JP2000353140A - Device and method for managing network - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain network management device and method capable of easily changing an HTML document, its template or the like by preventing the increment of traffic between devices and the increment of load in each device and eliminating the necessity of managing the constitution of a set format object existing in a set page. SOLUTION: At the time of receiving a CGI request from a browser in order to change the set value (MIB information) of a network device 102 by a web browser 1031, a network management program 1052 reads out the MIB information from the target device 102 and prepares an HTML document in accordance with a prescribed template. In this case, settable MIB information is integrated into the document as two data, i.e., hidden type data and settable type data. After the end of setting, the browser 1031 transmits the hidden type data and the set data to a network management program 1052. The program 1052 compares the set data with the transmitted data and sets up the data of a different value in the device 102.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a network management apparatus and method for managing, for example, devices connected to a computer network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computers can be interconnected by a local area network (LAN). LANs can be interconnected for incorporation into larger systems, spanning a building floor or entire building, a group of buildings (premises), an area, or even a larger area, up to a global system. Each LAN may have a variety of hardware interconnect technologies and several network protocols.

[0003] A simple LAN separated from the others can be managed by individual users. That is, the user can replace a device, install software, or diagnose a problem.

On the other hand, large and complex LANs and large interconnected LAN groups require "management". "Management" means management by both a human network device administrator and the software used by that administrator. In this specification, "management" means management by software for managing the entire system, and "user" means a person who uses network device management software. This user is typically the system administrator. By using the network device management software, the user can obtain management data on the network and change this data.

[0005] Large-scale network systems are typically dynamic systems that require constant addition and removal of equipment, software updates, and problem detection.
Generally, there will be different systems owned by different people and supplied by different vendors.

Hereinafter, an example of a large-scale network requiring management will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a case where a network board (NB) 101 for connecting a printer to a network is connected to a printer 102 having an open architecture. NB 101 is an Ethernet having a coaxial connector on a local area network (LAN) 100.
10Ba with interface 10Base-2 and RJ-45
It is connected via a LAN interface such as se-T.

[0008] A plurality of personal computers (PCs) such as PCs 103 and 104 are also connected to the LAN 100, and these PCs can communicate with the NB 101 under the control of a network operating system. Therefore, one of the PCs, for example, the PC 103
Can be used for network device management. Further, a local printer such as the printer 105 connected to the PC 104 may be connected to the PC.

The LAN 100 has a file server 106
Is connected, and the file server 106 has a large-capacity (for example, 10 billion bytes) network disk 107.
Manage access to files stored in.

The print server 108 includes a plurality of connected printers 109 or a remote printer 105.
Printer. Further, other peripheral devices (not shown) may be connected to the LAN 100.

The LAN 100 has a Web server 1
50 is connected, an HTML (hypertext markup language) document generated by the network device management software installed on the Web server 150 is displayed using a Web browser installed on the PC 103,
The printer settings made on the above web browser are
It can also be transmitted to a specific printer via the network device management software on the server b.
The HTML document is document data in which the layout of a document, the definition of a file, the call of an external application, the description in a script language, and the like are represented by a predetermined character string called a tag.

More specifically, the network shown in FIG. 1 can use network software such as Novell or UNIX software to efficiently communicate between various network members. Although any network software can be used, for example, Novell NetWare (Novell registered trademark) software can be used. A detailed description of this software package can be found in the online documentation included with the NetWare package. It can be purchased from Novell with the NetWare package.

[0013] Briefly, the file server 106
Functions as a file management unit that receives, stores, queues, caches, and transmits files between LAN members. For example, a data file created by each of the PC 103 and the PC 104 is sent to the file server 106, and the file server 1
06 arranges these data files in order, and transmits the arranged data files to one of the printers 109 according to a command from the print server 108.

Each of the PC 103 and the PC 104 generates a data file, and transmits the generated data file to the LAN.
It is configured by a general PC capable of transmitting data to the LAN 100, receiving files from the LAN 100, and displaying and / or processing the files. Although a personal computer device is shown in FIG. 1, other computer devices may be included as appropriate to execute the network software. For example, if you are using UNIX software,
UNIX workstations may be included in the network, and these workstations may be used with the illustrated PC under appropriate circumstances.

Typically, a LAN, such as LAN 100, provides services to relatively local user groups, such as user groups on one floor or multiple consecutive floors in a building. For example, as one user moves away from another user, such as when the user is in another building or another prefecture,
Wide Area Network (WA)
N). The WAN basically provides several LANs over an integrated services digital network (Integer).
It is an aggregate formed by connecting with high-speed digital lines such as grated services digital network (ISDN). Therefore, as shown in FIG.
0, LAN 110, and LAN 120 are connected via a modem / transponder 130 and a backbone 140 to form a WAN.

Each LAN includes a dedicated PC,
Further, a file server and a print server may be included as necessary. As shown in FIG.
Are PC111, PC112, file server 113,
Network disk 114, print server 115,
And a printer 116. In contrast, LAN 120 has P
Only C121 and PC122 are included. LAN100, LA
The devices connected to the N110 and the LAN 120 can access the functions of the devices connected to other LANs via the WAN connection.

As a method for managing devices on a network constituting such a large-scale network system, several attempts have been made by many standard organizations so far. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has established Open System Interconnection,
A generic reference framework called the OSI) model was provided. OSI for Network Device Management Protocol
The model is based on the Common Management Information Protocol
t Information Protocol (CMIP). C
MIP is the European Common Network Device Management Protocol.

In recent years, a simple network device management protocol (Simple Network Management Protocol) has been used as a network device management protocol having higher commonality.
There is one variant of the protocol related to CMIP called protocol (SNMP). ("Introduction to TCP / IP Network Device Management Aiming at Practical Management", M.T.
Rose = Author / Takeshi Nishida = Translated by Toppan Corporation 1992
See the first edition on August 20, 2008).

According to the SNMP network device management technology, the network device management system includes:
At least one Network-Device Management Station (NMS),
Several managed nodes, each containing an agent,
And network device management protocols used by management stations and agents to exchange management information. The user can obtain data on the network and change the data by communicating with the agent software on the managed node using the network device management software on the NMS.

Here, the agent is software that runs as a background process for each target device. When a user requests management data from a device on the network, the management software sends the object identification information in a management packet or frame to the target agent. The agent interprets the object identification information, extracts data corresponding to the object identification information, puts the data in a packet, and sends it back to the user. Occasionally, a corresponding process is called to retrieve the data.

The agent holds management data relating to its own state in the form of a database. This database is referred to as a management information base.
nformation Base (MIB). The MIB has a tree-structured data structure, and all nodes are uniquely numbered. This node identifier is called an object identifier (OBJECT IDENTIFIER).

This MIB has a management information structure (Struct
culture of management information (SMI), and RFC1155 Structure and Identification of Manage
ment Information for TCP / IP-based Internets.

In this specification, the management data of the network device, the information assigned to the object identifier of the MIB, and the MIB information indicate the same thing.

Next, the SNMP protocol will be briefly described. A PC on which the network device management utility software operates (hereinafter, referred to as a manager) communicates with a managed network device on which an SNMP agent operates (hereinafter, referred to as an agent) using the SNMP protocol. SNMP
There are five types of commands in the protocol.
t-request, Get-next-requests
t, Get-response, Set-requests
t, Trap.

Get-request and Get-n
ext-request is a command sent from the manager to the agent in order for the manager to obtain the value of the MIB object (MIB information) of the agent. The agent that has received this command sends a Get-response command to the manager to notify the value of the MIB object to the manager.

Set-request is a command sent from the manager to the agent in order for the manager to set the value of the MIB object of the agent.

The agent receiving this command sends a Get-response command to the manager in order to notify the manager of the setting result.

Trap is a command that the agent sends to the manager in order for the agent to notify the manager of a change in its own state.

The SNMP agent is a PC or printer 1
Network board (NB) 10 connected to 02
The network device management software that operates on the PC 1 and functions as an SNMP manager is often a system that operates on a PC. However, due to the recent spread of the Internet, instead of operating dedicated network device management software for each client PC, the network device management software operates on a server,
Furthermore, as a user interface, WWW (World Wide
There is also a system using Web).

Next, the operation of a general WWW system and the operation of an SNMP management program based on the WWW system will be described with reference to FIG.

In the PC 150, the Web server program 1
501 is running, and the disk of PC 150 is HT
Many page data (HT) described using ML
ML document itself or a template for generating an HTML document).

The Web browser program 1031 running on the PC 103 sends a CGI (Common Gateway In) to the Web server program 1051 running on the PC 150 in order to display the page specified by the user.
terface), a request (CGI request) is issued to request acquisition of the specified page.

The Web server program 1051 is a Web server program.
b. In response to a request from the browser program 1031, specified page data (HTML document)
return it. The Web browser program 1031 analyzes the acquired page data and displays a page according to the description.

The Web server program 1051 is a Web server program.
When the request via the CGI is included in the page acquisition request from the b browser program 1031, an external script or program is started by a predetermined method of the CGI, and
It receives page data for responding to the request from the b browser program 1031 and returns it to the web browser program 1031.

Next, a case will be described in which the external program started by the CGI is a network device management program as in the present invention.

The Web server program 1051 uses C
The network device management program 1052 started by the GI acquires management data (MIB information) from a device connected to the network, for example, the printer 102, using SNMP. The network device management program 1052 executes H based on the acquired management data.
A page (HTML document) described in TML is generated and returned to the Web server program 1051. We
The server program 1051 stores the generated page in W
This is transmitted to the browser program 1031 of the web client. The browser program 1031 displays the received page according to the description, and transmits data input by the user to the Web server.

It should be noted that if the network device management program acquires management data from the network device every time there is a MIB information display request from the client Web browser program 1031, it takes time for the client to display the management data. The management data acquired from the device to be managed is saved in a memory (RAM) or a file (HD) (hereinafter, the saved data is referred to as a cache), and within a specific period after newly acquiring the management data, For requests that were
Some devices operate to display management data already stored in the cache, instead of retrieving new management data from the device to be managed.

FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 show examples of displaying HTML documents by the browser program generated by the network device management program 1052.
Shown in

FIG. 7 is a display example of a device list for displaying a list of devices to be managed connected to the network. In this example, MIB information such as a device name, a product name, a network interface board name, a network address, and a status is acquired from each network device connected to the network and displayed.

FIG. 8 is a display example of device details for displaying more detailed information of the selected device, which is displayed when a specific device is selected in FIG. In this example, the status of the network device (printer), the mounting status of the option, the status of the paper feeding unit, and the like are acquired and displayed as MIB information.

FIG. 9 is an example of an information setting screen relating to the specific device shown in FIG. In this example, as a part of the MIB information, a Web page for performing a setting regarding a paper feeding unit of a network device (printer) is displayed. In FIG. 9, “paper feeder” and “automatic paper feed”
The four columns of “Tray paper size” and “Envelope size” are <SE
This is a selection field (Select object) of a pull-down format described by <LECT> and <OPTION> tags, and a desired value can be selected from a displayed pull-down menu. The “tray priority” column is a selection column (Checkbox object) described by designating Checkbox as the TYPE attribute of the <INPUT> tag, and the user can attach a check box to specify whether or not there is a selection. These fields are described in the setting format defined by the <FORM> tag. In FIG. 9, the area 901 generally corresponds to the setting format. Note that a field described in a setting format such as an <INPUT> tag or a <SELECT> tag that can be input is referred to as a setting format object. [OK] button is <INPUT
The tag is described in the TYPE = "submit" attribute of the tag. When this is clicked, the setting format object in the setting format is transmitted to the Web server.

As described above, conventionally, the button described by the <INPUT TYPE = "Submit"> HTML tag such as [Send] and [OK] on the setting Web page as shown in FIG. When a button with an equivalent effect is pressed, objects that can be input by the user (Checkbox object, Radio object, Sel specified by the TYPE attribute of the INPUT tag) in the Web page
ect object, Text object, etc.) are transmitted to the Web server via the CGI interface.

The Web server receiving the information sets the received setting value in the corresponding MIB object of the corresponding device using the SNMP protocol.

[0044]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the CGI application (program for realizing the CGI interface) operating on the Web server is not a resident type, or the value of the MIB object acquired from the device by the CGI application. Memory obtained from the device because of the inability to secure a memory or hard disk for temporarily storing
If a cache for temporarily storing IB information is not available, W is used to change the MIB information of the device.
When the value of the MIB information input by the user with respect to the setting Web page displayed on the web browser is received via the CGI interface, it is determined whether or not the received value of the MIB information is updated. Can not do. For this reason, all the values of the received MIB information must be transmitted to the device irrespective of whether the values are updated or not, and the traffic between the network device management program and the device increases. However, there is a problem that the load on the device increases.

Also, of the setting format objects, the Checkbox object and the Ra
Information related to objects such as dio objects and unselected Select objects
Since it does not appear in any parameters (values passed to CGI), MIB information that is not reflected in CGI parameters unless the object configuration of the setting page corresponding to the current setting request is managed by the network device management program on the Web server side Has a problem that the value of MIB information (MIB object) of the device cannot be changed. To cope with this problem, the configuration of the setting format object existing in the setting page can be managed on the network device management program side. However, in this case, if the HTML document generated for setting the MIB information has a change accompanied by a change in the setting format object, the object managed by the network device management program must also be changed. There was a problem that the trouble of the change became complicated.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem. In maintaining MIB information of a device, MIB information that can be changed by a user is not included in the MIB data that can be changed by the user. Only the MIB information whose value has been changed based on the MIB information sent to the client in two formats, a display format (hidden format) and a display format (setting format) that can be changed by the user, and sent to the client in hidden format Can be sent to the device, preventing an increase in traffic between the network device management program and the device and an increase in the load on the device. In addition, on the network device management program side, the setting format object existing in the setting page By eliminating the need to manage the configuration of HTML, HTML
It is an object of the present invention to provide a network management apparatus and method that can easily change a document or its template.

[0047]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, a network management method for managing a network device connected to a network, comprising: an information obtaining step of obtaining setting information of a device from a device; and a document data for resetting the setting information, the setting information comprising: Receiving the data including the setting information reset based on the document data created in the creating step and including the setting information in the unrewritable format. And a setting step of setting only the setting information that has been reset as a result of the comparison in the device.

Preferably, the document data is HTM
The document data is in the L format, and is displayed and reset on a terminal connected to the network.

Also preferably, in a terminal having a cache function of caching information read from a server, a network management method for changing and redisplaying information from the server, wherein the information is included in information transmitted to the terminal. A step of adding unique information to the link information for accessing the information each time the information is transmitted; and a step of transmitting to the terminal information including the link information to which the unique information is added.

[0050] Preferably, said adding step is performed by HTM.
As link information included in the L document data, unique information is added each time transmission is performed.

Preferably, the information to be transmitted to the terminal is setting information of a network device set by the terminal.

Preferably, the information unique to each transmission is information indicating a time.

[0053] Preferably, the information peculiar to each transmission is a number gradually increasing modulo a predetermined number.

[0054]

[First Embodiment] A network management method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The network management method or apparatus according to the present invention is implemented on a PC having the same configuration as a PC capable of realizing a conventional network management apparatus as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 150 denotes a PC on which network device control software operates, which is equivalent to the PC 150 in FIG. PC150 is ROM
The system includes a CPU 301 for executing a network device management program stored in a hard disk (HD) 311 or supplied from a floppy disk (FD) 312, and comprehensively controls each device connected to a system bus 304.

Reference numeral 303 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 301. 305, a keyboard controller (KBC);
9 and an instruction input from a pointing device (not shown). 306 is a CRT controller (CRT
In C), the display of the CRT display (CRT) 310 is controlled. 307 is a disk controller (DKC)
And a hard disk (HD) 3 for storing a boot program, various applications, editing files, user files, a network device management program, and the like.
11 and a floppy disk (FD) 312. A network interface card (NIC) 308 bidirectionally exchanges data with an agent or a network device via the LAN 100.

In all of the following description, unless otherwise specified, the subject of execution is the CPU 301 and the subject of software is the hard disk (HD).
311 is network device management software installed.

In FIG. 1, a combination of a network board (NB) 101 connected to a network and a printer 102 to which the network board is mounted is called a network device.

FIG. 4 is a module configuration diagram of the network management software (program) according to the present invention.

The network management software 1052 according to the present invention corresponds to the hard disk (HD) 3 shown in FIG.
11 and executed by the CPU 301. At that time, the CPU 301 uses a RAM as a work area.
303 is used.

In FIG. 4, the network management software 1052 is started from the Web server program 1051 and is transmitted through the CGI interface 402 to the CGI.
Exchange parameters and HTML documents.

Reference numeral 403 denotes an overall control module. After registering CGI parameters in a parameter module 404 described later, a system module 405, a device list module 407, and a device detail module 405 described later are used according to command parameters in the CGI parameters. 409 is a module for distributing control to any one of 409. If there is an error in the CGI parameter, an HTML document indicating that there is an error in the CGI parameter may be generated via a template module 412 described later.

A parameter module 404 stores and manages the CGI parameters registered by the overall control module 403 in a table format. Other modules can obtain desired parameters from the parameter module 402 as needed.

Reference numeral 405 denotes a system module which controls display and setting of system parameters (for example, an automatic update interval of an HTML document, etc.) defining the operation of the network management software 1052,
This is a module for generating a TML document. The system module 405 includes a parameter module 404
If the command parameter is a system parameter display request, the necessary information is read from the system setting file 406, and an HTML document for displaying the system parameter is generated via the template module 412. .
If the content of the acquired command parameter is a system parameter setting request, the notified system parameter is written to the system setting file 406, and the HTML document to be displayed after the setting is set via the template module 412. Generate. still,
Although not shown in the figure, the system parameters stored in the system setting file 406 can be read by each module constituting the network management software 1052 as needed.

A device list module 407 generates an HTML document indicating a list (device list) of devices searched by a device search module 408 described later. The device list module 407 also controls the processing of the device list display option.

Reference numeral 408 denotes a device search module for searching for a device connected to the network.

Reference numeral 409 denotes a device detail module, which is a CG
A module for displaying and setting more detailed information on a specific device specified by the I parameter and generating an associated HTML document. The device details module 409 uses a device-specific module 410, which will be described later, corresponding to the specified device to obtain and set detailed information on the specified device.

Reference numeral 410 denotes a device-specific module, which is a device (a printer, a network interface board, etc.) to be managed by network management software
Exist for each. At the time of display, the device-specific module 410 operates to acquire necessary information from the device and set the acquired information in the template module 412. In addition, at the time of setting, the setting value notified by the CGI parameter is converted into a value that can be interpreted by the device and transmitted to the device.

Reference numeral 411 denotes a protocol module.
This is a module for controlling various protocols required for network management software to communicate with devices, such as handling of SNMP packets, transmission and reception of SNMP packets, and control of transport protocols.

Reference numeral 412 denotes a template module.
This is a module for generating an HTML document as an output result of the network management software based on the template file 413 stored in the hard disk 311. Template module 412
Are CGI parameters, overall control module 403, system module 405, device list module 4
07 or the template file specified by the device detail module 409, the contents of the template file are analyzed, and the template variables included in the template file are changed, if necessary, to the overall control module 403, the system module 405, and the device list module. 407, device detail module 40
9 or a value set by the device-specific module 410 to generate an HTML document, and generate a Web page via the CGI interface 402.
Send to server program. The value of the template variable used when generating the HTML document, or the generated HTML document file, is used for the second and subsequent times based on the same template file.
To reduce the processing time when generating documents,
3 can be stored as a cache file 414 on the hard disk 311 in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a network device management software according to the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for generating an HTML document in response to a request.

In the figure, in step S501, Get-request and Ge
Send a t-next-request command, and
By receiving the t-response command,
Via the network, MIB information necessary for generating the requested HTML document is acquired from the managed device. Although not shown in the figure,
Get-request, Get-next-requ
If the expected Get-response for est cannot be received, an appropriate error recovery process such as retransmission of a command is started. The device to be managed is usually specified from the Web browser as one of the CGI parameters in the form of a network address.

In step S502, a template file (stored on the Web server) specified as one of the CGI parameters of this CGI request is opened, and the file contents (template) are read into the working memory, After closing the file, the process proceeds to step S503.

In step S503, step S5
02, one token (analysis unit of the template) is extracted from the template read in step 02, and step S504 is performed.
Proceed to.

At step S 504, at step S 5
It is checked whether or not the token acquisition process in step 03 has succeeded. If the token acquisition has succeeded, the process proceeds to step S505 (step S504: Yes). If the token acquisition process has failed, the process proceeds to step S511 (step S504: N).
o). Note that a failure to acquire a token means that all tokens in the template have been analyzed.

In step S 505, step S 5
The token acquired in step 03 is analyzed to check its type, and the process proceeds to step S506.

In step S 506, step S 5
As a result of the analysis at step 05, if the token is an instruction to embed the MIB information acquired from the device, step S50
7 (Step S506: Yes), otherwise, proceed to Step S510 (Step S506: N)
o).

In step S 507, the MIB information (the MIB object at the device level) to be instructed to embed the MIB information is the information that can only be browsed by the user (the read-only MIB object at the device level). Or information that can be changed and set by the user (at the device level, a MIB object that can be read and written). If the information is information that can only be browsed by the user, step S
The process proceeds to step 508 (step S507: No). If the object can be changed and set by the user, the process proceeds to step S509 (step S507: Yes).

In step S508, the value of the MIB information specified by the token is embedded as a browsing format object in the HTML document.
Go to 03. If additional information such as the name of the MIB information is required to identify the MIB information to be embedded,
Information following the token may be read from the template. The browsing format object referred to here means a plain character string that does not use an HTML <INPUT> tag or the like (a decoration such as a <FONT COLOR> tag may be present).

In step S509, the value of the MIB information specified by the token is embedded in the HTML document in two formats, a hidden format object and a setting format object, and the flow advances to step S503. If additional information such as the name of the MIB information is required to identify the MIB information to be embedded, information following the token may be read from the template. The hidden object referred to here is an HTML object.
Hidden object (describe using <INPUT TYPE = “hidden”> tag), and the setting format object is
HTML Checkbox object (<INPUT TYPE = “che
ckbox "> tag), Radio object (<
INPUT TYPE = "radio"> tag, Select object (described using <SELECT> and <OPTION> tags), Text object (<INPUT TYPE = "text">
Tags), Textarea objects (<TEXTAR
EA> described using a tag), and a display format that allows input from a user, such as EA>.

In step S510, a process related to a token other than the MIB information embedding instruction is performed, and the flow advances to step S503. The process here includes, for example, a process of embedding the description in the template as it is in the HTML document, but the details are out of the scope of the present invention, and will not be described.

In step S511, the HTML document generated up to the above step is output to the standard output in order to transmit the HTML document to the Web browser, and after performing necessary post-processing such as release of a working memory, the processing is terminated. .

According to the above procedure, the HTML information for embedding the MIB information read from the device and displaying the information by the browser program on the client terminal is displayed.
Create a document.

Here, FIG. 10 shows an example of an HTML document (setting Web page) generated by the network device management software of the present application according to the procedure of FIG. According to the description of FIG. 10, the same display as the setting type column 901 shown in FIG. 9 as a conventional example is made by the browser program. However, the contents of the HTML document are different from those of the conventional document as shown in FIG.

In the case of the HTML document shown in FIG. 10, the second to seventh lines are MIB information embedded as hidden objects, and are settable objects in the tables from the ninth to 71st lines. MIB information corresponding to the hidden object is embedded. In this example, the corresponding MIB information is HTM
L can be identified by the name of the object embedded in L. When an underscore "_" is added to the beginning of the name of the setting format object, the name of the hidden format object is obtained. For example, _InputSelected of hidden form object (Hidden object)
(2nd line) corresponds to InputSelected (22nd line) of the setting format object (Select object).
These configurable objects are displayed so that the values embedded as hidden are displayed initially selected.
Attributes are set.

Upon receiving the HTML document of FIG. 10, the browser program of the client displays the HTML document as shown in FIG. 9, and allows the user to set a predetermined object. When the setting is completed and the user presses the [OK] button, the selected value and the checked value in the setting type column are returned to the network device management software of the server.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for setting MIB information to a device by a CGI request in the network device management software of the present invention.

In FIG. 15, in step S601, the value of the MIB information (embedded as a hidden object) acquired from the device, which is embedded when the HTML document is generated by the processing of FIG.
A table for comparing the value of the MIB information input by the user on the browser (the value input for the setting format object) is created, and the process proceeds to step S602.

Table 1 shows the CGI parameters (partially excerpted) notified when the user changes the MIB information for the HTML document shown in FIG.
The value of the hidden object (_InputSelected = 1, _InputAu) created in step S601 from the GI parameter
toFeed = 1, _InputAutoFeed = 2, _InputAutoFeed = 3, _Pre
ferenceTray = 1, _TrayPaperSize = 3, _EnvelopeSize = 1)
And the value input as the setting format object (In this example, InputSelected = 1, InputAutoFeed = 3, InputAutoFee
Here is a correspondence table with an example of d = 4, TrayPaperSize = 1, EnvelopeSize = 1).

[0091]

[Table 1]

In the table, "-" is added to the value of the setting format object.
Is marked as unchecked (Checkbox object, Radio object)
Or, it means that it is in non-selection state (in case of Select object). If the value of the hidden object is indicated by "-", the value obtained from the device is equivalent to the object in the unchecked state (in the case of a Checkbox object or a Radio object) or in the unselected state (in the case of a Select object). This indicates that the value of the object has been changed by the user changing the value in the setting format object. Both the value of the hidden object and the value of the setting format object are either unchecked (for Checkbox objects and Radio objects) or unselected (S
In the case of an elect object, that is, if the value is not changed, no information about that object appears in this table. For example, in the second element of InputAutoFeed (the element having a value of 2, the “upper cassette” in FIG. 9), the information obtained from the device is in a non-selected state, and the result input by the user is also in a non-selected state. Because
Since there is no value in the hidden format or the setting format, it does not appear in the table.

In step S602, the size (the number of rows) of the correspondence table created in step S601 is substituted for the variable n, and the flow advances to step S603. Step S601
In the example of FIG. 10 described above, the size of the correspondence table is “7”.

In step S603, the variable i is initialized to "0", and the flow advances to step S604.

In step S604, the value of the variable i is compared with the value of the variable n. If the value of the variable i is smaller than the value of the variable n, the process proceeds to step S605 (step S60).
4: Yes), otherwise proceed to step S608 (step S604: No).

At step S605, at step S6
01, the value of the i-th hidden object in the correspondence table is compared with the value of the setting format object. If the values are different, the process proceeds to step S606 (step S605: N
o) If the values match, the process proceeds to step S607 (step S605: Yes).

In step S606, step S6
The value of the i-th setting format object of the correspondence table created in step 01 is transmitted to the MIB object corresponding to the information of the device corresponding to the setting by using the Set-request command of the SNMP protocol, and the process proceeds to step S607. move on. If a timeout occurs in the setting of the object, a predetermined retry process or the like is performed. For example, taking the example of the correspondence table (Table 1) shown in the description of step S601 as an example,
Since the value of the object in the first, third, fourth and fifth lines is different between the value of the hidden object embedded at the time of generating the HTML document and the value input to the setting format object by the user on the Web browser, The MIB
Send the value of the information to the corresponding device. Note that M
When transmitting the IB information value, M
Conversion of IB objects to object identifiers, M
Conversion from the value of the IB information to an appropriate data format to be set in the MIB object is performed as necessary.

In step S607, "1" is added to the value of the variable i, and the flow advances to step S604.

In step S608, following the processing up to the above step, the HTML for the next Web page to be displayed on the Web browser is displayed in accordance with the procedure shown in FIG. 5 based on the template name specified by the CGI parameter. Generate a document and end the process.

The network device control software according to the present invention described above is equivalent to the PC 150 in FIG. 3 which is a block diagram showing the configuration of a PC on which the network device control software can operate by a program installed from the outside. May be performed by the PC having the configuration described above. In that case, the program loads the information group including the program to the PC from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or a floppy disk, or from an external storage medium via a network such as e-mail or personal computer communication. Thus, the present invention is applicable even when supplied to a PC.

FIG. 11 shows a CD-R as an example of a storage medium.
It is a figure showing a memory map of OM. Reference numeral 9999 denotes an area in which directory information is stored, an area 9998 in which the subsequent installation program is stored, and an area 99 in which the network device control software is stored.
97 is shown. Reference numeral 9998 denotes an area in which an installation program is stored. An area 9997 stores network device control software. The network device control software according to the present invention has a PC having the same configuration as the PC 150 shown in FIG.
Is installed in the system, the installation program stored in the area 9998 storing the installation program is first loaded into the system.
01. Next, the installation program executed by the CPU 301 reads the network device control software from the area 9997 in which the network device control software is stored, and stores the network device control software in the hard disk 311.

As described above, according to the network management apparatus and method of this embodiment, the device
Information, set the MIB information to the device, and
HTM when there is a display request from the browser
When generating an L document and embedding MIB information in the HTML document, if the MIB information is information that can only be viewed, the MIB is regarded as an object in a display format (browsing format object) that cannot be changed by a user. When the information is information that can be changed by the user, there are two formats: a non-display type object (hidden type object) that cannot be changed by the user and a display type object (setting type object) that can be changed by the user. When there is a setting request from the web browser, the user sets the generated HTML document, which is notified as the CGI parameter of the request, to the setting format object on the web browser. And the HTML document The comparator compares the value of the hidden form objects embedded in generating bets, value has changed MI
Control is performed so that only the B information is transmitted to the device. By doing so, even if the network device management program is non-resident or the network management device or method cannot secure a memory or hard disk for temporarily storing MIB information acquired from the device, By analyzing only the information notified by the CGI parameter from the Web browser, it is possible to transmit necessary and sufficient MIB information to a corresponding device.

Further, since it is not necessary for the network device management program to manage the configuration of the setting format object existing in the setting page, it is possible to easily change the template for generating the HTML document. .

[Second Embodiment] In the present embodiment, the first
A network system similar to the embodiment will be described.

With the use of the WWW system in the first embodiment, the Web browser program 1031
Each time the device management information is changed, the MIB information acquired from the network device by the network device management program of the server is received as an HTML document and displayed. However, many popular web browsers today store an HTML document obtained from a web server together with location information (URL) at the time of obtaining the document on a hard disk or a memory on a local terminal as a cache of the browser, After that, if there is a request for the same URL, instead of acquiring information from the Web server, the HT stored in the browser cache
By displaying an ML document, a function is provided for shortening the time required for displaying a Web page after a request is issued. In such a Web browser, it is determined whether or not to use the cache function of the browser.
Many can be changed by the option setting of the web browser.

However, if the browser cache is used in the option settings of the Web browser, the HTML document stored in the browser cache will be displayed even when the CGI request is specified in the URL. Therefore, for example, every time a CGI request is executed, the Web
When the content (HTML document) of the page changes, the content is not reflected on the display.

Specifically, (1) In response to a CGI request from a Web browser,
Display a Web page for browsing device information.

(2) By clicking [Change] prepared on the information browsing Web page, the user is moved to a Web page for setting device information as shown in FIG.

(3) The device information is changed on the information setting Web page, and an [OK] button (or a button equivalent thereto) is pressed in order to notify the Web server of the updated contents by using CGI parameters. In the case where the browser is implemented to display the same Web page as the URL specified in the (1) CGI request after pressing [OK] in (3), the browser cache function When HTML is used, the HTML document stored in the browser cache in (1) is displayed. Therefore, the change of the information in (3) is
It will not be reflected on the page.

This problem can be avoided by disabling the cache function of the Web browser, but in such a case, once acquired, a Web page whose contents do not change thereafter is displayed. Sometimes
In each case, an HTML document is acquired from a Web server.
Since the traffic between the servers increases or it takes time until the display is updated, the operability of the user deteriorates.

In the present embodiment, even when the cache function of the browser is used as described above, the setting system Web
If the user views the changed value on the display Web page after changing the value on page b, the old HTML document stored in the cache of the browser is not displayed, and the changed HTML page is changed on the setting Web page. A network management apparatus and method capable of displaying the latest value will be described.

FIG. 12 shows a procedure by the network device management program 1052 in this embodiment when a CGI request is received from a client.

In FIG. 12, in step S 1201, Get-requests are performed on the device to be managed.
t, by transmitting a Get-next-request command and receiving a Get-response command in response to the command, acquires the management data of the managed device via the network, and proceeds to step S12.
Go to 02. Although not shown in the figure, Get-re
If the expected Get-response for the quest and Get-next-request cannot be received, appropriate error recovery processing such as retransmission of a command is started. The device to be managed is usually W
It is specified as one of the CGI parameters from the web browser in the form of a network address or the like. Furthermore, book C
The GI parameter may include a time parameter embedded when the currently displayed HTML document is generated, but the parameter is not used (ignored) in the process of this processing.

In step S1202, a template file (stored on the Web server) specified as one of the CGI parameters of this CGI request is opened, and the file contents (template) are read into the working memory, After closing the file, the process advances to step S1203.

In step S1203, step S1203 is executed.
One token (analysis unit of the template) is extracted from the template read in step 1202, and step S1
Proceed to 204.

In step S1204, step S1204 is executed.
It is checked whether or not the token acquisition processing in 1203 has succeeded. If the token acquisition has succeeded, the process proceeds to step S1.
The process proceeds to step 205 (step S1204: Yes), and if unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S1211 (step S1).
204: No). Note that a failure to acquire a token means that all tokens in the template have been analyzed.

In step S1205, step S1205
The token acquired in step 1203 is analyzed to check its type, and the process proceeds to step S1206.

In step S1206, step S
As a result of the analysis at 1205, if the acquired token is an instruction to embed MIB information acquired from the device, the process proceeds to step S1207 (step S1206: Ye).
s), otherwise proceed to step S1208 (step S1206: No).

In step S1207, the value of the MIB information specified by the token is embedded in the HTML document, and the flow advances to step S1203. If additional information such as the name of the MIB information is required to identify the MIB information to be embedded, information following the token may be read from the template.

In step S1208, step S1208 is executed.
As a result of the analysis in 1205, the acquired token is
If it is an instruction to embed a script for adding a dummy parameter to the request, step S12
09 (Step S1208: Yes), otherwise proceed to Step S1210 (Step S120)
8: No).

In step S1209, a script for adding the time information at the time of executing the CGI request as one of the parameters of the CGI request (dummy parameter) is embedded in the HTML document, and the flow advances to step S1203. Note that the script for adding the dummy parameter is not a character embedded in the script as described above, but a character that is directly copied from the template to the HTML document as a part of the processing of other tokens shown in step S1210 described below. It may be described as a column. The dummy parameter (time information) added by the script is W
HTML stored in cache in the web browser
This is a parameter for preventing the URL corresponding to the document from matching the URL for the new CGI request, and is ignored by the network device management program on the Web server side. Therefore, the name of the parameter can be anything that is different from the names of other valid CGI parameters reserved by the network device management software. For example, in this example,
It uses the name “rid”.

In step S1210, step S12 is executed.
1207 and other tokens other than the tokens processed in step S1209.
Proceed to 1203. The process here includes, for example, a process of embedding the description in the template as it is in the HTML document, but the details are out of the scope of the present invention, and will not be described.

In step S1211, the HTML document generated up to the above step is output to the standard output in order to transmit the HTML document to the Web browser, and necessary post-processing such as release of a working memory is performed, followed by terminating the present process. .

FIG. 13 is an example of a script for embedding time information as a dummy parameter in a CGI request when the HTML document generation means in the network device management software of the present invention generates an HTML document.

The script shown in the figure is described in JavaScript, and the getCgi function generates the network address of the managed device and the HTML document when the network device management program on the Web server issues a CGI request. If the template name used when performing is specified as a parameter, the URL (CGI request) including the dummy parameter (time information)
It returns a string.

[0126] In the figure, in the fourth line, in order to obtain the time information when this CGI request was activated, JavaSc
Date object which is the basic object of ript is generated.

On the seventh line, the network address specified by the function parameter is
It is added to the GI request.

On the eighth line, the template name specified by the parameter of the function is added to the CGI request as a tmpl parameter.

In the ninth line, the current time information (197) is used as the time information at which the CGI request was activated by using the getTime method of the Date object generated in the fourth line.
(Elapsed time in milliseconds since 00:00:00 on January 1, 009) and added to the CGI request as a lid parameter.

FIG. 14 shows an example of using the getCgi function described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, the caller of the getCgi function
gotoDeviceDetail function is written in JavaScript,
It is activated in association with a link described by a <A HREF=“javascript: function name”> tag or the like. gotoDevi
The ceDetail function is a function for jumping to a Web page for displaying the device detail page shown in FIG. 8, and receives a network address (for example, an IP address) of the managed device as a parameter.

In the second line, the getCgi function is called by specifying the network address specified by the parameter of the gotoDeviceDetail function and “default”, which is the default template name used to generate the device detail page, as parameters. Return value of getCgi function (CG
By substituting the I request character string) into top.location, it jumps to a desired device detail page.

As described above, the Web browser having the URL given by the gotoDeviceDetail function is read by the Web browser. UR given by gotoDeviceDetail function
Since L includes information on the time when the function is executed, L does not match the cached URL, and a CGI request is sent to the Web server again. The network device management program of the Web server ignores the time information, which is a dummy parameter, of the specified URL, and returns the
The B information is read, an HTML document is created, and transmitted to the Web client browser.

Thus, the browser program can display, for example, the page shown in FIG. In the address field of the screen in FIG. 8, the URL obtained by the gotoDeviceDetail function, "wnetspot.exe & addr = ***. ***. ***. *** & tmp1 = defau
lt & rid = 100 ”(in Fig. 8, the value 100 is obtained by the getTime method), and the function gotoDeviceDeta
It can be seen that the web page has the URL obtained by il.

As described above, in response to a CGI request from a client Web browser, MIB information is acquired from a network device by a network device management program, and the MIB acquired from the device is acquired.
When generating an HTML document based on information and a predetermined template, a dummy that can identify at least the same CGI request executed last time and the CGI request as one of the parameters of the CGI request in the HTML document. The parameter (URL including time in this example) is embedded. By doing so, W
Since the web browser displays the URL page including the dummy parameter embedded in the HTML document even if the cache function is enabled, the HTML document stored in the web browser cache may not be displayed. Absent.

Thus, for example, when a value is changed on a setting-type Web page and then the changed value is viewed on a display-type Web page, the browser of the display-type Web page is displayed when the display-type Web page is displayed. By displaying the old HTML document stored in the cache, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that a value different from the latest value that should have been changed on the setting-related Web page is displayed.

[Third Embodiment] The present embodiment relates to the second embodiment.
A method of using information other than the time as a dummy parameter in a network system similar to the embodiment will be described.

FIG. 15 shows a procedure by the network device management program 1052 in the present embodiment when a CGI request is received from a client.

Referring to FIG. 15, in step S1501, the Get-requests for the device to be managed are set.
t, by transmitting a Get-next-request command and receiving a Get-response command, acquires the management data of the managed device via the network, and proceeds to step S1502.
Although not shown in the figure, Get-request,
If the expected Get-response for the Get-next-request cannot be received,
Appropriate error recovery processing such as retransmission of the command is started. The device to be managed is usually specified from the Web browser as one of the CGI parameters in the form of a network address. Further, there are cases where dummy parameters embedded when generating the currently displayed HTML document are added to the CGI parameters, but the parameters are not used (ignored) in the process of this processing.

In step S1502, a value of a dummy parameter to be added to the CGI parameter for executing the CGI request is generated in the HTML document generated in this processing, and the flow advances to step S1503. still,
An example of the process of generating the value of the dummy parameter will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S1503, a template file (stored on the Web server) specified as one of the CGI parameters of the CGI request is opened, and the file contents (template) are read into the working memory, After closing the file, the process advances to step S1504.

In the step S1504, the step S1504 is executed.
One token (analysis unit of the template) is extracted from the template read out in 1503, and step S1
Proceed to 505.

In the step S1505, the step S1
It is checked whether or not the token acquisition processing in 1504 is successful. If the token acquisition is successful, step S15
06 (Step S1505: Yes), if unsuccessful, proceed to Step S1512 (Step S15)
05: No). Note that a failure to acquire a token means that all tokens in the template have been analyzed.

In step S1506, the above-described step S1506 is executed.
The token acquired in step 1504 is analyzed to check its type, and the flow advances to step S1507.

In step S1507, step S1507 is executed.
If the result of the analysis in 1506 indicates that the token is an instruction to embed MIB information acquired from the device, step S
Proceed to 1508 (step S1507: Yes), otherwise proceed to step S1509 (step S1)
507: No).

In step S1508, the value of the MIB information specified by the token is embedded in the HTML document, and the flow advances to step S1504. If additional information such as the name of the MIB information is required to identify the MIB information to be embedded, information following the token may be read from the template.

In the step S1509, the step S
As a result of the analysis in 1506, if the token is an instruction to embed a dummy parameter, the process proceeds to step S1510 (step S1509: Yes), otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1511 (step S1509: N).
o).

At step S1510, the value generated at step S1502 is added to the HTML document by CG.
One of the parameters of the I request (dummy parameter)
And the process proceeds to step S1504. The added dummy parameter is a parameter for preventing the URL corresponding to the HTML document stored in the cache in the Web browser from matching the URL for the new CGI request.
Ignored by the server-side network device management program. Therefore, the name of the parameter can be anything that is different from the names of other valid CGI parameters reserved by the network device management software. For example, in FIGS. 17 and 18 described later,
“Rid” (variable name in the system is “_RID”
_ ").

In step S1511, step S1511 is executed.
Processing related to other tokens other than the tokens processed in step S1510 to step S1510 is performed.
Proceed to 504. The process here includes, for example, a process of embedding the description in the template as it is in the HTML document, but the details are out of the scope of the present invention, and will not be described.

In step S1512, the HTML document generated up to the above step is output to the standard output in order to transmit the HTML document to the Web browser, and after performing necessary post-processing such as release of a working memory, the present processing is ended. .

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for generating a dummy parameter value to be added to a CGI request in the network device management software of the present invention. As a method of generating the value of the dummy parameter, various methods such as a method using a system time on a Web server and a method using some algorithm for generating a random value can be considered. In this example, the value of the dummy parameter is used. Value with a sufficiently large modulo (modulo 1000
0) is used.

In the figure, in step S1601,
The previous dummy parameter value _RID_ is read from a predetermined file on the Web server, and step S1602
Proceed to. Note that the initial value when the value of the previous dummy parameter is not stored in the predetermined file is “0”.

In step S1602, step S1602 is executed.
“1” is added to the value _RID_ of the dummy parameter acquired in step 1601, and the process proceeds to step S1603.

In step S1603, it is determined whether or not the value _RID_ of the dummy parameter is larger than "9999". If the value is larger than the value, the process proceeds to step S1604 (step S1603: Yes). If not, the process proceeds to step S1605 (step S1603: No).

In step S1604, the value _RID_ of the dummy parameter is initialized to "0", and in step S16
Go to 05.

In step S1605, the current dummy parameter value _RID_ is written in the predetermined file from which the value _RID_ was read in step S1601, and the flow advances to step S1606.

In step S1606, the current dummy parameter value _RID_ is returned, and the process ends.

In this way, by using a count value that is gradually increased modulo a sufficiently large value as a dummy parameter and having the dummy parameter included in the URL, the same URL as the URL is stored in the cache of the Web browser. Can be avoided. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a page that should have been updated from being displayed in an old state that has not been updated.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a template used by the HTML document generation means in the network device management software of the present invention to generate an HTML document.

[0160] The figure shows the top-level frame division (vertical 2 frames) of the device detail page shown in FIG.
This is a template of an HTML document describing (division), which is displayed in the left frame on the 16th line.
CGI for generating an HTML document that displays the source of the L document in the right frame on line 17
Each request is embedded.

In the same figure, lid = << EMBED NAM added to the end of the CGI parameter on the 17th line
A series of tokens E = “_ RID _” >>
FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 are scripts for adding a dummy parameter for identifying an I request.
The token is parsed according to the series of processes shown in
An HTML document is generated.

FIG. 18 is an example of an HTML document generated by the HTML document generating means in the network device management software of the present invention.

FIG. 17 shows the analysis result of the template of FIG. 17, and a series of tokens for embedding the dummy parameters described in the 17th line of FIG. = “_ RID _”>
As shown in the tenth line in FIG. 10, the analysis result of> indicates that rid = 884.

As described above, according to the network management apparatus and method of the present embodiment, MIB information is acquired from a device, and in response to a request from a Web browser,
When generating an HTML document and embedding a CGI request in the HTML document, the CG
By adding a different value as a dummy parameter each time an HTML document is generated as one of the parameters of the I request, the display can be updated even when the Web browser cache function is enabled. HTML stored in the cache of the web browser when accessing a web page with
Instead of a document, a new HTML document acquired by communicating with the Web server is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to selectively control whether to display the HTML document stored in the browser cache between a Web page where the display is not updated and a page where the display may be updated. Has the effect of becoming

Thus, for example, when the value is changed on the setting system Web page and then the changed value is browsed on the display system Web page, the browser of the display system Web page is displayed when the display system Web page is displayed. By displaying the old HTML document stored in the cache, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that a value different from the latest value that should have been changed on the setting-related Web page is displayed.

The present invention can be applied to a system or an integrated device including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, and a reader).
You may apply to the apparatus which consists of one apparatus.

Further, it is for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment. A storage medium storing the program codes of the procedures of FIGS. 5 and 6 is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program codes stored in the storage medium. Accordingly, the object of the present invention is achieved.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, 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, C
DR, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM
Etc. can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized. In addition, the OS or the like running on the computer performs actual processing based on the instructions of the program code. The functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing a part or all of the above.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, A CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

It should be noted that the present invention is applicable to a case where the program is distributed to a requester via a communication line such as a personal computer communication from a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments. Can also be applied.

[0173]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the MIB information of the device is maintained, the MIB information that can be changed by the user is limited to the changed MIB information by sending the MIB information read from the device to the client in a format that cannot be changed by the client. , Can be set on the device. This allows
By preventing an increase in traffic to and from the device and an increase in the load on the device, and by eliminating the need to manage the configuration of the configuration format objects existing in the configuration page, changes in the HTML document or its template can be performed. A network management apparatus and method that can be easily performed can be provided.

When generating an HTML document for changing MIB information from a Web browser, when embedding a CGI request in the HTML document,
By embedding a parameter for uniquely identifying the CGI request as one of the parameters of the request, even if the cache function of the Web browser is valid, the Web server is not an HTML document stored in the cache but a cache server. New HT obtained from
An ML document can be displayed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a case where a network board for connecting a printer to a network is connected to a printer having an open architecture.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an operation of a general WWW system and an operation of an SNMP management program based on the WWW system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a PC on which network device management software can operate.

FIG. 4 is a module configuration diagram of network device management software.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the network device management software according to the first embodiment.
13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for generating an L document.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the MI notified by the CGI parameter in the network device management software according to the first embodiment.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for setting B information in a device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a device list for displaying a list of managed devices connected to a network.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of device details for displaying more detailed information of a device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a setting page for changing device information.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an HTML document generated by the network device management software according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows a CD-R as an example of a storage medium storing network device management software according to the present invention.
It is an image figure showing the memory map of OM.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of the network device management software according to the second embodiment.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for generating an ML document.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a script for generating dummy parameters embedded in an HTML document in the network device management software according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a script for branching to a page having a URL including a dummy parameter embedded in an HTML document in the network device management software according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the network device management software according to the third embodiment.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for generating an ML document.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for generating dummy parameters to be embedded in an HTML document in the network device management software according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of an HTML document template used by the network device management software according to the third embodiment.

18 is an HTM created from the template of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an L document.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Local area network (LAN) 101 Network board (NB) 102 Printer having open architecture 103 Personal computer (PC) connected to LAN 100 104 Personal computer (PC) connected to LAN 100 105 Connected to PC 104 Printer 106 File server 107 connected to LAN 100 Network disk 108 included in LAN 100 Print server 109 included in LAN 100 Printer connected to print server 108 Local area network (LAN) 111 Personal computer connected to LAN 110 (PC) 112 Personal computer (PC) connected to LAN 110 113 LAN File server 114 connected to network 114 Network disk included in LAN 110 115 Print server included in LAN 110 116 Printer connected to print server 110 Printer connected to print server 110 120 Local area network (LAN) 121 LAN 120 Connected personal computer (PC) 122 Personal computer (PC) connected to LAN 120 130 Modem / transponder 140 Backbone 150 Web server connected to LAN 100 200 Shared memory 301 CPU 302 For storing operation program of CPU 301 ROM 303 for use as a work area RAM 304 System bus 305 Keyboard controller Roller 306 CRT controller 307 Disk controller 308 Network interface card (NIC) 309 Keyboard 310 CRT 311 Hard disk (HD) 312 Floppy disk (FD) 402 CGI interface 403 Overall control module 404 Parameter module 405 System module 406 System setting file 407 Device list module 408 Device search module 409 Protocol module 410 Device detail module 411 Device specific module 412 Template module 413 Template file 414 Cache file

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A network management method for managing a network device connected to a network, comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring setting information of the device from a device; and a document data for resetting the setting information. A creation step of creating the setting information so as to include the setting information in a non-rewritable format, and receiving data including setting information reset based on the document data created in the creation step, wherein the non-rewritable format is used. A network management method, comprising: a comparison step of comparing with the data included in the step (a); and a setting step of setting only the setting information reset as a result of the comparison in the comparison step for the device. . 2. The network management method according to claim 1, wherein the document data is HTML format document data, and display and resetting are performed on a terminal connected to the network. 3. A network management method for changing and redisplaying information from a server in a terminal having a cache function of caching information read from a server, the information being included in information transmitted to the terminal. A step of adding unique information to the link information for accessing each time transmission is performed; and information including the link information to which the unique information is added,
Transmitting to the terminal. 4. The network management method according to claim 3, wherein, in the adding step, unique information is added as link information included in the HTML document data every time transmission is performed. 5. The network management method according to claim 3, wherein the information transmitted to the terminal is network device setting information set by the terminal. 6. The network management method according to claim 3, wherein the information unique to each transmission is information indicating a time. 7. The information unique to each transmission is a number gradually increasing modulo a predetermined number.
The network management method described in 1. 8. A network management apparatus for managing a network device connected to a network, comprising: information acquisition means for acquiring setting information of the device from the device; and document data for resetting the setting information. Receiving the data including the setting information reset based on the document data created by the creating means for creating the setting information so as to include the setting information in the non-rewritable format, A network management apparatus comprising: a comparison unit that compares the data with the data included in the device; and a setting unit that sets only the setting information reset as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit for the device. . 9. A network management device for changing and redisplaying information from a server in a terminal having a cache function of caching information read from a server, wherein the information is included in information transmitted to the terminal. Means for adding unique information every time transmission is performed to link information for access, and information including link information to which the unique information is added,
Means for transmitting to the terminal, wherein the terminal follows the link information to obtain the changed information. 10. A computer, comprising: information acquisition means for acquiring setting information of a device from a device; and document data for resetting the setting information so as to include the setting information in a non-rewritable format. Generating means for receiving data including setting information reset based on the document data generated by the generating means, and comparing the received data with the data included in the non-rewritable format; A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for realizing setting means for setting only the setting information that has been reset as a result of the comparison by the means. 11. Each time a transmission is performed, unique information is added to link information for accessing the information, which is included in information transmitted to a terminal having a cache function of caching information read from a server by a computer. Means, and information including link information to which the unique information is added,
A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program for realizing means for transmitting to the terminal.