JP4291855B2 - Image forming apparatus having Web service function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a computer terminal used by a user without installing software such as a driver in order to use a plurality of image forming functions, and without depending on the model or operating system of the computer terminal. An image forming apparatus that can process requests from users not only to Web browsers but also process requests from other devices in a unified manner is provided. To do.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image forming apparatus in which functions of devices such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner are housed in a single casing is generally known. Such a composite-type image forming apparatus is provided with a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like in one casing, and three types of applications corresponding to a printer, a copy unit, and a facsimile device, respectively. The apparatus is operated as a printer, a copy, a scanner, or a facsimile apparatus.

  However, in the conventional composite image forming apparatus, when functions such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner are used from a plurality of PCs (personal computers) connected via a network, each image forming function is assigned to each PC. It was necessary to install software such as drivers according to The software installed in the PC must be compatible with the model and operating system of the PC. In addition, similar requests may be requested between devices such as servers. However, since the required processing protocol and processing unit are different, it is necessary to satisfy both requirements at the time of mounting.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to install software such as a driver for using a plurality of image forming functions in a computer terminal used by a user, and to depend on the model or operating system of the computer terminal. In addition, image processing devices that allow users to request processing to a multi-function peripheral having multiple image forming functions, and processing requests that have different protocols or processing units from other devices are also processed in common. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an image forming apparatus that forms an image by using one or more of a plurality of hardware resources including a scanner, a plotter, and a storage device, and includes a Web included in a processing request. Means for controlling one of the hardware resources by calling a Web service function corresponding to specific information for specifying a service, and generating a processing response indicating a processing result of the Web service function; A plurality of Web service providing processing means having a plurality of processing units and at least one processing unit constituting the plurality of Web service providing processing means are executed and other processing is performed. a composite Web service providing processing means, the plurality of Web service providing processing means and the composite Web service Hisage Is shared by the processing means receives the write processing result describing means, the processing request for specifying the composite Web service providing process means from the connected device via a network the processing result according to a predetermined description format, the processing Web service communication control means for transmitting a processing response indicating a processing result by the composite Web service provision processing means in response to the request, wherein the Web service communication control means sends the processing request to the composite Web service provision processing means. Distribution means, and conversion means for converting the processing response according to the processing result described according to the predetermined description format into a display format that can be displayed on the device, and for each of the plurality of hardware resources Web service provision means is provided, and different web services are specified. A plurality of processing requests configured to allow the combination of the control for the plurality of hardware resources by that.

  In such an image forming apparatus, since the device can execute the image forming process via the Web browser, software such as a dedicated driver needs to be installed in the device in order to execute the image forming process. There is no. The device can cause the image forming apparatus to execute the image forming process without depending on the model or operating system. Further, since the composite Web service providing processing means is controlled by combining a plurality of processing units of the Web service providing processing means necessary for providing the Web service, the device is aware of the function of each Web service. Instead, only a final processing result by a plurality of Web services can be acquired by one processing request. Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce the number of communication between the image forming apparatuses and the control processing.

  The display format is, for example, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

  The present invention may also be an image forming method for performing processing in the image processing apparatus.

  As described above, according to the present invention, without installing software such as a driver in order to use a plurality of image forming functions in a computer terminal used by a user, the model of the computer terminal or Without depending on the operating system, it is possible not only to make a processing request from a user to a multi-function peripheral having a plurality of image forming functions by a Web browser, but also to uniformly request processing from other devices. It becomes possible to process.

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

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a fusion machine) that fuses various image forming functions has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a multi-function apparatus that fuses various image forming functions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the MFP 1200 includes a plotter 1201, a scanner 1202, a hardware resource 1203 such as a facsimile, and the like, a software group 1210 including a platform 1220 and an application 1230, and a multifunction machine starting unit 1240. It has.

  The multifunction device starting unit 1240 is executed first when the multifunction device 1200 is turned on, and starts the platform 1220 and the application 1230.

  The platform 1220 interprets a processing request from the application 1230, generates a hardware resource acquisition request, and manages one or a plurality of hardware resources, and acquires from the control service 1250. It has a system resource manager (SRM (System Resource Manager) 1223) that arbitrates requests, and an OS 1221.

  The control service 1250 is formed by a plurality of service modules. Specifically, the system control service (SCS) 1222, the engine control service (ECS) 1224, the memory control service (MCS) 1225, and the OCS (Opera) There is a Control Service (2261), an FCS (FAX Control Service) 1227, an NCS (Network Control Service) 1228, and an IMH (Imaging Memory Handler) 1229. The platform 1220 has an application program interface that can receive a processing request from the application using a predefined function.

  The OS 1221 is an operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes the software of the platform 1220 and the application 1230 in parallel as processes. By using open source UNIX (registered trademark), the safety of the program can be secured, the network can be supported, and the source code can be easily obtained. Furthermore, OS and TCP / IP royalties are unnecessary, and outsourcing is easy.

  The SRM 1223, together with the SCS 1222, performs system control and resource management, and includes engine units such as scanners and plotters, memory, HDD files, host I / O (Centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, RS232CI / F, etc.) arbitration is performed according to a request from a higher layer using hardware resources, and execution control is performed.

  Specifically, the SRM 1223 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request). If it is available, the requested hardware resource is Tell the upper layer that it is available. Also, hardware resource usage scheduling may be performed in response to a request from an upper layer, and the requested contents (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by the printer engine, memory allocation, file generation, etc.) may be directly executed. .

  The SCS 1222 includes application management (function 1), operation unit control (function 2), system screen display (job list screen, counter display screen, etc.) (function 3), LED display (function 4), resource management (function 5), A plurality of functions such as interrupt application control (function 6) are performed. Specifically, in application management (function 1), application registration and processing for notifying other applications of the information are performed. In the operation unit control (function 2), exclusive control of the operation unit use right of the application is performed. In the system screen display (function 3), a warning screen corresponding to the state of the engine unit is displayed according to the request content from the application having the operation unit usage right. In LED display (function 4), display control of system LEDs such as warning LEDs and application keys is performed. Resource management (function 5) provides services for exclusive control of engine resources (scanners, staples, etc.) that must be excluded when an application (ECS) executes a job. In the interrupt application control (function 6), control and service for preferential operation of a specific application are performed.

  The ECS 1224 controls engine units such as the plotter 1201, the scanner 1202, and other hardware resources 1203, and performs image reading and printing operations, status notification, jam recovery, and the like.

  The MCS 1225 performs memory control. Specifically, the MCS 1225 acquires and releases an image memory, uses a hard disk device (HDD), compresses and decompresses image data, and the like.

  The OCS 1226 is a module that controls an operation panel serving as information transmission means between the operator and the main body control, and provides a process for notifying the main body control of an operator's key operation event and a library function for each application to construct a GUI. Processing, processing for managing the constructed GUI information for each application, display reflection processing on the operation panel, and the like are performed.

  FCS 1227 is used to perform facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN network from each application of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. An API (Application Program Interface) is provided.

  The NCS 1228 is a module group for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. The NCS 1228 distributes data received by each protocol from the network side to each application, and distributes data from the application. Mediates when sending to the network side.

  In the present embodiment, the NCS 1228 controls data communication with a network device connected via the Internet by HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Daemon) among a plurality of protocols by HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and uses an HTTP request header. The designated web service is activated by a function call, and the processing result by the web service is notified to the network device by an HTTP response. The Web service performs processing according to a message described by, for example, XML (extensible Markup Language).

  The IMH 1229 maps image data from a virtual memory area (user virtual space) to a physical memory. In response to the process activation, a system call is performed to map a virtual memory area for the process, or to release the mapped virtual memory area when the process ends.

  The application 1230 includes a printer application 1211 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 1212 that is a copy application, and a fax application 1213 that is a facsimile application. , A scanner application 1214 that is a scanner application, a Web service processing application 1215 that is a net file application, and a process inspection application 1216 that is a process inspection application. Each of the applications 1211 to 1216 can execute an operation by using each process on the platform 1220. Therefore, a screen display control program that performs screen control, key operation control, job generation, and the like is the main component. Note that a new application can also be installed via the network via the network connected by the NCS 1228. Each application can be added or deleted for each application.

  The Web service processing application 1215 processes a HTTP request by GET METHOD or POST METHOD, and transmits a HTTP response including HTML, and a control service 1250 through an API (Application Program Interface). A Web service function (WSF) 1400 that performs processing and provides the processing result as a Web service via a WS-API (Web Service Application Program Interface).

  As described above, the MFP 1200 centrally processes the processing that is commonly required for each application by the platform 1220.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the MFP 1200 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the MFP 1200 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 1200 includes an operation panel 1310, a FAX control unit 1530, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 1330, an IEEE 1394 1340, an engine unit 1350, and an ASIC 1301 of the controller 1300, such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus or the like. It becomes the structure connected by.

  The controller 1300 connects a MEM-C 1302, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 1303, and the like to the ASIC 1301, and connects the ASIC 1301 and the CPU 1304 via the NB 1305 of the CPU chip set. Thus, the reason for connecting via the NB 1305 is that the interface of the CPU 1304 itself is not disclosed.

  Here, the ASIC 1301 and the NB 1305 are not connected via the PCI, but are connected via the AGP 1308. The reason for connecting through the AGP 1308 in this way is that the MFP 1200 executes and controls a plurality of processes forming the platform 1220 and the application 1230 shown in FIG. This is because performance decreases.

  The CPU 1304 performs overall control of the MFP 1200. Specifically, the SCS 1222, SRM 1223, ECS 1224, MCS 1225, OCS 1226, FCS 1227, and NCS 1228 that form the platform 1220 on the OS 1221 are started and executed as processes. At the same time, the printer application 1211, the copy application 1212, the fax application 1213, the scanner application 1214, the Web service processing application 1215, and the process inspection application 1216 that form the application 1230 are activated and executed.

  The NB 1305 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 1304 to the MEM-P 1306, SB 1307, and ASIC 1301, and the MEM-P 1306 is a system memory used as a drawing memory for the MFP, and the SB 1307 is an NB 1305, ROM, and PCI device. This is a bridge for connecting peripheral devices. The MEM-C 1302 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and a code buffer, and the ASIC 1301 is an IC for image processing applications having hardware elements for image processing.

  The HDD 1303 is a storage for accumulating image data, accumulating programs, accumulating font data, and accumulating forms. The operation panel 1310 accepts input operations from the operator and displays them for the operator. It is an operation unit.

  Accordingly, the ASIC 1301 is provided with a RAM interface for connecting the MEM-C 1302 and a hard disk interface for connecting the HDD 1303. When inputting / outputting image data to / from these storage units, the input / output The destination is switched to the RAM interface or the hard disk interface.

  The AGP 1308 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card that has been proposed to speed up graphics processing, and makes the graphics accelerator card faster by directly accessing the system memory with high throughput.

  Hereinafter, a functional configuration example for providing the Web service by the MFP 1200 having the above-described functional configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 and the hardware configuration illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described. Here, the Web service means that the MFP 1200 performs predetermined processing in response to a service request by an HTTP request from a network device, and provides the processing result to the network device as an HTTP response. To tell. The body part of the HTTP response is described in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

  A description will be given of the MFP 1200 having a composite Web service providing processor that executes a combination of a plurality of methods of one Web service providing processor and provides a document list. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a first functional configuration example of a multi-function peripheral having a Web server. In FIG. 3, only the main functional configuration is illustrated in the functional configuration of the MFP 1200 illustrated in FIG. 1, and other functional configurations are omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, the MFP 1200 mainly includes a plurality of methods of the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 and the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 as a plurality of Web service provision processing units. A composite Web service providing processor 90 that provides a Web service in combination with each other, an XML processor 50 shared by the Web service providing processors 40, 49, and 90, and controlling message exchange by HTTP requests and HTTP responses. A Web server 500, a scanner 1202, an HDD 1303, a plotter 1201, an operation panel 1310, a FAX control unit 1530, and the like are included. In the MFP 1200, for convenience of explanation, only the file management web service provision processing unit 40, the other web service provision processing unit 49, and the composite web service provision processing unit 90 are shown as a plurality of web service provision processing units. In addition, a configuration having more web service provision processing units or more complex web service provision processing units may be employed. The XML processing unit 50 is shared by the plurality of Web service providing processing units or the composite Web service providing processing unit.

  The file management Web service provision processing unit 40 includes a document ID list acquisition method 401 for acquiring a list of document IDs for specifying documents stored in the HDD 1303, and bibliographic information about the documents stored in the HDD 1303 corresponding to the document IDs. And a bibliographic information acquisition method 402 for acquiring. The method indicates a unit of Web service processing in the file management Web service provision processing unit 40. The file management Web service provision processing unit 40 configures the Web service function 1400 shown in FIG. Web services are provided in response to requests from 10. In the first functional configuration example shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of methods are not limited to the document ID list acquisition method 40 and the bibliographic information acquisition method 402, and a plurality of methods other than these methods are configured. Is also possible.

  The document list creation composite method 800 of the composite Web service provision processing unit 90 uses a document ID list acquisition unit 801 that acquires a list of document IDs using a document ID list acquisition method 401 and a bibliographic information acquisition method 402. A bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 that acquires bibliographic information corresponding to the document ID, and a document list generation unit 803 that generates a document list based on the acquired bibliographic information. The document list creation composite method 800 uses the document ID list acquisition method 401 and the bibliographic information acquisition method 402, and thus does not include the entity of these methods. The only part developed to realize the document list creation composite method 800 is mainly the document list plan western part 803. Therefore, development efficiency can be greatly reduced. Further, the composite Web service provision processing unit 90 configures an aggregate having a plurality of processing units by a method having processing units and method entities such as the document list creation composite method 800 as the Web service function 1400 shown in FIG. .

  The Web server 500 includes httpd 2 that performs communication control according to HTTP, a distributor 30 that distributes processing to a Web service providing processing unit corresponding to an HTTP request, and a GET METHOD or POST received via the network 15. HTTP request processing unit 501 for processing an HTTP request by METOD, dispatchers (Dispatchers) 60 and 68 for distributing the processing of the Web service indicated by the HTTP request to each Web service providing processing unit, and a composite Web service providing processing unit And an HTML creation unit 502 that creates the processing result described in XML notified from 90 in HTML24. The HTML creation unit 502 includes an XSL (extensible stylesheet language) processor 503 that converts the XML generated by the XML processing unit 50 into an HTML format.

  The network device 10 connected to the MFP 1200 via the network 15 controls input data from an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, and also controls output data to be displayed on the monitor 9. 11 has a Web browser 23.

In such a first functional configuration example, the processing flow of a Web service that provides a list of documents stored in the HDD 1303 will be described. A user who uses the network device 10 requests a Web service for providing a document list to the multi-function apparatus 1200 from a screen for requesting the Web service displayed on the monitor 9 to the multi-function apparatus 1200. The request data is received (step S51). The web browser 23 generates an HTTP request based on GET METHOD or POST METHOD based on the request data received by the input / output control unit 11, and transmits the HTTP request to the MFP 1200 via the network 15 (step S52). For example, the web browser 23
GET / documentList. cgi HTTP / 1.1
An HTTP request by a GET method such as

  When httpd2 of the Web server 500 of the MFP 1200 receives the HTTP request received from the network device 10, the distributor 30 sends an HTTP request processing unit 501 that processes the HTTP request by the GET method based on the GET method of the HTTP request. The HTTP request is distributed (step S53). The HTTP request processing unit 501 distributes the process to the document list creation composite method 800 specified by the header part of the HTTP request by the dispatcher 68 (step S54). For example, “documentList.cgi” executes a document list creation composite method 800 corresponding to “documentList.cgi”.

  In the document list creation composite method 800, first, the document ID list acquisition unit 801 makes a function call to the document ID list acquisition method 401 of the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 (step S55). The document ID list acquisition method 401 acquires a document ID for identifying a document managed by the HDD 1303 (step S56), and creates a document ID list. In this case, if the document ID list acquisition method 401 (listID (docIDList)) acquires the document IDs “101”, “102”, and “103”, the document ID list (docIDList) is set to docIDList = {101, 102, 103, 0} ("0 (zero)" indicates the end) is set and notified to the document ID list acquisition unit 801 (step S57).

  In the document list creation composite method 800, the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 subsequently makes a function call to the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 of the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 (step S58). The bibliographic information acquisition method 402 inquires bibliographic information for the document managed by the HDD 1303 with the document ID notified from the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 and creates bibliographic information. For example, when bibliographic information is acquired for the document ID “101”, the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 calls the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 (getProps (docID, props)) as getProps (101, props).

  The called bibliographic information acquisition method 402 inquires of the HDD 1303 about the bibliographic information with the designated document ID, and notifies the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 of the bibliographic information (step S59). That is, the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 acquires bibliographic information from the HDD 1303 with the document ID “101” notified from the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802. Then, the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 creates bibliographic information for notification to the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802. For example, bibliographic information is created as prop = {document ID, document name, number of pages, owner, 0} ("0 (zero)" indicates the end of bibliographic information). In this case, prop = {101, It is set for the document ID “101” as “accumulated document 1”, 3, “user 1”, 0}. The bibliographic information acquisition method 402 notifies the bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 of the document list generation composite method 800 of the bibliographic information generation result for the specified document ID.

  The bibliographic information acquisition unit 802 of the document list creation composite method 800 repeats the same processing for other document IDs “102” and “103” to acquire all document information.

  Further, the document list creation composite method 800 creates a document list by the document list creation unit 803 and notifies the XML processing unit 50 to describe the document list in XML (step S60). That is, the document list creation unit 803 converts the document list into, for example, docList = {{101, “accumulated document 1”, 3, “user 1”, 0}, {102, “accumulated document 2”, 10, “user” 2 ", 0}, {103," stored document 3 ", 1," user 1 ", 0}, 0}. The created document list (docList) is notified to the XML processing unit 50. When receiving the document list (docList), the XML processing unit 50 notifies the XML server 26 described in XML to the Web server 500 (step S61). Upon receiving the notification, the Web server 500 executes the HTML creation unit 502. The HTML creation unit 502 uses the XSL processor 503 to convert the XML 26 into the HTML format based on the XSL 25 indicating a predetermined style list. The HTML creation unit 502 creates an HTTP response by the HTML 24 indicating the processing result according to the HTML format, and requests the httpd 2 to transmit the HTTP response (step S62). The httpd2 transmits an HTTP response to the network device 10 via the network 15 (step S63).

  When the network device 10 receives the HTTP response, the Web browser 23 causes the input / output control unit 11 to display the HTML 24 on the monitor 9 (step S64).

  In the first functional configuration example, the network device 10 can receive a web service from the multi-function apparatus 1200 by using a web browser without requiring a special message exchange method with the multi-function apparatus 1200. RPC (Remote Procedure Call) can be realized. In addition, the composite Web service provision processing unit 90 does not include the document ID list acquisition method 401 and the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 by the composite Web service execution unit document list creation composite method 800, and combines a plurality of methods. Web service processing can be performed. Therefore, a series of Web service processing can be performed by combining a plurality of methods. Therefore, the network device 10 can receive a series of Web services by a single HTTP request without being aware of the units of Web services that the MFP 1200 can provide.

  In the first functional configuration example, the XML processing unit 50 may be configured to be included in the composite Web service provision processing unit 90.

  The XML processing unit 50 illustrated in FIG. 3 describes the document list (docList) in, for example, XML as illustrated in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a document list described in XML by the XML processing unit. 4, description 53 shows bibliographic information with document ID “101”, description 54 shows bibliographic information with document ID “102”, and description 55 shows bibliographic information with document ID “103”. For example, in the description 53, the bibliographic information of the document ID “101” indicates that the document name is “accumulated document 1”, the number of pages is “3” pages, and the owner is “user 1”.

  Also, the document list described in XML shown in FIG. 4 is converted into a document list described in HTML as shown in FIG. 5 by the XSL processor 503 of the HTML creating unit 502 based on XSL25. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a document list described in HTML by the HTML creation unit. In FIG. 5, a description 93 indicates a header part of the HTTP response, and a description 99 indicates a body part of the HTTP response.

  In the description 99, a description 94 indicates a header portion of HTML, and is a description for displaying a title “document list” corresponding to the Web service requested by the user of the network device 10. The description 95 is a description for displaying the item name of the document list. The description 96 is a description obtained by converting the XML description 53 shown in FIG. 4 into HTML. The description 97 is a description obtained by converting the XML description 54 shown in FIG. 4 into HTML. The description 98 is a description obtained by converting the description 55 in XML shown in FIG. 4 into HTML.

  A screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the monitor 9 of the network device 10 by the description thus converted into HTML. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the network device side. In the screen 92 shown in FIG. 6, a document list is displayed in association with item names such as the document name, the number of pages, and the owner.

  Furthermore, in FIG. 3, it is also possible to provide a web service by the file management web service provision processing unit 40 itself. In other words, when httpd2 receives an HTTP request from the network device 10 (step S52), the distributor 30 distributes the HTTP request to the HTTP request processing unit 501 that processes the HTTP request by the GET method based on the GET method of the HTTP request. (Step S53). The HTTP request processing unit 501 distributes the process to the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 specified by the header part of the HTTP request by the dispatcher 60 (step S54-3).

  The bibliographic information acquisition method 402 inquires bibliographic information for the document managed by the HDD 1303 with the document ID specified by the HTTP request, creates bibliographic information, and processes the XML to describe the bibliographic information in XML. Notification to the unit 50 (step S60-3). Thereafter, the bibliographic information is provided to the network device 10 through the processing of steps S61 to S63 described above.

  As described above, the MFP 1200 can execute the bibliographic information acquisition method 402 having an entity in response to an HTTP request for requesting provision of bibliographic information from the network device 10. Similarly, the document ID list acquisition method 401 itself can be executed.

  Therefore, the multi-function apparatus 1200 can provide a wide range of Web services by combining a plurality of methods for forming an image and performing processing for actually providing the Web service, and combinations thereof.

  In the first functional configuration example, the MFP 1200 having the composite Web service provision processing unit that executes a combination of a plurality of methods of one Web service provision processing unit and provides a document list has been described. A multi-function apparatus 1200 having a composite Web service providing processor that executes a combination of the Web service providing processors and prints a document list will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second functional configuration example of a multi-function peripheral having a Web server. 7, only the main functional configuration is illustrated in the functional configuration of the MFP 1200 illustrated in FIG. 1, and other functional configurations are omitted. Also, the same components and processing flow as those in FIG.

  In the second functional configuration example shown in FIG. 7, the MFP 1200 includes a file management Web service provision processing unit 40, a print Web service provision processing unit 42, and another Web service provision processing unit as a plurality of Web service provision processing units. And the composite Web service execution unit 80 of the composite Web service provision processing unit 90 executes the combination of the execution units 400 and 412 of the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 and the file print Web service provision processing unit 42. However, the configuration differs from the first functional configuration example.

  In this second functional configuration example, the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 includes a file management execution unit 400 that controls the HDD 1303 that stores documents as the Web service function 1400 shown in FIG. The unit 42 includes a file print execution unit 412 that controls the plotter 1201 to print a document as the Web service function 1400. Since the composite Web service execution unit 80 uses the file management execution unit 400 and the file print execution unit 412, the composite Web service execution unit 80 does not have an entity as the Web service function 1400. Therefore, the part developed in order to implement | achieve the composite web service execution part 80 can be reduced significantly.

  In the second functional configuration example, when the Web server 500 receives a request for a Web service for printing a document stored in the HDD 1303 from the network device 10 by an HTTP request, the composite Web service providing process to which the process is distributed by the dispatcher 68 The composite Web service execution unit 80 of the unit 90 executes the file management execution unit 400 (step S55-3) and acquires a document list from the HDD 1303 (step S57-3).

  The composite Web service execution unit 80 sends a request to print the document list acquired from the file management execution unit 400 to the file print execution unit 402 of the file print Web service provision processing unit 42 (step S59-3). The file print execution unit 402 controls the plotter 1201 to print the document list notified from the composite Web service execution unit 80, and notifies the composite Web service execution unit 80 of the processing result (step S59-3). . Thereafter, processing similar to that in the first functional configuration example is performed, and information regarding the printing processing of the document list is displayed on the monitor 9 of the network device 10.

  As described above, in the second functional configuration example, the composite Web service execution unit 80 of the composite Web service provision processing unit 90 controls the plurality of Web service provision processing units, so that the network device 10 receives a request from the user. Only by generating and transmitting one HTTP request corresponding to the request, it is possible to receive provision of a Web service corresponding to the request from the MFP 1200. The multi-function apparatus 1200 can provide various Web services by providing a Web service by a single Web service providing processing unit and combining a plurality of Web service providing processing units.

  In the second functional configuration example, the web service provision by the combination of the file management web service provision processing unit 40 and the file print web service provision processing unit 42 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this combination. For example, the document list acquired by the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 may be a Web service that is provided to the other party by the FAX control unit 1530.

  Similarly to the first functional configuration example, when the processing is distributed from the dispatcher 60, the file management execution unit 400 acquires a document list from the HDD 1303, and uses the document list as a Web service by the Web server 500 to create a network device. 10 to provide. Further, when the processing is distributed from the dispatcher 61, the file print execution unit 412 acquires a document from the HDD 1303, controls the plotter 1201, performs print processing, and uses the processing result as a Web service by the Web server 500 by the network device 10. To provide.

  As described above, the MFP 1200 can execute the file management execution unit 400 and the file print execution unit 41 which are provided with an entity.

  In the first functional configuration example and the second functional configuration example, a plurality of network devices 10 are connected to the MFP 1200 via the network 15, and the provision of Web services according to HTTP requests from the network devices 10 is provided. This can be done by response.

  According to the above embodiment, the network device 10 does not require a special communication control method with the MFP 1200, and only uses a Web browser, and the Web service by combining a plurality of processing units from the MFP 1200. RPC (Remote Procedure Call) can be realized.

  Further, for example, by configuring the MFP 1200 to create XML from the processing result by the file management execution unit 400 as a Web service function (WSF) and generate an HTML format based on predetermined XSL, that is, By providing the Web server 500 with the XSL 25 according to the processing characteristics of the execution unit of each Web service, a display screen for each Web service can be provided when displaying the processing result on the network device 10. It becomes possible.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to a Web service related to file management. In the MFP 1200 that forms an image, various internal information related to operation panel control, print processing, file management, scanner control, and image processing are stored. It is possible to realize a Web service that processes and provides the processing result to the request source. The internal information here refers to various types of image processing and information related to the MFP 1200, such as image information, status information about the image information, and information such as control parameters for changing settings of the device main body or changing the network IP. Various types of information are shown, and it is possible to perform predetermined processing on the internal information and provide the processing result as a Web service according to the above embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, httpd2 corresponds to the network communication control unit, and the file management Web service provision processing unit 40 corresponds to the Web service provision processing unit, and each of the document ID list acquisition method 401 and the bibliographic information acquisition method 402. Corresponds to a processing unit. The composite web service provision processing unit 90 corresponds to composite web service provision processing means, and the document list creation composite method 800 corresponds to composite processing execution means. The operation unit control Web service provision processing unit 48 corresponds to an internal Web service provision processing unit. Further, the SOAP processing unit 70 corresponds to a protocol processing unit, and the XML processing unit 50 corresponds to a message processing unit.

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a multi-functional apparatus that fuses various image forming functions according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the compound machine shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of 1st function structure of the compound machine which has a Web server. It is a figure which shows the example of the document list described by XML in the XML process part. It is a figure which shows the example of the document list described by HTML in the HTML preparation part. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on the network device side. It is a figure which shows the 2nd function structural example of the compound machine which has a web server.

Explanation of symbols

2 httpd (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Daemon)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network apparatus, 23 Web browser 30 Distributor 40-49 Web service provision process part 50 XML process part, 60 Dispatcher 80 Composite web service execution part 90 Composite web service provision process part 500 Web server, 501 HTTP request process part 502 HTML production 503 XSL processor 800 document list creation composite method 1200
1201 Plotter 1202 Scanner 1210 Software group 1230 Application, 1220 Platform 1221 OS, 1222 SCS
1223 SRM, 1224 ECS
1225 MCS, 1226 OCS
1227 FCS, 1228 NCS
1229 IMH, 1240 Fusion machine starter 1300 Controller, 1301 ASIC
1302 MEM-C, 1303 HDD
1304 CPU, 1305 NB
1306 MEM-P, 1307 SB
1308 AGP, 1310 Operation Panel 1330 USB, 1340 IEEE 1394
1350 Engine part, 1500 Network I / F part 1530 FAX control unit

Claims (17)

An image forming apparatus that forms an image using one or more of a plurality of hardware resources including a scanner, a plotter, and a storage device,
Means for controlling one of the hardware resources by calling a Web service function corresponding to specific information for specifying a Web service included in the processing request, and generating a processing response indicating a processing result of the Web service function; A plurality of Web service providing processing means having a plurality of processing units corresponding to each of the hardware resources ;
A composite web service provision processing means for executing at least one processing unit constituting the plurality of web service provision processing means and performing other processing;
A processing result description unit that is shared by the plurality of Web service providing processing units and the composite Web service providing processing unit and that describes the processing result according to a predetermined description format;
Web that receives a processing request specifying the composite Web service provision processing means from a device connected via a network and transmits a processing response indicating a processing result by the composite Web service provision processing means in response to the processing request Service communication control means,
The Web service communication control means includes a distribution means for distributing the processing request to the composite Web service providing processing means,
Conversion means for converting the processing response according to the processing result described according to the predetermined description format into a display format that can be displayed on the device;
An image forming apparatus comprising the Web service providing unit for each of the plurality of hardware resources, and enabling a combination of control over the plurality of hardware resources by a plurality of processing requests designating different Web services. . An application having the Web service providing processor and the composite Web service providing processor;
A control service for managing hardware resources used in the image forming process and controlling use of the hardware resources in response to a use request from the application;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operating system that controls the application and the control service.   The composite Web service provision processing means includes at least one composite processing execution means which is a processing unit in the composite Web service provision processing means and executes the processing units of the Web service provision processing means in combination. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the composite processing execution unit performs the processing by combining a plurality of processing units of the plurality of Web service providing processing units. The web service communication control means
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a network communication control unit that performs communication control of the processing request and the processing response according to a predetermined network communication protocol.   The request type of the processing request received by the network communication control unit is analyzed according to the predetermined network communication protocol, and the processing is performed on the composite Web service providing processing unit or the composite Web service providing processing unit based on the analysis result. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a distribution unit that distributes the request.   8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising processing request analysis means for analyzing specific information for specifying a Web service in the processing request according to the predetermined network communication protocol. Document storage means for storing document files;
9. The document management Web service provision processing means for providing information relating to the document file stored in the storage means as one of the Web service provision processing means. The image forming apparatus described. The document management Web service provision processing means includes:
A first processing unit for obtaining a document ID for identifying a document file from the storage means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a second processing unit that acquires bibliographic information corresponding to a specified document ID from the storage unit. The composite processing execution means is
A first processing unit that executes the first processing unit based on the processing request and obtains a predetermined document ID;
A second processing unit that executes the second processing unit based on the document ID acquired by the first processing unit and acquires bibliographic information corresponding to the document ID;
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising third processing means for creating a document list based on the bibliographic information acquired by the second processing means.   12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a print Web service providing processor that prints the information relating to the document file as one of the Web service providing processors. The composite processing execution means is
13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the document management Web service provision processing means is executed in response to the processing request, and then the print Web service provision processing means is executed. An image forming method for forming an image using one or more of a plurality of hardware resources including a scanner, a plotter, and a storage device,
The procedure to control the one of the hardware resources by calling a Web service function, to generate a processing response showing processing results of the Web service function corresponding to the specific information for specifying the Web service included in the processing request A plurality of Web service providing processing procedures each having a plurality of processing units corresponding to each of the hardware resources ;
A composite Web service providing process procedure for executing at least one processing unit constituting the plurality of Web service providing process procedures and performing other processes;
A processing result description procedure that is shared by the plurality of Web service providing processing procedures and the composite Web service providing processing procedure and that describes the processing results according to a predetermined description format;
Web that receives a processing request specifying the above-described composite Web service provision processing procedure from a device connected via a network and transmits a processing response indicating a processing result according to the composite Web service provision processing procedure according to the processing request A service communication control procedure,
The Web service communication control procedure includes a distribution procedure for distributing the processing request to the composite Web service providing processing means,
A conversion procedure for converting the processing response according to the processing result described according to the predetermined description format into a display format that can be displayed on the device;
The Web service providing means is provided for each of the plurality of hardware resources, and a combination of control over the plurality of hardware resources is made possible by a plurality of processing requests designating different Web services. An image forming method. The composite Web service provision processing procedure includes a processing unit of the composite Web service provision processing means, and includes at least one composite processing execution procedure executed by combining the processing units of the Web service provision processing means. the image forming method according to claim 1 3, wherein. The composite process execution procedure, according to claim 1 4 image forming method according to, characterized in that the process by combining the plurality of Web service provision process. A document storage procedure for storing document files;
The plurality of Web service provision processing procedures are as follows:
A document management Web service provision processing procedure for providing information on the document file stored in the storage procedure, and a print Web service provision processing procedure for printing the information on the document file;
The composite process execution procedure, in response to the processing request, executes the document management Web service providing process means, followed by, according to claim 1 5, wherein the executing the print Web service providing processing means Image forming method. A computer-executable program for causing a computer to function as the image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

Images