WO2008154822A1 - Method and server for group emails service - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for service of group emails includes the steps of that: when receiving group emails, the group emails are stored in the corresponding storage region; An address link pointing to the storage region where the group emails are stored is recorded in email storage region of one user at least; The user belongs to group users corresponding to group emails; When at least one user of group users is accessing, group emails are acquired from the storage region of group emails by the address link in email storage region of the user. Also, a server for group emails service is provided. The same email can be integrated among multiple users, at the same time, the network resource occupied can be reduced by the invention.

Description

 TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the field of email, and in particular to a method and server for implementing a group mail service. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION E-mail is one of the most common means of communication between people on the Internet. It is convenient and safe for people to communicate information by e-mail and discuss issues. With the diversification of user demand for e-mail functionality, many e-mail providers are beginning to offer group mail services. The group mail service has a topic aggregation function that aggregates multiple emails of the same topic and presents them as one email, thereby increasing the user's attention to emails on the same topic.

 In the prior art, it is possible to aggregate multiple emails of the same subject in a single user mail store. For example, User A sends an email about employment issues to users B, C, and D, and prepares to discuss the employment issues with relevant students. User B and User C return an email regarding User Issues to User A. The mail system aggregates the user's mail information of the user A, and the email about the employment problem sent by the user A, the user B, and the email about the employment problem returned by the user C are displayed to the user A in the form of an email. User A reads. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and a server for implementing a group mail service, which enable the same mail to be aggregated among multiple users while reducing the occupation of network resources.

 The method for implementing group mail provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes:

When receiving the group mail, save the group mail to its corresponding storage area; Recording, in the mail storage area of the at least one user, an address link that points to a storage area where the group of mails is located; the at least one user belongs to a group corresponding to the group mail;

 When a user of the at least one user logs in, the group mail is obtained from the storage area where the group mail is located by the address link recorded by the mail storage area of the one user.

 The server for implementing group mail provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes:

 The first unit includes at least one storage area for storing the received group mail to its corresponding storage area;

 a second unit, configured to record, in the mail storage area of the at least one user, an address link that points to a storage area corresponding to the group mail in the first unit, where the at least one user belongs to the group corresponding to the group mail ;

 And a third unit, configured to acquire the group mail from the first unit by using an address link recorded by the second unit in a mail storage area of the one user when one of the at least one users logs in.

 In the embodiment of the present invention, by establishing an address link pointing to the storage area where the group mail is located, it is only necessary to add an address link pointing to the storage area where the group mail is located in at least one user mail storage area, and at least one user can be stored at the time of login. The address link of its storage area can retrieve and display the group mail, so that the same group of mail can form an aggregate between multiple users.

( thread ). Also, since the address link to the storage area where the group mail is located is added in at least one user mail storage area, it is not necessary to save the group mail itself in each user mail storage area, that is, only one copy of each group mail is saved. , reducing the occupation of network resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for implementing a group mail service in the prior art. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining a group to which a user belongs by using a group information server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for acquiring a user identifier of all users in a group by using a group information server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for adding an index to a group mail to a user sub-mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a server for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a server for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a group information server according to an embodiment of the present invention. Mode for carrying out the invention

 The embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for implementing a group mail service in the prior art. As shown in Figure 1, the specific steps are as follows.

 Step S101: The user sends an email of a certain topic to a plurality of other users. If user A sends an email about employment issues to users B, C, and D, prepare to discuss the employment issues with relevant students.

 Step S102: Some other users return a reply mail of the same subject. For example, User B and User C return an email about User Issues to User A.

Step S103: The mail system aggregates emails of the same subject and displays them as an email. For example, the mail system sorts the emails about employment issues sent by User A and the emails about employment issues returned by Users B and C. The form of the email is displayed to the user A, which is convenient for the user A to read.

 However, the inventor of the present application found that the prior art has the following problems: The above method only aggregates multiple emails of the same subject in a single user mail storage area, and the stakeholders involved in the email fail to form a closer Relationships, content on the same topic failed to form a more active discussion environment among stakeholders. For example, user D cannot see the content of the email replied by user B and user C, and user B and user C cannot see the content of the reply email of the other party. In addition, in the prior art, the same email is separately stored in the user mail storage area of multiple users in the mail system, and the email system resources are occupied more.

 In an application system, users with the same characteristics or hobbies are often grouped into a group, and all users in each group have a focus and topic of common concern. The application system includes a network application software system such as a network instant messaging system, a network game system, and a network forum system. The embodiment of the present invention introduces the group concept in the application system into the mail system, so that the users of the group can discuss the related topics more conveniently.

 In order to solve the above problem, the embodiment of the present invention provides a method for implementing a group mail server, which saves the group mail to its corresponding storage area after receiving the group mail, and connects the address pointing to the storage area where the group mail is located. It is added to the mail store of at least one user. When the user logs in, the group address can be obtained from the storage area of the group mail through the address link recorded in the mail store.

 FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the specific steps are as follows.

 Step S201: Determine the group to which the group mail sent by the user belongs in the application system.

 After receiving the group mail sent by the user (the mail that can be seen by other users in the group), the mail system determines the group to which the group mail sent by the user belongs according to the content of the group mail sent by the user.

In general, users may be in multiple groups in the application system, each group has The only group ID. When a user sends a group email of a certain group, the group email sent includes the group identifier to which the group belongs, and the mail system can determine the group to which the group email sent by the user belongs according to the group identifier.

 In an actual implementation, the mail system searches the application system for each group to which the user belongs, stores each group identification information in the user's mail storage area, and displays the group information on the user when the user logs in. In the mail interface, the user can select a group to send group mail.

 For example, the mail system finds in the network instant messaging system that the user A belongs to the three groups of "legal employment, ", "outing," and "Shanghai fellow", and the three groups are displayed to the user; the user is based on the group to be sent. The content of the message, determine to send a group message whose subject belongs to the "Legal Employment" group. The group email contains the "legal employment" group identifier. After receiving the group mail sent by the user, the mail system can know the group to which the group mail belongs by extracting the group identifier in the group mail.

 Step S202: Save the group mail sent by the user to the database corresponding to the group.

 The mail system assigns a unique group mail ID to the received group mail. For the group mail sent by the user, the mail system sets a database unique to the group on the internal server, and stores the group mail sent by the user in the database. When you need to find the group of messages, you can find the group of messages in the database by the unique identifier of the group of messages.

 Of course, the mail system can also store group mails instead of group groups, but directly store group mails.

 Step S203: Acquire a user identifier of all users in the group to which the group mail belongs.

 The mail system searches for the user ID of all users in the group to which the group belongs, and the user identifier may be the account of the user in the group.

For example, the mail system searches the server of the instant messaging system for the account information of all users in the "legal employment" group. Step S204: Find the sub-mail system corresponding to the user identifier.

 The user identifier of the application system has a unique correspondence with the identifier of the mail system, and the user identifies the identification information of the user in the mail system according to the user identifier of the application system, thereby determining the child mail system corresponding to the identifier information.

 The sub-mail system is a user mail storage area for storing the user's mail information, which is uniquely identified by the user ID. Users can view the user's mail information stored in their child mail system through the mail interface. For example, in a practical application, after a user logs in to his or her mailbox, the user's mail information such as the e-mail, draft mail, and address book that are viewed is substantially stored in the sub-mail system corresponding to the user.

 Step S205: Add an index of the database pointing to the storage group mail to the above sub-mail system. For example, add an index to the database of the storage group mail in the index of the above sub-mail system.

 Step S206: The group mail information is retrieved and displayed by an index of a database pointing to the storage group mail.

 When the user logs in to the child mail system, the index can be clicked, and the group mail is retrieved in the database through the group mail identifier and displayed to the user.

 Of course, a more direct method is to establish an address link to the storage area where the group of mails is located in step S205, and add the address link to each user's child mail system. Here, the address link to the storage area where the group of mails is located may be an index to the address of the storage area where the group of mails is located.

 In step S206, the group mail is retrieved and displayed by an address link pointing to the storage area where the group of mails is located. When a user logs in, by adding an address link in their child mail system, the group mail can be retrieved from the storage area where the group mail is located and displayed to the user.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the above steps are not strictly performed, as long as the step S201 is performed before the step S203 and the step S204, and the step S202 is performed in the step S205. Execute before.

 In the embodiment of the present invention, each group is implemented by storing a group mail and establishing an address link to the group mail storage area, and recording an address link to the group mail storage area in the user mail storage area of each user. A single copy of the message is saved, reducing the occupation of network resources.

 FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3, the specific steps are as follows.

 Step S301 to step S307: determining a group to which the group mail sent by the user belongs in the application system, saving the group mail to the database corresponding to the group group, obtaining the user identifiers of all users in the group group, and searching for the child mail system corresponding to the user identifier. , add an index to the database to the above sub-mail system, and retrieve and display the group mail by indexing to the database. The specific steps are the same as S201 to S206.

 Step S308: The reply mail for the group mail is stored in the database.

 The reply mail for the group of mails is also stored in the storage area of the group mail. If the reply mail for the group mail is stored in the corresponding database, the group mail sent by the user is aggregated, and the attachment in the mail is also stored in the database.

 By pointing to the index of the storage area where the group of messages is located, not only can the group of messages be called and displayed, but also a reply message for the group of messages can be called and displayed. In the embodiment of the present invention, when a mail is a reply mail of a group of mails, the mail mail identifier is also inherited in the reply mail, so that after receiving the reply mail, the mail system identifies the group mail identifier by having the group mail identifier Stored in the correct group mail store.

Step S309: Adding the identification message of the received group mail in the application system of all users. In the embodiment of the present invention, the message storage area or the application system of all users may further be added to indicate whether the group mail is received. Tag, which makes it easy to remind the user View group mail when you log in to your mail system or application. For example, when the user has checked the group mail received before the mail system, but the mail system has not received the group mail, add a mark in the user's mail storage area or application system to indicate that the group mail is not received; When the group message is sent, modify the flag to indicate that the group message was received.

 In the embodiment of the present invention, when it is not required to find the user identifier of all users in the group, it is not required to find the child mail system of all users, as long as the user identifier of at least one user and its child are found. The mail system can implement the method of the present invention.

 In the embodiment of the present invention, the mail system may first obtain the group to which the user belongs in the application system, and display the group information to the user for the user to send the group mail. The embodiment of the present invention can add a group information server between the mail system and the application system to assist the mail system to obtain the required information in the application system. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining a group to which a user belongs by using a group information server according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 4, the specific steps are as follows.

 Step S401: Find each group identifier to which the user belongs in the application system;

 Users often belong to multiple groups at the same time in the application system. The group information server searches for the group identifier of each group to which the user belongs in the application system, such as the server of the application system.

 For example, the group information server finds that the user A belongs to the three groups of the "legal forum", the "game forum", and the "military forum" in the server of the network forum system, and obtains the group identifiers of the three groups.

 Step S402: Store the above group identifiers into the cache database.

 The group information server temporarily stores the above-mentioned group identifiers found in the internal cache database.

 Step S403: Extract the foregoing group identifiers from the cache database.

The mail system extracts the above group identifiers from the cache database. In this way, the mail system obtains the group identifiers to which the user belongs in the application system. Step S404: Add the above group identifiers to the mail system.

 The mail system adds the above group identifiers to the user's mail storage area, and displays the group logo on the user's mail interface.

 For example, the group information column on the user's mail interface displays three group identification information: "Legal Forum", "Play Forum", and "Military Forum".

 Step S405: Select a certain group identifier in each group identifier.

 The user selects one of the group identifiers that is most closely related to the group mail content to be sent, and sends the group mail, wherein the group mail includes the selected group identifier.

 Similarly, in the embodiment of the present invention, the group information server may also be used to obtain the user identifiers of all users in the group in the application system, and temporarily store them in the cache database.

 FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for acquiring a user identifier of all users in a group by using a group information server according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 5, the specific steps are as follows.

 Step S501: Search for the user identifier of all users of the group in the application system.

 In an application system, each group includes multiple users, each of which has a unique user ID, such as account information for each user. The group information server finds the user ID of all users in the group in the application system.

 For example, the group "Legal Forum" includes: User B, whose account number is 59874321; User C, whose account number is 59874231; User D, whose account number is 4295423 and other users.

 Step S502: Store the above user identifier into a cache database.

 The group information server temporarily stores the user ID of the above user to the internal cache database.

 Step S503: Extract the user identifier from the cache database.

 The mail system extracts the user ID of the above-mentioned user required from the cache database. In this way, the mail system obtains the user IDs of all users in the group.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the group information server is used to obtain the user from the application system. The group information and the user identification information of all users in the selected group, and temporarily store the information, the mail system directly obtains the required information from the group information server. In this way, problems such as excessive transmission data and long waiting time caused by frequent access to the application system by the mail system are avoided, and the sending speed of the group mail is improved.

 6 is a flow chart of a method for adding an index to a group mail to a sub-mail system of each user in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 6, the specific steps are as follows.

 Step S601: The group mail identifier is used as an index identifier.

 Step S602: Link the index to the database.

 Linking the cable I identifier to the database and pointing to the group of email messages in the database. The purpose of steps S601 and S602 is to establish an address link to the storage area where the group mail is located.

 Step S603: Add the index identifier to each user's child mail system.

 The index identifier is added to the index table of each user's child mail system and can also be displayed in a bold color.

 By adding an index to the group mail storage area in the user mail storage area of each user, it is not necessary to separately save the group mail in the user mail storage area of each user, that is, the group mail only needs to be saved in a single copy, saving space for the mail server. Occupy.

 Based on the foregoing method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a mail server that implements group mail, which enables users with the same characteristics to participate in group mails of the same topic, and more efficiently communicates by using email.

 FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a server for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 7, the server includes a group determining unit 71, a group mail holding unit 72, a user identification information acquiring unit 73, a user mail system searching unit 74, an index adding unit 75, and a display unit 76.

The group determining unit 71 determines the group to which the group mail sent by the user belongs in the application system, The determined group information is transmitted to the user identification information acquiring unit 73.

 The group mail holding unit 72 includes at least one storage area for storing the received group mail information to its corresponding storage area.

 The user identification information acquisition unit 73 acquires the user identification of at least one user of the group determined by the group determination unit 71, and transmits the user identification information of the at least one user to the user mail system search unit 74.

 The user mail system search unit 74 searches for the sub-mail system of each user corresponding to the above identification information, and transmits the sub-mail system to the index adding unit 75.

 The index adding unit 75 adds an address link to the storage area corresponding to the group mail in the group mail holding unit 72 to each user sub-mail system found by the user mail system searching unit 74.

 The display unit 76 is configured to retrieve the group mail from the group mail storage unit 72 by pointing to the address link of the storage area corresponding to the group mail in the group mail storage unit 72 when the user logs in.

 In an actual implementation, the group determining unit 71, the user identification information acquiring unit 73, the user mail system searching unit 74, and the index adding unit 75 can also be implemented in one module.

 FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a server for implementing a group mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the server includes a group determining unit 71, a group mail holding unit 72, a user identification information acquiring unit 73, a user mail system searching unit 74, an index adding unit 75, a display unit 76, and a reply mail storing unit 77. .

 The reply mail storage unit 77 receives the reply mail for the group mail, and stores it in the storage area in which the group mail is located in the group mail holding unit 72.

The roles and functions of the group determining unit 71, the group mail holding unit 72, the user identification information acquiring unit 73, the user mail system searching unit 74, the index adding unit 75, and the display unit 76 in this embodiment are implemented as shown in FIG. The examples are the same and will not be described again. Display unit 76 at this time Further, the reply mail for the group mail is retrieved from the group mail storage unit 72 by pointing to the address link of the storage area corresponding to the group mail in the group mail storage unit 72.

 FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a group information server according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the group information server includes a group query unit 901, a user identification information query unit 902, and a data cache unit 903:

 The group query unit 901 finds each group identifier to which the user belongs in the application system; and sends it to the data buffer unit 903.

 The user identification information inquiry unit 902 searches for the user identification information of all users of each group in the application system, and sends it to the data buffer unit 903.

 The data temporary storage unit 903 stores the group identification information and the user identification information of all users. The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any one skilled in the art is familiar with the technology. Any changes or substitutions that may be easily conceived within the scope of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claim  A method for implementing a group mail service, comprising:  When receiving the group mail, save the group mail to its corresponding storage area;  Recording, in the mail storage area of the at least one user, an address link pointing to the storage area where the group mail is located; the at least one user belongs to the group corresponding to the group mail; when one of the at least one user logs in And obtaining, by the address link recorded by the mail storage area of the user, the group mail from the storage area where the group mail is located.  2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: at least one of the messages replied to the group of mails when at least one of the at least one user replies to the group of mails is received Stored in the storage area where the group mail is located;  When one of the at least one user logs in, at least one mail replied to the group mail is obtained from the storage area where the group mail is located by the address link recorded by the mail storage area of the one user.  The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: adding, in the mail storage area of the at least one user, a flag for indicating whether the group mail is received;  Before the one of the at least one user acquires the group mail, the mark added in the mail storage area of the one user indicates that the group mail is not received;  Before the one of the at least one user acquires the group mail, modifying the mark added to the mail storage area of the one user to indicate that the group mail is received. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the address link to the storage area where the group mail is located is respectively recorded in the mail storage area of at least one user Includes:  Finding a mail storage area of the at least one user;  An address link pointing to the storage area of the group mail is respectively recorded in the mail storage area of the found at least one user.  5. The method of claim 4, wherein the searching for at least one user's mail storage area comprises:  Determining, according to the received group mail, a group corresponding to the group mail;  Obtaining a user identifier of at least one user in the group;  And searching for the mail storage area of the at least one user according to the obtained user identifier. The method according to claim 5, wherein the group mail includes its corresponding group identification information, and the determining the group corresponding to the group mail comprises:  The group corresponding to the group mail is determined according to the group identification information included in the group mail. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: acquiring each group to which the at least one user belongs in the application system;  Adding each group information to which the at least one user belongs in the application system to each of the at least one user's mail storage area;  Displaying, by a user of the at least one user, each group information to which the one user belongs in the mail interface of the one user, for the one user to select a group to send the group mail.  8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the acquiring the groups to which the at least one user belongs in the application system comprises:  The group information server searches for and stores each group identifier to which the user belongs in the application system; and extracts the group group identifiers from the group information server. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the group corresponding to the group mail is a group in a network instant messaging system, a network game system or a network forum system. The method according to claim 5, wherein the acquiring the user identifier of at least one user in the group includes:  The group information server searches the application system for the user identifier of at least one user in the group, and stores the user identifier;  Extracting the user identification from the group information server.  The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the address link to the storage area where the group mail is located is an index pointing to an address of a storage area where the group mail is located;  The respectively recording the address links pointing to the storage area of the group mail in the mail storage area of the at least one user includes:  Establish an index pointing to the address of the storage area where the group mail is located;  The index is separately added in the mail storage area of the at least one user.  12. A server for implementing a group mail service, comprising: a first unit, comprising at least one storage area, configured to save the received group mail to a corresponding storage area;  a second unit, configured to record, in the mail storage area of the at least one user, an address link that points to a storage area corresponding to the group mail in the first unit, where the at least one user belongs to the group corresponding to the group mail ;  And a third unit, configured to acquire the group mail from the first unit by using an address link recorded by the second unit in a mail storage area of the one user when one of the at least one users logs in.  The server according to claim 12, wherein the second unit comprises:  a first subunit, configured to confirm a group to which the group mail belongs; a second subunit, configured to find at least one user in the group confirmed by the first subunit User ID;  a third subunit, configured to search, according to the user identifier searched by the second subunit, a mail storage area of at least one user in the group confirmed by the first subunit;  And a fourth subunit, configured to record, in the mail storage area of the at least one user found by the third subunit, an address link to a storage area corresponding to the group mail in the first unit.  The server according to claim 12 or 13, further comprising: a fourth unit, configured to receive at least one mail that each user replies to the group mail, and the Responding at least one mail is stored in a storage area corresponding to the group mail in the first unit;  The third unit is further configured to obtain, according to the storage area corresponding to the group mail in the first unit, the at least one mail that is replied to the group mail.