JP2001237884A - Network device controller, network system, network device control method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network device controller, a network system, a network device control method and a storage medium where high-speed data communication is conducted by selecting a connection type data transmission method or a connectionless type transmission method depending on a size of transmitted data so as to use a datagram type packet and a data stream type packet. SOLUTION: A network management device 200 is provided with a CPU 201 that executes a network management program controlling transmission employing a connectionless type connection when a size of transmitted data is small and controlling transmission employing a connection type connection when a size of transmitted data is large.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a network device control device, a network system, a network device control method and a storage medium, and more specifically, a network device control device including network management software, a network system, a network device control method, and a network device control method. It relates to a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, SNMP (Simple Network Monitor) has been used as a method for managing network devices.
g Protocol: Simple network monitoring protocol) / MI
B (Management Information Base)
(For details on SNMP / MIB, "Introduction to TCP / IP Network Management Aiming at Practical Management" (MT Rose, translated by Takeshi Nishida,
Toppan Co., Ltd., first edition, August 20, 1992).

According to the SNMP network management technology,
The network management system includes at least one network management station (NMS).
nt Station), a number of managed nodes, each including an agent, and a network management protocol used by the management stations and agents to exchange management information. The user can acquire data on the network and change the data by communicating with the agent software on the managed node using the network management software on the NMS.

When the above network management software is used in a distributed environment, humans interact with a server application having an SNMP network management function and a computer via a GUI (Graphical User Interface: icon) started at each terminal. In general, the configuration is made up of a plurality of client applications as an interface.

[0005] RFC (Request for Comments) 1057 is a standard for performing inter-process communication between client terminals and server applications between different terminals.
RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol)
col / Internet Protocol) defines a procedure for invoking a subroutine for distributed use on the remote CPU side (central processing unit). In the RPC, a group of functions for providing a network service is prepared on the server side, and the functions in the group can be called from a client process of another terminal on the network, similarly to the functions in the local machine. The flow of the inter-process communication in the RPC is as follows.

[0006] The client calls an RPC function prepared in the server as a service request to the server. At this point, the data packet storing the function call information is sent to the server, and the client program is interrupted. When the server receives the packet, it dispatches the called function, extracts the function arguments, executes the service based on the arguments, and returns the result to the client. After receiving the result of the function, the client resumes execution of the program. There are two types of connection between a client and a server in the RPC, a connection type and a connectionless type.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, a connection-type connection is generally established for transmission of data of a server application and a client application of network management software, and thereafter, the established connection is used. Therefore, there is a problem that data transmission is slow because connection-type data communication is performed.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and by switching between a connection-type and connectionless-type data transmission method in accordance with the size of data to be transmitted, a datagram-type packet and a data stream-type packet are transmitted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a network device control device, a network system, a network device control method, and a storage medium that enable high-speed data communication by properly using packets.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server / client type network device control device capable of communicating with a device connected to a network, the device comprising: Communication means for communicating with a server application for obtaining and setting information of the communication means, data conversion means for converting data transmitted and received by the communication means, and connection management means for managing connection-type and connectionless connection of the communication means And characterized in that:

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 2 further comprises display means for displaying information obtained from the device via the communication means and information set in the device, Is a device such as a printer connected to the network.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the connection management means switches between transmission by the connection type connection and transmission by the connectionless type connection according to the size of data to be transmitted. It is characterized by.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the connection management means controls to transmit using the connectionless connection when the size of data to be transmitted is small, and transmits the data. When the size of the data to be transmitted is large, control is performed so that the data is transmitted using the connection-type connection.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the connection management means transmits the data in the datagram type packet when the size of the data to be transmitted is a datagram type packet. In the case where the size of the data to be transmitted cannot be transmitted in the datagram type packet, the data is transmitted in the data stream type packet.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 6 provides a device and a server which can communicate with the device.
A network system having a client-type network device control device on a network,
The network device control device includes a communication unit that communicates with a server application that acquires and sets information on the device, a data conversion unit that converts data transmitted and received by the communication unit, and a connection-type connection and a connection of the communication unit. Connection management means for managing connectionless connections.

[0015] To achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 7 further comprises the network device control apparatus,
Display means for displaying information obtained from the device via the communication means and information set in the device, wherein the device is a device such as a printer connected to the network. .

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the connection management means of the network device control apparatus transmits the connection-based connection and the connectionless connection in accordance with the size of data to be transmitted. The transmission is switched to the transmission by

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, when the size of data to be transmitted is small, the connection management means of the network device controller transmits the data using the connectionless connection. And when the size of the data to be transmitted is large, the transmission is controlled using the connection-type connection.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 10 is characterized in that the connection management means of the network device control apparatus is configured to transmit the datagram if the size of the data to be transmitted is a datagram type packet. Control is performed so that the data is transmitted in a data stream type packet when the size of the data to be transmitted cannot be transmitted in the datagram type packet.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network device control method applied to a server / client type network device control apparatus capable of communicating with a device connected on a network, A communication step for communicating with a server application for acquiring and setting information on the device, a data conversion means for converting data transmitted and received in the communication step, and managing connection-type connections and connectionless connections used in the communication step And connection management means for performing the connection.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 12 further comprises a display step of displaying information obtained from the device via the communication step or information set in the device, Is a device such as a printer connected to the network.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the connection management step, the transmission between the connection type connection and the connectionless type connection is switched according to the size of data to be transmitted. It is characterized by.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 14 is characterized in that, in the connection management step, when the size of data to be transmitted is small, the transmission is controlled using the connectionless connection, and the transmission is performed. When the size of the data to be transmitted is large, control is performed so that the data is transmitted using the connection-type connection.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 15 is characterized in that, in the connection management step, if the size of data to be transmitted can be transmitted as a datagram type packet, the data is transmitted as the datagram type packet. So that
When the size of the data to be transmitted cannot be transmitted in the datagram type packet, the data is transmitted in a data stream type packet.

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 16 is a program for executing a network device control method applied to a server / client type network device control device capable of communicating with a device connected on a network. Is a storage medium readable by a computer having stored therein, wherein the network device control method includes: a communication step of controlling communication with a server application for acquiring and setting information of the device; It is characterized by comprising data conversion means for controlling data conversion and connection management means for controlling connection-type connection and connectionless-type connection used in the communication step.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 17 further comprises a display step of controlling to display information obtained from the device via the communication step or information set in the device. The device is a device such as a printer connected to the network.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 18 is characterized in that in the connection management step, transmission between the connection-type connection and transmission using the connectionless connection is switched according to the size of data to be transmitted. Is controlled.

[0027] In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 19 is characterized in that, in the connection management step, when the size of data to be transmitted is small, the transmission is controlled using the connectionless connection, and the transmission is performed. When the size of the data to be transmitted is large, control is performed so that the data is transmitted using the connection-type connection.

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 20, in the connection management step, if the size of the data to be transmitted is a datagram type packet, the data is transmitted in the datagram type packet. In the case where the size of the data to be transmitted cannot be transmitted in the datagram type packet, the data is transmitted in the data stream type packet.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A network management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention uses a feature of SNMP / MIB, which uses connectionless packets for communication with devices on a network, to perform inter-process communication between a server application and a client application. By using connection-type and connectionless-type connections dynamically, a connection-type connection is established for data transmission between the server application and the client application as in the past, and the connection-type connection is established using the established connection. This eliminates the disadvantage that data transmission is slow due to the data communication. The details will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a LAN (Loca
l Area Network) 100, a printer 102 having a network board (NB) 101 and an open architecture, a personal computer (PC) 10
3. Personal computer (PC) 104, file server 106, print server 108, personal computer (PC) 121, modulation / demodulation (MODEM) /
A transponder 130 is connected, and a personal computer (PC) 111, a personal computer (PC) 112, a file server 11
3. Print server 115, modulation / demodulation (MODEM)
/ Transponder 130 is connected, and a personal computer (PC) 122 and a backbone 140 are connected on the LAN 120. Further, the personal computer (PC) 104 includes a printer 1
5, a printer 109a and a printer 109b are connected to the print server 108, a printer 116 and a printer 117 are connected to the print server 115, and a modulation / demodulation (M
ODEM) / transponder 130 are connected.

The above configuration will be described in detail. On the LAN 100, the printer 102 is connected to a network board (N
B) It is connected to the LAN 100 via 101 and has an open architecture. A personal computer (PC) 103 is used for various information processing.
It has the configuration shown in FIG. Personal computer (P
C) 104 is used for various information processing. The file server 106 manages files of users on the network disk 107. The print server 108 is connected to the printer 109a and the printer 109b,
A printer 109a,
A print service is provided by the printer 109b. The personal computer (PC) 121 is used for various types of information processing and has a configuration shown in FIG. modulation/
Demodulation (MODEM) / Transponder 130 is LAN
100, a LAN 110, and a LAN 120.

On the LAN 110, a personal computer (PC) 111 performs various information processing. A personal computer (PC) 112 is used for various information processing. The file server 113 manages user files on the network disk 114. The print server 115 includes a printer 116 and a printer 117.
Connected to other PCs on the LAN 110,
A printing service is provided by the printer 116 and the printer 117. The modulation / demodulation (MODEM) / transponder 130 is a LAN 100, a LAN 110, a LAN 12
It has a relay function between 0.

On the LAN 120, a personal computer (PC) 122 is used for various information processing. The backbone 140 connects the LAN 120 to the LAN 100 and the LAN 110, and the LANs 100, 110, 12
0 is a communication medium that plays a fundamental role through which communication through the LAN 110 passes.
It is connected to the transponder 130. In this case, the modulation / demodulation (MODEM) / transponder 130 on the LAN 110 and the modulation / demodulation (MODEM) / transponder 130 on the LAN 100 are WAN
(Wide Area Network).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the network management apparatus 200 (PC 103 or PC 121 on which network management software runs) in the network system according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. The network management device 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a CPU 201 (data conversion unit, connection management unit), a ROM 202, a RAM 203, and a system bus 2.
04, keyboard controller (KBC) 205, CR
T controller (CRTC) 206, disk controller (DKC) 207, network interface card (NIC) 208 (communication means), keyboard (K
B) 209, CRT 210 (display means), hard disk (HD) 211, floppy disk (FD) 212
It has. That is, the PC 103, P shown in FIG.
Each of the C121 has the configuration shown in FIG. In the figure, 100 indicates a LAN.

The above configuration will be described in detail.
This is a central processing unit that controls the entire apparatus via the system bus 204, and executes processing shown in flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 described later. The data conversion means and the connection management means in the claims are the CPU 201 and the CPU 20.
This is realized by the network management program executed in step 1. The ROM 202 stores programs and fixed data. The RAM 203 stores various data. A keyboard controller (KBC) 205 controls data input from a keyboard (KB) 209. A CRT controller (CRTC) 206 controls display on the CRT 210. Disk controller (DKC) 2
Reference numeral 07 controls writing / reading of data to / from the hard disk (HD) 211 and the floppy disk (FD) 212.

A network interface card (NI
C) 208 manages an interface for data communication with the LAN 100. Keyboard (KB) 209
Is used for various data input and various settings. CRT210
Is display means for displaying characters, graphics, and the like based on the control of the CRT controller 206. The display means is CRT
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a liquid crystal display or the like may be used. The hard disk (HD) 211 stores a program described in detail below. Floppy disk (FD) 2
Reference numeral 12 stores various data.

That is, the network management device of the present invention
It is realized on a PC having the same configuration as a PC capable of realizing a conventional network management device. The hard disk (HD) 211 stores a program of network management software according to the present invention, which is an operation main body in all the descriptions below. In all of the following description, unless otherwise specified, the subject of execution is CPU 2 on hardware.
01. On the other hand, the subject of control on software is network management software stored in the hard disk (HD) 211. In the embodiment of the present invention, the OS (Operating System) is assumed to be, for example, Windows 95 (manufactured by Microsoft).
It is not limited to this.

The network management program according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a floppy disk and a CD-RO.
M may be supplied in a form stored in a storage medium such as M. In this case, the disk controller (D) shown in FIG.
The program is read from the storage medium by the KC) 207 or a CD-ROM drive (not shown) or the like, and is installed on the hard disk (HD) 211.

FIG. 3 shows NetSot in the network system according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
GUI (GUI for network management software
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a relationship between a partial process and a VDC (a process of a portion that communicates with a device in network management software). In the example of FIG. 3, NetSp
The ot GUI (process A) is realized on the PC 103, and the VDC (process B) is realized on the PC 121. FIG. 3 will be described in detail in the following description of operation.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a display example of a device list according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which a device name, a product name, a network address and the like are displayed on a screen in association with each other. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a display example of a device detail window according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which a paper feed tray, an upper cassette, a lower cassette, a paper deck, and an envelope feeder provided in a device (printer) are respectively loaded. This is an example in which information relating to the paper size and the like being displayed is displayed on the screen. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an F-type according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an ile VDC, and a character: F
This is an example in which ile VDC is displayed on a screen. 4 to 6 are displayed on the CRT 210 shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a conceptual example in which the program (network management program) of the present invention and related data are supplied to the apparatus from a storage medium. The program and related data of the present invention are stored on a floppy disk or CD-
It is supplied by inserting a storage medium 1001 such as a ROM into a storage medium drive insertion slot 1003 provided in the apparatus 1002. Thereafter, the program and related data of the present invention are temporarily installed on the hard disk from the storage medium 1001 and loaded into the RAM from the storage medium 1001, or directly loaded into the RAM without being installed on the hard disk, so that the program and the related data of the present invention are stored. It is possible to execute.

In this case, when the program of the present invention is executed in the network management device according to the embodiment of the present invention, for example, the program of the present invention and related data are stored in the network management device according to the procedure shown in FIG. Or by storing the program of the present invention and related data in a network management device in advance,
Program execution becomes possible.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of the storage contents of a storage medium storing the program (network management program) of the present invention and related data. The storage medium of the present invention is configured by storage contents such as volume information 901, directory information 902, program execution file 903, and program-related data file 904. The program of the present invention is program-coded based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 described below.

Next, the operation of the network management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 7, and FIG. In the following description, the process of the GUI part in the network management software according to the embodiment of the present invention is referred to as “NetS
The “port GUI” and the process of the part of the network management software that communicates with the device are called “VDC”.

In FIG. 3, the PC 10 shown in FIG.
3 shows the process of the NetSpot GUI on FIG.
VDC processes are activated on the PC 121 shown in FIG. 1 to manage the printer 102 (in which an SNMP agent is mounted). The NetSpot GUI communicates with the VDC using the inter-process communication function.
The DC communicates with the device using the SNMP protocol.

To obtain information from the device, Ne
The tSpot GUI performs inter-process communication using a proxy, and transmits device information to be acquired to the VDC.
The VDC receives the information sent from the stub and
The MIB information is acquired from the device using the P protocol. The acquired information is transmitted from the VDC stub to the proxy using inter-process communication.
A callback notification is sent to the Spot GUI. NetS
The pot GUI displays device information on the CRT 210 by performing bitmap display or the like based on the information notified from the VDC by callback.

To set information on the device, Net
The Spot GUI performs inter-process communication using a proxy, and transmits device information to be set to the VDC. V
The DC receives the information sent from the stub and sends the SNMP
MIB information is set in a device using a protocol.
Information indicating whether the setting was successful or failed is transmitted from the VDC stub to the proxy using inter-process communication, and the proxy notifies the NetSpot GUI of the callback. The NetSpot GUI displays setting information on the CRT 210 by performing bitmap display or the like based on the information notified from the VDC by callback.

First, the case of a request through the above-mentioned NetSpot GUI proxy will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 7, the case of information acquisition / setting and the case where the protocol type is TCP / I
P (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protoco
l) and NetWare (a network OS developed by Novell, USA). However, the type of protocol is not limited to TCP / IP or NetWare, but may be a datagram type or data stream type protocol. In step S101, a request for obtaining or setting device information is received from the NetSpot GUI. Step S102
API called for the request (Ap
replication program interface).

In step S103, it is checked whether the size of the marshalled data can be transmitted using a datagram type packet. Step S
If it is determined in step 104 that datagram-type packets can be transmitted, the process advances to step S105 to transmit datagram-type packets. For example, when using the TCP / IP protocol, UDP (User Datagram Protocol: TCP)
/ One of layer 4 of IP / IP). If the size of the marshalled data does not fit in the datagram type packet size, the process proceeds to step S106, and the data is transmitted using a data stream type packet.

Next, a case where the callback is made from the VDC stub will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S201, the data acquired from the device and the argument data of the callback function are marshaled. In step S202, it is checked whether the size of the marshalled data can be transmitted using a datagram type packet.

In step S203, if the size of the marshalled data can be transmitted in a datagram type packet, the flow advances to step S204 to transmit a datagram type packet. For example, when using the TCP / IP protocol, UDP is used. NetWa
IPX (Internetwork)
Packet Exchange: NetWa developed by Novell, USA
re386 network protocol). If the size of the marshalled data does not fit in the datagram type packet size, step S205
To transmit using a data stream type packet.

As described above, according to the network management apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the size of the data to be transmitted is small, the data is controlled to be transmitted using the connectionless connection and transmitted. If the data size is large, execute a network management program that controls transmission using a connection-oriented connection.
Since the PU 201 is provided, the following operations and effects can be obtained.

In order to control the connection-type connection and the connectionless-type connection, when the data size of the data transmitted by the server application and the client application is small, the data is transmitted using the connectionless-type connection. When the data size to be transmitted is large, data transmission can be performed at high speed by performing transmission using a connection-type connection. This is because SNMP (Simple N
etwork Monitoring Protocol: Simple Network Monitoring Protocol / MIB (Management Information Base)
The management information base) is used to establish a connectionless connection, and by utilizing the features of the communication method using datagram-type packets, software reliability can be maintained even when communication is performed using datagram-type packets in inter-process communication. It is a measure that can be taken because the gender does not change.

In addition, since control is performed to switch between a connection type and a connectionless transmission method according to the size of data to be transmitted, when the data size to be transmitted is small, transmission is performed using a connectionless connection and transmission is performed. When the data size is large, it is possible to speed up data transmission by transmitting using a connection-type connection.

That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the communication speed is low because the server application and the client application establish a connection-type connection and perform data transmission, the connection-type connection is performed in accordance with the data size to be transmitted. By switching between the data transmission method and the connectionless data transmission method, there is an effect that high-speed data communication can be performed by selectively using a datagram type packet and a data stream type packet.

[Other Embodiments] (1) In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the network system shown in FIG. 2 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. Not a PC,
Number of installed print servers, file servers, printers, modulation / demodulation (MODEM) / transponders, and LA
The number of N and the like can be set as desired.

(2) In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the case of an electrophotographic printer (LBP) as shown in FIG. 4 is used as an example of the device list. The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to printers of an inkjet type, an electrostatic type, a discharge breakdown type, a thermal transfer type, a thermal type, and the like, in addition to an electrophotographic type printer.

(3) In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the case where a printer is used as an example of a device connected to the network has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is not limited to a printer. Alternatively, a device such as a scanner or a copier can be connected on the network.

(4) In the above embodiment of the present invention, the NetSpot GUI is realized by the PC 103 on the LAN 100, and the VDC is realized by the PC on the LAN 100.
121, the present invention is not limited to this, and the NetSpot GUI, V
When the DC is realized by another PC on the LAN 100, or when the VDC is realized by a PC on the LAN 110, or when the VDC is realized by the PC on the LAN 110, the NetSpot GUI,
The present invention can also be applied to a case where the VDC is realized by a PC on the LAN 120.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. A storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus executes the program code stored in the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by executing the reading.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, and the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS and the like running on the computer are actually executed based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above-described processing is performed, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

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, It goes without saying that the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0065]

As described above, the network device control apparatus according to claims 1 to 2, the network system according to claims 6 to 7, the network device control method according to claims 11 to 12, and the claim 16 to 17 According to the storage medium described above, in order to perform control for managing connection-type connection and connectionless-type connection, when transmitting data of the server application and the client application, if the data size to be transmitted is small, a connectionless-type connection is used. When the data size to be transmitted is large, the data transmission can be performed at high speed by performing transmission using a connection-type connection. This is because SNMP (Simple)
Network Monitoring Protocol: Simple Network Monitoring Protocol / MIB (Management Information Bass)
e: management information base), which establishes a connectionless connection and uses the features of the communication method that uses datagram-type packets to enable software to communicate using datagram-type packets in inter-process communication. This is a measure that can be taken because the reliability does not change.

That is, when the communication speed is low because the server application and the client application establish a connection-type connection and perform data transmission, the connection-type and connectionless-type data transmission method is switched according to the data size to be transmitted. Thus, there is an effect that high-speed data communication can be performed by selectively using datagram type packets and data stream type packets.

According to the network device control apparatus according to claims 3 to 5, the network system according to claims 8 to 10, the network device control method according to claims 13 to 15, and the storage medium according to claims 18 to 20, Performs control to switch between connection-type and connectionless-type transmission methods according to the size of data to be transmitted.If the data size to be transmitted is small, use a connectionless connection to transmit, and the data size to be transmitted is large By transmitting using a connection-type connection, data transmission can be performed at high speed.

That is, when the communication speed is low because the server application and the client application establish a connection-type connection and perform data transmission, the connection-type and connectionless-type data transmission method is switched according to the data size to be transmitted. Thus, there is an effect that high-speed data communication can be performed by selectively using datagram type packets and data stream type packets.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a network management device in a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a relationship between a NetSot GUI and a VDC in the network system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a device list according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a device details window according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of File VDC according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of a request according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of callback according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of storage contents of a storage medium storing a program and related data of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a conceptual example in which a program and related data of the present invention are supplied from a storage medium to an apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 200 Network management device 201 CPU 208 NIC 210 CRT 211 HD

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04L 12/28 H04L 11/00 310D 5K033 29/06 13/00 305C 5K034 9A001 F-term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 AP04 AQ04 AQ05 AQ06 HH06 HJ06 HQ12 HQ17 HR07 2H027 EJ08 EJ13 EJ15 5B021 AA01 AA02 BB02 CC05 CC06 EE01 5B089 GA11 GA21 GB02 HA06 KA07 KG03 LB12 LB14 5K030 HA08 HC14 JA07 JT02 5K3 CB18 CB12 CB18 JJ12 JJ27 LL09

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A server / client type network device control device capable of communicating with a device connected on a network, comprising: a communication unit for communicating with a server application for acquiring and setting information on the device; A network device control apparatus, comprising: a data conversion unit for converting data transmitted / received by the unit; and a connection management unit for managing connection-type connection and connectionless-type connection of the communication unit. And a display unit for displaying information obtained from the device via the communication unit and information set for the device, wherein the device is a device such as a printer connected to the network. 2. The network device control device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The network device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection management unit switches between transmission based on the connection type connection and transmission based on the connectionless type connection according to the size of data to be transmitted. . 4. The connection management means controls so as to transmit using the connectionless connection when the size of data to be transmitted is small, and controls the connection type connection when the size of data to be transmitted is large. 4. The network device control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein control is performed so as to use and transmit. 5. The connection management means controls, if the size of the data to be transmitted is a datagram-type packet, so that the data is transmitted in the datagram-type packet. 5. The network device control device according to claim 4, wherein when transmission is not possible with a gram type packet, control is performed so as to transmit with a data stream type packet. 6. A network system having a device and a server / client type network device control device capable of communicating with the device on a network, wherein the network device control device acquires and sets information on the device. Communication means for communicating with a server application for performing communication, data conversion means for converting data transmitted and received by the communication means, and connection management means for managing connection-type and connectionless connection of the communication means. And a network system. 7. The network device control apparatus further includes display means for displaying information obtained from the device via the communication means and information set in the device, wherein the device is provided on the network. 7. The network system according to claim 6, wherein the network system is a connected device such as a printer. 8. The connection management means of the network device control apparatus switches between transmission by the connection type connection and transmission by the connectionless type connection according to the size of data to be transmitted. The described network system. 9. The connection management means of the network device control apparatus controls to transmit using the connectionless connection when the size of data to be transmitted is small, and when the size of data to be transmitted is large. 9. The network system according to claim 8, wherein the transmission is controlled using the connection-type connection. 10. The connection management means of the network device control apparatus, when the size of data to be transmitted can be transmitted in a datagram type packet, controls the transmission so as to transmit the datagram type packet, and transmits the data. 10. The network system according to claim 9, wherein when the data size cannot be transmitted in the datagram type packet, the data size is controlled to be transmitted in a data stream type packet. 11. A network device control method applied to a server / client type network device control apparatus capable of communicating with a device connected on a network, comprising: a server application for acquiring and setting information on the device. A network comprising: a communication step for communicating; data conversion means for converting data transmitted / received in the communication step; and connection management means for managing connection-type connection and connectionless-type connection used in the communication step. Device control method. And a display step of displaying information acquired from the device through the communication step and information set in the device, wherein the device is a device such as a printer connected to the network. The network device control method according to claim 11, wherein: 13. The network device control method according to claim 11, wherein, in the connection management step, transmission between the connection-type connection and transmission using the connectionless connection is switched according to the size of data to be transmitted. . 14. In the connection management step, when the size of data to be transmitted is small, control is performed so as to transmit using the connectionless type connection. When the size of data to be transmitted is large, the connection type connection is controlled. 14. The network device control method according to claim 13, wherein the transmission is controlled by using the network device. 15. In the connection management step, if the size of the data to be transmitted can be transmitted in a datagram-type packet, control is performed so that the data is transmitted in the datagram-type packet. 15. The network device control method according to claim 14, wherein when transmission is not possible with a gram type packet, control is performed so as to transmit with a data stream type packet. 16. A storage medium readable by a computer storing a program for executing a network device control method applied to a server / client type network device control device capable of communicating with a device connected on a network. A communication step for controlling communication with a server application that obtains and sets information on the device, and a data conversion unit that controls to convert data transmitted and received by the communication step; A storage medium comprising: connection management means for controlling connection-type connections and connectionless-type connections used in the communication step. 17. The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a display step of controlling to display information obtained from said device through said communication step and information set in said device, wherein said device is connected to said network. 17. The storage medium according to claim 16, being a device such as a printer. 18. The method according to claim 16, wherein in the connection management step, control is performed so as to switch between transmission by the connection-type connection and transmission by the connectionless connection in accordance with the size of data to be transmitted. Storage medium. 19. In the connection management step, when the size of data to be transmitted is small, control is performed so as to transmit using the connectionless connection. When the size of data to be transmitted is large, the connection-type connection is controlled. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission is controlled by using the transmission.
8. The storage medium according to 8. 20. In the connection management step, when the size of the data to be transmitted can be transmitted in a datagram-type packet, control is performed such that the data is transmitted in the datagram-type packet. 20. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein when transmission is impossible with a gram type packet, control is performed so as to transmit with a data stream type packet.