JP2013045199A - Electronic apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To retain a screen transition log resulting from user's operation in a small volume of data in an electronic apparatus such as an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: In the electronic apparatus, a log management unit 36 identifies an absolute screen ID that is unique to a screen for every screen transition that occurs on a display device 11a due to the user's operation, converts a plurality of identified absolute screen IDs into a combination of a single pattern ID representing a typical pattern of a relative screen transition and a plurality of behavior IDs representing screen transitions in the typical pattern, and records the pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs obtained by the conversion as a screen transition log.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

  In a certain system, an operator operates a monitoring terminal to collect an operation log of an electronic device and grasps a customer's operation status (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In another system, a user-side image processing apparatus holds user operation data and transmits it to a support PC (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-8-77419 JP 2010-74522 A

  As described above, the user operation log is used when receiving the support service.

  When the user operation log is a screen transition log, it is usually possible to collect a screen transition log by assigning an ID to each screen and sequentially recording the ID of the screen selected by the user.

  However, when the number of screens such as operation screens and setting screens is very large as in the case of a multifunction machine, the data length of the screen transition log becomes long because the data length of the screen ID becomes long.

  For this reason, the size of the storage area for the screen transition log increases, or the data amount of the screen transition log transmitted to the support side increases. Further, when a failure occurs, the screen transition log is displayed on the electronic device, and when the user reads the screen transition log and notifies the support side by telephone or the like, the longer the screen transition log, the greater the burden on the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain an electronic apparatus and an image forming apparatus that hold a screen transition log resulting from a user operation with a small amount of data.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention specifies a display device, an input device that detects a user operation, and a screen-specific absolute screen ID for each screen transition that occurs in the display device due to the user operation. The absolute screen ID is converted into a combination of one pattern ID indicating a typical pattern of relative screen transitions and a plurality of behavior IDs indicating screen transitions within the typical pattern, and the pattern ID and the plurality of behaviors obtained by the conversion are converted. A log management unit that records the ID as a screen transition log.

  Thereby, in the electronic device, the screen transition log resulting from the user operation is held with a smaller amount of data than when all the screen transition logs are stored with the absolute screen ID.

  In addition to the above electronic device, the electronic device according to the present invention may be as follows. In this case, the log management unit determines whether or not there is a typical pattern that matches the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs. If there is a typical pattern that matches the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs, An ID and a plurality of behavior IDs are recorded as a screen transition log, and when there is no typical pattern that matches the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs, the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs are recorded as a screen transition log.

  Moreover, in addition to any of the electronic devices described above, the electronic device according to the present invention may be configured as follows. In this case, the data length of the absolute screen ID is longer than the data length of the pattern ID and the behavior ID.

  Moreover, in addition to any of the electronic devices described above, the electronic device according to the present invention may be configured as follows. In this case, the range of values that the absolute screen ID can take does not include the values that the pattern ID can take.

  As a result, even if the absolute screen ID, the pattern ID, and the behavior ID are mixed in the screen transition log, the absolute screen ID can be obtained without inserting predetermined delimiter data between the absolute screen ID and the pattern ID. And the pattern ID can be distinguished from each other. As a result, the data amount of the screen transition log is further reduced.

  Moreover, in addition to any of the electronic devices described above, the electronic device according to the present invention may be configured as follows. In this case, the range of values that the absolute screen ID can take does not include the values that the behavior ID can take.

  As a result, even if the absolute screen ID, the pattern ID, and the behavior ID are mixed in the screen transition log, the absolute screen ID can be obtained without inserting predetermined delimiter data between the absolute screen ID and the behavior ID. And the behavior ID can be distinguished from each other. As a result, the data amount of the screen transition log is further reduced.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention specifies a display device, an input device that detects a user operation, and a screen-specific absolute screen ID for each screen transition that occurs in the display device due to the user operation, Is converted into a combination of one pattern ID indicating a typical pattern of relative screen transitions and a plurality of behavior IDs indicating screen transitions within the typical pattern. A log management unit that records the behavior ID as a screen transition log.

  Thereby, in the image forming apparatus, the screen transition log resulting from the user operation is held with a smaller amount of data than when all the screen transition logs are stored with the absolute screen ID.

  According to the present invention, a screen transition log resulting from a user operation is held with a small amount of data.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for describing logging in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the format conversion of the screen transition log in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a typical pattern and a behavior ID. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of format conversion of the screen transition log in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a service call screen displayed when a problem occurs in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 is a kind of electronic equipment and is a multifunction machine. The image forming apparatus 1 has an operation panel 11 that receives user operations. The image forming apparatus 1 may be another apparatus having a printing function such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation panel 11, a communication device 21, a printing device 22, an image reading device 23, a storage device 24, and an arithmetic processing device 25.

  The operation panel 11 includes a display device 11a such as a liquid crystal display and an input device 11b such as a touch panel, and displays an operation screen for the user and detects a user operation.

  The communication device 21 can be connected to a host device (not shown) via a network or a peripheral device interface, and performs data communication using a predetermined communication protocol.

  The printing device 22 is an internal device that prints a document image on printing paper by, for example, an electrophotographic method.

  The image reading device 23 is an internal device that optically reads a document image from a document and generates image data of the document image.

  The storage device 24 is a nonvolatile storage device such as a flash memory, and stores data, programs, and the like. The storage device 24 stores an entire log file 24a having a fixed length and an image transition log file 24b. The generated log is written in the entire log file 24a, and the screen transition log of the logs overflowing from the entire log file 24a is written in the image transition log file 24b.

  The arithmetic processing unit 25 is a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and loads a program stored in the ROM or the storage device 24 into the RAM. Then, various processing units are realized by executing the program by the CPU.

  After the image forming apparatus 1 is activated, various programs are appropriately executed by the arithmetic processing unit 25. In this embodiment, in the arithmetic processing unit 25, processing units such as a display control unit 31, a communication processing unit 32, a request processing unit 33, an image processing unit 34, a controller 35, and a log management unit 36 are realized.

  The display control unit 31 displays a screen on the display device 11a and performs screen transition of the display device 11a according to a user operation on the input device 11b. Further, when detecting a predetermined user operation, the display control unit 31 supplies a request corresponding to the user operation to the request processing unit 33. The display control unit 31 notifies the log management unit 36 of the absolute screen ID of the screen after the screen transition for each screen transition. The absolute screen ID is a screen-specific identifier assigned to each screen.

  The communication processing unit 32 is a processing unit that controls the communication device 21 to execute data communication with a host device or the like. For example, the communication processing unit 32 receives document data as a print request from the host device.

  The request processing unit 33 receives a print request based on a user operation on the operation panel 11, a print request supplied from the host device, a copy request, and the like, and executes a job according to the request.

  For example, when document data in a predetermined data format such as PDL (Page Description Language) or PDF (Portable Document Format) is received as a print request from the host device, the request processing unit 33 obtains image data from the document data. Generate. When the request processing unit 33 receives a copy request by the user operation on the operation panel 11 from the display control unit 31, the request processing unit 33 acquires the image data of the document image read by the image reading device 23.

  Note that the print settings applied at the time of printing are designated by a print request supplied from the host device, a user operation on the operation panel 11, or the like.

  The image processing unit 34 performs predetermined image processing on the image data, and generates print data (for example, print image data binarized for each color).

  The controller 35 is a processing unit that monitors and controls internal devices such as the printing device 22 and the image reading device 23.

  In addition, the log management unit 36 specifies a screen-specific absolute screen ID for each screen transition that occurs in the display device 11a due to a user operation by a notification from the display control unit 31, and records it as the specified screen transition log. Or a plurality of absolute screen IDs are converted into a combination of one pattern ID indicating a typical pattern of relative screen transitions and a plurality of behavior IDs indicating screen transitions in the typical pattern, and a pattern ID obtained by the conversion And a plurality of behavior IDs are recorded as a screen transition log.

  In this embodiment, the log management unit 36 generates a log for recording the detected event, and when the log is generated, a free space larger than the size of the generated log is generated in the entire log file 24a. If there is, the generated log is added to the entire log file 24a, and if there is no free space in the entire log file 24a that is larger than the size of the generated log, the logs in the entire log file 24a are transferred to the entire log file. After deleting from 24a, the generated log is added to the entire log file 24a. At this time, if the log to be deleted from the entire log file 24a includes a screen transition log, the log management unit 36 converts the screen transition log as described above, and then converts the screen transition log into the screen transition log file 24b. Add to

  In this embodiment, the log management unit 36 determines whether there is a typical pattern that matches the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs, and there is a typical pattern that matches the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs. If the pattern ID and a plurality of behavior IDs are recorded as a screen transition log, and there is no typical pattern that matches the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs, the specified plurality of absolute screen IDs are recorded as a screen transition log. Record as.

  In this embodiment, the data length of the absolute screen ID is longer than the data length of the pattern ID and the behavior ID. In this embodiment, the data length of the absolute screen ID is 2 bytes, and the data length of the pattern ID and the data length of the behavior ID are 1 byte, which is a half thereof.

  In this embodiment, the range of values that the absolute screen ID can take does not include the values that the pattern ID can take. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the range of values that the absolute screen ID can take may not include the values that the behavior ID can take.

  For example, in this embodiment, data is read and written in units of bytes, and each 1-byte value of the 2-byte absolute screen ID is set to one of 0x00 to 0xEE, and the value of the pattern ID is 0xF0. It is set to any value of ˜0xFF.

  Thereby, even when absolute screen ID, pattern ID, and behavior ID are mixed in the screen transition log, even if predetermined delimiter data is not inserted between absolute screen ID, pattern ID, and behavior ID, The absolute screen ID, the pattern ID, and the behavior ID can be distinguished from each other. As a result, the data amount of the screen transition log is further reduced.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for describing logging in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  The log management unit 36 starts logging under a predetermined start condition (step S1). For example, when a predetermined program is activated in the arithmetic processing unit 25 of the image forming apparatus 1, the log management unit 36 starts logging.

  When an event for generating a log occurs, the log management unit 36 generates a system log (step S2). The system log is a log of events that have occurred in the image forming apparatus 1 and includes a screen transition log. The screen transition log in step S <b> 2 is an array of absolute screen IDs acquired from the display control unit 31.

  The log management unit 36 adds the generated log to the entire log file 24a when the entire log file 24a has a free area larger than the size of the system log, and free space larger than the size of the generated system log. Is found in the entire log file 24a (step S3), and if the entire log file 24a has a free space larger than the size of the generated system log, the generated system log is stored in the entire log file 24a. (Step S4). Therefore, the screen transition log in the entire log file 24a is an array of absolute screen IDs.

  On the other hand, if there is no free area in the overall log file 24a that is equal to or larger than the size of the generated system log, the log management unit 36 stores the generated system log in the entire log file 24a in order to secure an area for writing the generated system log. A deletion target log is selected from the system log (step S5). At this time, the log management unit 36, for example, 1 or in order from the oldest in the entire log file 24a so that the total size of one or more deletion target logs is equal to or larger than the size of the generated system log. Select multiple system logs.

  Then, the log management unit 36 determines whether or not the screen transition log is included in the deletion target log (step S6), and when the screen transition log is not included in the deletion target log, the deletion target log Is deleted from the entire log file 24a (step S7), and the system log generated in step S2 is added to the entire log file 24a (step S4).

  On the other hand, when the screen transition log is included in the deletion target log, the log management unit 36 extracts the screen transition log from the deletion target log, performs format conversion of the screen transition log (step S8), and formats The converted screen transition log is added to the screen transition log file 24b (step S9), the deletion target log is deleted from the entire log file 24a (step S7), and the system log generated in step S2 is stored in the entire log file 24a. (Step S4).

  Then, the log management unit 36 determines whether or not a predetermined end condition for ending logging is satisfied (step S10). If the end condition is not satisfied, the log management unit 36 returns to step S2 and proceeds to the next system. A log is generated, and if the termination condition is satisfied, logging is terminated. For example, when the execution of the predetermined program is finished, the log management unit 36 finishes logging.

  Here, the format conversion of the screen transition log in step S8 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the format conversion (step S8) of the screen transition log in FIG.

  First, the log management unit 36 sets the absolute screen ID at the beginning of the extracted screen transition log as the attention screen ID (step S11).

  Next, the log management unit 36 refers to the screen transition log, identifies the absolute screen ID subsequent to the target screen ID, analyzes the subsequent absolute screen ID of the target screen ID, and performs a predetermined plurality of In the typical pattern, a pattern capable of expressing the screen transition indicated by the target screen ID and the subsequent absolute screen ID is searched (step S12).

  The typical pattern indicates a screen transition pattern between a plurality of screens, and the log management unit 36 has typical pattern data in advance, and based on the typical pattern data, the attention screen ID and its subsequent absolute A typical pattern capable of expressing the screen transition indicated by the screen ID is selected.

  And the log management part 36 determines whether the typical pattern about the attention screen ID exists (step S13).

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a typical pattern and a behavior ID.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating an example of a typical pattern expressing screen transition between two screens 101 and 102. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of a typical pattern expressing screen transitions between five screens.

  For example, a pattern ID of 0xF3 is assigned to the typical pattern shown in FIG. 5A, and a pattern ID of 0xF6 is assigned to the typical pattern shown in FIG.

  Also, for example, in the typical pattern shown in FIG. 5A, a behavior ID of 0xF0 is assigned to the screen transition from the screen 101 to the screen 102, and a behavior of 0xF1 is assigned to the screen transition from the screen 102 to the screen 101. An ID is assigned.

  Also, for example, in the typical pattern shown in FIG. 5B, a behavior ID of 0xF0 is assigned to the screen transition from the screen 201 to the screen 202, and a behavior of 0xF1 is assigned to the screen transition from the screen 202 to the screen 203. An ID is assigned, a screen transition from screen 203 to screen 204 is assigned a behavior ID of 0xF2, a screen transition from screen 204 to screen 205 is assigned a behavior ID of 0xF3, and screen 205 to screen 204 is assigned. The screen transition to is assigned a behavior ID of 0xF4, and the screen transition from the screen 205 to the screen 201 is assigned a behavior ID of 0xF5.

  The above-mentioned typical pattern data includes a pattern ID for each typical pattern, a screen ID in the typical pattern (local ID different from the absolute screen ID), a behavior ID, and a screen ID and behavior ID of the screen before and after the screen transition. An association with is included.

  When there is a typical pattern that can represent the screen transition indicated by the target screen ID and the subsequent absolute screen ID, the log management unit 36 determines the absolute screen ID of the subsequent plurality of screens as one pattern ID and a plurality of behaviors. Conversion to ID is performed (step S14).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition log format conversion in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  For example, in FIG. 6, a portion where the screen transition is alternately performed between the screen having the absolute screen ID “0x19-0xA3” and the screen having the absolute screen ID “0xFD-0x1F” is a typical pattern illustrated in FIG. In this part, the absolute screen ID is converted into a pattern ID and a plurality of behavior IDs, and the pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs are added to the screen transition log file 24b.

  Further, for example, in FIG. 6, the transition from the screen of the absolute screen ID “0xD7-0x3A” to the four screens in order and the transition to the screen of the absolute screen ID “0xD7-0x3A” are shown in FIG. Since it can be expressed by the typical pattern shown in (B), the absolute screen ID of this part is converted into a pattern ID and a plurality of behavior IDs, and the pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs are added to the screen transition log file 24b. Is done.

  Then, the log management unit 36 determines whether or not the next absolute screen ID of the converted plurality of absolute screen IDs exists in the screen transition log (step S15). When the next absolute screen ID does not exist, the log management unit 36 ends the format conversion of the screen transition log. On the other hand, if the next absolute screen ID exists, the log management unit 36 sets the next absolute screen ID as the attention screen ID (step S16), returns to step S12, and continues the conversion process.

  If there is no typical pattern for the noticed screen ID in step S13, the log management unit 36 determines whether the absolute screen ID next to the noticed screen ID exists in the screen transition log (step S17). When the next absolute screen ID does not exist, the log management unit 36 ends the format conversion of the screen transition log. On the other hand, if the next absolute screen ID exists, the log management unit 36 sets the next absolute screen ID as the attention screen ID (step S18), returns to step S12, and continues the conversion process.

  In this way, the screen transition log is accumulated in the entire log file 24a and the screen transition log file 24b. When the occurrence of a malfunction is detected, the display control unit 31 changes the screen of the display device 11a to the service call screen, and uses the log management unit 36 to sequentially perform the predetermined process from the top of the screen transition log file 24b. Is read as an error code, and the error code is displayed on the service call screen.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a service call screen displayed when a problem occurs in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. In the service call screen shown in FIG. 7, the screen transition log in the screen transition log file 24b shown in FIG. 6 is displayed as an error code in hexadecimal notation.

  The terminal device on the support service side has conversion data indicating the correspondence between each absolute screen ID and the pattern ID and behavior ID, and based on the data, the absolute screen ID immediately before the pattern ID and behavior ID, The pattern ID and behavior ID are inversely converted to an absolute screen ID. That is, the pattern ID and the behavior ID in the error code notified from the user side are reversely converted to the absolute screen ID. Further, the terminal device on the support service side has information (image data or the like) of a screen to which each absolute screen ID is assigned, and can display a screen corresponding to the absolute screen ID of the error code. In this way, the support service side can grasp the screen transition caused by the operation performed by the user.

  As described above, according to the above embodiment, the log management unit 36 identifies the screen-specific absolute screen ID for each screen transition that occurs in the display device 11a due to the user operation, and identifies the plurality of identified absolute The screen ID is converted into a combination of one pattern ID indicating a typical pattern of relative screen transitions and a plurality of behavior IDs indicating screen transitions in the typical pattern, and the pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs obtained by the conversion are converted. Is recorded as a screen transition log.

  Thereby, in the image forming apparatus 1, the screen transition log resulting from the user operation is held with a small amount of data.

  The above-described embodiments are preferred examples of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the format of the screen transition log in the log overflowing from the entire log file 24a is converted. However, the format of the screen transition log in the log is converted before being written to the entire log file 24a. You may do it.

  In the above embodiment, the behavior ID is assigned corresponding to the transition between the screens. Instead, the operation unit (OK button, cancel button, etc.) in the screen and the operation on the operation unit are performed. You may make it allocate corresponding to the screen after the transition by. In this case, the display control unit 31 supplies not only the absolute screen ID but also information indicating the operation unit on which the operation causing the screen transition is performed to the log management unit 36, and the log management unit 36 displays the screen transition. At the time of log format conversion, the behavior ID is specified from the absolute screen ID and information of the operation unit.

  The present invention is applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine.

1 Image forming apparatus (an example of electronic equipment)
11a Display device 11b Input device 36 Log management unit

Claims (6)

A display device;
An input device for detecting user operations;
One pattern that identifies a screen-specific absolute screen ID for each screen transition that occurs in the display device due to the user operation, and that indicates a plurality of the identified absolute screen IDs as a typical pattern of relative screen transitions A log management unit that converts the ID into a combination of a plurality of behavior IDs indicating screen transitions in the typical pattern, and records the pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs obtained by the conversion as a screen transition log;
An electronic device comprising:   The log management unit determines whether or not the typical pattern that matches the plurality of specified absolute screen IDs exists, and when the typical pattern that matches the plurality of specified absolute screen IDs exists. The pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs are recorded as a screen transition log, and when the typical pattern that matches the plurality of specified absolute screen IDs does not exist, the plurality of specified absolute screen IDs are displayed as screen transitions. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is recorded as a log.   2. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a data length of the absolute screen ID is longer than a data length of the pattern ID and a data length of the behavior ID.   2. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a range of values that can be taken by the absolute screen ID does not include a value that can be taken by the pattern ID.   The range of values that can be taken by the absolute screen ID does not include values that can be taken by the behavior ID. A display device;
An input device for detecting user operations;
One pattern that identifies a screen-specific absolute screen ID for each screen transition that occurs in the display device due to the user operation, and that indicates a plurality of the identified absolute screen IDs as a typical pattern of relative screen transitions A log management unit that converts the ID into a combination of a plurality of behavior IDs indicating screen transitions in the typical pattern, and records the pattern ID and the plurality of behavior IDs obtained by the conversion as a screen transition log;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images