JP2003143340A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor that can automatically apply various processing operations to stored data in addition to transfer processing. SOLUTION: A storage device 22 for storing data such as document data and image data comprises a plurality of boxes 40 and the storage device 22 stores respectively different scripts made to correspond to each box 40. Then a job control section 16 analyzes header information of received data, stores data on the box 4 on request and carries out script processing such as transfer processing corresponding to the respective boxes 40 as its control. Thus, the information processor can automatically apply various processing operations to the stored data in addition to the transfer processing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus applicable to an image forming apparatus having a composite function such as a facsimile function, a printer function and a copy function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a facsimile apparatus that confidentially transfers a confidentially received facsimile document to a transfer destination registered in advance. Further, in recent years, a large-capacity external storage device such as a hard disk is often installed in a printing device, and a plurality of print data are expanded and held in a storage device in a printable state. Has become possible.

As a confidential transfer facsimile apparatus, for example, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-212568, after the confidential received image information is stored in the image information storage memory, the registered transfer destination is discriminated. The document is automatically transferred to the transfer destination, and the original document can be taken out by the receiver at the transfer destination with the password of the transfer source machine, and the original document can be taken out by transferring the confidential ID to the transfer destination. . Furthermore, when multiple people use a single facsimile, a confidential received document should be sent for each user.
It is possible to transfer confidentially to each destination. By doing so, even when the recipient is absent, the recipient can quickly obtain the confidential facsimile information without being seen by anyone other than the recipient.

[0004]

However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-212568, confidential transfer itself is a transfer from a fax machine to a fax machine, and therefore cannot be transferred to another machine. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not convenient.

Further, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-212568, the transfer can be made only to one preset transfer destination. Therefore, when transferring to another transfer destination, the transfer is performed. It is necessary to change the settings in advance,
Since it is difficult to change the settings on the go, there is a problem that you can actually transfer to only one place.

[0006] Further, there are diversified protocols for file transmission such as facsimile transmission via the Internet and HTTP protocol, and multipurpose use of the protocol is desired.

In view of the above facts, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus capable of automatically performing not only transfer processing but also various processing for accumulated data. .

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is an input means for inputting request information indicating that a predetermined process is added to input data, and the request. In addition to including at least one storage area corresponding to information and storing input data,
A storage unit corresponding to the storage area and including a storage area for storing a script describing a procedure for adding a predetermined process to the stored data, and a storage area for storing the input data corresponding to the request information. And a control means for performing control to add predetermined processing to the data accumulated in the accumulation area based on the script,
It is characterized by having.

According to the first aspect of the invention, in the input means, for example, data such as document data transmitted from a facsimile device, data such as image data obtained from an image reading device such as a scanner, or via a network. Request information indicating that a predetermined process such as a transfer process or a print process is added to data or the like transmitted from a computer or the like connected thereto is input.

The storage means includes at least one storage area corresponding to the request information and a storage area. Input data is stored in the storage area and storage area is stored in the storage area. A script that describes a procedure for adding a predetermined process to the created data is stored.

The control means controls the input data to be stored in the storage area corresponding to the request information input by the input means, and stores the storage area based on the script corresponding to the storage area. It is controlled so that a predetermined process is added to the data stored in. That is, request information for requesting a predetermined process such as a transfer request or a print request is input, data is stored in the storage area based on the request information, and transfer processing, print processing, etc. are performed by a script corresponding to the storage area. It is possible to execute the predetermined processing of.

For example, when data is stored in a certain storage area, a script describing a procedure for performing data transfer or printing is stored in the storage area so that data transfer or printing can be automatically performed. it can.

Therefore, not only the transfer process but also various processes can be automatically performed on the stored data.

The script may execute a transfer process for transferring data to a predetermined transfer destination as the predetermined process, as in the invention described in claim 2.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second aspect, each of the scripts including a plurality of the storage areas and stored in the storage area corresponding to the storage area is processed differently. The feature is that the procedure to add is described.

According to the invention of claim 3, claim 2
In the invention described in (1), by storing a different script for each of the plurality of storage areas in the storage area, if the information for identifying the storage area in which the data is to be stored is input in advance as the request information, the storage for performing the requested processing is performed. The data is accumulated in the area, and the process corresponding to the data accumulated in the accumulation area can be performed by the script corresponding to the accumulation area. That is, it is possible to make various processes different for each storage area, and by doing so, it is possible to automatically perform the requested processing by selecting the storage area for storing data.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the script performs a deletion process of deleting the data from the storage area after a predetermined process is executed. It is characterized by including a description of the procedure to be executed.

According to the invention of claim 4, claim 1
In the invention according to any one of claims 3 to 3, the script includes a point sequence for executing a process of deleting the data from the storage region after a predetermined process is executed, thereby quickly increasing the data capacity of the storage region. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unnecessary accumulation of the storage area and pressure on the storage area capacity.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a multi-function peripheral having functions such as a network printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile.

The multifunction machine 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is
As shown in FIG. 1, the display / input unit 12, the data input / output interface 14, the job control unit 16, and the PDL developing unit 1
8, compression / expansion unit 20, storage device 22, and printing unit 24
Are interconnected via a system bus 26, and an image scanner 28 is connected to the data input / output interface 14.

The display / input unit 12 includes, for example, a display unit such as a liquid crystal display device, is capable of displaying various settings of the multi-function peripheral 10, and includes operation buttons such as a ten-key pad and setting buttons. It is possible to operate various settings. Further, the display / input unit 12 has a function of notifying the user of the operation status of the multifunction machine 10. Further, the display / input unit 12 is capable of setting a script, which will be described later, and setting a storage destination for storing input data, and corresponds to the input means of the present invention.

The data input / output interface 14 is configured to be able to input / output information to / from an externally connected network or public line in addition to the image scanner 28 for reading a document image. For example, the data input / output interface 14 is connected to a facsimile 32 connected via a public line 30 or the like, an Internet connected to a personal computer 34, a printer 36 or the like, or a network 38 such as a LAN. .

The job control unit 16 controls the multi function device 10 in a centralized manner, and corresponds to the means of the present invention. Further, the job control unit 16 controls transmission / reception of data input via the data input / output interface 14, and control for conversion into a format required for transmission / reception.

In the PDL developing section 18, the data input by the data input / output interface 14 is converted into PDL (pa
ge-description language: Expands page-description language data into printable data for each page. The PDL developing unit 18 determines whether the PDL data is PDL data or not, based on the header information of the data input from the data input / output interface 14 by the job control unit 16, and determines whether to perform PDL expansion. The data is transmitted to the PDL developing unit 18 and the PDL developing process is performed.

The compression / expansion unit 20 compresses the data size by performing an encoding process on the data input from the data input / output interface 14 and performs a decoding process on the encoded data. By doing so, the data of the original size is expanded. In addition, the format is also converted to the instructed format according to the output destination format.

The storage device 22 stores the document data and the image data compressed by the compression / expansion unit 20, and also stores a script for executing a predetermined process. The storage device 22 includes a plurality of boxes 40 (40A, 40B, 40C, 40D, 40E, ...
-) Are used separately, and the script is stored in association with each box. As a script associated with each box 40, a different script is stored for each box 40. The same script may be included. In addition, the storage device 22
The content of the script stored in the may be set by the display / input unit 12, may be set in advance, or may be set by software by an external device such as the personal computer 34 connected to the network 38. It may be set to. The storage device 22 corresponds to the storage means of the present invention.

The printing unit 24 prints the data input through the data input / output interface 14 and the data accumulated in the storage device 22 on a print medium such as paper to visualize the data. The printing unit 24 is provided with a tray (not shown) (for example, tray 1, tray 2, etc.), paper is loaded in the tray, and the paper necessary for printing is pulled out and based on the data on the paper. Printing is performed.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a script stored in the storage device 22. In the example script shown in Figure 2,
A description example of a script for performing a printing process at the timing of being stored in the box 40 is shown. In the description example of this script, since the reception type is “all”, all the documents stored in the box 40 by the facsimile, scanner, or print instruction have the processing timing set to “when storing”. Tray 1 when the
Paper can be fed from and printed in duplicate. As the reception type, a plurality of facsimiles, scanners, print instructions, etc. can be designated. The processing timing is
It is possible to specify the time of accumulation, the time of processing instruction, the time when processing is possible, the time designation, and the like. If other than accumulation is specified,
The document to be processed must be explicitly specified. The target document can be designated by an identifier or a document name. The processing instruction is when the user designates a script and gives a predetermined instruction, and is instructed from the display / input unit 12 or the like. When the processing is possible, the processing is started when all the documents specified in the script are prepared. When the time is designated as the processing timing, the processing of the script is started at the designated time.

In FIG. 3, the documents stored at the timing stored in the box 40 are transferred to the FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
ocol) transfer and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer)
An example of a script to be transferred by Protocol is shown. In the description example of this script, the reception type is "all"
Therefore, similar to the above example, since all the documents stored in the box 40 by the facsimile, the scanner, and the print instruction have the processing timing “when storing”,
When documents are stored, they can be transferred to designated destinations by FTP and SMTP.

As described above, the script stored in the storage device 22 of the multifunction machine 10 can describe a plurality of transfer destinations, and the reception type and timing can be specified for each transfer destination. Only one designation of the post-transfer document deletion can be designated for each script, and it can be designated whether or not to delete the document after the transfer process is completed.

Subsequently, the multifunction machine 1 having the above-mentioned configuration
0, the control by the job control unit 16 when processing and printing the PDL file transmitted from the network 38 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, the operation of storing data in the storage device 22 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When data is input to the data input / output interface 14 from the personal computer 34 or the like connected to the network 38 in step 100, the process proceeds to step 102, and the header information of the data is analyzed by the job control unit 16. .

In step 104, the job control unit 16 determines from the analyzed header information whether the file is a PDL file. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106, and the data input to the data input / output interface 14 is expanded by the PDL expansion unit 18 into printable image data for each page.

If the determination in step 106 is negative, the process directly proceeds to step 108. In addition,
If it is not a printable format, it may be converted to a predetermined format and then the process may proceed to step 108.

In step 108, it is determined from the analyzed header information whether or not to store in the box 40 of the storage device 22. If the determination is positive, step 1
Moving to 10, the data is stored in the box 40 designated by the header information.

Then, in step 112, the box 4
When the data is stored in 0, a storage event indicating that the data is stored in the box 40 is issued, and a series of processing is ended.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 108 is negative, the process proceeds to step 114 and the printing process is performed. That is, in the printing unit 24, the corresponding paper is pulled out from the tray in which the paper requested by the input data is stored and printing is performed.

Next, the script processing performed on the data accumulated in each box 40 of the storage device 22 based on the script stored corresponding to each box 40 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. To do.

In step 200, it is determined whether a storage event has been issued. That is, it is determined whether or not the data is accumulated in the storage device 22 and the accumulation event is issued in the above step 112 (see FIG. 4). If the determination is negative, the process waits until the accumulation event is issued, and when the accumulation event is issued, step 202
Move to.

In step 202, it is judged whether or not there is a script corresponding to the box 40 to which the accumulation event is issued. That is, the presence or absence of the script is determined by searching the associated script from the identifier of the box 40 included in the accumulated event. When the determination is negative, the script processing is ended, and when the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 204.

In step 204, it is determined whether the processing timing described in the corresponding script is the accumulation time. If the determination is negative, it is not the processing timing at the time of accumulation, so the script processing is ended, and if the determination is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 206. Although it is determined in step 204 whether or not the processing timing is accumulation, it may be determined whether or not processing is possible, or a step for determining whether or not processing is possible may be further provided. You may

In step 206, the reception type described in the corresponding script and the reception type of the accumulated data are compared to determine whether or not they match. If the determination is negative, it is not the reception type described in the script, so the script processing is terminated, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 208.

In step 208, a job for performing the processing described in the script is generated under the control of the job control unit 16. That is, the transfer job is executed according to the description content of the script.

In step 210, it is judged whether or not the transfer job is completed, and the process waits until the judgment is affirmed.
When the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 212.

At step 212, it is determined whether the transfer job has ended normally. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 218, and abnormal processing is performed.
As the abnormal process, for example, information indicating that the transfer job has not been normally completed may be displayed on the display / input unit 12, or the transfer job of the personal computer 34 or the like connected to the network 38 may be displayed. Information indicating that the device is not normally terminated may be returned to the requesting device.

When the determination at step 212 is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 214, where it is determined whether the designation of post-transfer document deletion described in the corresponding script is document deletion. When the determination is negative, the script processing is ended as it is, and when the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 216.

In step 216, the document transferred in accordance with the description of the corresponding script is deleted from the box 40, and the script processing ends.

As described above, the transfer destination of the data stored in the box 40 can be flexibly set, the processing can be changed depending on the type of the transmission source of the stored data, and the stored data can be transferred. Since it is also possible to set whether or not to leave the storage area after that, it is not necessary to uselessly press the storage area.

Next, the control by the job control unit when there are a plurality of documents to be processed will be described. The process of accumulating the data in the storage device 22 is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the document to be processed is "cover", "chapter 1", "chapter 2", "chapter 3",
In the case of a plurality of scripts such as "back cover", the script processing is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, in step 300, it is determined whether or not a storage event has been issued. That is, it is determined whether or not the data is accumulated in the storage device 22 and the accumulation event is issued in the above step 112 (see FIG. 4). If the determination is negative, the process waits until a storage event is issued, and the process proceeds to step 302 when the storage event is issued.

In step 302, it is judged whether or not there is a script corresponding to the box 40 to which the accumulation event is issued. That is, the presence or absence of the script is determined by searching the associated script from the identifier of the box 40 included in the accumulated event. If the determination is negative, the script processing is ended, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 304.

In step 304, it is determined whether the processing timing described in the corresponding script is the accumulation time. If the determination is negative, it is not the processing timing at the time of accumulation, so the script processing is ended, and if the determination is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 306. Although it is determined in step 306 whether or not the processing timing is accumulation, it may be determined whether or not processing is possible, or a step for determining whether or not processing is possible may be further provided. You may

At step 306, it is judged whether or not all the predetermined target documents described in the corresponding script are prepared. If the determination is negative, the predetermined target documents are not available, so the script processing is ended, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 308.

At step 308, a job for performing the processing described in the script is generated under the control of the job control unit 16. That is, the transfer job is executed according to the description content of the script.

In step 310, it is determined whether or not the transfer job is completed, and the process waits until the determination is affirmed, and when the determination is affirmed, the process proceeds to step 312.

At step 312, it is judged whether or not the transfer job has been controlled. When the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 318, and abnormal processing is performed.
As the abnormal processing, as described above, for example, information indicating that the transfer job is not normally completed may be displayed on the display / input unit 12, or the personal computer 34 or the like connected to the network 38 may be used. Information indicating that the transfer job has not been normally completed may be returned to the device that requested the transfer job.

When the determination in step 312 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 314, and it is determined whether or not the designation of post-transfer document deletion described in the corresponding script is document deletion. When the determination is negative, the script processing is ended as it is, and when the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 316.

In step 316, the document transferred in accordance with the description of the corresponding script is deleted from the box 40, and the script processing ends.

In this way, by writing the processing document name in the script and performing the processing when all are prepared, when a large number of people are in charge of creating one document for each chapter, Since printing or transfer can be performed by specifying collation after all documents are gathered, it is possible to quickly process the documents when they are gathered.

In the above embodiment, the transfer process is described as an example of the process performed by the script. However, the process is not limited to this, and may be a script for performing a print process or another process.

Further, in the above embodiment, the PDL file is expanded into printable image data for each page and then stored in the box 40 of the storage device 22, but the PDL file is stored as it is in the storage device 22. Box 40
Alternatively, the PDL expansion may be performed before taking out from the box 40 and performing printing or transfer processing. For example, the received document is a PDF (Portable D
ocument format) or a DocuWorks document from Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., it can be stored as it is, in the case of FTP or SMTP transfer, it can be transferred as it is, and in the case of printing, expansion processing can be performed. Also, PS (Postscript) and P
It is also possible to store a PDL file such as CL (Hewlett-Packard Printer Control Language) in the box 40 as it is and process it appropriately.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, the request information indicating that a predetermined process is added to the input data is input, and the data is stored in the storage area corresponding to the request information. Based on the script that describes the procedure for adding the predetermined processing stored corresponding to the area, by controlling to add the predetermined processing to the data stored in the storage area, the data is stored in the storage area. Since a predetermined process can be performed on the stored data with a script, there is an effect that not only the transfer process but also various processes can be automatically performed on the accumulated data.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first example of a script stored in a storage device in the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second example of a script stored in the storage device of the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation when data is stored in the storage device in the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing script processing performed according to a script stored corresponding to each box of the storage device in the multi-function peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third example of a script stored in the storage device in the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another example of script processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 multifunction machines 14 Data input / output interface 16 Job control unit 22 Memory 24 Printing department 26 system bus 40 boxes

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C087 AA03 AA09 AB06 BA03 BA06                       BC02 BC04 BC07 BD41 BD46                 5B021 AA01 AA05 AA19 BB02 NN18                 5C062 AA01 AA29 AB22 AB38 AB42                       AC41 AC43 AF02 AF14 BA02                       BC01 BC03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Input means for inputting request information indicating addition of predetermined processing to input data, and at least one storage area corresponding to the request information and for storing input data And storage means including a storage area corresponding to the storage area and storing a script describing a procedure for adding a predetermined process to the stored data, and input data to the request information. An information processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that stores the data in a corresponding storage area and adds a predetermined process to the data stored in the storage area based on the script. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the script includes a description of a procedure for executing a transfer process of transferring data to a predetermined transfer destination as the predetermined process. 3. The procedure according to claim 2, further comprising a procedure for adding different processing to each of the scripts stored in the storage area corresponding to the storage area and including the plurality of storage areas. Information processing equipment. 4. The script according to claim 1, wherein the script includes a description of a procedure for executing a deletion process of deleting the data from the storage area after the predetermined process is executed. The information processing device described.