JP2003271473A - Status information communication apparatus and status information communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a client to simply see the status of each part of a network facsimile apparatus in a home page form. <P>SOLUTION: The time for updating a status icon is set in a status file. When the update time is inserted in the read status file, a WWW browser updates the status file every time the update time elapses. The update time is variably set from a client machine, and when an update time setting icon is selected, a set screen file is delivered so that a desired update time can be input. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a status information communication apparatus and a status information communication method capable of transmitting and receiving facsimile data and electronic mail data by connecting to a network such as a telephone line network, the Internet or a LAN.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, Internet FAX and WWW
A method of reusing facsimile reception data in combination with a server has been proposed. This utilizes the function of the Internet FAX to convert the data received from the telephone line into an electronic mail.

FIG. 12 shows the Internet FAX and WWW.
The system configuration when transmitting and receiving facsimile data using a server is shown.

First, the image data received by the Internet FAX 1101 via the telephone line is converted into an attached file format of an electronic mail in the Internet FAX, and the WWW server 11 as an attached file of the electronic mail.
It is sent to 03.

The electronic mail transferred from the Internet FAX 1101 is received by the electronic mail server 1102 via the network. Email server 1102
The electronic mail received by is again transferred to the destination WWW server 1103 via the network.

The WWW server 1103 stores the attached file of the electronic mail as image data and links it to the home page for facsimile reception. The storage of the facsimile reception data is completed by this point.

The received data is transferred to the client machine 1104.
In order to import into
Start WWW browser on 04, and WWW server 110
Access the facsimile reception home page of 3. Then, the image data file is read from the WWW server 1103 to the client machine 1104 via the network.

By the way, the above-mentioned facsimile communication system has a problem that network traffic increases because a large amount of image data is transferred over the network many times. Incorporating a WWW server into the Internet FAX is an effective means for suppressing an increase in network traffic. In the case of the Internet FAX incorporating the WWW server, both the sender and the receiver of the image data access it, so that it will be used by more users than before.

[0009]

When a large number of users use one Internet FAX as described above, one of the functions of the Internet FAX (facsimile communication function, electronic mail communication function, server function, printer function, etc.). Even if a failure occurs in a part, many users will be affected. Therefore, it is desired that the user can easily grasp the current situation at any time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a status information communication device and a status information communication method that allow a client to easily view the status of each part of the device in a home page format. And

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an image file storage unit for storing a plurality of image files indicating device states by giving file names, and a structured document file in which image file names according to device states are described. A storage unit for storing the structured document file, a Web server unit for providing the structured document file to a terminal device connected to the network via the network, and publishing a status state to the terminal; Rewriting means for rewriting the image file name described in the structured document file.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention is to change a state of a device in which a structured document for displaying a state icon of each part of an apparatus is stored and a device corresponding to the state icon on the structured document. And a WWW server that enables browsing of the structured document stored in the storage unit.

According to this configuration, the structured document stored in the storage unit can be browsed in the home page format, and the status icon on the structured document is switched according to the status change of the corresponding device. A state icon that reflects the latest state can be presented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the network facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, the icon switching means refers to a table in which device states classified into a plurality of states and a plurality of state icons are associated with each other. A configuration is adopted in which the state icon after the change of the device in which the state change is detected is selected.

According to this configuration, since the device states classified into a plurality of pieces by the table and the plurality of state icons are associated with each other, it is possible to quickly determine the corresponding state icon from the subdivided device states. It is possible to change the status icon easily by rewriting the status icon name in the structured document.

A third aspect of the present invention is, in the network facsimile apparatus according to the first and second aspects, to the WWW server again after a lapse of a predetermined time from a client that has fetched the structured document and is displaying a status icon. In order to generate a file request for the structured document, a command sentence and an update time are embedded in the structured document.

According to this structure, since the structured document in which the latest state is always reflected is sent to the client and updated by the icon switching means, the state icon displayed on the client is automatically updated. be able to.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the network facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect, in response to a processing request from a client, an update time to be embedded in the structured document is changed to a designated update time. take.

According to this structure, since the update time is updated in response to the processing request from the client, the user can set the desired update time.

The fifth aspect of the present invention relates to the first, second, third, and fourth aspects.
In the network facsimile apparatus of this aspect, the status icon includes a comment describing the status of the device.

According to this structure, since the comment describing the state of the device is also displayed, the state can be more surely transmitted to the user.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a step of storing a structured document for displaying a status icon of each part of the apparatus in a storage section, a step of detecting a status change of a device of each part of the apparatus, and a status change detection. For the device, updating the content of the structured document so that a status icon corresponding to the device status after the status change is displayed, and transmitting the structured document in response to a file request from the client. This is a state icon presentation method provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the functional blocks of the network facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment. ROM2, RA in CPU1 operating on the operating system
The M3 and the external storage unit 4 are connected to the CPU 1 so that they can be accessed. Various programs such as a server side processing program are stored in the ROM 2, and the RAM 3 is stored in the RO 3.
It is used as a work area for programs stored in M2. The external storage unit 4 also stores compressed image data, HTML files, and the like.

Further, the network facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment comprises a scanner 5, a printer section 6, a panel section 7, a compression / expansion section 8, a FAX / voice communication section 9 and a network control section 10. The components are configured to operate under the control of the CPU 1.

In this network facsimile apparatus, the scanner unit 5 reads image data such as a document, and the printer unit 6 prints the read image data or the received image data. In addition, the panel unit 7 allows the user to perform operations such as image reading instructions and input of destinations of the transmission destination.
The decompression unit 8 decompresses the image data received or compresses the read image data. The FAX / voice communication unit 9 is connected to a telephone line to perform facsimile communication and voice communication, and the network control unit 10 is connected to a network to perform network data communication and data electronic mail communication.

The program stored in the ROM 2 contains H
Each program of the TML file generation unit 11, the WWW server unit 12, the email communication unit 13, and the TIFF conversion unit 14 is included. HTML file generator 11, WWW
The server unit 12, the electronic mail communication unit 13, and the TIFF conversion unit 14 are functions provided by the CPU 1 executing these programs, but for convenience of explanation, the reference given to the program itself as shown in FIG. The functions will be described with reference numerals.

The HTML file generation unit 11 is an HTML file so that the states of the scanner unit 5, the printer unit 6, the panel unit 7, and the FAX / speech communication unit 9 (idle, operating, error, etc.) can be viewed in a home page format. It is a functional block that is converted to and registered in the server.

The WWW server section 12 provides a server function of performing communication according to the HTTP protocol with the WWW browser and delivering home page data (HTML file).

The e-mail communication unit 13 sends and receives e-mails via the network and also functions as an e-mail server. In addition, the TIFF conversion unit 14 converts the encoded facsimile data and document file data into TI
Provides a function to convert to FF format. When the scanner unit 5 or the stored facsimile data is transmitted by e-mail, the TIFF conversion unit 14 converts the data into the TIFF format, and creates an e-mail including this TIFF file as an attachment file. That is, the TIFF file is text-coded and put in the data part of the composite structured mail such as MIME. On the other hand, when the data received by e-mail is transmitted by facsimile, the electronic file portion of the e-mail is converted from the text code into a TIFF file by binary conversion. In addition, the TIFF conversion unit 14
Extract the file. If uncompressed, the compression / decompression unit 8 further transmits data to which compression processing such as MH is added.

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration when the network facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment is connected to a telephone line and a network. In FIG. 2, the network facsimile apparatus 201 is connected to a telephone line and is also connected to a network via a network interface. WW on the client machine 202
By operating the W browser, the home page provided on the network facsimile apparatus 201 can be browsed.

In FIG. 3, the HTML file generator 11, W
WW server unit 12, e-mail communication unit 13 and FAX
-The functional blocks of the voice communication unit 9 and the flow of data processing between the blocks are shown.

In the WWW server section 12, the WWW server communication section 31 communicates with the WWW browser operating on the client machine 202 according to the HTTP protocol. The WWW server communication unit 31 is the client machine 2
The command received from 02 is the CGI string parser 3
Analyzed in 2.

The CGI string analysis unit 32 analyzes the CGI string included in the received data, transfers the analysis result to the CGI application determination unit 33, and activates the corresponding CGI application 34. The CGI application 34 executes a predetermined process using the received data.
The CGI application 34 includes applications such as transmission, deletion of HTML document, address book generation, and device setting. For example, the sending CGI application controls the corresponding device to send the specified document from the client machine to the specified destination by facsimile or electronic mail.

The file sending unit 35 receives the file for which a file request is issued from the client machine 202 from the file management unit 36 and passes it to the WWW server communication unit 31. In the case of a file request for which CGI processing has not been requested, the file transmission unit 35 requests the file management unit 36 for the corresponding file.

The HTML file generating section 11 includes a document list generating section 37 for generating an HTML file of a document list and an address book generating section 38 for generating an HTML file of an address book.

The document list generating section 37 is an HTML of the reception list displaying the reception electronic mail and reception FAX.
A file is created, and a part of the HTML file is deleted, edited, moved, etc. according to a command and received data given from the CGI application 34.

The address book generation unit 38 uses the address book CG
The HTML file of the address book is modified by the command and received data from the I application. The address book generator 38 also executes a process of incorporating the latest address table data into the HTML file of the address book when the power is turned on or when the contents of the address book are changed.

The HTML file generator 11 includes a communication result list generator 39 and a status information generator 41.
Equipped with. The communication result list generation unit 39 receives the log information indicating the communication result from the FAX / voice communication unit 9 and the electronic mail communication unit 13, and creates / updates the HTML file representing the communication result list.

The status information generation section 41 includes a scanner section 5, a printer section 6, a panel section 7, a FAX / voice communication section 9
Then, the status signals indicating the states thereof are taken in to create and update the HTML file in which the states of the respective parts are registered. For example, if the printer status includes idle, operating, and error (jam, out of toner), icons that visually appeal to these statuses are created.
Then, an icon in a corresponding state is registered in the HTML file (status html) according to the status signal from the printer unit 6.

The FAX / voice communication unit 9 receives a transmission processing instruction, a transmission document number, a FAX number of a destination terminal, etc. from the transmission CGI application. When the transmission document number is passed, the transmission data (image) of the corresponding document number is taken out from the external storage unit 4, put in the transmission buffer, connected to the telephone line and transmitted to the FAX number of the destination terminal.

The e-mail communication unit 13 receives a transmission processing instruction, a transmission document number, a mail address of the destination terminal, etc. from the transmission CGI application. When the transmission document number is passed, the transmission data of the corresponding document number is stored in the external storage unit 4
It is taken out from the network and put in a transmission buffer, and is connected to a LAN or various networks represented by the Internet by dial-up and transmitted to the address of the destination terminal.

Next, the operation of the network facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment will be described. The client machine 2 displays icons indicating the current status of each part of the device.
The operation to be displayed on 02 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The network facsimile apparatus is in a standby state until the home page address (URL address) is input.

The client machine 202 connected to the network activates the WWW browser (browsing software) and inputs the URL of the network facsimile machine to access it (ST401).

In the accessed network facsimile apparatus, the WWW server section 12 receives the URL and responds. The WWW server unit 12 is a client machine 2
When the URL is received from 02, the index file (index.html) which is an HTML document for displaying the file of the main screen of the home page is transmitted (ST402).

The WWW browser of the client machine 202 is index. A command requesting a required file by analyzing the content of html is sent to the WWW server unit 12 (ST403).

As shown in FIG. 5, the index file (index.html) is the main file (mai).
n. html) and a status file (status.
html). The client machine 202 is
A file request for the main file and the status file is made to the WWW server unit 12. Since the main file includes various files that form the main screen portion of the home page such as personal icons and bulletin board icons, these file requests are issued. The status file has a panel status icon (pnlxx.gif) indicating the status of the panel unit 7, a printer status icon (prtxx.gif) indicating the status of the printer unit 6, and a scanner status icon (scnx) indicating the status of the scanner unit 5.
x. gif), since each file constituting the status screen portion of the communication status icon (faxx.gif) indicating the status of the FAX / voice communication unit 9 is included, these file requests are issued.

The client machine 202 acquires the required file by the file request and displays the home page main screen (ST405). As shown in FIG. 6, each icon of the document folder and the setting / tool which is constructed based on the main file and each icon of the status which is constructed based on the status file are displayed on the main screen.

The panel status icon 61, the printer status icon 62, the scanner status icon 63, and the communication status icon 64 are respectively indicated by a symbol mark having a shape conceptually showing the form of each part and immediately below each symbol mark. It is composed of a comment indicating the state of each part. The display color of the symbol mark differs according to each state. For example, the idle color is gray, the operating color is green, and the error is red. In the present embodiment, the state is expressed by the display color of the symbol mark and the comment. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the printer status icon 62 includes a symbol mark 65 having a shape that conceptually represents the form of the printer, and a comment 66 = “power save” indicating a state immediately below the symbol mark 65. Composed of.

FIG. 7 shows the source file of the status file. The file name of the status icon is set in the line “IMG SRC = ...”. Panel status icon 6
The file name of 1 is "pnl00.gif", and the file name of the printer status icon 62 is "prt00.gif".
f ”, the file name of the scanner status icon 63 is“ sc ”
n00. The file name of the communication status icon 64 is “fax00.gif”. Files of these status icons are acquired from the network facsimile apparatus and the status screen portion shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

In the status file, "META"
In the line "HTTP-EQUIV = ...", the time for updating the status icon is set. "Refresh CON
The update time is determined by TENT = “xx” ”.

Now, the operation of generating a status file in the present network facsimile machine will be described. The status html is stored in the external storage unit 4, and the status information generation unit 41 updates the corresponding data of the status html when the status change is detected in each unit.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the operation of updating the status html by the status information generator 41.
The scanner unit 5, the printer unit 6, the panel unit 7, and the FAX / voice communication unit 9 manage their own operating states, and periodically or in real time notify the CPU 1 of a status signal indicating the current state. Alternatively, the CPU 1 keeps its own operating state in the device and the CPU 1 gets the status signal.

The status information generation section 41 includes the panel section 7
Is checked to determine whether the panel state at the time of the previous check is different from the panel state at this time (ST901). When the state change is detected, the panel state number corresponding to the current panel state is set and the flag is turned on (ST902). This flag is a flag indicating that there is a state change. The panel status number is given to each individual status to be displayed by the panel status icon 61 as a panel status. The same applies to other state numbers. If no state change is detected, the process shifts to checking the printer unit 6.

Next, the status signal of the printer section 6 is checked to determine whether the printer state at the time of the previous check and the printer state at this time are different (ST90).
3). If a status change is detected, the printer status number corresponding to the current printer status is set and the flag is turned on (ST904). If no state change is detected,
The process shifts to the check of the scanner unit 5.

Next, the status signal of the scanner section 5 is checked to determine whether the scanner state at the time of the previous check is different from the current scanner state (ST90).
5). If a status change is detected, the scanner status number corresponding to the current scanner status is set and the flag is turned on (ST906). If no state change is detected,
The process proceeds to check the FAX / voice communication unit 9.

Next, the status signal of the FAX / voice communication unit 9 is checked to determine whether the communication state at the time of the previous check is different from the communication state at this time (ST90).
7). If a state change is detected, the communication state number corresponding to the current communication state is set and the flag is turned on (S
T908).

When the status of each part is checked in this way, it is checked whether there is any device whose flag is turned on (ST909). If there is a device whose flag is turned on, the status html is updated (ST9
10).

The update of the status html will be described by taking a printer as an example. FIG. 8 shows a correspondence table of printer status numbers and file names. A printer status number is assigned to each status generated in the printer unit 6.
In the correspondence table, the file name (gif file) of the printer status icon is registered corresponding to each printer status number. This gif file includes a symbol mark and a comment that visually indicate the printer status corresponding to the printer status number. The status icon gif file registered in the correspondence table is stored in the external storage unit 4 as a status icon file group.

In step ST910, the file name of the status icon corresponding to the status number of the device whose flag is turned ON is acquired by referring to the correspondence table of FIG. Then, the status html of FIG. 7 is retrieved from the external storage unit 4. Now, it is assumed that the printer section 6 has changed from the power save state to the paper out state. In this case, "prt00.gif" is set as the file name of the printer status icon in the status html before updating. In the update process, the printer status icon file names are changed from “prt00.gif” to “prt02.gif”.
Rewrite. In the file "prt02.gif",
A printer status icon including a symbol mark in which the printer symbol is displayed in red and a comment of "out of paper" is registered. Therefore, when the client machine 202 reads the updated status html, the printer status icon 62 changes to an icon indicating that the paper is out.

As described above, on the side of the present network facsimile apparatus, the status information generation section 41 includes the scanner section 5, printer section 6, panel section 7, FAX / voice communication section 9
The status icon corresponding to the changed status is reflected in the status html when the status is changed.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the timing of reading the status html by the client machine 202. As described above, when the main screen of the homepage of FIG. 6 is opened (ST1001), the status htm
1 is read and a status icon or the like related to the status is displayed (ST1002). When the update time elapses while the status icon is displayed on the main screen of the home page (ST1003), the status html is read from the network facsimile machine and the status icon is displayed with the newly read status html. The update time depends on the source file (status h
tml) "Refresh CONTENT =
It is the time designated by xx ". If the line of the above update time is inserted in the read status html, the WWW browser will return the status ht every time the update time elapses.
Update ml. As a result, if there is a change in the status of the device on the side of the network facsimile device during the designated time, the status icon after the change is displayed.

If the user gives a reading instruction within the update time (ST1004), the status html is read from the network facsimile apparatus and updated even if the update time is not reached. In the 5th line (AHREF = ...) of the source file of status html shown in FIG. 7, select "status.h" after selecting "Status" on the screen.
It contains a line of instructions to read "tml".
Therefore, in step ST1004, when the icon written as "status" is selected when the main screen of FIG. 6 is displayed, the process proceeds to step ST1002 and the status html is read again. The processes of the above steps are repeated until the display of the main screen ends (ST1005).

As a result, when the user wants to know the current status of the network facsimile apparatus, he / she can immediately see the updated status icon by selecting the icon labeled "status".

Next, returning to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the operation of setting the status information update time from the client machine 202 will be described. Now, step ST40
It is assumed that the update time setting icon 67 in FIG. 6 is selected when the home page main screen is displayed in 5. When the update time setting icon 67 is selected, the WWW browser issues a setting screen file request (ST4
06).

FIG. 11 shows a configuration example of a setting screen for setting the update time. The HTML file of this setting screen is stored in the external storage unit 4. Upon receiving the file request, the WWW server section 12 requests the file management section 36 for the corresponding file. The HTML file of the setting screen read from the external storage unit 4 is transmitted to the client machine 202 (ST407).

Upon receiving the HTML file of the setting screen, client machine 202 displays the setting screen shown in FIG. 11 (ST408). The setting screen has a box for inputting the update time of the status information. The user will enter the desired update time in this box and then press the enter button. When the enter button on the setting screen is pressed, a CGI processing request that requests processing for updating the designated time of the status html is output (ST40.
9).

In the WWW server section 12, the CGI string analysis section 32 decodes and analyzes the URL-encoded CGI string of the received data (ST).
410). The analysis result is given to the CGI application determining unit 33. The CGI application determining unit 33 determines the application for which the CGI processing is requested (ST411), and if the device setting CGI application is designated (ST41).
2) Activate the device setting CGI application and pass the update time data. The device setting CGI application passes the update time data to the status information generation unit 41 and updates the update time data in the status html to the specified update time when the processing request is related to the update time of the status html. Command. As a result, the status information generation unit 41 causes the status html
The corresponding data in the above is rewritten to the data specified by the client side (ST413).

As a result, the client machine 202 can instruct the network facsimile apparatus about the update time of the status information. The instruction of the update time is completed simply by inputting an arbitrary time on the setting screen automatically displayed from the network facsimile machine.

[0071]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a status information communication device capable of easily viewing the status of each part of the device from a terminal device connected by a network in a home page format using image files, and A status information communication method can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a network facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a system in which the network facsimile apparatus of the above embodiment and a client machine are connected.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a flow of a part of processing in the network facsimile apparatus of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing from displaying a home page to setting an update time in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an HTML file association table.

[Figure 6] Configuration diagram of the main screen of the home page

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a source file of status html.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a correspondence table of printer status numbers and file names.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of updating status html in the network facsimile apparatus of the above embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the timing of reading the status html in the client machine of the above embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a status information update time setting screen in the above embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile communication system using a conventional Internet FAX and a WWW server.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 External storage 5 scanner 6 Printer section 7 panel section 8 compression / decompression section 9 FAX / voice communication section 10 Network control unit 11 HTML file generator 12 WWW server section 13 E-mail communication department 14 TIFF converter 31 WWW server communication unit 32 CGI string analysis unit 33 CGI application judgment unit 34 CGI Application 35 File sending part 36 File Management Department 37 Document list generator 38 Address Book Generator 39 Communication result list generation unit 41 Status information generator

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B089 GA11 GA13 GB02 JA35 JB02                       KA01 KA13 KB04 KC29 LB19                 5C062 AA02 AA14 AA16 AB21 AB25                       AB41 AB42 AC03 AC05 AC55                       AC58 AF15                 5C075 AA90 AB90 CE14 CE17 CF09

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A structured document for displaying an image showing a state of each part of the device is fetched from a terminal device displaying an image showing a state to a web server part described later, and the structured document is repeatedly displayed at predetermined time intervals. A storage unit in which a structured document in which a command request for generating a file request and an update time indicating the predetermined time are embedded is stored, and an image indicating a state on the structured document is displayed according to a change in state of a corresponding device. Image file switching means and a web server unit that enables browsing of the structured document stored in the storage unit, and the command statement to the terminal device based on the update time. A status characterized in that the web server unit is accessed to automatically acquire a structured document, and the update time can be set from the terminal device. Multicast communication apparatus. 2. A structured document for displaying an image showing the state of each part of the device is fetched from a terminal device displaying an image showing the state to a web server part described later, and the structured document is repeatedly displayed at predetermined time intervals. A storage unit in which a structured document in which a command request for generating a file request and an update time indicating the predetermined time are embedded is stored, and an image indicating a state on the structured document is displayed according to a change in state of a corresponding device. Image file switching means and a web server unit that enables browsing of the structured document stored in the storage unit, and the command statement to the terminal device based on the update time. In a status information communication method in a status information communication device for accessing the web server unit and automatically obtaining a structured document, the status information communication device comprises: Status information communication device, the status information communication device sends a setting screen to the terminal device, and when any time information is input from the terminal device, the update time of the structured document. Is rewritten with the input arbitrary time information.