JP2002223337A - System for distributing image document - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce user's waiting by controlling a transmission schedule for a document transmission source device and also to preferentially perform user's explicit document distribution. SOLUTION: In this image document distribution system, an image document server 100 that has a scanner, stores a read image document and also stores an image document received from an external device, a distribution document server 200 for managing an address book, controlling image document distribution and also storing the image document, and a client PC 300 for receiving the image document are distributedly arranged on a network 400, and a scan and distribution request for reading an original from the image document server and transmitting the read image document to the client PC, a selected document distribution request for selecting one or more image documents stored in the image document server or the distribution document server and transmitting the selected image documents to the client PC, and a document transfer request for transferring the image document received from the external device to the distribution document server are handled. Priorities are given to the above three requests, and a job performance sequence is scheduled in one transmission unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image document distribution system for accumulating image documents read by a scanner and distributing them to a client PC.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image document distribution system that distributes an image document to a client PC using a scanner and an image document filing system that stores the image document read by the scanner has been known. Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-13426 discloses a technique in which a processing method is changed according to the type of a document in a device to which the document is transmitted. This prior art uses e-mail and W
This is a document transfer method for automatically transferring a received document such as an eb page to another device having a different format.

[0003]

However, the conventional image document distribution system has a problem that the user has to wait for a long time.

An object of the present invention is to appropriately control a transmission schedule in a document transmission source device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an image document distribution system according to the present invention comprises:
An image document server including a scanner for reading an original and a storage device for storing the read image document and the image document received from an external device, and a delivery device for managing an address book and controlling the delivery of the image document and storing the image document. An image document distribution system in which a document server and a client PC for receiving an image document are distributed and arranged on a network, and handles three requests from the image document server. Send the document to the client PC "Scan &
The second request is a “selected document delivery request” for selecting one or more image documents stored in the image storage device or the delivery document server and sequentially transmitting the selected document to the client PC. The request is a “document transfer request” that transfers the image document received from the external device to the delivery document server. In the image document delivery system, the above three requests are prioritized,
The job execution order is scheduled for one transmission unit.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image document distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes an image document server 100, a broker 200, a client PC 300, and a network 400 connecting these.

The image document server 100 is a server that manages images scanned from originals and stored images.
In the image document server 100, a processor (CPU)
Reference numeral 10 controls the entire apparatus. Under the control, a ROM 1, a RAM 2, an NVRAM 3, a DSP 4, an operation panel 5, a panel control unit 6, a scan / print engine 7, an engine control unit 8, a storage device 9, and a disk The driver 11, the communication control unit 12, and the modem 13 are connected.

[0008] The ROM 1 stores program codes, fonts and other static data. RA
M2 is used as a temporary storage location for data. N
The VRAM 3 stores non-volatile data. DSP
Reference numeral 4 denotes a digital signal processor which performs digital processing on image data. As the processing contents,
These include image correction, image processing, image compression, and the like. The algorithm is described in a DSP-specific language and is incorporated as software.

The operation panel 5 and the panel controller 6 control an interface with the user. The scan / print engine 7 and the engine control unit 8 read a paper document and execute printing on transfer paper as an input / output unit for image data. The storage device 9 and the disk driver 11 store a large amount of image data and the like, and are used as a storage location of a database. The communication control unit 12 is connected to a network 400 such as Ethernet (registered trademark), and enables communication with external devices. A peer-to-peer connection mode using a parallel interface, a serial interface, or the like is also possible. The modem 13 is connected to a public line and enables communication with an external device.

Next, a broker (distribution document server) 200
Maintains the function information and management information necessary for the input / output device connected to the network,
This is middleware that undertakes the role of establishing a connection between the server and the image document server 100. The broker 200 has a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a communication control unit 24, and a database 25 as shown. Further, the broker 200 may exist in either the client PC 300 or the image document server 100.

In addition, information such as an address book of each device on a network is often managed on this broker.
This is because a centralized management is possible as an address book that exists uniquely on a distributed system. Further, it can be used as a document storage server. By automatically transferring a document that has been subjected to a printing process or the like by an external device such as a copy, a facsimile, or a printer to the broker 200 and storing the document. , A function that can be reprinted can be provided.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of embedded software in the image document server 100. This software can be broadly divided into a four-layer structure including an application layer, a kernel layer, a driver layer, and a hardware layer.

The application layer is a layer that forms an application such as a copy / fax / printer, and the document manager is a functional block that is a main function as an application that handles documents according to a scenario such as a copy / fax / printer. is there. The service manager is a functional block that is required in common for document handling, and manages and executes various services.

The device manager is a functional block for determining the operation of a physical device such as a scanner, plotter, and image bus, and manages and executes various devices.
The operation manager controls an operation panel attached to the apparatus, and displays buttons, notifies a button operation, notifies an alert, and the like. The database manager maintains and manages permanent data such as fonts, fixed forms, fax reception histories, device usage histories, and billing data.

The kernel layer is usually incorporated as a kernel of an OS, and provides services to applications by abstracting various devices. The application layer operates by making a system call to the kernel layer.

The driver layer is a group of functional blocks that execute control for driving various hardware.
Here, a DSP is used as a driver for performing operations on image data. DSP processing program is DSP
Although stored internally, it is also possible to operate by downloading a ROM on the CPU or a program in the ROM.

The hardware layer is a set of controllable resources existing in the device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a request handled by the image document server 100. FIG. 4 is a software functional block diagram, and FIG. 5 shows a configuration of each object as an object in an object-oriented representation of software. FIG. 6 shows an algorithm for each class according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 3, there are the following types of requests. (1) Scanned document (image document read by scanner)
Is distributed to the client PC (in this case, the document is discarded after the distribution). (2) Distribution of the scanner document to the client PC and accumulation in the image document server (in this case, the document is not discarded). (3) Store the scanner document in the image document server. (4) A plurality of documents stored in the image document server are sequentially delivered to the client PC. (5) Transfer the file received from the external device to the distribution document server (broker).

Next, request management will be described.
The requests handled by the image document server are roughly classified into the following three types. (1) A request accompanied by scanning (some requests are only stored). (2) A distribution request of the selected stored document (s). (3) Delivery of data handled as a file (image document handled by functions such as copy and fax).

Next, serialization of a job execution unit will be described. The smallest unit of execution is a document or file, and units of execution that use the same resources (scanner and line) must be serialized. The serialization of the execution unit using the scanner resource guarantees that only one is input by controlling the state of accepting / not accepting in the accepting of FIG. The serialization of the execution unit using the line resource is controlled so that only one document is executed simultaneously on the same resource.

Next, request scheduling by the scheduler will be described. Dispatch timing is (1) when a new request is input, (2) when the request is completed (including retry waiting), and (3) when the retry time elapses (resume request). The request is judged to be complete when all the “documents” held are “executed (including success / failure)” or “retrying” (requests for which all documents have been executed) Disappears).

The algorithm for determining the next document is (1) in units of resources to be used, (2) selecting the request with the highest priority, and (3) becoming the first executable document (Ready state) held by the request. .

Next, retry of a document will be described.
If the transmission of the document fails, the document is set to the “suspend state” and re-executed after a certain period of time. Here, for documents that involve scanning, the scanning operation is not re-executed.
Only the transmission operation must be re-executed.

When the transmission of one document is completed (including the failure completion), the scheduler specifies the next document transmission to be processed. The specific algorithm is a part related to the invention described in claim 1.

The timing of scheduling is (1)
When a new job is submitted (2) When the currently executing job is completed (3) When the currently executing job is shifted to the stopped state (4) When there is no currently executing job, There are four cases in which a stopped job transitions to the ready state, and even if another job is being executed, a job including scanning is immediately executed.

Next, each class in FIG. 5 will be described. -Reception class: Inputs a request from the user or receives a document transfer request from another function (copy, fax, etc.). Scheduler class: executes execution units sequentially. At that time, the execution order is determined in consideration of the priority of the request.

Scan & SendRequest class: scans and sends a paper document set by a user. Specify the destination directory when transferring.・ FileTransferRequest class: Sends documents of other functions (copy, fax, printer, etc.). Specify the destination directory when transferring.・ DocDeliverRequest class: Send the stored document selected by the user. Specify the destination directory when transferring. -Execution unit-Class: Transmission unit. It may be sent as a document or sent as a file.

Each request class has an individual directory name (or an identifier such as a prefix of a file name). The part related to the invention described in claim 2 is that each request exists independently as an object, and the part related to the invention described in claim 3 is that directory information held by each is utilized at the time of execution. is there. Issuing a directory change instruction is a part related to the invention of claim 4.

According to the present embodiment, for example, (1) a user who holds a paper document in front of the apparatus, (2) a user who selects a document stored in the apparatus, (3) By assigning priorities in the order of documents transmitted unconsciously to the user, the time during which the user is using the apparatus can be minimized. For example, it is possible to obtain effects such that a paper original can be immediately brought back, and a document explicitly distributed by a user is preferentially transmitted.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the waiting time of the user who uses the apparatus is reduced, and the explicit document distribution of the apparatus user can be executed with priority. Can be.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, requests can be independently managed as a software configuration. Further, it becomes possible to determine the software configuration for each model and to arrange requests in a distributed network environment.

According to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, P
The C side can automatically recognize the subsequent processing based on the type of the document, for example, whether to simply store the data or to send the mail, and manage the document state of the PC-side server.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image document distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a software structure of an image document server.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an algorithm of the image document server.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of software.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a class configuration of software.

FIG. 6 is a sequence chart showing an algorithm according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ROM 2 RAM 3 NVRAM 4 DSP 5 Operation panel 6 Panel control part 7 Scan / print engine 8 Engine control part 9 Storage device 10 CPU 11 Disk driver 12 Communication control part 13 Modem 21 CPU 22 ROM 23 RAM 24 Communication control part 25 Database Reference Signs List 100 Image document server 200 Broker (delivery document server) 300 Client PC 400 Network

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image document server including a scanner for reading a document, a storage device for storing a read image document and an image document received from an external device, a control for managing an address book and distributing the image document, and An image document distribution system in which a distribution document server that stores documents and a client PC that receives an image document are distributed on a network, and handles three requests from the image document server. Is a “scan & distribution request” for transmitting the read image document to the client PC. The second request is to select one or more image documents stored in the image storage device or the distribution document server and send the selected document to the client PC. The “selection document distribution request” is transmitted sequentially, and the third request is In an image document distribution system that is a "document transfer request" for transferring an image document received from a device to a distribution document server, the three requests are prioritized and the execution order of jobs is scheduled for one transmission unit. An image document distribution system, characterized in that: 2. The image document distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the three requests exist as independent classes. 3. The image document distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the three requests are stored in different directories of the distribution document server. 4. The image document distribution system according to claim 3, wherein directory change instructions for the three requests can be issued.