JP2000194626A - Control device and method for network device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network device control device/method which displays a place where a detected network device is actually placed so as to make an operator intuitively catch the location of the network device and also can easily set a position where the network device is placed. SOLUTION: The network devices operating in a network are detected and displayed in a list. Then the icons of network devices displayed in a list are dragged and dropped at each desired position where the icons are shown on a map. Thus, the position where the network devices are located on a map is designated and the network devices are shown on a map.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a network device control apparatus and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a local area network (LAN) in which computers are connected to each other has become widespread.
Such a local area network is built over a building floor or the whole building, a group of buildings (premises), an area or a larger area. Further, LANs are interconnected and can be connected to a worldwide network. Each such interconnected LAN may have a variety of hardware interconnect technologies and a number of network protocols.

On the other hand, a simple LA separated from the others
N can be managed by individual users. That is, the user can replace a device, install software, or diagnose a problem.

However, large and complex LANs and large interconnected LAN groups require "management." Here, “management” generally means management by both a human network administrator and software used by the administrator. In the present application, “management” means management by software for managing the entire system, and “user” Means the person using the network management software.

[0005] The user is usually the person in charge of system management, and can use the network management software to acquire management data on the network and change this data.

[0006] Large-scale network systems are usually dynamic systems that require constant addition and removal of devices, software updates, and problem detection. In general, there are various systems owned by various people and supplied by various vendors.

Next, the configuration of a large-scale network requiring management will be described. FIG. 1 shows a network board (NB) 10 for connecting a printer to a network.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a case where the printer 1 is connected to a printer 102 having an open architecture. The NB 101 connects to a local area network (LAN) 100, for example, an Ethernet interface 10Base-2 or RJ-45 having a coaxial connector.
Connected via a LAN interface such as 10Base-T having

[0008] A plurality of personal computers (PCs) such as a PC 103 and a PC 104 are also connected to the LAN 100, and these PCs can communicate with the NB 101 under the control of a network operating system. One of the PCs, for example, the PC 103 can be designated to be used as the network management unit. P
C103, the printer 10 connected to the PC 104
5 may be connected.

The file server 1 is connected to the LAN 100.
Reference numeral 06 is connected, and manages access to files stored in the large-capacity (for example, 10 GB) network disk 107. Print server 108
Causes a printer such as the connected printers 109a and 109b or the printer 105 at a remote location to perform printing. Further, other peripheral devices (not shown) may be connected to the LAN 100.

More specifically, the network shown in FIG. 1 can use, for example, Novell or UNIX network software to efficiently communicate between various network members. It is possible to use any network software, for example Novell
NetWare, Novell's network software
Can be used. For a detailed description of this software package, please refer to the online documentation included with the NetWare package. It is available for purchase from Novell with the NetWare package.

Here, the configuration of FIG. 1 will be briefly described. The file server 106 serves as a file management unit for receiving, storing, queuing, caching, and transmitting data files between LAN members. . For example, a data file created by each of the PC 103 and the PC 104 is a file server 1
06, the file server 106 arranges these data files in order, and sends the arranged data files to the printer 109a in accordance with a command from the print server 108.

The PC 103 and the PC 104 can generate a data file, transmit the generated data file to the LAN 100, receive a file from the LAN 100, and display and / or process such a file. PC. Although a personal computer device is shown in FIG. 1, such a device is suitable for running network software.
Other computer devices may be included. For example, if using UNIX software, UNIX workstations may be included in the network, and these workstations may, under appropriate circumstances,
Can be used with

Usually, a network such as the LAN 100 provides services to local user groups such as user groups on one floor or a plurality of consecutive floors in one building. For example, a wide area network (WAN) may be configured as a user moves away from another user, such as when the user is in another building or another prefecture. WAN basically consists of several LAs.
N for High Speed Service Integrated Digital Network (ISD)
N) An aggregate formed by connecting with high-speed digital lines such as lines. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
0, LAN 110 and LAN 120 and modulation / demodulation (M
ODEM) / transponder 130 or backbone 140 to form a WAN. These connections are simple electrical connections with several buses. Each LAN includes a dedicated PC and, although not necessarily, usually includes a file server and a print server.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
PC 111, PC 112, file server 11
3, network disk 114, print server 1
15, a printer 116, and a printer 117. In contrast, LAN 120 includes PC 121 and PC 122. In addition, LAN100, LAN110, LAN120
Connected to another LA via a WAN connection.
N can access the functions of the devices connected to N.

As a method for managing devices on a network constituting such a large-scale network system, several attempts have been made by a number of standard organizations so far. For example, International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Open System Interconnection (OSI: Open Syste
A general-purpose reference framework called the “m Interconnect” model is provided. The OSI model of the network management protocol is a common management information protocol (CMIP:
Common Management Information Protocol). CMIP is a common European network management protocol.

In recent years, a simple network management protocol (SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol) has been used as a more common network management protocol.
ol), which is a variant of the CMIP-related protocol ("Introduction to TCP / IP Network Management Aiming at Practical Management", MT Rose, translated by Takeshi Nishida, Toppan Co., Ltd. August 20, 1992 See the first edition of the day).

According to the SNMP network management technique, the network management system includes at least one network management station (NMS), several managed nodes each including an agent, and the management stations and agents exchange management information. Includes the network management protocol used to

A user can acquire data on a network and change data by communicating with agent software on a managed node using network management software on the NMS.

Here, the agent is software that operates as a background process for each target device. When a user requests management data from a device on the network, the management software sends the object identification information in a management packet or frame to the target agent. The agent interprets the object identification information, retrieves data corresponding to the object identification information, and sends the data in a packet to the user. Occasionally, a corresponding process is called to retrieve the data.

The agent holds data on its own state in the form of a database. This database is called MIB (Management Information Bass).
Call it e). FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the MIB.
As shown in FIG. 4, the MIB has a tree-structured data structure, and all nodes are uniquely numbered. FIG.
In, the number written in parentheses is the identifier of the node. For example, the identifier of the node 401 shown in FIG. 4 is “1”. The identifier of node 402 is node 4
Since it is “3” below 01, it is described as “1.3”. Similarly, the identifier of the node 403 is “1.3.
6.1.2 ". This node identifier is called an object identifier (Object Identifier).

This MIB has a management information structure (SM
I: Structure of Management Information) and RFC1155 Structure and Identification of Manage
ment Information for TCP / IP-based Internets.

FIG. 4 shows only a part of the MIB defined as a standard.

Reference numeral 404 denotes a node serving as an entry point of an object group called a standard MIB provided as a standard in a device managed by SNMP. The detailed structure of an object under this node is described in RFC1213 Management Infor.
mation Base for Network Management of TCP / IP-based
Internets: Defined in MIB-II.

Reference numeral 405 denotes a node serving as an entry point of an object group called a printer MIB which is provided as a standard feature of a printer managed by SNMP. The detailed structure of an object under this node is described in RFC1759 Printer.
Specified in MIB.

Reference numeral 406 denotes a private MIB, which is a node serving as a vertex for companies and organizations to define their own MIB. A node 407 is called a company extension MIB, and is a top node in the private MIB for a company to perform its own extension. A company number 1602 is assigned to Canon Inc. as a company number in order to perform a unique definition, and a vertex node 408 for defining Canon MIB (Canon MIB), which is a unique MIB of Canon, is a node representing a company. Some node 4
07. The object identifier of the vertex node of the Canon MIB is 1.3.6.1.4.1.1.1.
602.

Next, as an example of mounting the agent, it is conceivable to mount the agent on a network board (NB) for connecting the printer to a network. Thus, the printer can be managed by the network management software. The user can use the network management software to obtain information on the printer to be controlled and change the status. More specifically, for example, a character string displayed on a liquid crystal display of a printer can be obtained, or a default paper cassette can be changed.

An embodiment in which a network board (NB) on which an agent is mounted is connected to a printer will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where the NB 101 is installed in the printer 102. As shown, the NB 101 is built into the internal expansion I / O slot of the printer 102 and acts as an "embedded" network node with processing and data storage functions described below. The configuration of the NB 101 provides an advantage of having a characteristic auxiliary function for controlling and managing a wide area network (WAN). These auxiliary functions include, for example, printer control and status monitoring from a remote location on the network (such as a network administrator's office), and a printer to provide a guaranteed initial environment for the next user after each print job. Includes printer logs or usage statistics that can be accessed through a network to automatically manage configuration and characterize printer load or schedule toner cartridge replacement.

An important factor in this NB design is that the NB 101 is connected via a bidirectional interface such as a shared memory.
This is a function to access the printer control status from. still,
It is also possible to use an interface such as a SCSI interface other than the shared memory. This makes it possible to use a number of useful auxiliary function programs, and to transmit printer operation information to the NB 101 or an external network node. The block of print image data and control information is constituted by a microprocessor on the NB 101, stored in a shared memory, and read by the printer 102. Similarly, the printer status information is sent from the printer 102 to the shared memory, where it is read by the NB processor.

As shown in FIG. 2, the NB 101 is composed of a printed circuit board 101a on which a face plate 101b for network connection is installed.
70 is connected to the printer interface card 150. Printer interface card 15
0 directly controls the printer engine of the printer 102. The print data and the printer status command are stored in the NB10
1 is input to the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170, and printer status information is obtained from the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170. The NB 101 transmits this information to the LAN via the network connector of the face plate 101b.
Communicate on 100. At the same time, the printer 102 can receive print data from the conventional serial port 102a and parallel port 102b.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection between the NB 101, the printer 102, and the LAN 100.
The NB 101 is connected to the LAN 100 via a LAN interface, and is connected to the printer 102 via a printer interface card 150. N
On the B101, a microprocessor 301 for controlling the NB 101, a ROM 303 for storing an operation program of the microprocessor 301, a RAM 302 for the microprocessor 301 to use as a work when executing the program, the NB 101 and the printer interface card 150 Are provided with a shared memory 200 for exchanging data with each other, and are mutually connected by an internal bus. The program for the NB 101 to operate as an SNMP agent is the ROM 303
Is stored in The microprocessor 301
Executes various controls according to a program stored in the ROM 303, and uses the RAM 302 as a work area when performing the control. Further, the shared memory 200 is used as a buffer area for mutually communicating with the printer interface card 150.

The microprocessor 151 on the printer interface card 150 accesses data with the NB 101 by using the shared memory 2 installed in the NB 101.
Via 00. Printer interface card 15
The microprocessor 151 on 0 also communicates with the printer engine 160 which actually runs the printing mechanism.

On the other hand, the PC on which the network management software operates will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a PC on which network management software can operate. In the figure, reference numeral 500 denotes a PC on which network management software operates, which is equivalent to the PC 103 shown in FIG.
The PC 500 includes a CPU 501 that executes a network management program stored in a ROM 502 or a hard disk (HD) 511 or supplied from a floppy disk drive (FD) 512, and collectively manages each device connected to a system bus 504. Control.

Reference numeral 503 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 501. Reference numeral 505 denotes a keyboard controller (KBC), and a keyboard (K
B) Control input of instructions from 509 and a pointing device (not shown). 506 is a CRT controller (C
RTC) and controls display on a display (CRT) 510. 507 is a disk controller (DK
C), a hard disk (HD) 5 for storing a boot program, various applications, editing files, user files, a network management program, etc.
11 and floppy disk controller (FD) 512
And control access. A network interface card (NIC) 508 exchanges data with an agent or a network device via the LAN 100 in both directions.

Next, the configuration of network management software in a conventional example will be described. The network management device in the conventional example is realized on a PC having the same configuration as a PC capable of realizing the network management device as shown in FIG. The hard disk (HD) 511 stores a program of network management software that is an operation main body in all descriptions to be described later. In all the descriptions to be described later, the subject of execution is the CPU 501 on hardware unless otherwise specified.

On the other hand, the subject of control on the software is network management software stored in a hard disk (HD) 511. In the conventional example, the OS is assumed to be, for example, Windows 95 (manufactured by Microsoft), but is not limited thereto. The network management program is a floppy disk or CD-R.
The program may be supplied in a form stored in a storage medium such as an OM. In this case, the program is read from the storage medium by a floppy disk controller (FD) 512 shown in FIG. 5 or a CD-ROM drive (not shown), and the like.
It is installed on a hard disk (HD) 511.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a module configuration of network management software in a conventional example. This network management software is stored in the hard disk 511 shown in FIG. At that time, the CPU 501 uses the RAM 503 as a work area.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes a device list module which displays a list of devices connected to the network. A general control module 602 supervises other modules based on an instruction from a device list. Reference numeral 603 denotes a module called a configurator, which performs a special process related to the network setting of the agent. A search module 604 is a module for searching for a device connected to the network. Devices searched by the search module 604 are displayed as a list by the device list module 601. 605 is
A NetWare job module that acquires the status of a print job from a network server using the NetWare API 616. For NetWare API, for example, Novel
"NetWareProgrammer's Guide f published by l company
or C "etc. This book is available from Novell.

Reference numerals 606 and 607 denote UI (User Interface) modules for displaying a device detail window, which will be described later, and a UI for each target model for displaying detailed information.
Module exists. 608 and 609 are both called control modules, which are responsible for the control specific to the target model for acquiring the detailed information. Like the UI module, each control module exists for each target model for displaying detailed information. The control A module 608 and the control B module 609 obtain MIB data from the device to be managed using the MIB module described below, convert the data as necessary, and send the data to the corresponding UIA module 606 or UIB module 607, respectively. give.

Reference numeral 610 denotes a module called an MIB module for converting an object identifier and an object key. Here, the object key is a 32-bit integer corresponding to the object identifier on a one-to-one basis. The object identifier is a variable length identifier,
Since it is cumbersome to implement network management software, this network management software internally uses fixed-length identifiers that correspond one-to-one with object identifiers. Modules higher than the MIB module 610 handle MIB information using this object key. This makes it easy to implement the network management software.

Reference numeral 611 denotes an SNMP module.
It transmits and receives NMP packets. A common transport module 612 is a module that absorbs a difference between lower protocols for transporting SNMP data. In practice, depending on the protocol selected by the user during operation, the IPX handler 613 or the UDP handler 6
Either of 14 is responsible for transferring data. In addition, IP
The X handler 613 uses NetWare 616 as an implementation, and the UDP handler 614 implements WinSock 61 as an implementation.
7 is used. About WinSock, for example, Windo
See the specification of ws Socket API v1.1. This document is available in several places, including, for example, Visual C ++, a Microsoft compiler.

The current protocol 615 used by the configurator 603 indicates either the IPX protocol or the UDP protocol selected by the user during operation.

For example, the network device control software shown in FIG.
N) Personal computer (PC) connected to 100
It runs on 103 and 104 and the network board (N
B) Local area network (LA) via 101
N) Searching for a network device connected to 100, and acquiring necessary information (for example, device name, network address, MAC address) from the detected network device is general.

In the above-described network device control software, the detected network device is
As shown in FIG. 12, a list is generally displayed as a device list display window. The device list display window can also display information obtained from each network device.

[0046]

However, in the network device control software of the above-mentioned conventional example,
Since the detected network devices are displayed in a list form as shown in FIG. 12, it is difficult for the user to determine at a glance where the displayed network devices are actually located. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. The present invention displays intuitively the location where a detected network device is actually located, and indicates the device position when the device is located. It is an object of the present invention to provide a network device control apparatus and method that can be easily set.

[0048]

In order to achieve the above object, a network device control apparatus according to the present invention comprises a detecting means for detecting a network device operating on a network, and a network detected by the detecting means. First display means for displaying a list of devices;
Based on the list displayed on the first display means,
There is provided a designating means for designating a position where a network device is arranged as a map, and a second display means for displaying the network device as a map in accordance with the position designated by the designating means.

Further, another network device control device sets a detecting means for detecting a network device operating on the network, and sets whether to register the network device detected by the detecting means as a management target. It is characterized by comprising setting means, and registering means for automatically registering a status notification destination address for a network device registered as a management target by the setting means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a network device, comprising the steps of: detecting a network device operating on a network; and displaying a list of the network devices detected in the detection step. A first display step, a designation step of designating a position where a network device is to be arranged as a map based on the list display displayed in the first display step, and a step of designating the network device according to the position designated in the designation step. And a second display step of displaying as a map.

Further, in another network device control method, a detecting step of detecting a network device operating on a network, and setting whether or not to register the network device detected in the detecting step as a management target. It is characterized by comprising a setting step and a registration step of automatically registering a status notification destination address for a network device registered as a management target in the setting step.

[0052]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the operation of the network device control software will be described. In all of the following descriptions, the subject of execution is the CPU 501 (FIG. 5) on hardware, and the subject of control on software is installed on the hard disk (HD) 511 (FIG. 5) unless otherwise specified. Network device control software. A combination of a network board (NB) 101 connected to the network shown in FIG. 1 and a printer 102 on which the network board 101 is mounted is called a network device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process performed by the network device control software when detecting a network device. First, in step S701, the value of a variable i for counting the number of detected network devices is initialized to “0”. Then, in step S702, the i-th network device is searched according to a network device search procedure described later, and in step S703, the search result of the network device is determined. An example of a procedure for searching for a network device will be further described later.

As a result, if a network device is detected (Yes in step S703), the process proceeds to step S703.
In step 704, information to be displayed in the device list display window from the detected network devices and information to be used when saving or setting device arrangement information to be described later are acquired. These pieces of information can be acquired as appropriate MIB object values using, for example, the SNMP protocol.

Next, in step S705, step S705
In step S706, the device information acquired in step S704 is stored in a RAM or the like in a format that can be referred to later. Then, step S70
At 7, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S702 to repeat the above processing.

If the result of step S703 is that no network device has been detected, step S703 is executed.
Proceeding to 708, the value of the variable i (indicating the number of detected devices) is stored in a RAM or the like, and this processing ends.

Next, as an example of a network device search procedure in step S702, a case where TCP / IP is used as a network protocol will be described.

First, when the IP address of the network device to be searched is specified, the device having the IP address is inquired about the MIB object supported by the network device without fail. These pieces of information are stored in the MIB of each network device, and only the agent of the device having the specified IP address responds to the meeting during this time. If there is no device having the set IP address, a timeout error occurs in response to the inquiry, and such information cannot be obtained.

Next, when the IP address of the network device to be searched is not specified, the search is performed using the broadcast address. In this case, a request for inquiring about the MIB object supported by the network device is broadcast on the network. Here, M that exists on the network and
The network device having the IB object returns inquiry information to the broadcast request. Other network devices reply that they do not have the inquired MIB object. Whether or not the network device that has responded that it does not have the inquiry information is the managed device depends on the implementation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a device arrangement information designating process when the device arrangement information is stored in a file. This process is started when a network device displayed in the device list display window is dragged and dropped into the device map display window.

First, in step S801, the coordinates (x, y) of the drag and drop destination of the dragged and dropped network device are acquired from the device list display window. Next, step S80
In step 2, information about the network device that has been dragged and dropped (stored in step S706 shown in FIG. 7) is acquired. Then, in step S803, the coordinate information obtained in step S801 is added to a file for storing device layout information in association with information that can specify a network device among the information obtained in step S802, and the process ends. .

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the device arrangement information designation processing when setting the device arrangement information in the network device. This process is started when a network device displayed in the device list display window is dragged and dropped into the device map display window.

First, in step S901, the coordinates (x, y) of the drag and drop destination of the dragged and dropped network device are acquired from the device list display window. Next, step S90
In step 2, information about the network device that has been dragged and dropped (stored in step S706 shown in FIG. 7) is acquired. In step S903, based on the information acquired in step S902, the coordinate information acquired in step S901 is converted into a specific M using a protocol such as SNMP for the network device.
This is set for the IB object, and the process ends.

Note that the specific object is MIB
-It is possible to use the sysLocation defined in II and the MIB object defined by the company.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a device arrangement information designation process when reading the device arrangement information from a file. This processing is started when the display of the device map display window is updated.

First, in step S1001, the device arrangement information stored in step S803 of FIG. 8 is read from the file, and in step S1002, the value of a variable j for counting the detected network devices is initialized to “0”. I do. Next, in step S1003,
The value of the variable j is compared with the value of the variable i indicating the number of network devices stored in step S708 shown in FIG. 7, and if the value of the variable j is smaller than the value of the variable i (step S708).
1003: Yes) The process proceeds to step S1004, otherwise (step S1003: No), the process ends.

In step S1004, step S10
It is checked whether or not the device arrangement information acquired in step 01 includes the arrangement information for the j-th network device stored in step S706 shown in FIG. Then, in step S1005, j in step S1004
It is determined whether the device arrangement information of the second network device has been acquired. If the device arrangement information has been acquired (step S1005: Yes), the process proceeds to step S1006. If the device arrangement information was not acquired (step S1005:
No) The process proceeds to step S1007.

In step S1006, step S10
Based on the device arrangement information acquired in step 04, an icon indicating the network device is displayed on the device map display window. Then, step S1007
Then, the value of the variable j is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S1003 to repeat the above processing.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a device arrangement information designation process when acquiring device arrangement information from a network device. This processing is started when the display of the device map display window is updated.

First, in step S1101, the value of a variable j for counting detected network devices is initialized to “0”. Next, in step S1102, the value of the variable j is compared with the value of the variable i indicating the number of network devices stored in step S708 shown in FIG. 7, and if the value of the variable j is smaller than the value of the variable i, ( Step S1102: Yes) Proceed to step S1103,
Otherwise (step S1102: NO), the process ends.

In step S1103, the device arrangement information set in step S903 shown in FIG. 9 is obtained for the j-th network device stored in step S706 shown in FIG. It should be noted that the device arrangement information set for the network device is based on the SNMP protocol.
It is obtained by using the Get Request packet to obtain the value of the MIB object in which the device arrangement information is set.

Next, in step S1104, it is determined whether or not the device arrangement information of the j-th network device has been acquired in step S1103. If the device arrangement information has been acquired (step S1104: Yes), the flow advances to step S1105 to acquire the information. If it cannot be performed (Step S1104: No), the process proceeds to Step S1106.

In step S1105, step S11
Based on the device arrangement information acquired in step 04, an icon indicating the network device is displayed on the device map display window. Then, step S1106
Then, the value of the variable j is incremented by 1, the process returns to step S1102, and the above processing is repeated. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example in which an icon indicating the network device is displayed on the device map display window based on the acquired device arrangement information.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the device list display window for displaying a list of network devices and the detected network device can be placed at an arbitrary position on the window so that the actual arrangement location can be understood. It has a device map display window for displaying icons, detects network devices operating on the network, displays the detected network devices in a device list display window, and displays the network devices displayed in the device list display window. By dragging and dropping the device onto the device map display window, the user specifies the location of the detected network device (hereinafter referred to as device location information), saves the specified device location information, and saves the saved device location information. Acquired, based on the device location information, by displaying the detected network device to the device map display window, there is an effect that by a simple procedure of drag-and-drop can be placed network device to the device map display window.

Further, by storing and acquiring the device arrangement information in a file, the device arrangement information created once is distributed as a file so that a plurality of users can share the same device arrangement information. There is an effect that it can be referred.

Further, the storage and acquisition destination of the device arrangement information is the MI in the network device corresponding to the arrangement information.
By being characterized as a B object, there is an effect that a plurality of users can refer to the same device arrangement information set in the network device.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As described above, the network device control software executes the local area network (LA)
N) 100 connected to a personal computer (P
C) operates on 103 and 104, searches for a network device connected to the local area network (LAN) 100 via the network board (NB) 101, and obtains necessary information (for example, IP address, It is common to acquire the device name).

Some network devices actively notify the network device control software of the status by using SNMP Trap-PDU (hereinafter referred to as trap) when the status changes. is there. In this case, as a trap notification destination address, there are a broadcast method for all network device control software and a method for notifying only to a previously registered address.

When the network device control software receives a trap, there is a device that notifies a device status change by a pop-up window or a voice message according to the content of the trap.

However, in general network device control software, a P which operates the network device control software as a status notification destination, that is, a Trap-PDU transmission destination for a network device is described.
If the address of C is not registered, the status change is not notified from the network device. For this reason, there is a problem that the user must register the status notification destination address for the network device that he / she wants to manage after starting the network device control software.

The above-described address registration is usually incorporated as a part of a series of processes for opening a window for displaying detailed information of a device to be managed.

In the second embodiment, a network device to be managed is registered in advance among network devices detected on the network, and an address of a status notification destination is automatically registered for the network device to be managed. And to improve the convenience of the user.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process at the time of detecting a network device in the second embodiment. First, in step S1401, management target device information is read from a file, and in step S1402, the value of a variable i for counting the number of detected network devices is initialized to “0”. Next, in step S1403, a search is made for the i-th network device connected to the network, and in step S1
In step 404, if the i-th network device is detected in step S1403 (step S1404:
Yes) the process proceeds to step S1405, and if not detected (step S1404: No), the process ends.

In step S1405, step S14
In step 03, necessary information is acquired from the network device detected. Here, the necessary information is information for uniquely identifying a network device when saving managed device information (usually using a MAC address), and a list of detected network devices is displayed. Means the information to be displayed. In addition, acquisition of information from a network device is performed by, for example, SNMP.
This can be performed by obtaining an appropriate MIB object value using the Get Request-PDU of the protocol.

Next, in step S1406, the information acquired in step S1405 is stored in a format that can be referenced later.
Store in M etc. Then, in step S1407, it is determined whether the i-th device detected in step S1403 is a management target device with reference to the management target device information read in step S1401, and if it is a management target device (step S1407: Yes)
Proceeding to step S1408, if the device is not a management target device (step S1407: No), step S14
Go to 09.

In step S 1408, the status notification destination, that is, Trap-
The address of the PC on which the network device management software is running is registered as the PDU transmission destination address. The registration of the status notification destination address can be performed, for example, by setting a value in an appropriate MIB object of the network device.

In step S1409, the value of the variable i is set to 1
Then, the process returns to step S1403, and the above processing is repeated.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a process for designating whether or not the network device detected in the process shown in FIG. 14 is to be managed.

First, in step S1501, of the network devices detected by the procedure shown in FIG. 14, a network device for setting whether or not to be managed is specified. The designation of a network device is performed, for example, using a list box or the like that displays a list of detected network devices.

Next, in step S1502, it is specified whether or not the network device specified in step S1503 is to be managed. In step S1503,
The management target device information is updated and stored based on the information specified in step S1502. And step S
In 1504, it is determined whether a network device has been newly added to the management target device. If a new network device has been added (step S1504: YES), step S1 is performed.
Go to 505, otherwise (step S150
4: No) Proceed to step S1506.

In step S1505, the address of the PC on which the network device management software is running is registered as the status notification destination, that is, the address of the Trap-PDU transmission destination, for the network device, and the process ends. The registration of the status notification destination address can be performed by setting a value in an appropriate MIB object of the network device, for example.

In step S1506, it is determined whether or not the network device has been deleted from the device to be managed.
6: Yes) Proceed to step S1507; otherwise (step S1506: No), end the process.

In step S1507, the status notification destination, that is, the address of the Trap-PDU transmission destination is deleted from the network device, and the process ends. The deletion of the status notification destination address can be performed by, for example, emptying the value of an appropriate MIB object of the network device.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of managed device information read or stored in the processing shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. In this example, the managed device information is the number of managed devices (Device Count in the figure)
And the MAC address of the managed device (MA in the figure)
CADDRESS0-3).

As described above, according to the second embodiment, a network device operating on a network is detected, and whether or not the detected network device is to be managed is set. If a network device registered as an object to be managed is detected and the status notification destination address is automatically registered for the network device, the network device that the user wants to manage can be saved. Even if the procedure for registering the address of the status notification destination is not executed, the effect that the status change of the network device to be managed is notified from the point in time when the network device to be managed is detected.

The above-described network device control program may be executed by the PC 500 by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the program is stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory or a floppy disk, or an information group including the program from an external storage medium via a network such as e-mail or personal computer communication.
By being loaded on the upper side, the present invention is also applied to the case where it is supplied to the PC 500.

FIG. 17 shows a CD-R as an example of a storage medium.
It is a figure showing a memory map of OM. Reference numeral 9999 denotes an area storing directory information, which indicates the location of an area storing the subsequent installation program and an area storing the network device control program. An area 9998 stores an installation program. An area 9997 stores a network device control program.

The network control program is executed by the PC 5
00, the installation program stored in the area 9998 in which the installation program is stored is first loaded into the system.
Performed by U501. Next, the installation program executed by the CPU 501 stores an area 9997 storing the network device control program.
Read the network device control program from
It is stored in the hard disk 511.

The present invention can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, and the like), and can be applied to a single device (for example, a copier, a facsimile). Device).

An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (CPU or MP) of the system or apparatus.
It goes without saying that U) can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

[0107]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The location where the detected network device is actually located is displayed so as to be intuitively understood, and the device position when the device is located can be easily set.

[0108] Of the network devices detected on the network, the network device to be managed is registered in advance, and the address of the status notification destination is automatically registered for the network device to be managed, so that the user can be registered. It is possible to improve convenience.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a case where a network board for connecting a printer to a network is connected to a printer having an open architecture.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a network board is installed in a printer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating electrical connections with a network board, a printer, and a LAN.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of an MIB.

FIG. 5 shows a P on which network management software can operate.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of C.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a module configuration of network management software.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a network device detection process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating device arrangement information setting processing when information is stored in a file.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating device arrangement information setting processing when information is stored in a network device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a device map display window update process when information is stored in a file.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a device map display window update process when information is stored in a network device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a device list display window.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a device map display window.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a network device detection process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a management target device registration process.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an embodiment of managed device information according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a memory map in a storage medium of the network management software.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 local area network (LAN) 101 network board (NB) 101a printed circuit board 101b faceplate 102 printer with open architecture 102a serial port 102b parallel port 103 personal computer (PC) 104 personal computer (PC) ) 105 printer 106 file server 107 network disk 108 print server 109 a printer 109 b printer 110 local area network (LAN) 111 personal computer (PC) 112 personal computer (PC) 113 file server 114 network disk 115 print server 116 printer 117 printer 120 local Area net Work (LAN) 121 Personal Computer (PC) 122 Personal Computer (PC) 130 Modulation / Demodulation (MODEM) / Transponder 140 Backbone 150 Printer Interface Card 151 Microprocessor 160 Printer Engine 170 Connector 200 Shared Memory 301 Microprocessor 302 ROM 303 RAM 401 MIB node iso (1) 402 MIB node org (3) 403 MIB node mgmt (2) 404 MIB node mib-2 (1) 405 MIB node printmib (43) 406 MIB node private (4) 407 MIB node enterprises (1) 408 MIB node canon (1602) 500 PC 501 CPU 502 ROM 503 RAM 504 System bus 5 05 Keyboard controller (KBC) 506 CRT controller (CRTC) 507 Disk controller (DKC) 508 Network interface card (NIC) 509 Keyboard (KB) 510 CRT display (CRT) 511 Hard disk (HD) 512 Floppy disk drive (FD) 601 Device List module 602 Overall control module 603 Configurator 604 Search module 605 NetWare job module 606 UI module A 607 UI module B 608 Control module A 609 Control module B 610 MIB module 611 SNMP module 612 Common transport module 613 IPX handler 614 UDP handler 615 Protocol 16 NetWare API 617 WinSock

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A detecting means for detecting a network device operating on a network, a first displaying means for displaying a list of network devices detected by the detecting means, and a first displaying means for displaying a list of the network devices detected by the detecting means. Based on the list display
A network device control apparatus, comprising: designating means for designating a position at which a network device is arranged as a map; and second display means for displaying the network device as a map according to the position designated by the designating means. 2. The network device control according to claim 1, wherein the specifying means specifies by dragging and dropping a list of network device icons to a desired position where the icons are arranged as a map. apparatus. 3. The network device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement position designated by said designation means is stored as a file. 4. The network device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the location specified by said specifying means is stored as a management information database (MIB) object. 5. A detecting means for detecting a network device operating on a network, a setting means for setting whether to register a network device detected by the detecting means as a management target, A registration device for automatically registering a status notification destination address for a network device registered as a management target. 6. A detection step of detecting a network device operating on a network, a first display step of displaying a list of network devices detected in the detection step, and a display step of displaying in the first display step. Based on the list display
A network device control method, comprising: a designation step of designating a position at which a network device is arranged as a map; and a second display step of displaying the network device as a map according to the position designated in the designation step. 7. The network device control according to claim 6, wherein in the specifying step, the icons of the network devices displayed in the list are specified by dragging and dropping the icons to a desired position to be arranged as a map. Method. 8. The arrangement position designated in the designation step,
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the file is stored as a file. 9. The arrangement position designated in the designation step,
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the network information is stored as a management information database (MIB) object. 10. A detecting step of detecting a network device operating on a network, a setting step of setting whether to register the network device detected in the detecting step as a management target, and a setting step of: A registration step of automatically registering a status notification destination address for a network device registered as a management target. 11. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program code of a control method, wherein a code of a detecting step of detecting a network device operating on a network and a list of the detected network devices are displayed. 1
And a code of a designation step of designating a position where the network device is arranged as a map based on the displayed list display, and a second display step of displaying the network device as a map according to the designated position And a storage medium comprising: 12. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program code of a control method, wherein a code of a detection step of detecting a network device operating on a network and the detected network device are registered as management targets. Storage medium having a code of a setting step of setting whether or not to perform the setting and a code of a registration step of automatically registering an address of a status notification destination for a network device registered as a management target .