JP2005117592A - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the job efficiency by chaining facsimile transmission jobs via a network. <P>SOLUTION: A first facsimile machine 100 gives file specifying information 14 of a transmission object file to agent software 50 and the agent software 50 starts a proper application 52 on the basis of the file specifying information 14. The first facsimile machine 100 directly converts a prescribed file on a data converter 200 into image contents via the network by utilizing the function to fax the contents to prescribed destinations by having only to operate a facsimile machine main body. The efficiency of the facsimile transmission jobs can be enhanced by chaining the above processing. Further, the data converter 200 can be selected among a plurality of data converters to distribute the processing so that loads of the data converters 200 are uniformed to complete the facsimile transmission jobs in a short period of time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a data transmission technique, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus that converts data of a predetermined format into data of a format suitable for data transmission and transmits the data.

  In recent years, with the development of network technology, information devices such as facsimile machines and MFPs (Multi Functional Peripheral) have been connected to the network. Even in such a facsimile apparatus, when a document created by a predetermined application is transmitted to a predetermined destination by facsimile, for example, the document needs to be printed and read by the scanner device.

In general, in a system that transmits content, not only image data, the data format of the content may be converted on the client terminal side or the server side as needed. In such a technique, for example, the server side receives a content distribution request from the client terminal side, uses the mobile agent function, and converts it into an appropriate content data format for each client terminal (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .
JP 2003-76600 A

  In companies and the like, terminal devices operated by users, devices such as file servers and printers are connected to a network, and files can be used mutually via the network. This has enabled paperless and efficient operations. Further, in a facsimile apparatus that can be connected to a network, it is possible to instruct facsimile transmission from the personal computer to the facsimile apparatus by installing FAX driver software in the personal computer. However, the FAX driver software not only requires a complicated operation to be installed in each personal computer, but may reduce the processing speed of other application programs depending on the capability of the personal computer. In addition, it is possible to instruct the facsimile transmission of the shared file from the personal computer, but it has not been possible to facsimile-transmit the shared file from the main body of the facsimile apparatus. Due to such work, the transmission work may be inefficient and inconvenient compared to other communication devices on the network.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of efficiently performing a facsimile operation in a facsimile apparatus on a network and transmitting a shared file on the network by facsimile by an operation from the main body of the facsimile apparatus. It is in.

  An aspect of the present invention is a facsimile apparatus that transmits content in a data format corresponding to a communication capability of a predetermined apparatus. The facsimile apparatus includes: a unit that receives designation of a transmission target file; and a plurality of data conversion apparatuses that generate image content based on at least one data format file. From the selecting means for selecting a data conversion apparatus capable of generating content, the means for transmitting file specifying information for specifying the transmission target file to the selected data converting apparatus, and the data converting apparatus for transmitting the file specifying information, Means for acquiring image content generated based on the transmission target file specified by the file specifying information, means for converting the acquired image content into communication data for facsimile transmission, and transmitting the communication data to a predetermined destination Means. Thus, a series of operations for selecting a predetermined file from the facsimile apparatus via the network and transmitting it to a predetermined destination can be performed only by operating the main body of the facsimile apparatus. Also, since a plurality of data conversion devices can be selected, if a failure occurs in one data conversion device and normal processing cannot be performed, the processing can be transferred to another device, and the failure tolerance of the facsimile communication system can be increased. Can do.

  “Image content” is a file that can be converted into communication data by a facsimile machine to be operated, and refers to digital data for forming an image such as a photograph, picture, or illustration.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention may further include means for holding the data format of a file that can be converted into image content by each data conversion device, and the data conversion device may be selected based on the data format of the transmission target file. . As a result, the facsimile apparatus can appropriately select a data conversion apparatus that can convert a file in the data format into an image content in accordance with the data format of the file.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention may further include means for managing a load state in each data conversion device, and the data conversion device may be selected based on the load state. As a result, the facsimile apparatus can centrally manage the load states of the plurality of data conversion devices, and can distribute the processing so that the load states of the respective data conversion devices are equal. In addition, by selecting a data conversion device with a small load, it is possible to instruct the data conversion device that can perform the data conversion processing in a short time. Furthermore, the data conversion process can prevent other processes in the data conversion apparatus from being affected.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, a series of operations for selecting a predetermined file from a facsimile apparatus via a network and transmitting the selected file to a predetermined destination can be performed only by operating the facsimile apparatus main body. An excellent facsimile apparatus and a data conversion apparatus related thereto can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile communication system 10 including a first facsimile apparatus 100 according to an embodiment.
As will be described in detail later, the first facsimile apparatus 100 is an apparatus that acquires image content via a network and transmits the image content by facsimile. The first facsimile apparatus 100 is connected to the facsimile apparatus 20 via the public switched telephone network 16 (hereinafter simply referred to as “public line network”). In another example, the public line network 16 may be a network such as the Internet or a dedicated line network.

  The first data conversion device 200 a and the second data conversion device 200 b (hereinafter simply referred to as “data conversion device 200”) are connected to the first facsimile device 100 via the network 12. The network 12 may be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a communication network that transmits and receives predetermined data according to a communication standard such as TCP / IP.

  The file server 201 is a computer for exchanging files over a network, and stores a main body of a file that can be transmitted by facsimile in this embodiment. Further, it is connected to the first facsimile machine 100 via the network 12.

  The data conversion device 200 is a terminal device such as a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as “PC”), and includes agent software 50, an application 52, and image conversion software 54. The data conversion device 200a and the data conversion device 200b have agent software 50, an application 52, and image conversion software 54 that are different from each other due to different OSs (Operating Systems) installed therein. Hereinafter, different agent software 50a and agent software 50b may be referred to as agent software 50, different application 52a and application 52b as application 52, and different image conversion software 54a and image conversion software 54b as image conversion software 54, respectively.

  As will be described in detail later, the agent software 50 is resident on the client terminal, such as driver software when using a facsimile machine, and exchanges data, commands, etc. via the first facsimile machine 100 and the network 12. It is a program to be performed.

  The image conversion software 54 is a program for converting a file other than the image content into the data format of the image content.

The data flow in FIG. 1 will be described. When receiving the designation of the transmission target file from the user, the first facsimile machine 100 requests the file specifying information 14 of the transmission target file designated by the file server 201. In response to this, the first facsimile machine 100 acquires the file specifying information 14 from the file server 201 (S10). The file specifying information 14 may be information that clarifies the location of the file, such as a file body or a path, a URI (Uniform Resource Identifer), and a URL (Uniform Resource Locators). The first facsimile apparatus 100 selects an appropriate data conversion apparatus 200 from the data conversion apparatuses 200 on the network, and transmits the file specifying information 14 to the agent software 50 therein (S12). For example, when the file identification information 14 is in a data format that can be processed by the application A, the first facsimile machine 100 transmits the file identification information 14 to the data conversion apparatus 200a. Similarly, when the file specifying information 14 is in a data format that can be processed by the application B, the first facsimile apparatus 100 transmits the file specifying information 14 to the data conversion apparatus 200b. The first facsimile apparatus 100 may transmit the file body as the file specifying information 14. The first facsimile apparatus 100 acquires the file body once from the file server 201 and converts the data as the file specifying information 14. To device 200.
The agent software 50 activates the application 52 corresponding to the file specifying information 14 (S14), and converts it into image content by the image conversion software 54. Then, the agent software 50 acquires image content from the image conversion software 54 (S16), and transmits the image content to the first facsimile machine 100 (S18). Thereafter, the first facsimile apparatus 100 converts the image content into communication data for facsimile transmission and transmits it to the second facsimile apparatus 20 (S20).

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen in the first facsimile apparatus 100.
The facsimile operation screen 70 of the first facsimile apparatus 100 in FIG. 2 is equipped with, for example, a touch panel type GUI (Graphical User Interface) that accepts an operation from a user. The facsimile operation screen 70 includes a file list display area 72, a telephone directory display button 74, a destination input area 76, a transmission button 78, a cancel button 80, a selection decision button 84, and the like.

  When one facsimile transmission target file (hereinafter simply referred to as “transmission target file”) is designated on the file list display area 72, the first facsimile machine 100 displays the designated file 82a, for example, in a shaded manner. Change to state. Thereafter, when the selection decision button 84 is pressed, a file in a shaded display state is selected as a transmission target file.

  When setting a destination, the user inputs a facsimile number, an e-mail address, or the like in the destination input area 76. When the phone book display button 74 is pressed, the phone book is displayed, and the user may select a destination from the phone book.

  When a destination is input in the destination input area 76, the send button 78 is pressed. When the transmission button 78 is pressed, the first facsimile machine 100 transmits the transmission target file by facsimile to the destination input in the destination input area 76. When the cancel button 80 is pressed, the facsimile transmission process is interrupted.

  When a plurality of transmission target files are designated, the first facsimile machine 100 changes the designated file 82a and file 82b to a shaded display state. When the user inputs a destination in the destination input area 76, the transmission button 78 is pressed. When the transmission button 78 is pressed, the first facsimile apparatus 100 provides a plurality of transmission target files to one or a plurality of data conversion apparatuses 200. Then, the data conversion apparatus 200 performs a data format conversion process on the image content, and the first facsimile apparatus 100 acquires a file for which the conversion process has been completed. The first facsimile apparatus 100 may sequentially transmit the acquired files by facsimile, or may collectively transmit the acquired files.

  FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of the first facsimile machine 100. In terms of hardware components, each component of the first facsimile apparatus 100 realizes a function of managing an arbitrary computer CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, and agent software 50 of the data conversion apparatus 200 loaded in the memory. Is realized mainly by a storage unit such as a hard disk for storing the program, a network connection interface, a modem for facsimile communication, and the like. Is understood. Each figure to be described below shows functional unit blocks, not hardware unit configurations.

The file list display unit 104 reads data stored in the server side application information storage unit 112 and the server side file list storage unit 114. Then, the file list display unit 104 displays a file list capable of facsimile transmission in the file list display area 72 of FIG. Also, the application name corresponding to the file is displayed.
The server-side application information storage unit 112 holds a correspondence relationship between information for specifying the data conversion device 200 and the application 52 that can be activated on the data conversion device 200. Further, the server-side file list storage unit 114 holds a correspondence relationship between the file name and the file specifying information 14.
In another embodiment, the server side application information storage unit 112 and the server side file list storage unit 114 may be combined. That is, the data conversion apparatus name, the startable application 52, the file name, and the file specifying information 14 may exist in a certain information storage unit.

  The operation unit 102 is an input device such as a keyboard, a button, a touch panel, or a mouse, and accepts various requests and instructions for the facsimile operation screen 70 in FIG. 2 from the user. The operation unit 102 provides the file list display unit 104 with the transmission target file received from the user.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence of a series of processes among the file list display unit 104, the data conversion device selection unit 122, and the data conversion instruction unit 106.

  The file list display unit 104 uses the file name of the transmission target file provided from the operation unit 102 as a key (S92), and acquires the file specifying information F1 from the server side file list storage unit 114 (S94). Then, based on the data format of the transmission target file (S96), the file list display unit 104 receives application information A1 including an application name or the like that can start the file in the data format from the server side application information storage unit 112. Obtain (S98). The file list display unit 104 outputs the file specifying information F1 and the application information A1 to the data conversion device selection unit 122 (S100).

  The data conversion device selection unit 122 acquires the file specifying information F1 and the application information A1 from the file list display unit 104. The data conversion device selection unit 122 uses the application name or the like in the application information A1 as a key (S102), and from the server side selection information storage unit 124, the data conversion device 200 that can start the application 52 and the device A list of load states is acquired (S104). For example, the data conversion device selection unit 122 may select the data conversion device 200 with a small load such as a small number of jobs, a low CPU usage rate, or a small memory usage from the list (S106). ). As a result, it is possible to appropriately select the data conversion device 200 in a state where the load is low, and to perform the data conversion processing to the image content in that device in a short time.

  The server-side selection information storage unit 124 stores a list of the number of jobs, CPU usage rate, or memory usage (hereinafter simply referred to as “task information”) in the data conversion apparatus 200. The data conversion device selection unit 122 provides the application information A1, the file identification information F1, and the selected data conversion device name DD1 to the data conversion instruction unit 106 (S108).

  Returning to FIG. 3, the data conversion instruction unit 106 acquires the file specifying information F1 and application information A1 of the transmission target file from the data conversion device selection unit 122, and the data conversion device 200 selected by the data conversion device selection unit 122. And request the conversion of the image content data format.

  The agent management unit 108 in the first facsimile apparatus 100 exchanges data, commands, and the like with the agent unit 210 in the data conversion apparatus 200 in FIG. 7 and the file server 201 in FIG. 1 via the network. The agent management unit 108 uses various data obtained by the data conversion device 200 and the file server 201 to synchronize with the data in the first facsimile device 100.

More specifically, the agent management unit 108 acquires data of the client side application information storage unit 216 in FIG. 7, the client side file list storage unit 224 in FIG. 9, and the client side selection information storage unit 242 in FIG. Further, the agent management unit 108 instructs to update the data in the server-side application information storage unit 112, the server-side file list storage unit 114, or the server-side selection information storage unit 124 in FIG. 3 using the acquired data. .
An update instruction is triggered when the agent management unit 108 issues an update instruction to the data conversion apparatus 200 or when the agent management unit 108 receives an update instruction from the data conversion apparatus 200.

  The update unit 110 updates the data stored in the server-side application information storage unit 112, the server-side file list storage unit 114, or the server-side selection information storage unit 124 as necessary in accordance with such an instruction from the agent management unit 108. . That is, when the data in the server-side application information storage unit 112 is different from the data in the client-side application information storage unit 216, the update unit 110 reflects the latter in the former. Further, when the file specifying information 14 in the server side file list storage unit 114 and the data in the client side file list storage unit 224 are different, the latter is reflected in the former. Furthermore, when the data in the server-side selection information storage unit 124 and the data in the client-side selection information storage unit 242 are different, the latter is reflected in the former. As a result, the file specifying information 14, application information, and task information included in the first facsimile apparatus 100 can be synchronized with those included in the data conversion apparatus 200 or the file server 201. Thereby, for example, even when the task information of the data conversion device 200 is changed, the first facsimile device 100 can acquire the changed task information from the data conversion device 200, and load the load information from the plurality of data conversion devices 200. It is possible to select a data conversion apparatus 200 with a small amount of data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure stored in the server-side application information storage unit 112 in FIG. The data conversion device name column 300 holds information for identifying the data conversion device 200 on the network, such as the identification name, ID, IP address, and MAC address of the data conversion device 200. The OS name column 302 holds the OS name. The application name column 304 holds the name of the application that activates the file. The data format column 308 holds the data format name of the file.
Regarding the data 306 in this figure, the data conversion device name “PC1” is the OS name “OS1”, and the application name “application A” capable of starting the file in the data format column 308 “txt” is installed. I understand. The client-side application information storage unit 216 may have the same data structure as the server-side application information storage unit 112, and the data conversion device name column 300 stores its own data conversion device name.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure stored in the server-side file list storage unit 114 of FIG. The file ID column 400 holds the file ID of the file. The file name column 402 holds a file name. The path name column 404 holds a path name. In another example, the path name column 404 may hold the file specifying information 14.
Regarding the data 406 in this figure, it means that the file ID of the file with the file name “a1 file” is 1, and exists in the path “¥ file server ¥ A folder”. The client side file list storage unit 224 may have the same data structure as the server side file list storage unit 114.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure stored in the server-side selection information storage unit 124 of FIG. The application name column 304 holds the name of the application that activates the file, as in FIG. Similar to FIG. 4, the data conversion device name column 300 holds information for specifying the data conversion device 200 on the network. The job number column 500 holds the number of jobs in the data conversion apparatus 200. The CPU usage rate column 502 holds the usage rate of the CPU in the data conversion apparatus 200. The memory usage column 504 holds the memory usage in the data conversion apparatus 200. Regarding the job number column 500, the CPU usage rate column 502, or the memory usage amount column 504, it may be another index indicating the load state of the data conversion apparatus 200.

Regarding the data 506 in this figure, the application name “application C” is installed in the data conversion device name “PC1”, and the processing state of the data conversion device name “PC1” is the number of jobs “2”, the CPU usage rate. “40%” and memory usage “20 KB (kilobytes)”. Data 508 can also be interpreted in the same manner as data 506. When the data 506 is compared with the data 508, since the number of jobs, the CPU usage rate, and the memory usage amount of the data 508 are lower than the data 506, the first facsimile machine 100 is a data conversion device with a small load. If the name “PC2” is selected and the device is used, data conversion processing can be performed in a short time.
The client-side selection information storage unit 242 may have the same data structure as the server-side selection information storage unit 124, and the data conversion device name column 300 stores its own data conversion device 200 name.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the data conversion instruction unit 106 of the first facsimile apparatus 100 sends an image content generation request to the data conversion apparatus 200 designated by the data conversion apparatus selection unit 122, and receives the data content generation request. Generates image content and provides it to the first facsimile machine 100. Further, the first facsimile apparatus 100 acquires the image content provided from the data conversion apparatus 200 by the acquisition unit 116 and provides it to the conversion unit 118.

  The conversion unit 118 converts the image content provided from the acquisition unit 116 into a data format for facsimile transmission such as G3 and G4, for example. The transmission unit 120 acquires the content converted into the facsimile transmission data generated by the conversion unit 118 and transmits the content to the second facsimile apparatus 20 in FIG. Thereby, even if a predetermined program is not installed in the first facsimile apparatus 100, the data conversion apparatus 200 can generate and acquire the image content.

  FIG. 7 is an internal configuration diagram of the data conversion apparatus 200. The reception unit 212 acquires the file identification information 14 to be transmitted, application information, and the like from the data conversion instruction unit 106.

  The instruction unit 214 selects the application 232 to be activated using the application information provided from the reception unit 212 as a key. An application 232 to be activated may be selected from data in the client side application information storage unit 216. The instruction unit 214 provides the selected application information and file specifying information 14 to the application execution unit 230 and instructs the application 232 to start.

The application execution unit 230 has a function of reading a file in the file storage unit 202, starting an application 232 corresponding to the file, and converting the file into image content. The application execution unit 230 converts the designated file into image content based on the file specifying information 14 and application information provided from the instruction unit 214 and stores the image content in the content storage unit 220.
The file storage unit 202 stores files that can be transmitted by facsimile.

  The content providing unit 218 acquires the image content stored in the content storage unit 220 and provides it to the acquisition unit 116 of the first facsimile apparatus 100.

  The control unit 244 is a CPU mounted on, for example, a personal computer, and provides task information to the task information management unit 240.

  The task information management unit 240 has a function of requesting task information from the control unit 244 and updating data in the client side selection information storage unit 242 based on the task information acquired by the request. Further, based on the acquisition request from the agent management unit 108, the data in the client side selection information storage unit 242 is transmitted to the agent management unit 108 of the first facsimile apparatus 100.

FIG. 9 is an internal configuration diagram of the file server 201.
The file body information receiving unit 223 receives a file body information acquisition request from the first facsimile apparatus 100 or the data conversion apparatus 200. The file body information receiving unit 223 makes a file body acquisition request to the file body providing unit 225. In response to the request, the file body providing unit 225 acquires the file body from the master file storage unit 227 and provides the file body to the first facsimile apparatus 100 or the data conversion apparatus 200.

The detection unit 226 monitors the files that can be transmitted by facsimile stored in the master file storage unit 227 and the file list in the client side file list storage unit 224, and if there is a difference, the file list in the client side file list storage unit 224 Update. For example, the detection unit 226 updates the file list in the client-side file list storage unit 224 when a file that can be transmitted by facsimile is added to or deleted from the master file storage unit 227 or the file name is changed. To do.
The trigger for the update may be a case where provision of a file list is requested from the agent management unit 108 or a case where the detection unit 226 updates the client-side file list storage unit 224 every predetermined time. After the update, the file list providing unit 222 provides the first facsimile apparatus 100 with the file list stored in the client side file list storage unit 224.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram relating to the conversion processing to the image content between the first facsimile apparatus 100 and the data conversion apparatus 200.

  The first facsimile machine 100 displays a list of files that can be transmitted by facsimile on the network (S60). The user receives a transmission target file (S62). Thereafter, the data conversion device 200 that is the image content generation destination is selected (S64). FIG. 10 corresponds to the flow between S62 and S64. The file specifying information 14 such as a file name is transmitted to the agent unit 210 in the selected data conversion apparatus 200 (S66). Also, at another opportunity, the destination specified by the user is accepted (S68). The agent unit 210 identifies the application 232 to be activated based on the file identification information 14 (S70). The agent unit 210 instructs the application execution unit 230 to start the application 232 (S72), and the application execution unit 230 starts it and generates image content (S74). The agent unit 210 acquires and stores the image content from the application execution unit 230 (S76), and transmits it to the first facsimile machine 100 (S78). The first facsimile apparatus 100 receives the image content (S80), converts it into a data format for facsimile transmission (S82), and transmits it by facsimile (S84).

  As a result, a series of operations can be performed through the network only by operating the main body of the first facsimile apparatus 100 until a predetermined file is selected from the first facsimile apparatus 100 and transmitted to the second facsimile apparatus 20, and the facsimile transmission operation can be performed. The time required for printing, the labor for printing, and the cost of printing paper can be reduced.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there. Some of such modifications of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

In the embodiment according to the present invention, since the agent unit 210 of the data conversion device 200 is managed by the agent management unit 108 of the first facsimile device 100, the data conversion device 200 is used as a client of the first facsimile device 100. It functioned and was installed in terminal devices such as personal computers.
In another embodiment according to the present invention, an application on a terminal such as a personal computer is connected via the network 12 with the data conversion device 200 having the function of the agent unit 210 mounted outside the terminal device such as a personal computer. Data and commands are exchanged with respect to 52 and the image conversion software 54.

  As another embodiment according to the present invention, when the user designates a file to be transmitted in the file list display area 72 and presses the selection decision button 84, the first facsimile apparatus 100 stores the file of the file. The specific information 14 is transmitted to the agent software 50. Thus, the first facsimile apparatus 100 can prepare the image content of the transmission target file without waiting for the user to designate the facsimile transmission destination, and can realize an efficient facsimile transmission operation. Further, the image data read by the normal scanner function of the first facsimile apparatus 100 and the image content generated via the data conversion apparatus 200 are continuously transmitted by a single facsimile transmission operation by the user. May be. Thereby, efficient facsimile transmission work can be realized.

In the embodiment according to the present invention, a file that can be transmitted by facsimile is stored in the file server 201 and transferred to the data conversion device 200 corresponding to the data format of the file, where data conversion processing to image content is performed. Had gone.
As another embodiment according to the present invention, when a file that can be transmitted by facsimile is stored not in the file server 201 but in each data converter 200, the file to be transmitted is designated as the data format of the file. Is transferred to a data conversion apparatus 200 corresponding to the above, and data conversion processing to image content is performed there. Thereby, when a failure occurs in a certain data conversion apparatus 200 and normal processing cannot be performed, the fault tolerance of the facsimile communication system can be increased by shifting the processing to another data conversion apparatus 200.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the facsimile communication system containing the 1st facsimile apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen of a 1st facsimile apparatus. It is an internal block diagram of a 1st facsimile apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure stored in the server side application information storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure stored in the server side file list storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure stored in the server side selection information storage part. It is an internal block diagram of a data converter. It is a sequence diagram regarding the conversion process to the image content between a 1st facsimile apparatus and a data converter. It is an internal block diagram of a file server. It is a figure which shows an example of the sequence of a series of processes between a file list display part, a data converter selection part, and a data conversion instruction | indication part.

Explanation of symbols

  14 File identification information, 50 agent software, 52, 232 application, 100 first facsimile machine, 102 operation unit, 114 server side application information storage unit, 118 conversion unit, 120 transmission unit, 122 data conversion device selection unit, 124 server side Selection information storage unit, 200 data conversion device, 202 file storage unit, 210 agent unit, 216 client-side application information storage unit, 218 content provision unit, 220 content storage unit, 222 file list provision unit, 230 application execution unit, 240 task Information management department

Claims (3)

Means for accepting designation of a file to be transmitted;
Selecting means for selecting a data conversion device capable of generating image content based on the transmission target file from a plurality of data conversion devices each generating image content based on a file of at least one data format;
Means for transmitting file specifying information for specifying the transmission target file to the selected data conversion device;
Means for acquiring image content generated based on a transmission target file identified by the file identification information from the data conversion apparatus that has transmitted the file identification information;
Means for converting the acquired image content into communication data for facsimile transmission;
Means for transmitting the communication data to a predetermined destination;
A facsimile apparatus comprising:   Each data conversion device further comprises means for holding a data format of a file that can be converted into image content, and the selection means selects the data conversion device based on the data format of the transmission target file. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1.   3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for managing a load state in each data conversion device, wherein the selection unit selects the data conversion device based on the load state.

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