JP5040738B2 - E-mail transmission system and e-mail transmission method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system and method for sending electronic mail.

  As is well known, when a transmission source system requests transmission of an e-mail addressed to an address of an order of several tens of thousands to a single mail server, the mail server is heavily loaded. To prevent the load on one mail server even if the same information is sent to multiple addresses at once, distribute the addresses to multiple mail servers in advance, When transmitting a mail, the transmission source system may request each of a plurality of mail servers to transmit an e-mail addressed only to the address allocated to the mail server. In this way, the load applied to one mail server is distributed to a plurality of mail servers.

  In the transmission source system as described above, when the number of addresses to which information to be transmitted simultaneously increases, the number of mail servers to which e-mail transmission is requested is increased, and the load per mail server is increased. You must try not to increase it. In this case, the administrator of the transmission source system needs to register the added mail server in the transmission source system as a request destination of the electronic mail transmission related to the simultaneous transmission. Such registration processing needs to be performed in a state in which the service provided by the transmission source system to the user is stopped. For example, the transmission source system obtains information on safety from each user after a disaster occurs. If a device that constitutes a system that requires continuity of service, such as a safety confirmation system that sends an e-mail addressed to each user's address, the service is interrupted due to the addition of a mail server. Is very problematic.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-056113

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and the problem is based on a transmission request including information to be transmitted simultaneously and a plurality of addresses to which the information is sent. In a system in which an electronic mail is transmitted, the service is not interrupted even if the number of mail servers to which the electronic mail is requested is changed.

  An e-mail transmission system devised to solve the above problem transmits an e-mail to a relay server that accepts a transmission request including information to be transmitted simultaneously and a destination address of the information from a request source apparatus. An email transmission system including a plurality of mail servers having a transmission unit, wherein each mail server acquires a predetermined number of addresses and information from a relay server, and each acquired by the acquisition unit A feature is that an e-mail including the address as the destination and the information acquired by the acquisition unit is generated, and the e-mail is delivered to the transmission unit.

If comprised in this way, the email transmission in which the relay server which is a transmission origin system was requested from the request origin apparatus will be automatically performed by the several mail server which has an acquisition part and a production | generation part. If the mail server added to the e-mail transmission system has an acquisition unit and a generation unit, the mail server automatically operates as a request destination for e-mail transmission. In the relay server, the service for accepting the transmission request from the request source apparatus is interrupted, and the registration process does not have to be performed.

  The operation related to the above-described e-mail transmission system can also be realized by an e-mail transmission method or an e-mail transmission program. That is, the present invention may be an e-mail transmission method in which a computer executes a function equivalent to each part of the e-mail transmission system described above as a plurality of procedures, or a computer as a plurality of means functioning equivalently to each part. It may be an e-mail transmission program that causes Further, the present invention may be a computer readable medium storing such an e-mail transmission program.

  Therefore, according to the above-described e-mail transmission system, when an e-mail is transmitted based on a transmission request including information to be simultaneously transmitted and a plurality of addresses to which the information is sent, the e-mail transmission request The service will not be interrupted even if the number of destination mail servers is changed.

  Hereinafter, a safety confirmation system which is an embodiment of the above-described e-mail transmission system will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In addition, the safety confirmation system of this embodiment acquires the information regarding the safety from each user after disaster occurrence, and each user can confirm each other's safety by providing the acquired information to each user. It is a system that provides a service for doing so.

<< Configuration >>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the safety confirmation system of the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the safety confirmation system according to the present embodiment includes a user machine 10, an administrator machine 20, a management server machine 30, a relay server machine 40, and a mail server machine 50. The machines 10 to 50 are connected to each other through the Internet I so that they can communicate with each other. In FIG. 1, only two mail server machines 50 are shown for the sake of space, but the number of mail server machines 50 may be three or more in implementing this embodiment. . In FIG. 1, only two user machines 10 are shown for the sake of space, but the number of user machines 10 is not limited, and may be on the order of several tens of thousands, for example.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the user machine 10.

  The user machine 10 is a general personal computer used by users of the safety confirmation system. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the user machine 10 includes a display device unit 10a including a liquid crystal display, an operation device unit 10b including a keyboard and a mouse, and a main body connected to these units 10a and 10b. Become. The main body includes a network interface unit 10c, a storage unit 10d, a CPU [Central Processing Unit] 10e, and a memory unit 10f.

  The network interface unit 10c is a unit for exchanging data with other computers on the Internet I. The storage unit 10d is a unit for recording various programs and various data. The CPU 10e is a unit that performs processing according to a program in the storage unit 10d. The memory unit 10f is a unit for the CPU 10d to cache programs and data and to develop a work area.

The user machine 10 stores operating system software 11 in the storage unit 10d. The operating system software 11 is an API [Application Programming Interface] or ABI [Application to various applications.
Binary Interface], management of storage areas of the storage unit 10d and memory unit 10f, management of processes and tasks, provision of utilities such as file management and various setting tools and editors, and multiplexing of screen output Software for assigning windows to a plurality of tasks. The operating system software 11 includes a communication interface program 11a. The communication interface program 11a is a program for exchanging data with the communication interface program of another computer connected via the network interface unit 10c. An example of the communication interface program is a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) stack.

  The user machine 10 stores a mailer 12 in the storage unit 10d. The mailer 12 adds to the computer functions of sending an email to the mail server machine 50, receiving an email from the mail server machine 50, editing the email, and managing the sent and received emails. Software.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the administrator machine 20.

  The administrator machine 20 is a general personal computer used by an administrator of the safety confirmation system. Therefore, the hardware configuration of the administrator machine 20 shown in FIG. 3 is the same as the hardware configuration of the user machine 10 shown in FIG.

  The administrator machine 20 stores operating system software 21 in the storage unit 20d. The operating system software 21 exhibits functions equivalent to those of the user machine 10 and includes a communication interface program 21a.

  Further, the administrator machine 20 stores web browser software 22 in the storage unit 20d. The web browser software 22 is software for adding to the computer a web browser function for acquiring web page data from a web server and displaying a web page in accordance with an instruction from an operator. More specifically, the web browser software 22 (the CPU 20c in accordance with the web browser software 22) clicks on a link button in the web page, inputs a URL [Uniform Resource Locator] to the web browser screen, or the like, When there is an instruction to acquire web page data using an image tag or a frame tag described in the web page data, a request message requesting transmission of the web page data specified by the URL in the instruction is transmitted to the web server. Then, the response message is received from the web server, and the web page is displayed on the display device unit 20a based on the web page data in the body of the response message.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the management server machine 30.

The management server machine 30 is a general-purpose computer to which a function for providing a service related to the safety confirmation system to the user is added. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the management server machine 30 includes a network interface unit 30a, a storage unit 30b, a CPU 30c, and a memory unit 30d. Each of these units 30
a to 30d exhibit functions equivalent to those of the user machine 10.

  The management server machine 30 stores operating system software 31 in the storage unit 30b. The operating system software 31 exhibits a function equivalent to that of the user machine 10, and includes a communication interface program 31a.

  The management server machine 30 stores web page data 32, web server software 33, and a web application 34 in the storage unit 30b.

The web page data 32 is data for displaying a web page. Specifically, the web page data 32 is HTML [HyperText Markup Language] data or image data. In this embodiment, the storage unit 30b of the management server machine 30 includes at least web page data 32 for displaying a web page for receiving an instruction to broadcast arbitrary information to a designated user. It is recorded. Accordingly, the web page data 32 includes input means (such as radio buttons and pull-down list boxes) for inputting information to be transmitted simultaneously and an address to which the information is to be sent, and activation of a web application 34 to be described later. Information for displaying each means (such as a link button including a URL to which an activation instruction is added) is included.

  The web server software 33 is a program for transmitting web page data 32 in response to a request from a web client (a web page data acquisition function included in the web browser software 22). Specifically, when the web server software 33 (the CPU 30c according to the web server software 33) receives a request from the web client through the network interface unit 30a, the web server software 33 reads the requested web page data 32 from the storage unit 30b, and the network interface unit 30a. To the requesting web client.

  The web application 34 is an application for instructing a relay server 40 to be described later on a transmission request received through a web page based on the web page data 32 described above. As described above, the information to be transmitted all at once and the address to which the information is sent are input to the input means of the web page, and when the starting means is operated, the web application 34 is started. The web application 34 (the CPU 30c according to the web application) acquires the information and address input to the input means, and sends the information and address to the broadcast program management table 44 described later to the linkage program 46 (described later) of the relay server machine 40. Information and address registration requests are notified.

  The safety confirmation system according to the present embodiment also has a function of providing information acquired from each user to each user through, for example, a web page, and the function is realized by the management server machine 30. Since the function is irrelevant to the technique related to the transmission of the electronic mail, the description thereof is omitted in this specification.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the relay server machine 40.

  The relay server machine 40 is a general-purpose device with a function for managing information about users who can be broadcast recipients and the contents of some messages selected by the administrator as broadcast information. It is a computer. Therefore, the hardware configuration of the relay server machine 40 shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the hardware configuration of the management server machine 30 shown in FIG.

  The relay server machine 40 stores operating system software 41 in the storage unit 40b. The operating system software 41 exhibits a function equivalent to that of the user machine 10, and includes a communication interface program 41a.

  The relay server machine 40 stores a user management table 42 in the storage unit 40b. The user management table 42 is a table for managing information related to authorized users of the safety confirmation system. An authorized user of the safety confirmation system can be a receiver of simultaneous transmission.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the user management table 42.

  The user management table 42 has the same number of records as regular users of the safety confirmation system. Each record has fields of “registration number”, “e-mail address”, and “name”. The “registration number” field is a field in which a registration number for uniquely identifying the user is recorded. The “e-mail address” field is a field in which an e-mail address assigned to the mailer 12 of the user machine 10 used by the user is recorded. The “name” field is a field in which the name of the user is recorded. Note that the user management table 42 may have fields other than the three fields shown in FIG. 6 (for example, fields in which the user's address, telephone number, date of birth, etc. are recorded). .

  As shown in FIG. 5, the relay server machine 40 stores a message management table 43 in the storage unit 40b. The message management table 43 is a table for managing the contents of several messages selected by the administrator as information to be transmitted simultaneously.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the message management table 43.

  Each record of the message management table 43 has fields of “message number”, “subject”, and “body”. The “message number” field is a field in which a message number that uniquely identifies the message is recorded. The “subject” and “body” fields are fields in which the subject and the body constituting the message are recorded, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the relay server machine 40 stores a simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in the storage unit 40b. The broadcast transmission target management table 44 is a table for managing information specifying a user selected as a transmission destination of broadcast transmission and information specifying a message selected as broadcast transmission information.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing the simultaneous transmission target management table 44.

Each record of the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 has fields of “registration number”, “message number”, and “lock”. The “registration number” field is a field in which the registration number of the user selected by the administrator as the destination for simultaneous transmission is recorded. The “message number” field is a field in which the message number of the message selected by the administrator as information to be transmitted simultaneously is recorded. The “lock” field is a field in which a lock flag indicating whether the mail server machine 50 can access the record is recorded. As will be described later, when the lock flag is on, the mail server machine 50 does not access the record. Further, as will be described later, of the transmission targets (a combination of a user and a message) registered in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44, the transmission target for which an email is transmitted by any mail server machine 50 The corresponding record is deleted from the simultaneous transmission target management table 44.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the relay server machine 40 stores database software 45 in the storage unit 40b. The database software 45 is software for searching each table 42 to 44 and registering and deleting records.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the relay server machine 40 stores a cooperation program 46 in the storage unit 40b. The cooperation program 46 cooperates with a simultaneous transmission control program 52b (described later) of the mail server machine 50 to register and delete records in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. 8 and switch the lock flag. It is a program. The contents of the process executed by the CPU 40c according to the cooperation program 46 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of the mail server machine 50.

  The mail server machine 50 is a general-purpose computer to which a known mail server function is added. Therefore, the hardware configuration of the mail server machine 50 shown in FIG. 9 is the same as the hardware configuration of the management server machine 30 shown in FIG.

  The mail server machine 50 stores operating system software 51 in the storage unit 50d. The operating system software 51 exhibits a function equivalent to that of the user machine 10 and includes a communication interface program 51a.

The mail server machine 50 stores mail server software 52 in the storage unit 50d. The mail server software 52 generally stores e-mails addressed to addresses in its own network, delivers e-mails to mailers 12 in its own network, and transmits e-mails addressed to addresses in other networks. This is software for adding a mail server function to a computer. The mail server software 52 includes, for example, a POP3 [Post Office Protocol 3] / SMTP [Simple Mail Transfer Protocol] protocol stack or an IMAP4 [Internet Message Access Protocol 4] / SMTP protocol stack. The mail server function in the mail server software 52 corresponds to the transmission unit described above.

  In this embodiment, the mail server software 52 includes a number of transmission targets (a combination of a user and a message) registered in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 of the relay server machine 40 so that the self can bear the transmission. A function has been added to take over the transmission target. In order to realize this function, the mail server software 52 includes an upper limit value definition table 52a, a simultaneous transmission control program 52b, and a transmission list table 52c.

  The upper limit value definition table 52a is a table that defines an upper limit value of the number of transmission targets that the mail server machine 50 can bear transmission.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the upper limit value definition table 52a.

  Each record of the upper limit value definition table 52a has fields of “load” and “upper limit value”. The “load” field is a field in which a load (unit:%) applied to the CPU 50c (or the network interface unit 50a) is recorded. The “upper limit value” field is a field in which an upper limit value (in units) of the number of destinations to which the mail server machine 50 can bear simultaneous transmission under the load is recorded.

  The simultaneous transmission control program 52b shown in FIG. 9 is the number of transmission targets that can be borne by itself among the transmission targets (a set of users and messages) registered in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 of the relay server machine 40. Is a program for picking up from the relay server machine 40. The contents of processing executed by the CPU 50c according to the simultaneous transmission control program 52b will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The transmission list table 52c shown in FIG. 9 is a table for storing information related to transmission targets that the CPU 50c has taken from the relay server machine 40 in accordance with the simultaneous transmission control program 52b. Although not shown, each record of the transmission list table 52c has fields of “e-mail address”, “subject”, and “text”.

<< Processing >>
Next, processing performed in the relay server machine 40 and the mail server machine 50 regarding transmission of an electronic mail to the user machine 10 will be described.

  In the relay server machine 40, when the main power is turned on, the cooperation program 46 is activated by the CPU 40c, and the cooperation processing is started.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow of the cooperation processing.

  In the first step S101 after the start of the cooperation process, the CPU 40c waits until an event occurs. The event includes a registration instruction, a lock request, and a deletion request. The registration instruction is an instruction for registering information to be simultaneously transmitted and a user as a destination of the information in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44. This registration instruction event indicates that an instruction to send an e-mail has been accepted. Is received from the web application 34 of the relay server machine 40. The lock request event is generated by receiving a lock flag switching instruction from the simultaneous transmission control program 52b of the mail server machine 50. The event of the deletion request is generated when an instruction to delete a record in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 is received from the simultaneous transmission control program 52b of the mail server machine 50. When any event occurs, the CPU 40c advances the process from step S101 to step S102.

  In step S102, the CPU 40c determines the type of event that has occurred. If the CPU 40c determines that the generated event is a registration instruction from the web application 34 of the relay server machine 40, the CPU 40c advances the process to step S103.

  In step S103, the CPU 40c acquires information to be transmitted all at once and information about a user who is a destination of the information from the web application 34 of the relay server machine 40.

In the next step S104, the CPU 40c registers the information and contents acquired in step S103 in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 of FIG. The record registered in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 stores an off-state lock flag. Thereafter, the CPU 40c returns the process to step S101, and returns to a state of waiting until some event occurs.

  If it is determined in step S102 that the event that has occurred is a lock request from the simultaneous transmission control program 52b of the mail server machine 50, the CPU 40c advances the process to step S105.

  In step S105, the CPU 40c switches the lock flag of the record specified by the designation included in the lock request, from the OFF to the ON, among the records in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. After the switching, the CPU 40c returns the process to step S101 and returns to a state of waiting until some event occurs.

  If it is determined in step S102 that the event that has occurred is a deletion request from the simultaneous transmission control program 52b of the mail server machine 50, the CPU 40c advances the process to step S106.

  In step S106, the CPU 40d deletes the record specified by the designation included in the deletion request from the records in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. After the deletion, the CPU 40c returns the process to step S101, and returns to a state of waiting until some event occurs.

  On the other hand, in the mail server machine 50, when the main power supply is turned on, the CPU 50c periodically starts the simultaneous transmission control program 52b. When the simultaneous transmission control program 52b is activated, the simultaneous transmission control process is started by the CPU 50c.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the flow of the simultaneous transmission control process.

  In the first step S201 after the start of the simultaneous transmission control process, the CPU 50c initializes the transmission list table 52c of FIG. By this initialization process, the transmission list table 52c is in a state where no record having a value is recorded.

  In the next step S202, the CPU 50c obtains the load (%) applied to the CPU 50c by a well-known means, and obtains the upper limit value (communication) corresponding to the obtained load from the upper limit value definition table 52a of FIG. The upper limit value to be used is determined by reading.

  In the next step S203, the CPU 50c executes a transmission list generation subroutine.

  FIG. 13 shows the flow of the transmission list generation subroutine.

  In the first step S301 after the start of the transmission list generation subroutine, the CPU 50c determines whether or not the number of records in the transmission list table 52c in FIG. 9 is equal to the upper limit value determined to be used in step S202. If the number of records is not equal to the upper limit value (if it is small), the CPU 50c branches the process from step S301 to step S302.

  In step S302, the CPU 50c requests the database software 45 of the relay server machine 40 to search the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 of FIG. 8 using unlock (lock flag is off) as a search condition. This request is made through a database client module (not shown) included in the simultaneous transmission control program 52b.

  In the next step S303, the CPU 50c determines whether or not the fact that the record is detected is notified from the database software 45 of the relay server machine 40 as a response to the search request in step S302. If notified that a record has been detected, the CPU 50c advances the process to step S304.

  In step S304, the CPU 50c requests the cooperation program 46 to switch the lock flag from OFF to ON for the record detected from the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 of FIG. 8 by the database software 45 of the relay server machine 40. . Here, the lock request sent to the cooperation program 46 includes the designation of a record. When receiving the lock request, the cooperation program 46 performs a process of switching the lock flag of the designated record in the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. 8 from OFF to ON as described above (step S105 in FIG. 11). .

  In the next step S305, the CPU 50c acquires information related to the detected record from the database software 45 of the relay server machine 40. Specifically, the CPU 50c reads out and delivers the e-mail address corresponding to the registration number of the detected record from the user management table 42 in FIG. 6, and the subject corresponding to the message number of the detected record. And instructing the database software 45 of the relay server machine 40 to read and deliver the text from the message management table 43 of FIG. As a result of this instruction, the CPU 50c acquires an e-mail address, a subject, and a text from the database software 45.

  In the next step S306, the CPU 50c adds the e-mail address, subject, and text acquired in step S305 as one record to the transmission list table 52c in FIG. Thereafter, the CPU 50c returns the process to step S301.

  In step S301, if the number of records in the transmission list table 52c in FIG. 9 is equal to the upper limit determined to be used in step S202, the CPU 50c ends the transmission list generation subroutine in FIG. The process proceeds to step S204.

  In addition, when the database software 45 of the relay server machine 40 does not notify that the record is detected in step S303, the CPU 50c ends the transmission list generation subroutine according to FIG. The process proceeds to step S204.

  The CPU 50d executing steps 201 to S203 and S301 to S306 corresponds to the acquisition unit described above.

  In step S204, the CPU 50c determines whether or not the number of records in the transmission list table 52c in FIG. 9 is greater than zero. And when the number of records is zero, CPU50c branches a process from step S204, and complete | finishes the simultaneous transmission control process which concerns on FIG. On the other hand, if the number of records is greater than zero, the CPU 50c advances the process to step S205.

In step S205, the CPU 50c requests the mail server function to transmit an e-mail based on all the records in the transmission list table 52c of FIG. Here, the CPU 50c generates a single e-mail addressed to all of those e-mail addresses for records having the same subject and body, and delivers them to the mail server function. As a result, the mail server machine 50 transmits e-mails to all the destinations stored in the transmission list table 52c at this time. In one e-mail for simultaneous transmission, the bcc [Blind Carbon Copy] function may be used for each e-mail address as a destination.

  In the next step S206, the CPU 50c requests the cooperation program 46 to delete records corresponding to all the records in the transmission list table 52c of FIG. 9 from the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 of FIG. Here, the deletion request sent to the cooperation program 46 includes the designation of a record. When receiving the deletion request, the cooperation program 46 performs the process of deleting the designated record from the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. 8 (step S106 in FIG. 11) as described above. Thereafter, the CPU 50c ends the simultaneous transmission control process according to FIG.

  The CPU 50c that executes steps S204 to S206 corresponds to the generation unit described above.

<< Action and effect >>
When the administrator of the safety confirmation system of the present embodiment acquires the web page data 32 of the management server machine 30 by operating the web browser software 22 of the administrator machine 20, the administrator machine 20 receives the web page. Is displayed. As described above, the web page includes an input means for inputting information to be broadcast simultaneously and an address to which the information is to be sent. Therefore, the administrator transmits the broadcast to the input means. The information to be input is selected by, for example, selecting from the list in which the message is stored in the message management table 43 in FIG. The user information in the table 42 is entered by selecting from the list shown. Thereafter, when the administrator operates an activation means included in the web page as a means for requesting the broadcast server machine 40 to perform the simultaneous transmission, the web application 34 is activated on the management server machine 30.

  Then, as described above, the web application 34 acquires the information and address input to the web page input unit, and sends the information to the cooperation program 46 of the relay server machine 40 as shown in FIG. Notify that information and address registration request. Upon receiving this registration request, the cooperation program 46 adds a record to the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. 8 (steps S102 to S104).

  On the other hand, regardless of the transmission target registration process, each mail server machine 50 starts the simultaneous transmission control program 52b periodically (for example, once every 10 seconds). A predetermined number of transmission targets are taken from the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. 8, and an electronic mail is transmitted (FIGS. 12 and 13).

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the e-mail transmission requested by the relay server machine 40 from the administrator machine 20 is automatically performed by the plurality of mail server machines 50 on which the simultaneous transmission control program 52b is periodically executed. To be done. In other words, if the mail server machine 50 added to the safety confirmation system is such that the simultaneous transmission control program 52b is periodically executed, the mail server machine 50 automatically sends an email. Since the relay server machine 40 operates as a request destination, the relay server machine 40 does not need to interrupt the service for accepting a transmission request from the administrator machine 20 and perform the registration process.

Further, in the present embodiment, the number of transmission targets (a combination of a user and a message) that each mail server machine 50 takes from the simultaneous transmission target management table 44 in FIG. The number depends on the load applied to the CPU 50c (or the network interface unit 50a), and as shown in FIG. 10, the upper limit on the number of transmission objects decreases as the load is applied to the CPU 50c. ing. Therefore, the resource of the mail server machine 50 in the safety confirmation system of this embodiment can be used efficiently.

<< Modification >>
In the above-described embodiment, the administrator of the safety confirmation system registers the information to be transmitted simultaneously and the destination of the information in the relay server machine 40 through the administrator machine 20 and the management server machine 30. Yes. However, the reason for the registration does not have to be based on the manager's conscious operation. For example, the Earthquake Early Warning provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency's Earthquake Monitoring System (EPOS [Earthquake Phenomena Observation System]). It may be based on.

  In this latter case, the relay server machine 40 is connected via a predetermined communication line to a breaking news distribution server that is in charge of delivering the earthquake early warning issued by the comprehensive monitoring system such as seismic activity, and the breaking news server A dedicated communication interface program must be provided. Further, step S101 of the linkage program 46 of the relay server machine 40 is not a step of causing the CPU 40c to determine the occurrence of the registration instruction event, but a step of causing the CPU 40c to determine the occurrence of the event of receiving the earthquake early warning from the bulletin distribution server. It becomes. Further, step S103 performed when an event of receiving an earthquake early warning from the breaking news distribution server occurs is a step for causing the CPU 40c to acquire a predetermined message and its destination for the earthquake early warning. . Note that the breaking news distribution server may be one of a weather service support center or a secondary distribution company.

<Explanation about unit>
In the embodiment described above, each of the units 10a to 10f, 20a to 20f, 30a to 30d, 40a to 40d, and 50a to 50d in each of the machines 10 to 50 is a software element and a hardware element. It may be comprised from, or may be comprised only by the hardware element.

Examples of software elements include an interface program, a driver program, a table, data, and a combination of some of these. These may be stored in a computer readable medium described later, or firmware fixedly incorporated in a storage device such as a ROM [Read Only Memory] and an LSI [Large Scale Integration]. good.

Hardware elements include FPGA [Field Programmable Gate Array], A
Examples include SIC [Application Specific Integrated Circuit], a gate array, a combination of logic gates, a signal processing circuit, an analog circuit, and other circuits. Among these, the logic gate may include AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, flip-flop, counter circuit, and the like. Further, the signal processing circuit may include circuit elements that execute addition, multiplication, division, inversion, product-sum operation, differentiation, integration, and the like of signal values. The analog circuit may include circuit elements that execute amplification, addition, multiplication, differentiation, integration, and the like.

  In addition, the element which comprises each unit 10a-10f, 20a-20f, 30a-30d, 40a-40d, 50a-50d in each machine 10-50 mentioned above is not limited to what was illustrated above, These It may be another element equivalent to.

<Explanation about software and program>
In the present embodiment described above, the software 11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 33, 34, 41, 45, 51, 52, the cooperation program 46, the web page data 32, Each table 42, 43, 44 and the above-described software elements are all managed as software components, components in a procedural language, object-oriented software components, class components, components managed as tasks, and processes. Parts, functions, attributes, procedures (procedures), subroutines (software routines), program code fragments or parts, drivers, firmware, microcode, code, code segments, extra segments, stack segments, program areas, data areas, data , Database Data structure, a field, a record, a table, a matrix table, an array, a variable, an element such parameters may include.

  In addition, each software 11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 33, 34, 41, 45, 51, 52 in each machine 10-50, cooperation program 46, web page data 32, and each table 42, 43 44, as well as the above-described software elements are all in C language, C ++, Java (trademark of Sun Microsystems, USA), Visual Basic (trademark of Microsoft Corporation, USA), Perl, Ruby, and many other programming languages. It may be described.

  In addition, each software 11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 33, 34, 41, 45, 51, 52 in each machine 10-50, cooperation program 46, web page data 32, and each table 42, 43 44, and the instructions, codes and data contained in the aforementioned software elements are transmitted to a computer or a computer incorporated in a machine or apparatus through a wired network card and a wired network, or through a wireless card and a wireless network. May be transmitted or loaded.

  In the transmission or loading described above, the data signal moves on a wired network or a wireless network by being incorporated in a carrier wave, for example. However, the data signal may be transferred as a so-called baseband signal without depending on the carrier wave described above. Such carrier waves are transmitted in electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic form, light, acoustic or other forms.

  Here, the wired network or the wireless network is, for example, a telephone line, a network line, a cable (including an optical cable or a metal cable), a wireless link, a mobile phone access line, a PHS [Personal Handyphone System] network, a wireless LAN [Local Area Network]. ], Bluetooth (trademark of Bluetooth Special Interest Group), vehicle-mounted wireless communication (including DSRC [Dedicated Short Range Communication]), and a network including any one of these. The data signal transmits information including instructions, codes, and data to a node or element on the network.

  In addition, each software 11, 12, 21, 22, 31, 33, 34, 41, 45, 51, 52 in each machine 10-50, the cooperation program 46, the web page data 32, and each table 42, 43 , 44 and the elements constituting the above-described software elements are not limited to those exemplified above, and may be other elements equivalent thereto.

<Explanation about computer-readable media>
Any function in the present embodiment described above may be encoded and stored in a storage area of a computer-readable medium. In this case, a program for realizing the function can be provided to a computer or a computer incorporated in a machine or apparatus via the computer-readable medium. A computer or a computer incorporated in a machine or apparatus can realize its functions by reading a program from a storage area of a computer-readable medium and executing the program.

  Here, the computer-readable medium stores information such as programs and data by an electrical, magnetic, optical, chemical, physical, or mechanical action, and can be read by the computer. Refers to a recording medium that holds

  An example of the electrical or magnetic action is writing data to an element on a ROM [Read Only Memory] composed of fuses. Examples of the magnetic or physical action include development of toner on a latent image on a paper medium. The information recorded on the paper medium can be read optically, for example. Examples of the optical and chemical action include thin film formation or uneven formation on the substrate. Information recorded in the form of irregularities can be read optically, for example. Examples of the chemical action include oxidation-reduction reaction on the substrate, oxide film formation, nitride film formation, or photoresist development on the semiconductor substrate. Examples of the physical or mechanical action include formation of irregularities on the embossed card or punch punching on a paper medium.

Some computer-readable media can be detachably attached to a computer or a computer incorporated in a machine or apparatus. Removable computer readable media include DVD (including DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM), + R / + WR, BD (including BD-R, BD-RE, BD-ROM) CD [Compact Disk] (including CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM), MO [Magneto Optical
] Disks, other optical disk media, flexible disks (including floppy disks (including floppy disks are trademarks of Hitachi, Ltd.)), other magnetic disk media, memory cards (compact flash (trademark of SanDisk, USA), smart media (trademarks of Toshiba Corporation) ), SD card (trademark of SanDisk Corporation, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation), Memory Stick (trademark of Sony Corporation), MMC (trademark of Siemens Corporation, USA, SanDisk Corporation), magnetic tape, and other tapes Examples of the medium and a storage device in which any one of them is built can be given. Some storage devices further include a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory).

Some computer-readable media are fixedly attached to a computer or a computer incorporated in a machine or apparatus. Examples of this type of computer readable medium include a hard disk, DRAM, SRAM, ROM, EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), flash memory, and the like.

  In addition to the above-described embodiment, the following additional notes are disclosed.

(Appendix 1)
An e-mail transmission system including a relay server that accepts a transmission request including information to be transmitted simultaneously and a destination address of the information from a request source device, and a plurality of mail servers having a transmission unit that transmits the e-mail. ,
Each said mail server
An acquisition unit for acquiring a predetermined number of addresses and the information from the relay server; and
An e-mail comprising: a generation unit that generates an e-mail containing the information acquired by the acquisition unit as a destination and each e-mail acquired by the acquisition unit, and delivers the e-mail to the transmission unit Transmission system.

(Appendix 2)
The e-mail transmission system according to appendix 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires, from the relay server, the number of addresses determined according to the load applied to the e-mail server.

(Appendix 3)
When the transmission unit transmits the e-mail generated by the generation unit, among the addresses received by the relay server from the request source device, the address to which the e-mail is transmitted is not acquired by another mail server The electronic mail transmission system according to supplementary note 1, further comprising: a state changing unit.

(Appendix 4)
The e-mail transmission system according to appendix 3, wherein the already-sent state is a state where the relay server deletes the address received from the request source device from the table for storing the address.

(Appendix 5)
The request source device requests the broadcast server to perform the broadcast by inputting information to be broadcast simultaneously and a destination address of the information from a terminal via a network. E-mail sending system.

(Appendix 6)
The e-mail transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the request source apparatus requests the relay server to perform the simultaneous transmission by receiving an emergency alert issued from a predetermined organization when there is a risk of occurrence of a disaster. .

(Appendix 7)
Each of a plurality of mail servers having a transmission unit for sending an e-mail
An acquisition procedure for acquiring a predetermined number of addresses and the information from a relay server that accepts a transmission request including information to be transmitted simultaneously and a destination address of the information from the request source device; and
An e-mail is generated with the address acquired in the acquisition procedure as a destination and the information acquired in the acquisition procedure as content, and a generation procedure for delivering the generated e-mail to the transmission unit is executed. How to send email.

(Appendix 8)
Each of the mail servers
The e-mail transmission method according to appendix 7, wherein in the acquisition procedure, the number of addresses determined according to the load applied to the mail server is acquired from the relay server.

(Appendix 9)
Each mail server further includes:
When the transmission unit transmits the e-mail generated in the generation procedure, among the addresses received by the relay server from the request source apparatus, the address to which the e-mail is transmitted is not acquired by another mail server The e-mail transmission method according to appendix 7, wherein a state change procedure is performed.

(Appendix 10)
The e-mail transmission method according to appendix 9, wherein the already-sent state is a state in which the relay server deletes the address received from the request source device from a table for storing the address.

(Appendix 11)
The appendix 7 is characterized in that the request source device requests the broadcast server to perform the broadcast by inputting information to be broadcast simultaneously and a destination address of the information from a terminal via a network. Email sending method.

(Appendix 12)
The e-mail transmission method according to claim 7, wherein the request source device requests the broadcast server to perform the simultaneous transmission by receiving an emergency alert issued from a predetermined organization when there is a risk of occurrence of a disaster. .

Configuration diagram of the safety confirmation system of the present embodiment User machine configuration diagram Configuration diagram of administrator machine Configuration diagram of the management server machine Configuration diagram of relay server machine The figure which shows a user management table typically The figure which shows a message management table typically The figure which shows the broadcast transmission object management table typically Configuration diagram of mail server machine Diagram showing the upper limit definition table Diagram showing the flow of linkage processing Diagram showing the flow of simultaneous transmission control processing Diagram showing the flow of the send list generation subroutine

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 User machine 12 Mailer 20 Administrator machine 22 Web browser software 30 Management server machine 32 Web page data 33 Web server software 34 Web application 40 Relay server machine 42 User management table 43 Message management table 44 Simultaneous transmission object management table 45 Database software 46 Cooperation program 50 Mail server machine 52 Mail server software 52a Upper limit definition table 52b Simultaneous transmission control program 52c Transmission list table

Claims (5)

An e-mail transmission system including a relay server that accepts a transmission request including information to be transmitted simultaneously and a destination address of the information from a request source device, and a plurality of mail servers having a transmission unit that transmits the e-mail. ,
Each said mail server
An acquisition unit that acquires the number of addresses determined by the mail server itself and the information from the relay server; and
A generation unit that generates an e-mail containing the information acquired by the acquisition unit as a destination and each address acquired by the acquisition unit, and delivers the e-mail to the transmission unit ;
When said mail server has been added to the e-mail transmission system, the acquisition unit of the mail server, e-mail transmission system characterized that you get the said address and said information. The e-mail transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires, from the relay server, the number of addresses determined according to the load applied to the mail server. When the transmission unit transmits the e-mail generated by the generation unit, among the addresses received by the relay server from the request source device, the address to which the e-mail is transmitted is not acquired by another mail server The e-mail transmission system according to claim 1, further comprising: The e-mail transmission system according to claim 3, wherein the already-sent state is a state in which the relay server deletes the address received from the request source device from a table for storing the address. Each of a plurality of mail servers having a transmission unit for sending an e-mail
An acquisition procedure for acquiring the number of addresses determined by the mail server itself and the information from a relay server that receives a transmission request including information to be transmitted simultaneously and a destination address of the information from the request source device; and
The mail server is configured to generate an e-mail having the address acquired in the acquisition procedure as a destination and the information acquired in the acquisition procedure as contents, and delivering the generated e-mail to the transmission unit. An e-mail transmission method which is executed when connected to a relay server .

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