JP2004005612A - System and method for obtaining resource information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain information related to resources used for an application. <P>SOLUTION: This device is provided with the resources for executing applications. It comprises means to obtain resource information related to the resource used for the application while the application is executed, and store the resource information in a storage device. Usage quantity of the resource used for the application may be periodically obtained, the resource information is reproduced based on the usage quantity periodically obtained, to store the resource information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique for acquiring information about resources used by an application.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a “multifunction peripheral”) in which functions of respective apparatuses such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, and a scanner are housed in one housing has been known. This multifunction peripheral is provided with a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like in a single housing, and is provided with three types of software corresponding to a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile machine, and by switching these softwares, Is operated as a printer, copier, scanner or facsimile machine.
[0003]
In such a conventional multifunction peripheral, all application programs are activated in units of functions such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner within a limited range of resources such as a memory. In other words, the conventional multifunction peripheral has resources enough to start all the application programs, and it is not assumed that a situation occurs in which the application programs cannot be started.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-112701
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in such a conventional multifunction peripheral, software corresponding to a printer, a copier, a scanner, and a facsimile machine is separately provided, and therefore, it takes a lot of time to develop each software. For this reason, the applicant has an application that has hardware resources used in image forming processing such as a display unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit and performs processing specific to each user service such as a printer, a copy or a facsimile. When providing a user service by interposing between a plurality of applications and hardware resources, management, execution control, and image forming processing of hardware resources required by at least two of the applications in common Invented an image forming apparatus (multifunction peripheral) equipped with a platform composed of various control services for performing the following.
[0006]
Such a new multifunction peripheral has a configuration in which a control service for providing a service commonly required by at least two of the applications is provided separately from the application. The size of the application program is smaller than that of the application program to be started, and the application is frequently started and terminated.
[0007]
For this reason, the use status of resources such as a memory mounted on the multifunction peripheral frequently changes, and it may occur that all applications cannot be activated. Even if the application is started in such a situation, there is a problem that the application is terminated improperly and the operation of the multifunction peripheral becomes unstable.
[0008]
In addition, since such a new multi-function device is provided with an application and a control service separately, a user or a third party as a third party can develop a new application and mount it on the multi-function device after shipment of the multi-function device. It has a configuration. For this reason, MFPs have applications that are installed at the time of shipment, such as copy, printer, scanner, and facsimile, and are different from conventional MFPs. Many applications, such as applications, can be started. Applications provided in advance by MFPs, such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines, and scanners, have a structure that is aware of limited resources, but new applications developed by third parties are developed by vendors. It may not always be a resource-aware structure. For this reason, if a new application is started within a limited resource range, there is a high possibility that the multifunction peripheral will become unstable.
[0009]
In order to solve such a problem, it is necessary to limit the activation of the application as necessary based on the type and amount of resources used by the application and the resources actually provided in the multifunction peripheral. For this purpose, it is necessary to obtain the types and amounts of resources used by the application.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for acquiring information on resources used by an application.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an apparatus provided with resources for executing an application, wherein during execution of the application, resource information on resources used by the application is stored. And acquiring means for acquiring the resource information and storing the resource information in a storage device.
[0012]
According to the present invention, when an application is executed, information on resources used by the application is acquired, so that, for example, accurate information for determining whether to start the application can be acquired.
[0013]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the obtaining unit periodically obtains a usage amount of a resource used by the application, and obtains the resource information based on the regularly obtained usage amount. Generate and store the resource information.
[0014]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the resource information is an average value or a maximum value of the usage amounts acquired periodically.
[0015]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the average value or the maximum value during a period from the start to the end of the application is recorded every time from the start to the end, and the resource information The average value or the maximum value of a plurality of average values recorded from the start to the end, or the average value or the maximum value of the plurality of maximum values recorded from the start to the end is used.
[0016]
According to the above invention, since a plurality of values acquired periodically are used, it is possible to acquire a value more appropriate as a resource usage amount than a value acquired only once.
[0017]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the acquisition unit is used by the application based on system information holding information on resources used by a process in the device. Information about resources is acquired as the resource information. According to the present invention, resource information can be efficiently acquired.
[0018]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the device is an embedded device that provides a service using pre-installed software, and the application to be executed is It is another application that is installed in the device.
[0019]
According to the present invention, by using resource information, when adding an application to an embedded device, it is possible to make a start determination according to the resource amount.
[0020]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes a plurality of hardware resources in an image forming process and a plurality of services related to control of the hardware resources. A virtual application service unit comprising: a control service unit commonly provided to the application; and a virtual application service unit operating as a client process using the control service unit as a server and operating as a server process using the application as a client. Has the acquisition means.
[0021]
According to the present invention, by using resource information, when adding an application to the image forming apparatus, it is possible to make a start determination according to the resource amount.
[0022]
The invention according to claim 8 is an apparatus provided with a resource for executing an application, receiving device configuration information from each device as the resource attached to the device, and storing the device configuration information. It is a device having means for storing in the device.
[0023]
According to the present invention, it is possible to acquire device configuration information of the device.
[0024]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, there is provided means for transmitting a message for notifying that the device configuration information has been stored to a software module executed in the device. .
[0025]
According to the present invention, a software module executed in the device can recognize that device configuration information is stored. Then, the device configuration information can be acquired by the software module accessing the storage device.
[0026]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus provided with resources for executing an application, the application management file including information on resources used by the application, and the application being used when the application is started. An acquisition unit for acquiring information on resources to be performed from the application management file.
[0027]
According to the present invention, it is possible to acquire information about resources only by accessing an application management file.
[0028]
According to an eleventh aspect, in the tenth aspect, the application management file includes memory-related information and information on a device configuration of the device.
[0029]
According to the present invention, it is possible to acquire information relating to memory and information relating to the device configuration of the device simply by accessing the application management file.
[0030]
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the program further comprises an application management file including information on resources used by the application, wherein the resource fixedly used by the application when the application is started Is obtained from the application management file. According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently obtain resources that are fixedly used by an application.
[0031]
According to a thirteenth aspect, in the tenth aspect, the information on the resource in the application management file is information obtained from the application when the application is started.
[0032]
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, the device is an embedded device that provides a service by using software that is installed in advance. According to a fifteenth aspect, in the tenth aspect, the apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The invention according to claims 16 to 30 is a method invention corresponding to the invention of the above device.
[0033]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a “multifunction peripheral”) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 100 includes a monochrome line printer (B & W LP) 101, a color line printer (Color LP) 102, a scanner, a facsimile, a hard disk, a memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), a network interface, and the like. It has a hardware resource 103, and has a platform 120, an application 130, and a software group 110 composed of a virtual application service (VAS: Virtual Application Service) 140.
[0034]
A virtual application service (VAS) 140 is located between the application 130 and the platform 120. When each application of the application 130 is activated for the first time, the VAS 140 acquires the usage status of the resource used by each application, and generates a resource usage information file on the hard disk (HD). The resources to be acquired include the size of the text memory area secured in the memory, the size of the heap area, and the size of the stack area. Here, the text memory area is a memory area into which a program of each application of the application 130 is loaded. The heap area is a memory area dynamically allocated by each application, and includes a work area used by each application. The stack area is an area reserved for storing arguments used when each application is executed or when each application calls an internal module.
[0035]
In addition, when each application is activated for the second time or later, the VAS 140 obtains the capacity of each resource required by the application from the resource usage information file, obtains the remaining capacity of each resource, and compares the two. Determine whether the application can be started. Specifically, when the remaining capacity of the resource is smaller than the capacity of each resource required by the application, a start stop request message is transmitted to the started application.
[0036]
FIG. 1 shows an example in which the VAS 140 is arranged for all applications. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the VAS 140 may be arranged only for a new application.
[0037]
The platform 120 interprets a processing request from an application to generate a hardware resource acquisition request, and a system resource manager that manages one or more hardware resources and arbitrates the acquisition request from the control service. (SRM) 123 and a general-purpose OS 121.
[0038]
The control service is formed from a plurality of service modules, and includes an SCS (system control service) 122, an ECS (engine control service) 124, an MCS (memory control service) 125, an OCS (operation panel control service) 126, and an FCS. (Fax control service) 127 and NCS (network control service) 128. The platform 120 has an application program interface (API) that enables a processing request from the application 130 to be received by a predefined function.
[0039]
The general-purpose OS 121 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes each software of the platform 120 and the application 130 in parallel as a process.
[0040]
The process of the SRM 123, together with the SCS 122, controls the system and manages resources. The process of the SRM 123 uses hardware resources such as an engine such as a scanner unit and a printer unit, a memory, an HDD file, and a host I / O (centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE1394 I / F, RS232C I / F, etc.). Arbitration is performed according to a request from the upper layer to be used, and execution is controlled.
[0041]
Specifically, the SRM 123 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is used. Inform the upper layer that it is possible. The SRM 123 also schedules use of hardware resources in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly implements the contents of the request (for example, paper transport and image forming operation, memory reservation, file generation, and the like by a printer engine). .
[0042]
The process of the SCS 122 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.
[0043]
The process of the ECS 124 controls an engine of a hardware resource 103 including a monochrome line printer (B & W LP) 101, a color line printer (Color LP) 102, a scanner, a facsimile, and the like.
[0044]
The process of the MCS 125 performs acquisition and release of an image memory, use of a hard disk device (HDD), compression and decompression of image data, and the like.
[0045]
The process of the FCS 127 includes facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by a BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, fusion transmission / reception. Provides an API to do so.
[0046]
The process of the NCS 128 is a process for providing a service that can be used in common to applications requiring network I / O, and distributes data received from the network according to each protocol to each application, or distributes data from the application to the data. Mediation when sending to the network side. Specifically, it has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd, smtpd, and client functions of the same protocol.
[0047]
The process of the OCS 126 controls an operation panel (operation panel) serving as information transmission means between an operator (user) and main body control. The OCS 126 obtains a key press from the operation panel as a key event, and transmits a key event function corresponding to the obtained key to the SCS 122, and displays various screens on the operation panel in response to a request from the application 130 or the control service. A drawing function for drawing and outputting, a function for controlling the operation panel, and the like are configured from a part of the OCS library registered in advance. This OCS library is implemented by being linked to each module of the application 130 and the control service. Note that all of the OCS 126 may be configured to operate as a process, or all of the OCS 126 may be configured as an OCS library.
[0048]
The application 130 includes a printer application 111 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and PostScript (PS), a copy application 112 that is a copy application, and a fax application 113 that is a facsimile application. , A scanner application 114 as a scanner application, a network file application 115 as a network file application, and a process inspection application 116 as a process inspection application. Each of these applications transmits an application registration request message to the VAS 140 together with the process ID of its own process at the time of activation, and the VAS 140 that has received the application registration request message performs registration processing for the activated application. I have. In the case of the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2, an application in which the VAS 140 is not arranged transmits an application registration request message to the SCS 122.
[0049]
Each process of the application 130 and each process of the control service realize user services related to image forming processing such as copy, printer, scanner, and facsimile while performing inter-process communication by transmitting a function call, transmitting a return value thereof, and transmitting and receiving a message. are doing.
[0050]
As described above, in the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, there are a plurality of applications 130 and a plurality of control services, all of which operate as processes. Then, one or a plurality of threads are generated inside each of these processes, and the threads are executed in parallel. The control service provides a common service to the application 130. For this reason, many of these processes perform parallel operation and thread parallel operation, perform inter-process communication with each other, and perform cooperative operation. User services related to image forming processes such as copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile are provided. In addition, the MFP 100 allows a third party such as a third vendor to develop and install new applications 117 and 118 in the application layer above the control service layer. 1 and 2 show examples in which the new applications 117 and 118 are mounted.
[0051]
In the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, a plurality of processes of the application 130 and a plurality of processes of the control service are operating, but the application 130 and the control service process each have a single configuration. Is also possible. Further, each application 130 can be added or deleted for each application.
[0052]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the VAS 140 of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, and a relationship between the VAS 140, each application, the control service layer 150, and the general-purpose OS 121. Although FIG. 3 shows the printer application 111, the copy application 112, and the new applications 117 and 118 as examples of the application 130, other applications have the same configuration.
[0053]
In the process of the virtual application service (VAS) 140, a dispatcher 144, a control thread 143, a resource use information acquisition thread 141, and an application start determination thread 142 operate.
[0054]
The dispatcher 144 monitors the reception of a message from the application 130 or the control service, and issues a processing request to the control thread 143, the resource use information acquisition thread 141, and the application activation determination thread 142 according to the received message. In the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, the dispatcher 144 transmits the received application registration request message to the control thread 143 when receiving the application registration request message from the application when each application starts. .
[0055]
The control thread 143 receives an application registration request message from the dispatcher 144 and performs an application registration process. Here, the application registration process refers to a process of generating an application registration table (not shown) in the RAM 210 and recording an application ID, which is identification information of the application that transmitted the application registration request message, in the application registration table.
[0056]
In addition, the control thread 143 refers to the resource usage information file 201 stored in the HD 200 to check whether resource usage information is recorded for the application for which the application registration request has been issued, thereby starting the application. Is the first activation or the second or subsequent activation. Then, in the case of the first activation, a resource use information acquisition processing request is issued to the resource use information acquisition thread 141 together with the application ID and the process ID of the application. An application start determination processing request is issued to the thread 142 together with the application ID and the process ID of the application.
[0057]
Upon receiving a processing request from the control thread 143, the resource use information acquisition thread 141 refers to the proc structure 211 (or u area 212) on the RAM 210 managed by the general-purpose OS 121, and refers to the text memory area used by each application. The size, the heap area size, the stack area size, and the CPU occupation time are acquired and generated as a resource usage information file 201 on the hard disk. Such resource usage information is recorded as a record for each application. The above-mentioned CPU occupation time is, for example, the latest CPU occupation time.
[0058]
The program of the VAS 140 is a file in a format executable or installable on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or FD (flexible disk) as a part or all of a software development kit (SDK: Software Development Kit) or the like. Provided. Further, the program file of the VAS 140 in such an executable format or an installable format may be provided by a method that can be obtained via a network. Note that the application installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 can also be provided by being stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or an FD (flexible disk). Further, it may be provided by a method that can be obtained via a network.
[0059]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the content of the resource usage information file 201 stored in the HD 200. As shown in FIG. 4, the resource usage information file 201 records a text memory size, a heap size, a stack size, and a CPU occupation time for each application ID.
[0060]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the proc structure 211 referred to by the resource use information acquisition thread 141. As shown in FIG. 5, the proc structure 211 stores, for each process, a process ID (p_pid), a CPU occupation time, a text memory size, a heap memory size, a stack size, and the like. The proc structure 211 is updated by the general-purpose OS 121 at the time of executing the process, at the time of terminating the process, and when the state of the process changes. Each information of the proc structure 211 can be acquired by the VAS 140 by a system call from the VAS 140.
[0061]
When the application has been activated for the second time or later, the application activation determination thread 142 refers to the resource usage information file 201 and acquires the capacity of each resource required by the application that has made the application registration request. In addition, the application startup determination thread 142 refers to the proc structure 211 by a system call of the general-purpose OS 121 or a service function call provided by the control service, thereby obtaining the remaining capacity of the image memory area, the remaining capacity of the heap area, and the stack. Get the remaining capacity of the area. Then, the two are compared to determine whether the application can be activated. Further, the application activation determination thread 142 acquires the CPU operation rate by a system call of the general-purpose OS 121 or a service function call provided by a control service.
[0062]
Then, it is determined whether the application can be started based on whether the CPU operation rate exceeds a certain value and whether the CPU occupancy time exceeds a certain time. Note that the relationship between the CPU occupation time and the CPU operation rate, that is, the relation between the CPU occupation time for determining that the application should be started in accordance with the value of the CPU operation rate is determined in advance, but the relation between the CPU occupation time and the CPU occupancy is arbitrarily determined by the multifunction peripheral 100 Can be.
[0063]
When determining that the application can be started, the application start determination thread 142 transmits a startable message to the application that has made the application registration request. On the other hand, if it is determined that the application startup should not be continued, a startup end request message is transmitted to the application that made the application registration request.
[0064]
Next, an application startup determination process performed by the VAS 140 of the MFP 100 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for registering an application and determining the number of times of application activation by the control thread 143 of the VAS 140.
[0065]
Upon receiving the application registration request message from the application when the dispatcher 144 is activated, the application registration request message is passed to the control thread 143 together with the process ID of the application. Upon receiving the application registration request message and the process ID from the dispatcher 144 (step S501), the control thread 143 determines an application ID for identifying the application, and records the application ID in an application registration table (not shown). Application registration is performed (step S502). It should be noted that the application ID is predetermined for existing applications such as the copy application 112 and the printer application 111, and the VAS 140 holds each application ID internally. Further, new applications 117 and 118 developed by a third vendor or the like are determined in the application registration process at the time of the first activation.
[0066]
Then, the control thread 143 refers to the resource usage information file 201 stored in the HD 200 (step S503), and the resource usage information of the application ID registered in the application registration process is stored in the resource usage information file 201. It is determined whether the application that has made the application registration request is the first activation or the second or subsequent activation by checking whether or not the application has been activated (step S504).
[0067]
If the resource usage information file 201 does not store the resource usage information for the application ID of the application that made the application registration request (step S504: No), it is determined that the application has been started for the first time, and In order to obtain the resource usage information of the resource to be used, the resource usage information acquisition thread 141 transmits a resource usage information acquisition request message together with the application ID and the process ID of the application (step S505).
[0068]
On the other hand, if the resource usage information file 201 stores the resource usage information for the application ID of the application that has made the application registration request (step S504: Yes), it is determined that the activation is the second or later activation, In order to determine whether or not the application can be activated, an application activation determination request message is transmitted to the application activation determination thread 142 together with the application ID and the process ID of the application (step S506).
[0069]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of resource use information acquisition by the resource use information acquisition thread 141. In the resource use information acquisition thread 141, the following processing is executed when the application is first started.
[0070]
When the resource use information acquisition thread 141 receives the application ID, the process ID, and the resource use information acquisition request message from the control thread 143 (step S601), the resource use information acquisition thread 141 refers to the proc structure 211 to check the process ID block of the corresponding application ID. A position is searched (step S602). Then, the resource use information of the text memory area size, the heap area size, the stack area size, and the CPU occupation time is acquired from the block of the retrieved process ID (step S603). Then, the obtained resource use information is recorded in the resource use information file 201 together with the application ID (step S604). As a result, information on resources required when the application is activated is stored in the resource usage information file 201.
[0071]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for determining whether or not to start the application by the application start determination thread 142. In the application activation determination thread 142, the following processing is executed when the application is activated for the second time or later.
[0072]
Upon receiving the application ID, the process ID, and the application startup determination request message from the control thread 143 (step S701), the application startup determination thread 142 reads the resource usage information of the corresponding application ID from the resource usage information file 201 stored in the HD 200. And retrieves the text memory area size, the heap area size, the stack area size, and the CPU occupation time (step S702). Next, the application activation determination thread 142 obtains the current remaining capacity of the memory by acquiring the resource usage of each process from the proc structure by calling a system call or a control service function (step S703). At this time, the remaining capacity acquired is the remaining capacity of the text memory area, the remaining capacity of the heap area, and the remaining capacity of the stack area.
[0073]
Then, the application activation determination thread 142 compares the text memory area size required for application activation acquired from the resource usage information file 201 with the remaining capacity of the text memory area (step S704). As a result of the comparison, if the size of the text memory area is larger than the remaining capacity of the text memory area (step S704: No), it is determined that the application cannot be executed, and an application activation end request message is transmitted to the application. (Step S709).
[0074]
On the other hand, when the size of the text memory area is equal to or smaller than the remaining capacity of the text memory area (step S704: Yes), it is determined that the text memory area necessary for executing the application can be secured in the current situation. Next, the size of the heap area required for executing the application acquired from the resource usage information file 201 is compared with the remaining capacity of the heap area (step S705). As a result of the comparison, if the heap area size is larger than the remaining capacity of the heap area (step S705: No), it is determined that the application cannot be executed, and an application activation end request message is transmitted to the application ( Step S709).
[0075]
On the other hand, when the heap area size is equal to or less than the remaining capacity of the heap area (step S705: Yes), it is determined that the heap area necessary for executing the application can be secured in the current situation. Then, the stack area size necessary for executing the application acquired from the resource use information file 201 is compared with the remaining capacity of the stack area (step S706). As a result of the comparison, if the stack area size is larger than the remaining capacity of the stack area (step S706: No), it is determined that the application cannot be executed, and an application activation end request message is transmitted to the application ( Step S709).
[0076]
On the other hand, if the stack area size is equal to or smaller than the remaining capacity of the stack area (step S706: Yes), it is determined that the stack area necessary for executing the application can be secured in the current situation. Then, the current CPU operation rate is acquired by issuing a system call (step S707). Then, it is determined whether or not the CPU occupation time is included in the time allowed for the predetermined CPU operation rate (step S708). Then, when the time is outside the permitted time (step S708: No), for example, when the CPU operating rate is 50 to 60%, and when the CPU occupancy time is 60 ms or less, the correspondence to continue the application activation is determined. In this case, if the CPU operating rate is 55% and the CPU occupancy time is 80 ms, it is determined that the entire system becomes unstable if the application is executed in such a state, and an application activation end request message is sent to the application. The data is transmitted (step S709).
[0077]
On the other hand, if the CPU occupation time is within the allowable time (step S708: Yes), for example, if the CPU occupancy rate is 55% and the CPU occupation time is 40 ms in the above example, it is determined that the application execution is a stable operation. As a result, since it has been found that all resources can be secured, the application activation determination thread 142 transmits an application activation enable notification message to the application (step S710).
[0078]
When each application receives the notification message indicating that the application can be activated from the application activation determination thread 142, each application continues to execute the process. On the other hand, when each application receives the application activation end request message from the application activation determination thread 142, the application immediately terminates the execution of the application. Alternatively, the application that has received the application activation end request message may stop the execution after releasing the resources that have been reserved up to that time.
[0079]
If the application activation determination thread 142 determines that the activation of the application should be stopped, the application activation determination thread 142 further increases the text memory area, heap area, or stack area for a control service such as the MCS 125 and secures it. Alternatively, a request message to the effect that the application is activated may be transmitted, and after the size required for activating the application is secured, the activation start notification message may be transmitted to the application. In this case, the convenience of the user can be improved as compared with a case where the application activation end request is simply made.
[0080]
As described above, in the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, the resource use information acquisition thread 141 of the virtual application service 140 can acquire information on resources used by the application 130 and generate the resource use information file 201. It is possible. Then, when the application 130 is activated by the application activation determination thread 142, the text memory area remaining capacity, the heap area remaining capacity, the stack area remaining capacity, and the CPU operation rate are acquired, and the state of these acquired resources is It is possible to determine whether or not the application 130 can be activated based on information on resources used by the application 130 recorded in the resource usage information file 201. As a result, it is possible to prevent the application 130 from being unable to be executed due to the resource status, and to improve the stability of the system of the multifunction peripheral 100. In addition, even when the new applications 117 and 118 developed by the third vendor do not perform processing conscious of the resource limit, it is possible to prevent the system from becoming unstable due to resource shortage, and to stabilize the system of the multifunction peripheral 100. Performance can be improved.
[0081]
In the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, the VAS 140 performs resource use information acquisition processing and application startup determination processing for all applications 130. However, as shown in FIG. Such a process may be performed only for this. For example, resource use information acquisition processing and application start determination processing are performed only for an application developed by a third party such as a third vendor such as new applications 117 and 118, and for existing applications such as the printer application 111 and the copy application 112, Such a service may not be provided.
[0082]
Further, as described above, the resource usage amount at the time of the first startup is recorded in the resource usage information file 201 and is used for subsequent startup determination, and during the application execution period (from startup to termination). Alternatively, the resource usage may be acquired a plurality of times by periodically referring to the proc structure, and the average value of the resource usage may be recorded in the resource usage information file 201. Alternatively, the maximum value obtained during the multiple acquisitions may be recorded in the resource usage information file 201.
[0083]
Further, as in the above-described embodiment, in addition to obtaining and recording the value at the time of the first execution, the above-mentioned average value is obtained every time the application is executed, and the average value is obtained by comparing the previous average value with the previous average value. The resource usage information file 201 may be updated when it exceeds the limit. Further, the maximum value may be obtained every time the application is executed, and the resource usage information file 201 may be updated when the maximum value exceeds the previous maximum value. Further, the average value for each execution of the application may be separately recorded, and the average value among them may be recorded in the resource use information file 201. Alternatively, the maximum value for each execution of the application may be separately recorded, and the average value or the maximum value among them may be recorded in the resource usage information file 201.
[0084]
(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the VAS 140 determines whether the application can be started. In the second embodiment, the application determines whether the application can be started by receiving the determination message regarding the resource amount from the VAS 140. The configuration is also possible. Further, it is possible to acquire not only the memory and the CPU, but also system device configuration information such as units connected to the multifunction peripheral, and this can be used for determination of activation.
[0085]
The configuration of the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. Further, the processing by the VAS 140 described below may be executed as a thread as shown in FIG. 3, or may be executed as a process of the VAS 140.
[0086]
In the first embodiment, the resource use information file that records the application start performance is used as a file that stores the resource amount that the application is to use, but in the second embodiment, the resource use information file is used like the CPU usage amount. For resource whose amount fluctuates dynamically, use the resource usage information file that records the performance, and for resources that are fixedly used by the application, such as the memory area, use the usage resource information declared by the application at startup. I do. The used resource information is obtained by the VAS 140 from the application (more specifically, from a predetermined memory area) when the application is started for the first time, and is recorded on the hard disk of the multifunction peripheral as an application management file. The resources that are fixedly used are resources that have no or little change in the amount of use each time the application is executed.
[0087]
FIG. 9 shows an example of the contents of the application management file. As shown in the figure, information such as an application name and a version, and used resource information including a memory and a system device configuration are recorded. In addition, information indicating the location of the application management file on the HD 200 is stored in a RAM (in this embodiment, a non-volatile RAM (NV-RAM) of the multifunction peripheral is used).
[0088]
FIG. 10 shows a configuration example of the NV-RAM and a configuration example of the HD according to the new application. Here, the new application corresponds to the applications 117 and 118 in FIGS.
[0089]
As shown in the drawing, the product ID of the application, the size of the used NV-RAM, the offset indicating the start address of the used area in the NV-RAM, and the like are recorded in the NV-RAM for each registered new application. Further, an area for the application is provided in the HD 200 in correspondence with the product ID recorded in the NV-RAM.
[0090]
For example, a directory is provided in the HD 200 corresponding to the application 1, and an area used by the system (the VAS 140) and an area used by the application 1 are provided for the application 1. The application management file shown in FIG. 9 is stored in the system use area.
[0091]
Next, the processing executed by the VAS 140 when the application is started will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.
[0092]
As in the first embodiment, when the application starts, the VAS 140 receives the application registration request message (step S801), and checks whether there is an application management file corresponding to the application by accessing the HD 200. (Step S802). If there is no application management file, it is created based on the information declared by the application (step S803). Note that whether or not there is an application management file may be determined by accessing the NV-RAM.
[0093]
If there is an application management file, resource information to be used by the application is acquired from the application management file (step S804). Instead of using the application management file, resource information declared by the application may be used. As for the CPU usage (actual value), a resource usage information file relating to the CPU usage is created in the same manner as described in the first embodiment, and is acquired therefrom. That is, the CPU usage is not used for the determination at the first startup, but is used for the determination at the second and subsequent startups. Note that the CPU usage may not be used to determine the activation. Further, the contents of the resource usage information file may be recorded in the application management file.
[0094]
Next, the resource information of the current MFP 100 is acquired (step S805). For the resources such as the memory capacity, the remaining capacity of the current multifunction peripheral 100 is obtained. Then, by comparing the scheduled resource amount acquired in step S804 with the current resource amount for each resource in the scheduled resource, it is determined whether the scheduled resource amount exceeds the current system resource amount. Is checked (step S806). As for the resources (units and the like) regarding the system device configuration, it is checked whether or not the resources to be used by the application are present in the current resources (step S806).
[0095]
If the planned resource amount does not exceed the current system resource amount and there is no insufficient system device configuration resource, the application is continued to be started (step S807). If there is a resource whose scheduled resource amount exceeds the current system resource amount, or if there is a shortage of system device configuration resources, a resource determination result notification message is transmitted to the application (step S808). Based on the content of this message, the application determines whether to continue the activation. In this embodiment, the resource determination result notification message indicates, for each resource to be used, whether or not the resource on the system device configuration (such as a unit) required by the application is present (OK if present, OK if not) NG), and information such as memory area includes information indicating OK if the scheduled resource amount does not exceed the current system resource amount, and NG if the resource amount exceeds the current system resource amount.
[0096]
Next, the operation of the application that has received the resource determination result notification message will be described with reference to FIG.
[0097]
When the resource determination result notification message is received from the VAS 140 (step S901), it is checked whether or not the first resource included in the message is NG determination (step S902).
[0098]
If it is not NG, it is checked whether there is a next resource (step S903), and if so, the next resource is checked. If the determination is NG in step S902, if there is a restriction mode for the resource, an unusable flag for the resource is set in the application (YES in step S904, step S905). Note that the restricted mode includes not using a device or the like in a part of the system device configuration, or reducing the usage amount of a predetermined memory area, but the example shown in FIG. The case where it is not used is shown.
[0099]
In this case, the application displays on the operation panel that the resource is NG determination, asks the user whether or not to permit the operation in the restricted mode, and restricts only when the user permits the operation in the restricted mode. Alternatively, the activation may be continued.
[0100]
If the CPU power is insufficient, a message is displayed on the operation panel, and the user is inquired whether or not to allow the operation to be delayed. It is also possible to perform such a process.
[0101]
If there is no next resource information in step S903, the application is continued to be activated, or a restricted activation procedure is performed (step S906).
[0102]
If there is no restricted operation mode in step S904, an application activation end procedure is performed (step S907). The procedure of this processing will be described with reference to FIG.
[0103]
First, resources related to the operation unit display are released (step S1001). Then, the memory secured so far is released (step S1002), and an application registration deletion request is made to the VAS 140 (step S1003). Next, a process of stopping inter-process communication is performed (step S1004), and the own process is terminated by a system call (step S1005). Before the above processing, notification to the user, release of the scanner and plotter, and release of network resources are performed as necessary.
[0104]
Note that in step S806 shown in FIG. 11, if there is a resource whose scheduled resource amount exceeds the current system resource amount, the resource is a memory area (text memory) that is indispensably used by the application and is fixedly used. If the application is an area, a heap area, or a stack area), the VAS 140 may determine that the application cannot be activated, and may transmit the activation stop request to the application as the resource determination result notification message. In this case, the application immediately executes the processing shown in FIG. Further, the VAS 140 may determine whether or not the application is to be activated with restriction, and when it is determined that the restricted activation is possible, the VAS 140 may notify the application to that effect. In this case, the VAS 140 can inquire the user of the restricted activation.
[0105]
As described above, by using the information related to the system device configuration shown as “system configuration related” in FIG. 9 as the resource information in the determination of startup, for example, a device having a punch or staple function is mounted on the multifunction peripheral 100. Unnecessary startup such as starting an application that cannot be used if it is not attached to the multifunction peripheral even if such a device is not installed can be suppressed.
[0106]
In addition, model information may be used in addition to the above-mentioned information in determining the activation. This makes it possible to suppress malfunctions and malfunctions caused by differences in functions between models and models.
[0107]
Note that, in the flow of FIG. 11, the VAS 140 does not acquire the resource information scheduled to be used by the application (step S804), and sends the current device configuration information and the remaining resource amount to the application as it is. , And the application may determine the necessary resources. In this case, the resources to be used held by the application are compared with the resources in the resource determination result message one by one, and the presence or absence of the resources to be used is determined, and the application determines the activation.
[0108]
The process shown in FIG. 11 may be performed each time the application is started, or may be performed only when the application is installed.
[0109]
Next, the procedure of acquiring the current resource information by the VAS 140 in step S805 in FIG. 11 will be described.
[0110]
In obtaining the current resource information of the multifunction peripheral 100, information on the system device configuration and the amount of system resources such as a memory area are obtained. Before describing the processing procedure of step S805, acquisition of system device configuration information will be described.
[0111]
The system device configuration information is acquired by a service module of the control service layer (hereinafter, a case where the SCS 122 acquires the system device configuration information will be described as an example) and stored in the system device configuration information structure. The procedure when the SCS 122 acquires the system device configuration information will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.
[0112]
When the main power of the MFP 100 is turned on (step S1101), the SCS 122 receives a notification of device configuration information from each unit connection sensor and each unit of the MFP 100 (step S1102). The SCS 122 stores the notified system device configuration information in the system device configuration information structure (step S1103). FIG. 15 shows a configuration example of the system device configuration information structure. That is, the SCS 122 acquires the information of the items shown in FIG. 15 and stores it in the system device configuration information structure.
[0113]
After that, the system device configuration information structure is arranged on the shared memory (physically on the RAM) (step S1104), and the system module configuration information is transmitted to the service module or the application that has issued the registration request to the SCS 122. A system device configuration information notification message indicating the acquisition is issued (step S1105). For example, when the VAS 140 is activated, the SCS 122 notifies the VAS 140 of a system device configuration information notification message.
[0114]
By arranging the system device configuration information structure on the shared memory as described above, another module (such as VAS) can access the system device configuration information structure and acquire the system device configuration information. Become.
[0115]
Next, with reference to FIG. 16, a description will be given of a processing procedure of acquiring the current resource information by the VAS 140 in step S805 of FIG.
[0116]
First, the VAS 140 checks whether a system device configuration information notification message has been received (step S1201). If it has not been received, it is repeatedly checked at predetermined time intervals whether or not it has been received. If the reception of the notification of the system device configuration information cannot be confirmed even after the elapse of a predetermined time, a timeout occurs and a system error occurs.
[0117]
If the system device configuration information notification message has been received, the system device configuration information is acquired by accessing the system device configuration information structure (step S1202). Subsequently, the system resource amount (memory area or the like) is obtained by accessing the proc structure (step S1203).
[0118]
Through the above processing, it is possible to acquire the current resource information used for comparison with the resource to be used.
[0119]
(Embodiment 3)
In the first and second embodiments, the current resource usage such as the memory area is obtained from the proc structure for comparison with the resource to be used. In the third embodiment, the current resource usage is obtained. Instead of acquiring them, resources are allocated in advance for the new application. Then, the activation determination is performed by comparing the allocated resource amount with the resource amount to be used by the new application. The resource amount allocated in advance is recorded in, for example, an application management file.
[0120]
That is, for example, in the flow of FIG. 8 of the first embodiment, instead of acquiring the current resource usage (step S703), a resource amount allocated in advance is obtained from, for example, an application management file. Then, the activation is determined by comparing the resource amount with the resource amount used by the application.
[0121]
When a plurality of new applications are started, a predetermined resource amount may be allocated to the plurality of new applications collectively, or each resource may be assigned to each of the new applications that may be started. A quantity may be assigned.
[0122]
In the former case, when one new application is started, the amount of resources scheduled to be used by the new application is subtracted from the total amount of allocated resources, and the resource amount and usage of the resulting new application are subtracted. The start-up decision is made by comparing the scheduled resource amount. The same applies to a new application started thereafter.
[0123]
In the latter case, for example, the amount of resources to be used by the new application is checked and the amount is allocated. Further, the application may be equally allocated to a plurality of new applications.
[0124]
The above method is effective for resources that the application needs fixedly, such as a memory area. Resources that cannot be allocated in advance, such as CPU usage, are not used in the determination or are determined using the methods of the first and second embodiments.
[0125]
(Embodiment 4)
In the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment, only one VAS 140 exists for all applications, but in the multifunction peripheral according to the fourth embodiment, one VAS is activated for each application. Each VAS performs resource use information acquisition and application activation determination only for the corresponding application. In the fourth embodiment, the operation of the first embodiment will be described as an example. However, in the second and third embodiments, the configuration of the VAS may be the same as that of the fourth embodiment.
[0126]
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction peripheral 800 according to the fourth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, the MFP 800 differs from the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment in that a plurality of virtual application services (VAS) 841 to 848 operate for each application of the application 130. I have.
[0127]
The VASs 841 to 848 correspond to the printer application 111, the copy application 112, the fax application 113, the scanner application 114, the net file application 115, the process inspection application 116, the new applications 117 and 118, and perform resource use information acquisition processing and application startup determination. Processing is performed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 18, VAS may be provided only for a new application.
[0128]
FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the VASs 841 to 848 of the multifunction peripheral 800 according to the fourth embodiment, and a relationship between the VASs 841 to 848 and each application, the control service layer 150, and the general-purpose OS 121. Note that FIG. 17 illustrates an example of the printer application 111, the copy application 112, and the new applications 117 and 118 as the applications 130, and further illustrates the VASs 841, 842, 847, and 848 corresponding to these applications as examples. Other applications have the same configuration.
[0129]
Further, in the MFP 800 according to the fourth embodiment, unlike the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, a VAS control process (daemon) 801 is provided between each VAS 841 to 848 and each application. Is working.
[0130]
The VAS control process (daemon) 801 receives an application registration request message from each application, performs an application registration process, and generates VASs 841 to 848 corresponding to the application that made the application registration request. Further, the VAS control process 801 refers to the resource usage information file 201 stored in the HD 200 and checks whether resource usage information is recorded for the application for which the application registration request has been issued, thereby determining It is determined whether the activation is the first activation or the second or subsequent activation. Then, in the case of the first activation, a resource use information acquisition processing request is issued to the VAS 841 to 848 corresponding to the application together with the application ID and the process ID of the application. The application start determination processing request is sent to the VASs 841 to 848 to be executed together with the application ID and the process ID of the application.
[0131]
In the processes of the virtual application services (VAS) 841 to 848, a dispatcher 144, a resource use information acquisition thread 141, and an application activation determination thread 142 operate.
[0132]
The dispatcher 144 monitors the reception of a message from the application 130 or the control service, and issues a processing request to the resource use information acquisition thread 141 and the application activation determination thread 142 according to the received message. In the MFP 800 according to the second embodiment, the dispatcher 144 receives a resource use information acquisition processing request message or an application start determination processing request message from the VAS control process 801 together with the application ID and the application process ID. I have. When the dispatcher 144 receives the resource use information acquisition process request message, the dispatcher 144 sends the received resource use information acquisition process request message together with the application ID and the process ID of the application to the resource use information acquisition thread 141, and transmits the application start determination request message. When received, the application start determination request message received together with the application ID and the process ID of the application is transmitted to the application start determination thread 142.
[0133]
Upon receiving the resource use information acquisition request message from the dispatcher 144, the resource use information acquisition thread 141 acquires resource information necessary for application activation and stores the resource use information file 201 in the same manner as the VAS 140 in the first embodiment. Generated on the hard disk (HD) 200.
[0134]
Upon receiving the application startup determination request message from the dispatcher 144, the application startup determination thread 142 performs an application startup determination process with reference to the resource usage information file 201, similarly to the VAS 140 in the first embodiment.
[0135]
The resource use information acquisition process executed by the resource use information acquisition thread 141 of the VAS 841 to 848 and the application activation determination process executed by the application activation determination thread 142 in the multifunction peripheral 800 according to the fourth embodiment are described in the first embodiment. Is the same as the processing by each thread of the VAS 140 in the multifunction peripheral 100.
[0136]
As described above, according to the MFP 800 according to the fourth embodiment, similarly to the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment, the system stability of the MFP 800 can be improved.
[0137]
Further, in the multifunction peripheral 800 according to the fourth embodiment, the VASs 841 to 848 are separately activated for each application 130 to be activated, so that the activation determination process of the plurality of applications 130 is performed by the VAS 841 to 848 corresponding to each application 130. Can be executed in parallel, and the process of determining whether to start an application can be performed efficiently.
[0138]
In the multifunction peripheral 800 according to the fourth embodiment, the VASs 841 to 848 are separately activated for all applications. However, as shown in FIG. May be configured. For example, the VASs 847 and 848 are activated only for applications developed by a third party such as a third vendor such as the new applications 117 and 118 to perform resource use information acquisition processing and application activation determination processing, and the printer application 111 and the copy application An existing application such as 112 can be configured not to provide such a service.
[0139]
Further, in the multifunction peripherals 100 and 800 according to the first and fourth embodiments, resource use information acquisition and application start determination are performed using a text memory area, a heap area, a stack area, a CPU occupation time, and a CPU operating rate as resources. However, such a resource is merely an example, and a configuration using another resource may be adopted.
[0140]
In addition to the above configuration, the VAS may be configured as shown in FIGS. 20A to 20C.
[0141]
FIG. 20A shows a case where the VAS started for each application is a child process of the parent VAS, and the parent VAS itself does not have a screen control right (user interface). FIG. 20B shows a case where the parent VAS itself has a screen control right (user interface). FIG. 20C shows a case where a VAS function corresponding to each application is provided as a thread.
[0142]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.
[0143]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to acquire information on resources used by an application. Also, by being able to acquire information on resources in this way, it is possible to limit application startup as necessary based on the amount of resources used by the application and the state of the resources actually provided by the MFP. It is possible to make a determination as to whether or not the answer is NO.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction peripheral according to a first embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a VAS of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment and a relationship between the VAS, each application, a control service layer, and a general-purpose OS.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the content of a resource usage information file in the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a proc structure referred to by a VAS resource use information acquisition thread in the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for registering an application and determining the number of activations of an application by a VAS control thread in the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process procedure of acquiring resource use information by a VAS resource use information acquisition thread in the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process procedure of determining whether or not to start an application by an application startup determination thread of the VAS in the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of contents of an application management file in the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an NV-RAM and a configuration example of an HD in the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by a VAS when an application is activated in the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an application that has received a resource determination result notification message.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an application activation end procedure.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for acquiring system device configuration information in the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a system device configuration information structure in the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a procedure of acquiring current resource information in the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment;
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction peripheral according to a fourth embodiment;
FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the fourth embodiment.
FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a VAS of the multifunction peripheral according to the fourth embodiment and a relationship between the VAS, each application, a control service layer, and a general-purpose OS.
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a VAS in the multifunction peripheral.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 MFP
101 black and white line printer
102 color line printer
103 Hardware resources
110 software group
111 Printer App
112 Copy app
113 Fax App
114 Scanner App
115 Net File App
116 Process inspection application
117,118 New Apps
120 platform
121 General-purpose OS
122 SCS
123 SRM
124 ECS
125 MCS
126 OCS
127 FCS
128 NCS
130 Application
140, 841-848 Virtual Application Service (VAS)
141 Resource usage information acquisition thread
142 Application start judgment thread
143 control thread
144 dispatcher
150 Control Service Layer
200 Hard Disk (HD)
201 Resource usage information file
210 RAM
211 proc structure
212 u region
800 MFP
801 VAS control process

Claims (30)

An apparatus having resources for executing an application,
An apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire resource information on resources used by the application during execution of the application, and to store the resource information in a storage device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit periodically obtains a usage amount of a resource used by the application, generates the resource information based on the regularly obtained usage amount, and stores the resource information. . The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the resource information is an average value or a maximum value of usage amounts acquired periodically. The average value or the maximum value during the period from the start to the end of the application is recorded every time from the start to the end,
The method according to claim 3, wherein, as the resource information, an average value or a maximum value of a plurality of average values recorded from start to end or an average value or a maximum value of a plurality of maximum values recorded from start to end is used. The described device. The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit obtains, as the resource information, information regarding resources used by the application from system information holding information regarding resources used by processes in the device. An apparatus according to claim 1. The device is an embedded device that provides a service using pre-installed software,
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application to be executed is an application installed in the apparatus separately from the pre-installed software. The apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes:
Hardware resources in the image forming process;
A control service unit that provides a service related to control of the hardware resources to a plurality of applications in common;
A virtual application service unit operating as a client process using the control service unit as a server, and operating as a server process using the application as a client,
The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the virtual application service unit includes the acquisition unit. An apparatus having resources for executing an application,
An apparatus comprising: means for receiving device configuration information from each device as the resource attached to the device, and storing the device configuration information in a storage device. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising means for transmitting a message for notifying that the device configuration information has been stored to a software module executed in the apparatus. An apparatus having resources for executing an application,
An application management file that contains information about the resources used by the application;
An acquisition unit configured to acquire information on a resource to be used by the application from the application management file when the application is started. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the application management file includes information related to a memory and information related to a device configuration of the apparatus. Further comprising an application management file containing information about resources used by the application,
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the application is started, information on resources that are fixedly used by the application is acquired from the application management file. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information on the resource in the application management file is information obtained from the application when the application is started. The device is an embedded device that provides a service using pre-installed software,
The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the executed application is an application installed in the apparatus separately from the pre-installed software. The apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes:
Hardware resources in the image forming process;
A control service unit that provides a service related to control of the hardware resources to a plurality of applications in common;
A virtual application service unit operating as a client process using the control service unit as a server, and operating as a server process using the application as a client,
The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the virtual application service unit includes the acquisition unit. A processing method in an apparatus having resources for executing an application,
A method of acquiring resource information about resources used by the application during execution of the application, and storing the resource information in a storage device. 17. The device according to claim 16, wherein, in the obtaining step, the device periodically obtains a usage amount of a resource used by the application, generates the resource information based on the regularly obtained usage amount, and stores the resource information. The method described in. 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the resource information is an average value or a maximum value of the usage amounts acquired periodically. The average value or the maximum value during the period from the start to the end of the application is recorded every time from the start to the end,
The resource information may be an average value or a maximum value of a plurality of average values recorded from start to end or an average value or a maximum value of a plurality of maximum values recorded from start to end. The described method. 20. The method according to claim 16, wherein, in the obtaining step, the apparatus obtains, as the resource information, information on resources used by the application from system information holding information on resources used by processes in the apparatus. The method according to claim 1. The device is an embedded device that provides a service using pre-installed software,
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the executed application is an application installed on the device separately from the pre-installed software. The apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes:
Hardware resources in the image forming process;
A control service unit that provides a service related to control of the hardware resources to a plurality of applications in common;
A virtual application service unit operating as a client process using the control service unit as a server, and operating as a server process using the application as a client,
The method according to claim 21, wherein the virtual application service unit performs the obtaining step. A processing method in an apparatus having resources for executing an application,
Receiving a device configuration information from each device as the resource attached to the device, and storing the device configuration information in a storage device. 24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising transmitting a message to notify that the device configuration information has been stored to a software module executed in the device. A processing method in an apparatus having resources for executing an application,
The device has an application management file containing information about resources used by the application,
A method, comprising: acquiring information on resources to be used by the application from the application management file when the application is started. 26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the application management file includes memory-related information and information on a device configuration of the device. The device further comprises an application management file containing information about resources used by the application;
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein when the application is started, information on resources that are fixedly used by the application is obtained from the application management file. The method according to claim 25, wherein the information on the resource in the application management file is information obtained from the application when the application is started. The device is an embedded device that provides a service using pre-installed software,
26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the executed application is an application installed on the device separately from the pre-installed software. The apparatus is an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus includes:
Hardware resources in the image forming process;
A control service unit that provides a service related to control of the hardware resources to a plurality of applications in common;
A virtual application service unit operating as a client process using the control service unit as a server, and operating as a server process using the application as a client,
The method according to claim 29, wherein the virtual application service unit performs the obtaining step.

Images