JP2002197027A - E-mail destination management method and e-mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] In addition to the conventional destination management in order of use frequency,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a management method for managing destinations using the frequency of use of both reception and transmission in hour units such as weeks and months as a key. Furthermore, in order to manage e-mail addresses of senders that cannot be handled only by the frequency of use in hour units (such as meetings that are constant but have no regularity in time and cannot be managed only in unit time), keywords from the subject of e-mail It is intended to provide a destination management method using the key as a key. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] In addition to destination management in order of use frequency, day, week,
The destination is managed by using the frequency of use of both reception and transmission in a unit of time such as a month as a key. Also, in order to manage the e-mail address of the sender, which cannot be handled only by the frequency of use per hour (about once or twice a year, but always use it every year), a keyword is extracted from the subject of the e-mail. Manage destinations as keys.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic mail destination management method and an electronic mail system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic mail has been used on a daily basis. Along with this, e-mail addresses representing e-mail destinations have become more diversified and complicated. For this reason, it is very useful to be able to easily specify the other party's e-mail address when making and sending an e-mail.
As a method of managing e-mail addresses, for example,
There is a system described in Japanese Patent No. 22339. This is a system in which frequently used e-mail addresses are easily searched by extracting destination information from received e-mails and sorting the results in the order of reception frequency in a database. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-183910 discloses a system in which destination data can be easily found by sorting destination data according to use frequency and displaying the sorted data on a screen.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, when sorting is uniformly performed by use frequency,
Email addresses that are only needed for a certain period of time, and that are no longer needed, will always appear at the top,
As a result of not being able to find the e-mail address that the user originally wanted to use, it was often necessary to search again.

[0004] Further, as the tendency of electronic mail to be used not only as a communication means but also as a variety of information providing means, for example, in a routine business such as transmitting data to a specific party every Monday, In many cases, the transmission destination is specified on a daily or weekly basis. However, in this case, it is difficult to extract the destination by the conventional mere destination management based on usage frequency.

The present invention provides a management method for managing destinations by using the frequency of use of both reception and transmission in hours such as days, weeks, and months as a key, in addition to the conventional destination management in order of usage frequency. The purpose is to solve these problems. Furthermore, in order to manage e-mail addresses of senders that cannot be handled only by the frequency of use in hour units (such as meetings that are constant but have no regularity in time and cannot be managed only in unit time), keywords from the subject of e-mail It is intended to provide a destination management method using the key as a key.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a method for managing the destination of an electronic mail, comprising the steps of extracting destination information of a mail to be received or transmitted; And registering the unregistered destination information in the destination information registration file, and storing the usage frequency of the extracted destination information for each predetermined time range.

In the above-mentioned configuration, a step of displaying a plurality of options representing a predetermined time range and selecting one of the options is provided, and the destination information registration file is arranged in an order according to the frequency of use in the selected time range. May further include a step of displaying the destination information registered in the destination information, and a step of selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information.

The present invention also relates to a destination management method for an electronic mail, comprising the steps of extracting destination information of a mail to be received or transmitted, and registering destination information that is not registered among the extracted destination information. A step of registering in the file, a step of storing the extracted destination information in association with the date and time when the destination information was used and the destination information, and displaying a plurality of options representing a predetermined time range. Selecting one, displaying the destination information registered in the destination information registration file in an order according to the frequency of use in the selected time range, and selecting a destination to be used from the displayed destination information. And selecting information.

In the above configuration, the destination information of the mail is set to 1
A step of inputting characters one by one, a step of estimating a non-input part of the destination information in the middle of the input, and a step of displaying the estimated destination information in an arrangement based on the use frequency; and a step of displaying destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. And a step of selecting.

According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail destination management method, comprising: storing a plurality of keywords in a predetermined storage means in advance; and storing the plurality of keywords in the storage means from the subject of the mail to be received or transmitted. And a step of, when there is a matching keyword, storing the keyword in association with destination information of the mail.

In the above arrangement, a step of displaying a list of keywords stored in the storage means, a step of selecting a keyword from the displayed keyword list, and a display of destination information associated with the selected keyword And a step of selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. Further, the method may further include a step of extracting a word to be a keyword from the subject of the received or transmitted mail, and a step of storing the extracted word as a new keyword in the storage unit.

Further, the present invention relates to a destination management system for electronic mail, comprising: means for extracting destination information of a mail to be received or transmitted; Means for registering in the file, means for storing the frequency of use of the extracted destination information for each predetermined time range, means for displaying a plurality of options representing the predetermined time range, and for selecting one of the options. Means for displaying destination information registered in the destination information registration file in an order according to the frequency of use in the selected time range, and means for selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. It is characterized by having.

Further, the present invention relates to a destination management system for an electronic mail, wherein a storage means for storing a keyword, and a word corresponding to the keyword stored in the storage means from the subject of the mail to be received or transmitted. Means for searching, means for, when a matching keyword is found, storing the keyword in association with the destination information of the mail, means for displaying a list of keywords stored in the storage means, Means for selecting a keyword from a keyword list, means for displaying destination information associated with the selected keyword, and means for selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. I do.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an e-mail system according to the present embodiment includes a mail receiving unit 11 for receiving an e-mail, a mail analyzing unit 12 for analyzing mail destination information, a mail destination and a subject (title, subject) and a text. , A subject analyzing unit 14 for extracting keywords as attribute information of the mail address from the subject of the mail, a destination analyzing unit 15 for analyzing the destination information and extracting the destination mail address and the reception date and time, attribute information and A destination information registration unit 16 for registering the extracted mail address information by assigning a use order for each time unit, a storage device 19 for storing an attribute storage file 17, a destination data registration file 18, and the like, and creating an e-mail when transmitting an e-mail The mail creation unit 21 searches for a necessary destination from the attribute information and the mail address information, and displays the result of the destination information search. Part 20,
It has a destination setting unit 22 for setting a searched destination, and a mail transmission unit 23 for transmitting a mail. The attribute storage file 17 is a file for storing registered attribute information. The destination data registration file 18 is a file for registering information on ranked mail addresses.

In the system of this embodiment, not only the mail address management of the received mail, but also the mail address set when the mail was created, the subject analysis unit 1
In step 4, the keyword is extracted from the subject, the transmission date and time is extracted by the destination analysis unit 15, and the attribute and the mail address information are registered in the destination data registration file 18 by the destination information registration unit 16, so that not only the mail reception frequency but also the transmission is transmitted. As for the frequency, it is possible to manage the frequency of use of the destination by ranking it for each unit time.

FIG. 10 shows the data structure of the destination data registration file 18. In the table of the destination data registration file 18, one destination data (one record) is registered for one destination, and each record is 3001 to 3006.
The information of each field is provided. Reference numeral 3001 denotes destination information such as a destination name. Reference numerals 3002 and 3004 store a total usage frequency and a last use date and time, respectively, so that a search can be performed using the use frequency and the last use date. 30
03 is the usage frequency for each day of the week, and the numbers from 0 to 6 are sequentially associated with the day of the week from Sunday, and the frequency for each day of the week (one count up when the destination is used on the day of the week) is stored in each area. I do. A field 3005 stores the frequency of use for each time range that is set as appropriate. The user can arbitrarily set the unit time of the unit time frequency 3005. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the 0th field of the unit time frequency 3005 stores the number of uses of the destination on the current day, and the 1st field stores the number of uses of the destination from one day before to the current day. And store the second
The user sets in advance that the number of uses of the destination from one week ago to the current day is stored in the second field. The subject information is stored in the field 3006. Specifically, the subject information 300
6 stores a pointer to the keyword shown in FIG. The keyword contained in the subject of the mail using the destination is stored in the form of a pointer.

As shown in FIG. 10, in order to maintain the unit time frequency such as the number of uses on the day, the number of uses before one day, the number of uses before one week,. It is necessary to memorize the date and store it again every time the date changes. However, such necessary data may be stored in another field (not shown) of the destination data registration file 18 or stored in another table or the like. May be.

FIG. 11 shows the data structure of the attribute storage file 17. In the figure, reference numeral 1001 denotes a field for storing a keyword. 1002 is field 1
001 is a field for storing an attribute related to the keyword stored in 001. 1003 is the destination information 300 of FIG.
The pointer to the destination data stored in No. 1 is stored.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for registering destination information using the system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for reading registered destination and subject information. With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a description will be given of a flow of the destination information registration processing of the present embodiment and reading the registered destination and subject information.

First, registration of a destination will be described. In FIG. 2, when a mail arrives and the user selects to save the destination information of the mail, in step 201, the registration process is started. In the destination information reading process in step 202, destination information (addresses of the sender and the broadcaster of the mail) is read from the mail destination of the arrived mail, and step 203 is executed.
Then, the destination data registration file 18 is searched based on the read destination information. After the search, in step 204, it is confirmed whether the destination is registered. If the destination is an already registered destination, the process proceeds to step 206 and FIG.
The latest mail use date and time 3004 of the destination data in the table of the destination data registration file 18 shown in (1) is rewritten to the latest one (that is, the date of the mail that has just arrived), and at the same time the mail of the day-of-week flag 3003 arrives. Add 1 to the counter of the day of the week field. Then, step 20
In step 7, the total frequency is calculated to obtain the total number of uses of the destination data, and the total frequency is written in the total frequency column 3002 of the destination data registration file 18. Also,
The unit time frequency 3005 is updated as needed. If the destination is not found in the file 18 as a result of searching the destination data registration file 18 in Step 204, the destination is newly registered in the destination data registration file 18 in Step 205, and then Step 206, Step 2
07 is performed.

After step 207, in step 208,
Judge whether to use subject information. If the subject information is not used, the registration process ends at step 216 as it is. Conversely, when the subject information is used, in step 209, the subject information of the mail is read. Thereafter, in step 210, a phrase that matches the keyword registered in the attribute storage file 17 is searched from the read subject. In step 211, the result of the search is determined. If there is a matching keyword, step 212
Then, it is determined whether or not the pointer to the keyword is registered in the pointer 3006 to the subject information of the destination data registration file 18. If it is determined that registration is to be performed, in step 217, registration processing of the read subject information is performed (a pointer to a matching keyword is set in the pointer 3006 to the subject information), and a pointer to destination data of the attribute storage file 17 is further provided. A pointer to the destination data is added to 1003, and the registration processing is terminated in step 216. If it is determined in step 212 that registration is not to be performed, the registration processing is terminated in step 216 as it is. If no keyword is found in step 211, a check is made in step 213 as to whether or not a new keyword is to be registered. In step 214, the result of the check is determined. If it is determined that a new keyword is to be registered, the keyword extracted from the subject information of the mail is registered in the attribute storage file 17 in step 215. Then, in step 217, a registration process of the read subject information is performed, and in step 216, the registration process ends. If it is determined that a new keyword is not to be registered, the registration process is terminated in step 216 as it is.

Next, a case where the destination is read will be described with reference to FIG. For example, when the user composes a mail, this processing is started to search for the destination. In FIG. 3, the destination reading process is started in step 301, and the user sets search conditions for the destination search in the destination setting unit 22 in step 302. In step 303, the attribute storage file 17 and the destination data registration file 18 are searched according to the set search conditions. In step 304, the search result data in step 303 (addresses matching the set search conditions) is extracted, and in step 305, the extracted address data is displayed on the screen. At step 306, it is determined whether or not there is a destination desired by the user among the destinations displayed on the screen. If there is a corresponding destination, the destination is added to the destination of the mail in step 307 by a predetermined operation of the user. If there is no corresponding destination, it is determined in step 308 whether to perform a narrow search. When performing a refined search, step 302
And the search condition is set again to continue the search. If the refined search is not performed, it is determined in step 309 whether a new search is performed. If a new search is to be performed, the process returns to step 302, where search conditions are set again and the search is continued. When not performing a new search, in step 310,
The destination read processing ends.

When the destination is read from the subject information,
That is, when a keyword is specified and the destination related to the keyword is to be read, the above-described step 302 is performed.
When a search condition is set in step 3, a keyword serving as a search condition is selected from the keyword list set in the attribute information file 17, and a pointer is searched based on the keyword to search the destination data registration file 18 in step 303. Also, for the destination set when the mail was created, the keyword is extracted from the subject of the mail created by the subject analysis unit 14, the frequency used by the destination information search unit 20 is managed, and the result is stored in the destination information registration unit. By registering in the destination data registration file 18 with the use of 16, it is possible to manage not only the frequency of receiving mail but also the frequency of sending mail by ranking the use frequency of the destination for each unit time (unit period). effective.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 1 show specific examples of the search and display of a destination in the electronic mail system of the present embodiment configured as described above.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

First, a first search display example will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a destination search display using the frequency of use in units of hours such as week, day, or month as a key in the present embodiment. The condition display area 401 is displayed on the screen when a user composes an e-mail, for example. When the user clicks a downward triangle on the right side, a time unit serving as a key of a destination search is displayed in a pull-down menu. The displayed time unit is a certain time unit, such as today, yesterday, within one week, within three months, or within six months, based on the search time, as described in the condition item 403. When the user selects a time unit to be set from the items displayed in the condition item 403 and sets the condition in 401,
The set condition is passed to the destination information search unit 20, and a destination meeting the condition is searched and extracted according to the unit time frequency 3005 of the destination information registration table 18, and the extracted destination is displayed in the destination display area 402. They are displayed in order of usage frequency within the time unit. Note that the process of displaying the condition display area 401 and allowing the user to select a search condition is a process executed by the destination setting unit 22, and is a process performed by the destination setting unit 22 in FIG.
Equivalent to 2. The process of executing the search according to the selected condition and displaying the destination of the search result as indicated by 402 is the process executed by the destination information search unit 20, and corresponds to steps 303 to 305 in FIG.

Next, a second search display example will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows an example of searching and displaying a frequently used destination within a time (period) range selected by the user. When the user composes a mail, for example, a destination selection tree is displayed. The destination selection tree is two of reception 501 and transmission 503.
The search condition is divided into types, and a time range based on the search time and options indicating the frequency within the time range are displayed as search conditions. However, in the transmission destination selection tree 503, the conditions that can be selected in the tree are set one step deeper so that the destination search can be performed in units of days of the week more finely than the reception destination selection tree 501. This is because, in the case of transmission, it is highly likely that the same work is repeatedly performed on a specific day of the week or a specific date in a routine business of a company such as transmission of a weekly report.

At the time of mail creation, the destination selection tree 501
Or 503, and when the user selects one of the options displayed there, the selected condition is passed to the destination information search unit 20, and the destination registration data file 1
The destination data matching the condition selected according to the day of the week flag 3003 or the unit time frequency 3005 of No. 8 is extracted,
The result is displayed as mail addresses used within the time range in the order of use frequency, such as destination displays 502 and 505. For example, when the user selects the destination selection tree 501 and selects “5 days or more per week” from the display screen of 501, the destinations received 5 days or more per week are displayed on the destination display 502 in order of use frequency. In this way, a necessary mail address can be selected and obtained. Note that the process of selecting a time range using the destination selection tree is a process executed by the destination setting unit 22 and corresponds to step 302 in FIG. The process of executing the search according to the selected condition and displaying the destination of the search result as indicated by 502 or 505 is a process executed by the destination information search unit 20, and corresponds to steps 303 to 305 in FIG. .

FIG. 12 shows an example of the data structure of data to be held in order to realize the search display described in FIG. In the table of FIG. 12, a pointer pointing to destination data stored in the destination data registration file 18 of FIG. 10 is stored, and the number of uses is stored for each destination data. The usage count stores the first usage date and time and the usage count (use count) for each day of the week. Here, in order to be able to display both reception and transmission in order of frequency, the number of usages is divided into two types, the number of receptions and the number of transmissions. The frequency of use of reception includes the frequency of use by day of week and the date and time of first use. As the usage frequency for each day of the week, a number from 0 to 6 is sequentially associated with the day of the week from Sunday, and the usage frequency for each day of the week is stored in each area.
The same applies to the area of the transmission usage frequency. For each destination used for reception or transmission, the use date and time are all stored separately for reception and transmission, and when a condition is selected in the destination selection tree, a destination that matches the condition is extracted, and the usage frequency is extracted. They may be displayed in order.

Next, a third search display example will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is an example of a destination estimation display system applied to the system of the above-described embodiment. In this system, a mail address of a partner who wants to send a mail is not directly selected from a screen on which a searched destination is displayed, but is directly input using a keyboard or the like. The system includes a guessing condition setting and display unit 601 for setting whether to display a character string of an e-mail address guessed from input characters in a character code order or a use frequency order, and directly input a destination (e-mail address). A destination input and display unit 602 for displaying a character string following an input character of an e-mail address estimated from an input destination input area and an input character string, and a destination search unit 603 for searching for an e-mail address from the input character string.
And a destination data file 604.

The guess condition setting and display section 601 displays a screen for allowing the user to select a guess input as shown in the figure. Here, by clicking the downward arrow on the right side, "use frequency ascending order", "use frequency descending order", and "character code order" are displayed as options ("use frequency descending order" is not shown). The user can select a guess input method. "Character code order" is a conventionally known guessing input method in which e-mail addresses that can be guessed from a character string input by a user are displayed in character code order so that the user can select from them. . “Ascending order of use frequency” and “descending order of use frequency” are methods unique to this embodiment, and display e-mail addresses that can be guessed from a character string input by the user in ascending or descending order of use frequency, and the user selects from among them. To make it possible.
Prior to creating an e-mail, the user displays a character string of an e-mail address to be guessed from the input characters in a character code order or a use frequency order on a guess input designation screen displayed as shown in 601. Or set.

The destination input and display unit 602 has a destination consisting of a manual input part for the user to directly input a mail address from the keyboard and a guess display part for displaying a destination guessed from input data when creating a mail. Display the input area. Each time the user directly inputs one character of the destination to the manual input part of the destination input area from the keyboard,
Candidate destinations are displayed on the guess display portion of the destination input and display unit 602 according to the display method set by the guess input designation. If the destination can be determined from the destination candidates, the destination is determined and the process is terminated. If the destination cannot be determined on the destination input and display section 602, the next character of the destination is directly input to the manual input portion from the keyboard, and the guess display portion is guessed from the characters of the destination input so far. The destination to be searched is searched and displayed as a candidate. This is repeated to assist the user in inputting the destination. In particular, in the present embodiment, even when a mail address is directly input with a keyboard or the like, destination candidates are displayed in order of use frequency, so that it is easy to determine a destination.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for realizing the destination estimation display shown in FIG. When the destination guessing process is started in step 701, the guess condition setting and the guess input designation set in the display unit 601 are set in the search condition in step 702. Here, the user can select an ascending use frequency order or a character code order. In step 703, characters of the destination input by the user are picked up one by one in step 704, and in step 705, the picked-up characters are sequentially put into a search character string and set as search conditions. In step 706, the destination data registration file 18 is searched for the guess input designation set in step 702 and the character string information set in step 705. In step 707, the result is estimated as a candidate for a destination in the destination input area. Display on the display. Next, in step 708, it is determined whether or not the destination is determined by the displayed destination candidate. If determined, at step 709,
The destination guessing process ends. On the other hand, if it is not determined, the process returns to step 703, and the input receiving process is performed again.

Finally, a fourth search display example is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which a keyword extracted from the subject of a mail is registered, and a destination is searched and displayed using the keyword as a key. Here, a list of keywords registered in the keyword 1001 of the attribute data registered in the attribute storage file 17 is displayed in the mail subject keyword display section 801. By selecting from the displayed keywords, an attribute matching the selected keyword is retrieved from the attribute storage file 17 and the attribute 1
002 is displayed as a list in 802. When the user selects an attribute (department name) from the displayed attribute list 802, the destination pointed to by the destination pointer 1003 according to the selected keyword and the department name is displayed on the destination display part 803. In the case of a keyword that does not have the attribute 1002, a destination pointed directly by the keyword is displayed on the destination display unit 803.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for realizing the search display example shown in FIG. When the destination search is started in step 901, the keywords 1001 registered in the attribute storage file 17 are displayed in a list as shown in the subject keyword display unit 801 in FIG. 8 in step 902, and the user is displayed in the subject keyword display unit 801. Select what you need from the keywords. In step 903, it is confirmed whether or not the attribute information 1002 is set for the selected keyword. At step 904, the result is determined. If the selected keyword has attribute information, in step 905, a list of the attributes is displayed as in the display attribute selection unit 802 in FIG. Subsequently, in step 906, the user selects a corresponding department name from the attributes displayed in the attribute selection unit 802. In step 907, the destination pointer 1003 registered with the selected department name is searched,
All the destination information pointed to by the destination pointer is acquired and displayed as a destination list as shown in the destination display section 803 in FIG. At step 908, the user selects a destination from the destination list.

Thereafter, in step 909, it is determined whether another destination is selected. If it is determined that another destination is not to be selected, the destination search process ends in step 913. If it is determined to select another destination, step 90
Return to 7.

On the other hand, if the result of determination in step 904 is that there is no attribute information for the selected keyword, step 9
In step 10, the destination information indicated by the destination pointer 1003 registered in the keyword is displayed in a list. In step 911, the user selects a required destination from the displayed destination list. At step 912, it is determined whether to select another destination. If it is determined that another destination is to be selected, the process returns to step 910 to perform a destination selection process.
If it is determined that no other destination is selected, step 913
Ends the destination search process.

A mode of setting a condition for use frequency in a predetermined time (period) range described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 and searching for and displaying destination information that matches the condition is described with reference to FIGS. The destination information is input by performing the guessed destination display, and the destination information is searched and displayed using the keyword of the subject described in FIGS. 8 to 11, and the user can select one of them. You may do so.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained. (1) When setting a destination when creating an e-mail, it is possible to search for the destination in a unit time (time range) arbitrarily set according to a routine job, so that the destination search time is shortened and the daily search is performed. Routine work becomes more efficient. (2) Since it is possible to search for destinations based on the frequency within a unit time, according to the routine work frequency in the routine work of a company that performs the same work repeatedly on a specific day of the week or a specific day, such as transmitting a weekly report Since the destination search condition can be set, the efficiency of operations such as sending a mail is improved. (3) When directly inputting an address from the keyboard, candidates of the address determined from the input character string are sequentially used in descending order of the frequency of use, compared to the conventional method in which candidates are input in alphabetical order. Is displayed, when inputting directly from the keyboard of the destination, the trouble of inputting and errors due to input errors are reduced, and the work efficiency is improved. (4) Although mail is not normally exchanged, it is possible to easily select a destination when sending a mail to a specific destination at a certain frequency. With regard to attribute information, having this information makes it possible to respond to cases where the format and address are determined for each department, such as an application form, but it is possible to set destinations across departments, such as notification of meeting holding and process report. In order to be able to deal with required cases, it is possible to deal with cases where there is no attribute.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a destination registration process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a destination reading process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing display contents of a display device of the destination search system using the frequency of use in units of time as a key in the search method of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing display contents of a display device of the destination search system using the frequency of use within a unit time as a key in the search method of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing input display contents of a destination estimation display system in the search method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a search method when performing destination estimation display.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing display contents of a destination search system using a subject as a key in the search method of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a search method using a subject as a key.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data structure of a destination data registration file.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a data structure of an attribute information file.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a data structure of a search method using a frequency of use within a unit time as a key.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 mail receiving section 12 mail analyzing section 13 mail displaying section 14 subject analyzing section 15 destination analyzing section 16 destination information registering section 17 attribute storing file 18 destination data registering file 19 storage device 20 destination information search unit 21 mail creation unit 22 destination setting unit 23 mail transmission unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshihiro Igarashi 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Within Hitachi Software Works, Ltd. In the Software Division of Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A destination management method for an electronic mail, comprising: a step of extracting destination information of a mail to be received or transmitted; and a step of registering destination information that is not registered among the extracted destination information in a destination information registration file. And storing the frequency of use of the extracted destination information for each predetermined time range. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of options representing a predetermined time range are displayed, and one of the options is selected from the plurality of options. Displaying the destination information registered in the destination information registration file in an order according to the frequency of use; and selecting the destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. Email destination management method. 3. A destination management method for an e-mail, comprising: a step of extracting destination information of a mail to be received or transmitted; and a step of registering destination information not registered among the extracted destination information in a destination information registration file. And storing the extracted destination information in association with the date and time when the destination information was used and the destination information. Displaying a plurality of options representing a predetermined time range, and selecting one of the options. Selecting the destination information registered in the destination information registration file in the order according to the frequency of use in the selected time range; and selecting the destination information to be used from the displayed destination information E. A destination management method for an e-mail. 4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: inputting the destination information of the mail one character at a time; And estimating destination information to be used in accordance with the frequency of use, and selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. Method. 5. A destination management method for an electronic mail, comprising: a step of storing a plurality of keywords in a predetermined storage means in advance; and a step of storing a plurality of keywords from the subject of a received or transmitted mail in the storage means. A destination management method for an electronic mail, comprising: searching for a phrase that matches a keyword; and, when there is a matching keyword, storing the keyword in association with the destination information of the mail. 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein a step of displaying a list of keywords stored in said storage means, a step of selecting a keyword from the displayed keyword list, A destination information associated with the displayed keyword, and a step of selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein a word to be a keyword is extracted from a subject of the received or transmitted mail, and the extracted word is stored as a new keyword in the storage unit. A destination management method for an e-mail. 8. A destination management system for electronic mail, comprising: means for extracting destination information of a mail to be received or transmitted; and registering destination information which is not registered among the extracted destination information in a destination information registration file. Means for storing the frequency of use of the extracted destination information for each predetermined time range; displaying a plurality of options representing the predetermined time range; and selecting one of the options. Means for displaying destination information registered in the destination information registration file in an order according to the frequency of use in the time range, and means for selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. An e-mail destination management system, characterized in that: 9. An electronic mail destination management system, comprising: storage means for storing a keyword; and means for searching for a phrase matching the keyword stored in the storage means from the subject of a mail to be received or transmitted. Means for, when there is a matching keyword, storing the keyword in association with the destination information of the mail; means for displaying a list of keywords stored in the storage means; and displaying the list of keywords. E-mail comprising: means for selecting a keyword; means for displaying destination information associated with the selected keyword; and means for selecting destination information to be used from the displayed destination information. Destination management system.