JPH11196124A - Mail system, mail automatic transfer status display method, and storage medium storing program according to the method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] In a mail system, a list of received mails is acquired and displayed by a mailer from a mailbox, but the setting of automatic transfer is performed by a text editor or the like. Does not tell whether automatic transfer is set. If the user forgets to remove the automatic transfer setting, the received mail of the user is automatically transferred to the setting destination address. An object of the present invention is to provide a mail system that prevents a user from forgetting to remove automatic transfer settings. When displaying a list of received mails, it is determined whether or not automatic transfer is set for the mail address, and if so, a display to that effect is executed. The mail client inquires of the mail server whether the automatic transfer is set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail system and a mail automatic transfer state display method for displaying a setting state relating to automatic transfer of mail when displaying a list of received mails, and a storage for storing a program according to the method. Regarding the medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In various network environments such as the Internet, personal computer communication, or an in-house network,
2. Description of the Related Art A mail system that provides various functions regarding e-mail, such as transmission and reception of e-mail and mail management, is used.
As the form of the mail system, the form of a client server consisting of a mail server and a mail client,
There is a form in which mail is managed by a host computer and the terminal is accessed from the terminal device. In a mail system, a function of displaying a list of received mails is generally supported. The received mail list display function is, for example, a list of e-mails reaching the user when the user issues a list display request or when the user starts mail processing software (mailer). Is displayed to notify the user.

On the other hand, some mail systems have a function of automatically transferring mail. The automatic transfer of mail is a function of automatically transferring a mail sent to a specified address to another specified address without storing the mail in the mailbox of the address. For example, it is possible to make settings so that a mail that comes to oneself is automatically forwarded to the agent when the user has to process a received mail by another person due to a long vacation. The automatic transfer is set by writing in advance the automatic transfer, the transfer destination address, and the like in a control file called a transfer designation file using a text editor.

[0004]

By the way, a list of received mails is obtained and displayed by a mailer from a mailbox, whereas the setting of automatic transfer is performed by a text editor or the like. However, it is not known whether the automatic transfer is set. If the automatic transfer is set, the received mail of the user is automatically transferred to the set destination address by the function. Therefore, if the user forgets to set the automatic transfer, no mail can be received no matter how much the user looks into the receiving mailbox.

An object of the present invention is to provide a mail system that prevents a user from forgetting to remove automatic transfer settings in view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional type.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a mail system for exchanging e-mail between devices connected to a network, the system comprising: Means for displaying a list of received e-mails related to addresses, and, when displaying the list, judging whether or not automatic forwarding is set for the e-mail address and, if so, displaying to that effect And means for performing the operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail system in which a mail server and a plurality of mail clients are connected to a network, wherein the mail server automatically stores a mail box storing received mail and a received mail. Automatic transfer control means for determining whether or not to perform the transfer, transferring the mail to an address designated as a transfer destination when transferring automatically, and storing the mail in the mailbox when not transferring automatically, The mail client obtains a list of received mails for a specified address from the mail server, and displays the list. When the list display unit displays the list, automatic transfer is set to the mail address. Automatic transfer setting status table that determines whether or not the setting has been made and, if set, executes a display to that effect. Characterized by comprising a means.

[0008] The invention according to claim 3 is a mail automatic transfer status display method applied to a mail system for exchanging electronic mail between devices connected to a network, wherein the received mail relating to a specified mail address is provided. Performing a list display of the e-mail address and, when performing the list display, determining whether or not automatic forwarding is set to the e-mail address, and executing a display to that effect when the e-mail address is set. It is characterized by having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a program related to a mail automatic transfer status display method applied to a mail system for exchanging electronic mail between devices connected to a network, The program executes a step of displaying a list of received e-mails relating to a specified e-mail address, and determines whether or not automatic transfer is set for the e-mail address when the list is displayed. And a step of executing a display to that effect.

[0010]

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

FIG. 5 shows the overall configuration of a network to which the present invention is applied. In the network 505, mail servers 501 and 502 and mail clients 503 and 5
04 is connected. Mail server 501, 502
Is a server which provides various mail-related services to a mail client. The mail clients 503 and 504 are operated by the user to operate the mail server 5.
01 and 502 are clients who enjoy the mail service. The network 505 may be, for example, an open network such as the Internet, a local network such as an in-house network, or a combination thereof. Further, a mode in which a so-called mail client on a mobile computer connects to a mail server via a public line may be adopted.

The mail servers 501 and 502 are provided with predetermined user mailboxes. The user can select one of the mail clients 503, 5
04, the user can log in to the network, connect to the mail servers 501 and 502 having his / her mailbox, and obtain a list of received mails from the mailbox. The acquired received mail list is displayed on the client. The process of acquiring and displaying the received mail list may be automatically performed at the time of starting the mail client, or may be performed when the user instructs the display of the mail list after starting the mail client. Is also good.

In particular, in the system of the present embodiment, when a user connects to the mail server 501 or 502 from any of the mail clients 503 and 504 and displays a list of received mails of the user, automatic performance is set. If yes, a message notifying the user is displayed. FIG. 6 shows an example of a message to be displayed. A message 601 indicates that the automatic transfer is set, and a message 602 indicates that the automatic transfer is set and the transfer destination address.

FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration of a mail server and a mail client in the system according to the embodiment of FIG. The mail server 101 is the mail server 50 of FIG.
1, 502, and the mail client 107 corresponds to FIG.
Correspond to the mail clients 503 and 504. The mail server 101 includes a mailbox 102, an automatic transfer control unit 103, and communication control units 104 and 105. The mail client 107 is a communication control unit 10
8, 109, a list display unit 110, an automatic transfer setting status display unit 111, and an automatic transfer setting unit 112.

Mail 1 received by mail server 101
06 is sorted by the automatic transfer control unit 103 whether it is stored in the mailbox 102 or automatically transferred. That is, the automatic transfer control unit 103 acquires the destination address of the received mail 106, and refers to the transfer designation file (a control file in which the automatic transfer and the transfer destination address are described in a text format) to determine the destination address. It is determined whether an automatic transfer is set for the address. Then, when the automatic forwarding is set to the destination address, the mail 106 is forwarded to the forwarding destination address, and when the automatic forwarding is not set,
The mail 106 is stored in the mailbox 102 of the destination address. It is assumed that the received mail 106 is passed to the automatic transfer control unit 103, and the destination address of the mail is stored in the mail server 101 in the mailbox 1
It is assumed that the address 02 has been confirmed.

The mail box 102 has a communication control unit 10
4 and receives a mail list acquisition request and a mail text acquisition request from the mail client 107, and returns the mail list and mail text data to the client in response to the request. The automatic transfer control unit 103 includes a communication control unit 105
The automatic transfer setting / cancellation request from the mail client 107 is received via the mail client 107, and the automatic transfer setting / cancellation is performed by setting / changing the above-mentioned transfer designation file in response to the request.

List display section 1 of mail client 107
Reference numeral 10 denotes a communication control unit 108 in response to a user's instruction operation.
To the mailbox 102 of the mail server 101 via the server, issues a request to obtain a list of received mails reaching the user's address, and performs processing for displaying the received mail list sent in response thereto. The automatic transfer setting unit 112 responds to a user's instruction operation to
09, the automatic transfer control unit 10 of the mail server 101
3 and issues an automatic transfer setting / cancellation request to the user's address, and causes the automatic transfer control unit 103 to set / cancel automatic transfer. The automatic transfer setting status display unit 111 transmits the mail server 1 via the communication control unit 109.
01 and obtains information on whether or not automatic transfer is set to the specified address,
A process for displaying a message indicating the presence or absence of the setting is performed.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the mail receiving process in the mail server 101 of FIG. This process is a process by the automatic transfer control unit 103 in FIG. When the mail 106 is received in step 301, the destination address of the mail is confirmed, and in step 30
In step 2, it is determined whether or not automatic transfer is set for the destination address. If the automatic transfer is not set, the mail 106 is copied to the mailbox 10 in step 303.
2 and end the process. If automatic transfer is set for the destination address in step 302, the mail is transferred to the specified transfer address in step 304, and the process ends.

FIG. 4 shows the mail client 107 of FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the user gives an instruction to display a list of received mails. Steps 402 to 405 correspond to the automatic transfer setting status display section 11 shown in FIG.
1 and the other steps are processing by the list display unit 110 in FIG. First, in step 401, it is assumed that the user has requested a list display of the received mail. In step 402, the automatic transfer setting state display unit 111 checks with the automatic transfer control unit 103 of the server 101 whether or not automatic transfer is set to the address of the user. In step 403, it is determined whether the automatic transfer is set. If automatic transfer has not been set, a message indicating that automatic transfer has not been set is displayed in step 404. If automatic transfer has been set, automatic transfer has been set in step 405. Is displayed. FIG. 6 shows a display example of the message. After steps 404 and 405, in step 406,
The received mail list of the user's address is acquired from the mailbox 102 of the server 101, the received mail list is displayed in step 407, and the process is terminated.

FIG. 2 shows a modification of the embodiment of FIG. Mailbox 202 of mail server 201 in FIG.
And the automatic transfer control unit 203, the mail server 1 of FIG.
01 mailbox 102 and automatic transfer control unit 10
It is similar to 3. The list display unit 208, the automatic transfer setting state display unit 209, and the automatic transfer setting unit 210 of the mail client 206 in FIG. 2 are the list display unit 110, the automatic transfer setting state display unit 111, and the mail client 107 in FIG. And the same as the automatic transfer setting unit 112. In the system of FIG.
02 and the list display unit 110 are communication control units 104 and 108.
The automatic transfer control unit 103 communicates with the automatic transfer setting state display unit 111 and the automatic transfer setting unit 112 via the communication control units 105 and 109. On the other hand, in the system of FIG. 2 which is a modification, the communication control units 104 and 105 of FIG. 1 are combined into one communication control unit 204, and the communication control units 108 and 109 of FIG. The communication control unit 207 is used.

In the system shown in FIG. 2, when a user issues a request for a received mail list from the mail client 206, the mail server 201 returns the received mail list in response to the request and automatically transfers the received mail list to the user's address. Information indicating whether or not is set, the automatic transfer setting status display unit 2 of the mail client 206 is forcibly displayed.
09 can be returned. Therefore, there is no need to issue a request from the client to the server to confirm the presence / absence of the automatic transfer setting as in step 402 in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the setting of automatic transfer is displayed when the user instructs to display the list, but the received mail list is automatically stored in the server when the mailer is started. In the case of adopting a method of downloading and displaying from the Internet, a setting state of automatic transfer may be acquired and a message may be displayed when the mailer is started in the same manner. When performing mail processing by connecting to the mail server from the mobile computer, connect to the mail server only when necessary, such as when starting up the mailer or instructing the user, to reduce the communication time as much as possible. Such data is often downloaded and stored in a local storage device, and mail processing is performed using the data in the storage device. Even in such a case, when downloading the received mail list, the presence or absence of the automatic transfer setting is obtained from the mail server and stored in a local storage device, and based on the information, the automatic transfer setting state is indicated. Display may be performed.

In the above embodiment, step 40 in FIG.
In step 4, a message indicating that the automatic transfer is not set is displayed. However, when the automatic transfer is not set, no message is displayed, and only when the automatic transfer is set, the message is displayed. A message indicating the effect may be displayed.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a client-server type mail system has been described. However, the present invention is directed to a mail system in which a host computer manages mail and a terminal device accesses the host. Is also applicable. In this case, the terminal device only has a function of simply displaying data from the host, and the list display function and the automatic transfer setting state display function may be realized by the host computer.

In the above embodiment, the message indicating the setting state of the automatic transfer is displayed. However, a display form other than the message may be adopted as long as the user can be notified of the setting state of the automatic transfer. For example, the color of the frame of the mailer window may be changed, or an icon or mark indicating the automatic transfer setting status may be displayed in the mailer window.

Some mail systems implement a vacation function and a filtering function using a technology called an agent. The vacation function is a function that is set when taking a long vacation, etc., and is a function that automatically sends an e-mail to the sender of the email notifying that the recipient of the e-mail is taking a long vacation. is there. In the vacation function, in addition to the automatic reply function of the above-mentioned mail, the received mail may be automatically transferred to a predetermined address. The filtering function is a function for implementing mail filtering, for example, when the subject of a received mail includes a character string “**”, the mail is transferred to a predetermined transfer destination. Regarding these functions, as in the case of the automatic transfer, displaying that these functions are set when displaying the mail list can prevent forgetting to cancel the settings. The “automatic transfer” in the present invention includes a case where mail is automatically transferred by the above-described vacation function or filtering function.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When displaying the list of received mails, the presence or absence of the automatic transfer setting is displayed, so that it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to remove the automatic transfer setting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a server and a client to which a mail system according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a modification of the system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when a server automatically transfers mail.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow when a client displays an automatic transfer setting state.

FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a network.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a message.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: mail server, 102: mailbox, 10
3: Automatic transfer control unit, 104, 105: Communication control unit, 1
06 ... mail, 107 ... mail client, 108,
109: communication control unit, 110: list display unit, 111: automatic transfer setting status display unit, 112: automatic transfer setting unit, 50
1, 502: mail server, 503, 504: mail client, 505: network.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mail system for exchanging e-mail between devices connected to a network, comprising: means for displaying a list of received mails relating to a specified mail address; Means for judging whether or not automatic transfer is set for the mail address, and performing a display indicating the setting when the automatic transfer is set. 2. A mail system in which a mail server and a plurality of mail clients are connected to a network, wherein the mail server determines a mailbox for storing a received mail and whether to automatically transfer the received mail. Automatic transfer control means for transferring the mail to an address designated as a transfer destination when transferring automatically, and storing the mail in the mailbox when not automatically transferring, the mail client comprising: A list display means for acquiring and displaying a list of received mails relating to a designated address from a mail server, and determining whether or not automatic forwarding is set for the mail address when the list display means displays the list. Automatic transfer setting status display means for executing a display indicating that the setting has been made. E-mail system according to claim. 3. An automatic mail transfer status display method applied to a mail system for exchanging e-mail between devices connected to a network, wherein a list of received mails related to a specified mail address is displayed. And determining whether or not automatic transfer is set to the mail address when performing the list display, and performing a display to that effect when set. Automatic mail forwarding status display method. 4. A storage medium storing a program relating to a mail automatic transfer status display method applied to a mail system for exchanging e-mail between devices connected to a network, wherein the program is a designated program. Executing a list display of the received e-mails related to the set e-mail addresses; and, when performing the list display, determining whether or not automatic forwarding is set to the e-mail addresses, and if so, a display indicating that fact. And a storage medium storing a program related to an automatic mail transfer state display method.