Schedule adjustment assisting apparatus, method and program

A schedule adjustment assisting method executed by an information processing apparatus including a processor and storage means, the information processing apparatus being capable of accessing a plurality of reply mails either directly or indirectly replied to a schedule inquiry mail, the schedule adjustment assisting method comprising the steps of:

• (a) the processor accessing the plurality of reply mails in response to a request from a user of the information processing apparatus;
• (b) the processor determining that a changed portion in each of the reply mails is a part where information is newly added, on condition that a body of the reply mail includes a quotation from a past mail and that the newly-added information is in the quotation, and otherwise, determining that the changed portion is an original reply part in the body of the current mail;
• (c) for each of the reply mails, the processor extracting schedule information on a schedule from the changed portion, and storing the schedule information in the storage means and a sender identifier of the reply mail in association with each other;
• and
• (d) the processor reading a combination of the schedule information and the corresponding sender identifier from the storage means, and creating summary information including a schedule of each person replied to the schedule inquiry mail.

A schedule adjustment assisting apparatus capable of accessing a plurality of reply mails either directly or indirectly replied to a schedule inquiry mail, the schedule adjustment assisting apparatus comprising:

• access means for accessing the plurality of reply mails in response to a request from a user of the information processing apparatus;
• changed portion determination means for determining that a changed portion in each of the reply mails is a part where information is newly added, on condition that a body of the reply mail includes a quotation from a past mail and that the newly-added information is in the quotation, and otherwise, determining that the changed portion is an original reply part in the body of the current mail;
• extraction means for extracting schedule information on a schedule from the changed portion, for each of the reply mails;
• storage means for storing the extracted schedule information and a sender identifier of the corresponding reply mail in association with each other;
• and
• summary information creation means for reading a combination of the schedule information and the corresponding sender identifier from the storage means, and creating summary information including a schedule of each person replied to the schedule inquiry mail.