The Computer Based Mail Environment - An Overview
Abstract The model of a computer based mail environment presented in this paper is an adaption of the model developed in the IFIP Working Group 6.5. The model describes the necessary structure of the mail items, i.e., the unit of information that is handled by the system. The model also separates the computer based mail environment into several cooperating functional entities. In this paper, the basic characteristics of the functional entities are outlined, as well as their relation to authority boundaries and computer system boundaries. It is further shown that the services of the system can be classified into three distinct categories, each of which can be treated individually.