JP4028869B2 - Report management apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for managing reports sent via a network, and more particularly to a technique for managing reports using electronic mail. The present invention can be used together with a so-called groupware system (information sharing system) having functions such as schedule management, electronic bulletin board, electronic mail, reservation, and telephone book.

  Groupware that provides functions such as an electronic bulletin board (electronic conference room, message board), mail transmission / reception, schedule management, telephone directory management, facility use reservation management, and the like is known. Conventionally, these have been used in offices via LANs (local communication networks) and virtual LANs. In recent years, intelligent mobile phones having a web browsing function and a mail browsing function have appeared and groupware can be used from outside the office. In this way, groupware has come to be able to share information from a remote location without stopping in the office.

  The present inventor has earnestly studied a method for easily obtaining a report from a remote place in such a groupware system, and has come to make the present invention.

  An object of this invention is to provide the technique which acquires the report from a remote place easily. Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique for easily acquiring a report from a remote place by using an electronic mail transmission / reception function of a groupware system.

    According to this invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the configuration as described in the claims is adopted. Here, the description of the scope of claims will be supplementarily described.

  That is, according to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the report management apparatus: an e-mail transmitting means for transmitting an e-mail including a unique symbol generated for a routine work to a predetermined mail account ( 803, 107); an e-mail receiving means (804) for receiving an e-mail returned corresponding to the e-mail and including the unique symbol; and analyzing the received e-mail to determine a predetermined e-mail Transmission content extracting means (805) for extracting transmission contents; Document generation means (806) for generating a document including the predetermined transmission contents based on the unique symbol based on the extracted transmission contents; and Document storage means (810) for storing; and document display means (808) for displaying the stored document are provided.

  In this configuration, a unique symbol is assigned to the routine work, and this is used as an entrance / exit to perform report request and report reception. Therefore, it is possible to request creation of a report necessary for a routine work, for example, a predetermined meeting by e-mail, and generate a report necessary for the meeting from an email returned to the e-mail so that the report can be viewed. .

  The above report may be formatted in HTML (or XML) with a schedule. In this way, display can be easily performed in a web-based system.

  The unique symbol described above is a number, alphabet, other symbol, or a symbol string formed by concatenating them.

  The present invention can be realized not only as an apparatus or a system but also as a method. Of course, a part of the invention can be configured as software. Of course, a software product (recording medium) used for causing a computer to execute such software is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, reports relating to routine work can be easily managed.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a groupware system. In this figure, a groupware system 10, a mobile phone 20 with a web browsing / mail browsing function, a client terminal 30 and the like are connected to the Internet 40. ing. More specifically, the cellular phone 20 is connected to the Internet 40 via a packet network 50 and a mobile telephone center 60. The client terminal 30 is connected to the Internet service provider 70 by dial-up using, for example, a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) protocol, and is connected to the Internet 40 via the Internet service provider 70. Note that the fixed telephone subscriber network and the mobile subscriber network are not particularly shown in the figure, but are used as appropriate for calls and the like.

  In this example, the groupware system 10 provides a groupware system to various companies, organizations, and groups. The user can receive various groupware services from the client terminal 30a connected to the LAN 109 inside the organization, or can access the groupware system 10 via the Internet 40 using the client terminal 30 from the outside. A similar service can be provided.

  The groupware system 10 includes a web server 101, an application server 102, a database management system 103, a mail server 105, a mail reception client 106, a mail transmission client 107, a router 108, and the like. These computer resources are connected to the LAN 109.

  The web server 101 receives a request from a client (client terminal 30 or mobile phone 20) according to an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) protocol, and transfers an HTML document (XML document) corresponding to the request to the client. The application server 102 executes various processes based on the program name and arguments sent from the client via the web server 101. Instead of the application server 102, a CGI (common gate interface) program of the web server 101 may be used. The database management system 103 manages the database 104. The database 104 stores various data used for a schedule system, an electronic bulletin board system, a reservation system, a telephone directory system, and the like.

  A specific groupware system function is realized by using the web server 101, the application server 102, and the database management system 103. The client can use various functions of the groupware system on a web basis.

  The mail server 105 executes an SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) daemon and a POP3 (post office protocol version 3) daemon, and delivers mail and downloads from a mailbox.

  The mail receiving client 106 sends out a mail read request to the POP3 daemon of the mail server 105 on behalf of the client when the mail is accessed on the web base and takes out the mail. The retrieved mail is transferred to the client as an HTML document via the web server 101 and viewed on the web base.

  The mail transmission client 107 transmits an electronic mail to a related user when requesting a report regarding a schedule. This will be described in detail later.

  The client terminal 30 is, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, an intelligent game machine, an intelligent home appliance (for example, a television receiver, a set-top box) or the like disposed in an office or a residence 301, and has a web browser installed. . The client terminal 30 can access the groupware system provided by the groupware system 10 and perform electronic bulletin board system, electronic mail, schedule management, reservation management, telephone book browsing, and the like. Since the groupware system 10 is disclosed on the Internet 40, it is desirable to perform personal authentication such as a password or group authentication. It is desirable to provide a security mechanism such as a firewall as appropriate.

  The mobile telephone center 60 is provided by a mobile telephone network operating company, and has a gateway 601 and a mail server 602 for realizing an interface between the mobile telephone network operating company's packet network 50 and the Internet 40. ing. The mail server 602 realizes mail transfer and mail download functions and also provides unique functions. The mail server 602 in this example has a function 602 a that automatically transfers mail sent to the mail account of the mail server 602 to the mobile phone 20 through the packet network 50 in principle.

  The mobile phone 20 can make calls with other telephones via a base station and a mobile telephone network (not shown), and further to the Internet 40 via the base station, the packet network 50, and the mobile telephone center 60. Access and browse the web. The mobile phone 20 includes, for example, a key operation unit 201 and a display unit 202 as shown in FIG. In addition to the call function 203, the mobile phone 20 has a web browsing function 204 and a mail browsing function 205.

  More specifically, the user can easily browse the web by selecting a URL registered in the bookmark using a predetermined scroll key or the like. In addition, you can create and send emails and browse emails.

  Next, a schedule management system in the groupware system will be described. In the following, a report is managed in relation to one routine work called schedule management. However, the present invention is also applied to report management in relation to routine work other than schedule management. FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the schedule management system. Each component in FIG. 3 is actually realized by a program. 3, the schedule management system 80 of the groupware system 10 includes a schedule registration unit 801, a code generation unit 802, an email creation unit 803, an email reception unit 804, a header analysis unit 805, a report registration unit 806, and a schedule output unit. 807, a report output unit 808, a schedule database 809, a report database 810, a code correspondence table 811, and the like. The schedule management system 80 exchanges various data and requests related to the schedule with clients (client terminals 30a, 30 and mobile phone 20).

  The schedule registration unit 801 receives the schedule registration request together with the schedule data from the schedule registration interface 901 of the client, and registers the schedule data in the schedule database 809. The schedule data is, for example, as shown in FIG. The schedule ID is numbered based on the date and serial number. The code generation unit 802 generates a unique code for the schedule information based on the schedule registration request. The code generation unit 802 associates the code with the schedule ID of the schedule information and registers them in the code correspondence table 811. The correspondence information in the code correspondence table 811 is as shown in FIG. 5, for example. As will be described later, this code is embedded in the header (subject part) of the e-mail, but is encrypted to prevent tampering. The presence or absence of tampering can be determined at the time of decoding. The email creation unit 803 creates a report creation email to be transmitted to the report creator's email account. This report creation mail includes a code (encryption) in a subject and uses an e-mail account reserved for the schedule management system 80 as a sender. The recipient is the email account of the person who is requested to create the report. The e-mail created in this way is delivered to the mail sending client 107 and sent to the client via the mail server 105 or the like.

  An e-mail receiving unit 902 of the client receives an e-mail. A message / attached file creation unit 903 prepares a message or attached file based on the input to the user and includes it in the reply mail. The electronic mail transmission unit 904 transmits a reply mail to the schedule management system 80.

  The e-mail receiving unit 804 of the schedule management system 80 receives an e-mail returned from the e-mail transmitting unit 904 of the client, and this e-mail is passed to the header analysis unit 805. The header analysis unit performs text processing. The header subject code is extracted, decrypted, and falsified, and then the schedule ID is extracted with reference to the code correspondence table 811. The report registration unit 806 registers report information for managing messages and attached files under the schedule ID in the report database 810. Report information registered in the report database 810 is, for example, as shown in FIG.

  The client schedule output interface 905 sends a schedule browsing request to the schedule output unit 807 of the schedule management system 80 to extract schedule data (HTML document). The report output interface 906 of the client sends a report output request to the report output unit 808 of the schedule management system 80 and takes out report data (HTML document).

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail.

  FIG. 7 shows a schedule registration operation in the embodiment, and the processing is as follows.

[Step S10]: A schedule registration request is sent from the client, and schedule data is input. This schedule registration is performed, for example, using the interface shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, when the report creation mail is checked, the mail is sent to the report creator. The transmission target person is defined in “transmission address”.
[Step S11]: It is determined whether a report creation mail is instructed. If the report creation mail is instructed, the process proceeds to step S12. If not, the process proceeds to step S16.
[Step S12]: The code generation unit 802 generates a unique code.
[Step S13]: The code generation unit 802 registers data indicating the correspondence between the unique code and the schedule ID in the code correspondence table 811.
[Step S14]: The e-mail creation unit 803 generates an e-mail for creating a report. This e-mail is sent to the report creator as described in step S15, and the received mail is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 13, the subject includes a code encrypted (a symbol string below “Key”).
[Step S15]: The mail transmission client 107 receives the mail and transmits it to the client.
[Step S16]: The schedule registration unit 801 registers schedule data in the schedule database 809.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the report creation mail transmitted as described above is received by the electronic mail receiving unit 902 of the client, and a reply is made with a message and an attached file attached thereto. The client e-mail transmission unit 904 transmits this reply mail to the schedule management system 80. The schedule management system 80 receives the reply mail, extracts the report, and registers it in the schedule database 809 in association with the schedule.

  FIG. 8 shows the report registration operation of this embodiment, and the processing is as follows.

[Step S20]: The e-mail receiving unit 804 of the schedule management system 80 receives the reply mail. The reply e-mail is as shown in FIG. 14, for example, including a code ciphertext in the header subject and a message (report) in the body, and any text, image, audio, etc. as required. Includes attachments in the form of
[Step S21]: The header analysis unit 805 analyzes the received electronic mail (text processing), and extracts a code, a message, and an attached file. Since the code is encrypted, the ciphertext is decrypted.
[Step S22]: The header analysis unit 805 looks up the code correspondence table 811 and extracts the schedule ID.
[Step S23]: The report registration unit 806 arranges report information and registers it in the report database 810. As described above, the report information is as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

  FIG. 9 shows an operation at the time of viewing the schedule, and the processing at that time is as follows.

[Step S30]: The schedule output unit 807 of the schedule management system 80 receives a schedule browsing request from the schedule output interface 905 of the client.
[Step S31]: The schedule output unit 807 extracts corresponding schedule data from the schedule database 809 based on the schedule ID included in the schedule browsing request.
[Step S32]: The schedule output unit 807 creates an HTML document of the schedule using the extracted schedule data. This schedule display is, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, which corresponds to the schedule data input in FIG. In FIG. 12, “Report” is displayed for the schedule item instructed to create the report.
[Step S33]: The HTML document is sent to the schedule output interface 905 of the client. Based on this, the client displays a schedule (FIG. 12).

  FIG. 10 shows the operation when viewing a report. The report can be viewed by operating the “report” display of the schedule. The processing when viewing the report is as follows.

[Step S40]: The report output unit 808 of the schedule management system 80 receives a report browsing request from the report output interface 906 of the client.
[Step S41]: The report output unit 808 extracts corresponding report data from the report database 810 based on the report ID included in the report browsing request.
[Step S42]: The report output unit 808 creates a schedule HTML document using the extracted report data. This report display is, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, which corresponds to the contents of the reply mail in FIG.
[Step S43]: The HTML document is sent to the report output interface 906 of the client. Based on this, the client displays a report (FIG. 15).

  The reports created by the user can be listed by specifying the user and the schedule period. FIG. 16 shows a list of reports for users A, B, C, and D by specifying a period of one week from September 19, 2000. In this example, user A creates a report with a “meeting” schedule and user B creates a report with a “budget” schedule. By operating these displays, the details of each report can be viewed as shown in FIG.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, it is also possible to retrieve a report by performing a keyword search for “report” and browse the details. In the example of FIG. 17, the contents of “report” can be searched as a part of other resources of the groupware system such as schedule, task list, e-mail, mailing list, file, etc., so as to share knowledge.

  This is the end of the description of the embodiment.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the present invention can be applied to various notifications such as an auction system and a reservation system.

  FIG. 18 shows a modification using the camera-equipped mobile phone 20a. In this example, a report transmission mail is sent to the desired camera-equipped mobile phone 20a, and an image captured by the camera of the mobile phone 20a is included in (attached to) the reply mail and sent back to the groupware system 10. The groupware system 10 formats these images into an HTML document (XML document) or the like and processes them so that the user can easily see them. If it does in this way, there exists an effect, such as being able to browse while comparing the field image. In this case, the report reply mail may be unrelated to the schedule. For example, it is possible to attach a code for each predetermined purpose and routine work, thereby managing a report reply mail and immediately generating an HTML document or the like for each purpose or routine work (for example, preparing an HTML template) ).

It is a block diagram which shows the Example of this invention as a whole. It is a figure explaining the mobile phone used in this Example. It is a block diagram which shows typically the schedule management system 80 of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the schedule information of the schedule management system 80 of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the code corresponding | compatible table of the schedule management system 80 of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the report information of the schedule management system 80 of this Example. It is a figure explaining the schedule registration operation | movement of this Example. It is a figure explaining the report registration operation | movement of this Example. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of the schedule browsing of this Example. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of the report browsing of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the schedule registration screen of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the schedule display screen of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the report preparation mail reception screen of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the transmission screen of the reply with respect to the report preparation mail of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the report browsing screen of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the report list screen of this Example. It is a figure explaining the example of the search screen of this Example. It is a figure explaining the modification of this Example.

Explanation of symbols

10 Groupware System 20 Mobile Phone 20a Mobile Phone 30 Client Terminal 30a Client Terminal 40 Internet 50 Packet Network 60 Mobile Telephone Center 70 Internet Service Provider 80 Schedule Management System 101 Web Server 102 Application Server 103 Database Management System 104 Database 105 Mail Server 106 Mail receiving client 107 Mail sending client 108 Router 201 Key operation unit 202 Display unit 203 Call function 204 Web browsing function 205 Mail browsing function 301 Dwelling 601 Gateway 602 Mail server 801 Schedule registration unit 802 Code generation unit 803 E-mail creation unit 804 E-mail Reception unit 805 Header analysis unit 806 Report registration 807 schedule output section 808 report output section 809 schedule database 810 reporting database 811 code correspondence table 901 schedule registration interface 902 e-mail receiving unit 903 a message attachment file creating unit 904 e-mail transmitting unit 905 schedules the output interface 906 report output interface

Claims (6)

In a report management server computer connected to an email client terminal via a network,
Template document storage means for storing template documents prepared for each routine work;
Email sending means (803, 107) for sending an email containing a code assigned to each routine work to a predetermined email account;
E-mail receiving means (804) for receiving an e-mail that is returned in response to the e-mail and includes the code ;
A transmission content retrieving means (805) for analyzing the received electronic mail and retrieving a predetermined transmission content by email;
A document generation means for generating a document Mase including the predetermined transmission content to the template document retrieved from the template document storage means based on the transmission contents taken out to the code (806),
Document storage means (810) for storing the generated document;
A report management server computer comprising document display means (808) for displaying the stored document. The report management server computer according to claim 1, wherein the generated document is an HTML document. The report management server computer according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined transmission content includes image data captured by an electronic mail transmission device with an imaging device. 4. The report management server computer according to claim 3, wherein the e-mail transmission device is a mobile phone having an e-mail agent function. In a report management server computer connected to an email client terminal with an imaging device via a network,
A template document storage means for storing a template document prepared for each routine work;
Email sending means (803, 107) sending an email containing a code assigned to each routine work to the email account of the email client terminal;
E-mail receiving means (804) receiving an e-mail returned from the e-mail client terminal and including the code and the image file generated by the imaging device;
A transmission content retrieving means (805) analyzing the received email and retrieving the code included in the email and the image file generated by the imaging device;
A step document generation means (806) to produce a document Mase contains the image file template document retrieved from the template document storage means based on the code,
A document storage means (810) for storing the generated document;
A report management method, wherein the document display means (808) executes a step of displaying the stored document. In a network including a report management server computer and an email client terminal with an imaging device,
In the report management server computer, the template document storage means stores a template document prepared for each routine work;
In the above SL report management server computer, e-mail transmission means (803,107) includes the steps of transmitting an e-mail containing the code assigned to each routine work email account of the e-mail client terminals,
The e-mail client terminal with the imaging device receives the e-mail;
The electronic mail client terminal with the imaging device returns an email including the code and the image file generated by the imaging device;
In the report management server computer , an e-mail receiving means (804) receives an e-mail returned from the e-mail client terminal and including the code and the image file generated by the imaging device;
In the report management server computer , a transmission content retrieving means (805) analyzes the received email and retrieves the code included in the email and the image file generated by the imaging device;
In the report management server computer, the document generation means (806) generates the document by including the image file in the template document extracted from the template document storage means based on the code ;
In the report management server computer , a document storage means (810) stores the generated document;
In the report management server computer , the document display means (808) executes a step of displaying the stored document.

Images