JPH0129460B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an e-mail system that corrects a destination list based on the sender's destination set in received mail.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

With the development of A (office automation), electronic mail systems for the purpose of communicating documents, memos, data, etc. have become popular. This electronic mail system transmits transmission information inputted from a terminal or the like to a desired destination via an exchange network or network.

One of the problems in the operation of e-mail systems is how to handle address changes.

For example, if the address is configured in the form (organization name) + (name), the address may change due to changes in the organization name due to personnel changes, name changes, etc. When a destination is changed, it becomes necessary to modify the destination list in which the destination is registered in the system.

Conventionally, when modifying this destination list, the following methods were available, for example.

The user himself/herself sends an e-mail to other users to inform that the address has changed, and upon receiving this e-mail, the recipient manually corrects the address list.

This method has the problem that it requires work on the receiving side, making it troublesome and complicated.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was developed in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically modify the recipient list based on the sender's address set in the received email when receiving the email. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an e-mail system that can be used in a variety of ways.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention consists of a mail header that stores transmission management information and a mail body that stores transmission information, and the destination consists of a variable part and a fixed part, and the fixed part is immutable information specific to the user corresponding to the destination. A plurality of processing devices are connected via a switching network or a network, and are equipped with a means for creating, a means for sending and receiving, a means for storing e-mails, and an address list in which the addresses within the system are registered. In the e-mail system, when receiving a mail, the processing device extracts the sender's address (referred to as address A) from the mail header of the received mail, and selects the address (referred to as address B) whose fixed parts match on the address list. If there is one, it is extracted, the variable parts are compared, and if they are different, the variable part of destination B in the destination list is corrected to the variable part of destination A. Further, the processing device extracts the destination A from the received mail, and if there is no destination B whose fixed parts match on the destination list, the processing device extracts the destination A from the destination list.
It is designed to register.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in response to a change in the sender's address (more precisely, a change in the address variable part) when an email is received, the address list held on the receiving side can be automatically corrected. When sending an email to this sender, it is possible to write the exact destination. In this way, it is possible to easily deal with address change, which is a problem in the operation of the e-mail system, and a great practical effect can be obtained.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention. Processing devices 110, 120,
..., 130 are connected, and terminals 111 to 132 are connected to each processing device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a processing device. The processing device 200 is connected to a storage device 220 for storing e-mails, management information, etc., a communication line 250, a communication control device 230 that controls communication with other processing devices, and a plurality of terminals 260. A terminal control device 24 that controls the input and output of the connected terminal
0. It is composed of a control device 210 that controls each of these devices, and allows users of the e-mail system to create, send and receive e-mails, and
It has basic mail processing functions such as storage, and the storage device 220 stores a destination list 400 in which destinations within the system shown in FIG. 4 are registered. In this storage device, when an email is received, the destination list is modified based on the address of the sender of the received email.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the format of mail to be sent and received. E-mail 300 is the destination,
Mail headers 310 to 360 that store transmission management information such as transmission mode (ordinary, urgent, registered mail, etc.)
and a mail body 370 that stores information to be sent.

Destination 341-344, Sender 350-351
Each consists of a variable part and a fixed part.

Here, the organization name and name are written in the variable part, and the user number is written in the fixed part. This user number is unique to each destination, and even if the organization name or name of the destination changes, the user number remains unchanged.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of a destination list in which destinations within the system are registered. This destination list 400 is stored in the storage device 220. For each destination, the variable part 411, fixed part 412, and other attributes 42 of the destination 410
Consists of 0.

Hereinafter, the specific operation of the control device 210 will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 6.

When a mail 300 as shown in FIG. 3 is received, the variable part 350 and fixed part 351 of the sender's address are extracted from the mail header of the mail. Let them be A1 and A2, respectively. In this case, A1 is "Planning Department Sales Planning Division Namiki" and A2 is "1340 1502". Next, the destination list 400 shown in FIG. 4 is looked at one by one, and a destination having a fixed part equal to A2 is found. In the example in Figure 4, 430
That is the destination. Variable part B of this destination
1. Let the fixed part be B2. In this case, B1 is “Planning Department Product Planning Section Namiki” and B2 is “1340 1502”
It is. A2=B2, but since A1≠B1, replace B1 on the destination list with A1. The result is a destination list 500 shown in FIG.
As shown in 510, B1 has been rewritten.
Also, if there is no destination with a fixed part equal to A2 on the destination list, the sender's destinations A1, A
2 is newly registered in the destination list.

In this way, in response to a change in the sender's address (more precisely, a change in the address variable section), it becomes possible to automatically modify the address list held by the receiver at the time of reception, which improves e-mail operation. It is possible to easily deal with problematic destination changes, and a great practical effect can be obtained.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the variable part and fixed part of the destination are
It is not limited to what is shown in the figure. The organization name may be registered in the variable part and the name in the fixed part, or vice versa. It is also possible to set the terminal name in the variable part and the physical address of the terminal in the fixed part. Furthermore, various conventionally proposed basic mail processing functions such as creation, transmission/reception, and storage of mail can be appropriately adopted.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a processing device, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail format, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail format. A diagram showing an example of the list format, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modified destination list,
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an overview of the process. 100...Network, 110, 120, 13
0...processing device, 111, 112, 121, 12
2,131,132...terminal, 200...processing device,
210...control device, 220...storage device, 230...
Communication control device, 240...Terminal control device, 250...
Communication line, 260...terminal.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Consists of a mail header that stores transmission management information and a mail body that stores transmission information, and the destination in the mail header consists of a variable part and a fixed part,
The fixed part includes a means for creating an e-mail that is immutable information unique to the user corresponding to the destination, a means for sending and receiving the e-mail, a means for accumulating the e-mail, and a destination list in which the destinations in the system are registered. In an e-mail system in which a plurality of processing devices equipped with storage means are connected via a switching network or a network, when receiving a mail, the processing device extracts the sender's address from the mail header of the received mail and stores the sender's address. If there is a destination in the destination list whose fixed parts match, extract it, compare the variable parts, and if they are different, modify the variable part of the destination in the destination list to the variable part of the sender's destination. An e-mail system featuring: 2. The electronic mail according to claim 1, wherein the processing device registers the sender's destination in the destination list if there is no destination whose fixed parts match on the destination list. system.