JP2002171510A - Image server unit and image communication system employing the image server unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image communication system that automatically informs terminals within a required range about the storage of the digital image when a digital image is stored in a server unit. SOLUTION: In the image communication system where the image server 4 provided with a storage device having storage areas to store image data and terminals 2, 5, 7 are interconnected through a network, the image server 4 is provided with the storage device that has at least one storage area to store image data, a storage request reception means that receives a storage request to request storage of image data to the storage device and including area designation to designate the storage area storing the image data from a data providing terminal, a write means that writes the image data to a storage area designated by the area designation, a destination decision means that decides a display terminal acting like a destination of a storage notice, which the destination decision means informs of a fact of storing the image data, by using the area designation, and a storage notice means that transmits the storage notice to the destination decided by the destination decision means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication system comprising a server device for storing image data and a terminal device for storing the image data in the server device via a network and referring to the stored image data. With regard to
In particular, the present invention relates to an image communication system that allows a server device to manage access to image data from a terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital images have become very familiar due to the spread of personal computers and digital cameras. Since digital images can be easily transmitted via a network such as the Internet, an image communication system in which digital images are stored in a server device and referred to from a terminal device (a personal computer, a mobile phone, or the like) is actively used. . For example, a service is provided in which a digital image posted via a network is referred to on a homepage. In such a system, an unspecified number of users can announce or refer to the digital image. .

When a digital image is referred to using such a service, it is not possible to know in advance whether or not a new digital image has been posted. Often, this is a break to make sure that the post has not been posted. On the other hand, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-20371
The information library server / client system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-26095 includes an information title attached to an information file newly registered in the information library server,
Registration information that associates the information title with the notification destination group
By referring to the notification information file and the notification destination group table that defines the notification destinations belonging to each notification destination group name, the notification destination for notifying that the information file is newly registered is determined. It is to notify that it is.

[0004] In this way, a new information file is notified that the information file has been newly registered, so that access to the information library server can be avoided.

[0005]

In recent years, there has been a strong demand for enhanced security in information systems, and it is necessary to set access rights for information files as well.
On the other hand, in the above-described related art, the notification is performed irrespective of the access right to the information file. Therefore, a person who is notified of the new registration of the information file may not be able to refer to the information file due to the restriction of the access right.

To solve this problem, it is necessary to consider the access right to the information file when setting the notification destination for each notification destination group in the notification destination group table. Changing the setting of the notification destination every time is changed is an extremely complicated task, and it is difficult to set the notification destination in consideration of the access right in the first place.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an image communication system that, when a digital image is stored in a server device, notifies storage according to an access right for the digital image. The purpose is to:

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an image server device according to the present invention permits a terminal device connected via a network to refer to image data according to a viewing attribute. An image server device, comprising: storage means for storing image data with a viewing attribute; storage request receiving means for receiving a storage request for designating a viewing attribute and storing the image data in the storage means; A destination determining unit that determines a terminal device that is a destination of a storage notification that notifies that the image data is stored based on the browsing attribute; and a storage notification unit that transmits the storage notification to the determined destination. Features. With this configuration, the storage of the digital image can be notified according to the access right for the digital image only by storing the digital image in the server device.

[0009] Further, there is provided a storage area determining means for determining a storage area corresponding to the viewing attribute, wherein the storage means stores the image data in the determined storage area. A first authentication information storage unit that stores first authentication information in association with each of the storage areas; and a first reference request that receives a first reference request that requests image data reference from the terminal device. Receiving means for receiving, when receiving the first reference request from a terminal device other than the determined destination, first authentication information associated with a storage area for storing the requested image data; A reference permission unit that determines whether to permit reference to the image data by comparing the received second authentication information with the received second authentication information.

[0010] Also, a storage request reception unit with a message for receiving the storage request including a message, a message storage unit for storing the message in association with the image data related to the storage request, and a reference to the image data related to the storage request. When a terminal device is requested from the terminal device, a message return means for returning a message included in the storage request is provided. In this way, a message relating to the digital image can be transmitted together with the digital image.

[0011] Further, reply message receiving means for receiving a reply message from the terminal device which has returned the message, reply message storage means for storing the reply message in association with the message, and storing the received reply message in the message. And a reply message transfer means for transferring the reply message to the terminal device which is the request source of the storage request. With this configuration, a message in response to the message can be returned, so that communication between users can be achieved with a specific digital image as a topic.

Further, an image communication system according to the present invention comprises:
An image providing terminal for providing image data, an image display terminal for displaying image data, and an image communication system in which the image server device according to claim 1 is connected to a network, wherein the image providing terminal sends a storage request to the image server device. The image display terminal comprises: a notification receiving unit that receives a storage notification from the image server device; and a notification display unit that displays that the storage notification has been received.

[0013] The image server device displays designation information storage means for storing designation of image data and a browsing attribute pertaining to a storage request, and a second reference request requesting reference to the image data pertaining to the storage notification. A second reference request receiving unit that receives the second reference request from the terminal; and an image data returning unit that returns the image data corresponding to the request to the display terminal that has transmitted the second reference request. , And image data receiving means for receiving image data returned in response to the second reference request from the image server device.

Further, according to the image communication method of the present invention, in an image communication system in which a terminal device is allowed to refer to image data in accordance with a browsing attribute and an image communication system in which the terminal device is connected to a network, And a storage request receiving step of receiving a storage request requesting that the storage unit store the image data by designating a browsing attribute, and indicating that the image data has been stored. The image server device is configured to execute a destination determining step of determining a terminal device that is a destination of a storage notification to be notified based on a viewing attribute, and a storage notification step of transmitting a storage notification to the determined destination. .

Further, a recording medium according to the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing an image server device to execute the image communication method is recorded.

[0016]

Embodiments of an image communication system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image communication system 1 according to the present invention. The image communication system 1 includes a home server 4 in a home network 3 laid in a home.
The personal computer 2 and the television receiver 6 are connected, and the home server 4 is connected via a public line at any time.
Connected to mobile phone 7. Personal computer 2,
The home server 4 and the television receiver 6 communicate with each other via TCP / IP.
(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)
To exchange data such as digital images.

A set-top box 5 is mounted on the television receiver 6, and is connected to the home network 3 via the set-top box 5. The set-top box 5 includes an antenna terminal, a video output terminal, and the like as an external interface, and has a built-in tuner. A television antenna is connected to the antenna terminal. The video output terminal is connected to a video input terminal of a television receiver, and the television image received by the set-top box 5 by the tuner is displayed on the television receiver. The set-top box 5 has a serial port. A digital camera or the like is connected to the port, and digital images are stored in the set-top box 5 in the form of electronic files (for example, MPEG files). Can be stored.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a remote controller attached to the set-top box 5. The set-top box 5 has an infrared port (not shown),
The remote controller 10 communicates with the set-top box 5 using the infrared port 16. The remote controller 10 has a power button 11, a channel button 1
The power button 11 is a button for turning on and off the power of the set-top box 5. The channel button 17 is a button for selecting a channel to be displayed on the television receiver, and is also used for text input as described later. The television button 18 is a button used to display a television program on the television receiver. Cursor keys 12 to 15, and buttons 19 to
21 will be described later.

Now, a user of the image communication system 1 converts a digital image stored in the personal computer 2 into a digital image.
It is stored in the home server 4 as follows. First, a browser is started on the personal computer 2 and a Web page of the home server 4 is displayed. FIG. 3 is a Web page corresponding to the entry screen of the home server 4. The entry screen 30 displays a title character 31, a reference button 32 for referring to a digital image stored in the home server 4, and a registration button 33 for storing a digital image in the home server 4.

When the user clicks the registration button 33, a window for inputting the electronic file name of the digital image to be stored, that is, a registration screen is displayed. FIG.
Is a registration screen for storing a digital image in the storage device of the home server 4. The registration screen 40 includes a text box 41 for designating a folder in the home server for storing digital images, and an image display area 4 for displaying digital images to be stored in the storage device of the home server 4.
2. A text box 43 for inputting a message to be sent to the home server together with the digital image, and a registration button 44 are provided.

The user inputs text into the text boxes 41 and 43 using a keyboard, and when specifying a digital image, drags an electronic file storing the digital image from a file manager or the like to the image display area 42 for display. This is done by causing Register button 44
Is a button that is clicked after the input to the text boxes 41 and 43 is completed.
When is clicked, the contents entered in the text boxes 41 and 43 and the digital image data displayed in the image display area 42 are sent to the home server 4.

When the user of the image communication system 1 stores the digital images stored in the internal storage device of the set-top box 5 in the home server 4,
Do the following: When the image button 19 of the remote controller 10 is pressed, the entry screen 30 of the home server 4 is displayed on the television 6. Here, when the registration button 33 is selected by operating the cursor keys 12 to 15 and the completion button 21 of the remote controller 10 is pressed, a registration screen 40 is displayed on the television receiver 6 this time. When the text box 41 is selected by operating the cursor keys 12 to 15 and the display button 19 of the remote controller 10 is pressed, a pull-down menu listing the folder names is displayed. The user can also use the cursor key 1
After operating folders 2 to 15 to highlight the folder in which the digital image is to be stored among the folders displayed in the pull-down menu, and pressing the complete button 21 of the remote controller 10, the highlighted folder name is displayed in text. It is entered in box 41.

As for the designation of a digital image, first, after selecting the image display area 42, when the display button 20 is pressed, the digital image is displayed in the image display area 42. At this time, when the cursor keys 12 to 15 are operated, the digital images stored in the internal storage device of the set-top box 5 are sequentially displayed in the image display area 42.
After the digital image to be stored in the home server 4 is displayed, when the completion button 21 is pressed, the digital image is selected.

After selecting the text box 43, the message is input to the text box 43 using the channel button 17. When these inputs are completed, the cursor buttons 12 to 15 are further operated to select the registration button 44, and when the completion button 21 is pressed, the contents input in the text boxes 41 and 43 and the contents displayed in the image display area 42 are displayed. The digital image is sent to the home server 4. That is, as a storage request to the home server 4, a folder name, a digital image, and a message that specify an area for storing a digital image are transmitted.

Next, the home server 4 will be described.
The homepage 4 has a large-capacity internal storage device, and the internal storage device has a plurality of folders for storing digital images and an access for managing access to the stored digital images from each terminal device for each folder. It has a management table. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the access management table. The access management table of FIG. 5 includes a shared folder, a folder for dad, a folder for mom, a folder for Taro, a folder for Jiro, and a folder for Hanako according to the user's family structure (father, mother, eldest son, second son, eldest daughter). Information on whether or not the terminal devices (the personal computer 2, the television receiver 6, and the mobile phone 7) can access the total of six folders is set.

In the access management table, the setting “A” regarding whether access is permitted or not is set when the terminal device requests the folder to refer to the digital image stored in the folder. Meaning to do. In the setting “B”, when the terminal device requests the folder to refer to the digital image stored in the folder, the home server 4 requests the terminal device for a password, and only when the correct password is input. Means that access should be allowed. Setting "C"
Means that the home server 4 should unconditionally reject a digital image reference request from the terminal device to the folder. When a request to store a digital image is received from the terminal device to the folder, the home server 4 unconditionally permits the request without referring to the access management table.

Incidentally, in the access management table of FIG. 5, the personal computer 2 or the television receiver 6
When referring to the digital images stored in the shared folder from, the folder is unconditionally permitted, and when referring to the digital images stored in folders other than the shared folder from those terminal devices, each folder is referred to. It is configured to enter the password assigned to. Also, for the sake of security, the mobile phone 7 permits access only when referring to digital images stored in the shared folder on condition that a password is input, and stores the digital image in a folder other than the shared folder. It is set to unconditionally prohibit access to the digital image.

When a request for storing a digital image is issued from each terminal device to the home server 4 as described above, the home server 4 stores the digital image and the message in a predetermined folder in accordance with the request. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the home server 4 that has received a digital image storage request from the terminal device. When storing the digital image in the designated folder (step S1), the home server 4 refers to the column corresponding to the folder in the access management table, and sequentially refers to the settings for each terminal device. That is, a terminal device whose setting is not referred to is searched in the access management table (step S2),
If such a terminal device is found (YE in step S3)
S), refer to the settings (step S4). If this setting is “A” among the above settings of “A”, “B”, and “C” (YES in step S5), a notification that a new digital image has been stored in the folder in the terminal device That is, the storage notification is sent (step S6). If the setting referred to in step S4 is “B” or “C” (step S4)
(NO in 5), the process proceeds to step S2, and a terminal device whose setting is not referred to is searched again. If no unreferenced terminal device is found (NO in step S3), the process ends. When storing the digital image in the storage device, the home server 4 also stores the identification information of the terminal device that has requested the storage of the digital image as the registration source information.

Next, the processing when the terminal device refers to the digital image stored in the storage device of the home server 4 will be described in the order of the set-top box 5, the personal computer 2, and the mobile phone 7. In order to display the digital image stored in the storage device of the home server 4 on the television receiver 6, the user operates the set-top box 5 as follows. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a typical operation procedure for displaying a digital image on the television receiver 6. First, the user operates the remote controller 10 to turn on the power of the set-top box 5 (step S10). Next, the image button 19 is pressed to display the entry screen 30 on the television receiver 6 (step S11), and the reference button 32 in the entry screen 30 is clicked (step S12). The method of clicking the reference button 32 is the same as the method of clicking the registration button 33 described above. When the user clicks the registration button 33, a reference screen is displayed on the television receiver 6.

FIG. 8 shows a reference screen for inputting an electronic file name of a digital image. In the reference screen 50,
A text box 51 for designating a folder in the home server storing the digital image to be displayed, an image display area 52 for displaying the digital image, a text box 53 for displaying a message stored in the home server together with the digital image, the message A text box 54 for inputting a reply message to and a reply button 55 are provided.

The user operates the cursor keys 12 to 15 of the remote controller 10 to operate the text box 51.
Is selected, and the display button 19 of the remote controller 10 is selected.
By pressing, a pull-down menu listing the folder names is displayed. The user further sets the cursor keys 12 to 1
5 is operated to highlight the desired folder out of the folders displayed in the pull-down menu, and then press the complete button 21 of the remote controller 10.
The highlighted folder name is displayed in the text box 51 (step S13).

When the completion button 21 is pressed, the terminal device name (set top box 5) and the folder name are added,
A notification to that effect is sent from the set-top box 5 to the home server 4. Then, the home server 4 refers to the setting of the access management table corresponding to the notified terminal device name and folder name, and if the setting is “B”, the home server 4 transmits the setting to the television receiver 6 via the set-top box 5. Display a window requesting a password. When the user is requested for the password in this way (step S1)
If YES in step 4, a password is entered in the window (step S15).

Then, the password is stored in the home server 4
Is forwarded to The home server 4 inquires the received password and the password stored in the storage device and, if they match, causes the television receiver 6 to display a window displaying a message indicating that access is permitted. If the received password is not correct, a window displaying a message of denying access is displayed on the television receiver 6.

If the user does not request a password (NO in step S14) or is permitted access by the home server 4, the user selects the image display area 52 on the reference screen 50 and then presses the display button 20. Then, a digital image is displayed in the image display area 52.
At this time, when the cursor keys 12 to 15 are operated, digital images stored in the internal storage device of the set-top box 5 are sequentially displayed in the image display area 52 (step S16).

At the same time, when the digital image displayed in the image display area 52 is stored in the home server 4, a message stored together with the digital image is displayed in a text box 53.
Will be displayed. If the user wants to respond to the message (YES in step S17), after inputting the reply message in the text box 54 in the same procedure as inputting the message on the registration screen (step S1).
8) When the reply button 55 is clicked (step S1)
9) The reply message entered in the text box 54 is sent to the home server 4. The reply message automatically includes the folder name displayed in the text box 51 and the identifier of the digital image displayed in the image display area. The digital image identifier is automatically attached when the home server 4 sends the digital image to the terminal device.

When the digital image stored in the storage device of the home server 4 is displayed on the television receiver 6 using the image communication system 1 according to the present invention, the following operation procedure is allowed in addition to the above. . Set top box 5
Receives the storage notification from the home server 4 and causes the television receiver 6 to display a message (TELOP: Television Opaque Projector) indicating that the storage notification has been received. This telop display is continued for a predetermined time (10 seconds), and then the telop display is automatically terminated. If the user presses the image button 19 of the remote controller 10 while the telop is displayed, the set-top box 5 immediately notifies the home server 4 of the fact, and the home server 4 receiving the notification presses the television button. The reference screen 50 is displayed on the device 6. At this time, the reference screen 50
Are automatically displayed in the text boxes 51 and 53, and digital images are automatically displayed in the image display area 52. In this way, when the storage notification is received, the newly added digital image can be referred to by a simple procedure.

When transmitting the storage notification to the terminal device, the home server 4 stores various information (digital image, message, terminal device requesting storage, etc.) related to the storage notification in the storage notification table for each terminal device. When the terminal device requests the reference of the digital image related to the storage notification as described above, the terminal device refers to the storage notification table and requests the reference of the digital image related to the storage notification transmitted last. Reply to the terminal device. At this time, if a message is stored in the storage notification table, the message is also returned to the terminal device.

The procedure for referring to a digital image stored in the home server 4 using the personal computer 2 in place of the television receiver 6 is substantially the same, but the telop display in the case of the television receiver 6 is as follows.
In particular, as described below. That is, the home server 4
, And a program for pop-up display on the display screen of the personal computer 2 indicating that the storage notification has been received is made resident in the personal computer 2 to perform the following processing.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a pop-up window in which the resident program causes the personal computer 2 to display a pop-up on the display screen. Upon receiving the storage notification from the home server 4, the resident program of the personal computer 2 displays a pop-up window displaying a storage notification screen as shown in FIG. On the storage notification screen, a message 61 indicating that a new digital image has been registered in the home server 4 and a reference button 62 for referring to the digital image are displayed.

When the user of the personal computer 2 clicks the reference button 62, the personal computer 2 immediately notifies the home server 4 of the fact,
The home server 4 having received the notification causes the personal computer 2 to display the reference screen 50. At this time, the reference screen 50
Are automatically displayed in the text boxes 51 and 53, and digital images are automatically displayed in the image display area 52. In this way, similarly to the case of the television receiver, when the storage notification is received, the newly added digital image can be referred to by a simple procedure.

The home server 4 which has received the reply message from the terminal device (the personal computer 2 or the set-top box 5) stores the reply message in the storage device using the folder name and the digital image identifier attached to the reply message. A digital image is specified, and reference is made to the registration source information of the digital image stored in the storage device accompanying the specified digital image, and the reply message is transferred to the registration source of the digital image.

When the set top box 5 receives the reply message from the home server 4, the set top box 5 causes the television receiver to display a telop indicating that. This telop display is automatically terminated after continuing for a predetermined time (10 seconds), similarly to the telop indicating that the storage notification has been received. If the user presses the image button 19 of the remote controller 10 while the telop is displayed, the set-top box 5 immediately notifies the home server 4 of the fact, and the home server 4 receiving the notification presses the television button. The device 6 displays a reply message reference screen. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a reply message reference screen. The digital image is displayed in the image display area 71 of the reply message reference screen 70, and the reply message and the name of the source terminal device of the reply message are displayed in the text boxes 72 and 73, respectively.

When the personal computer 2 receives the reply message from the home server 4, the resident program resident in the personal computer 2 receives the reply message in the same manner as in the case of receiving the storage notification, as shown in FIG. A pop-up window displaying the same reply message reference screen is displayed. According to the above, when a new digital image is registered in the home server 4, only the terminal device related to the digital image is automatically notified to that effect. Not only can the unnecessary trouble of frequently referencing from the terminal device to check whether the terminal device is stored be saved, but also the occupation time of the terminal device by each user can be reduced to improve the use efficiency of the terminal device. Since it can be increased, the load on the network, power consumption, and the like can be reduced. (Modifications) The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the following modifications can be made. .

In the above embodiment, when the setting in the access management table is "B", the password is always queried. However, for a terminal device such as the personal computer 2 which authenticates with a password or the like at the time of login, You may skip the password inquiry as follows. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an access management table stored in the home server of the image communication system according to the present modification. The access management table differs from the access management table according to the above-described embodiment in that the settings for access from the personal computer 2 are all “A”. Since the personal computer requires a password at the time of login, security can be maintained even if the setting is made in this way and the number of times of password entry is reduced.

FIG. 12 shows another modification of the access management table having such a function. In the access management table of FIG. 12, a type setting column is provided for each terminal device, and whether a password is required or not is set. For the terminal device that performs authentication at the time of login or the like as described above, "free" is set in the type setting column, and a message indicating that the inquiry of the password from the home server 4 is unnecessary is displayed,
Only the terminal device for which "check" is set in the type setting column is inquired of the password from the home server 4.

In this way, the number of times of inputting authentication information such as a password can be reduced, so that operability can be further improved. The present invention may be the methods described above, or may be a computer program that implements these methods by a computer. Further, the computer program can be read by a computer-readable recording medium (floppy (registered trademark)).
(A disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, etc.).

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a new digital image is stored in the server device, this is automatically notified to a predetermined terminal device, so that useless access that merely ends with confirming that the new image is not registered can be eliminated. it can. Therefore,
A situation in which the server device is wastefully accessed and discouraged can be avoided, and the consumption of power and network resources caused by the useless access can be reduced.

Further, since the terminal device receiving the above notification can be specified in advance by setting, the terminal device which does not need such notification is not notified. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which logs of communication and the like are rapidly increased due to random occurrence of notifications, and it is possible to save storage capacity of a server device or a fixed storage device of a terminal device consumed for storing the logs. .

Further, when the above-mentioned notice is made, the digital image according to the notice is automatically displayed on the terminal device in response to the digital image reference request, so that the trouble of searching for the newly stored digital image is saved. It can be displayed quickly and quickly. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the troublesomeness of such a search and improve the use efficiency of the image communication system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image communication system 1 according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a remote controller attached to the set-top box 5.

FIG. 3 shows a We corresponding to an entry screen of the home server 4.
This is page b.

FIG. 4 is a registration screen for storing a digital image in a storage device of the home server 4.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an access management table;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the home server 4 receiving a digital image storage request from the terminal device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a typical operation procedure for displaying a digital image on the television receiver 6;

FIG. 8 is a reference screen for inputting an electronic file name of a digital image.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a pop-up window in which a resident program displays a pop-up on a display screen of the personal computer 2;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a reply message reference screen.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an access management table stored in a home server 4 of an image communication system according to a modification.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an access management table stored in a home server 4 of an image communication system according to a modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 image communication system 2 personal computer 3 home network 4 home server 5 set-top box 6 TV receiver 7 mobile phone 10 remote controller 11 power button 12-15 cursor key 16 infrared port 17 channel button 18 TV button 19 image button 20 display button 21 Done button

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Iwao Fujii 2-3-13-1 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsutomu Fujino Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 2-3-13, Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Manji Takano 2-3-13, Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Daisetsu Toyama Osaka 2-13-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5C025 BA27 CA02 CA09 CB10 DA05 5C064 BA01 BB10 BC18 BC23 BC25 BD02 BD08

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An image server device for permitting a terminal device connected via a network to refer to image data in accordance with a browsing attribute, wherein the storing device stores the image data with a browsing attribute. A storage request receiving unit that receives a storage request requesting that the image data be stored in the storage unit by designating a browsing attribute; and a terminal device that is a destination of a storage notification that notifies that the image data has been stored. An image server apparatus comprising: a destination determining unit that determines a destination based on a viewing attribute; and a storage notifying unit that transmits the storage notification to the determined destination. 2. The image according to claim 1, further comprising a storage area determining unit that determines a storage area corresponding to the viewing attribute, wherein the storage unit stores the image data in the determined storage area. Server device. 3. A first authentication information storage unit that stores first authentication information in association with each of the storage areas, and a first reception unit that receives a first reference request that requests a reference to image data from the terminal device. Reference request receiving means, and, when the first reference request is received from a terminal device other than the determined destination, first authentication information associated with a storage area for storing the requested image data, and 3. The image server device according to claim 2, further comprising: a reference permission unit configured to determine whether to permit reference to image data by comparing the second authentication information received from the terminal device. 4. A storage request receiving unit with a message for receiving the storage request including a message, a message storage unit storing the message in association with image data related to the storage request, and referring to image data related to the storage request. 4. The image server device according to claim 3, further comprising: a message returning unit that returns a message included in the storage request when the terminal device requests the storage device. 5. A reply message receiving means for receiving a reply message from a terminal device to which the message has been returned, a reply message storage means for storing the reply message in association with the message, and storing the received reply message in the message. 5. The image server device according to claim 4, further comprising a reply message transfer unit that transfers the reply message to a terminal device that has requested the storage request. 6. An image providing terminal for providing image data, an image display terminal for displaying image data, and an image communication system in which the image server device according to claim 1 is connected to a network. The image display terminal includes a storage request unit that transmits a storage request to the server device, and the image display terminal includes a notification reception unit that receives a storage notification from the image server device, and a notification display unit that displays that the storage notification has been received. Characteristic image communication system. 7. The image server device displays designation information storage means for storing designation of image data pertaining to a storage request and a browsing attribute, and displaying a second reference request requesting reference of image data pertaining to a storage notification. A second reference request receiving unit that receives a second reference request from the terminal; and an image data return unit that returns image data corresponding to the request to the display terminal that has transmitted the second reference request. 7. An image according to claim 6, further comprising: a second reference request unit for transmitting the image data; and an image data receiving unit for receiving, from the image server device, image data returned in response to the second reference request. Communications system. 8. An image communication system in which a terminal device is allowed to refer to image data in accordance with a viewing attribute and an image communication system in which the terminal device is connected to a network, the image data is stored with the viewing attribute added. A storage step; a storage request receiving step of receiving a storage request requesting that the storage unit store image data by designating a viewing attribute; and a terminal serving as a destination of a storage notification notifying that the image data has been stored. An image communication method, comprising: causing the image server device to execute a destination determining step of determining a device based on a browsing attribute and a storing notification step of transmitting a storing notification to the determined destination. 9. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing an image server device to execute the image communication method according to claim 8 is recorded.