JP3648325B2 - E-mail system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a network technology configured by interconnecting distributed hosts, and more particularly to an electronic mail delivery system on a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when providing a user support window by e-mail, it is common to provide a representative address as an e-mail address and forward the e-mail received at this address to a plurality of persons in charge. In a mail system on a wide area network configured by interconnecting distributed hosts, each person's mailbox is on a plurality of mail servers.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when mail is forwarded to multiple persons in charge, it is necessary to manage who has read the mail or who has responded. This can be dealt with by incorporating the function into the system itself, but in a wide area network with distributed hosts, mail is sent to a plurality of mail servers, and it is difficult to obtain this information.
[0004]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and after transferring the mail sent to the contact address to a plurality of persons in charge, which person has read the mail, The purpose is to provide an e-mail system capable of managing the point of contact who responded to the e-mail.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic mail system of the present invention, which has been made to achieve this object, has a basic configuration of mail as one of distributed hosts on a network configured by interconnecting distributed hosts. First mail service means for sending and receiving and sending and receiving mail as well plural A second mail service means;
Connected to the network, Provided corresponding to each of the plurality of second mail service means, There are three means including user interface means for reading mail from the second mail service means, and the two mail service means are further configured as follows.
[0006]
That is, the first mail service means includes first mail delivery means for sending and receiving mail; Notifying the first mail service means of the read notification from the mail receiving side A header adding means for adding control additional information for control to the mail message and a first storage means for storing already read information indicating that the specific message has been read by the recipient are provided.
[0007]
The second mail service means includes: second mail delivery means for sending and receiving mail; second storage means for holding mail received by the mail delivery means; and the received mail is the user interface means. According to the header information added by the first mail service means, To the first mail service means A read notification means for transmitting a read notification;
[0008]
According to the electronic mail system of the present invention, the second mail service means transmits the read information to the first mail service means according to the header added by the first mail service means, so that on the first mail service means. , E-mail read / unread management can be easily performed. For this reason, it is easy to manage which person has read the mail after the mail sent to the contact address is transferred to a plurality of persons in charge.
[0009]
In addition to the above-described configuration, at least one of the first mail service means and the second mail service means is specified by using header information added by the first mail service means. It is also conceivable that a reply notification means for recognizing a reply message to the mail and sending a reply notice is provided, and the first mail service means is configured to hold the reply notice information in the first storage means. .
[0010]
In this case, according to the header added by the first mail service means, the first mail service means or the second mail service means can recognize a reply message to the specific mail, and according to the contents of this header. By sending a reply notification to the first mail service means, it is possible to easily manage whether or not a reply to a specific mail has been made on the first mail service means. Therefore, in addition to which person in charge read the mail after transferring it to the plurality of persons in charge, it is possible to easily manage which person has responded to the mail. It is not practical to manage only reply notifications. This is because the reply is executed as a result of reading the mail.
[0011]
Further, as described in claim 3, when the user interface means reads a message from the second mail service means, the read notice means for transmitting the read notice information according to the header information added by the first mail service means. And at the time of replying to the read mail, at least one of two means of sending a reply notice according to the information added by the first mail service means may be provided.
[0012]
In this case, according to the header added by the first mail service means, the user interface means can also notify at least one of the read information and the reply information to the first mail service means, and this information is used. Thus, the first mail service means can manage messages more finely.
[0013]
Further, as shown in claim 4, the first mail service means recognizes the command in the received mail, and returns the read information and reply information in the first storage means to the mail sender according to the command. It is also possible to provide command execution means for In this case, since command execution means by mail is prepared in the first mail service means, read information and reply information can be easily obtained by sending an inquiry mail to the first mail service means.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The electronic mail system of this embodiment is realized as a mail system on the distributed network shown in FIG. This system includes a plurality of servers 23, 32, 33, 34, 35 connected to a network 31 and a terminal 36. In FIG. 3, one mailing list server 23, one relay server (D) 33, and three mail servers (A, B, C) 32, 34, and 35 are shown as a plurality of servers. Yes. In the following description, when these are collectively referred to, they are simply referred to as “servers”, and when they are distinguished, they are indicated by individual names (such as mail server A).
[0015]
The mail message is sent to each server 23, 32, 33, 34. , 35 The users (members A, B, and C) 37, 38, and 39 communicate with each other to send and receive mail by accessing via the terminal 36.
Since the basis of the present invention is a mailing list operating on this system, this mailing list will be described prior to the following description.
[0016]
As shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 4, the mailing list is a plurality of users 46, 47, and 48 (referred to as members of the mailing list, here indicated by A, B, and C, respectively). 3), a representative e-mail address (hereinafter referred to as a representative address) 41 is prepared, and an e-mail addressed to the representative address 41 is prepared. , Registered members (A, B, C) 46, 47, 48 It is a mechanism to transfer to.
[0017]
For example, [support @ def. hij], when three mail addresses A to C are registered as members in the mailing list having the representative address 41, the representative address [support @ def. hij], when the mail arrives, the delivery system 42 retrieves the mail address of each member (A to C) from the member list 44 and delivers the mail to all members in the list.
[0018]
The basic function of the mailing list is to provide representative addresses for multiple users in this way. (1)-(3) There is a function.
(1) Archive function: The mail sent to the mailing list is stored in the message storage unit 43 as a file.
[0019]
(2) Rewrite headers ... Assign a serial number to the mail sent to the mailing list, or add a header that will be the mailing list address instead of the original sender's address as the reply destination when replying.
(3) Execution of command by mail: When a command is sent by mail to the mailing list, the command execution unit 45 retrieves the archived mail from the message storage unit 43 or changes the member list 44 in accordance with the command to register or delete a member. Do.
[0020]
Now, in the mailing list in the distributed network of this embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the mailing list server 23 in which the mailing list program is operating, and the mail server (B, C) 34 that is the recipient of the mail of each person in charge, 35 is a different host.
[0021]
Therefore, when the mailing list is used as a user support window, even if mail is sent from the mailing list server 23 to the mail servers (B, C) 34, 35 of each person in charge, information inside the mail servers (B, C) 34, 35 Is not available. Therefore, the mailing list server 23 cannot manage which person in charge has read the mail and which person has responded.
[0022]
The purpose of this electronic mail system is to be able to manage who has read the mail and who has responded in such a case, and the specific implementation method will be described in detail below.
In the present embodiment, as shown in the functional configuration diagram of FIG. 2, after the mailing list server 23 adds a necessary header to the mail 21 sent to the mailing list, the message 25 is sent to the member 28. The mail servers 34 and 35 receiving the mail refer to the header added by the mailing list server 23 when the mailing list member 28 reads the mail, and send a message to the notification address 27. It is characterized in that it is sent as an email message that is read and that a reply has been sent.
[0023]
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the mailing list server 23 and the mail servers 34 and 35 for transmitting the read / reply information are the main elements. Next, the structure of these two elements is shown.
First, the mailing list server 23 will be described.
[0024]
The mailing list server 23 corresponds to the “first mail service means” in the present invention, is configured around a known computer, and the main operation is realized as a program that operates on the computer. As shown in FIG. 5, the message management unit 53 corresponding to “header adding means” or “reply notifying means” is the center of processing function, and mail received from the network interface 51 is “first mail delivery”. A message can be sent to each participating member of the mailing list after receiving via the mail delivery section 52 corresponding to “means” and performing processing such as adding a header 55. Each mail is transmitted by the network interface 51 after the mail delivery unit 52 determines a destination server corresponding to each member. The message management unit 53 also performs member management 56, header analysis 57, and the like.
[0025]
Information regarding each member and message is held in a storage device 54 corresponding to “first storage means”, and is read and changed in accordance with an instruction from the message management unit 53. The storage device 54 stores read information indicating whether the message has been read by each member and reply notification information indicating whether a reply has been issued.
[0026]
The storage contents of the storage device 54 are shown in FIG. All received messages are stored in the message directory 61 in the form of a file 62. Each message is given a number in the order of reception (0001, 0002,...), And that number is the file name. The member list holding member addresses is held in the form of a members file 63 listing the mail addresses of the members.
[0027]
The read information and reply information which are the features of the present invention are held in the user directory 65 in the users directory 64 and in the user directory 65 created for each member. In this user directory 65, a read file 66 indicating read information and a reply file 67 are prepared, and the numbers (0001, 0002, etc.) of the read and returned messages are recorded in this file.
[0028]
Next, the mail servers 32, 34, and 35 will be described.
In this embodiment, the mail servers (B, C) 34, 35 connected to the members (B, C) 38, 39 among the mail servers 32, 34, 35 are “second mail” in the present invention. It corresponds to “service means”.
[0029]
The mail servers 32, 34, and 35 acquire the sent mail message via the network interface 71, and determine the transmission destination by the mail delivery unit 72 corresponding to the “second mail delivery means”. If the destination is the user on the mail server 32, 34, 35, the message is stored in the storage device 74 corresponding to the “second storage means”, and the user later sends the terminal 36 (see FIG. 3). The mail server 32, 34, 35 is accessed from and the mail is read.
[0030]
When the destination is the other mail server 32, 34, 35, the re-transmission destination is determined by the mail delivery unit 72 and transferred to the other mail server 32, 34, 35 via the network interface 71. The
The message management unit 73 corresponding to “read notification means” and “reply notification means” also includes a header process 75 for processing a header in the message, a message generation 76 for creating a new message, and the like. Done. As a message format and a message transfer protocol handled in the electronic mail system, a well-known one already used on the Internet or the like may be used, and since it is not a feature of the present plan, a description thereof is omitted here.
[0031]
Now, the situation of the usage example of this embodiment will be described. In the mail system on the distributed network shown in FIG. 3, a mailing list program is running on the mailing list server 23, and the name of the mailing list is [support @ def. hij] is assigned. As members, users on the two mail servers (B, C) 34 and 35 are registered. Further, a non-member user (A) 37 is connected on the mail server (A) 32.
[0032]
In this system, “user (A) 37 sends a mail to the mailing list, and the mail is transferred to members (B, C) 38, 39. Thereafter, member (C) 39 reads the mail, and the user (A) Write a reply to 37. After that, the member (B) 38 reads the mail, and checks whether or not a reply has been issued, sends an inquiry mail to the mailing list server 23, and receives the reply. Assuming the following explanation.
[0033]
First, the user (A) 37 transmits a mail to the mailing list. At this time, a message is sent to the mailing list server 23 via the mail server (A) 32. The mailing list server 23 delivers the mailing list to the members (B, C) 38 and 39 because the mail is addressed to the mailing list.
[0034]
A processing procedure in the mailing list server 23 at this time will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.
When the message management unit 53 of the mailing list server 23 receives the mail in the first step 801 (hereinafter, step is indicated by S), the message is numbered (S802) and stored in the storage device 54 (S803). The message is stored as a file whose name is this number.
[0035]
Next, the message management unit 53 adds a header to the sent message (S804). The header includes a general header such as a mailing list name and a [From:] header. In this case, an [X-notify-receive-reply:] header indicating a contact point of a read / reply address. It is characterized by adding. In this header, as shown in FIG. 8, when a member reads or responds to a mail, a mail address 91 to which the fact is notified is entered.
[0036]
As this address, a name different from the address name of the mailing list is used in the mailing list server. In the present embodiment, for example, [support-notify @ def. hij].
Next, the message management unit 53 retrieves the member list 63 (see FIG. 6) from the storage device 54 (S805), and sends a message with the header added to all members in the list (S806, S807). .
[0037]
The mail transmitted from the mailing list server 23 is sent to each member server. After the message reaches each member's server, when the member (C) 39 accesses the mail server (C) 35 to read the mail, the mail server (C) 35 executes the processing shown in FIG.
[0038]
After waiting for access from the terminal 36 (S1001), the user name is specified (S1002), and when there is a message addressed to the user (S1003: YES), a message to the user is taken out (S1004).
If the header in the message is checked and there is a read notification request header [X-notify-receive-reply:] (S1005: YES), the notification destination is extracted from the header (S1006), and the address is Then, a read notification mail indicating that the mail has been read is transmitted (S1007). At the same time, the message ID contained in the [Message-ID:] header of this mail and the [X-notify-receive-reply:] header pair are stored (S1008). This is for reply notification described later.
[0039]
Then, a message is transmitted to the terminal 36 side (S1009). This process is performed for all messages addressed to the user (S1003).
Note that this read notification mail is a mail without a body text, in which “Read message number (← 0006 in FIG. 8) member mail address” is included in the [Subject:] header 93 shown in FIG. .
[0040]
This mail is transferred to the mailing list server 23. When the message management unit 53 (see FIG. 5) in the mailing list server 23 receives this mail, it updates the read information. When the message management unit 53 receives a message having the [X-notify-receive-reply:] header 91, the message management unit 53 adds a message number to the read file 66 (see FIG. 6) in the user directory 65 of the corresponding member.
[0041]
Next, the operation when the member (C) 39 responds to the received mail will be described. The read notification can be processed only by the mail servers 32, 34, and 35, but the reply notification cannot directly know which mail the reply mail is a reply to. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the following three methods are prepared and appropriately selected and used.
[0042]
The first method is realized by adding a function for issuing a reply confirmation mail to a mail user interface program (hereinafter referred to as “mailer”) operating on the terminal 36. When sending a reply using the mailer, if the original mail contains an [X-notify-receive-reply:] header, the reply confirmation mail is sent to the mailing list at the same time when the reply mail is sent using the content. A reply can be confirmed by sending it to the server 23.
[0043]
In this method, all mailers on the terminal 36 used by the members need to have this function, but it is possible to check all reply mails regardless of the reply destination.
The second method is a method of incorporating the reply notification function in the mail servers 32, 34, 35 instead of the terminal 36. With this method, it is not necessary to add functions to all the terminals 36. In this second method, the [References:] header generally included in the reply mail is checked on the mail server 32, 34, 35 side to detect that it is a reply mail, and a reply notification mail is issued. In general, when a mailer replies, the content of the [Message-ID:] header of the original mail is added as a [References:] header. Check if it exists.
[0044]
Details of this second method are given below. As described above, when the members 38 and 39 read mail from the mail servers 34 and 35, the mail server 34 and 35 side has a [Message-ID:] header and an [X-notify-receive- The reply:] header pair is stored in the storage device 74 (see FIG. 7) inside the mail servers 34 and 35.
[0045]
When the members (B, C) 38 and 39 reply to this mail and the reply mail is sent to the mail servers 34 and 35, the mail servers 34 and 35 execute the reply notification process shown in FIG. .
First, a mail message is received (S1101), and for the received mail message, the [References:] header of the reply mail is checked (S1102). If the header exists (S1103: YES), the above-mentioned header pair is extracted from the message stored in the mail server 34, 35 (S1104), and the [Message-ID:] header and the reply mail [References:]. The header is compared (S1105).
[0046]
If there is a match (S1106: YES), it is determined that the reply is for the mail, and [X-notify-receive-reply:] held in pairs with [Message-ID:]. Is extracted (S1109), and a reply notification mail is transmitted to the address (S1110). Thereafter, the mail message is transmitted to the reply destination as usual (S1108). If the header pairs do not match (S1106: NO), the process is executed until the comparison is completed for all the header pairs (S1107). If there is still no match (S1107: YES), S1108 is executed. Migrate to
[0047]
In general, when the users 38 and 39 send mails, the mails pass through the mail servers 34 and 35. Therefore, even with the second method, it is possible to check the reply regardless of the reply destination.
This method can be realized not only on the mail servers 34 and 35 corresponding to the members 38 and 39 but also on the mailing list server 23. Therefore, as the third method, it is conceivable to use the above method on the mailing list server 23. In a mailing list, a reply to mail sent from a mailing list to each member is generally also a mailing list. This is because mail that arrives on the mailing list is forwarded to all members, and it is natural to reply to all members of the mailing list.
[0048]
Therefore, the mailing list server 23 puts the address of the mailing list itself in the [Reply-To:] header of the message transferred to the member. Therefore, when a reply is made to a message from the mailing list, the reply mail is not to the sender but to the mailing list. And all members of the mailing list can receive replies. Accordingly, since the reply to the mail addressed to the mailing list passes through the mailing list server 23, the reply notification can be performed by checking the above [References:] header on the mailing list server. With this method, replies cannot be checked for mail that is not addressed to the mailing list. However, since all processing can be performed by the mailing list server, it is easy to implement.
[0049]
By the way, according to the procedure so far, the mailing list server 23 holds the read information indicating whether the mail has been read and the reply notification information indicating whether the mail has been returned. Therefore, a procedure for the member B to extract this information for confirmation will be described next.
[0050]
In order to perform a special operation instead of sending a normal mail to the mailing list, a mail called a command mail is sent to the mailing list. This command mail is also used for checking the read / reply. There are several methods for command mail. Here, a method for entering a command in the header of the mail is used.
[0051]
The command sent at this time is a [X-ML-Command:] header 92 (see FIG. 8) including a character string indicating that the reply notification is to be checked and the number of the message to be checked for reply notification information. It is a thing. For example, when a mail “X-ML-Command: check reply 20” is transmitted to the mailing list, the mailing list program executes the command and returns the result to the sender of the command mail.
[0052]
This procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the mailing list server 23 receives the command mail, the command is extracted from the [X-ML-command:] header 92 (see FIG. 8) (S1201). Next, it is checked whether or not this command is a check command (S1202). Here, in cases other than the check command, appropriate processing corresponding to the command is performed (S1211), and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
[0053]
On the other hand, in the case of a check command (S1202: YES), processing is distributed according to whether the command is “read” as a read notification (S1203) or “reply” as a reply notification (S1204).
In the case of reply reply (S1204: YES), the message number is extracted from the [X-ML-Command:] header 92 (S1205), and this number is in the reply file 67 (see FIG. 6) in the directory of each member. A search is performed (S1206). If the number is in the reply file 67, the member has sent a reply mail, and the user name is the result (S1208). When the above check is completed for all members (S1209: YES), the result is returned to the sender of the command mail.
[0054]
On the other hand, in the case of read of read notification (S1203: YES), the processing of S1212 to S1216 is executed. In this case as well, when the check is completed for all members (S1216: YES), the result is returned to the sender of the command mail, and this process is terminated. This gives you a list of members who have read your email.
[0055]
Note that the flowchart of FIG. 12 corresponds to execution of processing as “command execution means” of the present invention.
As described above, by using this electronic mail system, it is possible to check the read and reply on the distributed mail system, which has been impossible so far, and to manage the message in detail. Therefore, after forwarding the mail sent to the contact address to multiple persons in charge, it is possible to manage which person has read the mail and which person has responded to the mail. Easy to do.
[0056]
Further, since all operations can be performed by e-mail, it is not necessary for the user to prepare a special device / software, which is easy to implement.
As described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0057]
For example, in the above embodiment, only the reply information is handled on the terminal 36 side. However, the read notification can be transmitted by looking at the header on the terminal 36 side. Of course, in this case, all the terminals 36 need processing for that purpose.
Also, not only the mailing list system, but if the mail server on the receiving side has a read notification function, the sender can obtain read information by directly adding a header.
[0058]
In this system, the read information is retained, but in reality, since members should read all mails, it is more convenient to use the unread information rather than the read information. .
In actual operation, it is desirable to add some processes for management. For example, since the read information and the reply information are increasing, it is necessary to delete them periodically. For that purpose, the [Date:] header included in the message is recorded, and the [Message-ID:] header used for the read information that has passed a certain period from this date and the reply information, and [ X-notify-receive-reply:] can be handled by deleting the header pair.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic mail system on a distributed network in which the present invention is realized.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of a mailing list.
FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mailing list server.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of a storage device of the mailing list server.
FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mail server.
FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mail header.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure of a mailing list.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a read notification processing procedure executed by the mail server.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a reply notification processing procedure executed in the mail server.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a command mail processing procedure executed by the mailing list server.
[Explanation of symbols]
23 ... Mailing list server 31 ... Network
32 ... Mail server A 33 ... Relay server D
34 ... Mail server B 35 ... Mail server C
36 ... Terminal 37 ... User A
38 ... Member B 39 ... Member C
51 ... Network interface 52 ... Mail delivery section
53 ... Message management unit 54 ... Storage device
71 ... Network interface 72 ... Mail delivery section
73 ... Message management unit 74 ... Storage device

Claims (4)

A first mail service means configured to transmit and receive mail and a plurality of second mail service means configured to transmit and receive mail, configured as the distributed host in a network configured by interconnecting distributed hosts;
An electronic mail system connected to the network, provided corresponding to each of the plurality of second mail service means, and comprising a user interface means for reading mail from the second mail service means,
The first mail service means includes:
A first mail delivery means for sending and receiving mail, a header addition means for adding additional information for control to notify the first mail service means of a read notification from the mail receiving side, and a specific message First storage means for storing read information indicating that the recipient has read the information;
The second mail service means includes
A second mail delivery means for sending and receiving mail; a second storage means for holding the mail received by the mail delivery means; and when the received mail is read by the user interface means, the first mail An e-mail system comprising: a read notification unit that transmits a read notification to the first mail service unit in accordance with header information added by the service unit . At least one of the first mail service unit and the second mail service unit recognizes a reply message to a specific mail using the header information added by the first mail service unit, and sends a reply notification. Reply notification means,
2. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the first mail service unit is configured to hold the reply notification information in the first storage unit. The user interface means includes
The read notification means for transmitting the read notification information according to the header information added by the first mail service means when reading a message from the second mail service means, and the reply to the read mail 3. The electronic mail system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of reply notification means for transmitting the reply notification in accordance with information added by the first mail service means. The first mail service means includes:
4. Command execution means for recognizing a command in the received mail and returning read information and reply information in the first storage means to the mail sender in accordance with the command. An e-mail system according to any of the above.

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