JP2005141653A - Email content selection/conversion method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an email content selection/conversion method and an apparatus that can safely deliver an email content without the disclosure of a recipient's contract content. <P>SOLUTION: A mailing provider prepares a set of parts to be sent by categories of service types, and specifies them explicitly. The email content selection/conversion method and the apparatus can thus safely deliver an email content without the disclosure of a recipient's contract content. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an e-mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus.

Sending and receiving e-mails using mobile phones is very widespread. In addition, if the mobile phone subscriber approves the receipt of information from the email sender in the form of email for certain information that the mobile subscriber is interested in, the email sender Information services that distribute and receive information in the form of email are also popular.
In this way, with the improvement of mobile phone terminals, the size of e-mails that can be received has become larger and more attachment file formats have been supported, but the display capability varies depending on the type of mobile phone terminal ing.

  As for the relative distribution volume of mobile phone terminals, the size of e-mail that can be received by conventional mobile phone terminals is currently smaller than the size of e-mail that can be received by the latest mobile phone terminals. As for the conventional mobile phone terminals, there are more models that support less than the latest mobile phone terminals.

  In addition, mail service providers that provide services that can send and receive mails using mobile phones classify the provided services into categories, and define the size of emails that can be received and the format of attached files. Businesses that distribute information by e-mail are required to know exactly the size and format of e-mail that can be received by the recipient. However, e-mail service providers themselves disclose subscriber information. In many cases, it is not disclosed for security reasons, so as not to be regarded as an information leak or to be taken as an information leak.

  In addition, even if subscriber information is disclosed or a direct report is received from the recipient, and the mail delivery company can obtain this information, the subscriber can change the contract or change the mobile phone model. If done, it is difficult for the mail service provider to accurately grasp the changed information.

  In addition, when email service providers define new service types, the accuracy tends to be even lower, even if there is a direct declaration from the recipient. For these reasons, in order for mail service providers to reach as many recipients as possible, the mobile phone model with the lowest display capability and the lowest service type defined by the mail service provider so that everyone can receive them. In order to meet the demands, the small size and the simplest format were often sent.

As a result, the content of emails delivered to recipients may be unattractive, and email senders often fail to convey all the information they want to convey, and email service providers are especially interested in emails. The amount of money was not large when the compensation was obtained according to the distribution amount of the data and the distribution amount of the transmission data.
Here, the “mail transmission business operator” is a company that provides information services for mobile mail, and any type of business can be used. For example, a communication company, a newspaper company, etc. are mentioned. On the other hand, “mail service provider” refers to a cellular phone company that provides mail service, although it is an ISP in a broad sense.

Conventionally, regarding the selective reception of mail content, mail display software (mailer) included in the mail display terminal can selectively display the content in accordance with its own display capability. “Our display capability” refers to, for example, a function that displays up to the maximum displayable size, a function that displays rich content such as HTML, and a function that displays attached files such as music, images, and videos. When it has, it is displayed, and when it has no function, it is not displayed.
In this case, the mail service provider only needs to interpret and transmit the MIME multipart / alternative content type defined in RFC2046 as Non-Patent Document 1, and it can be realized by leaving the processing to the mailer. According to this RFC2046, the mailer is realized by analyzing a plurality of subparts in the multipart / alternative content type in order from the rear one, and selecting and displaying one that can be displayed by the mailer.

  However, the format that can be realized by this method is very simple, when plain text and HTML rich content exist as subparts in the multipart / alternative content type, one of them can be selected and displayed depending on the display capability of the mailer. Limited to cases.

  On the other hand, for mail service providers who are recipients of regular mail senders from the Internet and mail information service providers who have signed a paid contract with a mail service provider, the mail information service provider They want to provide as much information as possible to recipients by delivering new types of email content that are as rich as possible.

  In addition, the mail information distribution company sends the maximum amount of information within the range of expressiveness to subscribers with terminals with low expressiveness and subscribers who subscribe to service types with low expressiveness. I want to. At this time, the e-mail information distribution company created a plurality of subparts for each service type, prepared various message contents, and distributed them to the corresponding users, but the e-mail distribution system of the e-mail service provider It was not possible to realize because it was not possible to analyze the information for each service type from the email sender and the details of the email format conversion for each recipient.

  If the mail service provider defines the service type and the display capability varies depending on the model of the receiving terminal, the method based on the MIME multipart / alternative content type specified in RFC 2046 determines which service from the mail information distribution provider side. Since it was not possible to clearly communicate to the email service provider the information on what content to send for the type, the display capability on the recipient side was automatically determined only in the Content-Type format, The intention of the sender side could not be reflected in detail.

  Also, as a problem of the method based on MIME multipart / alternative content type specified in RFC2046, the selection among multipart / alternative content types is usually interpreted from complex to simple, and the mailer can interpret Attempt to display the Content-Type determined to be.

  However, there is a case where it is desired to select and receive different contents for each service type even though they are the same Content-Type. For example, for a user who can display an attached file, a message such as “Attached” is written in the body of the plain text content type, and for a user who cannot display the URL, the URL to be referred to is described in the body of the plain text content type. The case is considered.

However, in such a case, it was not possible to make an appropriate selection simply by looking at the conventional Content-Type.
There is a similar problem with attached files. Attachment types are defined in advance for each service type, and the display / non-display is determined according to the service type of the recipient. If there is an attachment that you do not want to display, for the same reason, just looking at the Content-Type could not be judged. In addition, when there is a difference in the size restrictions of the recipients, if it is desired to send an attached file that has the same format but a different size for each recipient, it could not be selected properly.

Furthermore, some simple formats can be expressed using multipart / mixed or multipart / alternative in the MIME Content-Type specified in RFC2046. However, the interpretation of the alternative part in a normal mailer or mail server remains obscured in that it displays what can be expressed or selects any one.
When plain text and HTML format are selected and displayed from simple multipart / alternative content types, it is easy to distinguish, but the combination of HTML format, attached file and attached file format, and the contractor category category is 3. When there were more than one or a combination, the mail delivery system of the mail service provider could not determine the selection target unless it was explicitly specified by the mail sender.

In addition, it is necessary for subscribers to explicitly notify their service providers and the types of receiving terminals they hold to businesses that deliver e-mail content. I couldn't. In addition, it is necessary to notify the change when it is changed, and the operational accuracy is not guaranteed.
On the other hand, the contents of the attached file are displayed on the receiving terminal regardless of the file format of the attached file of the e-mail or the image size or the maximum number of colors when the file contents are displayed. An information processing apparatus and method, an information processing system, and a medium have been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Also, “Send e-mail in an appropriate message format and send additional information suitable for the e-mail message format for the purpose of sending additional information suitable for the e-mail message format. An e-mail processing device and an e-mail processing method for the purpose are also proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2001-31446 A JP 2002-57696 A RFC2046: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types, 5.1.4. Alternative sub type

By the way, in the inventions described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, the receiving terminal and mailer of the transmission destination and the displayable format of the receiving terminal and mailer are registered in advance, and it is determined whether or not the transmission mail can be displayed. In some cases, it is converted and distributed.
However, the invention described in Patent Document 1 is intended to be converted and displayed according to the display capacity of an attached file (image file). For text that is normally displayed at the same time, for example, an attached file is displayed. There is a problem that it is not possible to display different things depending on whether or not they are displayed.

  Similarly, in the invention described in Patent Document 2, when there are a plurality of additional information (advertisements) for the additional information (advertisement) shown in the embodiment, they are classified according to the attribute (service type) for each user. There is a problem that an appropriate advertisement cannot be selected and delivered.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus capable of safely delivering e-mail content without disclosing the contents of the contract of the recipient.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is the electronic mail content selection / conversion method, wherein the mail service provider provides the subscriber with the size limit of the mail text, the format and number of attached files, etc. For businesses that provide attributes defined as service types and deliver e-mail content, publish service types and information on which service types are set for subscribers of individual mail service providers The mail service provider subscriber sets one of a plurality of service types as the service type, and the provider that distributes the contents of the e-mail sends a predetermined outgoing mail for each published service type. Specify the mail format you want to deliver according to the content creation method, and receive it. Characterized in that it delivered in selection and conversion to the optimum format along the person of display capabilities.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the mail service provider selects and converts into an optimum format in accordance with the display capability of the mail display terminal held by the recipient.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mail service provider defines a transmission part extension header for each service type in order to clearly specify the service type, and the transmitted mail content It can be created by a creation method.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the mail service provider is a dedicated interface and program that can be distributed to a business that distributes the contents of an e-mail. Businesses that provide extended email creation tools and distribute e-mail content can either install and use a dedicated extended email creation tool on their personal computers, or be prepared on the web provided by email service providers. From the website, a body, rich content, an attached file, etc. are set for each service category and transmitted to the SMTP server, and a transmission part extension header for each service type is added.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the transmission type extension header for each service type always has a top-level content type of multipart / mixed (multipart / mixed), and a nesting level. Is a one-layer format, and each subpart is assigned an index in the order of number 0, number 1,... From the top, and when the category of the service type of the recipient is determined, the subpart of which index number is selected It is characterized by being described explicitly.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic mail content selection / conversion apparatus, an extended format creation unit having a mail reception unit for receiving a mail and interpreting a service type-specific transmission part extension header and an extension format creation unit for creating an extension format A mail storage unit for storing mail from the extended format creation unit, a mail selection unit having a mail acquisition unit for determining an optimal mail format for the recipient, and transmitting only necessary portions to the recipient, and the mail acquisition And a storage unit having a user agent management table, a service type definition table, a user information management table, and a mailbox that are referred to by the means for determining an optimum mail format of the recipient.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to claim 6, wherein the mailbox has a mail storage area for each recipient, and mails addressed to the recipient are stored in the area as files. The type definition table defines the types of service types and describes what policies each service type is composed of. The user agent management table is a receiving mobile device that can realize the service type for each service type. A list of mobile phone models or a list of mobile device models that cannot be realized is described, and the user information management table is a collection of records of all contract receivers, and the fields include various attributes relating to the contracts of each receiver. Is present.

That is, the effect of the electronic mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus of the present invention is provided by a mail service provider. The mail service provider defines the size limit of the mail text and the format and number of attachments to be received as service types.
A subscriber of the mail service provider sets any one of a plurality of service types as a service type.
The mail service provider publishes the service type to the business operator who distributes the contents of the e-mail, but does not disclose information on which service type is set for each subscriber of the mail service provider. The mail format to be delivered is clearly specified according to the transmission mail content creation method described in the present invention for each service type that is distributed by the provider who distributes the contents of the email, and is optimal in accordance with the display capability of the receiver described in the present invention. Select and convert to format and deliver.

In the electronic mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus according to the present invention, the format is selected / converted according to the display capability of the mail display terminal owned by the recipient. As described above, according to the present invention, the electronic mail is delivered by selecting and converting the information into the optimum format safely without disclosing the contract contents of the subscriber of the mail service provider who is the recipient of the electronic mail content.
In order to clearly specify the service type, a transmission part extension header for each service type is defined, which can be created by the method for creating outgoing mail contents described in the present invention, and the created transmission part extension header for each service type is created. Can be interpreted, and can be selected and converted into an optimal format according to the display capability of the recipient.

  Since it is difficult for a mail transmission company to send a transmission part extension header for each service type by sending from a normal mail software, the mail service provider gives this kind of message to the mail transmission company. This is an interface that can be distributed in a simple format (a format with a transmission part extension header for each service type) and provides a dedicated extended mail creation tool that is a program. The email sender can install and use a dedicated extended email creation tool on the operator's PC, or from the website provided on the web provided by the email service provider, the main text and rich content for each service category. , Set attachments, etc. After the setting, the mail transmission company transmits an e-mail to the SMTP server.

At this time, the following service type-specific transmission part extension header is added to the e-mail. This does not use the multipart / alternative content type, but the top-level content type is always multipart / mixed and the nesting level is in a one-level format. Each subpart is assigned an index in the order of 0, 1, 2, ... from the beginning, and when the recipient's service type category is determined, explicitly describe which index number to select. It has become. As an example, when sending part extension headers by service type of "X-Category-0: 0", "X-Category-1: 1", "X-Category-2: 2,3,4,5" are given Is described.
Here, “nest” refers to a state in which a multipart content type further exists in the multipart content type.

  The mail reception means of the mail server has a function of interpreting the transmission part extension header for each service type. At this time, the mail reception means refers to the service type definition table and the user information management table. This (e-mail reception means) only checks whether it matches the size and format permitted by the entire mail system of the mail service provider, regardless of the mobile phone model owned by the recipient and the service type to which it is subscribed. Do. The mail storage means receives the mail and stores the mail in the message storage area for the recipient in the mailbox.

On the other hand, the mail acquisition means refers to the User Agent management table, the service type definition table, and the user information management table to determine the optimal mail format for the recipient. Then, the transmission part extension header for each service type is interpreted from the mail data stored in the mailbox, and only necessary portions are transmitted to the receiver.
Definition of sending part extension header by service type, provision of creation of sending part extension header by service type, provision of means for interpreting sending part extension header by service type, and optimum mail format of recipient Means to create
Up-to-date information on recipient display capabilities, such as User Agent management table, service type definition table, user information management table, service type information provided by mail service provider, and service type information subscribed to by recipient The following problems are solved by referring to the information of

.
First, without publishing the contract details of the subscribers of the mail service provider, it is possible to select and convert to a format that is optimal for the subscriber's service type and the mobile phone terminal's expressive ability, and to deliver the mail content Yes.

  Secondly, if there is a difference in the format that can be received depending on the model of the mobile phone terminal held by the recipient, the email sender does not need to be aware of it, and it selects and converts to the optimal format to deliver the email content. Yes.

  Third, if the recipient's mobile phone terminal model is changed or the service type to be subscribed to is changed, the recipient will be aware if the recipient's receivable format changes. E-mail content can be distributed by selecting and converting to an optimal format.

  Fourth, although it is disclosed as a receivable type due to the specifications of the model of the mobile phone terminal, if it cannot be received or fails when received, in the case of a widespread model, it is not collected or exchanged from the cost aspect In addition, if it is necessary to perform special processing for a specific model on the mail server side, this function can be used.

  Email senders prepare a set of parts that they want to send by service type category, and specify them explicitly, so that email content can be delivered securely without exposing the recipient's contract details. An electronic mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus can be provided.

First, the e-mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus according to the present invention can safely select and convert e-mail content into an optimal format without publishing the contents of the contract of the recipient. is there.
The effect of the present invention is provided by a mail service provider. The mail service provider defines the size limit of the mail text and the format and number of attachments to be received as service types. A subscriber of the mail service provider sets any one of a plurality of service types as a service type. The mail service provider publishes a service type to a business operator who distributes e-mail content. Information about which service type is set for each mail service provider subscriber is not disclosed. The mail format to be delivered is clearly specified according to the transmission mail content creation method described in the present invention for each service type that is distributed by the provider who distributes the contents of the email, and is optimal in accordance with the display capability of the receiver described in the present invention. Select and convert to format and deliver.

Here, “the display capability of the recipient” means the number of display characters, the number of recorded characters, the number of displayable pictograms, the number of displayable emoticons, whether or not attached files such as images / music can be displayed, and rich text including HTML format. An ability that includes whether or not a format can be displayed.
Further, in the present invention, it is also possible to select / convert to an optimum format in accordance with the display capability of the mail display terminal held by the recipient.
As described above, the e-mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus according to the present invention can safely select and convert the contract contents of the subscriber of the mail service provider who is the recipient of the e-mail content into the optimum format safely. And deliver email.

Next, an embodiment of an electronic mail content selection / conversion method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an apparatus to which an e-mail content selection / conversion method of the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present invention includes an extended format creation unit 200, a storage unit 300, and a mail selection unit 400. These are no different whether they are on the same device or on different devices. The functions shown in the present invention are configured in the mail server.
The extension format creation unit 200 includes a mail reception unit 210 and an extension header creation unit 220. These means 210 and 220 are assumed to be managed and operated by a mail service provider. In addition, a business that uses this mail service provider's mail transmission system to send mail to a specific user is referred to as a “mail transmission business”.

The mail reception unit 210 receives all mail data to be transmitted (see FIG. 6) and transmission part information for each service type (see FIG. 5) from the Internet and the dedicated line 100 (from the mail server). Receiving the mail data passed with the DATA command of the SMTP protocol existing therein.
The mail data is all of the data transmitted by each service type in a multipart subpart format. The mail data corresponds to the body part (header and body) of the mail passed by the DATA command of the SMTP protocol. The “service type” is a generic term that defines the size limit of the mail text and the format and number of attached files to be received.

The service type transmission part information is information indicating which subpart is to be transmitted for each service type, and is specified by the mail transmission company. The service type is disclosed in advance by the mail service provider to the mail transmission company.
First, the extension header creating means 220 receives all mail data to be transmitted (see FIG. 6) and service type-specific transmission part information (see FIG. 5) from the mail receiving means 210. Then, the extension header creating means 220 creates a service type-specific transmission part extension header (see FIG. 7) from these pieces of information, assigns this service type-specific transmission part extension header to the mail header part, and stores it in the mail body part. Assign subparts extracted from mail data, make multipart, and create mail data to send.

  It should be noted that the important and only information for specifying the target subpart when it is described in the transmission part extension header for each service type is strictly defined because it is the order in which the mail data in the mail body part is arranged.

The mail selection unit 400 includes a mail storage unit 410 and a mail acquisition unit 420.
The storage unit 300 includes a mailbox 330, a service type definition table 310,
Mailbox 330 including user agent management table 340 and user information management table 320 has a mail storage area for each recipient, and stores mail addressed to the recipient as a file in the same area. The service type definition table 310 defines the types of service types and describes what policies each service type is configured with. The User Agent management table 340 describes, for each service type, a list of receiving mobile device models that can realize the service type or a list of receiving mobile device models that cannot be realized. The user information management table 320 is a set of records of all contract receivers, and various attributes relating to contracts of each receiver exist in the field.

  The mail storage unit 410 receives the mail data in the mail format from the extended format creation unit 220 and writes the mail data in the mail box 330 of the receiving user. At this time, according to the service type definition table 310, the user information management table 320 is referred to and stored in an appropriate format.

  The mail acquisition unit 420 acquires mail data from the mail box 330 by using a mail acquisition request from the mobile phone network 500 to the mail box 330 of the recipient. In addition, this mail acquisition request includes User Agent information for identifying the model of the receiving mobile device of the recipient. The mail acquisition means 420 recognizes the User Agent information, refers to the User Agent management table 340 and the user information management table 320 according to the service type definition table 310, determines an appropriate service type, and is stored in the mailbox 330. The transmission part extension header for each service type is analyzed, only the subparts described in the corresponding service type are selected from the transmission part extension headers for each extended service type, converted into multiparts, and transmitted to the mobile terminal via the mobile phone network 500 To do. The terminal displays the received mail.

(Description of the operation of the first embodiment)
Next, the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail accepting means 210 used in the apparatus shown in FIG.

The mail reception unit 210 receives all mail data to be transmitted from the mail transmission company from the Internet and the dedicated line 100 (step S601), and receives transmission part information by service type (step S602).
FIG. 5 shows an example of service type-specific transmission part information.
The service type-specific transmission part information is information on the service type and the index of the subpart corresponding to the service type. The service type is a general term that defines the size limit of the mail text, the format and number of attached files to be received, and the like. The service type-specific transmission part information is information indicating which subpart is to be transmitted for each service type, and is specified by the mail transmission company. The service type is disclosed in advance by the mail service provider to the mail transmission company.

In FIG. 5, “Category0”, “Category1”, and “Category2” are defined as service types. As an index of the corresponding subpart, “Category0” is designated with index “0”, “Category1” is designated with index “1”, and “Category2” is designated with indexes “2” and “3” ing.
In addition, a destination list is disclosed in advance to the mail transmission company. The published contents are not account information managed in the mail service provider's mail system, but have undergone a certain conversion. The information to be disclosed is a destination described in the account field disclosed in the user information management table.

Here, “fixed conversion” refers to conversion of an account “user1” to something other than the account itself such as “id001”. The purpose is not to disclose the account to the email sender.
In FIG. 10, the account “id001” is associated with the user account “user1”, the account “id002” is associated with the user account “user2”, and the user account “user3” is associated with the user account “user3”. Is associated with an account “id003”, and these accounts are made public.

FIG. 6 shows a specific example of mail data.
The mail data is all of the data transmitted by each service type in a multipart subpart format. The mail data corresponds to the body part (header and body) of the mail passed by the DATA command of the SMTP protocol.
In FIG. 6, there are four subparts in the mail data, and indexes are assigned from 0 to 3, respectively.
The sub part of index 0 is a text part whose Content-Type is “text / plain”, and is used as text data for the service type “Category 0”. The subpart of index 1 is a text part whose Content-Type is “text / html”, and is used as text data for the service type “Category1”. The subpart of index 2 is a text part whose Content-Type is “text / html”, and is used as text data for the service type “Category2”. The subpart of the index 4 is an attached file whose Content-Type is “image / jpeg”, and is used as attached file data for the service type “Category2”.

Since the data of index 2 has the data of index 3, the contents of the body are different from those of indexes 1 and 2.
First, the extension header creation means 220 receives all the mail data to be sent and the transmission part information for each service type from the mail reception means 210 (step S602: see FIG. 2). Then, a service type-specific transmission part extension header is created from these pieces of information (step S603: see FIG. 2). This service type-specific transmission part extension header is added to the mail header part, the subpart extracted from the mail data is attached to the mail body part, multipart is created, and mail data for transmission is created (step S604: see FIG. 2). ).

  Note that when creating the transmission part extension header for each service type, important and only information for specifying the target subpart is the order in which the mail data in the mail body part is arranged, and thus is strictly defined.

FIG. 7 shows a transmission part extension header for each service type.
In FIG. 7, “0” indicating the subpart of index 0 is set in the “X-Category0” extension header, “1” indicating the subpart of index 1 is set in the “X-Category1” extension header, and “X-Category2” “2” and “3” indicating subparts of indexes 2 and 3 are set in the extension header.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the service type definition table 310 included in the storage unit 300.
The service type definition table 310 defines the types of service types and describes what policies each service type is configured with.
In FIG. 8, there are fields for whether or not to display rich contents and whether or not to display attached files for each service type category. When the service type category is “Category0”, the rich content is “not displayable” and the attached file is “not displayable”. When the service type category is “Category1”, the rich content is “displayable” and the attached file is “not displayable”. When the service type category is “Category2”, the rich content is “displayable” and the attached file is “displayable”.

Next, FIG. 9 shows an example of the User Agent management table 340.
The User Agent management table 340 describes, for each service type, a list of receiving mobile device models that can realize the service type or a list of receiving mobile device models that cannot be realized.
In FIG. 9, the value of the User Agent attribute of a non-compatible model is described for each service type category. When the service type category is “Category2”, “N503i” is set, indicating that these two types of models are not supported.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the user information management table 320.
The user information management table 320 is a set of records of all contract receivers, and various attributes relating to contracts of each receiver exist in the field. Although many fields exist in the user information management table, only a part is displayed in FIG.
FIG. 10 describes user accounts and subscription service types.
The subscription service type of the user whose user account is “user1” is “Category0”, the subscription service type of the user whose user account is “user2” is “Category1”, and the user account is “user3” The subscription service type is "Category2."

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail storage means 410 used in the apparatus shown in FIG.
The mail storage means 410 receives mail data in the mail format from the extended format creation means 220 (step S611).
Further, the user information management table 320 is referred to, and the destination subscription service type is confirmed (step S612).
Next, the service type definition table 310 is referred to and the content of the service type is confirmed (step S613).
Thereafter, the mail data is stored in an appropriate format in the mailbox 330 of the receiving user (step S614).
When determining the receiving user, the mail transmission company designates the recipient with a public account, so the mail storage means 410 uses the public account as the account used inside the mail service provider. Perform conversion and identify the destination mailbox.

Here, as a first storage example, a case where a subpart is selected when storing a mailbox will be described.
When this mail data is transmitted to “user1”, “user2”, and “user3” in the broadcast, the format stored in the mailbox 330 will be described.
“User1” stores the subpart of index “0” because the service type is “Category0”, and “user2” stores the subpart of index “1” because the service type is “Category1”. Since “user3” has the service type “Category2”, the subparts of the index “2” and the index “3” are stored.
As a second storage example, when the mail acquisition unit 420 (to be described later) selects a subpart, all the received mail data is stored in the mailbox 330 as it is from the extended format creation unit 220. Hereinafter, an operation when the second storage example is implemented will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail acquisition means 420 used in the apparatus shown in FIG.
The mail acquisition unit 420 acquires mail data from the mail box 330 using a mail acquisition request from the mobile phone network 500 to the mail box 330 of the recipient. Further, this mail acquisition request includes User Agent information for identifying the model of the receiving mobile device of the recipient (step S621).
The mail acquisition means 420 confirms the service type of the user to be acquired with reference to the user information management table 320 (step S622), confirms the content of the service type with reference to the service type definition table 310 (step S623), Determine the appropriate service type. Further, the mail acquisition unit 420 searches the User Agent management table 340 for User Agent information included in the mail acquisition request in step S621 (step S624), and stores the transmission part extension header for each service type stored in the mailbox 330. Analyzing and selecting only the subparts described in the corresponding service type from the transmission part-specific extended heads for each service type, converting them into multiparts, and transmitting them to the mobile terminal via the mobile phone network 500. The terminal displays the received mail (step S625).

(Explanation of effect of embodiment)
The first effect is that the content of the mail content can be selected and converted into a format that is optimal for the subscriber's service type and the mobile phone terminal's expressive capability safely without disclosing the contract contents of the subscriber of the mail service provider. It is to be able to deliver.

  The second effect is that if there is a difference in the format that can be received depending on the model of the mobile phone terminal held by the recipient, the email transmission company does not need to be aware of it, and it selects and converts it to the optimal format for the email content. It is to be able to deliver.

  The third effect is that when the recipient's mobile phone terminal model is changed or the service type to be subscribed is changed, if the recipient's receivable format is changed, the mail transmission provider There is no need to be aware of it, and it is possible to deliver mail contents by selecting and converting to the optimal format.

  The fourth effect is disclosed as a type that can be received according to the specifications of the model of the mobile phone terminal, but if it cannot be received or if it fails, it will be recovered and replaced from the cost side if the model is widely used. If it is necessary to perform special processing for a specific model on the mail server side, this function can be used.

(Second embodiment of the present invention)
In the first embodiment, before storing the e-mail in the mail box 330, the mail storage means 410 does not select the mail contents, but stores all the mail data, and the mail acquisition means 420 performs the selection. The present invention is not limited to this, and a mode in which the mail storage means 410 refers to the user information management table 320, selects it, and stores it in the mail box 330 is also possible.
When it is desired to provide a service in accordance with a new contract to a recipient whose service type has been changed between when the mail content is entered and when the recipient's mail is acquired, the mail storage means 410 selects the service. Instead, it is possible to save all formats and select the mail acquisition means 420 to receive them.

  On the other hand, if the policy is to reduce the storage capacity of the mailbox or if the service is determined based on the service type at the time of inputting the mail content, the mail storage unit 410 selects the mail content. These operations can be determined flexibly according to the service provision policy of the mail service provider.

  Further, the service type categories described in the above embodiments are three examples, and can be expanded to three or more, for example, by defining the format of an attached file in detail. In that case, the number of categories is increased, but no limitation is imposed on the number of categories, and the entire system according to the present invention operates in the same manner.

  In the first embodiment, the input is from the Internet and the dedicated line. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the input is input from the mobile phone via the mobile phone network 500. But there is no problem.

By the way, according to the present invention, it is possible to select contents to be displayed for each service type even if the content type, the attached file format, etc. are the same for text, rich text (HTML, etc.) and attached files. Yes.
In other words, the inventions described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above determine whether or not to display the target mail data based on whether or not the receiving terminal or the received mailer can be displayed. In the present invention, it is described in the present invention and Patent Documents 1 and 2 in that it is possible to prepare a set of parts that the mail transmission company wants to transmit for each service type category and to explicitly specify them. This is different from the invention.

  For this reason, the text that can be displayed differs depending on whether the attached file is displayed or not displayed even in the text format, which could not be realized by the inventions described in the two patent documents 1 and 2 described above. And sending different advertisements for each service type.

In the present invention, the above-described two Patent Documents 1 and 2 are sufficient in that the mail transmission provider need only know the service type supported by the mail service provider without being aware of the service type of each user. This is different from the invention described in.
Furthermore, it is impossible to specify for each service type as in the present invention by the function of a general mailer, and the present invention and the above-described two patent documents 1 are provided in that it has an extended format creation means. 2 is different from the invention described in 2.

It is a block diagram which shows 1st Embodiment of the apparatus to which the electronic mail content selection / conversion method of this invention is applied. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the mail reception means 210 used for the apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the mail storage means 410 used for the apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the mail acquisition means 420 used for the apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the transmission part information according to service type. It is a figure which shows the specific example of mail data. It is a figure which shows the transmission part extension header classified by service type. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a service type definition table 310 included in a storage unit 300. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a User Agent management table 340. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the user information management table.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Internet / private line 200 Extended format creation part 210 Mail reception means 220 Extended format creation means 300 Storage part 310 Service type definition table 320 User information management table 330 Mailbox 340 User Agent management table 400 Mail selection part 410 Mail storage means 420 Mail Acquisition means 500 Mobile phone network

Claims (7)

In the e-mail content selection / conversion method,
Mail service providers provide subscribers with attributes such as email body size restrictions, attachment file types, and number of attributes as service types, and to businesses that deliver email content. , Publish service types, keep private information about which service types are set for individual email service provider subscribers,
A subscriber of an email service provider sets one of multiple service types as a service type,
Providers who distribute e-mail content clearly specify the e-mail format that they want to deliver according to the specified method of creating outgoing e-mail content for each published service type, and select and convert to the optimal format according to the display capability of the recipient E-mail content selection / conversion method characterized in that the e-mail content is distributed.   The e-mail content selection / conversion method according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail service provider selects / converts to an optimum format in accordance with the display capability of the e-mail display terminal held by the recipient.   The mail service provider defines a transmission part extension header for each service type in order to clearly specify the service type, and enables creation by the transmission mail content creation method. 2. E-mail content selection / conversion method according to 2. The mail service provider provides a dedicated extended mail creation tool which is a distributable interface and program to a provider who distributes the contents of e-mail.
Businesses that distribute e-mail content can install and use a dedicated extended email creation tool on the business operator's personal computer, or use the service category from the website provided on the web provided by the email service provider. The e-mail content according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a body, rich content, an attached file, etc. are set separately and transmitted to the SMTP server and a transmission part extension header for each service type is added. Selection / conversion method.   In the transmission type extension header for each service type, the top level is always multipart / mixed, and the nesting level is in a one-layer format. The e-mail according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that when the service type category of the recipient is determined, which index number subpart is to be selected is explicitly described. Content selection / conversion method. In the e-mail content selection / conversion device,
An extension format creation unit having an email reception means for accepting mail and interpreting a transmission part extension header for each service type and an extension format creation means for creating an extension format;
A mail storage unit for storing mail from the extended format creation unit and a mail selection unit having a mail acquisition unit for determining an optimal mail format for the recipient and transmitting only a necessary part to the recipient;
A storage unit having a user agent management table, a service type definition table, a user information management table, and a mailbox that the mail acquisition means refers to determine an optimal mail format of the recipient;
An e-mail content selection / conversion device comprising:   The mailbox has a mail storage area for each recipient, mail to the recipient is stored in the area as a file, and the service type definition table defines a type of service type, and each service type The user agent management table includes a list of mobile device models that can implement the service type or a list of mobile device models that cannot be implemented for each service type. 7. The electronic mail content according to claim 6, wherein the user information management table is a set of records of all contract receivers, and various attributes relating to contracts of each receiver exist in the field. Selection / conversion device.

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