Electronic mail system, terminal device and software

• US 20050021643A1
• Filed: 05/24/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Watanabe, Muneaki, Mae, Yoshikuni
• Application Number:
  US10/854,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20050021643A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

When a mail is shared, it is necessary to store data of the mail to be shared in a storage device on a server. Recently, however, an attachment file having large capacity like image data has been increasingly used, and a method for storing mail data in a storage device of a server involves a problem of large capacity loads. To solve such problem, an electronic mail system which sends and receives an e-mail between a first terminal device and a second terminal device transmits to the second terminal device link information about a shared mail which is an e-mail designated to be shared out of e-mails stored in the above-stated first terminal device, and if transmission of the shared mail is requested by using the link information from the second terminal device, the first terminal device transmits the shared mail to the second terminal device.

Claims

1. An electronic mail system, wherein an electronic mail is sent and received between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, said electronic mail system comprising:

means for transmitting link information about a shared mail which is an e-mail designated to be shared among e-mails stored in said first terminal device to said second terminal device; and

means for allowing said first terminal device to transmit said shared mail to said second terminal device, when transmission of said shared mail is requested from said second terminal device by using said link information.

2. A terminal device which is applicable to an electronic mail system that sends and receives an e-mail with another first terminal device, said terminal device comprising:

a mail database which stores an e-mail;

a shared mail designation unit which designates an e-mail out of e-mails stored in said mail database to be shared with said another first terminal device;

a table of shared mail links which stores link information about a shared mail which is an e-mail that is designated to be shared by said shared mail designation unit; and

a transmission unit which transmits link information stored in said table of shared mail links to said another first terminal device.

3. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein,

when transmission of said shared mail is requested by said another first terminal device by using said link information, the shared mail stored in said mail database is transmitted to said another first terminal device.

4. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein,

said terminal device executes sending and receiving of an e-mail also to and from another second terminal device which is different from said another first terminal device,

said shared mail designation unit can designate sharing of an e-mail out of e-mails stored in said mail database with said another second terminal device, and

said transmission unit transmits, to said another second terminal device, link information about a second shared mail which is an e-mail that is designated to be shared with said another second terminal device by said shared mail designation unit.

5. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein,

when transmission of said second shared mail is requested by said another second terminal device by using said link information, said second shared mail stored in said mail database is transmitted to said another second terminal device.

6. The terminal device according to claim 2, further comprising a group management table which is used to grasp whether said another first terminal device is in the on-line status or the off-line status.

7. Software which instructs a terminal device comprising a first storage unit, a second storage unit, a selection unit and a communication unit to execute procedures for:

storing an e-mail by said first storage unit;

selecting a shared mail out of said stored e-mails by said selection unit;

storing link information about said shared mail by said second storage unit;

transmitting said stored link information to another terminal device by said communication unit; and

when transmission of a shared mail by using said link information from said another terminal device is requested, transmitting said shared mail by said communication unit.