JP4159869B2 - Information providing apparatus, information providing method, information providing system, and information providing program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, an information providing system, and an information providing program that provide information to a terminal connected via a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recent technological development is remarkable, and various information devices are generally used connected to a network, as represented by a Web system to which a large number of clients are connected. In addition, it is possible to remotely control the information equipment from a terminal device such as a PC. Embedded devices equipped with Web server functions are also widespread. For example, status information (firmware version, job history, device settings, job management information, stored document management, etc. of image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and fax machines. Information etc.) can be browsed by a web browser on a PC via a network.
[0003]
Here, the reason why the data transmitted from the Web server can be correctly displayed on the Web browser of the PC is that the data transmitted from the Web server to the PC is generated in a data format (for example, HTML format) that can be displayed on the Web browser. is there.
[0004]
Therefore, if the PC requests transmission of information by electronic mail, it is necessary to mount a new application on the Web server, that is, an application that generates data in a data format suitable for electronic mail. For devices connected to the LAN, a firewall is provided to maintain security, so access by the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) from the Internet is often not permitted. In such a case, communication by e-mail is particularly beneficial.
[0005]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of a conventional Web server in a case where a plurality of protocols are supported. 1 includes an HTTP communication unit 301, an email communication unit 302, a web browser application 303, an email application 304, and the like.
[0006]
The HTTP communication unit 301 and the e-mail communication unit 302 are daemon programs that communicate with the PC 320 using a specific protocol. That is, the HTTP communication unit 301 communicates with the PC 320 by HTTP, and the e-mail communication unit 302 communicates with the PC 320 by e-mail.
[0007]
The web browser application 303 is an application for generating information to be provided to the PC 320 as a web page. The e-mail application 304 is an application for generating information to be provided to the PC 320 in a format that can be transmitted by e-mail, for example, a text format.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the mounting method as shown in FIG. 1, the same mounting must be performed for each application. That is, in the Web browser application 303 and the e-mail application 304, information generation or acquisition processing to be provided to the PC 320 should be almost the same, and the difference between the two depends on the protocol or data format. Only the final data generation process.
[0009]
Therefore, the implementation as shown in FIG. 1 has a problem that not only the efficiency of the development work is bad, but also the burden on the storage capacity of the Web server becomes large.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, an information providing system, which can efficiently provide information corresponding to requests from a plurality of protocols from a client, And to provide an information provision program.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention is an information providing apparatus that transmits requested information in response to each request transmitted by a different protocol via a network, and acquires information having different contents. A plurality of information acquisition means, a first association management means for managing association between request identification information included in the request and any one of the plurality of information acquisition means, and responding to reception of the request A distribution unit that causes the information acquisition unit associated with the request identification information included in the request to acquire the information in the first association management unit; a conversion rule for the request identification information and the information A second association management unit that manages association with the format definition file in which the request is defined, and the second association management unit associates the request identification information with the association. Is and an information converting means for converting the data format of the information based on the format definition file and the information conversion unit, called another, and to another without common said information obtaining means of the different protocols In the first association management unit, the same information acquisition unit is associated with the different request identification information, and the second association management unit includes each request identification information. Different format definition files are associated with each other It is characterized by that.
In such an information providing apparatus, the information conversion means can dynamically convert information required by a plurality of different protocols from the terminal into data corresponding to the protocol, so the information conversion means is implemented for each protocol. There is no need and information can be provided efficiently.
[0012]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention may also be an information providing method in the information providing apparatus, an information providing system having an information providing apparatus and a terminal, or an information providing program for causing a computer to execute the information providing method. Good.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The image processing system 1 in FIG. 2 includes an image forming apparatus 10, a terminal 20a, a terminal 20b, and a terminal 20c (hereinafter collectively referred to as “terminal 20”), etc., such as a LAN (Local Area Network), an intranet, or the Internet. The network 30 is connected.
[0014]
In response to a request from the terminal 20, the image forming apparatus 10 executes processing such as printing of document data and fax transmission. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 responds to a request from the terminal 20 when a request for transmission of status information (for example, the host name of the image forming apparatus 10, the status of the copy function, the status of the FAX function) is received from the terminal 20. The status information of the image forming apparatus 10 is transmitted to the terminal 20 in the data format. For example, when the user of the terminal 20 requests status information of the image forming apparatus 10 from a Web browser, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data storing the status information to the terminal 20. When the user of the terminal 20 requests the status information of the image forming apparatus 10 by email, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits text data storing the status information to the terminal 20 by email. In this embodiment, “data format” includes not only the concept of data types such as text, BITMAP, and JPEG, but also the concept of data contents such as format, that is, layout when displayed. Therefore, even if the same HTML data is used, the data format is different if the description content is different.
[0015]
Next, a functional configuration example of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the image forming apparatus. In FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 10 includes hardware resources for performing individual image processing such as a plotter engine 23 and a scanner engine 24, an engine control board 22, an OS 21, a system management service 16, and a network service 17. And a memory management service 18, an operation panel management service 19, an engine management service 20, and various applications such as a copy application 11, a fax application 12, a printer application 13, and an information providing application 14.
[0016]
The engine control board 22 controls individual functions of the image forming apparatus 10 such as the plotter engine 23 and the scanner engine 24, and provides the functions of the engine control board 22 to the OS 21 and the like through an engine I / F (interface).
[0017]
The OS 21 is an operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark) and executes various software implemented as applications such as the copy application 11 and the fax application 12 in parallel as processes.
[0018]
The system management service 16, the network service 17, the memory management service 18, the operation panel management service 19, and the engine management service 20 provide respective functions to upper applications such as the copy application 11 through an API (Application Programming Interface). is there. That is, the system management service 16 provides a function related to system management, and the network service 17 provides a function related to network communication. The memory management service 18 provides functions related to memory management, and the operation panel management service 19 provides functions related to an operation panel (operation panel) installed in the image forming apparatus 10. Further, the engine management service 20 provides a function for controlling the plotter engine 23 and the scanner engine 24 via the engine control board 22.
[0019]
The copy application 11 is a copy application, and the fax application 12 is a facsimile application. The printer application 13 is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS). The information providing application 14 is an application realized by an information providing program in which the features of the present invention are implemented, and generates data including status information requested from the terminal 20.
[0020]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the network service and the information providing application. That is, FIG. 4 shows the network service 17 and the information providing application 14 extracted from FIG. 3 and displays the details thereof in order to clarify the features of the image forming apparatus 10 in the present embodiment.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 4, the network service 17 has an HTTP protocol processing module 171 and an electronic mail protocol processing module 172 as a part of its functions. The HTTP protocol processing module 171 is a daemon program for performing communication with the terminal 20 using HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). That is, when the status information transmission request (hereinafter referred to as “status information transmission request”) from the terminal 20 to the image forming apparatus 10 is based on HTTP, the HTTP protocol processing module 171 receives the status information transmission request. In addition, the HTTP protocol processing module 171 transmits a Web page having status information and the like to the terminal 20 as a response.
[0022]
Similarly, the e-mail protocol processing module 172 is a daemon program for communicating with the terminal 20 by e-mail according to protocols such as POP3 and SMTP. That is, the e-mail protocol processing module 172 receives a status information transmission request or the like transmitted from the terminal 20 by e-mail. In addition, the e-mail protocol processing module 172 transmits an e-mail having status information or the like as a response to the terminal 20.
[0023]
The network service 17 also has a module for processing other protocols such as telnet (hereinafter referred to as “protocol processing module” when collectively including the HTTP protocol processing module 171 and the electronic mail protocol processing module). is doing.
[0024]
On the other hand, the information providing application 14 includes a distribution module 143, a status page generation module 144, a tray status page generation module 145, a status acquisition module 146, a format conversion module 147, a corresponding page generation module table 148, and the like.
[0025]
The distribution module 143 is called from the protocol processing module and calls the page generation modules such as the status page generation module 144 and the tray status page generation module 145 based on the request transmitted from the terminal 20. The corresponding page generation module table 148 is a table referred to when the distribution module 143 calls the page generation module.
[0026]
The status page generation module 144 calls the status acquisition module 146 and the like, so that the status information of the image forming apparatus 10 for the amount that is finally transmitted to the user (for example, one page in the case of transmission on a web page). It is a module to acquire. The tray status page generation module 145 is a module that acquires tray status information of the image forming apparatus 10. These page generation modules request the format conversion 147 to convert the acquired information into a data format for transmission to the terminal 20, and output the conversion result data to the distribution module 143.
[0027]
The status acquisition module 146 is a library composed of a plurality of functions that provide status information of the image forming apparatus 10 to a host application. Therefore, the status page generation module 144 calls a plurality of functions of the status acquisition module 146 when it is necessary to call a plurality of functions in order to acquire the status information that is finally transmitted to the user. Note that the status acquisition module 146 can be designed without depending on the protocol used for communication with the terminal 20 or the data format of data transmitted as a response to the terminal 20, and can be designed for each function. It only has to exist in the. Therefore, it is not necessary to implement each protocol or data format, thereby reducing development man-hours and resources used such as storage capacity. Further, the module corresponding to the status acquisition module 146 is not necessarily installed in the image forming apparatus 10, but Java (registered trademark) (registered commercial), RPC (Remote Procedure Call), or SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). ) Etc., information on other systems etc. may be acquired via the network.
[0028]
The format conversion module 147 is a module that converts information requested for conversion from the page generation module into data in a data format corresponding to the terminal 20, and is called in common regardless of the protocol and the page generation means. Therefore, the format conversion module 147 only needs to exist in the system. As a result, it is possible to reduce development man-hours and resources used such as storage capacity.
[0029]
Hereinafter, a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when communicating with a terminal by HTTP.
[0030]
In step S <b> 11, the URL “http: // xxx / xxx / xxx / status” of the Web page (hereinafter referred to as “status page”) for the user to browse the status information of the image forming apparatus 10 on the Web browser of the terminal 20. When “.html” is input, the terminal 20 transmits an HTTP request requesting the image forming apparatus 10 to transmit a status page.
[0031]
Progressing to step S12 following step S11, the HTTP protocol processing module 171 of the image forming apparatus 10 receives the HTTP request from the terminal 20, and sends the URL “status.html” of the status page included in the HTTP request from the terminal 20. The distribution module 143 is notified as information for identifying the request (hereinafter referred to as “request identification information”).
[0032]
Progressing to step S13 following step S12, the distribution module 143 of the image forming apparatus 10 searches the page generation module corresponding to the URL “status.html” from the corresponding page generation module table 148, and the searched page generation module. Call.
[0033]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the corresponding page generation module table. The corresponding page generation module table 148 in FIG. 6 is a table that manages association between request identification information and a page generation module corresponding to the request identification information, and includes “request identification information”, “page generation module”, and the like. As a data item.
[0034]
That is, the distribution module 143 searches the corresponding page generation module table 148 using the URL “status.html” notified as the request identification information as a key, and generates the status page registered in the “page generation module” of the corresponding record. Invoke module 144. The distribution module 143 passes the URL “status.html” as input information to the status page generation module 144 when calling the status page generation module 144.
[0035]
By consolidating the call process of the various page generation modules 144 into the distribution module 143, it is not necessary to implement the call process in each protocol processing module. In addition, since the correspondence between the request identification information and the page generation module is managed in the corresponding page generation module table 148 independently of the program logic, the corresponding page generation module is used when adding or deleting the page generation module. It is only necessary to modify the table 148.
[0036]
In step S14 following step S13, when the status page generation module 144 calls the status acquisition module 146 to acquire the status information of the image forming apparatus 10, the status acquisition module 146 responds with the status information of the image forming apparatus 10 as a response. Is returned (S15). At this point, the status information depends on the data type of the programming language in which the status page generation module 144 is mounted. For example, when the status page generation module 144 is implemented in C language, the status information is composed of data such as int type and char type. Hereinafter, the status information depending on the program language is referred to as “language-dependent status information data”.
[0037]
Progressing to step S16 following step S15, the status page generation module 144 calls the format conversion module 147 using the URL “status.html” and the language-dependent status information data acquired from the status acquisition module 146 as arguments. Progressing to step S17 following step S16, the format conversion module 147 converts the language-dependent status information data into data in a data format requested by the terminal 20.
[0038]
Here, details of the processing of the format conversion module 147 in step S17 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining processing of the format conversion module. The format conversion module 147 in the present embodiment converts data passed from the page generation module using the serializer 150, the XSLT (XSL Transformations) processor 151, the corresponding XSL table 152, and the like.
[0039]
The serializer 150 converts data depending on a programming language into an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format. The XSLT processor 151 converts data in the XML format into data in a format according to the definition of the designated XSL file 153. The correspondence XSL table 152 is a table that manages association between request identification information and an XSL file corresponding to the request identification information.
[0040]
In FIG. 7, the format conversion module 147 calls the serializer 150 using the language-dependent status information data as input information (S171). The serializer 150 converts the language-dependent status information data into the XML format via the DOM format, and outputs the status information converted into the XML format (hereinafter referred to as “XML status information data”) to the format conversion module 147 (S172). ).
[0041]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of XML status information data. In the XML status information data 500 of FIG. 8, the value “MFP” enclosed in the <hostName> tag of the description 501 indicates the name given to the image forming apparatus 10. In the description 502, the value “Ready” enclosed in the <CopyStatus> tag indicates the copy function status of the image forming apparatus 10, and the value “Communication Error” enclosed in the <FAXStatus> tag is the fax of the image forming apparatus 10. Indicates the status of the function. Similarly, the value “Ready” enclosed in the <ScannerStatus> tag indicates the scanner function status of the image forming apparatus 10, and “Offline” enclosed in the <PrinterStatus> tag is the printer function of the image forming apparatus 10. Indicates the state.
[0042]
The format conversion module 147 that has acquired the XML status information data 500 refers to the corresponding XSL table 152 and identifies an XSL file name used for XSLT conversion.
[0043]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the corresponding XSL table. The correspondence XSL table 152 in FIG. 9 is a table that manages association between request identification information and an XSL file name corresponding to the request identification information, and stores “request identification information” and “XSL file name” as data. Have as an item.
[0044]
That is, the format conversion module 147 searches the corresponding XSL table 152 using the URL “status.html” notified as the request identification information as a key, and searches for the XSL file name “registered in“ XSL file name ”of the corresponding record. “status.xsl” is extracted (S173). The format conversion module 147 passes the XSL file name “status.xsl” acquired from the corresponding XSL table 152 and the XML status information data 500 to the XSLT processor 151, and requests the XSLT processor 151 to convert the XML status information data 500. (S174). The XSLT processor 151 performs XSLT conversion on the XML status information data 500 in accordance with the definition (conversion rule) of the XSL file 153 whose file name is “status.xsl”, and generates data (hereinafter referred to as “request format status information”) as a conversion result. Data ") is output to the format conversion module 147.
[0045]
Here, since the XSL file status.xsl is defined to generate HTML data, the request format status information data is generated as HTML data. That is, the request format status information data is the status page itself.
[0046]
As described above, since the correspondence between the request identification information and the data format to be converted is managed in the corresponding XSL table 152 independently of the program logic, it is easy to maintain when the XSL file 153 used for conversion is to be changed. It is. Further, since the data format of the request format status information data is also defined in the XSL file 153 independently of the program logic, the data format of the request format status information data can be easily changed by modifying the XSL file 153. be able to.
[0047]
As described above, the format conversion module 147 converts language-dependent status information into a status page.
[0048]
Returning to FIG. 5, in step S <b> 18, the format conversion module 147 outputs the generated status page to the status page generation module 144. The status page generation module 144 outputs the status page as it is to the distribution module 143 that is the caller of the status page generation module 144 (S19), and the distribution module 143 further displays the HTTP protocol processing module that is the caller of the distribution module 143. A status page is output to 171 (S20).
[0049]
Progressing to step S21 following step S20, the HTTP protocol processing module 171 transmits an HTTP response including a status page to the terminal 20. Progressing to step S22 following step S21, the Web browser of the terminal 20 displays the received status page.
[0050]
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the status page. The status page 200 in FIG. 10 includes a name display area 201, a copy status display area 202, a fax status display area 203, a scanner status display area 204, a printer status display area 205, and the like. Each display area sequentially corresponds to the description 501, description 502, description 503, description 504, and description 505 in the XML status information data of FIG. Thus, the user can check the status information of the image forming apparatus 10 by browsing the status page.
[0051]
Next, processing when the image forming apparatus 10 receives a status information transmission request from the terminal 20 by electronic mail will be described. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when communicating with a terminal by electronic mail. Note that the processing flow of the image forming apparatus 10 in the sequence diagram of FIG. 11 is the same as that in FIG. 5, and therefore, differences from FIG. 5 will be mainly described.
[0052]
In step S31, an e-mail (hereinafter referred to as “status information request mail”) in which the user designates “statusMail” corresponding to the request identification information in the Subject field by using the mail software of the terminal 20 as the destination by the user. And the terminal 20 transmits a status information request mail to the image forming apparatus 10. Note that the request identification information may be designated by the text of the mail instead of the Subject.
[0053]
Progressing to step S32 following step S31, the e-mail protocol processing module 172 of the image forming apparatus 10 receives the status information request mail from the terminal 20, and receives the character string “statusMail” specified in the Subject field of the status information request mail. To the distribution module 143 as request identification information.
[0054]
Thereafter, the image forming apparatus 10 performs the same process as in FIG. 5 except that “statusMail” is used as the request identification information.
[0055]
That is, in step S33 following step S32, the distribution module 143 of the image forming apparatus 10 searches the corresponding page generation module table 148 for a page generation module corresponding to “statusMail”. Since the page generation module corresponding to “statusMail” is the status page generation module 144 from the corresponding page generation module table 148, the distribution module 143 calls the status page generation module 144.
[0056]
The status page generation module 144 acquires status information (language dependent status information) from the status acquisition module 146 in the same manner as the processing in FIG. 5 (S34, S35). A conversion is requested (S36).
[0057]
In step S37, the format conversion module 147 executes the processing described with reference to FIG. 7 and converts language-dependent status information (S37). That is, the format conversion module 147 converts language-dependent status information into XML status information data 500 (S171 and S172 in FIG. 7). Further, the format conversion module 147 extracts the file name of the XSL file 153 corresponding to the request identification information from the corresponding XSL table 152 (S173). Since the XSL file name corresponding to “statusMail” is “statusMail.xsl” from the corresponding XSL table 152 in FIG. 9, the format conversion module 147 converts the file name “statusMail.xsl” and the XML status information data 500 into XSLT. The data is delivered to the processor 151, and the conversion of the XML status information data 500 is requested to the XSLT processor 151 (S174).
[0058]
The XSLT processor 151 performs XSLT conversion on the XML status information data 500 according to the definition of the XSL file 153 whose file name is “statusMail.xsl”, and outputs the request format status information data generated as the conversion result to the format conversion module 147. (S175).
[0059]
Here, since the XSL file statusMail.xsl is defined to generate text data, the request format status information data is generated as text data.
[0060]
From step S38 to step S40, the text data is sequentially output to each caller in the same manner as step S18 to step S30 in FIG. In step S41, when the e-mail protocol processing module 172 transmits the text data storing the status information to the terminal 20 by e-mail (hereinafter referred to as “status mail”), the terminal 20 receives the status mail.
[0061]
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a status mail. In the status mail 210 of FIG. 12, a description 211 indicates a copy status, a description 212 indicates a fax status, a description 213 indicates a scanner status, and a description 214 indicates a printer status. Each description corresponds to the description 501, description 502, description 503, description 504, and description 505 in the XML status information data in FIG. The user can check the status information of the image forming apparatus 10 by browsing the status mail received by the terminal 20 as in the case of browsing the status page 200 by the Web browser.
[0062]
As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the status page generation module 144 is used because the format conversion module 147 dynamically determines the data format of data to be transmitted to the terminal 20 based on the request identification information. Such a page generation module does not need to know about the data format of the data for storing the status information requested from the terminal 20.
[0063]
In other words, the status page generation module 144 can be implemented only with processing for acquiring status information of the image forming apparatus 10 that does not depend on the protocol or the data format requested by the terminal 20. Therefore, the same status page generation module 144 can be used regardless of whether the protocol with the terminal 20 is HTTP, e-mail, or any other protocol, and the protocol can be requested for each protocol or by the terminal 20. There is no need to mount the status page generation module 144 for each data format.
[0064]
Further, since the format conversion module 144 can be used in common regardless of the protocol and the page generation module, it is not necessary to implement a data conversion process for each of the various page generation modules.
[0065]
Therefore, according to the image forming apparatus 10, the efficiency of development work can be improved as compared with the case where the status page generation module 144 is mounted for each protocol or the like, and the compression of the storage capacity of the image forming apparatus 10 can be reduced. .
[0066]
The data conversion from the language-dependent data to the request format status information data by the format conversion module 147 is not limited to the processing procedure of conversion to the XML format by the serializer 150 and XSLT conversion by the XSLT processor 151. For example, request format status information data may be generated directly from language-dependent data using a template file different from the XSL file 153.
[0067]
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the status page generation module 144 provides the terminal 20 with the dynamically acquired information is shown. However, the present invention can also be applied to the case where static information is provided. It is. In other words, information statically prepared in advance as an XML file or the like may be converted into data in a format corresponding to the request identification information by the format conversion module 147 and the converted data may be transmitted to the terminal 30. Even in this case, the effect of the present invention can be obtained in that it is not necessary to mount the format conversion module 147 for each protocol.
[0068]
Also, devices to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to image forming apparatuses. The present invention can be applied not only to general information processing devices such as computers but also to digital cameras and mobile phones that have severe storage capacity restrictions as long as they have communication functions, as with the image forming device in this embodiment. can do.
[0069]
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.
[0070]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently provide information corresponding to requests from a client using a plurality of protocols.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a conventional Web server when supporting a plurality of protocols.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of an image forming apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of a network service and an information providing application.
FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when communicating with a terminal by HTTP.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a corresponding page generation module table.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining processing of a format conversion module.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of XML status information data.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a corresponding XSL table.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a status page.
FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when communicating with a terminal by electronic mail.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a status mail.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Image processing system
10 Image forming apparatus
11 Copy application
12 Fax application
13 Printer app
14 Information provision application
16 System management service
17 Network service
18 Memory management service
19 Operation panel management service
20 Engine management service
21 OS
22 Engine control board
23 Plotter engine
24 Scanner engine
20, 20a, 20b, 20c terminal
30 network
143 Distribution module
144 Status page generation module
145 Tray status page generation module
146 Status acquisition module
147 Format conversion module
148 Supported page generation module table
150 Serializer
151 XSLT processor
152 Compatible XSL Table
153 XSL file
171 HTTP protocol processing module
172 E-mail protocol processing module
300 Web server
301 HTTP communication means
302 E-mail communication means
303 Web browser application
304 E-mail application
320 PC

Claims (12)

An information providing apparatus that transmits requested information in response to each request transmitted by a different protocol via a network,
A plurality of information acquisition means for acquiring information of different contents,
First association management means for managing association between request identification information included in the request and any one of the plurality of information acquisition means;
A distribution unit that causes the information acquisition unit associated with the request identification information included in the request to acquire the information in the first association management unit in response to reception of the request;
Second association management means for managing association between the request identification information and a format definition file in which a conversion rule for the information is defined;
Information conversion means for converting the data format of the information based on the format definition file associated with the request identification information in the second association management means;
The information conversion means is called in common regardless of the different protocol and the information acquisition means ,
In the first association management unit, the same information acquisition unit is associated with the different request identification information,
The information providing apparatus characterized in that the second association management means associates the different format definition files with the request identification information . The request is an HTTP request;
Wherein the request identification information, according to claim 1 Symbol placement of the information providing apparatus, wherein the a URL included in the HTTP request. The request is an email;
Wherein the request identification information, the information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein that the data contained in the e-mail. Wherein the information providing device, the information providing apparatus according to claim 1 to 3 any one claim, characterized in that an image forming apparatus. Said information claims 1 to 4 information providing apparatus according to any one claim, characterized in that a status information indicating a status of the information provision device. An information providing method executed by an information providing apparatus that transmits requested information in response to each request transmitted by a different protocol via a network,
Multiple information acquisition procedures for acquiring different contents of information,
In response to the reception of the request, the request is included in the first association management means for managing the association between the request identification information included in the request and any one of the plurality of information acquisition procedures . A distribution procedure for causing the information acquisition procedure associated with the request identification information to acquire the information;
Based on the format definition file associated with the request identification information in a second association management means for managing association between the request identification information and a format definition file in which a conversion rule for the information is defined. An information conversion procedure for converting the data format of the information,
The information converting procedure, another of the different protocols, and is called without distinction a common said information acquisition procedure,
In the first association management means, the same information acquisition procedure is associated with the different request identification information,
The information providing method, wherein the second association management means associates the different format definition files with the request identification information . The request is an HTTP request;
Wherein the request identification information, according to claim 6 Symbol mounting the information providing method, characterized in that said a URL included in the HTTP request. The request is an email;
8. The information providing method according to claim 6 , wherein the request identification information is data included in the electronic mail. The information providing method according to claim 6 , wherein the information providing apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The information providing method according to claim 6 , wherein the information is status information indicating a state of the information providing apparatus. An information providing system including a terminal and an information providing apparatus that transmits information requested to the terminal in response to each request transmitted from the terminal according to a different protocol,
The information providing apparatus includes:
A plurality of information acquisition means for acquiring information of different contents,
First association management means for managing association between request identification information included in the request and any one of the plurality of information acquisition means;
A distribution unit that causes the information acquisition unit associated with the request identification information included in the request to acquire the information in the first association management unit in response to reception of the request;
Second association management means for managing association between the request identification information and a format definition file in which a conversion rule for the information is defined;
Information conversion means for converting the data format of the information based on the format definition file associated with the request identification information in the second association management means;
The information conversion means is called in common regardless of the different protocol and the information acquisition means ,
In the first association management unit, the same information acquisition unit is associated with the different request identification information,
The information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the second association management means associates the different format definition files with the request identification information . In response to each request transmitted by a different protocol via a network, an information providing device that transmits requested information,
Multiple information acquisition procedures for acquiring different contents of information,
The response to receiving the request, included in the request in the first correspondence managing unit for managing a correspondence between any one of the order of the included request identification information and the plurality of information acquisition hand to the request A distribution procedure for causing the information acquisition procedure associated with the request identification information to acquire the information;
Based on the format definition file associated with the request identification information in a second association management means for managing association between the request identification information and a format definition file in which a conversion rule for the information is defined. An information conversion procedure for converting the data format of the information,
The information converting procedure, another of the different protocols, and is called without distinction a common said information acquisition procedure,
In the first association management means, the same information acquisition procedure is associated with the different request identification information,
The information providing program, wherein the second association management means associates the different format definition files with the request identification information .

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