JPH0779351B2 - E-mail device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic mail device used in a message communication system for electronic mail interconnection.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional electronic mail apparatus shown in CCITT Recommendation X.400, for example,
1, ... are user agents that, on behalf of the e-mail user, request message transmission to the required destination and receive the delivered message. The sending user agent 1 creates a message composed of an envelope (envelope) and content (content), receives a sending instruction from the user to the sending message transfer agent 2 that transfers the message, and sends the message. Perform call setup for transmission request. When the call setup is completed, the created message is transferred to the message transfer agent 2 on the transmission side. At that time, a message destination, a transfer priority, a message delivery notification return request, etc. are set in the envelope, and contents such as a document to be transmitted from the sending user agent 1 to the receiving user agent 1 are set in the content. It The message transfer agent 2 on the sending side which receives the message from the user agent 1 on the sending side refers to the destination etc. in the envelope of the message, detects the message transfer agent 2 to which the user agent 1 on the receiving side belongs, and detects the message transfer agent. Forward the message to 2. The receiving side message transfer agent 2 to which the message is transferred refers to the destination information and the transmission priority in the envelope of the transferred message, and delivers the message to the receiving side user agent 1 in order from the highest priority message.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, when a message is transmitted from the sending user agent to the receiving user agent by the conventional electronic mail device as described above, the message transfer agent needs to set up a call for a transfer request to the receiving user agent for each transfer message. However, when delivering a plurality of messages to the user agent on the receiving side, it is necessary to set up a call for each message, and it takes a long time to set up a call, resulting in low utilization efficiency of the communication line.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic mail device capable of delivering a plurality of messages by one call setting.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The electronic mail device according to the present invention is an electronic mail device provided with a message transfer agent that transfers a message between a user agent on the sending side and a user agent on the receiving side. Among the above, if a message transfer agent is provided with a mailbox for temporarily registering a delivery priority lower than a predetermined rank for each destination, and if there is a request to transfer a message having a delivery priority higher than a predetermined priority, , The message in the mailbox associated with the destination of the message is collectively transferred to the receiving-side user agent associated with the destination of the mailbox.

[Action]

If the forwarding of a message to a destination is non-priority, then when it is sent from the sending user agent to the extended message transfer agent, all of its mailboxes will be assigned to the destination. It is registered once.

If the transfer condition of the message sent from the sending user agent to the extended message transfer agent thereafter has high priority, this message and the message (one or more) in the mailbox assigned to the same destination Are collectively transferred to the receiving side. Therefore, it is possible to transfer a plurality of messages with one call setup.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment thereof. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic mail device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1,1,1, ... are user agents that request message transmission on behalf of the user of the e-mail and receive the delivered message. Message transfer requests from the user agent 1 are transferred. The agent 2 or the extended message transfer agent 3 accepts and transfers the message to the user agent 1 belonging to each. The extended message transfer agent 3 includes user agents belonging to it.
Mailboxes 4, 4, ... for registering messages to be delivered to 1, 1, ... for a predetermined period are provided for each user agent 1, and the user agent 1 for the receiving side is set up once by the call from the user agent 1 for the transmitting side. All the messages registered in the mailbox 4 corresponding to are delivered to the receiving side user agent 1.

Next, the operation of message transfer will be described. The user agent 1 on the sending side creates a message composed of an envelope (envelope) and content (content) on behalf of the user of the electronic mail, and instructs the sending side message transfer agent 2 to send the message by the user. In response, call setup for message transmission request is performed. When the call setup is completed, the created message is transferred to the message transfer agent 2 on the transmission side. At that time, a message destination, a transfer priority, a message delivery notification return request, etc. are set in the envelope, and contents such as a document to be transmitted from the sending user agent 1 to the receiving user agent 1 are set in the content. It Upon receiving the message from the sender user agent 1, the sender message transfer agent 2 refers to the destination etc. in the envelope of the message and detects the message transfer agent 2 or the extended message transfer agent 3 to which the receiver user agent 1 belongs. Then, the message is transferred to the message transfer agent 2 or the extended message transfer agent 3.

The receiving side message transfer agent 2 to which the message is transferred refers to the destination information and the transmission priority in the envelope of the transferred message, and delivers the message to the receiving side user agent 1 in order from the highest priority message.

Further, the extended message transfer agent 3 to which the message has been transferred from the user agent 2 on the sending side refers to the destination information in the envelope of the transferred message, the priority of delivery, etc., and when the priority of delivery is lower than a predetermined order. , The message is temporarily registered in the mailbox 4 provided corresponding to the receiving-side user agent 1 to which the message should be delivered. Thereafter, a call is made to the receiving user agent 1 to deliver a message that requires urgent delivery, such as message delivery with a delivery priority of a predetermined order or higher, time-specified delivery, message non-delivery notification return, or delivery notification return. When the setting is made, all the messages registered in the corresponding mailbox 4 are added to this message and delivered.

In the present embodiment, the message delivery from the extended message transfer agent to the receiving side user agent has been described in detail, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the message can be used in services such as search, registration and reference to the electronic bulletin board in personal computer communication. A similar effect can be obtained by providing a mail box for temporarily registering.

〔The invention's effect〕

The electronic mail apparatus of the present invention provides a message transfer agent with a mailbox for temporarily registering a message to be delivered, thereby delivering a message that needs to be delivered immediately after delivery of a message or the like having a low delivery priority. By collectively delivering the messages at the same time, it is not necessary to set up a call for the delivery message for each delivery message, which has an excellent effect of improving the utilization efficiency of the communication line.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic mail device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional electronic mail device. 1 ... User agent, 2 ... Message transfer agent, 3 ... Extended message transfer agent, 4
...... Mail box In the figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail device comprising a message transfer agent for transferring a message between a user agent on the sending side and a user agent on the receiving side according to the destination of the delivery, among the messages sent from the user agent on the sending side. A message transfer agent is equipped with a mailbox for temporarily registering a message with a priority lower than a predetermined rank for each destination, and when a message transfer request with a delivery priority higher than a predetermined rank is requested, the message and the message An electronic mail device, wherein messages in a mailbox associated with a destination are collectively transferred to a user agent on a receiving side associated with the destination of the mailbox.