JP2010086481A - Image forming apparatus, information providing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology capable of providing a plurality of pieces of unspecified information that is provided in such a manner that a user can easily look at the information. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus includes: a control part 21 for controlling an image forming part 22 for forming an image in a medium and storing information about control; a storing part 24 for storing information about the apparatus; an acquiring part 281 for acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined items from the storing part 24 or the control part 21; a character string appearance determining part 283 for determining the appearance of a character string about the information obtained by the acquiring part 281 on the basis of a result obtained by comparing the acquisition information obtained by the acquiring part 281 with previously stored storage information; and a document data creating part 284 for displaying a list of character strings of appearance determined by the character string appearance determining part 283 on a first page in a web page, and creating document data described in a language for describing the web page such that the information obtained by the acquiring part 281 is displayed on the second page. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an information providing apparatus, and a program.

In recent years, a technique has been proposed in which information of an image processing apparatus having functions such as a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile is provided by a web server incorporated in the image processing apparatus.
For example, the image processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 includes a web server module, and notifies management information of the image processing apparatus in response to a request from a desktop computer connected via a network, for example.

JP 2006-323610 A

  When providing information about image forming apparatuses connected via a network via a web server, it is desirable to provide a plurality of unspecified information to be provided in a state that is easy for the user to see. In addition, it is desirable that the user can grasp update information of a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a unified manner. It is also desirable that an administrator of a plurality of image forming apparatuses can centrally monitor the plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an image forming unit that forms an image on a medium, a control unit that controls the image forming unit and holds information related to the control, a storage unit that stores information about the apparatus, Based on a result of comparing information acquisition means for acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined items from the storage means or the control means, and acquisition information acquired by the information acquisition means and stored information stored in advance A character string appearance determining means for determining the appearance of the character string related to the information acquired by the information acquiring means, and a list of character strings determined by the character string appearance determining means are displayed on the first page in the web page. The second page in the web page is described in a language for describing the web page so that the information acquired by the information acquisition unit is displayed. An image forming apparatus which comprises a document data creation means for creating document data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the character string appearance determining means includes a case where there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and a case where there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character strings have different spellings.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the character string appearance determining means includes a case where there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and a case where there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a size, a color, and a style of the character string is made different.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information, there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an appearance of the character string is emphasized rather than the image forming apparatus. 5.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of pieces of information predetermined for the plurality of image forming apparatuses from a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and acquisition information acquired by the information acquisition means are stored in advance. Character string appearance determining means for determining the appearance of the character string related to the information acquired by the information acquisition means based on the result of comparison with the stored information, and the character string appearance on the first page in the web page A language for describing the web page so that a list of character strings of the appearance determined by the determination unit is displayed and the information acquired by the information acquisition unit is displayed on the second page in the web page. An information providing apparatus comprising: document data creating means for creating described document data.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus can provide a web page, and the information acquisition unit searches for or refers to a web page provided by the image forming apparatus, or 6. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information is acquired by acquiring feed information provided by the image forming apparatus.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the character string appearance determining means includes a case where there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and a case where there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. 7. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the character strings are spelled differently.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the character string appearance determining means includes a case where there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and a case where there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at least one of a size, a color, and a style of the character string is made different.
The invention according to claim 9 is such that, when there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information, the character string appearance determining means has no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the appearance of the character string is emphasized rather than the information.

  The invention according to claim 10 is based on a result of comparing information acquisition means for acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined items, acquired information acquired by the information acquisition means, and stored information stored in advance. A character string appearance determining means for determining the appearance of the character string relating to the information acquired by the information acquiring means, and a list of character strings of the appearance determined by the character string appearance determining means on the first page in the web page Document data creation for creating document data described in a language for describing the web page so that the information acquired by the information acquisition means is displayed on the second page in the web page Means for providing information.

  The invention according to claim 11 compares the function of acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined items with the computer, the acquired information acquired by the function of acquiring the information, and the stored information stored in advance. The function of determining the appearance of the character string related to the acquired information by the function of acquiring the information based on the result obtained, and the function of determining the appearance of the character string on the first page in the web page Document data described in a language for describing the web page so that a list of character strings is displayed and the information obtained by the function for obtaining the information is displayed on the second page of the web page Is a program for realizing the function of creating

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a plurality of pieces of information about the image forming apparatus in a state that is easier to see than when the present invention is not adopted.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make it easier to grasp the meaning of the change in information than in the case where the present invention is not adopted.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make it easier to grasp that a change in information has occurred than in the case where the present invention is not adopted.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to bring the user to a state that attracts more attention than when the present invention is not adopted.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a plurality of pieces of information about a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a more easily viewable state than when the present invention is not adopted.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, information about a plurality of image forming apparatuses can be acquired more quickly than in the case where the present invention is not adopted.
According to claim 7 of the present invention, it is possible to make it easier to grasp the meaning of the change in information than in the case where the present invention is not adopted.
According to claim 8 of the present invention, it is possible to make it easier to grasp that a change in information has occurred than in the case where the present invention is not adopted.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to bring the user to a state that attracts more attention than when the present invention is not adopted.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a plurality of information in a state that is easier to see than when the present invention is not adopted.
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to realize a computer that provides a plurality of information in a state that is easier to see than when the present invention is not adopted.

The best mode (embodiment) for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a network system 1 according to the first embodiment.
The network system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses 2 having functions such as a copy function, a facsimile function, a scanner function, and a printer function, and also a function as a web server (shown in the figure). 3) personal computers (PCs) 3. The image forming apparatus 2 and the PC 3 are connected via a network 4 such as the Internet.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the PC 3.
The PC 3 is a device that can communicate with the image forming apparatus 2 via the network 4.
The PC 3 performs communication performed between the control unit 31 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus, the storage unit 32 that stores data, the display unit 33 that displays an operation menu, and the like via the network 4. And a network connection unit 34 including a LAN adapter to be controlled.

  The control unit 31 is a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the operation of the entire PC 3. The control unit 31 also performs processing for transmitting request information to the embedded web server unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 2 to be described later, processing for receiving response information from the embedded web server unit 28, and the like. 31a. The web browser unit 31a is realized by the CPU reading and executing the program from the storage area (the storage unit 32 or the ROM), that is, the software and hardware resources cooperate.

The storage unit 32 is realized by, for example, a hard disk drive or a semiconductor memory. The storage unit 32 has a program for interpreting the HTML document data provided by the embedded web server unit 28 and causing the control unit 31 to execute processing for displaying a screen corresponding to the web page on the display unit 33. Installed.
The display unit 33 is realized by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and displays an operation menu to accept an operation instruction such as a processing request from the user, or display selection information for the user, an operation status of the apparatus, or the like. .

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus 2.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 2 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and includes a control unit 21 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus. In addition, the image forming apparatus 2 includes an image forming unit 22 that forms an image on a medium such as paper, an image reading unit 23 that reads an image of a document, and a storage unit 24 that stores data used by the control unit 21 for processing. Is provided. The image forming apparatus 2 also includes a network connection unit 25 for communicating with other devices via the network 4, a communication line connection unit 26 for facsimile transmission / reception, an operation having a display screen and various operation buttons. Part 27. In addition, the image forming apparatus 2 includes an embedded web server unit 28 that transmits information held by the image forming apparatus 2 through the network 4 in response to a request from the PC 3 or the like.
The image forming unit 22, the image reading unit 23, the storage unit 24, the network connection unit 25, the communication line connection unit 26, the operation unit 27, and the embedded web server unit 28 are connected to the control unit 21.

  The image forming unit 22 forms an image on a medium based on the result of image processing in the control unit 21. The image forming unit 22 is, for example, a printer, and can be exemplified by an electrophotographic type that forms an image by transferring toner adhered to a photoreceptor onto a recording medium such as paper.

  The image reading unit 23 reads an image printed on a document as electronic data. The image reading unit 23 is, for example, a scanner. The image reading unit 23 is a CCD method in which reflected light with respect to light irradiated on a document from a light source is reduced by a lens and received by a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices), or light sequentially irradiated on a document from an LED light source. A CIS system that receives reflected light with a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) can be exemplified.

The storage unit 24 is realized by, for example, a hard disk drive. The network connection unit 25 includes a LAN card, a modem, and the like that control communication with other devices via the network 4. The communication line connection unit 26 performs facsimile (FAX) transmission / reception for transmitting / receiving an image through a communication line such as a telephone line.
The operation unit 27 has a display screen and various operation buttons, accepts operation instructions such as processing requests from the user, and displays selection information for the user, operation status of the apparatus, and the like.

  The built-in web server unit 28 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. Information regarding the image forming apparatus 2 such as out of paper, out of toner, Allows browsing of web pages that contain information such as paper jams. That is, the embedded web server unit 28 creates, for example, an HTML document in which information about the image forming apparatus 2 is described, and transmits the created HTML document in response to a request from the web browser unit 31a of the PC 3.

  The web page provided by the built-in web server unit 28 has a plurality of information pages (second pages) that are pages in which a plurality of pieces of information are individually described. Then, a character string related to information described in each information page of the plurality of information pages is set as a character string (tag) for the information page, and character strings for the plurality of information pages are listed as a list later. As described above, it is described in the top page (first page) which is the first page of the web page. This will be described in detail later.

  The embedded web server unit 28 having such a function includes an acquisition unit 281 as an example of an information acquisition unit that acquires information described in the information page, information acquired by the acquisition unit 281 and reference information stored in advance ( And a comparison unit 282 as an example of comparison means for comparing with (stored information). Further, the embedded web server unit 28 includes a character string appearance determination unit 283 as an example of a unit that determines the appearance of the character string to be displayed in the list of character strings on the top page based on the result of comparison by the comparison unit 282. Have. The embedded web server unit 28 displays an HTML document that displays the information acquired by the acquiring unit 281 on the information page and displays a list of character strings determined by the character string appearance determining unit 283 on the top page. A document data creation unit 284 as an example of a creation unit, and a transmission unit 285 as an example of a unit for sending an HTML document created by the document data creation unit 284 to a web browser such as the web browser unit 31a of the PC 3 are provided.

The acquisition unit 281, the comparison unit 282, the character string appearance determination unit 283, the document data creation unit 284, and the transmission unit 285 are read and executed by the CPU from a storage area (ROM or HDD), that is, software and This is realized through cooperation with hardware resources.
In FIG. 3, the embedded web server unit 28 and the control unit 21 are shown separately, but the embedded web server unit 28 is configured by a dedicated device (for example, a dedicated microcomputer). Alternatively, it may be realized by executing a program corresponding to the CPU of the control unit 21.

The built-in web server unit 28 creates information pages that are web pages in which the following information stored in the storage unit 24 is described.
(1) Device function information such as presence / absence of color printing, printing / scanning speed, number of FAX lines, etc. (2) Device setting information such as network settings (3) Device description information such as model name, device name, and location ( 4) Information (job log) about what kind of job was done, such as copying, printing, facsimile, scanning, etc.
(5) Information on what kind of error occurred (error log)
(6) Information about output bin, trash box, etc. (7) User login information (8) User logout information (9) Information about user confidential box (10) Information of address book provided for each user ( 11) Documents uploaded and printed by the user and their information (12) Message from the administrator to the user

  The embedded web server unit 28 updates the information when a change occurs. For the information that the embedded web server unit 28 describes on the web page, the control unit 21 actively transmits the change in the information to the embedded web server unit 28, thereby acquiring the change in the information. The web server unit 28 writes the latest information on each information page. Alternatively, the embedded web server unit 28 may actively acquire the latest information on the information from the storage unit 24 and describe the acquired latest information on the information page.

In addition, the control unit 21 sequentially transmits consumable information such as the remaining amount of paper, toner, and staples (staplers) provided in the image forming apparatus 2 that the control unit 21 is aware of to the embedded web server unit 28. On the other hand, the built-in web server unit 28 is provided with an information page that is a dedicated web page in which the consumable information is described, and information on the remaining amount of the paper, toner, and stapler (stapler) needles is displayed on this information page. It describes.
Regarding the consumable information, the control unit 21 actively transmits the change to the embedded web server unit 28 when a change occurs in the remaining amount, thereby acquiring the change in the remaining amount. The embedded web server unit 28 writes the latest information on the information page. Alternatively, the built-in web server unit 28 may actively acquire the consumable information and describe the acquired latest information on the information page.

In addition, when a change occurs in the operation status of the image forming apparatus 2 that the control unit 21 is aware of, the control unit 21 sequentially transmits the information to the embedded web server unit 28. For example, when an error such as a paper jam occurs from a normally operating state, information indicating that the error has occurred is transmitted to the embedded web server unit 28. In addition, when normal operation starts from the state where an error has occurred, information indicating normal operation is transmitted to the embedded web server unit 28.
The embedded web server unit 28 is provided with an information page, which is a dedicated web page describing information about the operating status of the image forming apparatus 2, and a change has occurred in the operating status of the image forming apparatus 2 from the control unit 21. When the information to the effect is acquired, the information is described on the information page about the operation status.

Then, the embedded web server unit 28 sets a character string related to the information described in each information page as a character string (tag) for the information page, and this character string is the top of the web page as will be described later. Describe the number of information pages on the page. A character string (tag) is described in a corresponding information page and plays a role of notifying what the information is.
Then, the embedded web server unit 28 displays a list of these character strings (tags) (tag cloud) on the top page of the web page. When the user selects the character string by clicking or the like, the information page related to the character string is switched. That is, an HTML document that is displayed and switched as described above is generated and transmitted to the web browser.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information described in the information page and a character string (tag) set for the information.
As shown in FIG. 4, (1) a character string for function information of the device is set as “Functions”. For (2) device setting information, for the network setting information and the like, the character strings are set to “Properties”, “Network”, “IPP”, and “LPD”, respectively. Note that information related to device setting information, such as network setting information, may be described in one information page, and a character string for the information page may be set as “Properties” or the like. Also, (3) the character string for the device description information is set to “Description”, and the character strings for (4) job log and (5) error log are set to “JobLog” and “ErrLog”, respectively. . (6) The character strings for the output bin and the trash box are set to “Bin” and “TrashBox”, respectively. Also, the character strings for (7) login information and (8) logout information are set as “LOGIN” and “LOGOUT”, respectively. Also, (9) the character string for the user's confidential box information is “Mailbox”, (10) the character string for the address book information is “AddressBook”, and (11) the character string for the uploaded and printed document information is “ “UploadPrint”, (12) The character string for the message information from the administrator to the user is set to “Announcement”.

For the consumables information, the character strings are set to “Paper”, “Toner”, and “Staple” for each consumable. In addition, the character string regarding the operating status of the apparatus is set as “STATUS”.
The character string described above is a character string that can be arbitrarily determined for each image forming apparatus, including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, spelling, and the like of the characters, and is not particularly limited to the character strings described above.

  In addition, when the embedded web server unit 28 displays a list of character strings on the top page, the person who has requested the embedded web server unit 28 to browse the web page is the administrator of the image forming apparatus 2. The list of character strings is changed according to whether the user is a general user. FIG. 4 shows whether the above-described character string is displayed on the top page of the web page for the administrator, the top page of the web page for general users, or both top pages. It also shows.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a list of character strings to be displayed on the top page displayed by the embedded web server unit 28 on a web browser such as the web browser unit 31a of the PC 3. 5A is a list of character strings displayed on the top page of the web page of the administrator of the image forming apparatus 2, and FIG. 5B is displayed on the top page of the general user's web page. It is a list of character strings. Note that the order of the character strings is not particularly limited, but here, the character strings are arranged in alphabetical order. Further, the appearance of the character string shown in FIG. 5 indicates the reference appearance.

  Then, a list of character strings is displayed on the top page of the web page of the web browser unit 31a of the PC 3 of the user (in the case of simply referring to “user”, which includes an administrator and a general user other than the administrator). When displaying, if there is information to call attention to the user, the strength of the character string related to the information is changed. Strength is used to make a difference in character style (style (bold, italic, bold italic, etc.), size, and color.

  For example, when there is a new message from the administrator to the general user, the “Annunciation” character displayed on the top page of the web browser portion 31a of the general user's PC 3 is emphasized (HTML described to be emphasized) Create a document and send this HTML document to this web browser). FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a list of character strings in which the strength of some character strings is changed. Examples of means for emphasizing include making the character style bold, increasing the size (size) of the character, and changing the color to red, and any of these means may be selected. However, these means may be used in duplicate. In FIG. 6A, the character thickness and character size of “Announcement” are made larger than those of other characters.

  Similarly, when a message has arrived in the confidential box, the character string “Mailbox” may be emphasized. FIG. 6B shows a list of character strings in which the characters “Announcement” are emphasized and the characters “Mailbox” are emphasized.

  In addition, for the character string on the top page of the administrator's web browser, if the number of sheets is reduced as consumable information, the character string “Paper” is emphasized or the remaining toner When the amount decreases, it is preferable to emphasize the character string “Toner”. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a list of character strings in which the strength of some character strings is changed. FIG. 7 shows a list of character strings in which the characters “Paper” and “Toner” are highlighted in the list of character strings on the top page of the administrator's web browser. When emphasizing the character string of the consumable item information, the degree of emphasis of the character string may be changed according to the remaining amount of the consumable item. For example, as the size of the character string is increased and / or the thickness of the character is increased in proportion to the decrease in the remaining amount. Further, instead of being proportional, the remaining amount may be divided in stages, and the degree of emphasis may be changed in stages.

  In addition, when displaying a list of character strings on the top page of the web page of the web browser unit 31a of the user's PC3, if there is information that needs to alert the user, the spelling of the character string is changed according to the state. May be. For example, when an error occurs in the image forming apparatus 2, it is preferable to change the character string “Status” to the character string “Error” and display it. Further, as the consumable information, when the paper has run out, the character “Paper” may be changed to the character string “No Paper” and displayed. At that time, it is preferable to emphasize the character string by changing the size, color, and style of the character string.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a list of character strings in which the spelling of the character string is changed according to the state. FIG. 8A is a diagram in which “Status” is changed to “Error” with respect to FIG. 5B, which is a list of character strings on the top page of the web page for the user, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram in which “Paper” is changed to “No Paper” with respect to FIG.

  The appearance of the character string (size, color, style, spelling) displayed in the list of character strings on the top page of the web page depends on the character string appearance determination unit 283 of the embedded web server unit 28. Is determined based on the result of comparison by the comparison unit 282. The comparison unit 282 compares the latest information acquired by the acquisition unit 281 with reference information (stored information) stored in advance. The reference information is information stored in the storage unit 24 or information stored in a storage area built in the embedded web server unit 28, and is set according to the type of information and / or each user. Is preferred.

  For example, for the function, setting, description information, administrator message, and confidential box of the device, it is preferable to use the information stored when the user last accessed as the reference information. Thus, for example, when highlighting the “Announcement” shown in FIG. 6, it is emphasized when a new administrator message is added between the user's previous access and the current access. The Rukoto.

  For the operating status, it is set (stored) that the system is operating normally as reference information, and when the latest information acquired by the acquisition unit 281 is information that an error has occurred, The comparison unit 282 compares the “error occurrence” that is the latest information with the “normal operation” that is the reference information. Then, it is preferable that the character string appearance determination unit 283 determines to change the spelling of the character string from “Status” to “Error” based on the comparison result “normal operation” to “error occurrence”. is there.

  For the consumable information, when changing the emphasis degree of the character string according to the remaining amount of consumables, a state where the consumables are present at the maximum (full) state is set (stored) as reference information. The comparison unit 282 compares the latest remaining amount with the full state. The character string appearance determining unit 283 preferably determines the degree of emphasis of the character string based on the difference between the “latest remaining amount” and the “full state”, which is the comparison result.

  As described above, the appearance of the character string depends on the frequency of access to the information (the number of times the page has been viewed and the number of times the character string has been clicked) in addition to the change in accordance with the change of the information. You can change the strength of the string.

Hereinafter, the information distribution process performed by the built-in web server unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of information distribution processing performed by the embedded web server unit 28.
This processing is triggered by the fact that the embedded web server unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 2 has accepted a request for browsing a web page. For example, the execution is started when the user requests browsing of the web page via the web browser unit 31a of the PC 3 and acquires information that the request has been received.

  First, it is determined whether the user who has requested browsing of the web page is an administrator or a general user (step 101). In this process, the request screen of the web page can be displayed by a user who has been previously authenticated on the login screen, so the previously acquired user information is compared with a pre-registered user table. In this process, it is determined whether the user is an administrator or a general user.

If the user is an administrator, the acquisition unit 281 acquires the latest information described in the information page of the administrator web page (step 102). At this point, the acquisition unit 281 may actively acquire the latest information, or may refer to information that the embedded web server unit 28 has passively acquired and stored from the control unit 21 or the like. .
Thereafter, the comparison unit 282 compares the acquired latest information with the reference information (step 103). Then, the character string appearance determination unit 283 determines the appearance of the character string to be displayed in the list of character strings on the top page according to the comparison result performed in step 103 (step 104).

Thereafter, an HTML document for displaying a web page for the administrator is created (step 105). This HTML document is a document for displaying a list of character strings having the appearance determined in step 104 on the top page of the web page, and a document for displaying information acquired in step 102 on the information page.
Thereafter, the HTML document created in step 105 is transmitted to the web browser that has requested browsing of the web page (step 106). The embedded web server unit 28 adds user information to the cookie via the login page, and then specifies and transmits the user based on the user information transmitted by the cookie.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 101 that the user is a general user, the information described in the information page of the general user web page is acquired (step 107). Thereafter, the acquired information is compared with the reference information (step 108). Then, the appearance of the character string to be displayed in the character string list is determined (step 109). Then, an HTML document for displaying a web page for a general user is created (step 110). This HTML document is a document that displays a list of appearance character strings determined in step 109 on the top page of a general user web page, and a document that displays information acquired in step 107 on an information page. It is. Thereafter, the HTML document created in step 110 is transmitted to the web browser that has requested browsing of the web page (step 106).

  When the embedded web server unit 28 executes this information distribution process, a web page in which a list of character strings related to the information page is displayed on the top page is provided to a user who has requested browsing of the web page. The The appearance of the character string is changed according to the situation. Moreover, the web page provided according to users, such as an administrator and a general user, differs. Thus, the user can visually recognize a plurality of pieces of information about the image forming apparatus 2 in an intuitive manner. In addition, it is possible to easily grasp information to be noted.

<Second Embodiment>
As in the first embodiment, the network system according to the second embodiment has functions such as a copy function, a facsimile function, a scanner function, and a printer function as shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 2 also includes a plurality of PCs 3. The image forming apparatus 2 and the PC 3 are connected via a network 4 such as the Internet.

  Then, the built-in web server unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment forms an image such as out of paper, out of toner, and a paper jam with respect to a web browser such as the web browser unit 31a of the user's PC 3. The state of the device 2 can be browsed. Further, the embedded web server unit 28 according to the second embodiment uses an information transmission technology called a feed such as RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) or Atom, for example, to form an image forming apparatus. 2 is distributed. In other words, the built-in web server unit 28 of the present embodiment generates one of the web pages (for example, the top page of the first embodiment) in, for example, the RSS mode, and a plurality of other web pages provided by the image forming apparatus 2. Update information (for example, update information of information described in the information page of the first embodiment) is provided (feeded) in the RSS format. Therefore, various programs for realizing various functions necessary for distributing RSS format information are stored in the storage area of the image forming apparatus 2.

  On the other hand, in the PC 3, a web browser having an RSS reader and an RSS reader function is installed. Then, an RSS reader or a web browser having an RSS reader function registers the URL of the built-in web server unit 28, periodically polls it, and displays the contents on the display unit 33.

FIG. 10 shows an example of document data in the RSS format.
The document data in the RSS format is an XML document that describes various data updates related to the application of the image forming apparatus 2 and information on various events that occur related to the application of the apparatus. There are a plurality of types of XML documents corresponding to various formats used by general websites to distribute site update information. The image forming apparatus 2 supports each version of RSS and XML formats such as Atom. Here, description will be given by taking a description according to RSS 2.0 as an example.

  As shown in the figure, the RSS 2.0 document data has a channel element that describes basic information related to the entire update information. The channel element includes a title element that represents the title of the update information, a link element that represents a link to a web page that is handled by the update information, and a description that describes a summary description of the information that is handled by the update information. Element and an item element representing update information.

  The description of the title element includes a device name, an information name, and an update. For example, MFP 2000, 20F # 1, Recoverable Error, and update are described. In the link element, a link to a Web page of detailed information is described. In the description element, an outline description of information is described. For example, “Trash box is almost full.”, “Job id = 1234 has been stopped.”

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of information types and disclosure ranges.
The embedded web server unit 28 distributes the following information about the image forming apparatus 2 to the administrator's PC 3.
(1) Unrecoverable malfunction such as hard disk failure, fatal failure of transfer / conveyance unit (2) No consumables, recoverable malfunction such as waste bin / output tray full, jam, etc. (3) Remaining consumables Warning conditions such as insufficient amount, waste bin / output tray capacity shortage, etc.

Further, the embedded web server unit 28 distributes the following information about the image forming apparatus 2 to the general user's PC 3.
As general user shared information, (1) administrator messages such as announcements of maintenance, new functions, and operating hours.
General user individual information includes (2) job status such as primary job stop, (3) document from confidential box, and (4) uploaded print document.

  In the user's PC 3, an RSS reader or a web browser having an RSS reader function periodically confirms the update of the feed, so that the latest information on the information distributed by the embedded web server unit 28 can be obtained. .

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a network system 301 according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the network system 301 includes a plurality of (three shown) image forming apparatuses 302 having functions as a web server in addition to functions such as a copying function and a printer function, A server device 305 is connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses 302 via a network 304 such as the Internet, and a plurality (three are shown) of PCs 303 are connected via a network 306 such as the Internet. is doing. The network 304 and the network 306 may be the same network.

  The image forming apparatus 302 has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 2 according to the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof is omitted. In addition, the embedded web server unit 28 included in the image forming apparatus 302 provides information (see FIG. 11) regarding the image forming apparatus 302 in the RSS format, as in the case of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment. To do.

The server device 305 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls between the control unit 351 that controls the operation of the entire device, a storage unit 352 that stores data, and the outside through the networks 304 and 306. A network connection unit 353 including a LAN adapter for controlling communication performed in The server device 305 collects information from the image forming apparatus 302 by communicating with the embedded web server unit 28 of the plurality of image forming apparatuses 302, and generates a web page based on the collected information.
The PC 303 has the same configuration as that of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the first embodiment, and can access a web page generated by the server apparatus 305 connected via the network 306.

The web page provided by the server device 305 has a plurality of information pages describing information, like the web page provided by the built-in web server unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the first embodiment. Then, on the top page of the web page, a list of character strings related to the information described in each information page of the plurality of information pages is described according to the user of the PC 303 (see FIGS. 5 to 8).
That is, the server apparatus 305 collects information from the plurality of image forming apparatuses 302 and provides a web page having a list of character strings related to the information page on the top page based on the collected information.

As a method for collecting information from the plurality of image forming apparatuses 302 by the server apparatus 305, the following method can be exemplified.
(1) A method of collecting information by searching a web page of each image forming apparatus 302. (2) Collect information by detecting information related to the image forming apparatus 302 and changes in the information by referring to a list of character strings related to the information page displayed on the top page of the web page of each image forming apparatus 302. Method. (3) A method of collecting information by periodically confirming update of a feed provided from each image forming apparatus 302.

Then, the control unit 351 of the server device 305 executes the above-described information distribution process described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
At this time, in step 101, it is determined whether the user of the PC 303 who has requested browsing of the web page is an administrator or a general user. In step 102 and step 107, the acquisition unit 281 acquires the latest information described in the information page of the administrator web page from the plurality of image forming apparatuses 302.

  In step 105 and step 110, when creating an HTML document for displaying a web page for an administrator or general user, the information page includes information for the number of image forming apparatuses 302 for each type of information. Is preferable.

  As a result, the user of the PC 303 uses the network system 301 configured as described above to send information about the plurality of image forming apparatuses 302 from the server apparatus 305 via the web browser to the state of the tag cloud (list of character strings). ). Further, as described above, since the server device 305 collects information from the plurality of image forming apparatuses 302, the user of the PC 303 can acquire information more quickly.

  In the first to third embodiments described above, the language described in the web page by the embedded web server unit 28 or the server device 305 of the image forming apparatus 2 is the user for transmission to a general individual user. It is preferable to use a language according to the profile. The user profile can be obtained from user information at the time of authentication. In addition, for the administrator and general user shared information, a language uniquely set in the system may be used, or a plurality of pages may be provided for each language.

<Fourth Embodiment>
The image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is characterized in that a transmission unit is automatically selected when a document or the like is transmitted.
Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus 2 according to the first embodiment will be described as an example.
The image forming apparatus 2 can use mail transmission or facsimile transmission as means for transmitting a document or the like. Further, in the facsimile transmission, in addition to the facsimile transmission using PSTN, the facsimile transmission using the IP telephone network (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “IP / FAX”) is also possible.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of information described in the address book.
As shown in FIG. 13, in the address book stored in the storage unit 24 (see FIG. 3), when a plurality of transmission methods are stored for the same destination, the control unit 21 scan parameters ( Apply a rule based on color, resolution, etc.) and transmission conditions (security, importance, etc.) to automatically select a transmission means. When the set or determined condition is not satisfied, user intervention is prompted.

In FAX by PSTN, a general FAX protocol T.264 is used. 30 and color transmission is not possible. In addition, since it does not go through unspecified routes such as the Internet, it goes through the communication network of the circuit facility provider, so it is safe and secure. However, a communication fee is required.
In FAX by VoIP, T.W. The communication protocol is not required. However, the general FAX protocol T.I. Similar to 30, color transmission is not possible. In addition, there is a risk of eavesdropping because it passes through an unspecified route in the Internet. As a countermeasure, wiretapping can be prevented by encryption such as IPsec.

In mail transmission, various files can be attached and transmitted, and no communication fee is required. However, since it is transferred via an unspecified mail server on the Internet, there is a risk of eavesdropping. As a countermeasure against this, eavesdropping can be prevented by encryption.
As described above, characteristics according to communication cost and security are different between FAX using PSTN, FAX using VoIP, and mail transmission. In the image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, the transmission unit is automatically determined.

Hereinafter, a transmission unit automatic selection process performed by the control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart. As an example, an operation flow will be described for a case where mail transmission, VoIP FAX transmission, and PSTN FAX transmission are all set for a destination to be transmitted.
FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 are flowcharts showing a procedure of transmission means automatic selection processing performed by the control unit 21.
This process is triggered by the fact that the control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 2 has received an image reading instruction. For example, the execution is started when information indicating that the user has pressed the scan button is acquired.

  As a premise, the image forming apparatus 2 prompts the user to set setting information necessary for transmission. The user sets a reading method (color / monochrome, resolution, etc.) and a transmission method (whether it is confidential transmission, etc.) and instructs reading and transmission start.

The control unit 21 first acquires setting information such as a reading method (color / monochrome, resolution, etc.), a transmission method (whether it is confidential transmission, etc.) (step 401).
Next, it is determined whether or not the reading setting is color reading (step 402). If the determination is affirmative, it is determined whether or not the set transmission method is confidential transmission (step 403). If the determination is affirmative, it is determined whether or not the destination public key certificate can be acquired (step 404). If an affirmative determination is made, E-mail transmission with encryption processing is performed (step 505). On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 404, an error is displayed, indicating that the public key certificate cannot be acquired even if color transmission and confidential transmission are set (step 406).
If a negative determination is made in step 403, that is, if the set transmission method is not confidential transmission, E-mail transmission without encryption processing is performed (step 407).

If the determination in step 402 is negative, that is, if the reading setting is not color reading but monochrome reading setting, it is determined whether or not the set transmission method is confidential transmission (step 408). If an affirmative determination is made, it is determined whether or not the destination public key certificate can be acquired (step 409). If an affirmative determination is made, FAX transmission by VoIPsec is performed (step 410). On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 409, that is, if the public key certificate cannot be acquired, FAX transmission by PSTN is performed (step 411).
On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 408, that is, if the set transmission method is not confidential transmission, VoIP FAX transmission is performed (step 412).

  By performing such processing, the image forming apparatus 2 automatically selects the optimum transmission means depending on whether the user designation is color transmission or confidential transmission, and considering communication costs. Therefore, usability can be improved.

In step 406 of the above-described process, if the public key certificate cannot be obtained even if the confidential transmission is set, an error is displayed, but the non-confidential transmission is not performed without displaying an error. You may make it select.
In step 412, E-mail transmission without encryption processing may be performed.

  In the above example, all three transmission means are registered for the same destination. However, if any of the transmission means is not registered, the following processing is performed. Also good. That is, (1) if E-mail transmission is not registered, if an affirmative determination is made in step 402, an error display indicating that color transmission is not possible is displayed. (2) If FAX transmission by VoIP is not registered, E-mail transmission with encryption processing is performed in step 410, and E-mail transmission without encryption processing is performed in step 412. (3) If FAX transmission by PSTN is not registered, in step 411, E-mail transmission with encryption processing is performed.

  Even in the case of FAX transmission by VoIP or PSTN, if color transmission is possible according to the specifications of the image forming apparatus 2, the following processing may be performed. That is, in step 405, in addition to E-mail transmission subjected to encryption processing, FAX transmission by VoIP may be an option. In step 407, VoIP FAX transmission may be an option in addition to E-mail transmission without encryption processing.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where three types of transmission means are provided has been described. However, when an I-FAX is further provided, the following processing may be performed. I-FAX is a rule in which an image file in TIFF format is attached to an attached file for mail transmission. Use of this I-FAX may be added to the above processing options. At that time, it is preferable to consider whether the destination is the simple mode or the full mode. Note that the simple mode is a mode that allows only monochrome and non-encrypted transmission, and the full mode is capable of color transmission and encrypted communication. When selecting this I-FAX, it is preferable to automatically inquire whether the other party supports color and encryption / decryption using a function for exchanging capabilities by mail with a destination.

  Also, when performing the above-described automatic selection processing, whether to set the charge priority mode or the security priority mode, the mode to be prioritized for each user may be changed, and the mode to be prioritized for each destination may be changed. You may make it change.

  Further, when using FAX transmission by VoIP, it is preferable to detect whether or not the communication goes through the PSTN gateway at the time of communication. This is because, even when FAX transmission by VoIP is selected, there is a case where the user is charged as a result of going through the PSTN gateway. If it is detected that it passes through the PSTN gateway, it is preferable to determine the destination of the VoIP on the basis of the PSTN transmission. That is, it is preferable to perform E-mail transmission with encryption processing at step 410 and to perform E-mail transmission without encryption processing at step 412.

  User intervention may be added. In other words, in the case of non-confidential transmission, it is preferable to display a confirmation dialog and obtain user confirmation. In addition, when a transmission means that requires a communication fee such as PSTN is selected, it is preferable to display a confirmation dialog. In the charge priority mode, it is preferable to inquire the user when the security is lowered. In the security priority mode, it is preferable to make an inquiry to the user when a fee is charged.

  Further, although the processing is divided depending on whether or not there is a public key certificate, it is also possible to substitute information necessary for encryption, for example, a pre-shared key instead of the public key certificate.

  Note that a program (software) for realizing the functions described above in the apparatus may be installed in the apparatus in advance, may be provided by communication means, or stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM. May be provided.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a network system according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of PC. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the information described in an information page, and the character string set about the information. It is the figure which showed the list of the character strings displayed on the top page which a built-in web server part displays on a web browser. It is a figure which shows the list of the character string which changed the strength of some character strings. It is a figure which shows the list of the character string which changed the strength of some character strings. It is the figure which showed the list of the character strings which changed the spelling of the character string. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the information delivery process which an embedded web server part performs. An example of document data in RSS format is shown. It is a figure which shows an example of the kind of information, and the open range. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the network system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the information described in the address book. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a transmission means automatic selection process. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a transmission means automatic selection process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,301 ... Network system, 2,302 ... Image forming apparatus, 3,303 ... PC, 4,304,306 ... Network, 21 ... Control part, 22 ... Image forming part, 23 ... Image reading part, 24 ... Memory | storage part , 25 ... Network connection unit, 26 ... Communication line connection unit, 27 ... Operation unit, 28 ... Embedded web server unit, 281 ... Acquisition unit, 282 ... Comparison unit, 283 ... Character string appearance determination unit, 284 ... Document data creation Unit, 285 ... transmission unit, 305 ... server device

Claims (11)

Image forming means for forming an image on a medium;
Control means for controlling the image forming means and holding information related to control;
Storage means for storing information about the device;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined items from the storage means or the control means;
A character string appearance determining unit that determines an appearance of a character string related to the information acquired by the information acquiring unit based on a result of comparing the acquired information acquired by the information acquiring unit and stored information stored in advance;
The first page in the web page displays a list of character strings having the appearance determined by the character string appearance determination unit, and the second page in the web page displays the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: document data creating means for creating document data described in a language for describing the web page. The character string appearance determining means makes the spelling of the character string different when there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and when there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The character string appearance determining means determines the size, color, and color of the character string when there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and when there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the styles is made different. When there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information, the character string appearance determining unit determines the appearance of the character string as compared with the case where there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is emphasized. Information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of pieces of predetermined information about the plurality of image forming apparatuses from the plurality of image forming apparatuses;
A character string appearance determining unit that determines the appearance of a character string related to the information acquired by the information acquiring unit, based on a result of comparing the acquired information acquired by the information acquiring unit and stored information stored in advance;
The first page in the web page displays a list of character strings having the appearance determined by the character string appearance determination unit, and the second page in the web page displays the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. Document data creating means for creating document data described in a language for describing the web page,
An information providing apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus can provide a web page;
6. The information acquisition unit acquires information by searching or referring to a web page provided by the image forming apparatus or by acquiring feed information provided by the image forming apparatus. The information providing device according to 1. The character string appearance determining means makes the spelling of the character string different when there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and when there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: The character string appearance determining means determines the size, color, and color of the character string when there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information and when there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the styles is made different. When there is a difference between the acquired information and the stored information, the character string appearance determining unit determines the appearance of the character string as compared with the case where there is no difference between the acquired information and the stored information. The information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information providing apparatus is emphasized. Information acquisition means for acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined matters;
A character string appearance determining unit that determines an appearance of a character string related to the information acquired by the information acquiring unit based on a result of comparing the acquired information acquired by the information acquiring unit and stored information stored in advance;
The first page in the web page displays a list of character strings having the appearance determined by the character string appearance determination unit, and the second page in the web page displays the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. An information providing apparatus comprising: document data creating means for creating document data described in a language for describing the web page. On the computer,
A function for acquiring information about a plurality of predetermined matters;
A function of determining the appearance of a character string related to the information acquired by the function of acquiring the information based on a result of comparing the acquired information acquired by the function of acquiring the information and stored information stored in advance;
The first page in the web page displays a list of character strings having the appearance determined by the function for determining the appearance of the character string, and the second page in the web page has a function for acquiring the information. A program for realizing a function of creating document data described in a language for describing the web page so that the acquired information is displayed.

Images