JP4810339B2 - Network communication apparatus, network communication apparatus control method, network communication apparatus control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a network communication apparatus, a network communication apparatus control method, a network communication apparatus control program, and a recording medium capable of providing information possessed by the network communication apparatus to other devices using semantic XML.

  Conventionally, various devices, especially office devices such as printers, facsimile machines, copiers, etc., have an HTTP communication function for transmitting and receiving data using the HTTP protocol, and a fax communication function for transmitting and receiving data by facsimile transmission connected to the PSTN. The network communication function is provided. Some devices have a web access mechanism inside the device and have enhanced and expanded communication functions using web technology.

  As the prior art of such a network communication apparatus, the inventions disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are known. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a facsimile apparatus that can be operated by a WWW browser of an external apparatus by installing a WWW server program.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, the image processing apparatus is provided with a Web server function, and a list of information on image data is generated as a Web page, so that software design and operation for notifying the user of the state of the apparatus are performed. A technique for reducing labor is disclosed.

Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a technology that can mutually use information held by various network devices themselves or other external devices that can be connected to a network such as a LAN.
JP 2000-092262 A JP 2002-007095 A JP 2005-209056 A

  In the case of acquiring device information with a conventional network communication device, it was done by user operation via a browser, but in order to know the location of the file, there is a problem that the browser must be started up and seen there were. For this reason, since downloading can be realized only by an operation through a person, it is not suitable for an automation process or the like. In addition, when clients have diversified, the format of data to be responded cannot be freely switched on the communication device side.

  In the above-described prior art, there is a method for setting a communication device or acquiring information from a browser, but there is no method for outputting information for downloading a file storage received document using Semantic XML (RSS). It was. In addition, although there was a function for collecting fax stored received documents of the device (MFP), this was a procedure for performing a file collection operation by a user operation from a browser using WebImageMonitor or the like. Furthermore, there is an invention in which the device outputs RSS information, but there is no invention that details the download function.

In view of such a problem, the present invention provides a network communication device that switches between HTML data and XML data (RSS data) based on a request from a client terminal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a network communication device control method, a network communication device control program, and a recording medium.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a network that is connected to a public line network and transmits / receives image data, and a network that is connected to the network and transmits / receives data to / from a client terminal. a network communication device including a communication unit, and a analysis means for analyzing a request received from the client terminal, on the basis of the analysis result of the analyzing means, the request received from the client terminal from the HTML client application and distributing means for distributing the request of the request or RSS client application, and HTML data generating means for generating HTML data relating to the image data based on the request from the HTML client application, the RSS click And RSS data generating means for generating an RSS data for the image data based on a request from Ianto application, and returning means for returning the previous SL HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal, the image received by the FAX communication unit Means for transferring data to another device, and when the image data is transferred to another device, the RSS data generation means includes the transfer destination information of the image data in the attached file information of the RSS data. The RSS data is generated for each protocol to which the image data is transferred .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network comprising: FAX communication means for transmitting / receiving image data connected to a public line network; and network communication means for transmitting / receiving data to / from a client terminal connected to the network. a communications device, analyzing means for analyzing the request received from the client terminal, on the basis of the analysis result of the analyzing means, the request received from the client terminal from the request or RSS client applications from HTML client application Distribution means for distributing the request, HTML data generation means for generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application, and the RSS client application RSS data generating means for generating RSS data related to the image data based on the request, a reply means for returning the HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal, and image data received by the FAX communication means. The RSS data generating means includes the RSS data including the transfer destination information of the image data in the attached file information of the RSS data when the image data is transferred to another device. Is generated for the protocol of the transfer destination of the image data specified by the REST interface included in the request from the RSS client application .

According to a third aspect of the invention, the network communication device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the RSS data generating means is characterized and generating child said RSS data for each function of the network communication device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the network communication device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the RSS data generation unit includes the transfer destination information of the image data in the link information of the RSS data. The RSS data is generated .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the network communication device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the RSS data generating means sets an address of an application capable of browsing the image data as link information of the RSS data. Alternatively, the RSS data included in the text information is generated .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network comprising: a FAX communication process for transmitting / receiving image data connected to a public line network ; and a network communication process for transmitting / receiving data to / from a client terminal connected to the network. A method for controlling a communication apparatus, comprising: an analysis step for analyzing a request received from the client terminal; and whether the request received from the client terminal is a request from an HTML client application based on an analysis result of the analysis step. A distribution step of distributing a request from an application, an HTML data generation step of generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application, and the RSS client application An RSS data generation step for generating RSS data relating to the image data based on a request from the application, a return step for returning the HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal, and the image data received in the FAX communication step. A transfer step of transferring to the other device, wherein the RSS data generation step includes the transfer destination information of the image data included in the attached file information of the RSS data when the image data is transferred to the other device. The RSS data is generated for each protocol to which the image data is transferred .

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network comprising: a FAX communication step for transmitting and receiving image data connected to a public line network ; and a network communication step for transmitting and receiving data to and from a client terminal connected to the network. A method for controlling a communication apparatus, comprising: an analysis step for analyzing a request received from the client terminal; and whether the request received from the client terminal is a request from an HTML client application based on an analysis result of the analysis step. A distribution step of distributing a request from an application, an HTML data generation step of generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application, and the RSS client application An RSS data generation step for generating RSS data relating to the image data based on a request from the application, a return step for returning the HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal, and the image data received in the FAX communication step. A transfer step of transferring to the other device, wherein the RSS data generation step includes the transfer destination information of the image data included in the attached file information of the RSS data when the image data is transferred to the other device. RSS data is generated for the protocol of the transfer destination of the image data specified by the REST interface included in the request from the RSS client application .

Invention according to claim 8, in the control method of the network communication apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the RSS data generating step includes a characterized Rukoto forming raw said RSS data for each function of the network communication device To do.

The invention according to claim 9 is the network communication apparatus control method according to any one of claims 6 to 8 , wherein the RSS data generation step uses the transfer destination information of the image data as link information of the RSS data. The RSS data included in is generated .

Invention according to claim 10, wherein the control method of the network communication device according to any one of items 6 to 9, the RSS data generating step, the RSS address of browsable application the image data The RSS data included in data link information or text information is generated .

The invention according to claim 11, the control program der Rukoto network communication device for executing the processing of each step in the network communication device in a control method of the network communication device according to any one of claims 6 10 Features.

The invention described in claim 12 is a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program for the network communication apparatus described in claim 11 is recorded .

  As described above, according to the network communication device, the network communication device control method, the network communication device control program, and the recording medium of the present invention, information can be returned in both the RSS format and the conventional HTML format.

Hereinafter, a network communication device, a network communication device control method, a network communication device control program, and a recording medium according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is not limited to the one described below, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present embodiment.
In this embodiment, it is possible to output device information in RSS (RDF Site Summary / Rich Site Summary) format, which is a standard XML format, or in a conventional HTML format, and supports various client tools. The purpose is to make it possible.

In the present embodiment, a function of exchanging data on a local area network (LAN) and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public line are provided, and an electronic data received via the LAN is also provided. FIG. 1 shows a network system according to this embodiment, which is a network communication apparatus that transmits image information included in an e-mail to a public network communication apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system using the network communication device of this embodiment includes a plurality of workstation devices WS1 to WSn, a router device RT, a mail server device SM, and a network communication device FX. They can be connected to each other via an area network (LAN). The LAN is connected to a network such as the Internet via the router device RT, and various data can be exchanged with a host device connected to another LAN (not shown).

  The mail server device SM provides e-mail collection and distribution services to users who use the workstation devices WS1 to WSn connected to the local area network (LAN) and the network communication device FX.

  The workstation devices WS1 to WSn include image information included in application software (e-mail access, etc.) for exchanging various data via a local area network (LAN) and e-mail received from the network communication device FX. Various programs such as application software (viewer or the like) for processing are installed and used by a specific user. The specific user may be one person or a plurality of persons.

  Further, the network communication device FX is connected to an e-mail transmission / reception function and a public switched telephone network (PSTN) in a local area network (LAN), and uses the public network as a transmission path and performs a group 3 (G3) facsimile transmission procedure. A transmission function for transmitting image information is provided.

  In the present embodiment, data exchange between terminals connected to a local area network (LAN) is a combination of a transmission protocol up to the transport layer called TCP / IP and a communication protocol of higher layers. Is applied. For example, in the transmission of electronic mail, a communication protocol called SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) is applied as an upper layer communication protocol.

  In the present embodiment, the e-mail is temporarily stored in the mail server device SM and then distributed. For example, an electronic mail from the network communication device FX to the user of the workstation device WS1 is temporarily stored in the mail server device SM.

  On the other hand, the workstation devices WS1 to WSn and the network communication device FX make an inquiry to the mail server device SM for receiving an e-mail addressed to the user of the own terminal, and the e-mail addressed to the user is sent to the mail server device. When stored in the SM, the mail server device SM receives the electronic mail and notifies the user of the terminal itself.

In this case, when the workstation device WS1 makes an inquiry to the mail server device SM for receiving an e-mail addressed to the user of the own terminal, the e-mail addressed to the user of the own terminal is stored in the mail server device SM. Therefore, the user receives the e-mail and notifies the user to that effect. The user who has received the notification reads the contents of the electronic mail and confirms the contents.
Note that a POP (Post Office Protocol) or the like can be applied as a communication protocol at this time.

In the present embodiment, the workstation devices WS1 to WSn can request the network communication device FX to relay image information to the communication device connected to the public network, and the relay request image information can be transmitted. E-mail applies. Since the local area network (LAN) in this case is connected to the Internet, users such as other workstation devices connected to the Internet can also relay image information to the network communication device FX. You can make a request.

  This electronic mail is in the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) format. The image information is set with information after encoding in the Base64 encoding format.

  Here, HTTP is an abbreviation for “Hyper Text Transfer Protocol”, and is a protocol for realizing the so-called WWW (World-Wide Web). Usually, communication is performed on TCP (port number: 80). The browser designates processing to the server by a command such as GET or POST, and an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file or an image file is sent from the server as a response. There is a version of HTTP as a protocol, and many browsers still support only up to 1.0 (RFC1945). The latest version is 1.1 (RFC 2616). In 1.1, many extensions have been made to commands, responses themselves, formats, and the like. It can be viewed from browser software installed on the workstation device.

  In addition, XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a recommendation of W3C (WWW technology standardization organization), which is a simplified version of SGML (ISO / IEC 8879: 1986) and is compatible with the Internet. Any tag can be used. Another feature is that data and processing (layout (design)) can be described separately.

Next, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the network communication apparatus FX.
As shown in FIG. 2, the network communication apparatus FX includes a system control unit 1, a system memory 2, a parameter memory 3, a clock circuit 4, a scanner 5, a plotter 6, an operation display unit 7, and an encoding. / Decoding unit 8, image storage unit 9, G3 FAX modem 10, network control unit 11, LAN I / F 12 and LAN transmission control unit 13.

  In FIG. 2, the system control unit 1 performs various control processes such as a control process for each part of the network communication apparatus FX and a facsimile transmission control procedure. The system memory 2 stores a control processing program executed by the system control unit 1 and various data necessary for executing the processing program, and constitutes a work area of the system control unit 1. The parameter memory 3 stores various types of information unique to the network communication device FX of the present embodiment.

  The clock circuit 4 outputs current time information. The scanner 5 reads an original image with a predetermined resolution. The plotter 6 records and outputs an image with a predetermined resolution. The operation display unit 7 is for operating the network communication device FX of the present embodiment, and includes various operation keys and various displays. The encoding / decoding unit 8 encodes and compresses the image signal and stores a large amount of image information in the encoded and compressed state. The image storage unit 9 records a large amount of image information in an encoded and compressed state. A group 3 facsimile modem (G3 FAX modem) 10 realizes a modem function of group 3 facsimile. The network control unit 11 is for connecting the network communication apparatus FX of the present embodiment to a telephone line network (PSTN), and has an automatic outgoing / incoming function.

The local area network interface circuit (LAN I / F) 12 is for connecting the network communication device FX of the present embodiment to a local area network (LAN), and the local area network (LAN) transmission control unit 13 Communication control processing (e-mail transmission / reception processing, etc.) of various predetermined protocols for exchanging various data with other data terminal devices via a local area network (LAN) is executed.

  These system controller 1, system memory 2, parameter memory 3, clock circuit 4, scanner 5, plotter 6, operation display unit 7, encoding / decoding unit 8, image storage unit 9, G3 FAX modem 10, network control unit 11, the LAN transmission control unit 13 is connected to the internal bus 14, and data exchange between these elements is mainly performed via the internal bus 14. Data exchange between the network control unit 11 and the G3 FAX 10 is performed directly.

  Document information such as FAX stored and received documents can be provided in the RSS (RDF Site Summary) format (XML file). An example of RSS data is shown in FIG.

  For reference, RSS will be described with reference to the UNIX (registered trademark) USER March 2004 issue.

  RSS is an XML format for describing and distributing an outline of a site. As described above, XML is a text file in which the document structure is simply marked up. XML is not something that humans read directly, but is data that is applied in various ways, that is, metadata, by a program interpreting it. A document described according to the RSS format is called an RSS document or an RSS feed. The specifications of RSS are standardized by various companies and organizations.

If the new arrival information of different sites and the format of the data are unified, a user such as a program creator need only interpret the data according to the unified rule. In such a case, it is common to describe in XML. Because of this flow, RSS documents are often described as XML documents. A typical application that uses an RSS document is an RSS reader that reads RSS documents of a plurality of sites and displays newly arrived information across the screen. This is like a Web browser that interprets HTML and CSS and renders a Web site.
RSS is also described in detail in http://e-words.jp/w/RSS.html.

  There are several versions of this RSS, and there are several types of names. Examples of main ones include RDF Site Summary, Rich Site Summary “1.0 series”, Real Simple Syndication “0.9-2.0 series”, and the like. Also, the summary and release of RSS site information is detailed at http://kanzaki.com/docs/sw/rss.html.

An RSS URL designation method is performed, for example, as follows. Here, a case of “get” will be described as a method applied to the resource.
http: //hostname/web/guest/en/webdocbox/faxDocListPage.cgi? xml = rss2.0
(1) Communication protocol Specify one of the following two. However, depending on the setting status of the device, communication may not be possible with the specified protocol. Details are described in the Acacia functional specifications.
-Http: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
Http: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Security (HTTPS). The route is encrypted by SSL.
(2) User profile Specify one of the following two. Details are described below.
・ Guest: Guest mode. This is used when setting for not performing personal authentication.
・ Entry: Authentication mode. Used for personal authentication settings or when logging in as an administrator.
(3) Language Language used for display. Only selectable languages can be specified, and usually depends on the languages that can be selected on the operation unit of the apparatus main body.
(4) Function Path of each function. For example, webdocbox can be used for stored documents, and webfax can be used for communication history.
(5) RSS version Specify the RSS version from one of the following. The versions supported by each function are described below.
・ Rss1.0: RSS1.0
・ Rss0.91: RSS0.91
・ Rss2.0: RSS2.0
・ Atom: Atom

In addition, a portion related to RSS / HTML switching in the LAN transmission control unit 13 of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
The LAN transmission control unit 13 includes a request analysis unit 131, a distribution unit 132, an XML generation unit 133, and an HTML generation unit 134.

The request analysis unit 131 analyzes a request from a client. The distribution unit (dispatcher) 132 distributes the analyzed requests. The XML (RSS) generation unit 133 and the HTML generation unit 134 generate actual response data, respectively.
The URL specified by the client is determined by the request analysis unit 131 and distributed by the distribution unit (dispatcher) 132. If the request is RSS, the request is distributed to the XML (RSS) generation unit 133. If the request is HTML, the request is distributed to the HTML generation unit.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the device information can be output in the RSS format which is the standard XML format or the conventional HTML format, it is possible to cope with various client tools.

  In the present embodiment, it is also possible to generate an RSS feed URL for each function of the device. FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically showing an RSS feed URL by application type. As shown in FIG. 22, for example, by narrowing down by file name, it is possible to output information with narrowed contents.

As a result, URL generation can be performed in units of functions in the same processing as in the flowchart for selecting information that can be acquired according to the protocol type of the transfer destination described in FIG.
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an RSS information response based on a request type using a URL.

  First, when a request from a client is received, URL analysis is performed (step S101). Then, it is determined which function is requested by referring to this URL. As a result of the analysis, it is determined whether the URL is a URL to be supported (step S102). If the URL is not supported (step S102 / No), an error message “404 Not Found” is returned to the client (step S110).

  If the URL is a support target (step S102 / Yes), it is further determined whether the URL is a URL for acquiring all data (step S103). When it is determined that the URL is for acquiring all data (step S103 / Yes), after all the data is extracted (step S111), the process proceeds to step S108 for generating XML data for response.

  On the other hand, if the URL is not for acquiring all data (step S103 / No), the type of protocol to be acquired is determined (step S104). Here, it is assumed that the protocol in the support URL is set to support FTP, SMB, and HTTP.

  Each data is extracted according to the protocol determined in step S104. That is, when the protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol), FTP data is extracted (step S105). When the protocol is SMB (Server Message Block), SBM data is extracted (step S106). HTTP data is extracted (step S107).

  After extracting data corresponding to each protocol type in this way, XML data for response is generated (step S108), and the response data is transmitted to the client (step S109).

  Note that supported URLs are determined according to the example of FIG. 22 described above, for example. For example, if there is only information on a received fax document, the URL is faxDocListPag.rss. It is also possible to prepare a URL for returning all information.

  In the past, since only predetermined contents were returned, it was impossible to specify the details of response data. However, according to the present embodiment, device information can be output in units of functions, so that various client tools can be supported.

A sample of the RSS format is shown in FIG. FIG. 14 shows the description of each element used here. FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing the RSS feed specification.
In the present embodiment, the function is realized using an enclosing element instead of a link element.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the exchange between the network communication device (server) and the client software (RSS aggregator).
As shown in FIG. 3, the client side requests an information acquisition request using HTTP GET (or POST). In response to this, the server side returns an RSS file (XML data) as a response. At this time, the XML data is displayed on the client software as shown in FIG.

  The URL described in the link element is displayed by clicking on the client side. As this display example, for example, an HTML page is displayed as shown in FIG. This operation corresponds to the click of the link in FIG. By first obtaining link destination information and then clicking on a link, a new HTTP request is generated and information is obtained.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the exchange between the client and the server when the enclosing element is used instead of the link element.
Since the URL of the file is described in the enclosure element, the client software (such as an RSS aggregator) automatically interprets the URL and sends a request. Also,
If the URL is different from the protocol and the file is actually retrieved, the download is performed using the protocol.
FIG. 15 shows how to use the link element in the enclose element and the item element. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the proper use of link information / file attachment information.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the information for downloading the received fax document is mapped to the RSS format, which is the standard XML format. Therefore, the client tool automatically sets the file storage location without human intervention. Can know and download automatically.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation for setting an RSS feed (enclosure element) of download information.
When memory transfer is performed, the memory transfer destination is stored in the communication history information. An example of the storage location of the destination is the parameter memory 3 in FIG.

  First, it is confirmed whether there is a request for acquisition of a fax accumulated received document from the client, that is, whether there is an RSS request (step S201). If there is an RSS request (step S201 / Yes), feed information generation processing is performed. If there is no request (step S201 / No), the process waits until the request can be confirmed.

  Next, it is confirmed whether there is a storage such as an HDD on the client side (step S202). If there is no HDD (step S202 / No), the communication history information is acquired from the parameter memory 3, and it is confirmed whether the memory transfer is performed from the history information (step S203). At this time, the destination (protocol and address) of the memory transfer destination is acquired from the property information in the history information (step S204).

  Next, it is confirmed whether or not the memory transfer destination is a folder destination (step S205). If the transfer destination is a folder destination (step S205 / Yes), a file download URL is generated (step S206). For example, in the case of FTP, it becomes ftp: //hostname/web/fax20060120.tif. The generated URL information is set in the enclosing element in FIG. 13, which is a sample diagram of the RSS format (step S207).

  For the item link element, a URL for browsing the Web page of the fax storage document of the device from the browser is generated (step S208), and the generated URL is set in the link element (step S209). Also, other necessary RSS feed data is set to generate XML data for response (step S210), and is transmitted to the client (step S211).

  It should be noted that if there is an HDD in the above-described step S202 (step S202 / No), if no memory transfer is performed in the above-described step S203 (step S203 / No), or if the memory transfer is performed in the above-described step S205. When the destination is not a folder (step S205 / No), nothing is set in the enclose element, and normal processing is also performed on the link element.

  However, if there is an access restriction such as a password assigned to the folder destination, nothing can be set in the enclosure element. In this case, the URL of the guidance Web page indicating that nothing is set in the enclosure element can be included in the link element.

  In the conventional network communication apparatus, if there is no internal storage such as an HDD, the received fax received document cannot be held. For this reason, there is a problem that the received document cannot be downloaded via a browser. However, according to the present embodiment, the received fax image is transferred to another PC or the like using the memory transfer function, so that the address (URL) of the transfer destination is an attached file in the RSS format which is the standard XML format. Since the fax accumulated received document information is output as information, the client tool can automatically download the file even in a device without a storage such as an HDD.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of setting an RSS feed (link element) of download information.
When memory transfer is performed, the memory transfer destination is stored in the communication history information. An example of the storage location of the destination is the parameter memory 3 in FIG.

  First, it is confirmed whether there is a request for acquisition of a fax accumulated received document from the client, that is, whether there is an RSS request (step S301). When there is an RSS request (step S301 / Yes), feed information generation processing is performed. If there is no request (step S301 / No), the process waits until the request can be confirmed.

  Next, it is confirmed whether there is a storage such as an HDD on the client side (step S302). If there is no HDD here (step S302 / No), the communication history information is acquired from the parameter memory 3, and it is confirmed whether the memory transfer has been performed from the history information (step S303). At this time, the destination (protocol and address) of the memory transfer destination is acquired from the property information in the history information (step S304).

  Next, it is confirmed whether or not the memory transfer destination is a folder destination (step S305). If the transfer destination is a folder destination (step S305 / Yes), a file download URL is generated (step S306). For example, in the case of FTP, it becomes ftp: //hostname/web/fax20060120.tif. The generated URL information is set in the link element in FIG. 13, which is a sample diagram of the RSS format (step S307). Further, other necessary RSS feed data is set to generate XML data for response (step S308), and is transmitted to the client (step S309).

  It should be noted that if there is an HDD in the above-described step S302 (step S302 / No), if memory transfer is not performed in the above-described step S303 (step S303 / No), or if memory transfer is performed in the above-described step S305. If the destination is not a folder (step S305 / No), a URL for browsing the Web page of the fax accumulated document of the device from the browser is generated (step S310), and normal processing is also performed on the link element.

  However, if there is an access restriction such as a password assigned to the folder destination, nothing can be set in the link element. In this case, it is also possible to put the URL of the guidance WebPage indicating that nothing is set in the link element in the item element.

Conventionally, there is a problem that when a destination transferred to a memory cannot be accessed (for example, it takes a long time to reach the destination or there is no access right), automatic download cannot be performed and an error may occur. In addition, there is a problem that a dedicated client is required to automatically download using the attached file information. However, according to the present embodiment, when the received fax image is transferred to another PC or the like using the memory transfer function, the transfer destination address (URL) is not the attached file information in the RSS format which is the standard XML format. In addition, since it is included only in the link information, it can be picked up by a user operation, and can also be downloaded by a general-purpose RSS reader, so that a dedicated client for downloading is not required.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of setting an RSS feed (an closure / link element) of download information.
When memory transfer is performed, the memory transfer destination is stored in the communication history information. In addition, the parameter memory 3 is mentioned as a storage location of this destination.

  First, it is confirmed whether there is a request for acquisition of a fax accumulated received document from the client, that is, whether there is an RSS request (step S401). If there is an RSS request (step S401 / Yes), feed information generation processing is performed. If there is no request (step S401 / No), the process waits until the request can be confirmed.

  Next, it is confirmed whether there is a storage such as an HDD on the client side (step S402). If there is no HDD (step S402 / No), the communication history information is acquired from the parameter memory 3, and it is confirmed whether the memory transfer is performed from the history information (step S403). At this time, the destination (protocol and address) of the memory transfer destination is acquired from the property information in the history information (step S404).

  Next, it is confirmed whether or not the memory transfer destination is a folder destination (step S405). If the transfer destination is a folder destination (step S405 / Yes), a file download URL is generated (step S406). For example, in the case of FTP, it becomes ftp: //hostname/web/fax20060120.tif. The generated URL information is set in the enclose element in FIG. 13 which is a sample diagram of the RSS format (step S407), and further set in the link element of the item (step S408). As the value set at this time, the enclose element and the link element are set to the same value. Further, other necessary RSS feed data is set, XML data for response is created (step S409), and transmitted to the client (step S410).

  It should be noted that when there is an HDD at the above-described step S402 (step S402 / No), when memory transfer is not performed at the above-described step S403 (step S403 / No), or when memory transfer is performed at the above-described step S405. If the destination is not a folder (step S405 / No), nothing is set in the enclosing element. For the link element, a URL for browsing the Web page of the fax storage document of the device from the browser is generated (step S411), and the generated URL is set in the link element (step S412).

  However, if there is an access restriction such as a password assigned to the folder destination, nothing can be set in the enclosure element. In this case, the URL of the guidance Web page indicating that nothing is set in the enclosure element can be included in the link element.

  As described above, conventionally, there is a problem that whether or not the data is downloaded may depend on the specifications of the client tool. However, according to the present embodiment, the received fax image is transmitted using the memory transfer function. Since the address (URL) of the transfer destination when transferred to another PC or the like is included in both the attachment file information and link information in the RSS format which is the standard XML format, a plurality of downloading methods can be provided.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, it is also possible to generate an RSS feed URL for each protocol for which memory transfer has been performed.
FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing an RSS feed URL according to a protocol type. As shown in FIG. 11, for example, information with narrowed contents can be output by dividing the file name.

  As a result, URL generation can be performed in units of functions in the same process as the flowchart for selecting information that can be acquired according to the transfer destination protocol type described above with reference to FIG. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 20, when the request from the client is matched, the type of request is determined with reference to the URL. The URL supported at this time is determined according to the example shown in FIG. For example, if only FTP information is used, the URL is faxDocListPag.rss. A URL for returning all information is also prepared.

  Conventionally, when the destinations transferred to the memory are of various protocols, there is a problem that the communication protocol must be switched each time, since the client side cannot perform all at the time of downloading. However, according to the present embodiment, the transfer destination address (URL) when the received fax image is transferred to another PC or the like using the memory transfer function is collected in the RSS format which is the standard XML format for each protocol. Since the feed is generated, information for each type can be easily obtained, and the impossibility on the client side can be reduced.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing an RSS feed URL according to a request type. As shown in FIG. 12, for example, by specifying with a GET parameter (REST (Representational State Transfer) I / F), it is possible to output information with narrowed contents.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an RSS information response based on the request type using the REST I / F.

  First, when a request from a client is received, URL analysis is performed (step S401). The URL is checked to see if there is a GET argument (step S402). When there is a GET argument in the URL (step S402 / Yes), the parameter is analyzed by looking at the GET argument to determine which type of request is made (step S403).

  After analyzing the GET parameters in this way, it is determined whether the URL is a supported protocol (step S404). If the URL (parameter) is not supported here (step S404 / No), empty data is created (step S411) and returned to the client. If the argument is omitted, all values are returned.

  If the URL is a support target (step S402 / Yes), the type of protocol to be acquired is determined (step S405). Here, it is assumed that the protocol in the support URL is set to support FTP, SMB, and HTTP. Then, each data is extracted according to the protocol determined in step S405. That is, when the protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol), FTP data is extracted (step S406). When the protocol is SMB (Server Message Block), SBM data is extracted (step S407). HTTP data is extracted from (step S408).

  After extracting data corresponding to each protocol type in this way, XML data for response is generated (step S409), and this response data is transmitted to the client (step S410).

  Note that the supported URLs are determined according to the example of FIG. 12 described above, for example. For example, if only FTP information is used, the URL is faxDocListPag.rss. A URL for returning all information is also prepared.

  Conventionally, when the destinations transferred in memory are various protocols, there is a problem that the RSS URL is divided for each type and management is difficult. However, according to the present embodiment, when the received fax image is transferred to another PC or the like using the memory transfer function, the transfer destination address (URL) is obtained in the standard XML format for each protocol. By narrowing down and filtering using the I / F, it is possible to use only one RSS feed URL.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a case where the setting of the download information to the RSS feed is determined based on information related to the operation unit (SW).

  When memory transfer is performed at the time of fax reception or the like, the transfer destination is stored in the communication history information. An example of the storage location is the parameter memory 3. The SW information set by the operation unit is also stored in the parameter memory 3. The SW setting for selecting which of the link information (link element) and the attached file information (enclosure element) is to be set can be set from the operation panel of the device, the Web browser, or the like.

  First, when there is an RSS request from the client, when the fax communication history information is acquired from the parameter memory 3, it is confirmed whether there is a folder address at the memory transfer destination (step S601). This can be achieved by acquiring the destination (protocol or address) of the memory transfer destination from the property information of the history information when the memory transfer is performed when the history information is acquired.

  If the destination is a file transfer destination, that is, if a folder address exists at the transfer destination (step S601 / Yes), a file download URL is generated (step S602). For example, in the case of FTP, the generated URL is ftp: //hostname/web/fax20060120.tif.

  Next, SW information as an operation unit is acquired from the parameter memory 3 (step S603). Then, it is confirmed whether or not the acquired SW value is set to be output to the link element (step S604). If the SW value is set in the link element (step S604 / Yes), the file download URL is set in the item link element (step S605). At this time, nothing is set in the enclosure element.

  On the other hand, if the SW value is not output to the link element, that is, if the SW value is set in the enclosing element (step S604 / No), the URL for file download is set in the enclosing element (step S606). ). Then, for the link element, a URL for browsing the Web page of the fax accumulated received document of the device from the browser is generated (step S607), and the generated URL is set (step S608). In this set, for example, the value is set in an enclosing element as shown in FIG. 13 or an item link element.

  Then, other necessary RSS feed data is set, response XML data is generated (step S609), and the response data is transmitted to the client (step S610).

  If the memory transfer destination is not folder transfer, that is, if the memory transfer destination does not have a folder address (step S601 / No), nothing is set in the enclosure element, and the device stores the fax in the link element. The process proceeds to step S607 for generating a URL for browsing the Web page of the received document from the browser.

  However, if there is an access restriction such as a password assigned to the folder destination, nothing can be set in the enclosure element. In this case, the URL of the guidance Web page indicating that nothing is set in the enclosure element can be included in the link element.

  Conventionally, when memory transfer is performed, the transfer destination is returned in both the RSS format link information and the attached file information, but there is a problem that it is not possible to select the output destination. However, according to the present embodiment, when the received fax image is transferred to another PC or the like using the memory transfer function, the transfer destination address (URL) is distributed in the RSS format of the standard XML format. Since it is possible to select whether information is included in the information or the link information, the user's freedom of choice increases according to the specifications of the client, and convenience is improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, information on the viewer software for browsing the information can be included at the same time when the fax accumulated received document information is output in the RSS format which is the standard XML format.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an operation of notifying the location of viewer software for browsing a download file. That is, the file type of the file transmitted to the memory transfer destination is acquired from the property information of the history information. In the case of a file type that supports viewer software, a URL indicating the location of the viewer software corresponding to the table shown in FIG. 17 is generated. The table data as shown in FIG. 17 is stored in the parameter memory 3. This setting can be set from a panel of a device such as an operation unit (SW) or a Web browser.

  First, the attribute information of the downloaded file is acquired (step S701). Next, it is confirmed from the acquired attribute information whether this file is a file type (type) that supports the viewer software (step S702). If the file type is supported (step S702 / Yes), the file type is determined (step S703).

  Here, the URL indicating the location of the corresponding viewer software is generated according to the determined file type. That is, when the file type is PDF, a download URL for PDF viewer software is generated (step S704). When the file type is TIFF, a download URL for viewer software for TIFF is generated (step S705). Furthermore, in the case of JPEG, a URL for downloading the viewer software for JPEG is generated (step S706).

The URL indicating the location of the viewer software generated in this way is set in a link element or an enclosure element as shown in FIG. 16 (step S707). Finally, response data is transmitted (step S708). If the file type is not supported (step S702 / No), no value is set.

  Conventionally, when downloading a fax received document, the user operated it via a browser, but there was a problem that the viewer software for opening the file had to be found and installed by itself. . Therefore, in the case of an unknown file format, even if the file was downloaded, it could not be opened and the contents could be viewed. However, according to the present embodiment, the information stored in the viewer software for viewing at the same time that the fax accumulated received document information is output in the RSS format, which is the standard XML format, is included, so that the file downloaded by the user can be opened.

  The network communication device, the network communication device control method, the network communication device control program, and the recording medium of the present embodiment can be applied to an Internet communication device.

It is a figure which shows an example of the communication system using the network communication apparatus of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the network communication apparatus FX of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the exchange between the network communication apparatus at the time of using a link element and client software. It is a figure which shows exchanges between a network communication apparatus and client software at the time of using an enclosing element. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in the RSS aggregator of XML data. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in the RSS aggregator of HTML data. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which sets the RSS feed (enclosure element) of download information. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which sets the RSS feed (link element) of download information. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which sets the RSS feed (an closure / link element) of download information. It is a flowchart which shows the RSS information response by the request classification using REST I / F. It is a figure which shows typically URL of the RSS feed by a protocol classification. It is a figure which shows typically URL (REST I / F) of the RSS feed by a request classification. It is a sample figure of RSS format. It is a figure which shows the specification of RSS feed. It is a figure which shows the usage of link information and file attachment information. It is a sample figure which shows the specification method of viewer information. It is a figure which shows an example of the viewer corresponding to a file type. It is a flowchart which shows the case where the setting to the RSS feed of download information is determined by the information which concerns on an operation part (SW). It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which notifies the location of the viewer software for browsing a download file. It is a flowchart which shows the case where the setting to the RSS feed of download information is determined with a request classification. It is a block diagram which shows typically the structure which concerns on switching of RSS / HTML. It is a figure which shows typically URL of the RSS feed by application classification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System control part 2 System memory 3 Parameter memory 4 Clock circuit 5 Scanner 6 Plotter 7 Operation display part 8 Encoding / decoding part 9 Image storage part 10 G3 FAX modem 11 Network control part 12 LAN I / F
13 LAN transmission controller 14 Bus

Claims (12)

A network communication device including a FAX communication means connected to the public network to send and receive image data, a network communication unit connected to the network for transmitting and receiving data with the client terminal, and
Analyzing means for analyzing the request received from the client terminal ;
Based on the analysis result of the analysis means, a distribution means for distributing whether the request received from the client terminal is a request from an HTML client application or a request from an RSS client application ;
HTML data generating means for generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application;
RSS data generation means for generating RSS data related to the image data based on a request from the RSS client application ;
And returning means for returning the previous Symbol HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal,
Means for transferring image data received by the FAX communication means to another device,
When the image data is transferred to another device, the RSS data generation means includes the RSS data including the transfer destination information of the image data in the attached file information of the RSS data, and the protocol of the transfer destination of the image data A network communication device generated for each network. A network communication apparatus comprising: a FAX communication unit that is connected to a public line network and transmits / receives image data; and a network communication unit that is connected to a network and transmits / receives data to / from a client terminal ,
Analyzing means for analyzing the request received from the client terminal;
Based on the analysis result of the analysis means, a distribution means for distributing whether the request received from the client terminal is a request from an HTML client application or a request from an RSS client application;
HTML data generating means for generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application;
RSS data generation means for generating RSS data related to the image data based on a request from the RSS client application;
A reply means for returning the HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal;
Means for transferring image data received by the FAX communication means to another device,
When the image data is transferred to another device, the RSS data generation means includes the RSS data including the transfer destination information of the image data in the attached file information of the RSS data in a request from the RSS client application. features and to Rene Ttowaku communication device that generated for the image data transfer destination protocol specified in REST interface included. The RSS data generating means, the network communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the benzalkonium generates the RSS data for each function of the network communication device. The RSS data generating means, the network communication according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that generating the RSS data including destination information of the image data in the link information of the RSS data apparatus. The RSS data generating means any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that generating the RSS data addresses of browsable application included in the link information or text information of the RSS data the image data The network communication device according to claim 1. A FAX communication process is connected to a public network to send and receive image data, a method of controlling a network communication apparatus having a network communication process, the transmitting and receiving data is connected to a network and client terminals,
An analysis step of analyzing the request received from the client terminal ;
Based on the analysis result of the analysis step, a distribution step of distributing whether the request received from the client terminal is a request from an HTML client application or a request from an RSS client application ;
An HTML data generation step of generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application;
An RSS data generation step of generating RSS data related to the image data based on a request from the RSS client application ;
And the reply process for returning the previous Symbol HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal,
A transfer step of transferring the image data received in the FAX communication step to another device,
In the RSS data generation step, when the image data is transferred to another device, the RSS data including the transfer destination information of the image data in the attached file information of the RSS data is included in the protocol of the transfer destination of the image data. A method for controlling a network communication device, characterized in that the network communication device is generated every time . A network communication apparatus control method comprising: a FAX communication step for transmitting and receiving image data connected to a public line network; and a network communication step for transmitting and receiving data to and from a client terminal connected to the network,
An analysis step of analyzing the request received from the client terminal;
Based on the analysis result of the analysis step, a distribution step of distributing whether the request received from the client terminal is a request from an HTML client application or a request from an RSS client application;
An HTML data generation step of generating HTML data related to the image data based on a request from the HTML client application;
An RSS data generation step of generating RSS data related to the image data based on a request from the RSS client application;
A reply process of returning the HTML data or the RSS data to the client terminal;
A transfer step of transferring the image data received in the FAX communication step to another device,
In the RSS data generation step, when the image data is transferred to another device, the RSS data including the transfer destination information of the image data in the attached file information of the RSS data is included in a request from the RSS client application. A method for controlling a network communication apparatus, comprising: generating a transfer destination protocol of the image data specified by an included REST interface. The RSS data generating process, the control method of the network communication apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein Rukoto forming raw said RSS data for each function of the network communication device. The RSS data generating process, the network communication device of any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that to generate the RSS data including destination information of the image data in the link information of the RSS data Control method. The RSS data generating step, claim 6, characterized in that generating the RSS data addresses of browsable application included in the link information or text information of the RSS data the image data 9 A method for controlling a network communication apparatus according to claim 1. Set forth in any one control program for processing the Rene Ttowaku communication device to execute the network communication device in each step in the control method of the network communication device of claims 6 10. A computer-readable recording medium on which a control program for a network communication device according to claim 11 is recorded.

Images