail receiving device, mail transmitting / receiving device 1 of the present embodiment stores a plurality of mail addresses as mail destination candidates in mail address memory 7a. It is determined whether the received mail is a mail notifying the change of the sender's mail address, and if it is determined that the mail is a notification mail of the change of the sender's mail address, the change is made in the received mail. The e-mail address before the change and the e-mail address after the change are determined, and the determined e-mail address before the change is extracted from the plurality of e-mail addresses stored in the e-mail address memory 7a. It has a function of updating a previous mail address to the changed mail address and storing the updated mail address.

Therefore, if the mail address memory 7a is used as an address book, the time and effort required for the mail recipient to manually correct the mail address can be saved, and the address book in which the latest mail address is always reflected can be saved. Can be used. In addition, it is possible to prevent omission of correction of the e-mail address and erroneous input due to manual operation.

Further, if it is determined that the mail is a mail notifying the change of the sender's mail address, the timing of changing the sender's mail address in the received mail is recognized, and the recognized sender's mail address is recognized. Has the function of updating the mail address before the change to the mail address after the change based on the change timing of the mail address and storing the updated mail address. Therefore, the recipient of the mail can update to the latest address book at an optimal timing without being conscious of the change date or date and time.

In addition, before the mail address of the mail sender is changed, a function is provided for automatically creating a mail for notifying change-related information of various mail addresses. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the notification of the change from being missed or to make an input error due to the manual operation, and to more appropriately and easily create the notification mail.

The description contents in the present embodiment are as follows.
This is a preferred example of a mail transmitting / receiving device according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the old address and the new address are switched at the same time when the predetermined change date and time arrive. At the time of the notification, the old address may be set to an unusable (invalid) state, or a notification to that effect may be given. Thus, even if the recipient of the mail forgets to read the notification mail for a while, the mail can be transmitted using the old address.

Further, in the above embodiment, the address to be changed is the address of the sender (sender) of the mail, but may be the address of a third party. As a result, for example, even when the addresses of a large number of mail users are changed at the same time, the mail system administrator can collectively notify the desired mail partner of the change-related information, and Is faster and more efficient than notifying you. Further, the user of the address changed by the system administrator can be directly notified to that effect, so that the mail transmitting / receiving apparatus 1 can be used for more general purposes.

Further, as described above, the planned date of change of the telephone number and the mail address may include the change date and time information. As a result, the telephone number and the e-mail address can be changed and notified at a more accurate timing in units of time, and the address book can be updated with less time lag than in the case of unit in days.

In addition, the change-related information includes an address,
Not limited to telephone number information, but may be, for example, address, company, and post information as long as it is supplementary information registered in an ordinary address book. In addition, the detailed configuration of the mail transmitting / receiving device 1,
Of course, the detailed operation can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0090]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when an e-mail notifying the change of the e-mail address is received, the old e-mail address is changed to the new e-mail address based on the change-related information described in the e-mail. By having the function of automatically updating and storing the email address, the recipient of the email can save time and effort to correct the email address manually, and can always use the address book in which the latest email address is reflected it can. In addition, omission of correction and erroneous input of the e-mail address due to manual operation can be prevented, and the convenience and reliability of the e-mail transmission / reception device can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, when an e-mail notifying of a change in the e-mail address is received, the e-mail is changed based on the change-related information of the e-mail. By having the function of automatically recognizing the timing of changing the address, the recipient of the mail can update to the latest address book at the optimum timing without being conscious of the change date and time. As a result, until the new e-mail address is actually usable (valid), the old address can be continuously used, and the e-mail can always be sent to the regular e-mail address. In addition, it is possible to prevent a time lag or omission in correction of an e-mail address due to a manual operation, thereby further improving the convenience of the e-mail transmission / reception device.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the prerequisite information for updating the address book of the transmission destination when the mail sender changes his / her own mail address. It has a function of automatically transmitting the related information of the change of the mail address to the mail address registered in the mail sender's address book. Therefore, the mail sender can surely and quickly notify the desired mail partner of the change-related information such as the changed mail address and the change date and time.

According to the invention described in claim 4, by applying the mail address described in claim 1 to a telephone number,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, when an e-mail notifying the change of the telephone number of the e-mail sender is received, the old telephone number is changed to the new telephone number based on the change-related information described in the e-mail. By having the function of automatically updating and storing the information, the e-mail recipient can save the trouble and time of manually correcting the telephone number, and can use an address book that always reflects the latest telephone number it can. Further, it is possible to prevent omission of correction and erroneous input of the telephone number due to manual operation, and to improve convenience and reliability of the mail transmitting / receiving device.

According to the invention described in claim 5, by applying the mail address described in claim 3 to a telephone number,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 3, the telephone number change related information serving as prerequisite information for updating the address book of the transmission destination according to the change of the own telephone number by the mail sender,
It has the function of automatically sending to the mail address registered in the mail sender's address book. Therefore, the mail sender can surely and quickly notify the desired mail partner of the change-related information such as the telephone number after the change and the date and time of the change.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the third aspect of the invention, the prerequisite information for updating the address book of the transmission destination with the update of the mail sender's own mail address. It is possible to automatically create an e-mail including the e-mail address change-related information, thereby preventing omission of notification of a change or an input error due to a manual operation, thereby making it possible to more accurately and easily create a notification e-mail.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when an e-mail notifying the change of the e-mail address is received, the old e-mail address is automatically changed to the new e-mail address based on the change-related information described in the e-mail. The program to be updated and stored can be executed on the computer. This saves the trouble and time for the recipient of the mail to correct the mail address by himself / herself, and can use the address book in which the latest mail address is always reflected. In addition, omission of correction and erroneous input of the e-mail address due to manual operation can be prevented, and the convenience and reliability of the e-mail transmission / reception device can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mail transmitting / receiving device 1 according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a memory inside a storage unit 7 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory configuration inside a storage unit 7 of FIG. 1;
(A) is a diagram showing a mail address memory 7d, and (b) is a diagram showing a self mail address memory 7b.

FIG. 4 is a memory configuration diagram inside a storage unit 7 of FIG. 1;
(A) is a diagram showing an address change notification mail recognizing subject data memory 7c, (b) is a diagram showing a mail address recognizing text data memory 7d, and (c) is a diagram showing a change address recognizing text data memory 7e.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a mail transmission / reception process executed by CPU 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an automatic change process executed by a CPU 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an automatic creation process of a change notification mail executed by the CPU 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a change notification mail creation process executed by the CPU 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 6 of FIG. 1, wherein (a) shows a change content input display screen 6a;
(B) is a diagram showing a change notification mail display area 6b.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a mail receiving process executed by CPU 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a self-mail address telephone number change process executed by the CPU 2 of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 mail transmission / reception device 2 CPU 3 input unit 4 RAM 4a work area 5 transmission control unit 6 display unit 6a change content input display screen 65a expected change telephone number display area 66a expected telephone number change date / month display area 67a destination address display area 68a Scheduled address change display area 69a Scheduled address change date / time display area 6b Change notification mail display area 61b, 62b Destination address display area 63b Subject display area 64b Email body display area 65b Sender name display area 7 Storage section 7a Email address Memory 71a Name storage area 72a Name abbreviation storage area 73a Address storage area 74a Phone number storage area 75a Planned telephone number storage area 76a Planned telephone number change date storage area 77a Address storage area 78a Planned change address storage area 79a A Scheduled change date storage area 80a Changed broadcast flag storage area 81a Unusable flag storage area 7b Own mail address memory 71b Name storage area 72b Address storage area 73b Phone number storage area 74b Scheduled telephone number storage area 75b Phone number change Scheduled date storage area 76b Address storage area 77b Scheduled address change storage area 78b Address change scheduled date storage area 7c Address change notification mail recognition subject data memory 7d Email address recognition text data memory 7e Change address recognition text data Memory 7f Work memory 8 Storage medium 9 Printing unit 10 Bus N Network

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An e-mail transmitting / receiving apparatus for controlling transmission of an e-mail to an e-mail address designated as a destination according to an input operation of an e-mail sender, wherein an address storage for storing a plurality of e-mail addresses as candidates for the e-mail destination Means, at the time of receiving the mail, an address change determining means for determining whether the received mail is a mail notifying the change of the mail address of the sender, and the mail address of the sender by the address change determining means If it is determined that the mail is a mail notifying the change of the mail address, the mail address before the change and the mail address after the change are determined in the received mail. From the plurality of e-mail addresses, the pre-change e-mail address determined by the address determination means is extracted. And an address updating means for updating the extracted mail address before the change to the mail address after the change and storing the updated mail address. 2. An address change for recognizing a timing of changing the mail address in the received mail when the address change determining means determines that the mail is a mail for notifying a change of the mail address of the transmission source. Time recognizing means, wherein the address updating means updates the pre-change mail address to the post-change mail address based on the change timing of the mail address recognized by the address change recognizing means. The mail transmitting / receiving device according to claim 1, wherein the mail is stored. 3. An address for registering mail address change information before or after the change of the mail address of the mail sender, the changed mail address, the change date and time of the mail address, and completion / incomplete of the mail address change. Change information registering means, and as a notification destination of various mail address change related information registered in the address change information registering means, one of a plurality of mail addresses stored in the address storage means.
Or, a change information notification destination specifying means for specifying a plurality of e-mail addresses, and when the e-mail address of the e-mail sender is changed,
An address for automatically transmitting a notification mail of the various mail address change related information registered in the address change information registration unit to the mail address specified by the change information notification destination specifying unit together with the mail address before the change. 2. The mail transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a change information transmitting unit. 4. The address storage means stores a plurality of mail addresses as mail destination candidates in association with a telephone number of a mail sender having the mail address. A telephone number change determining unit that determines whether the mail is a mail notifying a change in the telephone number of the mail sender; and a mail notifying the change of the telephone number by the telephone number change determining unit. If determined, the telephone number before the change and the telephone number after the change in the received mail, a telephone number determining means for determining, the telephone number from a plurality of telephone numbers stored in the address storage means, Telephone number updating means for extracting the telephone number before change determined by the number determining means, updating the extracted telephone number before change to the changed telephone number, and storing the updated telephone number; Mail sending and receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a. 5. The telephone number of the mail sender before or after the telephone number is changed, the changed telephone number, the date and time of the telephone number change,
A telephone number change information registration unit that registers telephone number change related information such as completion / incomplete of the telephone number change; and the address as a notification destination of various telephone number change related information registered in the telephone number change information registration unit. Telephone number notification destination specifying means for specifying one or more mail addresses from a plurality of mail addresses stored in the storage means; and when the telephone number of the mail sender is changed, the telephone number change information Telephone number change information transmitting means for automatically transmitting a notification mail of the various telephone number change related information registered in the registration means to a mail address specified by the telephone number notification destination specifying means together with the telephone number before the change. The mail transmitting / receiving device according to claim 3, further comprising: 6. A self-address storage means for storing a self-mail address of the mail sender before and after the change in association with the change timing, and a self-address of the self-mail address stored in the self-address storage means. A self-address updating unit that updates the self-mail address before the change to the self-mail address after the change based on the change timing and stores the updated self-mail address; 4. The mail transmitting / receiving device according to claim 3, further comprising: a change notification mail creating unit that automatically creates mail data for notifying the mail address change related information. 7. A storage medium storing various information that can be executed or processed by a computer for controlling transmission of a mail to a mail address designated as a destination according to an input operation of a mail sender. A program code for storing a plurality of e-mail addresses that are candidates for the destination of the e-mail, and a program for determining whether or not the received e-mail is a notification of a change in the e-mail address of the sender when receiving the e-mail And a program code for discriminating between the e-mail address before the change and the e-mail address after the change in the received e-mail when it is determined that the e-mail is for notifying the change of the sender's e-mail address. Extracting the pre-change mail address from the plurality of mail addresses, and extracting the extracted pre-change mail address; And a program code for updating the mail address to the changed mail address and storing the updated mail address.