JP2000207341A - Network device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To omit time-and-labor without making a user pay attention to reactivating operation and prevent the user from forgetting reactivation after the change of settings by automatically reactivating the network interface when the settings of the network interface are changed. SOLUTION: A CPU 8 controls I/Os other than the I/O of an image forming device which is connected outside. When the network interface(I/F) 4 is activated, its setting information is reported to the CPU 8. The CPU 8 holds the setting information reported from the network I/F 4. When a set value is changed from an operation part 22, the CPU 8 rewrites the set value held inside, reports the setting information to the network I/F 4, and also indicates that the I/F 4 needs to be reactivated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a network device such as a digital copier which can be connected to a network, and a control method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, networking has become possible for various digital devices, and digital devices are becoming network devices. For example, a system has been developed in which various interface devices including a network interface are connected to a digital copying machine, and image data transmitted from a host computer can be output via the network interface. It can be said that the networking of digital devices such as digital copying machines has greatly improved the convenience of digital devices.

[0003]

However, setting of the network interface requires specialized knowledge, which is difficult for general users. Further, the change of the normal setting value of the network interface becomes effective by restarting the device having the same. Therefore, if the network device is used at the time of the setting change, for example, if the network device is used via an interface (parallel interface or the like) other than the interface whose setting has been changed, interruption of processing due to restart or data loss In order to avoid this, a restart will be performed when it is not being used. For that purpose, the operator has to go to the network device again after changing the setting. Also, it often happens that the user forgets to restart and the changed settings are not used.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in a network device, when a setting of a network interface is changed, the setting is automatically performed only when the change is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide a network device and a control method for preventing a user from forgetting to restart after a setting change by restarting the network interface so that the user does not have to be conscious of the restart operation and to avoid forgetting to restart. . It is still another object of the present invention to provide a network device and a control method thereof by restarting only the network interface so as not to affect the processing even if some processing is performed without using the network interface. .

In order to achieve the above object, a network device according to the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a network device connected to a network, which is capable of setting setting information, an interface means for connecting to the network, an input means for performing input, and a setting value of the interface means for setting the input value. And setting means for setting the information as setting information. When setting information having a value different from the setting information currently set in the interface means is set by the setting means, the interface means is restarted.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises display means, wherein the setting means further has a function of reading setting information from the interface device, and displays the read setting information on the display means.

Preferably, the setting means reads setting information from the interface means when the network device is activated.

Preferably, the setting means reads the setting information from the interface means when the setting of the setting information to the interface means is designated by the input means.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises receiving means for receiving image data from a network connected by the interface means, and output means for outputting an image based on the received image data.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

First Embodiment First, as a network device, an image processing apparatus having a network interface such as a LAN adapter connected to an image forming apparatus of a laser beam system or the like will be described with reference to FIG. The host computer 2 connects the network interface (I / I /
F) The image processing apparatus 1 is connected via 4. The image forming apparatus 21 is connected to the image processing apparatus 1 via the engine interface 19 by an interface cable 20. In this example, the image forming apparatus 21 is connected to the outside of the image processing apparatus 1, but the same applies to a case where the image forming apparatus 21 is built in the same housing as a digital copying machine.

The first CPU 8 controls I / O of an externally connected image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus.
The first CPU bus 5 includes a network I / F 4 serving as an interface with the host computer 2, a parallel interface 23 for connecting to other devices via parallel communication, a program memory 9, and an I / O bus 11.
An I / O bus controller 10 for controlling the power supply is connected. Also, the second CPU of the second CPU 16
A bus controller 7 is also connected so that it can be connected to the bus 6. The second CPU 16 will be described later. I /
The O bus controller 10 controls general-purpose I / O such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive 12, a hard disk drive 13, an LCD controller 14, and an operation unit 22 connected to the I / O bus 11.

The second CPU 16 controls the image forming apparatus 21 connected to the image processing apparatus 1 and further develops image data stored in the frame memory 15. The second memory 17 is a program memory, and a control program is loaded from the hard disk drive 13 via the bus controller 7 when the power is turned on. The memory 17 is also used for communication with the first CPU 8. An engine interface 19 is connected to the second CPU bus 6, and controls the image forming apparatus 21 while performing various settings. The video bus 18 is a bus dedicated to images. The image data developed by the second CPU 16 and stored in the frame memory 15 is sent to the engine interface 19 through the video bus 18 and further sent to the image forming apparatus 21.

Next, a process for setting and referring to interface setting values from the operation unit will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, a network interface is taken as an example of the interface. FIG. 2 shows an outline of a process when the set value is changed, and FIG. 3 shows an outline of a case where only the set value is referred to.

First, when the network interface is activated, its own setting information is notified to the controller (FIGS. 2A and 3A). The controller holds the setting information notified from the network interface 4 and uses this value when the setting value is changed or referred from the operation unit. When the setting value is changed in FIG. 2, the controller rewrites the setting value stored therein (FIG. 2B), notifies the network interface of the setting information, and restarts the interface. (FIG. 2C).
Further, in FIG. 3, when the setting value is referred to but not changed, the setting information is notified to the network interface (FIG. 3B), and the restart of the interface is not required (FIG. 3B). (C)).

The controller refers to a subsystem including the CPU 8 for controlling the external interfaces 4 and 23 with the bus controller 7 interposed therebetween. The setting information is information for setting various communication parameters stored in a rewritable nonvolatile memory or the like of the network interface. For example, if Ethernet (registered trademark) is used as a so-called data link layer protocol, a line type, an Ethernet address, an I / O port, an IRQ, and the like are set. Further, higher-level setting information such as TCP / IP or SPX / IPX can be provided by the network interface. For example, in the case of TCP / IP, whether or not a DHCP server is used, and if necessary, the IP
An address is set.

Next, an overview of an input screen of the operation unit 22 when setting an interface will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 shows an initial screen for setting a network interface. Here, the config print 40
When a desired button is selected from 1, password input 402, and network setting 403 and the [OK] button is pressed, the selected function is executed. Press [↑] to return to the previous screen. Hereinafter, the same applies to other screens.
[Config print] 401 prints a list of current network interface setting values. As a result, it is possible to refer to the setting value of the network interface without knowing the password described later.

[Password input] 402 is for restricting the setting of the network interface. If a password is set, [Network Setting] 403 is grayed out and cannot be selected. When [Password input] 402 is selected, a password input screen (not shown) is displayed. Then, when a correct password is input, [network setting] 403 can be selected.

[Network setting] 403 displays a screen for actually setting a network interface.

FIG. 5 shows a screen for setting a network interface. [Password change] 501 is for changing a password for entering the network interface setting screen described above. [Initialize network setting] 502 is for returning each set value of the network interface to the factory default value. Hereinafter, [Network] 503, [TCP / I
When [P] 504 is selected, a setting screen for each protocol is displayed. By pressing [△] 505 and [▽] 506, a setting screen of another protocol supported by the network interface 4 can be selected (not shown).

When all settings are completed, the screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and printing can be performed. If the network interface is not in a state in which the setting can be changed when [Network setting] 403 in FIG. 4 is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed, and a notification that the setting of the network interface is currently impossible is provided. Even in that case, it is possible to change and refer to the output and the set value from another interface.

Next, the flow of processing when setting and referring to interface setting values from the operation unit will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows C when the setting information is changed or referred to the network interface.
The flowchart of the processing executed by the PU 8, that is, the controller described above, is shown. The operator inputs the identifier of the network interface for referring to or changing the setting information from the operation unit 22. After this,
The procedure of FIG. 8 is started.

First, in step S801, it is checked whether an interface to be set currently exists. If no such interface exists,
In step S804, the user is notified that the setting cannot be changed or referenced, and the processing ends. If a corresponding interface exists in S801, it is checked in S802 whether the interface has notified the controller of setting information. If the setting information has not been notified, as in the case where the corresponding interface does not exist, in S804, it is notified that the setting cannot be changed or referred to, and the processing ends.

If the interface setting information has been notified in step S802, the setting change / reference by the user is accepted in step S803. After the setting change / reference by the user is completed, it is checked in S805 whether the setting value has been changed. If the setting value has been changed, the interface is notified in S806 that restart is necessary. If the setting value has not been changed in S805, the interface is notified in S807 that restart is not necessary. Then, in step S808, the setting information stored in the controller is notified to the interface, and the processing ends. The notification of the restart may be performed by sending a reset instruction to the network interface after the notification of the set value.

As described above, when the value of the setting information of the network interface is changed, the changed value is automatically set in the network interface, and only the network interface is restarted. Therefore, the change of the setting information of the network interface can be made effective without affecting other interfaces even if other processing is in progress.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the setting information of the network interface is notified to the controller when the interface is activated, and is held by the controller until a change is made thereafter. Although the setting information is used, in the present embodiment, the setting information is acquired from the interface when the user attempts to change or refer to the setting. As a result, even if the interface settings are changed by other means,
The set values displayed on the operation unit can be updated.

Referring to FIG. 9, a description will be given of a processing flow in the case where the setting information is sequentially acquired when setting and referring to the setting value of the interface from the operation unit. FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a process for acquiring setting information when the user attempts to change or refer to the setting of the interface.

In step S901, it is checked whether an interface to be set currently exists. If there is no corresponding interface, S9
At 05, it is notified that the setting cannot be changed or referred to, and the processing ends. If a corresponding interface exists in step S901, interface setting information is acquired in step S902. Subsequently, in S903, it is confirmed whether the setting information has been obtained from the interface. If the setting information cannot be obtained, as in the case where the corresponding interface does not exist, in S905, it is notified that the setting cannot be changed or referred to, and the processing ends. If the interface setting information has been acquired in step S903, a setting change / reference by the user is accepted in step S904. After the setting change / reference by the user is completed, it is checked in S906 whether the setting value has been changed. If the set value has been changed, the interface is notified in S907 that restart is necessary. If the setting value has not been changed in S906, the interface is notified in S908 that restart is not necessary. Then, in S909,
The setting information held by the controller is notified to the interface, and the processing ends.

According to the above procedure, similarly to the first embodiment, when the value of the setting information of the network interface is changed, the changed value is automatically set in the network interface. Only restart is performed. Therefore, the change of the setting information of the network interface can be made effective without affecting other interfaces even if other processing is in progress.

Further, the latest value can be used as setting information to be referred to or changed.

Although only the network interface has been described here, the same processing is performed on other interfaces such as a parallel interface and a serial interface so that the update of the setting information of each interface does not affect the others. It can be reflected reliably.

[0033]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a system or an apparatus with a storage medium storing the program code of FIG. 8 or FIG. Alternatively, the present invention is also achieved when a CPU or an MPU reads and executes a program code stored in a storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, The case where the CPU of the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the print system connected to the image forming apparatus, the setting of the network interface is changed when the setting value of the network board is viewed and changed from the operation panel. Then, when exiting from the setting screen, the network interface is automatically restarted. If the setting is not changed, the network interface is not restarted. A change in the value is checked by the system, and the user is not conscious of the restart operation. This saves the user time and troubles of forgetting to restart after the setting change. Also, at this time, by restarting only the network interface, it is possible to prevent loss of data using the other interface without affecting other interfaces (Centro, RS-232C).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a processing flow when an interface setting value is changed from an operation unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a processing flow when setting values of an interface are referred to from an operation unit;

FIG. 4 is an overview of an input screen of an operation unit when setting an interface (1).

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an input screen of an operation unit when setting an interface (2).

FIG. 6 is an outline view of an input screen of an operation unit when setting an interface (3).

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an input screen of an operation unit when setting an interface (4).

FIG. 8: Change setting value of interface from operation unit
Flowchart of the flow of processing when referencing

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a processing flow in a case where setting information is acquired when a setting value of an interface is changed.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A network device connected to an external device, wherein an interface means for setting setting information for connecting to the external device, an input means for inputting, and the input value Setting means for setting as setting information of the interface means, wherein when setting information having a value different from the setting information currently set in the interface means is set by the setting means, the interface means is restarted. And network device. 2. The apparatus further comprising display means, wherein the setting means comprises:
The network device according to claim 1, further comprising a function of reading setting information from the interface means, wherein the read setting information is displayed by the display means. 3. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit reads setting information from the interface unit when the network device is activated. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit reads the setting information from the interface unit when the setting of the setting information to the interface unit is designated by the input unit. Network device. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving means for receiving image data from a network connected by said interface means; and output means for outputting an image based on the received image data. The network device according to any one of the above. 6. A method for controlling a network device having an interface means for connecting to an external device, wherein the setting information can be set, wherein a value set as the setting information of the interface means is inputted. A method for controlling a network device, comprising restarting an interface means. 7. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a program for controlling a network device having an interface unit for connecting to an external device, the setting unit being capable of setting setting information, wherein the program is used to set the interface unit. A storage medium for realizing a function of restarting the interface means when a value set as information is input.