JP2001109692A - Device, method and system for processing data and computer readable recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device, a method and a system for processing data and computer readable recording medium with which a user can exactly identify equipment (PC or peripheral equipment or the like) suitable for the purpose of the user out of icon-displayed equipment. SOLUTION: This method has a step for acquiring attribute information in a local printer and a shared printer on a network, a step for selecting an icon corresponding to the acquired attribute information out of an icon group generated beforehand, and a step for displaying the selected icon on a virtual system configuration display picture.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a data processing device,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing method, a data processing system, and a computer-readable recording medium, and in particular, a data processing apparatus capable of performing data communication between various PCs (such as personal computers) connected to a predetermined communication medium and various peripheral devices. And a data processing method, a data processing system, and a computer-readable recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the rapid spread of computers such as PCs, various peripheral devices such as printers, scanners (image reading devices, etc.) and digital cameras, which are peripheral devices thereof, have been increasingly used in individuals and offices. It is spreading rapidly. In addition, networks such as a LAN connecting these to each other have become widespread. Along with this, there have been many requests for sharing and using printers, modems, scanners, and the like on these networks among a plurality of users.

[0003] For this reason, recently, an environment in which not only peripheral devices such as printers and scanners but also various devices on a network can be shared and used by a plurality of users is widely constructed in offices and the like. It has become.

[0004] By the way, conventionally, a network environment as described above has been represented (virtual network display) on a screen of a PC (data processing device) or the like.
This is configured by displaying icons of various PCs and various peripheral devices (including peripheral devices locally connected to the PC) on a line representing a network. Hereinafter, what is displayed on the screen of the PC or the like (virtual network display) as described above is referred to as a virtual system configuration display (screen). Note that a method of generating a virtual system configuration display (screen) is a known technique that has been proposed variously in the past, and a description thereof will be omitted in this specification.

[0005] On a conventional virtual system configuration display screen in which the network environment is represented on a screen of a PC or the like, by referring to the display (icon) of various PCs and various peripheral devices connected on the network, From the shape, etc., it is possible to obtain the identification of the device represented by each icon (identification of whether it is a printer, a scanner, or a PC), the function of each icon (device) such as data input and output, and the status information thereof. it can.

However, for example, in a printer,
Even if the type (printing method, etc.) is different, such as a BJ (bubble jet printer) and an LBP (laser beam printer), they are displayed as icons of the same shape, so the user should recognize the difference. Could not. Similarly, in the case of a scanner, for example, even if the type is different between a type having a document feeder and a type without a document feeder, the same type of icon (icon indicating the same scanner function) is displayed.
The user could not identify from the icon whether or not the scanner had a document feeder function.

As described above, in the related art, various types of PCs and various peripheral devices connected to the network, which are small but important, for example, different models (functions and methods are different) of the same device. Information for identification has not been provided to a user via an icon. For this reason, the user selects one of the various PCs and various peripheral devices connected to the network on which the icon is displayed from among the various PCs and the peripheral devices suitable for his / her own use.
And that the peripheral device cannot be identified accurately.

[0008]

As described above, conventionally, detailed identification information of various PCs and various peripheral devices connected to the network has not been provided to the user by icons. For this reason,
There is a problem that a user cannot accurately identify a device (PC, peripheral device, or the like) suitable for his / her use from among the devices displayed as icons.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and enables a user to accurately identify a device (PC, peripheral device, or the like) suitable for his / her use from devices displayed as icons. It is an object to provide a data processing device, a data processing method, a data processing system, and a computer-readable recording medium.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing apparatus for achieving the above object.
A data processing device capable of performing data communication with each of various information processing devices connected to a predetermined network and various peripheral devices via the predetermined network, and including attribute information of each of the peripheral devices. It is characterized in that the reflected character information is displayed on a virtual system configuration display screen.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the data processing apparatus, the character information is an icon indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. I do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing apparatus, comprising: a data processing device and various peripheral devices connected to a predetermined network; A communicable data processing device, comprising: an attribute information acquisition unit that acquires attribute information of the peripheral device; a character information storage unit that stores character information corresponding to the attribute information; and an attribute information acquisition unit that acquires the attribute information. Character information corresponding to the attribute information in the peripheral device, selected from the character information storage means, and the character information selected by the character information selection means is read from the character information storage means. Display that displays the virtual system configuration display screen, shown as a peripheral device Characterized by comprising a stage.

In a data processing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the display means indicates a network configuration in the predetermined network and character information selected by the character information selection means. A display screen is displayed.

Further, in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention, the character information is icon information indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. And

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the data processing apparatus, the peripheral device is a printer, and the character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the printer. It is characterized by having been done.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the data processing apparatus, the attribute information acquiring means acquires a driver name from a printer driver or bidirectional communication with the printer from the printer device main body. It is characterized by directly acquiring attribute information.

In the data processing apparatus according to the present invention, the peripheral device is an image input device,
The character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the image input device.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the data processing apparatus according to the ninth aspect, the attribute information obtaining means obtains a driver name from a device driver of the image input device or performs bidirectional communication with the image input device. It is characterized in that attribute information is obtained directly from the image input device main body by communication.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the data processing apparatus, the image input device is a scanner, and the device driver is a TWAIN driver.

[0020] In the data processing method according to the present invention, preferably, each of various information processing devices and various peripheral devices connected to a predetermined network is connected to the data processing device via the predetermined network. A communicable data processing method, wherein character information represented by reflecting attribute information of each of the peripheral devices is displayed on a virtual system configuration display screen.

In the data processing method according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the character information is an icon indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. .

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing method, wherein each of various information processing devices and various peripheral devices connected to a predetermined network is connected to the data processing device via the predetermined network. A communicable data processing method, comprising: an attribute information obtaining step of obtaining attribute information in the peripheral device; and character information corresponding to the attribute information in the peripheral device obtained by the attribute information obtaining means, A character information selecting step of selecting from character information storing means for storing character information corresponding to the character information, and reading out the character information selected by the character information selecting step from the character information storing means, and indicating the virtual system as the peripheral device. And a display procedure for displaying a configuration display screen.

In the data processing method according to the present invention, preferably, the display procedure includes a network configuration in the predetermined network and character information selected by the character information selection procedure. A display screen is displayed.

In the data processing method according to the present invention, the character information is icon information indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. And

In the data processing method according to the present invention, the peripheral device is a printer, and the character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the printer. It is characterized by having been done.

In the data processing method according to the present invention, the attribute information obtaining step may include obtaining a driver name from a printer driver or performing bidirectional communication with the printer from the printer device main body. It is characterized by directly acquiring attribute information.

In the data processing method according to the present invention, preferably, the peripheral device is an image input device, and the character information storage means stores various icons corresponding to the type of the image input device. The image data is stored.

In the data processing method according to the nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the attribute information obtaining step, the attribute information obtaining step may obtain a driver name from a device driver of the image input device, or perform bidirectional communication with the image input device. It is characterized in that attribute information is obtained directly from the image input device main body by communication.

The data processing method according to claim 20 of the present invention is characterized in that the image input device is a scanner, and the device driver is a TWAIN driver.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing system, comprising: various information processing devices, various peripheral devices connected to a predetermined network, and any one of the first to ninth aspects. A data processing system configured by the data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the virtual system configuration display screen information obtained by the data processing apparatus is displayed on the various information processing apparatuses having a display function via the network. To be delivered to

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable recording medium causes a computer to function as each unit included in the data processing apparatus according to any one of the third to tenth aspects. Is stored.

A computer-readable recording medium according to claim 23 of the present invention causes a computer to execute each procedure included in the data processing method according to any one of claims 13 to 20. A program for storing the program.

According to the present invention, the attribute information is acquired from the peripheral device, and based on the attribute information, the type of the peripheral device (a function different from other devices individually included in the devices included in the same category). And character information represented by reflecting the shape, and selecting the selected character information,
Since the information is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen, the type and shape of each peripheral device existing on the network can be easily identified by the user.

[0034]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of a network device including a data processing device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a system of a network device including a data processing device and various information processing devices and various peripheral devices includes several local area networks (hereinafter, also referred to as LANs) and a service integrated digital network. It is configured by a WAN which is an aggregate of LANs formed by being connected by high-speed digital lines such as (ISDN). In FIG. 1, LAN1
00 and the LAN 130 and the LAN 120 are connected by the backbone 140 to form a WAN. Thereby, the LAN 100, the LAN 12
0, each data processing device and various information processing devices connected to the LAN 130 are connected to the functions of other devices connected to other LANs other than the LAN to which they are directly connected via the WAN. , It is possible to access each other. Hereinafter, this WAN connection is simply referred to as a network.

The printer 102 shown in FIG. 1 is a printer having an open architecture, and is connected to a network via a network board (NB) 101. NB101 is an Ethe with a coaxial connector
rnet interface 10Base-2, RJ-
It is connected to a (LAN) 100 via a 10Base-T local area network interface having a 45.

A plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as P
PC 103, PC 104, PC 109, P
C110, PC118, PC119, etc.
0, 120, and 130, respectively, and these PCs can communicate with the NB 101 under the control of the network operating system. Therefore, in the present embodiment, one of the PCs, for example, the PC
103 is used as a PC for network device management.

A printer 105 is locally connected to a PC 104 connected to the LAN 100 as a local printer. This PC functioning as a printer server
A printer 104 manages printing to a locally connected printer 105 or a remote printer 102. Similarly, the LAN 13 functioning as a printer server
The PC 113 connected to the PC 0 manages printing to a printer such as the printer 114 connected locally or the printer 102 at a remote place.

The PC 106 functioning as a file server connected to the LAN 100 manages access to files stored in the large-capacity network disk 107. Similarly, the PC 111 connected to the LAN 130 and functioning as a file server manages access to files stored in the large-capacity network disk 112.

Furthermore, the PC 113 functions as a scanner server, and manages a scanner such as the scanner 115 connected locally or the scanner 108 at a remote place. The scanner 108 is connected to the LAN 100 via a network board (not shown). The digital copier 116 provides a function as a printer or a scanner under the control of the imaging processing unit 117 connected to the LAN 130.

In the network shown in FIG. 1, in order to efficiently communicate between various network members, N
Network software such as ovell and UNIX is used.

Each of the PC 103 and the PC 104 can generate a data file, transmit the generated data file to the LAN 100, receive a file from the LAN 100, and display and / or process those files. It is a general PC.

Further, in FIG. 1, a personal computer (PC) is shown as a terminal device, but other computer devices suitable for executing network software may be used. For example, if UNIX software is used, UNIX workstations may be connected to the network, and these workstations can of course be used together with the illustrated PC.

Normally, the LAN 100 provides a relatively local user group with a service such as a user group on one floor or a plurality of continuous floors in one building. On the other hand, a wide area network (WAN) is generally constructed as the users move away from each other, such as when the users are in different buildings or remote places.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data processing device of the present invention.

A data processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 is a communication medium (not shown) such as a LAN such as Ethernet.
A predetermined peripheral device (including a printer, a scanner, a modem, a multi-function image processing device, etc.) can communicate with another locally connected data processing device through a predetermined protocol through a predetermined protocol.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a system bus, and each unit to be described below is connected to the system bus 1. Reference numeral 2 denotes a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Reference numeral 3 denotes a program memory (PMEM), which selects / reads a program for this processing from the hard disk 10 as appropriate and executes the program by the CPU 2. Also, the keyboard 12
The data input from PME is also a text memory
It is stored as code information in M3.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a communication control unit which controls data input and output via the communication port 5. The signal output from the communication port 5 is transmitted via the communication line 6 to the communication port of another device 7 on the network. Communication with a printer or an image reading device (scanner) shared on a network is performed via the communication control unit 4. In the present embodiment, a LAN or the like will be described as an example of a network. However, the present invention can be applied to a communication port and a communication line connected to the communication control unit 4 even if they are general public lines. Of course there is.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an external storage device control unit, which is a data file disk, for example, a floppy disk (hereinafter referred to as a floppy disk).
FD) 9 and access to a hard disk (hereinafter, also referred to as HDD) 10 are controlled. An input control unit 11 is connected to input devices such as a keyboard 12 and a mouse 13. The user can use the keyboard 12 and the mouse 1
By operating 3, an operation command of the system is issued.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a CRT device (CRT). A pointing device (hereinafter, also referred to as a PD) is used for processing image information (windows and the like) on the CRT 16, and a mouse 13 is used in this embodiment. Is done. By using the mouse 13, the cursor on the CRT 16 can be arbitrarily moved in the X and Y directions, a command icon on a command menu can be selected to give a processing instruction, an edit target instruction, and a drawing position instruction. And so on.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a video image memory (hereinafter VR)
In this case, the drawing data (bitmap data) to be displayed on the CRT 16 is expanded, read out via the display output control unit 15 as appropriate, and the content is displayed on the CRT 16. A printer control unit 17 controls output of data to the connected printer 18. An image reading device control unit 1A controls image reading of a connected image reading device (scanner) 1B. The external device control unit 19 controls the printer control unit 17 or the image reading device control unit 1A to control operations of a printer, a scanner, and the like provided in another device 7 on the network, which is an external device.

In the data processing device (image reading server device) having the server-side configuration of the present invention, the components of the image reading device control section 1A and the image reading device 1B are indispensable. As described above, the data processing device and the like can use the same components shared on the server side via the communication control unit 4 and the communication port 5.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, when the image reading device and the image reading device are physically separate components, the image reading device has the same function as one component including the image reading device. And

In this embodiment, the ROM
The processing program stored in (PMEM3) is configured (connected) by a storage medium such as HDD 10 or FD 9 directly connected to the data processing device, or by a network.
A plurality of data may be redundantly stored on another device or the like.

Further, the processing program of the present invention has a
It can be supplied to storage media such as D10 and FD9, and other systems and devices via a network.

Next, the display of icons in various PCs and various peripheral devices in a shape corresponding to the attribute information will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a virtual system configuration display screen of a network system composed of various PCs and various shared peripheral devices displayed on the CRT 16 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, according to the present invention, each PC and each peripheral device existing on the network can be identified by icon shapes of each PC and each peripheral device so that the user can more easily visually recognize it. It is expressed (displayed) with unique characteristics.

In FIG. 3, icons 301, 307,
Icons indicated by 310, 311, 312, and 317 are icons indicating PCs, respectively. Also, icons 304, 305, 306, 308, 313, 315,
The icons 318 are icons indicating printers (functions), respectively.
14, 316 and 319 are icons indicating scanners (functions). Further, the icon indicated by the icon 302 is an icon indicating a digital camera (function).

Focusing on the printer function icons, icons 304 and 305 are displayed as icons indicating the shape of the LBP printer.
Is displayed as an icon indicating the shape of the multifunction printer, icon 313 is displayed as an icon indicating the shape of the BJ printer, icon 315 is displayed as an icon indicating the shape of a general printer, and icon 318 is an MF
Each is displayed with an icon indicating a shape indicating the P printer.

Similarly, focusing on icons of image input devices (here, a scanner and a digital camera), an icon 302 is displayed as an icon indicating the shape of a digital camera, and an icon 303 is displayed as an icon indicating a general flatbed scanner. Is displayed with an icon indicating
09 is displayed as an icon indicating the shape of a Canon ADF scanner, and the icon 314 is displayed as an icon indicating a general ADF scanner.
Reference numeral 6 denotes an icon indicating the shape of a Canon flatbed scanner, and icon 319 denotes an icon indicating the shape of a Canon document scanner.

Conventionally, each peripheral device is displayed with the same icon for each device such as a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile, so that the difference between the devices can be visually identified. It was not possible to visually identify the functions of the devices included in the device. According to the present invention, the icons of the respective devices are displayed using icons that simultaneously represent the type (functions unique to the devices included in the same category) and the shape based on the attribute information of the respective peripheral devices. It allows a user to easily and easily identify its function and shape.

In the virtual system configuration display screen shown in FIG. 3, the digital camera 302 and the general flatbed scanner 303 are connected to the PC 301 by SCSI or the like.
And is connected to a network via the PC 301. Also, the multifunction printer 308
ADF scanner 309 made by Canon is locally connected to PC 307 by SCSI or the like.
07 and connected to the network. And
The MFP printer 318 and the Canon document scanner 319 are locally connected to the PC 317 by SCSI or the like, and are connected to a network via the PC 317. Further, a BJ printer 313, a general ADF scanner 314, a general printer 315,
And the flatbed scanner 316 made by Canon
It is locally connected to the PC 312 by CSI or the like, and is connected to a network via the PC 312.

Next, a method of selecting an icon having a shape representing the type from the attribute information of each peripheral device will be described. The attribute information of each peripheral device can be obtained by inquiring each device driver or the device directly.

First, a method of selecting an icon having a shape suitable for expressing each printer will be described, taking a printer as an example of each peripheral device.

As a method of acquiring the attribute information possessed by the printer, a method of acquiring a driver name from a printer driver, a method of acquiring attribute information from a printer device body by bidirectional communication (bidirectional parallel, SNMP, etc.), and the like are available. However, the present invention is not limited to these. Here, as an example, a method of selecting an icon by acquiring a driver name from a printer driver will be described.

The name of the printer driver indicates the name of the device, and is unique to each printer. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the name of the printer driver and select an icon having a shape indicating the feature of the device based on the name. The driver name may be determined using the entire character string, or the series of products may have the same first few characters, so that the determination may be made only by focusing on that part. In any case, the determination may be made using any part of the character string as long as the characteristics of the device can be understood, and there is no particular limitation.

Incidentally, a case where the attribute information is obtained from the printer device main body will be described for reference only. By acquiring the device name or model number from the printer device main body by bidirectional communication, the model is uniquely identified. It is determined (attribute information is obtained).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an icon corresponding to the type of the printer. An icon (for example, dot image data) as shown in FIG.
When the printer type is stored in the MEM 3, the HDD 10, or another storage medium and the type of the printer is determined by the above-described determination processing, the icon is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen of the CRT 16. In FIG. 4, the types of printers are LBP, BJ, MFP, MFP, and other five types. However, icons such as those having a plurality of cassettes and those having a finisher function depending on the type of LBP are shown. They may be prepared and are not limited to these five types of printers.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of determining and displaying the shape of an icon indicating the characteristics of each printer according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control operation of a program for controlling the printer of the present invention.

This program is stored in the HDD 1 shown in FIG.
0, FD9, or a program stored in another storage medium (not shown) is read into the PMEM 3, and the CPU 2 executes the program based on the read program.

First, the data processing device (for example, the PC 301 in FIG. 3) includes a local printer, a printer directly connected to a network, and LANs 100, 120, and 130.
Each attribute information of the printer shared by the PCs existing on the network (on the network) is acquired (step 501).
The information on each shared printer is stored in each server PC.
Contact to get.

Next, the total number N of printers is obtained from the printer information obtained in step 501 (step 502), and the counter variable I is initialized to 1 (step 503).

Next, in step 504, the counter I is compared with the number N of printers, and if I and N are equal or I is smaller than N (if I is not larger than N).
Proceeds to step 505, and ends the processing in the opposite case (step 504).

In step 505, it is determined whether or not the I-th printer is an LBP printer (for example, determination based on the driver name). If it is determined that the printer is an LBP printer, in step 506, the process proceeds to step 506. The printer is displayed as an icon indicating the LBP printer as shown in FIG. 4 on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG.

If it is determined in step 505 that the I-th printer is not an LBP printer, the flow advances to step 507 to continue the printer type determination process. Is determined, and if it is determined that the printer is a BJ printer, in step 508, the printer is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. The icon is displayed as an icon indicating the BJ printer, and the process proceeds to step 514.

If it is determined in step 507 that the I-th printer is not a BJ printer, the flow advances to step 509 to continue the printer type determination process. It is determined whether the printer is a pass printer, and the MFP
If it is determined that the printer is a multi-pass printer, in step 510, the printer is connected to the CRT 16 of FIG.
Is displayed as an icon indicating the MFP multi-pass printer as shown in FIG.

If it is determined in step 509 that the I-th printer is not an MFP multi-pass printer, the process proceeds to step 511 to continue the printer type determination process. It is determined whether or not the printer is a multifunction printer, and if it is determined that the printer is a multifunction printer, step 512
, The printer is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. 2 as an icon indicating the multifunction printer as shown in FIG. 4, and the process proceeds to step 514.

If it is determined in step 511 that the I-th printer is not a multifunction printer, the flow advances to step 513. In step 513, the printer is displayed in the virtual system configuration display displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. An icon indicating a general printer is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. Note that the above-described determination processing is merely an example, and the number of types of determination may be many, and the present invention is not limited to these.

When the type determination of the I-th printer is completed by the above processing, the counter I is incremented by 1 so that the next printer is subjected to the type determination, and the process returns to step 504 (step 514). In step 504, when I> N, and the processing related to the type determination of all printers ends, the processing ends.

As described above, an icon is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. 2 so that the user can visually and easily determine the type of the printer. The virtual system configuration display screen information obtained by the above processing is distributed by a predetermined protocol to the various information processing apparatuses having a display function connected to the data processing apparatus of the present invention via a network. You may do so.

Next, a method of selecting an icon having a shape suitable for expressing each image input device (scanner or the like) will be described by taking an image input device such as a scanner as an example of each peripheral device. In the following description, a scanner will be mainly described as an image input device.

In the case of a scanner, as in the case of a printer, as a method of acquiring the attribute information, a method of acquiring a driver name (product information) from a device driver, a method of bidirectional communication (bidirectional parallel, SNMP, etc.) ), There is a method of acquiring attribute information from the scanner device body. Here, a method of selecting an icon indicating the model by using device information that can be obtained from the TWAIN driver will be described as an example.

The product name of each scanner and digital camera can be obtained from the TWAIN driver, and this product name is unique to the device. Also, TW
From the AIN driver, for example, information indicating whether or not an auto document feeder (hereinafter, also referred to as an ADF) can be used can be obtained. Therefore, based on these pieces of information, it is possible to select an icon having a shape indicating the feature of the device. Also in this case, there is no particular limitation as long as the information indicates the type and shape. That is, TWA
It is also possible to use information other than the information obtained from the IN driver.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of icons corresponding to the shapes / types of the scanner and the digital camera.

An icon (for example, dot image data) as shown in FIG.
0 or stored in another storage medium, and when the type of the image input device such as the scanner is determined by the above-described determination processing, the icon is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen of the CRT 16. In FIG. 6, there are six types of image input devices such as scanners such as a scanner with a Canon ADF, a flatbed scanner from Canon, a document scanner, a scanner with an ADF from another company, a flatbed scanner from another company, and a digital camera. However, the present invention is not limited to these six types. Of course, it is also possible to prepare icons for each model.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of determining and displaying the shape of the icon indicating the characteristics of each scanner and digital camera according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation of a program for controlling the scanner and the digital camera of the present invention.

This program is stored in the HDD 1 shown in FIG.
0, FD9, or a program stored in another storage medium (not shown) is read into the PMEM 3, and the CPU 2 executes the program based on the read program.

First, the data processing device (eg, PC 301 in FIG. 3) is connected to a locally connected image input device (scanner, digital camera, etc.) or LAN 10
P existing on 0, 120, 130 (on the network)
The attribute information of the image input device shared by C is acquired (step 701). The information of each shared image input device is obtained by inquiring of each server PC.

Next, the number N of all image input devices is obtained from the information of the image input devices obtained in step 701 (step 702), and the counter variable I is initialized to 1 (step 703).

Next, the counter I is compared with the number N of printers, and if I and N are equal or I is smaller than N (I
Is not greater than N), go to step 705,
In the opposite case, the process ends (step 504).

In step 705, it is determined whether or not the device driver of the I-th image input device has a UI (user interface) silent mode function. It is determined whether or not the image scanner is an image scanner (for example, a determination based on a TWAIN driver name). If it is determined that the image scanner is a Canon image scanner, step 70 is performed.
In step 6, it is determined whether the image scanner has an ADF function (for example, AW
Determination based on whether DF is available).

If it is determined in step 706 that the ADF function is available, in step 707, the scanner is placed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. Is displayed as an icon indicating a scanner with a Canon ADF, and the process proceeds to step 716. If it is determined in step 706 that the ADF function is not available, in step 708 the scanner is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. Is displayed as an icon indicating the Canon flatbed scanner of Step 71.
Proceed to 6.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 705 that the I-th image input device is not a Canon image scanner, the flow advances to step 709. In step 709, the I-th image input device is a Canon image scanner. It is determined whether or not the document reader (DR) scanner is a Canon document reader (DR) scanner. If it is determined that the scanner is a Canon document reader (DR) scanner, the Canon document reader (DR) scanner has an ADF function. In step 710, without determining the ADF, the scanner is a Canon document reader (DR) scanner as shown in FIG. 6 on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. The icon is displayed as an icon indicating the document scanner, and the process proceeds to step 716.

If it is determined in step 709 that the I-th image input device is not a Canon DR scanner, the flow advances to step 711 to determine whether the I-th image input device is a Canon digital camera. If it is determined that the digital camera is a Canon digital camera, the digital camera does not have an ADF function. Therefore, in step 712, the digital camera is connected to the CRT 16 in FIG. On the displayed virtual system configuration display screen, as shown in FIG. 6, an icon indicating a Canon digital camera is displayed, and the process proceeds to step 716.

If it is determined in step 711 that the I-th image input device is not a Canon digital camera, the flow advances to step 713 to determine whether the I-th image input device has an ADF function. Is performed and A
If it is determined that the scanner has the DF function, in step 714, the scanner is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG.
The scanner is displayed as an icon indicating a scanner with another manufacturer's ADF, and the flow advances to step 716.

If it is determined in step 711 that the I-th image input device does not have the ADF function, then in step 715, the scanner is connected to the C in FIG.
On the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on RT16,
An icon indicating a flatbed scanner manufactured by another company as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and the flow advances to step 716. Note that the above-described determination processing is merely an example, and the number of types of determination may be many, and the present invention is not limited to these.

When the determination of the I-th image input device has been completed by the above processing, the counter I is incremented by 1 in order to determine the next image input device, and the process returns to step 704 (step 716). In step 704, when I> N, and the processing regarding the determination of all the image input devices ends, the processing ends.

As described above, an icon is displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen displayed on the CRT 16 in FIG. 2 so that the user can visually and easily determine the type and shape of the image input device. . The virtual system configuration display screen information obtained by the above processing is distributed by a predetermined protocol to the various information processing apparatuses having a display function connected to the data processing apparatus of the present invention via a network. You may do so.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, a data processing apparatus that allows a user to accurately identify a peripheral device suitable for his / her application from among the devices displayed as icons, Although mainly described a data processing device capable of accurately identifying a computer peripheral device suitable for, but is not limited thereto, as the device, other than computer peripheral devices,
It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an information processing device such as a PC.

As described above, according to the above invention,
The attribute information of each peripheral device is acquired, and from this attribute information, an icon that simultaneously expresses the type (function unique to the device included in the same category) and the shape is selected from a group of icons generated in advance. Since each peripheral device is selected and displayed with this icon, the type and shape of each peripheral device can be provided to the user with visual information, and the peripheral device desired by the user can be provided. Devices can be easily identified simply by looking at the icons.

The virtual system configuration display screen information obtained by the present invention is transmitted to each information processing device (PC, etc.) having a display function and connected to the data processing device of the present invention via a network. By delivering,
In each of the information processing devices, the virtual system configuration display screen information obtained by the present invention can be used. Further, for example, an unnecessary network load caused by redundantly creating (calculating) virtual system configuration display screen information in the network configuration in each information processing device on the same network, and an unnecessary information load in each information processing device. Load can be reduced, and a decrease in system performance can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the case where the program for operating the data processing apparatus of the present invention is stored in the ROM has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be realized. Furthermore, it may be realized by a circuit that performs the same operation.

The present invention described above may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is provided to an apparatus connected to the various devices or a computer in the system so as to operate various devices for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments. Supply code, computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or device
The present invention also includes those implemented by operating the various devices according to the programs stored in the program.

In this case, the program code of the software implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the computer are provided.
For example, a recording medium storing such a program code constitutes the present invention. As a recording medium for storing such a program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM,
A magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the supplied program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (operating system) or other operating system running on the computer. Needless to say, even when the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized in cooperation with application software and the like, such program codes are included in the embodiments of the present invention.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or the function expansion unit is specified based on the instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that the present invention also includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the first embodiment performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

The shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in the above embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is limited by these. It must not be interpreted in a way. That is, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof.

[0109]

As described above, according to the present invention, the attribute information of each peripheral device is acquired, and the type (function unique to the device included in the same category) and the shape are obtained from the attribute information. Simultaneously expressed character information is selected from the character information generated in advance, and the display of each peripheral device is performed based on the character information. It can be easily identified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration example of a network device including a data processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data processing device having a client-side configuration according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows various Ps displayed on the CRT shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a virtual system configuration display screen of a network system configured by C and various shared peripheral devices.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon corresponding to a type of a printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control operation (icon display operation process) of a program for controlling the printer of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon corresponding to a shape / type of a scanner and a digital camera.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation (icon display operation processing) of a program for controlling the scanner and the digital camera of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 system bus 2 CPU (Central Processing Unit) 3 program memory (PMEM) 4 communication control unit 5 communication port 6 communication line 7 other device on network 8 external storage device control unit 9 floppy disk (FD) 10 hard disk (HDD) Reference Signs List 11 Input control unit 12 Keyboard 13 Mouse 14 Video image memory (VRAM) 15 Display output control unit 16 CRT device (CRT) 17 Printer control unit 18 Printer (local) 19 External device control unit 1A Image reading device control unit 1B Image reading device (Scanner) 100 LAN 101 Network Board (NB) 102 Network Printer 103, 104, 109, 110, 118, 119 P
C 105 Local printer 106 PC (file server) 107 Large capacity network disk 108 Scanner 111 PC (file server) 112 Large capacity network disk 113 PC (printer / scanner server) 114 Local printer 115 Scanner 116 Digital copier 117 Imaging processing unit 120 LAN 130 LAN 140 Backbone 301, 307, 310, 311, 312, 317 P
C 302 Digital camera 303 General flatbed scanner 304,305 LBP printer 306,308 Multifunction printer 309 Canon ADF scanner 313 BJ printer 314 General ADF scanner 315 General printer 316 Canon flatbed scanner 318 MFP Printer 319 Canon Document Scanner

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A data processing device capable of performing data communication with each of various information processing devices and various peripheral devices connected to a predetermined network via the predetermined network, wherein each of the peripheral devices is A data processing device configured to display character information represented by reflecting attribute information possessed on a virtual system configuration display screen. 2. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character information is an icon indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. 3. A data processing device capable of performing data communication with each of various information processing devices and various peripheral devices connected on a predetermined network via the predetermined network, the data processing device comprising: Attribute information obtaining means for obtaining information; storing character information corresponding to the attribute information; character information storage means; and character information corresponding to the attribute information in the peripheral device obtained by the attribute information obtaining means, A character information selection unit selected from the character information storage unit; and a display for reading out the character information selected by the character information selection unit from the character information storage unit and displaying a virtual system configuration display screen shown as the peripheral device. Means, and a data processing apparatus comprising: 4. The virtual system configuration display screen according to claim 3, wherein said display means displays a network configuration in said predetermined network and character information selected by said character information selection means. Data processing equipment. 5. The data processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the character information is icon information indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. 6. The data according to claim 5, wherein the peripheral device is a printer, and the character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the printer. Processing equipment. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said attribute information obtaining means obtains the attribute information directly from a printer device main body by obtaining a driver name from a printer driver or by bidirectional communication with a printer. The data processing device according to claim 1. 8. The peripheral device is an image input device,
6. The data processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the image input device. 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information obtaining unit obtains a driver name from a device driver of the image input device, or obtains attribute information directly from the image input device main body by bidirectional communication with the image input device. The data processing device according to claim 8, wherein 10. The data processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image input device is a scanner, and the device driver is a TWAIN driver. 11. A data processing method capable of performing data communication with each of various information processing devices and various peripheral devices connected on a predetermined network via the predetermined network, wherein each of the peripheral devices is A data processing method for displaying, on a virtual system configuration display screen, character information represented by reflecting attribute information of the character. 12. The data processing method according to claim 11, wherein the character information is an icon indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. 13. A data processing method capable of performing data communication with each of various information processing devices and various peripheral devices connected on a predetermined network via the predetermined network, the data processing method comprising: An attribute information obtaining step of obtaining information; and selecting character information corresponding to the attribute information of the peripheral device obtained by the attribute information obtaining unit from a character information storage unit storing the character information corresponding to the attribute information. A character information selecting step, and a display step of reading out the character information selected by the character information selecting step from the character information storage means and displaying a virtual system configuration display screen shown as the peripheral device. Data processing method. 14. The display system according to claim 13, wherein the displaying step displays a virtual system configuration display screen showing a network configuration in the predetermined network and character information selected by the character information selecting step. Data processing method. 15. The data processing method according to claim 13, wherein the character information is icon information indicating each of the peripheral devices displayed on the virtual system configuration display screen. 16. The data according to claim 15, wherein the peripheral device is a printer, and the character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the printer. Processing method. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the attribute information obtaining step obtains the attribute information directly from a printer device main body by obtaining a driver name from a printer driver or by bidirectional communication with a printer. Data processing method described. 18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the peripheral device is an image input device, and the character information storage means stores image data of various icons corresponding to the type of the image input device. The data processing method described in 1. 19. The attribute information acquiring step is to acquire a driver name from a device driver of the image input device, or to acquire attribute information directly from the image input device main body by two-way communication with the image input device. 19. The data processing method according to claim 18, wherein: 20. The data processing method according to claim 19, wherein the image input device is a scanner, and the device driver is a TWAIN driver. 21. Various information processing devices connected to a predetermined network, various peripheral devices, and said first device.
A data processing system configured by the data processing device according to any one of claims 9 to 9, further comprising a display function of displaying the virtual system configuration display screen information obtained by the data processing device via the network. A data processing system for delivering to the various information processing devices. 22. The computer according to claim 3, wherein
A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing the data processing device to function as each unit included in the data processing device. 23. The computer according to claim 13, wherein
0. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing each procedure included in the data processing method according to any one of 0.