JP4512565B2 - Image forming apparatus and application installation method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a user service related to image forming processing such as a copy, a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile, and installs an external application developed separately from an application providing a previously provided user service in a mass storage device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an application installation method.

  In recent years, there has been known an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “multifunction machine”) in which functions of apparatuses such as a printer, a copy machine, a facsimile machine, and a scanner are housed in one casing. This multifunction device is provided with a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like in one casing, and is provided with three types of software respectively corresponding to a printer, a copy machine, and a facsimile machine, and by switching these software, Are operated as a printer, a copy, a scanner, or a facsimile machine.

  In recent years, as such conventional multifunction peripherals, those equipped with a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) have been on the market. Such a large-capacity storage device mounted on the multifunction peripheral is mainly used for the purpose of storing image data, and is not used for storing and executing an application program like a PC (Personal Computer).

  For this reason, a conventional multi-function device does not use a large-capacity storage device as a storage area for application programs, and its firmware is all incorporated into the built-in memory (ROM) of the multi-function device when the multi-function device is produced. It is not provided to install new applications after shipping.

  By the way, in such a conventional multi-function machine, software corresponding to a printer, a copy, a scanner, and a facsimile apparatus is provided separately, so that development of each software requires a lot of time. For this reason, the applicant has hardware resources used in image forming processing such as a display unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and has an application that performs processing specific to each user service such as a printer, copy, or facsimile. When a user service is provided by interposing between these applications and hardware resources, hardware resource management, execution control, and image formation processing that are commonly required by at least two of the applications are provided. Invented an image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) equipped with a platform comprising various control services.

  In such a new multi-function peripheral, an application and a control service that performs processing that is difficult to develop such as access to hardware resources are provided separately. Vendors can develop new external applications and install them on multifunction devices. For this reason, it becomes necessary to install such external applications separately from existing applications related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles that are installed at the time of shipment.

However, it is generally difficult to incorporate an external application into the built-in memory of the multifunction peripheral later, and the capacity of the built-in memory is limited. For this reason, there is a new issue that was not a problem with conventional MFPs that did not assume that external applications would not be installed after shipment. come. It is also desirable to enhance the security of the image forming apparatus when an external application is added and to maintain the stability of the image forming apparatus when an external application fails.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, enables installation of an external application, can restrict the activation of the external application of the storage device as necessary, and can enhance the security of the image forming apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an application installation method that can maintain the stability of the image forming apparatus when an external application fails .

In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus having hardware resources used in image forming processing, and includes at least a copy, a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile incorporated in the image forming apparatus. A storage device capable of storing an external application different from the application that performs the image forming process according to any of the above, an installation unit that installs the external application in the storage device, and a storage unit that stores information related to activation of the external application When the steerable screen uninstalled before Kigaibu application displayed in the table shown means, in said screen, the control activation information of the external application is also displayed at the same time based on the information about activation of the external application Control means for performing the external application Includes and uninstallation unit which uninstalls the external application in response to an instruction to uninstall application, and a changing means for changing the information about the activation of the external application stored in the storage means, said changing means , Receiving a setting for changing the startup information of the external application in response to an operation on the screen, and changing information on the startup of the external application in accordance with the setting .

The present invention also information related to activation of the external application, characterized in that it comprises a information set states related to starting of the external application.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the activation permission information is information indicating whether or not the external application is activated when power is turned on.

  In addition, the present invention is characterized by further comprising an external application activation unit that refers to the activation permission information and activates an external application that is set to be activated.

The present invention is also an application installation method executed by an image forming apparatus having hardware resources used in image forming processing, wherein the image forming apparatus is a copy incorporated in the image forming apparatus, A storage device capable of storing an external application different from an application that performs image forming processing according to at least one of a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile; and a storage unit that stores information related to activation of the external application, and installation steps for installing the application in the storage device, before an instruction can screen uninstalling Kigaibu application displayed in the table shown means, within said screen, on the basis of the information about the activation of the external application external Application launch Information and control step of performing control information is also displayed at the same time, and uninstalling step of uninstalling said external application in response to an instruction to uninstall the external application, on starting of the external application stored in said storage means A change step of changing the external application according to the operation on the screen, and changing the information related to the startup of the external application according to the setting. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to limit the activation of an external application of the storage device as necessary, and to enhance the security of the image forming apparatus.

  In addition, according to the present invention, when some or all of the external applications installed in the storage device have some trouble and the operation of the entire system of the image forming apparatus is hindered, the activation of the external application is collectively limited. Therefore, when a failure occurs, only the basic application installed at the time of shipment can be activated to maintain the stability of the image forming apparatus when the external application fails.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus and an application installation method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “multifunction device”) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A multifunction device 100 according to the present embodiment is A third party such as a customer or a third vendor develops an external application, and the developed external application is installed from a PC card to a hard disk device (HDD), which is a large-capacity storage device, by an installer for the multifunction machine.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a multifunction machine 100 includes a monochrome laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, a hard disk device (HDD) 103, a scanner, a facsimile, a memory, a network interface, and the like. In addition to having hardware resources 104, it includes a platform 120, an application 130, a multifunction peripheral initialization unit 129, a diagnosis unit 132, a software group 110 including an external application activation unit 131 and an installer 118.

  The platform 120 interprets a processing request from an application and generates a hardware resource acquisition request, and a system resource manager that manages one or a plurality of hardware resources and arbitrates the acquisition request from the control service. (SRM) 123 and a general-purpose OS 121.

  The control service is formed of a plurality of service modules, and includes an SCS (system control service) 122, an ECS (engine control service) 124, an MCS (memory control service) 125, an OCS (operation panel control service) 126, and an FCS. (Fax Control Service) 127 and NCS (Network Control Service) 128. The platform 120 has an application program interface (API) that can receive a processing request from the application 130 by a predefined function.

  The general-purpose OS 121 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes the software of the platform 120 and the application 130 in parallel as processes.

  The process of the SRM 123 performs system control and resource management together with the SCS 122. The SRM123 process uses hardware resources such as engines such as a scanner unit and printer unit, memory, HDD file, and host I / O (Centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, RS232C I / F, etc.). Arbitration is performed according to the request from the upper layer to be used, and execution control is performed.

  Specifically, the SRM 123 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is used. Tell the upper layer that it is possible. In addition, the SRM 123 performs use scheduling of hardware resources in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly executes request contents (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation, memory allocation, file generation, etc. by a printer engine). .

  The process of the SCS 122 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

  The process of the ECS 124 controls the engine of the hardware resource 104 including a black and white laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, a scanner, a facsimile, and the like.

  The MCS 125 process acquires and releases an image memory, uses a hard disk device (HDD), compresses and decompresses image data, and the like.

  The FCS 127 process includes facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. Provides an API to do.

  The NCS 128 process is a process for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. Data received from the network side according to each protocol is distributed to each application, and data from the application. Mediation when sending to the network side. Specifically, it has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd, and smtpd and client functions of the same protocol.

  The process of the OCS 126 controls an operation panel (operation panel) serving as information transmission means between the operator (user) and the main body control. The OCS 126 acquires a key press from the operation panel as a key event, sends a key event function corresponding to the acquired key to the SCS 122, and displays various screens on the operation panel in response to a request from the application 130 or the control service. A drawing function for drawing output, a function for controlling the operation panel, and the like are composed of pre-registered OCS library portions. The OCS library is mounted by being linked to each module of the application 130 and the control service. The OCS 126 may be configured to operate as a process, or the OCS 126 may be configured as an OCS library.

  The application 130 includes a printer application 111 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 112 that is a copy application, and a fax application 113 that is a facsimile application. A scanner application 114 as a scanner application, a network file application 115 as a network file application, and a process inspection application 116 as a process inspection application.

  Each process of the application 130 and each process of the control service realize user services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles while performing inter-process communication by calling functions, sending return values thereof, and sending and receiving messages. is doing.

  As described above, the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment includes a plurality of applications 130 and a plurality of control services, all of which operate as processes. In each of these processes, one or a plurality of threads are generated and parallel execution is performed in units of threads. The control service provides a common service to the application 130. For this reason, a large number of these processes perform a parallel operation and a parallel operation of threads to perform inter-process communication with each other. User services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles are provided.

  Also, in the multifunction device 100, a third party such as a customer of the multifunction device 100 or a third vendor can develop and install the external application 117 in the application layer above the control service layer. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the external application 117 is installed.

  In the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment, a plurality of application 130 processes and a plurality of control service processes operate. However, the application 130 and the control service process have a single configuration. Is also possible. Each application 130 can be added or deleted for each application.

  The installer 118 constitutes an installation means in the present invention, and installs an external application 117 developed by a third party from the PC card to the HDD 103. In the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, the external application 117 and the installer 118 generated on a storage medium such as an IC card are stored, the installer 118 is executed from the PC card, and the external application 117 in the PC card is stored in the HDD 103. The application is installed, and the external application activation unit 131 activates the external application 117 from the HDD 103 to operate in the application layer.

  On the other hand, the application 130 provided at the time of shipment of the multifunction peripheral 100 such as the printer application 111, the copy application 112, the fax application 113, the scanner application 114, the net file application 115, and the process inspection application 116, each control service, the diagnosis unit 132, and the external The application activation unit 131 is incorporated in the flash memory at the time of shipment, and is activated by the multifunction device initialization unit 129 when the multifunction device 100 is activated (when the power is turned on).

  The external application activation unit 131 activates the external application 117 installed in the HDD 103 when the diagnosis result of the HDD 103 is normal.

  The MFP initialization unit 129 constitutes an initialization unit in the present invention, and is a process that is first started on the general-purpose OS 121. The MFP initialization unit 129 starts and diagnoses the control service and application 130 (excluding the external application 117). And the external application starting part 131 is started. The multifunction machine initialization unit 129 constitutes initialization means in the present invention.

  The diagnosis unit 132 diagnoses a physical defect of the HDD 103 or the consistency of the file system generated in the HDD 103 and transmits the diagnosis result to the external application activation unit 131 using inter-process communication such as message transmission. is there. In the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, the diagnosis unit 132 diagnoses the HDD 103. However, the diagnosis unit 132 can also be configured to diagnose a storage medium such as an SD memory card.

  Next, the configuration of the installer 118 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the installer 118 of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the installer 118 includes an initialization unit 201, an option analysis unit 202, an HDD diagnosis result communication unit 203, an installation processing unit 204, a startup setting processing unit 205, and an application description processing unit 206. , A license determination unit 207, an uninstallation processing unit 208, a key event processing unit 209, and a display processing unit 210.

  Also, the HDD 103 is configured to install an external application 117 and an application description file 222 in which various types of information about the external application 117 are set for each external application 117. The HDD 103 stores in advance a startup setting file 221 in which data specifying the external application 117 to be started from the HDD 103 is set. In the present embodiment, the startup setting file 221 and the application description file 222 are both stored in the HDD 103, but either or both files are stored in a storage medium such as a flash memory. It is good also as a structure.

  Further, the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment is provided with a PC card interface unit 230. The PC card interface unit 230 is an interface that inserts a PC card 240 storing an installable external application 117 and exchanges data with the PC card 240. Here, the PC card interface unit 230 constitutes a storage medium interface unit in the present invention, and the PC card 140 constitutes an external application storage medium in the present invention.

  The PC card 240 corresponds to, for example, a flash card. An installer activation setting file 241, an installer 242, an application description file 222, and an application package file 243 are stored in a PC card 240 that is a storage medium for installation.

  The installer activation setting file 241 includes a command for activating the installer 242 in the PC card 240 and an application name as its command line argument. The multifunction machine initialization unit 129 reads the installer activation setting file 241 and activates the installer 242 in the PC card 240.

  The installer 242 is an executable format file of the installer 118. By starting the installer 242, the process of the installer 118 is executed in the application layer as shown in FIG.

  The application description file 222 constitutes application setting information in the present invention, and describes attribute information of external applications in the PC card 240. The application description file 222 is installed in the HDD 103 together with the external application 117 at the time of installation.

  The application package file 243 is a set of related files including an execution format file of the external application 227 combined into one file. The application package file 243 is expanded by the installer 118 and the external application 117 is installed in the HDD 103.

  Of the components of the installer 118, the initialization unit 201 performs an initialization process for the installer 118. The option analysis unit 202 analyzes an option parameter of a command specified when the installer 118 is activated from the multifunction device initialization unit 129.

  The HDD diagnosis result communication unit 203 waits for completion of the diagnosis of the HDD 103 performed by the diagnosis unit 132, and receives the diagnosis result through inter-process communication such as a message. The HDD diagnosis result communication unit 203 determines the state of the HDD 103 based on the received diagnosis result.

  The activation setting processing unit 205 reads the activation setting file 221 stored in the HDD 103 and performs analysis processing thereof. The application description processing unit 206 reads the PC card 240 application description file 222 and analyzes it. The processing is performed. The license determination unit 207 determines the validity of the license key set in the application description file 222.

  The installation processing unit 204 expands the application package file 243 stored in the PC card 240 and installs the external application 117 in the HDD 103.

  The uninstall processing unit 208 uninstalls processing such as deleting the external application installed in the HDD 103 and the application description file 222 corresponding to the external application 117 or deleting the description related to the external application 117 to be deleted from the startup setting file 211. Is to do.

  The display processing unit 210 performs display processing such as an installation screen, an uninstallation screen, and a license key input screen on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810. Specifically, various screens are displayed on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810 by calling a drawing function provided by the OCS function library.

  The key event processing unit 209 acquires key events generated by touch operations and pressing operations from various screens displayed on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810, and passes them to the installation processing unit and the uninstallation processing unit. The key event is notified to the key event processing unit via the OCS 126 and the SCS 122.

  Next, the contents of the startup setting file 221 stored in the HDD 103 will be described. The startup setting file 221 describes a list of program names of the external applications 117 installed in the HDD 103. Each time the external application 117 is installed in the HDD 103 by the installer 118, the program name of each external application 117 is “ Program name is added in the format of “External application program file name”.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of the activation setting file 221. In the program file name of the external application, the program file name in the file system generated in the HDD 103 is described as shown in the example of FIG. 3 (xxx.xxx.sample, yy.yy.test, etc.). This program name needs to be unique within one multifunction device 100.

  Next, the contents of the application description file 222 stored in the HDD 103 will be described. The application description file 222 exists for each external application 117 and describes the attribute information of the program of the external application 117. The application description file 222 is stored together with the external application 117 in the PC card 240 that is a storage medium for installation, and is stored in the HDD 103 together with the external application 117 when the external application 117 is installed in the HDD 103. Accordingly, when a plurality of external applications 117 are stored in the HDD 103, a plurality of application description files 222 exist corresponding to each external application 117.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of the application description file 222. As shown in FIG. 4, the application description file 222 includes items of program name, display name, version, vendor name, execution command, installation media number, total number of installed media, total number of installed installation media, installation date and time, and license key. Is set. Here, the program name, display name, version, vendor name, and execution command items are set by the developer of the external application 117 when the external application 117 is stored in the storage medium for installation.

  The program name indicates the program name of the external application, and this program name becomes the program name of the activation setting file 221 after installation.

  The display name is a display name of the external application 117 and is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 810 when the external application 117 is installed by the installer 118 and when the external application 117 is started by the external application starting unit 131.

  The version is a character string indicating version information of the external application 117 and is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 810 when the external application 117 is installed by the installer 118 and when the external application 117 is started by the external application starting unit 131. is there.

  The vendor name is a character string representing the name of the vendor who developed the external application 117, and is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 810 when the external application 117 is installed by the installer 118 and when the external application 117 is started by the external application starting unit 131. Is.

  The execution command is a command for executing the external application 117 specified by a relative path. Command line options can also be specified if necessary. The command set here is executed by the external application activation unit 131.

  The installation media number indicates the number of the medium when the external application 117 is divided into a plurality of installation storage media. If there is only one storage medium, 0 is designated. The installation media number is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 810 when the external application 117 is installed by the installer 118.

  The total number of installation media is designated when the external application 117 is divided into a plurality of installation storage media. If there is only one storage medium, 0 is designated. The installation media number is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel 810 when the external application 117 is installed by the installer 118.

  The total number of installed installation media specifies the installed installation media number. When the external application 117 is divided into a plurality of installation storage media, a plurality of settings appear.

  The installation date / time indicates the date / time of installation. It is displayed on the user interface of the installer 118.

  The license key specifies a license key for the external application 117. The character string input by the user at the time of installation is saved.

  Next, the activation process of the installer 118 in the MFP 100 configured as described above will be described. The activation process of the installer 118 is executed by the MFP initialization unit 129. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the activation process of the installer 118.

  First, the user inserts the PC card 240 storing the external application to be installed into the PC card interface unit 230 and turns on the multifunction device 100. When the multifunction device 100 is powered on, the ROM monitor (not shown) first initializes hardware resources and diagnoses the controller board, and then starts the general-purpose OS 121. Then, the ROM monitor activates the MFP initialization unit 129 on the general-purpose OS 121. The MFP initialization unit 129 is a process that is first activated on the general-purpose OS 121.

  The activated MFP initialization unit 129 reads the installer activation setting file 241 from the PC card 240 when the PC card 240 is loaded (step S501). Then, the installer activation command described in the installer activation setting file 241 is executed to activate the installer 242 in the PC card 240 (step S502). As a result, the installer 242 in the PC card 240 is activated, and the process of the installer 118 is generated in the application layer as shown in FIG.

  Next, an installation process of the external application 117 by the installer 118 started by the multifunction machine initialization unit 129 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the installation process of the external application 117.

  First, the option analysis unit 202 of the installer 118 analyzes the option parameters at the time of command input, and then the application description processing unit 206 reads the application description file 222 (step S601). The application description file 222 reads both those stored in the HDD 103 and those stored in the PC card 204.

  Then, the contents of each application description file 222 are analyzed, and the attribute information of the installed external application 117 is installed from the contents of the application description file 222 of the PC card 240 from the contents of the application description file 222 of the HDD 103 and is installed from now on. The attribute of the external application 117 to be acquired is acquired, and the installer screen displaying the contents of the attribute is displayed on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810 (step S602).

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the installer screen. As shown in FIG. 7, on the installer screen, the application name, version, vendor name, and number of installed media are displayed from the application description file 222 as applications to be installed. The installer screen displays the application name, version, installation date, and vendor name from the application description file 222 as installed applications. In the status field, “OK” is displayed when the installation is successful. On the other hand, for the external application being installed, the installation media number is displayed in the status field.

  When the installation button touch operation is performed on the installer screen in FIG. 7, the key event processing unit 209 acquires the key event. The installation processing unit 204 then displays the license key input screen on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810 (step S603), and further displays a software keyboard for inputting the license key (step S603). S604).

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a license key input screen. On this license key input screen, the user inputs the license key of the external application 117. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a license key input screen in a state where a license key is input.

  When the license key is input on the license key input screen shown in FIG. 9 and the touch operation of the “OK” button is performed, the validity of the license key input by the license determination unit 207 of the installer 118 is shown as the application description file 222. Judgment is made by comparing with the license key set to (step S605). If it is determined that the license key is not valid (the license key does not match), an error message to that effect is displayed (step S606), and the installation process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the input license key is valid (the license keys match), the installation processing unit 204 generates an installation directory in the HDD 103 (step S607), and the application package file 243 of the PC card 240 is obtained. And the external application 117 is copied to the installation directory of the HDD 103 (step S608).

  Next, the installation processing unit 204 copies the application description file 222 in the PC card 240 to the HDD 103 (step S609), and adds the file name of the installed external application 117 to the startup setting file 221 of the HDD 103 (step S610). . Thereby, the installation process of the external application 117 is completed. Thereafter, the external application starter 131 can start the external application 117 from the HDD 103.

  Next, the uninstallation process of the external application 117 by the installer 118 will be described. In the column of the installed application on the installer screen shown in FIG. 7, by performing a touch operation on the uninstall button displayed corresponding to the external application, the external application 117 corresponding to the touched button is uninstalled. Processing begins. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the uninstall process for the external application 117.

  The uninstall processing unit 208 of the installer 118 first displays an uninstall screen on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810 via the display processing unit 210 (step S1001). FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an uninstallation screen. Then, it waits for an OK button key event input from the uninstall screen of FIG. 11 (step S1002). If there is an operation other than the OK button (cancel operation) from the uninstall screen, the uninstall process is terminated.

  When there is an OK button touch operation (OK button key event input) from the uninstall screen, the uninstall processing unit 208 sends an insertion request message for the PC card 240 that has been installed via the display processing unit 210. The information is displayed on the operation display unit (step S1003). FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example when an insertion request message is displayed on the uninstall screen.

  When the user inserts a PC card for installation, the license determining unit 207 causes the external application 117 having the same license key as the license key of the external application 117 installed in the HDD 103 to be installed in the PC card. It is determined whether it is in 240 (step S1004). The determination of the license key is performed by comparing the application description file 222 in the HDD 103 with the application description file 222 in the PC card 240.

  If the external application 117 having the same license key as the license key of the external application 117 to be uninstalled exists in the PC card 240, the uninstallation process is continued and the designated external application 117 is deleted from the HDD 103. (Step S1005). Next, the uninstall processing unit 208 deletes the application description file 222 of the external application 117 to be uninstalled from the HDD 103 (step S1006), and further describes the description of the external application 117 to be uninstalled from the startup setting file 221 in the HDD 103. Delete (step S1007). Thereby, the uninstallation process of the external application 117 is completed.

  As described above, in the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment, since the external application 117 is installed from the PC card 240 to the HDD 103 by the installer 118, the HDD 103 is used as a storage area of the external application 117 for installation. The external application 117 can be arbitrarily added using the HDD 103 after the multifunction peripheral 100 is shipped, and various functions by the external application 117 can be mounted on the multifunction peripheral 100.

  In the MFP 100 of the first embodiment, the HDD 103 may be further diagnosed by the diagnosis unit 132 before the installation process, and the installation process by the installer 118 may be executed only when the diagnosis result is normal. .

(Embodiment 2)
The MFP 100 according to the first embodiment did not perform processing related to the activation of the external application 117 in the installation process. However, the MFP 100 according to the second embodiment has the external application 117 activated in the installation process. Can be specified.

  The functional configuration of the MFP 100 according to the second embodiment and the configuration of the installer 118 are the same as those of the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. Further, the installation process by the installer 118 of the multifunction machine 100 of the present embodiment is the same as the installation process in the multifunction machine 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  The installer 118 according to the present embodiment displays the installer screen shown in FIG. 13 on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810 in step S602 of the installation process shown in FIG. In this installer screen, as shown in FIG. 13, an item for setting whether or not the external application activation unit 131 activates the external application is displayed in the column of installed applications. In the example of FIG. 13, it is specified that the authentication application and the test application with a circle are activated by the external application activation unit 131 when the MFP 100 is turned on after the installation is completed, but the charging application is not activated. It is carried out.

  In such an installer screen, for the external application 117 with a circle mark in the activation item, the activation setting is performed during the addition process to the activation setting file 1401 in step S610 in FIG. On the other hand, in the installer screen, for the external application 117 whose activation item is not marked with a circle, a setting indicating that it is not activated is performed during the addition process to the activation setting file 1401 in step S610 in FIG.

  The activation setting file 1401 constitutes activation availability information in the present invention. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the startup setting file 1401. The activation setting file 1401 is referred to by the external application activation unit 131, and only the external application for which “activation” is set is activated and executed in the application layer. After the installation, for example, on the initial setting screen, a setting screen similar to the installer screen shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the operation display unit of the operation panel 810 so that the “start” item can be dynamically changed. May be.

  As described above, in the MFP 100 according to the second embodiment, the installer 118 sets whether or not activation is possible in the activation setting file 1401 for the external application 117 to be installed at the time of installation. It is possible to limit the activation of 117, and the security of the multifunction device 100 can be enhanced.

  In the MFP 100 according to the second embodiment, since it is possible to limit the activation of the external application 117, some or all of the external applications 117 installed in the HDD 103 have some kind of failure, and the entire system of the MFP 100. The activation of the external application 117 can be restricted collectively when troubles occur in the operation. For this reason, when a failure occurs, only the basic applications such as the printer application 111 and the copy application 112 that are preinstalled at the time of shipment are activated to maintain the stability of the MFP 100 when the external application 117 fails. Can do.

  In the MFP 100 according to the first and second embodiments, the HDD 103 is used as a large-capacity storage device. However, the present invention can be applied to other examples using an SD memory card. is there.

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an installer of the multifunction machine according to the first embodiment. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of contents of a startup setting file of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of contents of an application description file of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of activation processing of an installer of the multifunction machine according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of installation processing by an installer of the multifunction machine according to the first embodiment; 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an installer screen of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a license key input screen of the multifunction machine according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an input example on a license key input screen of the multifunction machine according to the second embodiment; 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an uninstall process performed by the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an uninstall screen of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment; FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of an insertion request message on an uninstall screen of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an installer screen of a multifunction machine according to a second embodiment; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of contents of a startup setting file of a multifunction machine according to a second embodiment;

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 MFP 101 Black-and-white laser printer 102 Color laser printer 103 Hard disk drive (HDD)
104 Hardware resources 110 Software group 111 Printer application 112 Copy application 113 Fax application 114 Scanner application 115 Net file application 116 Process inspection application 117 External application 118 Installer 120 Platform 121 General-purpose OS
122 SCS
123 SRM
124 ECS
125 MCS
126 OCS
127 FCS
128 NCS
129 MFP initialization unit 130 application 131 external application activation unit 132 diagnosis unit 201 initialization unit 202 option analysis unit 203 HDD diagnosis result communication unit 204 installation processing unit 205 activation setting processing unit 206 application description processing unit 207 license determination unit 208 installation Processing unit 209 Key event processing unit 210 Display processing unit 221 and 1401 Start setting file 222 Application description file 230 PC card interface unit 240 PC card 241 Installer start setting file 242 Installer (execution format file)
243 Application Package File 810 Operation Panel

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus provided with hardware resources used in image forming processing,
A storage device capable of storing an external application different from an application for performing image forming processing according to at least one of a copy, a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile incorporated in the image forming apparatus ;
Installation means for installing the external application in the storage device;
Storage means for storing information relating to activation of the external application;
Before the Kigaibu steerable screen uninstallation of application displays in Viewing means, within said screen, control for controlling the activation information of the external application is also displayed at the same time based on the information about activation of the external application Means,
Uninstalling means for uninstalling the external application in response to an instruction to uninstall the external application ;
Changing means for changing information related to activation of the external application stored in the storage means,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit receives a setting for changing the startup information of the external application according to an operation on the screen, and changes the information regarding the startup of the external application according to the setting . It said information on starting the external application, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an activation permission information set the start permission of the external application. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the activation permission information is information indicating whether to activate the external application when power is turned on. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising an external application activation unit that refers to the activation permission information and activates an external application that is set to be activated. An application installation method executed by an image forming apparatus having hardware resources used in image forming processing,
The image forming apparatus includes a storage device capable of storing an external application different from an application for performing image forming processing related to at least one of a copy, a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile incorporated in the image forming apparatus, and the external Storage means for storing information relating to application activation,
An installation step of installing the external application in the storage device;
Before the Kigaibu steerable screen uninstallation of application displays in Viewing means, within said screen, control for controlling the activation information of the external application is also displayed at the same time based on the information about activation of the external application Steps,
Uninstalling the external application in response to an instruction to uninstall the external application;
Changing the information related to the activation of the external application stored in the storage means,
The application installation method characterized in that the changing step receives a setting for changing the startup information of the external application according to an operation on the screen, and changes the information regarding the startup of the external application according to the setting .

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