JP2006011668A - Equipment management system, equipment management utility program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment management system which can quickly move to a group where the equipment of the other department is managed. <P>SOLUTION: In an equipment management system in which an equipment management server 1 and a plurality of pieces of equipment(printers 11 or the like) are connected through a network, and the equipment is managed by the equipment management server 1, the equipment in a network 6 is registered in groups 2 to 5, and the groups are provided with a tree hierarchical structure, and shortcut corresponding to the groups can be prepared under the arbitrary group so that the shortcut with the shortcut destinations as the groups can be held. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a device management system in which a device management server and a plurality of devices are connected to a network and the devices are managed by the device management server.

In recent years, printer devices that can be connected to a network, and multi-function devices that combine functions such as a printer and a fax machine have become widespread, and users can perform such processing as printing from a personal computer connected to the network. It has become possible to perform operations on devices, and multiple users on the network can share the functions of printing devices.
For this reason, it is necessary to manage printer devices and multifunction devices on the network, and a management utility that enables an administrator to efficiently perform the management has become indispensable.
Conventionally, when managing a large number of devices, a device management group is created, and an administrator can be determined and managed for each group. For example, an operation method is adopted in which a group is created for each department, an administrator is determined within the group, and devices on the network can be managed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-196996, which is a conventional technique, realizes a method capable of managing devices in units of groups.
JP 2002-196996 A

However, when creating groups in units of departments, the structure of departments has a hierarchical hierarchy on the tree, especially for larger companies. There was a demerit that it was difficult to match with the actual situation of, and difficult to understand intuitively.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device management system that can quickly move to a group in which devices in other departments are managed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the device management system in which the device management server 1 and a plurality of devices are connected to the network and the devices are managed by the device management server, the devices in the network are registered in the group. The group has a tree hierarchical structure, a shortcut to the group can be created under an arbitrary group, and a shortcut in which the shortcut destination is a group can be held.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the device management system according to the first aspect, the device management server has a function of adding an alias to a group name and displaying the alias when creating a shortcut. To do.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the device management system according to the first aspect, the device management server has a device information storage unit, a group information storage unit, a group related storage unit, a shortcut information storage unit, a command centered on the control unit. An input unit, a display unit, a device information acquisition unit, and a network connection unit are provided.
The invention described in claim 4 has a device management utility program for operating the device management system described in claim 1 as the main feature.
The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the recording medium storing the device management utility program according to claim 4 is the main feature.

  In the present invention, by adding an easy-to-understand name to the shortcut, it becomes easier to identify the shortcut, so that the usability is improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a device management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device management server 1 and the printers (devices) 11 to 14, 21 to 24, 31 to 34, 41 to 44 owned by the groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 are connected to the network 6 so that data communication can be performed. It has become. Further, there are a hub 7 and a router 8 that connect a plurality of networks 6.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a device management server including a device management utility. The device management server 1 includes a device information storage unit 102, a group information storage unit 103, a group related storage unit 104, a shortcut information storage unit 105, a command input unit 106, a display unit 107, and a device information acquisition unit centered on the control unit 101. 108 and a network connection unit 109.
The control unit 101 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the entire device management server 1. The device information storage unit 102 is a storage device for storing detailed device information. The group information storage unit 103 is a storage device for registering group information. The group relation storage unit 104 is a storage device for storing a relation between a group and devices belonging to the group.
The shortcut information storage unit 105 is a storage unit for storing shortcut information. The command input unit 106 is an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse for inputting commands and data for various operations. The display unit 107 is a display device such as a CRT that displays a device list screen, a group tree, an operation menu, and the like.
The device information acquisition unit 108 is a device for acquiring the state of the device through the network connection unit 109 and converting it into information for storage in the device information storage unit 102. The network connection unit 109 is a device for data communication with a device connected to the network 6 via a communication network. A method of controlling the command input unit 106 and the display unit 107 from another client PC side is also conceivable. Here, an example is given as an implementation method on one device management server.

FIG. 3 shows a format example of the device information storage unit. The device information storage unit 102 can store, for example, an IP address, a model name, a system state, a MAC address, and an installation location. Among the above, the IP address is an identifier for identifying the device.
Here, an IP address is used as an identifier as an example, but it is also possible to use a MAC address as an identifier. The IP address is also used when communicating with the device. Also, the status of the device is periodically updated by communicating with the device side. When this state changes to an error state, the administrator can take some action on the device. However, since the detailed description is not directly related to the contents of the present invention, the description is omitted.
FIG. 4 shows a format example of the group information storage unit. The group information storage unit 103 can store a group ID, a parent group ID, a group name, and an administrator. Of the above, the parent-child relationship of the group can be expressed by the group ID and the parent group ID. As for the group name and the manager, the manager can easily manage the device by adding a name suitable for the environment or the name of the manager.
FIG. 5 shows a format example of the group-related storage unit. The group association storage unit 104 can store a group ID and an IP address that is an identifier of a device.
FIG. 6 shows a format example of the shortcut information storage unit. The shortcut information storage unit 105 stores a shortcut ID, a parent group ID, a group ID indicating a link destination of the shortcut, and a shortcut name.

7 and 8 are flowcharts of processing for constructing a group tree structure based on the format of the group information storage unit shown in FIG. 4 and the information of the shortcut information storage unit shown in FIG. In this processing, the shortcut is displayed in a form that is included on the tree, but the shortcut itself may not be included on the tree and may be realized in another display format.
In FIG. 7, only the argument null is passed to the subroutine. FIG. 8 shows the processing part of the contents of the subroutine. First, the group ID of the group whose parent ID is Gp is acquired as Gc from the group information storage unit 103 based on the argument Gp (S1). If Gc can be acquired, a subgroup exists under the group ID Gp, so the process proceeds first.
If Gp is null, the process is performed immediately below the root. In this case, the group name having the group ID Gc is acquired from the group information storage unit 103 and added immediately below the root of the tree (S2). If Gp is not null, it is added to a position on the tree so that the group ID is directly below the group of Gp (S3). Thereafter, a subroutine is recursively called for Gc (S4). After the recursive call, the next Gc is acquired and the process is executed in the same manner (S5). Repeat until Gc is gone.
Next, the shortcut ID of the shortcut whose parent group ID is Gp is acquired as Sc from the shortcut information storage unit 105 (S6). If Sc can be acquired, a shortcut exists under the group ID Gp, so the process proceeds first. If Gp is null, the process is performed immediately below the root. In this case, the shortcut name with the shortcut ID Sc is obtained from the shortcut information storage unit 105 and added immediately below the root of the tree (S7).
If Gp is not null, it is added to a position on the tree so that the group ID is directly under the group of Gp (S8). Thereafter, the next Sc is obtained and the process is executed in the same manner. If it is repeated until Sc disappears, all trees are created (S9).

9 is registered in the group when the administrator selects a shortcut on the tree based on the formats of the device information storage unit, the group relation storage unit, and the shortcut information storage unit shown in FIGS. 5 shows a flowchart of processing when displaying a list of connected devices.
First, the parent group ID for the selected shortcut is acquired from the shortcut information storage unit 105 (S11). Thereafter, an IP address corresponding to the group ID is acquired from the group relation storage unit 104 (S12). If the IP address exists (S13), the device information is acquired from the device information storage unit 102 based on the IP address (S14), and the acquired device information is added to the list (S15). Then, it is confirmed whether there is no other IP address, and the same processing as before is executed until it disappears (S16).
FIG. 10 shows a display example of a device list when the administrator clicks a group on the tree. When “Shortcut to Design 1G” on the tree is clicked, a list of devices registered in the group “1G” under “Design” which is the link destination of the shortcut is displayed on the right side.

1 is a configuration diagram of a device management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a device management server including a device management utility. It is a figure which shows the example of a format of an apparatus information storage part. It is a figure which shows the example of a format of a group information storage part. It is a figure which shows the example of a format of a group relevant storage part. It is a figure which shows the example of a format of a shortcut information storage part. It is a flowchart of the process which builds a group tree structure (the 1). It is a flowchart of the process which builds a group tree structure (the 2). It is a flowchart of a process when displaying the list | wrist of the apparatus registered into the group, when an administrator selects the shortcut on a tree. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a apparatus list when an administrator clicks the group on a tree.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device management server 2-5 Group 6 Network 11-14, 21-24, 31-34, 41-44 Printer (device)

Claims (5)

  In a device management system in which a device management server 1 and a plurality of devices are connected to a network and devices are managed by the device management server, devices in the network are registered in a group, the group has a tree hierarchical structure, and a shortcut to the group Can be created under an arbitrary group, and a shortcut to which the shortcut destination is a group can be held.   2. The device management system according to claim 1, wherein the device management server has a function of adding an alias to a group name and displaying the alias when creating a shortcut.   2. The device management system according to claim 1, wherein the device management server is centered on a control unit, and includes a device information storage unit, a group information storage unit, a group related storage unit, a shortcut information storage unit, a command input unit, a display unit, and device information. A device management system comprising an acquisition unit and a network connection unit.   A device management utility program for operating the device management system according to claim 1.   A recording medium storing the device management utility program according to claim 4.

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