JP2009033731A - Image forming apparatus, document management method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of allowing multiple kinds of client terminals to perform the document management function and document printing management function of the image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: With widely-used standard techniques (RSS, HTTP, and Basic authentication), there is realized a function of storing electronic document data via a network, a function of notifying a user of an update status of the electronic document data through the RSS, and a function of printing the electronic document data through a Web browser. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a document management method, and a program.

  Examples of techniques related to the image forming apparatus include the following. For example, for a service that needs to be registered for use by sending setting information to the service providing apparatus, the service can be registered again without bothering the user when the use registration is deleted. Is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In addition, for example, a technique is known in which a computer can quickly know the situation such as the communication history of a plurality of multifunction peripherals (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

  Here, the update status of electronic documents can be checked using standard technologies such as RSS (Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, Really Simple Syndication), HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), and basic authentication. The function of notifying the user by the RSS feeder is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 above. By using these technologies and technologies for printing documents via a Web browser, document management functions and document printing of image forming apparatuses can be performed on more types of client terminals (external terminals used by users and users). Can perform management functions. An example of an image forming apparatus using an RSS function is disclosed in Patent Document 3.

JP 2006-134110 A JP 2006-134109 A JP 2006-54732 A

  However, in the inventions of Patent Documents 1 and 2, a unique protocol is devised in consideration of RSS traffic. For this reason, it is necessary to develop a client terminal having a unique protocol that cannot use an RSS reader that is generally distributed.

  For this reason, in the inventions of Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is a problem that development man-hours such as manufacturers increase the development man-hours and cost. In addition, since the user can know the status of the service only by using a client terminal that supports the unique protocol, there is a problem that the types of client terminals that can be used are limited.

  The invention of Patent Document 3 realizes operation management of the image forming apparatus itself, specifically, notification of the remaining amount of toner using the RSS function, so that the user can save an image through the network or update the situation. It does not support general user functions such as

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and facilitates electronic document management in an office or the like, enables use of more types of client terminals, and reduces development man-hours. It is an object to provide a forming apparatus, a document management method, and a program.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a communication unit that communicates predetermined data via a network, a storage unit that stores the predetermined data, and a network. A storage unit that stores electronic document data received by the communication unit from a connected external terminal in the storage unit; and a print instruction for receiving the electronic document data stored in the storage unit from the external terminal. A printing unit that prints electronic document data that is an instruction target, and the storage unit manages the update status of the electronic document data when the electronic document data is stored in the storage unit for the first time. The management document is generated and stored in the storage unit.

  The present invention also provides a document management method executed by the image forming apparatus and a program that causes a computer to function as the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention, an electronic document can be stored via a network by using a widely used standard technique, the electronic document can be stored in an image forming apparatus, and office documents can be centrally managed. In addition, according to the present invention, a user can be notified of the update status of an electronic document by using a widely used standard technique, and a function for printing the document can be realized. It is possible to know the upload without omission and print documents from an external terminal such as a mobile phone or a thin client. As a result, according to the present invention, electronic document management in an office or the like becomes easier, more types of client terminals can be used, and the use layer of the image forming apparatus can be expected to further expand. In addition, development man-hours such as manufacturers can reduce development man-hours.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus, a document management method, and a program according to the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) according to the first embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment stores functions (applications; hereinafter also referred to as applications) of each apparatus such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner in a single casing. The image forming apparatus 100 includes software groups 101 a and 101 b as control means, an image forming apparatus activation unit 150, and hardware resources 103.

  The image forming apparatus activation unit 150 is executed first when the image forming apparatus 100 is turned on, and activates the application layer 104 and the platform 106.

  The hardware resources 103 include a B & W LP (monochrome laser printer) 112, a color LP (color laser printer) 113, a network I / F (interface) 114, a secondary storage device 115, and other hardware such as a scanner and a facsimile. Hardware 111.

  In the secondary storage device 115, user information including an ID and a password of a user who can access the image forming apparatus 100 is recorded in advance. The secondary storage device 115 can store electronic document data (hereinafter referred to as “electronic document”).

  The software group 101a includes an application layer 104 that is activated on a general-purpose OS 141 such as UNIX (registered trademark). The application layer 104 is a program that performs processing specific to image forming functions such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner. The application layer 104 is a printer application 121 that is a printer application, and a copy that is a copy application. An application 122, a fax application 123 that is a facsimile application, a scanner application 124 that is a scanner application, a net file application 125 that is a network file application, and a process inspection application that is a process inspection application 126, an RRU application 127 that is an application for RRU (Remote ROM Update), and a Web server application 12 that is an application for a Web server. 8 and a document storage application 129 that is a document storage application. The general-purpose OS 141 includes various drivers such as a video driver 161, a network driver 162, and a secondary storage driver 163.

  The document storage application 129 is an application that stores an electronic document received from a client terminal connected to a network in the secondary storage device 115. Further, when the document storage application 129 stores an electronic document in the secondary storage device 115 for the first time, a user-specific RSS document (user-specific RSS document) that is a management document for managing the update status of the electronic document. In addition, an individual RSS document (document individual RSS document) is generated for the electronic document and stored in the secondary storage device 115.

  When the electronic document stored in the secondary storage device 115 is updated, the Web server application 128 refers to the user-dedicated RSS document and the individual document RSS document, and updates the electronic document using the RSS feeder function. Notify the WEB browser operating on the client terminal.

  Also, the Web server application 128 receives an input of a print instruction for the electronic document stored in the secondary storage device 115 from the WEB browser of the client terminal, and sends a print request for the electronic document that is the target of the print instruction to the printer application 121. Do.

  Further, the Web server application 128 has a function of authenticating a user of the client terminal by basic authentication based on user information described later when accessed from a WEB browser of the client terminal.

  The software group 101b includes a platform 106 that is activated on a general-purpose OS 140 such as UNIX (registered trademark), and an RRU application 130 that operates on the platform 106. Similar to the RRU application 127, the RRU application 130 is an application for RRU (Remote ROM Update). The platform 106 interprets a processing request from the application layer 104 and generates a hardware resource 103 acquisition request. The platform 106 manages one or more hardware resources 103 and receives control from the control service layer 105. It includes an SRM (system resource manager) 137 that arbitrates acquisition requests, and a general-purpose OS 140 that manages hardware resources 103 in response to acquisition requests from the SRM 137.

  The control service layer 105 includes an NCS (network control service) 131, an OCS (operation panel control service) 132, an FCS (facsimile control service) 133, an ECS (engine control service) 134, and an MCS (memory control service) 135. And SCS (System Control Service) 136, which includes one or more service modules.

  The platform 106 is configured to use an API (Application Program Interface) that can receive a processing request from the application layer 104 by a predefined function. General-purpose OSs 140 and 141 such as UNIX (registered trademark) execute the software of the application layer 104 and the platform 106 in parallel as processes.

  The process of the NCS 131 provides a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O (input / output), and distributes data received from the network side according to each protocol to each application. , Mediating when sending data from each application to the network side.

  For example, the NCS 131 controls data communication with a network device connected via a network using HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol daemon) by HTTP. The process of the OCS 132 controls an operation panel serving as an information transmission unit between the user and the main body control.

  The FCS 133 process provides an API for performing transmission / reception of facsimiles using the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) network from the application layer 104, registration and citation and reading of facsimile data, facsimile reception printing, and the like. The process of the ECS 134 controls engine units such as the B & W LP 112, the Color LP 113, and other hardware 111. The process of the MCS 135 performs control such as acquisition and release of a system memory area (not shown) and use of a storage device (not shown). The process of the SCS 136 performs processing such as application management and interrupt application control.

  The SRM 137 process controls the system and manages the hardware resources 103 together with the SCS 136. For example, the process of the SRM 137 arbitrates and controls execution according to an acquisition request from an upper layer using the hardware resource 103 such as the B & W LP 112 and the Color LP 113. Specifically, the process of the SRM 137 determines whether the hardware resource 103 requested for acquisition is available (whether it is not used by another acquisition request). The upper layer is notified that the hardware resource 103 is available. Further, the process of the SRM 137 performs scheduling for using the hardware resource 103 in response to an acquisition request from an upper layer, and requests contents (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by the printer engine, area reservation of the system memory, File generation etc.) directly.

  The general-purpose OS 141 includes device drivers (various drivers such as a video driver 161, a network driver 162, and a secondary storage driver 163) that provide information necessary for each operation of the hardware resource 103, and a network interface. And a communication interface such as a USB interface can be controlled. The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to an external device via a communication interface and configured to input and output image data.

  Next, processing for adding a user for authentication in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. The image forming apparatus configured as described above has a function of registering (adding) “users who can upload an electronic document to a secondary storage device in the image forming apparatus”.

  A person who performs user management of the image forming apparatus (administrator), in the image forming apparatus, from the screen (user addition screen) shown in FIG. 2, a character string (ID) that can uniquely identify the user, and user authentication The password required for the registration is registered as user information.

  The administrator inputs the ID and password, and presses the “Add” button on the screen shown in FIG. By this operation, the ID and password are stored in the secondary storage device 115. These ID and password (user information) are used in basic authentication (RFC 2617) described later.

Further, the following files or directories are also created in the secondary storage device 115.
1. A directory containing the same ID as the user ID in the directory name A user-specific RSS document (hereinafter referred to as a user-specific RSS document) is created in the directory created in 2.1. The user-dedicated RSS document is used to know the registration status of the document. Details will be described later.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the user addition process. The ID and password entered in the input field of the user addition screen shown in FIG. 2 are acquired (step S1), and a user directory is created in the file system area in the secondary storage device 115 (step S2). A user-specific RSS document is created in the created user directory (step S3), and the ID and password acquired in step S1 are stored in the secondary storage device 115 (step S4).

  With the above processing, the usage state of the area in the secondary storage device 115 becomes as shown in FIG.

  Further, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function that allows a registered user to upload an electronic document in the above-described user addition process for authentication. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of the document upload process.

  The user accesses the image forming apparatus using the Web browser of the client terminal (information processing terminal apparatus capable of network communication) (step S11). This access reaches the Web server application 128 via the network I / F 114 and the network driver 162 in the image forming apparatus.

  User authentication is performed using the user information (ID and password) described in the user addition process for authentication described above (step S12). The authentication method is based on basic authentication (RFC2617). Since this basic authentication is supported by almost all Web browsers, there is an advantage that many client terminals can be connected.

  In the basic authentication in step S12, when it is determined that the user trying to access is valid, the Web server application 128 transmits a document upload screen shown in FIG. 6 to the client terminal (step S13).

  The user designates an electronic document to be uploaded by inputting a path on the screen of FIG. 6 displayed on the Web browser of the client terminal, and presses an “upload” button (step S14). Thereby, the user can upload the designated electronic document to the image forming apparatus.

  When uploading is performed in step S14, the Web server application 128 on the image forming apparatus receives the uploaded electronic document using the HTTP protocol. Then, when the reception of the electronic document is completed, the Web server 128 delivers the electronic document to the document storage application 129 (step S15). This delivery is performed by interprocess communication known as a shared memory or socket.

  When the document storage application 129 completes the reception of the electronic document from the Web server application 128, the document storage application 129 stores the received electronic document in the secondary storage device 115 via the secondary storage driver 163 (step S16).

  If an electronic document having the same name as the uploaded electronic document already exists (stored) in the secondary storage device 115, an RSS document corresponding to the electronic document (RSS document corresponding to the document; hereinafter). , Document individual RSS document) is read from the secondary storage device 115 (step S17), the document individual RSS document is updated (step S18), and the updated document individual RSS document is stored in the secondary storage device 115 again. (Step S19).

  When there is no electronic document having the same name as the uploaded electronic document in the secondary storage device 115, that is, when creating a new document, the uploaded electronic document is stored in the secondary storage device 115 and “ “RSS document” is newly created. This case is not shown in FIG.

  The individual document RSS document is created for the purpose of notifying the user who wants to know the update status of the electronic document. The details of the individual document RSS document will be described in the registration process of a document whose update status is desired and the notification process of the update status of the registered document, which will be described later.

  Since the purpose of using the individual document RSS document is to notify the user of the update status of the document, the data managed in the individual document RSS document is only the change date and file name of the electronic document to be managed. .

  In this way, by managing the information managed by individual document RSS documents to the minimum necessary, RSS readers (software for acquiring and subscribing RSS and Atom distributed by blogs, podcasts, blogs, news sites, etc .. Aggregators ( Network traffic when accessed by an Aggregator or Feed Reader).

  Next, a process for registering a document whose update status is to be known will be described. The user can select (designate) and register in advance an electronic document whose update status is desired. Registration of a document whose update status is to be registered is performed on the screen of FIG. 7 displayed on the Web browser of the client terminal. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for registering a document whose update status is to be known.

  The user tries to access from the client terminal (step S21). When the basic authentication is successful (step S22), the web server application 128 transmits the screen shown in FIG. 7 (document registration screen) to the client terminal (step S23). As a result, the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed on the Web browser on the client terminal.

  The user selects and designates an electronic document to be notified of the update status on the screen of FIG. 7 displayed on the client terminal, and then presses the “Register” button. As a result, the name of the designated electronic document is transmitted from the client terminal to the Web server application 128 (step S24).

  The web server application 128 passes the name of the designated electronic document to the document storage application 129 (step S25). The document storage application 129 includes the individual document RSS document of the designated electronic document in the user-specific RSS document (RSS document corresponding to the user) (steps S26 to S28). In addition, since the method for including another RSS document from within the RSS document is determined by the standard, the description here is omitted.

  Next, the notification process of the registered document update status will be described. The user can know the update status of an electronic document (registered document) for which the update status registered in advance is desired. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of the notification process of the registered document update status.

  When the user wants to know the update status of the electronic document stored in the image forming apparatus (secondary storage device 115), the user terminal passes through the web server application 128 at regular intervals via the RSS reader of the client terminal. The user dedicated RSS document (RSS document corresponding to the user) in the secondary storage device 115 is accessed (step S31).

  The Web server application 128 performs basic authentication (step S32), and when the user who tries to access matches the owner of the user-dedicated RSS document, the Web server application 128 accesses the user-dedicated RSS document in the secondary storage device 115. Then, the user-specific RSS document is read (step S33), and the read user-specific RSS document is transmitted to the client terminal (step S34).

  The relationship between the user-dedicated RSS document and the individual document RSS document is as shown in FIG. That is, there is a relationship in which a plurality of individual document RSS documents are included with respect to the user-dedicated RSS document.

  Next, print processing from a Web browser will be described. The user can instruct the printing of the electronic document stored in the image forming apparatus (secondary storage device 115) from the Web browser of the client terminal. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure of print processing from the Web browser.

  The user attempts to access the print document selection screen shown in FIG. 11 using the Web browser of the client terminal (step S41).

  When the Web server application 128 performs basic authentication (step S42) and determines that the user has a legitimate authority, the web server application 128 transmits a print document selection screen shown in FIG. 11 to the client terminal (step S43). As a result, the screen of FIG. 11 is displayed on the client terminal.

  In the screen of FIG. 11, the user selects and designates an electronic document to be printed, and presses a “print” button. Thereby, a print instruction including the document name of the electronic document to be printed is notified to the image forming apparatus (Web server application 128) (step S44).

  The Web server application 128 that has received the print instruction acquires the document name of the electronic document to be printed from the print instruction, and notifies the printer application 121 of a print request including the acquired document name (step S45). The printer application 121 that has received the print request extracts the document name of the electronic document to be printed from the print request, and extracts the electronic document with the extracted document name (that is, the electronic document to be printed) from the secondary storage device 115. Obtain (step S46). Thereafter, in order to perform printing, the printer application 121 passes the acquired electronic document to the video driver 161 (step S47).

  The video driver 161 delivers the electronic document to the engine (B & W LP 112 or Color LP 113) via the engine I / F (step S48).

  After completing the printing of the electronic document by the engine, the video driver 161 notifies the printer application 121 of the completion of printing for notifying that the printing process is completed (step S49).

  Similarly, the printer application 121 performs a print completion notification to the Web server application 128 (Step S50), and the Web server application 128 transmits a screen for notifying the completion of document printing to the client terminal (Step S50). S51). As a result, for example, the screen shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the client terminal.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, since the secondary storage device is provided and data can be received from another terminal (client terminal), the electronic document (electronic Document data) can be stored in the secondary storage device.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, since it has a function of registering user information (ID and password), it is possible to limit the user to those who have a legitimate authority.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, since the user to be accessed can be authenticated, the user can be limited to those having a legitimate authority.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, since the individual document RSS document is generated when the electronic document is stored in the secondary storage device, the user can know the update status of the electronic document.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, since the individual document RSS document is updated when the electronic document stored in the secondary storage device is updated, the user can access the electronic document at the time of RSS access by the user. You can know the exact update status.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, since it is possible to instruct printing on the image forming apparatus from the Web browser of the client terminal used by the user, a device driver for printing becomes unnecessary, Printing on the image forming apparatus can be instructed from many client terminals.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) according to the second embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1400 according to the present embodiment stores applications of each device such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner in one casing. The basic configuration of the image forming apparatus 1400 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but includes an RSS application in addition to the configuration of the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment. That is, the image forming apparatus 1400 includes software groups 1401a and 101b as control means, an image forming apparatus activation unit 150, and hardware resources 103. The point that the software group 1401a includes the RSS application 1428 is different from the first embodiment.

  The RSS application 1428 is an application that notifies the RSS reader operating on the client terminal of the update status of the electronic document using the RSS feeder function as a standard function. Note that the RSS reader that operates on the client terminal is a dedicated application, and may operate on a Web browser as in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the RSS reader that operates on the client terminal will be described as a dedicated application.

  Specifically, the RSS application 1428 has a function of displaying the update content of the electronic document data as the update status of the electronic document on the RSS reader of the client terminal. When the RSS application receives a print instruction from the user of the electronic document notified of the update status from the client terminal, the RSS application transmits a print request for the electronic document instructed to be printed to the printer application 121.

  FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an update notification screen displayed on the RSS reader of the client terminal. As shown in FIG. 15, the RSS reader screen displays a list window displaying the document name and the last update date and time of the updated electronic document. When the user selects an electronic document whose update content is to be confirmed in this list window and clicks it with the mouse, a window 1501 displaying the update content is displayed on the screen of the RSS reader. Further, when the user selects an electronic document to be printed in the list window and clicks a “print” button, the selected electronic document is printed.

  Next, an electronic document update status notification and print processing by the image forming apparatus 1400 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating procedures of electronic document update status notification processing and printing processing according to the second embodiment.

  When the electronic document stored in the secondary storage device 115 is updated, the RSS application 1428 transmits an update notification including the document name of the electronic document indicating the update status described above and the last update date and time to the client terminal (step S61). ). The client terminal receives this update notification and displays the update notification screen shown in FIG. 15 on the RSS reader.

  When the user clicks the desired electronic document on the update notification screen with the mouse, the client terminal accepts a click operation on the electronic document (step S62), and transmits the document name of the clicked electronic document to the image forming apparatus 1400. (Step S63).

  In the image forming apparatus 1400, the RSS application 1428 receives the document name via the network I / F 114 and the network driver 162, and reads the designated electronic document from the secondary storage device 115 via the secondary storage driver 163. (Step S64). Then, the RSS application 1428 extracts the update content of the read electronic document, and transmits the update content to the client terminal via the network driver 162 and the network I / F 114 (step S65).

  In the client terminal, this update content is displayed on the update notification screen of the RSS reader in the manner shown in FIG. When the user selects this document or another electronic document on the list window and clicks the “print” button, the client terminal accepts the operation as a print instruction (step S66), and the selected electronic document to be printed Is sent to the image forming apparatus 1400 (step S67).

  In the image forming apparatus 1400, the RSS application 1428 receives the print instruction via the network I / F 114 and the network driver 162, and transmits a print request including the document name included in the print instruction to the printer application 121 (step S68). ). The printer application 121 that has received the print request extracts a document name to be printed from the print request, and acquires an electronic document with the extracted document name (that is, an electronic document to be printed) from the secondary storage device 115 ( Step S69). Thereafter, in order to perform printing, the printer application 121 passes the acquired electronic document to the video driver 161 (step S70).

  The video driver 161 delivers the electronic document to the engine (B & W LP 112 or Color LP 113) via the engine I / F (step S71).

  After the engine finishes printing the electronic document, the video driver 161 sends a print completion notification to the printer application 121 to notify that the printing process has been completed (step S72).

  Similarly, the printer application 121 sends a print completion notification to the RSS application 1428 (step S73), and the RSS application 1428 transmits a screen similar to FIG. 12 for notifying the completion of document printing to the client terminal. (Step S74). As a result, for example, the screen shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the client terminal.

  The registration of the electronic document for performing user authentication and update notification in the present embodiment is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1400 according to the second embodiment, the RSS application 1428 dedicated to the RSS is provided, and the RSS application 1428 notifies the update status of the electronic document. Compared to the first embodiment in which the situation is notified, the application can be functionally separated, and the application development process can be reduced.

  In the image forming apparatus 1400 according to the second embodiment, the RSS application 1428 can display the update contents on the client terminal in addition to notifying the update status of the electronic document, and can print the electronic document. Therefore, it is possible to print after confirming the updated contents, which is convenient for the user.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
The present invention can be applied to an apparatus / equipment, system, method, and program for storing and updating data received from other terminal apparatuses.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a user addition screen. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a user addition process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image of the use condition of the area | region in the secondary storage device after a user addition process. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure of the process at the time of electronic document upload. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the screen for electronic document upload. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the screen which registers the electronic document used as the object of notification of an update condition. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure of the process which registers the electronic document used as the object of an update condition notification. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure of an update condition notification process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image of the relationship between a user exclusive RSS document and a document separate RSS document. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the screen which registers the electronic document used as printing object. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the notification screen of a printing completion. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure when an instruction to print an electronic document is issued from a client terminal. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the update notification screen displayed with the RSS reader of a client terminal. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating procedures of electronic document update status notification processing and printing processing according to the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

100, 1400 Image forming apparatus 101a, 101b Software group 103 Hardware resource 104 Application layer 105 Control service layer 106 Platform 111 Other hardware resources 112 B & W LP
113 Color LP
114 Network I / F (part of communication means)
115 Secondary storage device (secondary storage means)
121 Printer application 122 Copy application 123 Fax application 124 Scanner application 125 Net file application 126 Process inspection application 127, 130 RRU application 128 Web server application (part of communication means)
129 Document storage application 131 NCS
132 OCS
133 FCS
134 ECS
135 MCS
136 SCS
137 SRM
140, 141 General-purpose OS
161 Video driver 162 Network driver (part of communication means)
163 Secondary storage driver 1428 RSS application

Claims (10)

A communication unit for communicating predetermined data via a network;
A storage unit for storing the predetermined data;
A storage unit that stores electronic document data received by the communication unit from an external terminal connected to a network in the storage unit;
A printing unit that prints electronic document data that is a target of the print instruction when receiving an instruction to print electronic document data stored in the storage unit from the external terminal;
The storage unit generates a management document for managing the update status of the electronic document data when the electronic document data is stored in the storage unit for the first time, and stores the management document in the storage unit Forming equipment. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a notification unit that notifies the external terminal of an update status of the electronic document data based on the management document when the electronic document data stored in the storage unit is updated. The image forming apparatus described.   The said notification part notifies the update condition of the said electronic document data to the said external terminal using RSS (Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, Really Simple Syndication) feeder function, Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the notification unit notifies the update status to a WEB browser displayed on the external terminal.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the notification unit further displays an update content of the electronic document data on the external terminal.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the notification unit includes an application that displays the update contents of the electronic document data as the update status on the external terminal.   When the notification unit receives a print instruction from a user of the electronic document data notified of the update status from the external terminal, the notification unit transmits a print request for the electronic document data for which the print instruction has been issued to the printing unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. A user information storage unit that pre-registers user information for authenticating a user who accesses the image forming apparatus from the external terminal;
An authentication unit that authenticates the user of the external terminal based on the user information when accessed from the external terminal;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A document management method executed by an image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes a storage unit that stores predetermined data;
A communication unit that performs communication of the predetermined data via a network;
An electronic document storage unit that stores electronic document data received from an external terminal connected to the network in the storage unit;
A printing step for printing the electronic document data that is the target of the printing instruction when the printing unit receives a printing instruction for the electronic document data stored in the storage unit from the external terminal;
A management document storage step for generating a management document for managing the update status of the electronic document data and storing the management document storage unit in the storage unit when the management document storage unit stores the electronic document data in the storage unit for the first time; ,
A document management method comprising: Computer
A communication unit for communicating predetermined data via a network;
A storage unit for storing the predetermined data;
A storage unit that stores the electronic document data received from the external terminal by the communication unit in the storage unit;
When receiving a print instruction for the electronic document data stored in the storage unit from the external terminal, function as a print unit for printing the electronic document data that is the target of the print instruction,
The storage unit generates a management document for managing the update status of the electronic document data when storing the electronic document data in the storage unit for the first time, and stores the management document in the storage unit Management program.

Images