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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic mail system for
electronically delivering information to a communicating partner, and in
particular, to an electronic mail system for delivering output data
produced from a business processing system.
In firms and companies, business processing systems are employed to carry
out business jobs, for example, for effecting daily, weekly, or monthly
jobs such that a daily, weekly, or monthly report is periodically
outputted from the computer system. The report thus outputted is
temporarily stored as output data in an auxiliary storage so as to be
printed out by use of a high-speed printer. The printed matter is then
delivered from an electronic data processing (EDP) section to divisions
and sections requiring the printed matter.
In such a division, based on the data of the delivered report, various jobs
are conducted to produce data for the decision making, to analyze the
data, or to generate other reports. For these purposes, it is necessary to
input again the data in a data processing equipment such as a personal
computer dedicatedly used in the division.
However, the conventional method above is attended with the following
problems.
That is, there is required human work when the output data generated from
the business processing system is to be delivered to the divisions and
sections requiring the data and when the delivered data is to be inputted
again for the processing and analysis thereof. In addition, when a great
amount of output data is delivered in a form of printed matter, a large
space is required for the storage and accumulation thereof; furthermore, a
long period of time is necessary to retrieve data thus stored.
As described above, according to this method, a considerable period of time
is required to re-input the data and there exists a chance of a mis-input,
which leads to problems that the reliability of the result of the data
processing and analysis is lowered and the decision making results in an
error or is delayed.
On the other hand, there has been described in the JP-A-57-131148 a system
in which data created by a terminal in a time-sharing system (TSS) by use
of a host computer is transferred to another terminal specified so as to
deliver the data without producing the printed matter thereof.
In this system, however, the terminal to which the data is transferred is
required to be specified when the data is created. Consequently, in a case
where output data periodically produced is to be transferred to terminals,
the terminal as the transfer destination is required to be specified
through an operator for each data transfer, which deteriorates the
efficiency of data delivery.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention, for removal of the
disadvantages above of the conventional apparatus, to provide an
electronic mail system capable of automatically effecting a transmission
processing of data outputted from a computer to a terminal without
necessitating intervention of the operator.
In order to achieve the objects above, according to one aspect of the
present invention, a transmission list including information of a
transmission destination terminal for each output data is stored in a
memory employed as a transmitter mail box such that when output data is
outputted from a computer, the information of the list stored in the
memory is referenced so as to automatically conduct a transmission
processing of the output data to the corresponding terminal.
In the configuration above, since the transfer processing of the output
data can be automatically accomplished without necessitating an operator's
intervention, the efficiency of the transmission processing is improved
and hence the processing capacity of the computer is increased.
Particularly, the effect is emphasized when the output data is
periodically outputted.
In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, the
output data is stored in a memory employed as a receiver mail box for each
terminal as the destination of the transmission specified by use of the
transmission list such that the output data thus stored in the memory is
selectively outputted to the transmission destination terminal in response
to a transmission request therefrom.
In consequence, since the output data is automatically stored in the memory
for each terminal as the transmission destination, the data transmission
processing is automatically achieved without necessitating the operator's
intervention, thereby increasing the processing capacity of the computer.
Furthermore, when the operator requiring the output data can freely and
correctly receive the data directly from the memory at a high speed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an electronic mail
system according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a transmission list in
a transmitter mail box;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a reception list in a
transmitter mail box;
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a transmission list creation
processing;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining operations of the electronic mail
system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing the transmission processing in the
embodiment of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing the reception processing in the
embodiment of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the accompanying drawings, description will be given in
detail of embodiments according to the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an electronic mail
system according to the present invention. The configuration of FIG. 1
includes a business processing system 2, for example, a host computer, and
business terminals Tl to Tn to effect operations such as an operation to
input business data and an operation to instruct a processing content to
be effected by the system 2 and a transfer destination of the processing
result.
Data inputted through the terminals Tl to Tn is processed in the processing
system 2 so as to be temporarily stored in a file 6 such that the data is
selectively transferred therefrom to the terminals Tl to Tn or to receiver
terminals Tel to Ten.
Next, description will be given of a configuration employed to effect a
transfer processing of output data periodically supplied from the system
2. Reference numeral 4 indicates a terminal, for example, a manager's
terminal to input information necessary to achieve a transmit processing
of the output data periodically produced from the system 2, and the
information is stored as transmission lists 11a, 11b, etc. via the system
2 into a transmitter mail box 10.
The output data periodically supplied from the system 2 is temporarily
stored in a file 8 so as to be thereafter loaded in a receiver mail box 12
together with information of a transmission list corresponding to the
output data in the mail box 10.
The data thus stored in the mail box 12 is selectively supplied to one of
the receiver terminals Tel to Ten in response to a request therefrom.
Incidentally, in the configuration of FIG. 1, for simplification of the
description, the terminals Tel to Ten receiving the data periodically
outputted from the system are different from the business terminals Tl to
Tn; however, the business terminals may also be used as the receiver
terminals.
Similarly, the manager's terminal may also be used as a business terminal
and/or a receiver terminal.
The data periodically outputted from the system includes data to be daily,
weekly, monthly, or yearly totaled or processed, and description will be
given here of an example of a weekly sales report created by totaling the
sales amount data for each week.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show examples respectively of a transmission list and a
reception list stored as tables in the transmitter mail box and the
receiver mail box, respectively. The transmission list is created through
the manager's terminal, whereas the reception list is produced through a
process of the transmission processing.
FIG. 2 shows the transmission list 11a in which the mail name is a weekly
sales report, the receiver name is, for example, the terminal Tel, the
transmitter name is, for example, the business terminal Tl, the job name
of the transmission data, namely, the name of the output data is, for
example, job 1, the page range is denoted as 1 to 10, and the delivery
day/time on which the output data is desired to be delivered to the
receiver mail box is indicated as Oct. 1, 1:00 P.M. In a case where the
data identical to those of the weekly sales report of the list 11a are to
be sent to a receiver terminal other than the terminal Tel, there may be
disposed another transmission list for the pertinent receiver terminal or
the name thereof may be specified as the receiver name in the list 11a. In
this fashion, for each output data, a list to be used for the transmission
processing is created in the mail box 10 by use of the terminal 4.
FIG. 3 is an example of a reception list to be created as follows. That is,
when the output data is stored in data file 14a, 14b, etc. in the mail box
12, information of the transmission list corresponding to the output data
is read from the mail box 10 so as to be stored in the corresponding
reception list 13a, 13b, etc., thereby preparing the reception list. The
reception list 13a of FIG. 3 corresponds to the transmission list 11a,
where the mail name is a weekly sales report, the transmitter name is the
business terminal Tl, the reception day/time, namely, the date when the
output data is stored is indicated as Oct. 1, 1:00 P.M., and the reception
data address is an address of the data file 14a at which the corresponding
output data is stored.
The receiver mail box is disposed, for example, for each reception
terminal, namely, in a receiver mail box, there are disposed the different
reception lists for the respective mail names. Incidentally, for
simplification, the configuration of FIG. 1 includes the receiver mail box
12 only for the terminal Tel.
Referring next to the sequence diagram of FIG. 4, description will be given
of the operation of the manager's terminal 4 to create a transmission
list.
First, a connect request for a connection to the system 2 is instructed
from the terminal 4 to the system 2, which then establishes a connection
between the terminal 4 and the system 2 so as to notify the connection
completion to the terminal 4 after the connection is completely
established. In response thereto, the terminal 4 sends information to
create the transmission list to the system 2, thereby controlling the
system 2 to generate the transmission list and to store the obtained list
in the transmitter mail box. The system 2 then issues a report notifying
the completion of the transmission list create processing to the terminal
4, which in turn instructs the system 2 to disconnect the connection
therebetween.
Referring now to the flowchart of FIG. 5, description will be given of the
operation of the electronic mail system of FIG. 1 after the transmission
list is beforehand created in this manner.
First, at an end of a week, a job is initiated to periodically create a
weekly sales report in the primary business system (step 101). The
initiation of the job may be accomplished by the system 2 itself or in
response to an instruction from a terminal.
A weekly sales report as a result of the execution of the job thus
initiated is outputted as output data so as to be stored in a file 8 as a
temporary storage together with the job name (step 102).
The output data stored in the file 8 is loaded through the transmission
processing in the receiver mail box 12 together with the corresponding
transmission list in the transmitter mail box 10.
The weekly sales report stored in the mail box 12 is transmitted to the
pertinent terminal in the reception processing effected by use of a
receiver terminal (step 104).
The terminal achieved the reception processing then effects a unique
work/analysis processing based on the data of the weekly sales report for
the decision making (step 105). The work/analysis processing means here a
processing to attain information necessary for related divisions and
sections, for example, mainly to create tables and graphs associated with
such information.
Referring next to the flowchart of FIG. 6, description will be given of
details about the transmission processing.
The output data obtained in the processing system 2 has been sequentially
stored in the file 8. In this situation, it is first checked to determine
whether or not the output data having a job name specified by use of the
transmission list exists in the file 8 (step 204). If this is not the
case, the step 204 is repeatedly achieved until the output data is found.
If the output data exists in the file 8, a judge operation is conducted in
a step 205 by refering to the corresponding transmission list to determine
whether or not a page range has been specified for the existing output
data, for example, the weekly sales report. In a case where the page range
is not specified, the default is assumed, namely, data of all pages
associated with the output data is read from the file 8 (step 207). On the
other hand, if the page range is specified, data of the pages specified by
use of the transmission list is read therefrom (step 206). In consequence,
in a case where there exists in the file 8 a weekly sales report of which
the job name specified by the transmission list is the job 1, the data of
pages 1 to 10 of the weekly sales report is read from the file 8.
Next, the system checks the delivery day/time specified by the transmission
list corresponding to the output data read from the file 8 so as to
determine whether the current day/time is past the specified day/time
(step 208). If the current day/time is not past the delivery day/time, the
output data is preserved until the delivery day/time arrives (step 209).
In consequence, the output data is kept stored in the file 8 or the
transmitter mail box 10 until arrival of the delivery day/time.
If the current day/time is past the delivery day/time, the output data is
stored in the data file in the receiver mail box corresponding to the
receiving terminal and information read out from the corresponding
transmission list is written in the reception list, thereby creating the
reception list (step 210). That is, the system writes the mail name of the
corresponding transmission list as the mail name of the reception list,
the transmitter name of the transmission list as the transmitter name of
the reception list, the day/time when the output data and the information
of the transmission list are delivered to the receiver mail box 12 as the
reception day/time of the reception list, and the address of the data file
at which the output data is stored therein as the data address of the
reception list, thereby creating the reception list.
In consequence, for example, in a case where a weekly sales report
associated with the output data corresponding to the transmission list 11a
is stored in the data file 14a in the mail box 12 corresponding to the
receiver terminal Tel, there is created the reception list 13a of FIG. 3.
Through the operations above, the transmission processing has been
completely accomplished.
Details about the reception processing will now be described by referring
to the sequence diagram of FIG. 7.
First, a receiver terminal issues to the system 2 a connection request to
establish a connection between the system 2 and the terminal, which in
turn establishes a connection therebetween and notifies the completion of
the connection after the connection is completely established. The
terminal then instructs the system 2 to display on the terminal a list of
information of the reception lists destined for the terminal in the
corresponding receiver mail box. In response thereto, the information of
the reception lists in the corresponding receiver mail box is sent via the
system 2 to the terminal so as to be displayed thereon. When the operator
checks the displayed data and instructs a reception of a desired mail name
based on the check result, output data (of the pertinent mail) is read
from the data file specified by the data address indicated by use of the
reception list corresponding to the mail name and is then sent to the
terminal. When the transmission of the mail is finished in this fashion,
the terminal instructs the system 2 to disconnect the connection between
the system 2 and the terminal.
Through these operations, the reception processing has been completely
achieved.
As described above, according to the embodiment above, since the output
data like a weekly sales report to be periodically produced is
automatically transmitted to the receiver mail box depending on the
transmission list, the transmission processing can be achieved without
necessitating an operator's intervention, which improves the efficiency of
the transmission processing. In addition, by use of the receiver mail box,
the receiver can freely and correctly attain the necessary output data at
a high speed and at an arbitrary point of time.
In consequence, particularly in a case where the output data is to be
periodically supplied, there is attained a considerable effect due to the
automated operation of the transmission processing in accordance with the
present invention.
In addition, according to the embodiment, without modifying programs used
in the business processing system, only the necessary output data can be
correctly obtained at a high speed.
In the embodiment above, although the output data is stored in the receiver
mail box in the transmission processing, the output data may be directly
stored in the corresponding receiver terminal.
In this case, the receiver mail box is not disposed in the configuration of
FIG. 1 such that in the step 208 of the transmission processing of FIG. 6,
the output data of which the deliver day/time has already arrived is
directly transmitted to the corresponding receiver terminal together with
the pertinent transmission list.
In consequence, the step 210 of FIG. 6 is not achieved; moreover, the
reception processing of FIG. 7 is not effected. That is, in the receiver
terminal, necessary data obtained from the output data stored in the
memory is selectively displayed or outputted as printed matter.
In this configuration, since the transfer processing of the output data to
the terminals can be automatically achieved without an operator's
intervention, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the transmission
processing and to increase the processing capacity of the computer.
In the embodiments above, the business processing system may include a host
computer, or a terminal may be provided with a function to achieve the
business processing.
In addition, the output data supplied from the business processing system
to the receiver mail box may be final data or intermediate data (requiring
a work processing). In the latter case, the intermediate data undergoes a
work in the receiver terminal so as to be converted into the final data.
In the respective embodiments above, although the transmission list is
created by the manager's terminal, the transmission list may be prepared
by use of the business terminal or the receiver terminal.
Furthermore, there is possibly considered a method of automating the
procedure of the transmission processing. That is, the transmission list
is beforehand registered to the transmitter mail box such that immediately
after a job such as a job to generate a weekly report is initiated, the
transmission processing is automatically executed so as to effect the
registration of the list to the receiver mail box. According to this
method, the human power can be further minimized and the data transmission
can be more correctly effected at a higher speed.
In addition, although the description above has been given of a case
related to a weekly sales report, it is to be understood that the present
invention is effectively applicable to any business systems in which
output data other than the weekly sales report is produced.
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