Method and device for extracting data for attachment to a mail message

• US 7,155,482 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2001
• Issued: 12/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Minolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Minolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Shinohara, Yuji, Shirasawa, Toshiya
• Primary Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pollack, Melvin H.
• Application Number:
  US09/917,641
• Publication Number:
  US 20020046222A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,974 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 707 3- 6, 707/104.1, 706/48, 715/503, 715/504, 715/509, 715/513, 715/539
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

An accepting unit accepts one or more HTML files and stores them in a storing unit. A data extracting unit reads each HTML file from the storing unit, detects a keyword corresponding to a receiver in the HTML file, and extracts data that contains the keyword from the HTML file. A data combining unit stores the extracted data to a corresponding buffer in the storing unit, among buffers which have been reserved for multiple receivers. Once the extraction of data from each HTML file has completed for all receivers, a sending unit sends the data stored in the buffers to the corresponding receivers.

Claims

1. A data processing method comprising:

accepting a keyword from a user;

accepting identification of a document file from the user;

accepting a mail address from the user;

searching the document file for the keyword;

extracting data corresponding to the keyword from the document file; and

attaching the extracted data to an e-mail message;

wherein the user sends the e-mail message to the mail address.

2. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the data extracting step extracts data that includes the keyword, as the data corresponding to the keyword.

3. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the data extracting step extracts a paragraph corresponding to the keyword, as the data corresponding to the keyword.

4. The data processing method of claim 3, wherein the document file is an HTML file, and the paragraph is data that begins after a paragraph start tag and ends before a paragraph end tag.

5. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the data extracting step extracts a row corresponding to the keyword from a table included in the document file, as the data corresponding to the keyword.

6. The data processing method of claim 5, wherein the document file is an HTML file, and the row is data that begins after a table row start tag and ends before a table row end tag.

7. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the data extracting step extracts a column corresponding to the keyword from a table included in the document file, as the data corresponding to the keyword.

8. The data processing method of claim 7, wherein the document file is an HTML file, and the column is made up of one or more sets of data that each begin after a table data cell start tag and end before a table data cell end tag.

9. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the data extracting step extracts a cell corresponding to the keyword from a table included in the document file, as the data corresponding to the keyword.

10. The data processing method of claim 9, wherein the document file is an HTML file, and the cell is data that begins after a table data cell start tag and ends before a table data cell end tag.

11. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the e-mail message is an HTML-format message.

17. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the extracted data includes a part of a main body of the document file, and the part of the main body of the document file includes the keyword.

12. A data processing method comprising:

accepting a keyword from a user;

accepting identification of a document file from the user;

accepting a mail address from the user, the mail address corresponding to the accepted keyword;

searching the document file for data that corresponds to the accepted keyword and corresponding mail address; and

extracting data that corresponds to the mail address from the document file;

wherein the user sends the extracted data via e-mail to the mail address.

13. A data processing method comprising:

accepting a keyword from a user;

accepting identification of a document file from the user;

accepting identification of a receiver of an e-mail message, the receiver being associated with the keyword;

searching the document file for the keyword;

extracting data corresponding to the keyword from the document file; and

attaching the extracted data to the e-mail message;

wherein the user sends the e-mail message to the receiver.

14. A data processing method comprising:

accepting a plurality of mail addresses from a user;

accepting a plurality of keywords from the user, wherein each keyword corresponds to a mail address;

accepting identification of a document file from the user;

searching the document file for a keyword;

extracting data corresponding to the keyword from the document file; and

attaching the extracted data to an e-mail message to be sent to the mail address corresponding to the keyword;

wherein the user sends the e-mail message.

15. A computer readable memory medium for storing a data processing program for executing the following steps on a computer processor:

accepting a keyword from a user;

accepting identification of a document file from the user;

accepting a mail address from the user;

searching the document file for the keyword;

extracting data corresponding to the keyword from the document file; and

attaching the extracted data to an e-mail message;

wherein the user sends the e-mail message to the mail address.

16. A data processing device comprising:

a keyword accepting unit which accepts a keyword from a user;

a document file accepting unit which accepts identification of a document file from the user;

a mail address accepting unit which accepts a mail address from the user;

a data extracting unit which searches the document file for the keyword and extracts data corresponding to the keyword from the document file; and

a data attaching unit which attaches the extracted data to an e-mail message;

wherein the user sends the e-mail message to the mail address.