JP2005190366A - Service processor and system and input terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the data size of instructions held in an input terminal and to facilitate the operation of managing the instructions. <P>SOLUTION: Rule information 65 showing the contents of a series of processes including the capturing, processing and distributing of a document is stored in the rule pool 70 of a controller 30. When a document-sharing network system 1 executes the series of processes including the capturing, processing and distributing of the document, the instructions 60 in which a rule ID 61 is written are sent from the input terminal 50 to the controller 30. At the controller 30 an instruction recognition part 71 analyzes the instructions 60 inputted from the input terminal 50 and recognizes the rule ID 61. The rule information 65 that corresponds to the rule ID 61 recognized by a rule acquiring part 72 is selected from the rule pool 70 and a rule processing part 73 controls the series of processes to be executed according to the rule information 65 selected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a service processing apparatus, a service processing system, and an input terminal, and in particular, a service for performing predetermined processing on document data by inputting an instruction document in which an instruction for processing to be performed on document data is input from the input terminal. The present invention relates to a service processing apparatus, a service processing system, and an input terminal for inputting an instruction to the service processing apparatus that cooperate and process on a network according to the input instruction.

  Conventionally, a plurality of job templates (hereinafter referred to as instructions) that describe desired settings for items to be set on the multifunction device, such as output format settings, are prepared in advance, and the instructions are specified, if necessary. There has been proposed a technique for performing processing after changing a set value (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this case, the user can obtain a desired result only by selecting an instruction sheet having a desired setting without performing the setting operation for each item.

  In addition, a workflow system has been proposed in which a scanner, a facsimile machine, a copier, or a complex machine combining these, a personal computer, a mail server, etc. are connected to each other via a network to share paper documents and electronic information. Yes.

  With the recent development of Internet technology, Web services have been proposed that can easily construct more advanced business processing by linking independently developed applications. A web service makes it possible to easily construct a more advanced business system by using an application on a network as a service component. And new services are also created by organically linking and combining these services.

  In such a workflow system, a document file is fetched from an input system such as a scanner for reading a document or a paperless FAX, and after passing through a processing system such as image processing or character recognition, the document file is output via an output system such as a printer or a mail server. A series of processes until distribution to the outside is executed in a predefined order in cooperation with the network (see, for example, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, and Patent Document 4). An instruction to execute such a series of processes to the workflow system is performed by inputting a desired instruction from an input terminal such as a copying machine.

  Therefore, the instruction sheet also describes the contents of a series of processes from taking in document data to processing and distribution (contents of processes requested to each service, input parameters, how to link each service (job flow), etc.). It has come to be.

Here, since the processing contents desired by the user are various, it is desirable that an input terminal for inputting an instruction such as a multifunction machine can hold more instructions.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-83263 JP 2002-99686 A JP 2001-325389 A JP 2001-195295 A

  However, if all the contents of a series of processing are described in the instruction sheet, the data size per instruction sheet becomes large, and therefore it is not possible to hold a large number of instructions on the input terminal due to a memory capacity problem. There was a problem. In addition, when the data size of the instruction sheet increases, the communication capacity and communication time between the input terminal and the apparatus that receives and processes the instruction sheet from the input terminal also increase, and communication costs increase.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of input terminals, instructions describing the contents of the same series of processes may be held in the plurality of input terminals, and a part of the series of processes may be changed or a series of processes may be performed. If it is impossible to execute the above process, and the user wants to delete the instruction for performing the series of processes, the user needs to perform an editing operation such as deleting the instruction or changing the contents for all the input terminals, resulting in poor management work efficiency. There was also a problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. A service processing apparatus, a service processing system, and a service processing apparatus capable of reducing the data size of instructions stored in an input terminal and improving management work efficiency, And to provide an input terminal.

  In order to achieve the above object, the service processing device according to claim 1 receives an instruction describing processing to be performed on document data from an input terminal, and performs predetermined processing on document data in accordance with the input instruction. Content processing means for processing a service for performing a service on a network in cooperation with each other, wherein a plurality of pieces of content information describing at least a part of the processing content of the predetermined processing performed by the service are stored Corresponding to the first link information included in the instruction received by the receiving means, and receiving means for receiving the instruction including first link information to the content information from the input terminal Refer to the content information selection means for selecting the content information from the content information storage means, and the content information selected by the content information selection means. It is characterized by having an execution unit for executing the service in accordance with the instruction received by the receiving means.

  In the service processing apparatus, a plurality of pieces of content information in which at least a part of the predetermined processing performed in the service is described is stored in the content information storage unit, and the first link to the content information An instruction including information is input from the input terminal to the service processing apparatus. In the service processing apparatus, the instruction is received by the receiving unit, and the content information selecting unit selects the content information corresponding to the first link information included in the received instruction from the content information storing unit. Then, the execution means executes a service (that is, a predetermined process related to document data) according to the instruction received by the receiving means while referring to the selected content information.

  As a result, at least a part of the processing content to be described in the instruction sheet is cut out and stored as content information in the content information means, and the first information for linking to the content information in the instruction sheet. The link information can be described instead, and the data size of the instruction sheet can be reduced.

  In addition, since the content information is collectively managed by the service processing device, the content change work is not performed for all input terminals even when there are multiple input terminals for changing the processing content described in the content information. In both cases, it is only necessary to change the contents of the content information of the service processing apparatus, and the management work efficiency can be improved.

  The service processing apparatus may further include an editing unit for editing the content information, as described in claim 2.

  In this case, in order to further improve the management work efficiency, as described in claim 3, the content information storage unit uses the content information and the first link information for each content information. The second link information to the instruction sheet that is associated and held on the input terminal side is further stored, and the editing means stores the second link information stored in the content information storage means. Based on this, it is preferable to specify the instruction for referring to the content information to be edited, and further edit the specified instruction. In this case, as described in claim 4, the instruction including the first link information is created and held in the input terminal, and the created and held in the input terminal If the creation control means for controlling to create the second link information to the instruction and store it in the content information storage means is further provided, it is linked with the generation of the instruction including the first link information. Thus, the creation and storage of the second link information can be performed automatically.

  By using the service processing apparatus described above, the following service processing system can be realized. That is, the service processing system according to claim 5 is a service processing system for processing a service for performing predetermined processing on document data in cooperation with each other on a network, and any one of claims 1 to 4. And an input terminal for inputting the instruction including the first link information to the service processing apparatus.

  According to this service processing system, an instruction including the first link information is input from the input terminal to the service processing apparatus. In the service processing apparatus, a service (that is, document data) according to the instruction, as described above. Predetermined processing) is executed, the data size of the instruction sheet can be reduced, and the management work efficiency can be improved.

  Moreover, the following input terminals can be used for inputting the instructions to the service processing apparatus. That is, an input terminal according to claim 6 is an input terminal used for inputting the instruction to the service processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first terminal is the first terminal. An instruction storage unit capable of storing a plurality of instructions including the link information; an operation unit operated to specify the instruction; and an instruction specified by an operation of the operation unit It comprises an instruction book selection means selected from a storage means, and a transmission means for transmitting the instruction book selected by the instruction book selection means to the service processing apparatus.

  According to this input terminal, a plurality of instructions including the first link information are stored in the instruction storage unit, and when a desired instruction is specified by the operation of the operation unit by the user, the instruction selection unit Then, the designated instruction is selected from the instruction storage unit and transmitted from the transmission unit to the service processing apparatus. Accordingly, since a desired instruction including the first link information can be input to the service processing apparatus, the service processing apparatus can be caused to execute a service (that is, a predetermined process related to document data) according to the instruction. . Therefore, the data size of the instruction sheet can be reduced and the management work efficiency can be improved.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there are excellent effects that it is possible to reduce the data size of the instruction sheet held in the input terminal and improve the management work efficiency.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document sharing network system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The document sharing network system 1 includes a plurality of multi-function peripherals 10 having a print function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function, a mail server 20 for sending and receiving e-mails, a plurality of terminal devices 25, and a predetermined document fetch. And a control device 30 as a service processing device according to the present invention for performing control to distribute to a predetermined distribution destination after fetching from the destination and performing predetermined processing. The document here corresponds to the document data of the present invention and is mainly image data related to the document. However, the document may include text data according to the state of processing, and is not particularly limited. .

  The multi-function device 10, the mail server 20, each terminal device 25, and the control device 30 are connected to each other via the network 5. Although not shown, the network 5 may be connected to a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile machine.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the processing of the document sharing network system 1. Although the multifunction machine 10, the mail server 20, and the terminal device 25 are connected to each other via the network 5, they normally operate independently. Therefore, the control device 30 provides a “core service” that sets a capture destination, a processing method, and a distribution destination in the document sharing network system 1 and automates / standardizes a series of processes from document capture, processing, and distribution. To do.

  Here, what is defined for automating / stylizing a series of processes is called a “rule”, and this rule corresponds to the service of the present invention. In addition, application programs that provide specific functions of import, processing method, and distribution are called input system plug-ins, processing system plug-ins, and output system plug-ins.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the multifunction machine 10.

  The multifunction machine 10 can provide functions of an input system plug-in and an output system plug-in. The multifunction machine 10 records an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor and a scanner unit 11 that reads an image recorded on an original. A printer unit 12 that develops a latent image using monochrome toner or color toner, transfers the developed image onto a recording sheet, and outputs it, and a facsimile (hereinafter referred to as “FAX”) unit 13 that transmits and receives a facsimile message. I have.

  The multi-function device 10 further includes a controller 14 that controls the whole, a memory 15 that stores image data read by the scanner unit 11, image data received via the network 5, FAX reception message data, and the like, and an icon. A display panel 16 for displaying an operation screen and input operation information in response to contact with an icon, an input / output port 17 for inputting / outputting data, and a communication control unit for communicating with a device connected to a network 18.

  The scanner unit 11, the printer unit 12, the FAX unit 13, the controller 14, the memory 15, the display panel 16, and the input / output port 17 are connected to each other via a bus. The input / output port 17 is connected to the network 5 via the communication control unit 18. The scanner unit 11 may be incorporated as a part of the FAX unit 13.

  In the multifunction machine 10, a predetermined storage area of the memory 15 is partitioned as a plurality of confidential boxes 15B, and each confidential box 15B is managed by a BOX number (for example, BOX numbers 1 to 300). The multifunction machine 10 can also assign a file name to the document scanned by the scanner unit 11 or the document received by the FAX unit, save it in the confidential BOX 15B, and transmit it to a destination set in advance for the confidential BOX 15 It is like that.

  The mail server 20 can provide functions of input plug-ins and output plug-ins, and is a server that transmits and receives e-mails of each terminal device 25 connected to the network 5.

  The terminal device 25 can provide functions of an input system plug-in, a processing system plug-in, and an output system plug-in, and is a so-called personal computer. The terminal device 25 performs e-mail transmission / reception with the outside via the mail server 20, for example, stores a document in a file folder, and performs predetermined image processing on the document.

  The control device 30 sets a rule as a workflow, and executes a series of processes from taking in, processing and distributing a document based on the rule. Note that the control device 30 may be a processing system plug-in.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the control device 30.

  The control device 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 that controls the whole, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 32 that temporarily stores data as a work area, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 33 that stores a control program of the CPU 31, and the like. A display 34 and a CD-ROM drive 35 for displaying a rule setting screen and the like are set.

  The control device 30 further stores and reads out a program for automating / stylizing a series of processes from document capture, processing and distribution, an application program for functioning as a processing system plug-in, predetermined data, and the like. A hard disk drive 36, a keyboard 37 for inputting text and symbols, a mouse 38 as a pointing device, an interface 39 to which these are connected, an input / output port 40, and a communication control unit 41 are provided.

  The CPU 31, RAM 32, ROM 33, interface 39, and input / output port 40 are connected to a communication control unit 41 that communicates with other devices such as the multifunction machine 10 connected to the network 5.

  The keyboard 37 is used to directly input information instructed by the operator when various setting screens are displayed on the display 34. The mouse 38 is used when selecting various displayed setting screens or inputting the contents of setting instructions when various setting screens are displayed on the display 34.

[Example of rules]
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of rules that can be generated by arbitrarily combining input system plug-ins, processing system plug-ins, and output system plug-ins by the control device 30.

  For example, rule 1 captures documents from a plurality of input system plug-ins (FAX reception service, file folder, scan service), and a plurality of processing system plug-ins (image processing, optical character recognition (OCR), attribute assignment / distribution). After that, it is defined that a document subjected to these processes is distributed to a plurality of output system plug-ins (file folder, print output).

  Rule 2 defines that a document is fetched from a file folder and a Mail_MAPI input, and the processed document is distributed to an external service cooperation folder through image processing and attribute assignment / distribution processing.

  Rule 3 defines that a document is fetched from a file folder, and the processed document is distributed to the file folder through image processing, an OCR cooperation module, and attribute assignment / distribution processing.

  Rule 4 captures a document from a confidential BOX 15B with a predetermined BOX number, and after performing automatic establishment, OCR, file name generation / assignment, and image & text bind processing, the document that has undergone these processing is a plurality of output plug-ins. Defines distribution to (file folder, print output).

  Rule 1 to rule 4 perform format (FMT) conversion necessary for the next processing before and after each processing system plug-in.

  Here, as the input system plug-in, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, there are a FAX reception service, a file folder, a scan service, a Mail_SMTP input, a POP client, a Mail_MAPI input, and the like. The confidential box shown in FIG.

  Examples of processing system plug-ins include image processing, OCR, attribute assignment / distribution, and an OCR cooperation module.

  Examples of output plug-ins include a file folder, an external service cooperation folder, an ftp output, a file message, a Mail_SMTP output, and a Mail_MAPI output. The input system, processing system, and output system plug-ins are not limited to those described above.

[Function configuration]
FIG. 6 shows a functional configuration of the document sharing network system 1. As shown in FIG. 6, the document sharing network system 1 performs communication between the input terminal 50 and the control device 30. As the input terminal 50, the multifunction machine 10, the mail server 20, and the terminal device 25 can be used. Hereinafter, a case where the multifunction machine 10 is used as the input terminal 50 will be described as an example.

  In the document sharing network system 1, the control device 30 takes in a document input from the input terminal 50, and controls a series of processes from processing and distribution to the document. For this purpose, an instruction sheet 60 is exchanged between the input terminal 50 and the control device 30.

  The instruction sheet 60 is data in which various parameter information indicating the content of processing performed on a document is described, and can be configured by, for example, an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format file.

  Specifically, in the instruction 60, as shown in FIG. 7, parameter information of <scan parameter>, <other service call>, and <document sharing service call> is described.

  <Scan parameter> is a parameter for instructing the content of processing in which the multifunction device 10 reads a document by the scanner unit 11 and stores the document obtained by the reading in the memory 15. Reading / color reading) and the storage location of the document obtained by reading is specified.

  <Invoke other service> is an instruction to execute other functions of the input terminal 50, such as printing, FAX transmission, mail transmission, file output, etc. The function to be called and the processing content to be applied to the document by the function are designated.

  <Calling document sharing service> is a parameter for instructing execution of a service in the document sharing network system 1, that is, the control device 30 according to the rule, and a rule ID 61 corresponding to the rule instructing execution. A control device 30 (IP (Internet Protocol) address or the like) that executes processing in accordance with the rule that becomes the output destination of the document (file) after execution of a series of processing and the transmission destination of the instruction sheet 60 is specified. In <calling of document sharing service>, a comment explaining an outline of processing performed by the rule for instructing execution is also described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the input terminal 50 includes an instruction book pool 51 as instruction data storage means for storing a plurality of such instructions 60 and instructions for storing / reading / executing the instructions 60. The document management unit 52, the communication unit 53 that exchanges various information with the control device 30 via the network 5, the functional module 54 that the input terminal 50 originally has, and the user inputs various information and instructions. And a user interface (UI) 55. When the input terminal 50 is the multi-function device 10, the controller 14 executes predetermined control processing, whereby the functions of the above units are constructed using the hardware resources shown in FIG. 3. Specifically, a predetermined storage area of the memory 15 is used for the instruction sheet pool 51, and the function module 54 includes a scanner function, a printer function, and a FAX transmission configured by using the scanner unit 11, the printer unit 12, and the FAX unit 13. There is a reception function and the UI 55 is configured using the display panel 16.

  The instruction book management unit 52 is connected to the instruction book pool 51, the communication unit 53, the functional module 54, and the UI 55. The user selects a desired instruction 60 from various instructions 60 in the instruction pool 51 managed by the instruction management unit 52 via the UI 55 and gives an instruction to execute it. Change scan parameters. That is, the UI 55 corresponds to the operation means of the present invention.

  Upon receiving an instruction to execute the instruction sheet 60 from the UI 55, the instruction sheet management unit 52 selects and reads out the instruction sheet 60 instructed to be executed from the instruction sheet pool 51. Then, the read instruction sheet 60 is interpreted (decoded), the function module 54 is operated according to the description content of the instruction sheet 60, or the instruction sheet 60 is transmitted from the communication unit 53 to the control device 30. The control device 30 is operated according to the description content of the instruction sheet 60. The instruction management unit 52 functions as the instruction selection unit of the present invention, and the communication unit 53 functions as the transmission unit of the present invention.

  In addition, the instruction management unit 52 needs to set parameters relating to processing performed by the own apparatus in the instruction 60 read from the instruction pool 51, that is, scan parameters, in response to an instruction from the user input via the UI 55. It can also be changed according to. For this purpose, the instruction sheet 60 includes information on a GUI screen for changing the scan parameter setting in advance. Based on this information, the GUI screen is displayed on the UI 55 to set the user's scan parameter. Accept changes. By making the instruction sheet 60 into an XML format file, it is easy to display the GUI screen in this way.

  The UI 55 and the communication unit 53 are also connected. The input terminal 50 displays information received from the control device 30 via the communication unit 53 on the UI 55 and information input from the UI 55 via the communication unit 53. To the control device 30.

  On the other hand, the control device 30 is described in a rule pool 70 as content information storage means of the present invention in which information (hereinafter, rule information) 65 representing various rules is stored as content information of the present invention, and in the instruction sheet 60. An instruction recognizing unit 71 for recognizing the rule ID 61, a rule acquiring unit 72 for acquiring the rule information 65 corresponding to the rule ID 61 from the rule pool 70, and a rule process for executing the rule indicated by the rule information 65 Unit 73, a creation / editing unit 74 that creates and edits the instruction sheet 60 and the rule information 65, a communication unit 75 that exchanges various information with the input terminal 50 via the network 5, and various information / instructions by the user And a UI 76 for performing input.

  In the control device 30, the functions of the above-described units are constructed by using the hardware resources shown in FIG. 4 by executing the program in the CPU 31, and the rule pool 70 has a predetermined hard disk drive 36 and a predetermined external storage medium (not shown). A storage area is used, and the UI 76 includes a display 34, a keyboard 37, and a mouse 38.

  The instruction recognizing unit 71 is connected to the communication unit 75, and receives the received instruction 60 from the communication unit 75 when receiving the instruction 60 transmitted from the input terminal 50 by the communication unit 75. Accordingly, the communication unit 75 has a function as the receiving means of the present invention. Then, the instruction sheet recognition unit 71 interprets (decodes) the instruction sheet 60 and recognizes the rule ID 61 described in the instruction sheet 60.

  The instruction book recognition unit 71 is also connected to the rule acquisition unit 72 and notifies the rule acquisition unit 72 of the recognized rule ID 61. The rule acquisition unit 72 is connected to the rule pool 70 and the rule processing unit 73, reads the rule information 65 corresponding to the rule ID notified from the instruction recognition unit 71 from the rule pool 70, and sends it to the rule processing unit 73. hand over. Therefore, the rule processing unit 72 corresponds to the content information selection unit of the present invention.

  The rule processing unit 73 functions as an execution unit of the present invention, and executes the rule indicated by the rule information 65 passed from the rule acquisition unit 72. The rule processing unit 73 is connected to the communication unit 75 and can notify the input terminal 50 of the rule execution result via the communication unit 75.

The creation / editing unit 74 is connected to the communication unit 75 and the UI 76. The creation / editing unit 74 is connected to the rule pool 70 so as to be accessible. In addition to the rule information 65 representing each rule, the rule pool 70 also stores association information 66 (described later) indicating instructions 60 associated with each rule. That is, rule information 65 and association information 66 are stored for each rule in the rule pool 70. The creation / editing unit 74 is input from the UI 55 on the input terminal 50 side via the UI 76 or the communication unit 75. Rules and instructions are created and edited according to instructions. Note that editing includes deletion as well as content change.

  Specifically, when creating a rule, the creation / editing unit 74 generates the rule information 65 based on the input instruction and stores it in the rule pool 70. Also, when creating an instruction sheet, the instruction sheet 60 is created based on the input instruction, the created instruction sheet 60 is transmitted to the input terminal 50, and the rule ID 61 described in the created instruction sheet 60 is set. A corresponding rule is specified, and information regarding the created instruction sheet 60 is added as association information 66 of the specified rule in the rule pool 70. Further, when editing a rule, the rule information 65 corresponding to the rule to be edited is changed or deleted based on the input instruction, and the rule is based on the association information 66 corresponding to the rule to be edited. The instruction sheet 60 related to the above is specified, and communication with the input terminal 50 is performed via the communication unit 75 to change or delete the contents of the specified instruction sheet 60.

[Rule ID and association information]
Next, the rule ID 61 and the association information 66 will be specifically described.

  The rule ID 61 is link information to the corresponding rule information 65 (corresponding to the first link information of the present invention), and is used for specifying the corresponding rule information 65 from various data on the network. . For example, the rule ID 61 includes information indicating the storage location of the corresponding rule information 65 (that is, the control device 30) and identification information for identifying the rule information 65 from other information in the storage location. Can do. As information indicating the storage location, URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) and IP addresses of the control device 30 can be used. A serial number is assigned as identification information of each rule information 65 in the storage location, or the user is unique. It is conceivable to give a random name. That is, the rule ID 61 is “URI of the control device 30 + serial number”, “IP address of the control device 30 + serial number”, “URI + name of the control device 30”, “IP address + name of the control device 30”, or the like. It is determined as follows.

  The association information 66 is link information to the instruction sheet 60 related to the corresponding rule (corresponding to the second link information of the present invention), and is related to the corresponding rule from various data on the network. This is used for specifying a certain instruction 60 (that is, an instruction 60 in which the corresponding rule ID 61 is described). For example, the association information 66 includes information indicating the storage location of the instruction 60 (that is, the input terminal 50) and identification information for identifying the instruction 60 from other information in the storage location. Can do. As the information indicating the storage location, the URI or IP address of the input terminal 50 can be used, and a serial number is given as identification information of each instruction 60 in the storage location, or the creator of the instruction and its It is conceivable to use the creation date. That is, the association information 66 includes “URI of the input terminal 50 + serial number”, “IP address of the input terminal 50 + serial number”, “URI of the input terminal 50 + creator + creation date”, or “IP address of the input terminal 50”. + Creator + creation date and time ".

[Action]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. Hereinafter, a case where the multifunction machine 10 is used as the input terminal 50 will be described as an example. FIG. 8 shows processing executed by the input terminal 50, and FIGS. 9 and 10 show processing executed by the control device 30.

  First, a case where a document is read by the input terminal 50 (multifunction device 10) and a series of processing according to a desired rule is performed on the document obtained by the reading will be described. In this case, the user sets an original on the input terminal 50 (multifunction device 10) and operates the UI 55 to select the instruction selection menu.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, when the instruction selection menu is selected by the user, the input terminal 50 proceeds from step 100 to step 102, and accepts selection of a desired instruction 60 by the user via the UI 55. Specifically, a list of the instruction sheets 60 stored in the instruction sheet pool 51 and the description contents of each instruction sheet 60 are displayed on the UI 55, and selection of a desired instruction sheet and input of the execution instruction are accepted.

  Here, since details of the series of processing are described on the rule information 65 side, the rule ID 61 is described in the instruction sheet 60 instead. With this rule ID 61 alone, it is difficult for the user to determine what kind of processing each instruction 60 performs, but in this embodiment, as described above, the outline of the processing is included in the instruction 60. Is included when the contents of the instruction sheet 60 are displayed, and the user can easily select a desired instruction sheet by confirming the comment.

  When the instruction sheet 60 is selected by the user and an instruction to execute the selected instruction sheet is input, the process proceeds to the next step 104, and the instruction sheet manager 52 selects the instruction sheet 60 selected by the user. Read from pool 51. At this time, if necessary, a scan parameter setting change instruction from the user can be received via the UI 55, and the scan parameter of the instruction sheet 60 read from the instruction sheet pool 51 can be changed in accordance with the received setting change instruction. It is.

  Then, in the next step 106, the instruction document management unit 52 interprets the read instruction document 60, operates the function module 54 corresponding to the scan function according to the specified content specified by <scan parameter>, and the document. And the resulting document is stored in the designated storage location. As a result, the document is input to the document sharing network system 1.

  Thereafter, if <other service call> is not designated, the process proceeds from the next step 108 to step 112. If <other service call> is designated, the next step 108 to step 110 are performed. Then, the corresponding functional module 54 is called to execute processing according to the specified contents for the document stored in the specified storage location, and then the process proceeds to step 112.

  In step 112, the instruction 60 is transmitted from the communication unit 53 to the control device 30 designated by an IP (Internet Protocol) address or the like in accordance with the designated content of <call document sharing service>. As a result, according to the rule corresponding to the rule ID 61 described in the instruction sheet 60, the document sharing network system 1 is instructed to perform a series of processing from document fetching to processing and distribution. .

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the communication device 75 receives the instruction sheet 60 from the input terminal 50, the control device 30 proceeds from step 200 to step 202, and the instruction sheet recognition section 71 interprets the received instruction sheet 60. Then, the rule ID 61 described in the instruction sheet is recognized. Then, in the next step 204, the rule acquisition unit 72 reads out the rule information 65 corresponding to this rule ID 61 from the rule pool 70.

  The rule information 65 read from the rule pool 70 is transferred to the rule processing unit 73, and in the next step 206, the rule processing unit 73 interprets the rule information 65 and executes the rule. That is, in accordance with the rule, a document is fetched from the input system plug-in, the fetched document is processed by the processing system plug-in, and the processed document is distributed to the output system plug-in. Normally, when a document is fetched from an input system plug-in, the corresponding document is fetched from a storage location specified by <scan parameter>.

  Finally, in step 208, information indicating the rule execution result is transmitted to the input terminal 50 via the communication unit 75. Thereby, the rule execution result is notified to the input terminal 50. Information indicating the execution result of this rule is received by the communication unit 53 of the input terminal 50.

  After transmitting the instruction sheet 60 in step 112 of FIG. 8, the input terminal 50 waits until receiving information indicating the rule execution result from the control device 30. The process proceeds from step 114 to step 116, where the information indicating the execution result of the received rule is stored in a predetermined area of the memory 15 or displayed on the UI 55 (display panel 16), and the process ends. The information indicating the rule execution result may be transmitted to an e-mail address designated in advance by the user.

  Next, processing in the case of creating an instruction sheet or editing a rule in accordance with a user instruction will be described. The instruction input in this case can be performed from any UI of the input terminal 50 and the control device 30, but in the following, a case where the user operates the UI 55 of the input terminal 50 will be described as an example.

  If the user wants to create an instruction, he / she operates the UI 55 to select the instruction creation menu.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the instruction creation menu is selected by the user, the input terminal 50 proceeds from step 100 to step 120 and step 122, and issues an instruction creation request from the communication unit 53 to the control device 30. Send.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the communication unit 75 receives an instruction form creation request from the input terminal 50, the control device 30 proceeds from step 200 to step 220 and step 222, and the creation / editing unit 74 uses the instruction form 60. Is transmitted to the input terminal 50 via the communication unit 75 as data (for example, data in HTML format or XML format) to be a GUI screen for creating the screen.

  When this data is received by the communication unit 53, the input terminal 50 proceeds from step 124 to step 126 in FIG. 8 and displays a GUI screen based on the received data in the UI 55 and should be described in the instruction 60 from the user. Accepts the setting of each parameter. The user operates the UI 55 to set desired parameters on the displayed GUI screen.

  At this time, when the user wants to create an instruction sheet 60 that uses a rule, communication between the input terminal 50 and the control device 30 is appropriately performed, and information regarding each rule information 65 stored in the rule pool 70 is obtained. Displayed on the UI 55 and accepts selection of a desired rule by the user. When the user operates the UI 55 to select a desired rule, a rule ID 61, a comment, and the like corresponding to the selected rule are set as parameters for <calling a document sharing service>. When the parameter is set by the user, the process proceeds to the next step 128, and information indicating the parameter setting result is transmitted from the communication unit 53 to the control device 30.

  After transmitting the GUI screen data in step 222 in FIG. 9 and receiving information indicating the parameter setting result from the input terminal 50 by the communication unit 75, the control device 30 proceeds from the next step 224 to step 226, and creates it. The editing unit 74 creates an instruction sheet 60 based on the received information, and transmits the created instruction sheet 60 from the communication unit 75 to the input terminal 50. When the instruction sheet 60 uses a rule, a rule ID 61 is described in the created instruction sheet 60.

  In the input terminal 50, after transmitting the information indicating the parameter setting result in step 128 of FIG. 8, when the communication unit 53 receives the instruction sheet 60 from the control device 30, the process proceeds from the next step 130 to step 132. The received instruction sheet 60 is stored in the instruction sheet pool 51 by the document management unit 52. At this time, the instruction book management unit 52 also assigns an identification code for identifying the instruction book 60 such as a serial number. Thereby, the process on the input terminal side ends.

  On the other hand, in the control device 30, after the instruction sheet 60 is created and transmitted in step 226 of FIG. 9, when the rule ID 61 is described in the created instruction sheet 60, the next step 228 to step 230 is performed. Then, as the association information of the rule corresponding to the rule ID 61, the newly created instruction association information 66 is generated, stored (added) in the rule pool 70, and the process is terminated. As a result, the newly created instruction sheet 60 is associated with the specified rule. Note that the identification information of the instruction sheet 60 used for the association information 66 can be obtained from the instruction sheet management unit 52 on the input terminal 50 side by communicating with the input terminal 50.

  If the rule ID 61 is not described in the instruction sheet 60 created in step 226, a negative determination is made in step 228, and the control device 30 ends the process as it is without adding association information.

  In addition, when the user wants to edit the rule, the user operates the UI 55 to select the edit menu.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the editing menu is selected by the user, the input terminal 50 proceeds from step 100 to step 120, step 140, and step 142, and transmits an editing request from the communication unit 53 to the control device 30. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the editing request from the input terminal 50 is received by the communication unit 75, the control device 30 proceeds from step 200 to step 220 and step 240, and from step 240 to step 242 in FIG. In step 242, the creation / editing unit 74 transmits data (for example, data in HTML format or XML format) serving as a GUI screen for editing the rule to the input terminal 50 via the communication unit 75.

  When this data is received by the communication unit 53, the input terminal 50 proceeds from the next step 144 of FIG. 8 to step 146. In the UI 55, the GUI screen is displayed based on the received data, and the rule editing instruction from the user Accept. The user operates the UI 55 to designate a rule to be edited and its editing content on the displayed GUI screen, thereby giving a rule editing instruction. When receiving the rule editing instruction from the user, the input terminal 50 proceeds to the next step 148 and transmits information indicating the editing instruction from the communication unit 53 to the control device 30.

  After transmitting the GUI screen data in step 242 of FIG. 10, the control device 30 receives the information indicating the editing instruction by the communication unit 75, and the creation / editing unit 74 interprets the received information and deletes the rule. If so, the process proceeds from the next step 244 to steps 246 and 248, and the corresponding rule information 65 in the rule pool 70 is deleted according to the instruction indicated by the received information. Thereby, the rule designated by the user is deleted.

  Then, in the next step 250, the creation / editing unit 74 refers to the association information 66 of the deleted rule in the rule pool 70 to identify the instruction 60 associated with the deleted rule. An instruction to delete the instruction sheet 60 is transmitted to the input terminal 50. As described above, since the association information 66 includes information indicating the storage location of the instruction sheet 60, the creation / editing unit 74 uses the instruction sheet from the association information 66 even when a plurality of input terminals 50 exist. It is possible to grasp the input terminal 50 to which the delete instruction is to be transmitted. In step 252, the rule association information 66 deleted from the rule pool 70 is also deleted, and the process is terminated.

  When the communication unit 53 receives an instruction to delete the instruction sheet 60 from the control device 30 after transmitting the editing instruction in step 148 of FIG. 8, the input terminal 50 proceeds from step 150 to step 152. In step 152, according to the received deletion instruction, the instruction sheet management unit 52 deletes the corresponding instruction sheet 60 from the instruction sheet pool 51 and ends the process. Thereby, in the control device 30, when the rule is deleted, the instruction 60 in which the rule ID 61 corresponding to the deleted rule is described from the instruction information pool 51 of the input terminal 50 from the association information 66. The instruction sheet 60 can be identified and deleted.

  If the creation / editing unit 74 interprets the received information and instructs to change the contents, the control device 30 proceeds from step 244 to step 246 and step 254 in FIG. According to the instruction, the corresponding rule information 65 is read from the rule pool 70, and the content is changed. In the next step 256, the creation / editing unit 74 refers to the edited rule association information 66 in the rule pool 70 to identify the instruction sheet 60 associated with the edited rule, and this identification The instruction to edit the instruction sheet 60 is transmitted to the input terminal 50 and the process is terminated. If it is not necessary to edit the instruction sheet 60, the process of step 256 can be omitted.

  After transmitting the editing instruction in step 148 of FIG. 8 and receiving the editing instruction of the instruction sheet 60 from the control device 30 by the communication unit 53, the input terminal 50 proceeds from the next step 150 to steps 154 and 156. In step 156, according to the received editing instruction, the corresponding instruction sheet 60 in the instruction sheet pool 51 is edited by the instruction sheet management unit 52, and the process ends. In the editing of the instruction sheet 60 performed in step 156, for example, the scan parameter in the instruction sheet 60 is changed, the description of the rule ID 61 in the instruction sheet 60 is deleted, or the comment content in the instruction sheet 60 is changed. Or delete the instruction sheet 60 itself. As a result, the control device 30 can identify the instruction sheet 60 describing the rule ID 61 stored in the instruction sheet pool 51 of the input terminal 50 from the association information 66 and edit the instruction sheet 60. become.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, rule information 65 indicating the contents of a series of processing from document capture to processing and distribution is stored in the rule pool 70 of the control device 30, and the document sharing network system 1 stores the document information. When performing a series of processes from capture to processing and distribution, the instruction sheet 60 in which the rule ID 61 is described is transmitted from the input terminal 50 to the control device 30. In the control device 30, the instruction sheet recognition unit 71 analyzes the instruction sheet 60 input from the input terminal 50 to recognize the rule ID 61, and the rule information 65 corresponding to the rule ID 61 recognized by the rule acquisition unit 72 is stored in the rule pool 70. And the rule processing unit 73 controls to perform a series of processes according to the selected rule information 65.

  As a result, a part indicating the contents of a series of processes to be described in the instruction sheet 60 is cut out and held as rule information 65 on the control device 30 side, and the instruction sheet held on the input terminal 50 side. In 60, instead of describing the contents of a series of processing, it is only necessary to describe the rule ID 61 as link information to the rule information 65, so the data size of the instruction sheet 60 can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to hold a large number of instructions 60 in the instruction pool 51 of the input terminal 50, and the communication capacity and communication time between the input terminal 50 and the control device 30 can be reduced.

  Further, since the control apparatus 30 collectively manages the rule information 65 indicating the contents (rules) of various series of processes, the management work efficiency when there are a plurality of input terminals 50 can be improved.

  For example, when it is desired to edit the rule information 65 such as changing a series of processing contents, even if there are a plurality of input terminals 50, the user edits the corresponding rule information 65 held in the control device 30. It is not necessary to change the contents of all the input terminals 50.

  In addition, the control device 30 can also store the association information 66 as link information to the instruction sheet 60 associated with the rule together with the rule information 65 of each rule, and the control apparatus 30 can identify the instruction sheet 60 associated with each rule. I made it. Thereby, at the time of rule editing, it is possible to specify the related instruction sheet 60 held on the input terminal 50 side and edit the related instruction sheet 60, thereby further improving the management work efficiency. it can.

  For example, as described above, when deleting an unnecessary rule, not only the rule information 65 but also the related instruction sheet 60 can be specified and automatically deleted. When the contents of a series of processes (the contents of the rule information 65) are changed, the related instruction sheet 60 is specified, the description of the rule ID 61 in the related instruction sheet 60 is deleted, and the instruction sheet The link between 60 and the rule information 65 can be automatically deleted. Also, when it is desired to change the contents of other descriptions (scan parameters, etc.) described in the instruction sheet 60 when editing the rule, the instruction sheet 60 can be specified from the association information 66 and the instruction sheet 60 can be edited arbitrarily. Is possible.

  In the above description, the entire contents of a series of processes from document capture to processing and distribution are described in the rule information 65. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and at least a part of the series of processes is described. It is only necessary to describe the contents of the process in the rule information 65 so that the amount of information to be described in the instruction sheet 60 can be reduced.

1 is a schematic diagram of a document sharing network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the outline | summary of a process of a document sharing network system. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction machine. It is a figure which shows the structure of a control apparatus. It is a figure explaining an example of the rule which can be produced | generated combining arbitrarily an input system plug-in, a processing system plug-in, and an output system plug-in. It is a figure which shows the function structure of a document sharing network system. It is a figure which shows an example of the description content of an instruction document. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed with an input terminal (multifunction machine). It is a flowchart which shows a part of process performed with a control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the remaining one part of the process performed with a control apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Document sharing network system 5 Network 10 Multifunction machine 20 Mail server 25 Terminal device 30 Control apparatus 50 Input terminal 51 Instruction book pool 52 Instruction book management part 53 Communication part 54 Function module 60 Instruction sheet 61 Rule ID
65 Rule Information 66 Association Information 70 Rule Pool 71 Instruction Recognizing Unit 72 Rule Acquisition Unit 73 Rule Processing Unit 74 Creation / Editing Unit 75 Communication Unit

Claims (6)

A service processing apparatus that inputs an instruction describing processing to be performed on document data from an input terminal and processes a service for performing predetermined processing on document data in cooperation with the network according to the input instruction. ,
Content information storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of content information in which at least some of the predetermined processing performed in the service is described;
Receiving means for receiving the instruction including first link information from the input terminal to the content information;
Content information selection means for selecting the content information corresponding to the first link information included in the instruction received by the reception means from the content information storage means;
Executing means for executing the service according to the instruction received by the receiving means while referring to the content information selected by the content information selecting means;
A service processing apparatus comprising: An editing unit for editing the content information;
The service processing apparatus according to claim 1. The content information storage means further stores, for each content information, second link information to the instruction sheet associated with the content information and the first link information and held on the input terminal side. And
Based on the second link information stored in the content information storage unit, the editing unit specifies the instruction for referring to the content information to be edited, and further edits the specified instruction Do,
The service processing apparatus according to claim 2. The instruction including the first link information is created and held in the input terminal, and the second link information to the instruction written and held in the input terminal is created and the It further comprises creation control means for controlling the content information storage means to store.
The service processing apparatus according to claim 3. A service processing system that cooperates on a network to process a service that performs predetermined processing on document data,
The service processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An input terminal for inputting the instruction including the first link information to the service processing device;
A service processing system comprising: An input terminal used for inputting the instruction to the service processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An instruction storage unit capable of storing a plurality of instructions including the first link information;
Operating means operated to specify the instructions;
An instruction sheet selection means for selecting an instruction sheet designated by the operation of the operation means from the instruction sheet storage means;
Transmitting means for transmitting the instruction selected by the instruction selecting means to the service processing device;
An input terminal comprising:

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