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Claims  |
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What is claimed:
1. An electronic-mail (e-mail) transmission apparatus, comprising:
means for accepting designation of one or more e-mail addresses;
means for accepting body text that is common to e-mail destined for each of said e-mail addresses;
means for accepting one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mail;
means for associating at least one subset of e-mail addresses with each of said attachment files, each said subset including at least one of said e-mail addresses;
means for creating e-mail destined for a given one of said subset of said e-mail addresses, including said body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with a given one of the e-mail addresses; and
means for transmitting each said e-mail.
2. The e-mail transmission apparatus of claim 1, further comprising first means for appending a message to e-mail without at least one of said attachment files attached thereto in order to indicate existence of said attachment files.
3. The e-mail transmission apparatus of claim 1, further comprising first means for displaying an address for displaying each of said subsets of said e-mail addresses in association with a message indicating each of said attachment files
associated with said subsets.
4. The e-mail transmission apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
said means for accepting designation accepts designation of one or more e-mail addresses identifying primary recipients of the e-mail (TO addresses), and/or designation of one or more e-mail addresses identifying secondary recipients of the
e-mail (secondary addresses);
said means for associating associates a primary one of said subsets of said e-mail addresses including said TO addresses only and/or a secondary one of said subsets of said e-mail addresses including said secondary addresses only with each of
said accepted attachment files; and
said means for creating e-mail creates e-mail destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with said TO addresses, and/or e-mail each being
destined for a given one of said secondary addresses and including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with said secondary addresses.
5. The e-mail transmission apparatus of claim 4, wherein:
said means for accepting accepts one or more attachment files accepts one or more attachment files to be attached to e-mail that is destined for said TO addresses;
said address-attachment file associating means associates said TO addresses with said accepted attachment files; and
said means for creating e-mail creates e-mail destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said body text together with said attachment files associated with said TO addresses, and/or e-mail destined for a given one of said
secondary addresses and including said accepted body text.
6. The e-mail transmission apparatus of claim 5, further comprising second means for appending a message operative where said attachment files have been attached to e-mail destined for said TO addresses, for appending a message to each said
e-mail destined for said secondary addresses, thereby indicating that said attachment files have been attached to the e-mail destined for said TO addresses.
7. The e-mail transmission apparatus of claim 5, further comprising second means for displaying an address for displaying said TO addresses together with said secondary addresses, and for displaying messages indicating said attachment files
associated with said displayed TO addresses.
8. A mail server apparatus adapted for accepting from a mail client apparatus at least one e-mail address, a body text common to e-mail destined for each said e-mail address and one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mail, and for
transmitting the e-mail, comprising:
address-attachment file associating means for associating at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address with each of said attachment files, each said subset including one or more of said at least one e-mail address;
e-mail creating means for creating e-mail destined for a given one of said subset of said at least one e-mail address, each e-mail including said body text with at least one of said attachment files associated with a given one of said at least
one e-mail address; and
e-mail transmitting means for transmitting each said e-mail.
9. A mail client apparatus adapted for outputting to a mail server apparatus at least one e-mail address, a body text that is common to e-mail destined for each said e-mail address and at least one attachment file to be attached to said e-mail,
thereby enabling the mail server apparatus to accept at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address, each said subset including at least one of said at least one e-mail address, and said attachment file, to create said e-mail destined for a
given one of said at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address, each said e-mail including said body text together with at least one of said attachment files associated with a given one of said at least one e-mail address, and to transmit said
e-mail, comprising:
address designation accepting means for accepting designation of at least one e-mail address;
body text accepting means for accepting a body text that is common to e-mail destined for each of said at least one e-mail address; and
attachment file accepting means for accepting at least one attachment file to be attached to said e-mail.
10. An e-mail transmission method, comprising the steps of:
(a) accepting designation of at least one e-mail address;
(b) accepting a body text common to e-mail destined for each of said at least one e-mail address;
(c) accepting at least one attachment file for attachment to the e-mail;
(d) associating at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address with said at least one attachment file, each said subset including said at least one e-mail address;
(e) creating e-mail destined for a given one of said at least one subset, including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with a given one of said at least one e-mail address; and
(f) transmitting each said e-mail.
11. The e-mail transmission method of claim 10, wherein:
said step (a) accepts designation of at least one e-mail address identifying primary recipients of the e-mail (TO addresses), and/or designation of at least one e-mail address identifying secondary recipients of the e-mail (secondary addresses);
said step (d) associates a primary one of said at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address including said TO addresses only and/or a secondary one of said at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address including said
secondary addresses only with each of said at least one attachment file; and
said step (e) creates e-mail destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said body text together with one or more of said at least one attachment file associated with said TO addresses, and/or e-mail each being destined for a
given one of said secondary addresses and including said accepted body text together with said at least one attachment file associated with said secondary addresses.
12. A computer readable storage medium for storing a program that is executable by the computer to carry out method steps of:
(a) accepting designation of at least one e-mail address;
(b) accepting a body text common to e-mail destined for each of said at least one e-mail address;
(c) accepting at least one attachment file to be attached to said e-mail;
(d) associating at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address with each of said at least one attachment file, each said subset including at least one of said at least one e-mail address;
(e) creating e-mail destined for a given one said subset, each said e-mail including said accepted body text together with said at least one attachment file associated with a given one of said at least one e-mail address; and
(f) transmitting said e-mail.
13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the program is executable by the computer to carry out an additional method step of:
appending a message to any e-mail without at least one of said at least one attachment file attached thereto in order to indicate the existence of said at least one attachment file.
14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the program is executable by the computer to carry out an additional method step of:
displaying each of said at least one subset associated with a message indicating each of said at least one attachment file associated with said subset.
15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein:
said step (a) accepts designation of at least one e-mail address identifying primary recipients of the e-mail (TO addresses), and/or designation of at least one e-mail address identifying secondary recipients of the e-mail (secondary addresses);
said step (d) associates a primary one of said at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address including said TO addresses only and/or a secondary one of said at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address including said
secondary addresses only with each of said at least one attachment file; and
said step (e) creates e-mail destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said body text together with at least one of said at least one attachment file associated with said TO addresses, and/or e-mail destined for a given one of
said secondary addresses and including said body text together with at least one of said at least one attachment file associated with said secondary addresses.
16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein:
step (c) accepts at least one attachment file to be attached to the e-mail destined for said TO addresses;
said step (d) associates said TO addresses with said at least one attachment file; and
said step (e) creates e-mail destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said body text together with said at least one attachment file associated with said TO addresses, and/or e-mail destined for a given one of said secondary
addresses including said body text.
17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the program is executable by the computer, in a case where said at least one attachment file has been attached to the e-mail destined for said TO addresses, to carry out an additional
method step of:
appending a message to each said e-mail destined for said secondary addresses in order to indicate that said at least one attachment file has been attached to e-mail destined for said TO addresses.
18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the program is executable by the computer to carry out an additional method step of:
displaying said TO addresses together with said secondary addresses, and displaying messages indicating said at least one attachment file in association with said displayed TO addresses.
19. A computer readable storage medium for storing a program adapted for use in a mail server apparatus for causing the mail server apparatus to accept from a mail client apparatus at least one e-mail address, a body text common to e-mail
destined for each of said at least one e-mail address and at least one attachment file to be attached to the e-mail, and to transmit the e-mail using them, said program being executable by the computer to carry out method steps of:
associating at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address with each of said at least one attachment file, each said subset including at least one of said at least one e-mail address;
creating e-mail destined for a given one said subset of said at least one e-mail address, each said e-mail including said body text with at least one of said at least one attachment file associated with a given one of said at least one e-mail
address; and
transmitting each said e-mail.
20. A computer readable storage medium for storing a program adapted for use in a mail client apparatus for causing the mail client apparatus to output to a mail server apparatus at least one e-mail address, a body text common to e-mail destined
for each of said at least one e-mail address and at least one attachment file to be attached to the e-mail, thereby enabling the mail server apparatus to accept at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address, each said subset including at least
one said at least one e-mail address, and said at least one attachment file, to create e-mail destined for a given one said at least one subset of said at least one e-mail address, each said e-mail including said body text with at least one said at least
one attachment file associated with a given one of said at least one e-mail address, and to transmit each said e-mail, the program being executable by the computer to carry out method steps of:
accepting designation of at least one e-mail address;
accepting a body text common to e-mail destined for each said at least one e-mail address; and
accepting at least one attachment file for attachment to the e-mail. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electronic-mail (e-mail) transmission apparatus and a method thereof adapted for selectively attaching data files to e-mails for each of individual recipients (i.e., on a recipient-selective basis) for transmission
thereto.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
E-mail apparatuses, which are capable of transmitting e-mails with attached data files (attachment files), have been widely used in the art. In conventional e-mail however, attachment files are transmitted to all of the designated addresses
without exception and, thus, there has been no way to limit attachment files to a portion of the recipients (e.g., one or more "TO addresses" identifying one or more primary recipients). Thus, e-mail with attachment files is transmitted to other
addresses as well (i.e., one or more "CC addresses" and/or "BCC addresses" identifying one or more secondary recipients). For the sake of brevity, each of these addresses (TO, CC and BCC) and their identifying recipients (primary, secondary) is
generally represented in a plural form unless otherwise specifically noted. Also, for the same reason, these addresses (TO, CC and BCC) or any combinations thereof will be alternatively called "TO, CC, BCC addresses" or "CC/BCC addresses" in a simpler
form.
Even if a sender does not feel it necessary to send attachment files to secondary recipients, or the secondary recipients do not feel it necessary to receive information other than the e-mails' body text, such e-mail with attachment files are
nevertheless transmitted to all of the recipients. This also leads to undesirable phenomena such as congestion in a network used for transmitting the e-mail and/or overflow of memory for storing the received e-mail.
Japanese Patent Publication 8-251221 discloses a message handling method, wherein recipients' addresses are divided into a plurality of groups set up in e-mail such that text is attached to e-mail for transmission to each of the grouped
recipients' addresses. In accordance with this method, however, it is possible to attach text only to e-mail, whereas it is not possible to attach another type of data (e.g., binary data, programs or the like) other than the text data. Also, in this
method, it is mandatory to write character patterns for associating the grouped recipients' addresses with the attached text data into the e-mails and, therefore, it becomes much troublesome to create such e-mails in comparison with sole attachment of
data files.
Moreover, recipients who are not identified to receive attached text do not know who else received the attached text. Accordingly, except where a sender describes such a fact within the e-mail in an explicit manner, those recipients who receive
e-mail without any attached text are unable to know existence of the text even if the recipients need to receive it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it is an object of this invention to provide an e-mail transmission apparatus and a method thereof capable of transmitting e-mail with selectively appended attachment files to only those
recipients who need to receive the attachment files, even if a sender of the e-mail designates primary addresses (TO addresses) together with secondary addresses (CC/BCC addresses), respectively.
More specifically, it is another object of this invention to provide an e-mail transmission apparatus and a method thereof capable of transmitting e-mail including a text body plus one or more attachment files to primary recipients having the TO
addresses, and of simultaneously transmitting e-mail each including the text body plus a message to secondary recipients having the CC/BCC addresses, thereby to inform the secondary recipients of the fact that the attachment files have been transmitted
to the TO addresses.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an e-mail transmission apparatus and a method thereof capable of transmitting e-mail with selectively appended attachment files to a plurality of recipients identified in the e-mail on a
recipient-selective basis, thereby to avoid undesirable phenomena such as congestion in a network used for transmitting the e-mail or overflow of memory for storing the received e-mail. It is yet another object of this invention to provide an e-mail
transmission apparatus and a method thereof capable of transmitting e-mail with selectively appended attachment files to each of the recipients in order to allow the recipients to visibly confirm which of the attachment files has been transmitted to
which of the recipients.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an transmission apparatus and a method thereof capable of selectively appending any type of data to e-mail for transmission to recipients. It is yet another object of this invention to
provide an e-mail transmission apparatus and a method thereof capable of securely informing those recipients who have received e-mail without attachment files that the attachment files have been transmitted to other recipients.
In order to accomplish these objectives, an electronic-mail (e-mail) transmission apparatus of this invention comprises: address designation accepting means for accepting designation of one or more e-mail addresses; body text accepting means for
accepting a body text that is common to e-mail destined for each of said accepted e-mail addresses; attachment file accepting means for accepting one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mail; address-attachment file associating means for
associating one or more subsets of e-mail addresses with each of said accepted attachment files, each said subset including one or more of said accepted e-mail addresses; e-mail creating means for creating the e-mails each being destined for a given one
of said subsets of the accepted e-mail addresses, each said e-mail including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files that are associated with a given one of the accepted e-mail addresses; and e-mail transmitting means
for transmitting each of said created e-mails.
Preferably, the e-mail transmission apparatus further comprises first message appending means for appending a message to each e-mail that does not have one or more of said accepted attachment files attached thereto for at least indicating the
existence of said unattached attachment files.
Preferably, the e-mail transmission apparatus further comprises first address displaying means for displaying each of said subsets of the accepted e-mail addresses in association with a message that indicates each of said attachment files
associated with the said subsets.
Preferably, said address designation accepting means accepts designation of one or more e-mail addresses identifying primary recipients of the e-mail (TO addresses), and/or designation of one or more e-mail addresses identifying secondary
recipients of the e-mail (secondary addresses); said address-attachment file associating means associates a primary one of said subsets of said e-mail addresses including said TO addresses only and/or a secondary one of said subsets of said e-mail
addresses including said secondary addresses only with each of said accepted attachment files; and said e-mail creating means creates e-mails each being destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said accepted body text together with one
or more of said attachment files associated with the said TO addresses, and/or e-mail each being destined for a given one of said secondary addresses and including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with
the said secondary addresses.
Preferably, said attachment file accepting means accepts one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mail that is destined for said TO addresses; said address-attachment file associating means associates said TO addresses with said
accepted attachment files; and said e-mail creating means creates e-mails each being destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said accepted body text together with said attachment files associated with the said TO addresses, and/or
e-mails each being destined for a given one of said secondary addresses and including said accepted body text.
Preferably, the e-mail transmission apparatus further comprises second message appending means, which is operative in a case where said attachment files have been attached to the e-mail destined for said TO addresses, for appending a message to
each e-mail destined for said secondary addresses, thereby indicating that said attachment files have been attached to the e-mail destined for said TO addresses.
Preferably, the e-mail transmission apparatus further comprises second address displaying means for displaying said TO addresses together with said secondary addresses, and for displaying messages indicating said attachment files in association
with said displayed TO addresses.
By way of example, the e-mail transmission apparatus of this invention transmits to primary recipients (those recipients identified by the TO addresses), e-mail each including a body text and one or more attachment files, whereas it transmits to
secondary recipients (those recipients identified by the CC/BCC addresses), e-mail each including the body text and a message indicating that the attachment files have been attached to the e-mail destined for the primary recipients.
The address designation accepting means is responsive to a user's manipulation, for example, for accepting designation of e-mail addresses, including one or more TO addresses, one or more CC addresses and BCC addresses (i.e., those secondary
addresses that are not visible to other recipients) as subsets thereof. The body text accepting means is responsive to a user's manipulation, for example, for accepting a communication message (body text) that is to be commonly transmitted to the
recipients who are identified by all of said accepted e-mail addresses.
The attachment file accepting means is responsive to a user's manipulation, for example, for accepting one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mails that are solely destined for the primary recipients identified by said TO addresses,
and for recording the attachment files onto a recording medium such as a hard disk. These attachment files may contain therein any type of data, including but not limited to text data and binary data. In a case where different attachment files are to
be attached to the different recipients identified by the TO, CC and BCC addresses respectively, the attachment file accepting means accepts the different attachment files in association with the respective addresses and records them into an appropriate
recording medium.
The address-attachment file associating means is responsive to a user's manipulation, for example, for associating the TO addresses accepted by the address designation accepting means with the attachment files accepted by the attachment file
accepting means. In a case where different attachment files are to be attached to the different recipients identified by the TO, CC and BCC addresses respectively, the address-attachment file associating means associates the TO, CC and BCC addresses
with those attachment files to be transmitted to the recipients identified by these addresses respectively.
The e-mail creating means creates e-mail, each being destined for a given one of the TO, CC and BCC addresses and including a common body text. Also, it appends the attachment files only to e-mail transmitted to the primary recipients identified
by the TO addresses. The message appending means appends a message to each e-mail that is to be transmitted to the secondary recipients identified by the CC/BCC addresses to indicate that the attachment files have been attached to the TO addresses.
Should there be no attachment file, the e-mail creating means does not perform any file attachment to the e-mail, nor does the message appending means perform any message appendage to the e-mail destined for the CC/BCC addresses.
In a case where different attachment files are to be attached to the different recipients identified by the TO, CC and BCC addresses respectively, the e-mail creating means appends some of the attachment files associated with the TO addresses to
e-mail destined for the TO addresses and, as the case may be, the message appending means appends a message to each e-mail destined for the CC/BCC addresses to indicate that the associated attachment files have been attached to the TO addresses.
Similarly, the e-mail creating means appends some of the attachment files associated with the CC addresses to e-mail destined for the CC addresses and, as the case may be, the message appending means appends a message to each e-mail destined for the TO
and BCC addresses to indicate that the associated attachment files have been attached to the CC addresses.
The e-mail creating means appends some of the attachment files associated with the BCC addresses to e-mail destined for the BCC addresses and, as the case may be, the message appending means appends a message to each e-mail destined for the TO
and CC addresses to indicate that the associated attachment files have been attached to the BCC addresses.
The e-mail transmitting means transmits each e-mail created by the e-mail creating means to the respective recipients via a communication circuit.
The address displaying means displays the TO, CC and BCC addresses on a monitor, and it also displays messages that indicate the attachment files associated with the TO addresses in association with the TO addresses for use by a user's
confirmation. In a case where different attachment files are to be attached to the different recipients identified by the TO, CC and BCC addresses respectively, the address displaying means displays the TO, CC and BCC addresses, and it also displays
messages that indicate the attachment files associated with these addresses respectively.
Further, a mail server apparatus of this invention is adapted for accepting from a mail client apparatus one or more e-mail addresses, a body text that is common to e-mail destined for each of said e-mail addresses and one or more attachment
files to be attached to the e-mail, and for transmitting the e-mail using them, which comprises: address-attachment file associating means for associating one or more subsets of e-mail addresses with each of said accepted attachment files, each said
subset including one or more of said accepted e-mail addresses; e-mail creating means for creating e-mail each being destined for a given one of said subsets of the accepted e-mail addresses, each said e-mail including said accepted body text together
with one or more of said attachment files that are associated with a given one of the accepted e-mail addresses; and e-mail transmitting means for transmitting each said created e-mail.
Further, a mail client apparatus of this invention is adapted for outputting to a mail server apparatus one or more e-mail addresses, a body text that is common to e-mail destined for each of said e-mail addresses and one or more attachment files
to be attached to the e-mail, thereby enabling the mail server apparatus to accept one or more subsets of e-mail addresses, each of the subsets including one or more of said e-mail addresses, and said attachment files, to create the e-mail each being
destined for a given one of said subsets of the accepted e-mail addresses, each said e-mail including said body text together with one or more of said attachment files that are associated with a given one of the accepted e-mail addresses, and to transmit
each of said created e-mail. The mail client apparatus comprises: address designation accepting means for accepting designation of one or more e-mail addresses; body text accepting means for accepting a body text that is common to e-mail destined for
each of said accepted e-mail addresses; and attachment file accepting means for accepting one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mail.
Further, an e-mail transmission method of this invention comprises the steps of: (a) accepting designation of one or more e-mail addresses; (b) accepting a body text that is common to e-mail destined for each of said accepted e-mail addresses;
(c) accepting one or more attachment files to be attached to the e-mail; (d) associating one or more subsets of e-mail addresses with each of said accepted attachment files, each said subset including one or more of said accepted e-mail addresses; (e)
creating the e-mail each being destined for a given one of said subsets of the accepted e-mail addresses, each said e-mail including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files that are associated with a given one of the
accepted e-mail addresses; and (f) transmitting each said created e-mail.
Preferably, said step (a) accepts designation of one or more e-mail addresses identifying primary recipients of the e-mail (TO addresses), and/or designation of one or more e-mail addresses identifying secondary recipients of the e-mail
(secondary addresses); said step (d) associates a primary one of said subsets of said e-mail addresses including said TO addresses only and/or a secondary one of said subsets of said e-mail addresses including said secondary addresses only with each of
said accepted attachment files; and said step (e) creates e-mail being destined for a given one of said TO addresses and including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with the said TO addresses, and/or
e-mail being destined for a given one of said secondary addresses and including said accepted body text together with one or more of said attachment files associated with the said secondary addresses.
Further, a computer readable storage medium of this invention is adapted for storing a program that is executable by the computer to carry out method steps of: (a) accepting designation of one or more e-mail addresses; (b) accepting a body text
that is common to e-mail destined for each of said accepted e-mail addresses; (c) accepting one or more attachment files to he attached to the e-mail; (d) associating one or more subsets of e-mail addresses with each of said accepted attachment files,
each said subset including one or more of said accepted e-mail addresses; (e) creating the e-mail each being destined for a given one of said subsets of the accepted e-mail addresses, each said e-mail including said accepted body text together with one
or more of said attachment files that are associated with a given one of the accepted e-mail addresses; and (f) transmitting each said created e-mail.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more complete understanding of the present invention and for further advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following Detailed Description taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication network wherein a mail transmission method of this invention may be applied;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication node as shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mail transmission program executed on a computer system unit shown in FIG. 2;
FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C illustrate input manipulations of address-selective file appendage information;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing operation of a communication node shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a mail transmission program shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating content of an e-mail destined for the CC/BCC address, which is an e-mail shown in FIG. 4B;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing configuration of a mail system that is used in place of a communication node in the environment of the communication system (FIG. 1); and
FIG. 8 is a communication sequence diagram showing signals transmitted among the mail client, mail server and communication network in the environment of the mail system shown in FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Now, assuming an exemplary environment where communication nodes for transmitting/receiving mail are directly coupled to a communication network, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration
of a communication System 1, wherein a mail transmission method of this invention may be applied. As shown, system 1 comprises N communication nodes 12-1 to 12-N (FIG. 1 shows a case of N=8), coupled to a communication network 10. With these
constituents, system 1 transmits e-mail among arbitrary communication nodes 12 (hereinafter, when an arbitrary one of the communication nodes 12-1 to 12-N is referred to, it will be simply called "communication node 12") via the communication network 10.
The network 10 may be an ISDN communication network, a data leased circuit, a telephone circuit or the like, and includes apparatus such as mail servers for processing and distributing e-mail from sending communication nodes 12 to identified
receiving communication nodes 12.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a communication node 12 shown in FIG. 1. As shown, node 12 comprises a computer system unit (PC) 120, a monitor 122, an input device 124 including a keyboard 126 and a mouse 128, a storage device 130 and a
communication device 140.
Node 12, with these constituents, may function as a personal computer for supporting data communication, thereby to receive e-mail transmitted from another communication node 12 via the communication network 10.
Also, responsive to attributes of mail addresses, node 12 creates e-mail each which may include one or more attachment files and e-mail each which may include an appended message (mark) for indicating existence of the attachment files, and then,
it transmits the created e-mail to an identified receiving communication node via the communication network 10.
Unit 120 may be a system unit of a personal computer, comprising a CPU, a memory and peripheral circuits thereof (not shown), which is arranged to execute software such as a mail transmission program 14 (to be described later with reference to
FIG. 3). Monitor 122 is a CRT display device or a liquid crystal display device, which displays GUI images inputted from the computer system unit 120 for mail transmission by the mail transmission program 14, as well as contents of received e-mail or
the like. The keyboard 126 and mouse 128 accept a user's manipulation that is performed in response to a GUI image displayed on the monitor 122 and/or data representing an inputted text or the like, thereby to output same to the computer system unit
120.
Storage device 130 may be a readable/writable storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a floppy disk drive (FDD), which stores data input from the computer system unit 120 and regenerates data requested by the computer system unit 120
for output to the computer system unit 120. Communication device 140 may be a modem or a terminal adaptor, which transmits data between the communication network 10 and the computer system unit 120.
FIG. 3 shows a configuration of program 14 executed on the computer system unit 120 of FIG. 2. While, in an actual environment, the computer system unit 120 is provided with a program for receiving e-mail transmitted via the communication
network 10, such a program is not shown or explained herein for the sake of brevity of description.
As shown, program 14 comprises a mail/file creation part 16, a file/message appendage part 18 and a mail transmission part 20. The mail/file creation part 16 comprises a GUI part 160, a data creation part 162, a recipient address input part 164
and a transmission designation part 166. The file/message appendage part 18 comprises a recipient- selective mail creation part 180, a transmission determination part 182, a message creation part 184, an address-selective file appendage database (DB)
186, an attribute-selective file appendage DB 188 and a message DB 190. Program 14 may be stored in the storage device 130 and loaded into memory (not shown) in the computer system unit 120 for execution thereon to implement the following functions.
The mail transmission program 14, displays a GUI image for manipulation to a user and, in response to the user's manipulation with respect to the displayed GUI image, it accepts input or designation such as text data representing body text (which
may be hereinafter called "body text" in a simpler form) of an e-mail, one or more attachment files, TO addresses identifying primary recipients of the e-mail, CC addresses identifying secondary recipients, and BCC addresses identifying those secondary
recipients that are not visible to other recipients. For the sake of brevity of description hereinbelow, said characteristics of the TO, CC and BCC addresses may be alternatively called "attributes".
If a user designates for each recipient whether or not an attachment file is to be transmitted thereto, the mail transmission program 14 automatically appends the attachment file to e-mail destined for only those recipients who have been
identified to receive the attachment file, whereas (instead of appending the attachment file) it appends said message only to e-mail destined for other recipients who have not been identified to receive the attachment file. Alternatively, in a similar
case, the mail transmission program 14 appends the attachment file to e-mail destined for only those recipients who have been identified to receive the attachment file, whereas it appends another message, which indicates that no attachment file has been
attached, to e-mails destined for other recipients who have not been identified to receive the attachment file.
Also, responsive to the attributes, the mail transmission program 14 automatically creates e-mail each of which may include one or more appended attachment files and/or e-mail each of which may include an appended message for indicating that the
attachment files have been attached to another e-mail. By way of example, the mail transmission program 14 not only automatically creates e-mail (destined for the TO addresses) each of which may include a body text an | | |
