JP2006174031A - Image forming system and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set an operation sequence in a plurality of image forming devices. <P>SOLUTION: When the operation sequence is registered, the contents of operations executed via an operation part and the order of the operations are transmitted to a database server SV1 as operation sequence information together with user information of a user executing the operations and identification information such as serial numbers of the image forming devices A-N in the image forming devices A-N. The received operation sequence information or the like is made into a database and stored in a memory M in the database server SV1. When the operation sequence is acquired, the operation sequence information corresponding to a user ID inputted at the time of login is acquired from the database server SV1 in the image forming devices A-N, and performance corresponding to the contents of the operations is executed in the order of the operations shown by the operation sequence information in accordance with the operation sequence information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system and an image forming apparatus provided with a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a complex machine (hereinafter referred to as an image processing apparatus).

  In recent years, with the increase in the number of functions of image forming apparatuses, the amount of user operations has increased, and the details of operations have become complicated. Therefore, a user interface that can make use of various functions with a simpler operation is desired.

  In order to meet such needs, a method is disclosed in which a shortcut key is set to a frequently used function among a plurality of functions, and a desired function can be easily called by simply pressing a shot cut key. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Also disclosed is a method for improving the user-friendliness by displaying function keys for calling various functions in order of frequency of use (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-354170 A JP 2002-281200 A

  However, in the method described above, shortcut keys and functions must be set one by one in places where a large number of image forming apparatuses are linked, such as in the POD (Print On Demand) market. The time required to reduce productivity. In addition, there is a possibility that an incorrect function setting may be performed due to an operator's operation mistake when setting. Furthermore, the case where the function with high use frequency differs for every user is also considered. In order to solve such a problem, a technique for providing a UI (user interface) for each user to all image forming apparatuses has not been developed.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system capable of easily setting an operation sequence in a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

The invention described in claim 1
In an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses and at least one database server can communicate with each other,
The image forming apparatus transmits operation sequence information indicating a series of operation procedures operated by a user through an operation unit to the database server together with identification information of the image forming apparatus, and registers the operation sequence.
The database server stores operation sequence information received from the image forming apparatus in association with identification information of the image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus acquires operation sequence information corresponding to the identification information of the image forming apparatus from the database server, displays the operation sequence information as a function button on the operation unit, and operates according to the operation sequence information when the function button is operated. As described above, the function setting of the image forming apparatus is performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first aspect,
User information and user authentication information are stored, user authentication is performed by comparing the stored user information and authentication information with user information and authentication information received from the image forming apparatus, and the authentication result is displayed as an image. An authentication server for transmitting to the forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus registers and acquires operation sequence information for the database server using user information of an authenticated user authenticated by the authentication server.

The invention described in claim 3 is the image forming system according to claim 2,
The authentication server stores group information of a group to which the user belongs as user information, transmits the group information of the authenticated user to the image forming apparatus as a user authentication result,
The image forming apparatus registers and acquires operation sequence information for the database server using group information of an authenticated user received from the authentication server.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the second or third aspect,
The image forming apparatus transmits sharing information indicating whether or not to permit sharing of operation sequence information to the database server together with operation sequence information, registers the operation sequence,
The database server stores the shared information in association with the operation sequence information received from the image forming apparatus, and the operation sequence information permitted to be shared by the shared information in response to a request from the image forming apparatus. It transmits to arbitrary image forming apparatuses, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

The invention described in claim 5
In an image forming apparatus connected to a database server via a communication network,
Operation sequence information indicating a series of operation procedures operated by the user through the operation unit is transmitted to the database server together with the identification information of the image forming apparatus, the operation sequence is registered, and the operation sequence information corresponding to the identification information of the image forming apparatus Is obtained from the database server, and the function setting of the image forming apparatus is performed so as to operate according to the operation sequence information.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, operation sequence information related to a plurality of image forming apparatuses can be centrally managed in an external database server, and desired operation sequence information is acquired from the database server in each image forming apparatus. be able to. Therefore, in each image forming apparatus, it is not necessary for the operator to set operation sequence information one by one, maintenance of each image forming apparatus is facilitated, and erroneous setting of the operation sequence due to human error of the operator can be prevented. it can.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the user can be identified by performing user authentication with the authentication server, and the operation sequence information can be managed for each user who has performed the operation with the database server. Even when the forming apparatus is used, an operation sequence used by a user can be quickly and automatically set in a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the database server manages the operation sequence information for each group of users who have operated, and the image forming apparatus specifies the group to which the user belongs when performing user authentication by the authentication server. Since the operation sequence information corresponding to the group can be acquired from the database server, the operation sequence information registered by each user can be shared between the groups.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operation sequence can be shared between arbitrary users or groups by setting the sharing to be permitted by the shared information. Also, the use of the operation sequence can be restricted by setting not to allow sharing. Thus, for example, a dedicated button for outputting a photographic image using XX paper can be provided in common between users or groups, and complicated image quality adjustment and process adjustment can be set with a single operation button. It becomes possible.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the operation sequence information can be centrally managed by an external database server, and necessary operation sequence information can be acquired when necessary. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus, it is not necessary for the operator to set operation sequence information one by one, maintenance of the image forming apparatus is facilitated, and erroneous setting of the operation sequence due to human error of the operator can be prevented. Further, since it is not necessary to store operation sequence information in the image forming apparatus, memory resources are saved and security is improved.

First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 1 shows an image forming system 1 in this embodiment.
FIG. 1A shows a system configuration. As shown in FIG. 1A, the image forming system 1 is configured such that a plurality of image forming apparatuses A to N, a database server SV1, and an authentication server SV2 can communicate with each other via a communication network W. .

  FIG. 1B shows the relationship between aggregation and dependency between the image forming apparatuses A to N, the database server SV1, and the authentication server SV2, based on a UML (Unified Modeling Language) class diagram.

Hereinafter, each component device will be described.
The image forming apparatuses A to N perform image formation on a predetermined print sheet based on image data input from an information processing apparatus (not shown) used by a user and print out the image. The image forming apparatuses A to N may be of the same model, or may be of different models.

  The internal configuration of the image forming apparatuses A to N will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatuses A to N may function differently depending on the model, but the basic configuration is the same. Therefore, in the following description, the image forming apparatus A will be described as a representative.

FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus A.
As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus A includes a reading unit 11, an operation unit 12, a display unit 13, an image processing unit 14, a control unit 15, an image memory 16, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 17, a ROM (Read Only). Memory) 18, a communication unit 19, and a printer unit 20.

  The reading unit 11 includes a light source, a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and the like below the contact glass. The reading unit 11 optically scans a document placed on the contact glass and reflects the reflected light. An image signal (analog) obtained by photoelectrically converting the signal is output to the image processing unit 14. An automatic document feeder may be provided to read a document image.

  The operation unit 12 includes various function keys for setting printing conditions such as the number of prints, paper type, double-sided / single-sided printing, key groups such as numeric keys, and a touch panel formed integrally with the display unit 13. An operation signal corresponding to is generated and output to the control unit 15.

  The display unit 13 is composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and displays various operation screens for setting, for example, printing conditions and notifying the printing result in accordance with instructions from the control unit 15.

  The image processing unit 14 includes various image processing circuits such as an A / D conversion circuit, a shading correction circuit, and a density conversion filter circuit, and the image signal (analog) input from the reading unit 11 is output by the A / D conversion circuit. After conversion to digital image data, the image data is subjected to various image processing such as shading correction and density conversion.

  The control unit 15 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and comprehensively controls the processing operation in cooperation with various control programs such as a print processing program stored in the ROM 18. For example, the copy mode, the printer mode, and the scanner mode are switched in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 12, data processing such as enlargement / reduction and rotation of print data, print processing of the printer unit 20, and image reading control by the reading unit 11. I do.

  The control unit 15 controls the operation sequence registration process and the operation sequence acquisition process in the image forming apparatus A according to the operation sequence registration process program (see FIG. 5) and the operation sequence acquisition process program (see FIG. 6) according to the present invention. Control.

  In the operation sequence registration process, the contents of operations performed via the operation unit 12 and the operation order thereof are temporarily stored in the RAM 17 as operation sequence information. When the creation of a shortcut key is instructed, the operation sequence information is read from the RAM 17 and transmitted to the database server SV1 through the communication unit 19 together with identification information such as the serial number of the image forming apparatus, and the operation sequence is registered. Do. The registration of the operation sequence means that the operation sequence information stored in the image forming apparatus A is stored as a database in the memory M of the database server SV1. When the user authentication is performed by the authentication server SV2 at the time of logging in to the image forming apparatus A and the user ID of the user who performed the operation or the group ID of the group to which the user belongs is specified, the user ID or group ID At the same time, the operation sequence information is transmitted to the database server SV1.

  Further, in the operation sequence acquisition process, when the user authentication is performed by the authentication server SV2 at the time of login to the image forming apparatus A and the user ID or group ID of the authenticated user is specified, the user ID or group ID is supported. Request information for requesting operation sequence information to be generated is generated and transmitted to the database server SV1 via the communication unit 19. When the operation sequence information is received from the database server SV1, the units 11 to 20 of the image forming apparatus A perform operations corresponding to the operation contents in the operation order indicated by the operation sequence information according to the operation sequence information. Output a control signal.

  The image memory 16 includes a compression memory composed of DRAM (Dynamic RAM) and a page memory. The compression memory is a memory for storing compressed image data, and the page memory temporarily stores non-compressed compressed image data to be printed before print output.

  The RAM 17 forms a work area for temporarily storing various programs executed by the control unit 15 and data processed by these programs.

  Further, the RAM 17 stores an operation sequence table 17a for storing an operation sequence of operations performed by the user via the operation unit 12, that is, operation contents by the user in the operation order. In the operation sequence table 17a, as shown in FIG. 3, the screen code of the operation screen displayed at the time of operation (for example, the numeric code “01” indicating the initial setting screen) and the key pressed on the operation screen Key codes (for example, a numeric code “04” indicating an aggregate function key) are stored in the order of operation.

  The ROM 18 stores various control programs such as the print processing program as well as parameters or processing results specified by the various processing programs.

  The communication unit 19 includes a communication interface such as a network interface and a modem, and performs data communication with external devices on the communication network W, such as the database server SV1 and the authentication server SV2.

  The printer unit 20 includes a plurality of trays for storing printing paper of each paper type and performs electrophotographic printing processing. The printer unit 20 feeds printing paper from the tray specified by the control unit 15 and outputs it. Print output is performed based on the instructed print data. Note that the printing method of the printer unit 20 may be an ink jet method or another printing method.

Next, the database server SV1 will be described.
The database server SV1 includes a large-capacity memory M, stores the operation sequence information received from the image forming apparatuses A to N as a database in the memory M, and responds to requests from the image forming apparatuses A to N. The stored operation sequence information is provided.
As the database server SV1, a SQL server using PSQL (Postgre Structured Query Language SQL), mySQL, or the like is applicable.

FIG. 4 shows a database configuration in the memory M.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the memory M stores operation sequence information, an operation sequence name set in the operation sequence, and user information of a user who performed the operation (if registered using a user ID, the user ID is stored). If the group ID is registered, the group ID is stored.), Sharing information indicating whether or not the operation sequence is shared, the registration date when the operation sequence is registered, and the image forming apparatus where the registration is performed Areas corresponding to items such as model codes A to N and serial numbers are prepared. When the operation sequence information is received from the image forming apparatuses A to N, the operation sequence information and the user information and shared information received together are stored in the areas of the above items.

  The authentication server SV2 stores user information (user ID and group ID) and authentication information (password, etc.) of each user who uses the image forming apparatuses A to N as account information, and performs user authentication using the user information. Is. As the authentication server SV2, a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server, a Network Information Service (NIS) server, or the like can be applied.

Next, the operation of the image forming system 1 in the present embodiment will be described.
First, the flow of registration processing performed in the image forming system 1 when registering an operation sequence will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, an operation example of the image forming apparatus A among the image forming apparatuses A to N will be described as a representative, but the same processing is performed in the other image forming apparatuses B to N.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, when the user instructs login via the operation unit 12, in the image forming apparatus A, a login screen for inputting user ID and password account information is displayed on the display unit 13. (Step S1). At this time, it is also possible to log in by inputting a group ID instead of a user ID. When the user ID and password are input by the user via the operation unit 12, in the image forming apparatus A, the user ID and password account information input together with the user authentication request information by the control unit 15 is transmitted to the communication unit 19. And transmitted to the authentication server SV2 (step S2).

  The authentication server SV2 collates the user ID and password transmitted from the image forming apparatus A with the user ID and password of each user stored in the authentication server SV2, and determines whether or not they match. User authentication is performed. If there is a matching user ID and password, an authentication result indicating that the user has been authenticated is transmitted to the image forming apparatus A. If no user ID and password match, the user has not been authenticated. Is sent to the image forming apparatus A (step S3).

  In this embodiment, an example in which user authentication is performed by the authentication server SV2 has been described. However, if the user ID and password permitted to be used on the image forming apparatus A side are stored, the image forming apparatus A side First, user authentication is performed. As a result, when there is no corresponding user ID and password, the authentication server SV2 may be requested to perform user authentication.

  In the image forming apparatus A to which the authentication result of the user authentication is transmitted from the authentication server SV2, the use of the image forming apparatus A is permitted under the control of the control unit 15, the operation screen is displayed on the display unit 13, and the user performs a print operation, It is possible to set JOB (output work) such as a copy operation.

  When the setting operation is performed by the user, in the image forming apparatus A, the operation content of the operation performed via the operation unit 12 is temporarily stored in the operation sequence table 17a of the RAM 17 as operation sequence information under the control of the control unit 15. Stored (step S4). For example, the print function includes various functions such as a density setting function for changing the density, a printing surface setting function for selecting double-sided / single-sided printing, and an aggregation function for combining and printing a plurality of pages so that they fit within one page. However, in one of these functions, for example, the aggregation function, further function settings such as the number of pages to be combined on one page, the arrangement position of each page at the time of combining, etc. must be performed. In step S4, the operation contents and the operation order of hierarchical setting operations in each function are sequentially stored in this way. Note that this temporarily stored operation sequence may be automatically updated every time a setting for one print operation is made.

  Next, when an instruction operation is performed via the operation unit 12 so as to create a shortcut key for the operation sequence temporarily stored by the user, the image forming apparatus A shares the operation sequence name and the operation sequence. A setting screen for setting whether or not to enable conversion is displayed on the display unit 13. Then, when the operation sequence name and sharing possibility are input via this setting screen, the operation sequence information stored in the RAM 17 is read out under the control of the control unit 15, and the user ID of the user authenticated by the user ( The communication unit 19 stores information on each of the input operation sequence name, shared information indicating whether sharing is possible, the model code of the image forming apparatus A, and the serial number when the group ID is used during user authentication. It is transmitted to the server SV1, and the operation sequence is registered (step S5).

  In the database server SV1, information on a user ID, an operation sequence name, shared information, a model code of the image forming apparatus A, and a serial number are associated with the operation sequence information received from the image forming apparatus A. And the operation sequence is made into a database (step S6).

The operation sequence stored in the database server SV1 as described above can be acquired from each of the image forming apparatuses A to N and used.
Hereinafter, a flow of operation sequence acquisition processing performed in the image forming system 1 when using a registered operation sequence will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, an example in which the operation sequence information registered together with the user ID by the image forming apparatus A is acquired by the image forming apparatus B using the user ID will be described. Similar processing is performed.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the user instructs login via the operation unit 12, the image forming apparatus B displays a login screen (step S <b> 1). Since the subsequent process steps S1 to S3 are the same as the process steps S1 to S3 in the registration process, a description thereof will be omitted here, and the description will start from step S14. That is, user authentication is performed by the authentication server SV2.

In step S14, in the image forming apparatus B, request information for requesting operation sequence information corresponding to the user ID authenticated by the authentication server SV2 is generated by the control unit 15 and transmitted to the database server SV1 (step S14).
In the database server SV1, the search for the operation sequence information corresponding to the user ID in the memory M is started, and the searched operation sequence information and the information of the operation sequence name are transmitted to the image forming apparatus B (step S15). At this time, the operation sequence information in which shared information permitted to be shared is set is provided to any of the image forming apparatuses A to N if requested by the image forming apparatuses A to N. Therefore, even if the operation sequence information does not correspond to the user ID indicated by the image forming apparatus B, if the operation sequence information is permitted to be shared by the shared information, the operation sequence information is also included in the image forming apparatus. Sent to B.

  In the image forming apparatus B, a shortcut key is assigned to the operation sequence information acquired from the database server SV1, and the shortcut key is displayed on the operation screen of the display unit 13 with the operation sequence name (step S16). When the shortcut key is operated by the user, the function setting of the image forming apparatus is performed according to the operation sequence information corresponding to the shortcut key, and the operation corresponding to the operation procedure indicated by the operation sequence information is performed ( Step S17).

  For example, the acquired operation sequence is for output setting, an “aggregation function” key for printing images of a plurality of pages on one page, a “2 in 1” key for setting the number of pages to be stored on one page to 2, When the operation is performed in the order of the “Left / Right” key that arranges images of multiple pages in order from left to right, when the shortcut key assigned to this operation sequence is pressed, the number of consolidated pages is set as the detailed setting of the consolidation function. In the arrangement of the two pages and each page image, function setting is automatically performed in the order from left to right, and the operation is performed as such.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operation sequence information generated in each of the image forming apparatuses A to N is centrally managed in the external database server SV1. Desired operation sequence information can be acquired, and the operation sequence registered in the database server SV1 can be shared among the image forming apparatuses A to N. Therefore, in each of the image forming apparatuses A to N, the operation of setting the operation sequence can be automated, and an erroneous setting of the operation sequence due to an operator error can be prevented. In addition, maintenance of each of the image forming apparatuses A to N is facilitated. For example, the present invention is particularly effective in an environment where a plurality of image forming apparatuses A to N are often used such as POD.

  Further, by applying a large-capacity memory as the memory M of the database server SV1, a large number of operation sequences can be registered, and even when the number of users using the image forming apparatuses A to N is large, for each individual user. An operation sequence can be created.

  Further, since authentication is performed in the authentication server SV2 based on the account information input to the image forming apparatuses A to N at the time of login, the user can be authenticated regardless of which image forming apparatus A to N is used by the user. In addition, it is not necessary to store account information for user authentication in each of the image forming apparatuses A to N, the memory resources can be effectively used, and account information leaks from the image forming apparatuses A to N. Can be prevented, and security can be improved.

  In addition, since the user can be specified by the user ID at the time of authentication, when the operation sequence is registered, the user ID is also registered, and when acquiring this operation sequence, the user ID used at the time of authentication is used. The operation sequence information that can be used by the user can be identified and acquired from the database server SV1. Therefore, regardless of which image forming apparatus A to N is used by the user, a user-specific operation sequence can be set, and operability is improved.

  In addition, since authentication can be performed with a group ID instead of a user ID at the time of user authentication, by registering the group ID together with the operation sequence when registering the operation sequence, it is registered with the group ID when acquiring the operation sequence. The specified operation sequence can be specified and acquired from the database server SV2. Therefore, when using a group ID, the registered operation sequence can be shared among users belonging to the group.

  In addition, since the shared information can be set when registering the operation sequence, it is possible to share the operation sequence between arbitrary users or groups by performing the setting for permitting sharing. For example, by sharing special sequences that require advanced technical knowledge and are difficult to set for normal users, such as operation sequences for adjusting engine processes, no user can grasp the settings. In both cases, setting by a special sequence can be easily performed. On the other hand, the use of the operation sequence can be restricted by performing the setting not permitting sharing. For example, when only an administrator or a maintenance staff can perform an operation such as an operation sequence at the time of initial setting, the operation can be limited by setting so that it cannot be shared by shared information.

In addition, this embodiment is a suitable example to which this invention is applied, and is not limited to this.
For example, the operation sequence information stored in the database server SV1 is made public on a web page and can be viewed from the user terminal, and the user can add, delete, or change the contents of the operation sequence via the web page. Or you may enable it to edit. Thereby, the operation sequence according to the user's specifications can be created.

  In the present embodiment, the database server SV1 and the authentication server SV2 are separate devices. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a single server having both the function as the database server SV1 and the function as the authentication server SV2. It is good also as an apparatus. Further, the database server SV1 and / or the authentication server SV2 may be incorporated in any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses A to N.

  Further, when it is not planned to share an operation sequence among a plurality of image forming apparatuses A to N, it is not necessary to register a user ID together with the operation sequence, and the image forming apparatuses A to N that have generated the operation sequence information do not need to be registered. Only the identification information such as the serial number may be stored in the database server SV1 in association with the operation sequence information. When acquiring the operation sequence, the operation sequence information generated by the image forming apparatuses A to N is acquired by requesting the database server SV1 for an operation sequence corresponding to the identification information of the image forming apparatuses A to N. Can do.

(A) is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the image forming system in this embodiment, (b) is a figure which shows the aggregation and dependence relationship between an image forming apparatus, a database server, and an authentication server. 1 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the data structural example of operation sequence information. It is a figure which shows the data structural example in the memory of a database server. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing performed in the image forming system when registering an operation sequence. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing performed in the image forming system when using a registered operation sequence.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system A-N Image forming apparatus 15 Control part 17 RAM
17a Operation sequence table SV1 Database server SV2 Authentication server

Claims (5)

In an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses and at least one database server can communicate with each other,
The image forming apparatus transmits operation sequence information indicating a series of operation procedures operated by a user through an operation unit to the database server together with identification information of the image forming apparatus, and registers the operation sequence.
The database server stores operation sequence information received from the image forming apparatus in association with identification information of the image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus acquires operation sequence information corresponding to the identification information of the image forming apparatus from the database server, displays the operation sequence information as a function button on the operation unit, and operates according to the operation sequence information when the function button is operated. As described above, an image forming system is configured to perform function setting of the image forming apparatus. User information and user authentication information are stored, user authentication is performed by comparing the stored user information and authentication information with user information and authentication information received from the image forming apparatus, and the authentication result is displayed as an image. An authentication server for transmitting to the forming apparatus,
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus registers and acquires operation sequence information for the database server using user information of an authenticated user authenticated by the authentication server. The authentication server stores group information of a group to which the user belongs as user information, transmits the group information of the authenticated user to the image forming apparatus as a user authentication result,
The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus performs registration and acquisition of operation sequence information with respect to the database server using group information of the authenticated user received from the authentication server. The image forming apparatus transmits sharing information indicating whether or not to permit sharing of operation sequence information to the database server together with operation sequence information, registers the operation sequence,
The database server stores the shared information in association with the operation sequence information received from the image forming apparatus, and the operation sequence information permitted to be shared by the shared information in response to a request from the image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the image forming system transmits the image to an arbitrary image forming apparatus. In an image forming apparatus connected to a database server via a communication network,
Operation sequence information indicating a series of operation procedures operated by the user through the operation unit is transmitted to the database server together with the identification information of the image forming apparatus, the operation sequence is registered, and the operation sequence information corresponding to the identification information of the image forming apparatus Is obtained from the database server, and the function setting of the image forming apparatus is performed so as to operate according to the operation sequence information.

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