JP6609941B2 - Mail management apparatus, mail management method, and mail management program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail management apparatus, a mail management method, and a mail management program.

  In general, the importance of mail is determined using a specific keyword, various settings, and the number of transmissions.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, it is determined that there is a relevance for information that is common in the header and text, and a mail containing a specific character string in the title, a specific user, or a specific The conditions for compression are determined according to whether the mail is classified into a group or whether it is protected.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for determining importance based on the presence / absence of a transmission history and the number of past transmissions.

JP 2013-042734 A JP 2008-152578 A

  However, Patent Document 1 has a problem that individual settings must be made according to each item.

  As a means for solving the problem of Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 is cited. Since Patent Document 2 determines the importance based on the number of transmissions, individual setting according to each item becomes unnecessary.

  However, when the degree of importance is determined by the number of times, the number of mails is large when viewed in a short period, but it has already converged when viewed over a long period of time, and an unimportant mail may be determined to be important.

  As described above, Patent Document 2 has a problem that importance cannot be determined in accordance with fluctuations in the number of emails.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mail management apparatus, a mail management method, and a mail management program that solve the above-described problems.

  The mail management apparatus according to the present invention includes a detection unit that detects a second mail that is a mail related to the first mail, and the number of the second mails converges even after a certain period of time has elapsed since the reception of the first mail. If not, a determination unit that determines that at least one of the second mails is important is provided.

  The mail management method of the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting a second mail which is a mail related to the first mail, and the number of the second mails converges even after a certain period of time has elapsed since the reception of the first mail. If not, a determination unit that determines that at least one of the second mails is important is provided.

  The mail management program according to the present invention includes a step of detecting a second mail, which is a mail related to the first mail, in a computer, and the number of the second mails after the elapse of a certain period from the reception of the first mail. If not converged, the step of determining that at least one of the second mails is important is executed.

  The effect of the present invention is that the importance can be determined according to the fluctuation of the number of mails.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram showing the functional structure of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the table | surface which showed an example of the related mail list | wrist in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which determines the important mail in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the total number of the related mail and the point which converged in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which determines the important mail in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the number of related mails and an approximate function in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which compared the maximum value of the approximate function with the converged point in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram showing the functional structure of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which compresses a mail file in the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  First, the configuration of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the mail management device 1 includes a detection unit 120 and a determination unit 130.

  The detection unit 120 detects a second mail that is a mail related to the first mail. For example, the first mail is a mail received in the past. The second mail is, for example, a reply mail for a mail received in the past or a mail that refers to a mail received in the past.

  The determination unit 130 determines that at least one of the second mails is important when the number of second mails detected by the detection unit 130 does not converge even after a certain period of time has elapsed. For example, if the period between the mail received in the past and the mail related to the mail received in the past is equal to or greater than the threshold, it is determined that the mail has not been converged since the mail has been received after a certain period of time, and the mail has been received in the past Important at least one of the emails related to the received email. In addition, whether or not it has converged after a certain period of time may be predicted in advance by using an approximate expression.

  Next, the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the detection unit 120 detects a second mail related to the first mail (step S1001). For example, a reply mail for a mail received in the past or a mail referring to a mail received in the past is detected as the second mail.

  Next, the determination unit 130 determines whether or not the number of second mails converges after a certain period of time (step S1002). For example, when the predetermined period is set to 20 days, the determination unit 130 acquires the reception date of the second mail, and the reception date is 20 days from the reception date of the first mail that has been received in the past. It is judged whether it is over. When it has not exceeded 20 days, the determination unit 130 determines that the number of second mails has converged, and when it has exceeded 20 days, it has been determined whether it has been received, and has been received. It is determined that it has not converged.

  If the determination unit 130 determines that the number of second mails does not converge even after a lapse of a certain period (step S1001: NO), it determines that at least one of the second mails is important (step S1003). You may decide that all relevant emails are important.

  If the determination unit 130 determines that the number of second mails has converged within a certain period of time (step S1003: YES), it determines that the mails are not important and ends.

  Thus, the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is completed.

  The first embodiment of the present invention is that the importance can be determined according to the fluctuation of the number of mails. The reason is that important mail is mail that discusses important matters, and in that case, transmission and reception of mail continues for a long time. Therefore, it can be determined whether or not the number of second mails related to the first mail received in the past converges after a lapse of a certain period of time, and can be determined to be important when it does not converge.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  First, the configuration of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the mail management device 1 includes a reception unit 110, a detection unit 120, a determination unit 130, a notification unit 140, and a storage unit 150.

  The mail management apparatus 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) and a memory, and executes various processes under program control.

  In the second embodiment, the CPU (not shown) has been described as reading and executing a program stored in the memory. However, the control program is stored in a storage medium such as a CDROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory). Thus, it can be provided to a CPU (not shown). The receiving unit 110 receives mail from the mail server and converts one mail into one mail file. Further, the mail index list 151 that is information for managing the mail file in the storage unit 150 is updated.

  The detection unit 120 compares the mail index list 151 stored in the storage unit 150 with the header information and title of the mail in the newly acquired mail, and the newly acquired mail is related to the mail acquired in the past. Detect whether or not. If the mail is related, the related mail list 152 is created and updated.

  The determination unit 130 acquires the elapsed period of the last related mail acquired from the first acquired mail among the related mails, and determines whether the elapsed period is equal to or greater than the threshold. However, it is not always necessary to get the elapsed time from the first mail, and if you have not acquired a new mail for a long time from the first mail, it is not from the first mail but from the second mail. An elapsed period may be acquired.

Further, the determination unit 130 acquires the number of related mails in a predetermined period before the mail determined as the last related mail, and determines whether the number of mails is equal to or greater than a threshold. If it is equal to or greater than the threshold, the determination unit 130 determines that the message has not converged, and determines that at least one of the related mails is important. For example, the number of mails up to three days before the date of reception of the mail that is determined to be the last related mail is acquired, it is determined whether or not it is equal to or greater than a threshold, and mail that is equal to or greater than the threshold is determined as important mail. The notification unit 140 includes an important mail reference list 141. The notification unit 140 refers to the important mail reference list 141 and notifies the user that it is “important mail”.

  The important mail reference list 141 stores the reference to the mail determined to be important by the determination unit 130 in the important mail reference list 141. The important mail reference list 141 holds a reference number corresponding to the storage location of the important mail file, for example, a reference number such as “mail file 2014120201”.

  The storage unit 150 stores a mail index list 151, a related mail list 152, and a mail file storage unit 153.

  The mail index list 151 is a list for managing mail files stored in the mail file storage unit 153, and stores, for example, header information and titles of mail files.

  The related mail list 152 stores a list of related mails detected by the detection unit 120. The related mail list 152 shows, for example, related mail for each mail acquired in the past, and includes a reception date, an elapsed period, a total number, and a mail file reference number as shown in FIG.

  The mail file storage unit 153 stores the mail file converted by the receiving unit 110.

  FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of a related mail list in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a related mail list related to the mail A, and shows that there are mails 1 to 10 as mails related to the mail A. Then, the reception date of each mail, the elapsed time from the mail A, the total number of mails related to the mail A, and the reference number of the mail file are shown.

  For example, the mail 1 is received on December 2, 2014. The mail file of mail 1 is stored in the mail file storage unit 153, and 2014120201 in the mail file storage unit 153 corresponds to the mail 1. In addition, one day has elapsed from the reception of the mail A to the reception of the mail 1, and the total number of mails related to the mail A is one. The same applies to mail 2 to mail 10.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of determining important mail in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when the user performs a mail receiving operation, the receiving unit 110 acquires a mail from the mail server (step S2001).

  The receiving unit 110 converts one received mail into one mail file (step S2002).

  Simultaneously with step S2002, the receiving unit 110 updates the mail index list 151 for managing mail files (step S2003). For example, the header information and title of the newly received mail are added to the mail index list 151. Then, the reception unit 110 passes the converted mail file to the detection unit 120.

  The detection unit 120 detects a mail related to the mail acquired before the mail file acquired from the reception unit 110 (step S2004). Whether the mail is a related mail is related to the mail file acquired from the receiving unit 110 by the detection unit 120 comparing the mail index list 151 with the header information, title, etc. of the mail file acquired from the receiving unit 110. Judge whether mail. For example, when a character string such as “Re:” is added to the title, it is determined that a mail file having a similar title under “Re:” is a related mail file.

  The condition for determining whether or not the detection unit 120 is a related mail is not limited to the above, and may be a case where the similarity of the text is equal to or higher than a threshold value, or a case where the same sentence or the same mail is referred to.

  When it is not related mail (step S2004: NO), the detection unit 120 stores the mail file in the mail file storage unit 153 (step S2011).

  When it is related mail (step S2004: YES), the detection unit 120 determines whether the corresponding related mail list 152 exists. For example, in the case of a mail related to mail A, referring to FIG. 4, since there is a related mail list of mail A, the detection unit 120 determines that a related mail list exists.

  When it is determined that the related mail list exists (step S2005: YES), the detection unit 120 updates the related mail list (step S2006). For example, in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the mail 6 is newly acquired as the mail related to the mail A. The detection unit 120 adds the reception date of the mail 6 and the mail file reference number to the related mail list of the mail A. Then, the detection unit 120 calculates and adds the elapsed period from the date of reception of the mail A and the total number of related mails of the mail A. Then, the process proceeds to step S2008.

  When it is determined that the related mail list does not exist (step S2006: NO), the detection unit 120 creates a new related mail list (step S2007). For example, in the case of a mail related to mail B, referring to FIG. 4, since only the related mail list of mail A exists, the detection unit 120 newly creates a related mail list. Then, the detection unit 120 stores the mail file in the mail file storage unit 153 (step S2011).

  Then, the determination unit 130 refers to the related mail list 152 and determines whether the elapsed period from the first acquired mail is greater than or equal to the threshold (step S2008). For example, when the threshold is 10 days, referring to the related mail list in FIG. 4, the elapsed period of the last received mail 10 in the related mail is 21 days. It determines with it being above. However, it is not always necessary to acquire the elapsed period from the first mail acquired. If you have not acquired a new mail for a long period of time from the first mail acquired, it is not the first mail but the mail acquired from the second mail. You may acquire the elapsed period of.

  When it is determined that the elapsed period is not equal to or greater than the threshold (step S2008: NO), the determination unit 130 stores the mail file acquired from the detection unit 120 in the mail file storage unit 153 (step S2011).

  When it is determined that the elapsed period is equal to or greater than the threshold (step S2008: YES), the determination unit 130 determines whether the number of related mails has converged (step S2009). As a condition for determining whether or not it has converged, for example, when the number of related mail increases in a predetermined period is greater than or equal to a threshold value, it is determined that it has not converged. In FIG. 4, assuming that the threshold for the increase in the number of mails is 3 and the predetermined period is 3 days, the period from the date of receiving the mail 10 to 3 days before is defined as the predetermined period. Since the number of increases at this time is four, it is determined that the number is greater than or equal to the threshold, and it is determined that the mail related to the mail A has not converged.

When it determines with having converged (step S2009: YES), the determination part 130 preserve | saves the mail file acquired from the detection part 120 in the mail file storage part 153 (step S2011).
When it determines with not having converged (step S2009: NO), it determines with the determination part 130 being important, and adds the reference to the mail to the important mail reference list 141 (S2010). Then, the determination unit 130 stores the mail file in the mail file storage unit 153 (step S2011).

  The notification unit 140 refers to the important mail reference list 141 and notifies the user that an important mail has been received.

  As described above, the operation for determining important mail according to the second embodiment of the present invention is completed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the total number of related mails and the converged points in the second embodiment of the present invention. The vertical axis in FIG. 6 indicates the total number of related mails, and the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed period. The vertical axis in FIG. 6 indicates the number of related mails, and the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed period.

  One day after receiving the first mail, 4 mails are received, 5 mails are received 2 days later, 6 mails are received 3 days later, 1 mail is received 10 days later, 0 is mailed 11 days later This indicates that one case has been received after 12 days and no related mail has been received thereafter. That is, it is shown that it is determined that the number of mail increases after 11th and has converged between 13th and 17th. In the present embodiment, the mail received on the 12th is determined to be important, and the mail received on the 18th is determined not to be important.

The second embodiment of the present invention enables the user to accurately understand the importance of mail. The reason is that the importance is determined based on whether the received mail is received even after a certain period of time and the increase in the number of received messages. If the mail related to the mail received in the past has not converged, it is judged as important and an important mail reference list is created in which the reference to the important mail is stored in the notification section. I do.
(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The third embodiment of the present invention differs from the second embodiment of the present invention in that the method for determining importance is different. Since the functional block diagram of the mail management apparatus 1 is the same as that of the second embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation for determining important mail in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  Steps S3001 to S3007 are the same as steps S2001 to S2007 in the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.

  In step S3008, the determination unit 130 refers to the related mail list 152 and acquires the number of related mails for each predetermined period (step S3008). For example, referring to the elapsed period and the total number of related mail lists as shown in FIG. 4, the number of related mails acquired per day is calculated and acquired. It is not always necessary to calculate the number of related mails, and it is also possible to record the number of mails acquired for each predetermined period.

  The determination unit 130 approximates the acquired number of related mails for each predetermined period as an approximate function f (t) = g (t) × e ^ (at), and predicts the convergence time of the related mails based on the approximate function. (Step S3009). Here, g (t) is a polynomial and is a monotonically increasing function.

  As a method for predicting the convergence time, for example, it can be predicted by obtaining a local maximum value of the approximate function approximated. The earlier the time when the maximum value comes, the earlier the convergence time. For example, referring to FIG. 9, the maximum value of pattern 1 is 3.5 days, and the convergence time is predicted to be 10 days.

  The determination unit 130 determines whether or not the convergence period predicted in step S3009 is equal to or greater than a threshold (step S3010). When the convergence period is not greater than or equal to the threshold (step S3010; NO), the determination unit 130 stores the mail file in the mail file storage unit 153 (step S3012). For example, if the convergence period threshold is 10 days, it is determined that pattern 1 is not equal to or greater than the threshold.

  If the convergence period is greater than or equal to the threshold (step S3010: YES), the determination unit 130 determines that it is important, and adds the mail reference to the important mail reference list 141 (step S3010). Then, the determination unit 130 stores the mail file in the mail file storage unit 153 (step S2011).

  The notification unit 140 refers to the important mail reference list 141 and notifies the user that an important mail has been received.

  Thus, the operation for determining important mail according to the third embodiment of the present invention is completed.

  In the present embodiment, the operation of determining whether or not the mail is important when the mail is acquired is shown. However, the operation is not limited to the time when the mail is acquired, and the related mail list 152 stored at the time specified by the user is acquired. In addition, important mail may be determined, or important mail may be automatically determined every predetermined period.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the number of related mails and an approximate function in the third embodiment of the present invention. The number of related mails per day and the graph of the approximate function calculated in step S3009 in FIG. 7 are shown.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram comparing the maximum value of the approximate function and the converged point in the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 shows an approximate function in the number of related mails of two types of pattern 1 and pattern 2 in the upper graph. The total number of related emails corresponding to the approximate expression is shown in the graph below.

  The maximum value of the approximate function of pattern 1 is the 3.5th day, and the maximum value of the approximate function of pattern 2 is the 6th day. The time when the related mails are converged indicates that pattern 1 is the 10th day and pattern 2 is the 18th day. That is, it can be seen that pattern 1 with the maximum local value comes earlier than pattern 2 has a faster convergence time. For example, if the threshold of the convergence period is 10 days, the determination unit 130 determines that the maximum value is 3.5 days or more as important.

The third embodiment of the present invention can determine important mails earlier than the second embodiment. The reason is that since the convergence time is predicted by using an approximate function, the importance of mail can be determined before the convergence time of the actual number of mails.
(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The fourth embodiment of the present invention differs from the second and third embodiments in that it includes a compression unit 160, a compression list 154, and a compressed file storage unit 155.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
Since it is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment except the point provided with the compression part 160, the compression list 154, and the compression file storage part 155, description is abbreviate | omitted regarding another structure.

  The compression unit 160 compresses the mail file determined by the determination unit 130 to converge, and creates a compressed file. Further, the compression unit 160 creates a compression list 154 indicating the compressed mail file.

  The storage unit 150 further includes a compression list 154 and a compressed file storage unit 155.

  The compression list 154 is a list for managing the compressed mail file, and may include, for example, a reference to the compressed mail file, a title of the compressed mail, header information, and the like.

  The compressed file storage unit 155 stores the compressed mail file.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of compressing a mail file in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  The determination unit 130 acquires the related mail list 152 (step S4001).

  Then, the determination unit 130 refers to the related mail list 152 and determines whether the number of related mails has converged (step S4002). Since the operation for determining whether or not it has converged may be determined based on the second embodiment or the third embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.

  The determination unit 130 refers to the related mail list 152 and extracts related mails that have converged (step S4003). For example, the mail file corresponding to the mail file reference number as shown in FIG. 4 is extracted from the mail file storage unit 153.

  Then, the determination unit 130 collectively transmits the mail files extracted in step S4003 to the compression unit 160 (step S4004).

  Then, the determination unit 130 deletes the mail file from the mail file storage unit 153 transmitted in step S4004 (step S4005).

  The compression unit 160 adds the mail file acquired from the determination unit 130 to the compression list 154 (step S4006). For example, the compression list is a list for managing mail files such as reference 154 and reference to the compressed file storage unit 155 and header information of the compressed mail file.

  The compression unit 160 compresses the mail file acquired from the determination unit 130, creates a compressed file, and stores the compressed file in the compressed file storage unit 155.

  Thus, the operation for compressing the mail file according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is completed.

  The fourth embodiment of the present invention can efficiently reduce resources for storing mail. The reason is that only mail files determined to be insignificant are compressed together.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mail management apparatus 110 Reception part 120 Detection part 130 Judgment part 140 Notification part 141 Important mail reference list 150 Storage part 151 Mail index list 152 Related mail list 153 Mail file storage part 154 Compression list 155 Compression file storage part 160 Compression part

Claims (6)

A detection unit for detecting a second mail that is a mail related to the first mail;
A determination unit that determines that at least one of the second mails is important when the number of the second mails does not converge even after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the reception of the first mails;
A mail management device comprising: The determination unit
Predicting the convergence time of the number of second emails based on an approximate function with the number of second emails for each predetermined period as an input;
The mail management device according to claim 1, wherein when the convergence time is equal to or greater than a threshold, at least one of the plurality of second mails is determined to be important. If the determination unit determines that the number of the second mail has converged, email management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a compression unit compressing the second mail converged . The mail management apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the compression unit creates a list indicating the compressed second mail. A mail management method executed by a computer,
Detecting a second mail that is a mail related to the first mail;
Determining that at least one of the second emails is important if the number of the second emails does not converge after a certain period of time has elapsed since the receipt of the first email;
An e-mail management method comprising: Detecting a second mail which is a mail related to the first mail on a computer;
Determining that at least one of the second emails is important if the number of the second emails does not converge after a certain period of time has elapsed since the receipt of the first email;
A program that executes