JPH04367153A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the management of documents or communication by dividing the stored documents entered in a report into by the operation of an input device of the equipment and the one of a host device. CONSTITUTION:When a transmission command is received, the document stored in an HD 8 are transferred to the specified destination and the history of the communication is entered in a RAM 11. Next, whether it is the operation of a key pad 1 of the equipment or the operation from a host computer 14 is judged to end the preservation of the communication history. Then, when the output instruction of the communication management report is received from the key pad 1, the communication recording recorded in the RAM is printed. At this time, whether the communication is an instruction from the key pad 1 or the one from the host computer 14 is judged by printing it after reading it out from the RAM 11. Thus, the management of documents and communications can be simplified.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device having an interface with a host computer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, facsimile machines have been provided that print out memory reports that display document information stored in the machine and communication management reports that display communication history.

On the other hand, facsimile machines equipped with an interface with a host computer are known, but the description format on the memory report and communication management report is as follows.
These documents and communications were uniformly written without distinguishing whether they were generated by operations on the facsimile machine itself or by instructions from the host computer.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above conventional example, even if the memory report or communication management report is viewed, it is based on operations from the facsimile machine itself or instructions from the host computer. The disadvantage was that it was difficult to use because it was not possible to confirm whether the

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device that allows users to view a report and identify from which operation the displayed document or communication was based.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a communication device that has an interface with a host device and has a function of outputting a report displaying document information and/or communication history stored in the device itself. The present invention is characterized in that means is provided for distinguishing whether the accumulated documents or communication history written in the report is based on an operation from the input device of the own machine itself or an instruction from the host device.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This facsimile machine includes a keypad 1 for performing operations, a display device 2 for displaying various messages, an I/O controller 3 for controlling input/output between the keypad 1 and the display device 2, and a Cable for reading.
A scanner 4 consisting of a CD line sensor and an optical system, a printer 5 for outputting received documents, etc., an I/O controller 6 for controlling input and output of these scanner 4 and printer 5, and communication via a communication line network 15. a storage device (HD) 8 such as a hard disk that stores image data such as transmitted documents, and a storage device control section 9 that controls reading and writing of data to the HD 8;
A ROM 10 that stores each control program for executing each function of this facsimile machine, a RAM 11 used for processing image data, etc., a CPU 12 serving as a main control unit for controlling the entire facsimile machine, and a host computer 14. Interface driver 13 for connecting with
and has.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure for saving the communication history of the facsimile machine and creating a communication management report in this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the printing format of the communication management report in this embodiment. be.

[0010] This machine can transmit documents stored in advance in the HD 8 to other communication terminal devices via the communication network 15, and can also send instructions for this transmission from the keypad 1 of the machine or from the host computer 14. can be accepted by

In FIG. 2, when a transmission instruction is first received (S1), the document stored in the HD 8 is transmitted to the designated destination (S2).

[0012] When the transmission is completed (S3), the communication history is written into the RAM 11 of the machine (S4). In this embodiment, first, as a communication history, (1) transmission or reception, (2) G3 communication or G4 communication, and (2) communication start time and communication time are written.

Next, it is determined whether the operation was performed from the keypad 1 of the machine itself or from the host computer (S5), and which operation was performed is written (S6, S7). In this way, the communication history storage operation is completed.

After that, when an instruction to output the communication management report is received from keypad 1 (S8), R is pressed in S4 to S7 above.
The communication history written in the AM 11 is printed out one communication at a time as shown in FIG. 3 (S9). R1 in FIG. 3 is a legend of the report format, in which "MODE" indicates sending or receiving. For example, in R2, "SENDINGMA"
NUALLY” (transmission).Also, “G3/G4”
indicates G3 transmission or G4 transmission, and is "G3" for R3. Furthermore, “STARTINGTIME” indicates the time to start transmission, and in R4, “03-21 16:03”
(March 21st, 16:03). Also, “USAG
"E TIME" indicates the communication time, and in R5 "00
:56:09” (56 minutes 09 seconds).

[0015] When such printing is performed, whether the communication is based on an instruction from the keypad 1 of the machine or from the host computer 14 is stored in the RAM.
11 (S10), and only if it is the latter, for example, as shown in R3 ("G3/G4") above,
"*" is printed before "G3" (S11). Also,
If the transmission was made using keypad 1,
For example, as shown in R6, the "*" mark is not printed.

[0016] Then, the above printing is performed for the communications remaining in the history area, and the process ends (S12).

As explained above, according to this embodiment,
By looking at the communication management report, it is possible to check whether past communications that remain in the history were made by operations from this machine or by operations from the host computer 14. Become.

In the above embodiment, a communication management report has been explained as an example of report creation, but creation of a memory report can also be realized using the same procedure.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, in order to distinguish whether something has occurred due to an operation from the facsimile machine itself or an instruction from the host computer, a visual means is provided in the report based on the presence or absence of an asterisk (*). However, other visual methods such as creating a separate report may be used, or auditory means such as a buzzer sound when outputting a report may be used.

Further, in the above embodiments, a facsimile machine equipped with an interface with a host computer has been described, but other communication devices other than the facsimile machine,
For example, the present invention can be similarly applied to a personal computer having a data transmission function.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to easily know whether the document or communication was based on the operation of the own device or the operation of the host device, based on the report of the accumulated documents or communication history. It is possible to provide a convenient device for managing those documents and communications.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for saving communication history and creating a communication management report of the facsimile device in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a printing format of a communication management report in the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Keypad, 2...display device, 3, 6...I/O controller, 4...Scanner, 5...Printer, 7...Line control unit, 8...Storage device, 9...Storage device control unit, 10...ROM, 11...RAM, 12...CPU, 13...Interface driver, 14...Host computer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1. A communication device that has an interface with a host device and has a function of outputting a report displaying document information and/or communication history stored in the device, the storage information described in the report A communication device, characterized in that it is provided with means for distinguishing whether a document or a communication history is generated by an operation from an input device of the device itself or an instruction from the host device.