JP2006202217A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience of a backup method of an address book used by Send or Fax in an MFP or a printer. <P>SOLUTION: Address data is registered in association with registrant information when being registered in the address book. When an authenticated user backs up and deletes address data relating to this user, the MFP refers to registrant information associated with the address data to output only address data which has been registered by the authenticated user, as backup data. Only this data is deleted from the address book when necessary. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, and mainly relates to editing and backup technology for a user address book of a printing apparatus.

  Conventionally, electronic mail is transmitted and received between personal computers (PCs) connected to a network such as the Internet. This e-mail is sent and received using an e-mail address owned by each user, and corresponds to the user ID and password set in advance in the PC after being temporarily stored in a mail server in the Internet. The e-mail of the destination e-mail address is transferred and output. In addition, printing apparatuses that use the above-described electronic mail system to transmit and receive print data, develop images, and perform printing have become widespread. For example, as proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228688, a facsimile apparatus that displays an image as data in an e-mail format and communicates by e-mail via the Internet is considered.

  There has also been a technique for converting a paper document into electronic data using a scanner of a printing apparatus and transmitting the data file to a personal computer or server via a network. The printing apparatus communicates the scanned image with a network node by a technique such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SMB (Server Message Block), or electronic mail, and transmits scan data.

  In a printing apparatus using such an e-mail system or other file transmission / reception protocol, in order to manage the network address in the printing apparatus, a configuration having an address book in which a plurality of network addresses can be registered is considered. It has been. For example, as proposed in Patent Document 2, when the e-mail data is received, the address extraction unit in the address book management unit extracts the e-mail address of the transmission source from the header of the e-mail data. In the address book management unit, if the extracted e-mail address is not registered in the address book, a printing apparatus having a mechanism for automatically registering the e-mail address by storing the e-mail address in the address book 13 is considered. It has been.

According to Patent Document 3, network traffic due to data transfer can be reduced by publishing the address book held by the device on a WWW server that operates in the device. There was a technology that could be changed. There is also a technique for copying or backing up address book data held by the own device to another device or a personal computer on a network.
JP-A-8-242326 Japanese Patent Application No. 9-283409 JP 2001-257830 A

  However, in the conventional technique, although there are address book copy techniques and backups, it has been impossible to perform these actions for each user. For this reason, if the printing device to be used is different due to a change in the workplace of the individual user of the printing device, it is necessary to copy the entire address book or re-register it with the new printing device. It was. As a result, the security of data included in the address book is weak, and there is a problem that the burden on the user increases because the user needs to re-register.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that improves the convenience of an address book backup method used in Send and Fax for MFPs and printers.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a printing system capable of registering an address, an authentication means for authenticating an operator of the printing apparatus, and registrant information when registering address data. Registrant recording means for registering, address extracting means for extracting only address information registered by the operator authenticated by the authentication means from the address book, and an operator authenticated by the authentication means from the address book An address editing unit that edits only registered address information, and an address backup unit that backs up only address information registered by an operator authenticated by the authentication unit from an address book.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the printing apparatus includes a network interface.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the backup unit includes the authentication information of the authenticated operator in the backup data simultaneously with the backup of the address information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the backup copies backup data to another printing apparatus or information processing apparatus.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the fourth aspect, the backup is performed by the printing apparatus notifying the other printing apparatus or information processing apparatus of backup data via a network.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the fourth aspect, the backup device stores backup data in the printing device, and the backup data is backed up to other printing devices or information processing devices via a network. Is notified of logical address information in a printing apparatus in which there exists.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the authentication unit is performed by an operator using a control panel of the printing apparatus.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the authentication unit is configured such that an operator performs remote authentication via a network.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the backup means is executed by the operator using the control panel of the printing apparatus.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the backup unit allows the operator to execute backup remotely via a network.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the address editing means includes deleting address information registered by an authenticated operator.

The invention of claim 12 is a printing system capable of registering an address.
An authentication means for authenticating an operator of the printing apparatus; a registrant recording means for registering registrant information when registering address data;
Address editing command receiving means for receiving an address data addition request from an arbitrary device, address data acquiring means for communicating with an arbitrary device to acquire address data, and from the address data to the address book of the self-printing device And an address book adding / editing means for adding the address and the registrant authentication information of the address.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the twelfth aspect, the printing apparatus includes a network interface.

  A fourteenth aspect of the present invention is the printing system according to the twelfth aspect, wherein the address data includes an address and registrant authentication information of the address.

  According to the present invention, in a printing apparatus having a plurality of users, it is possible to back up only the address data registered by the user himself / herself to another apparatus when the address book is backed up or copied. This makes it possible to move the address book efficiently even when, for example, a certain user changes the printing apparatus used due to a change in the workplace.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of this embodiment. The printing apparatuses 101 and 108 are MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) provided with a network interface. The printing apparatuses 101 and 108 receive the print job via the network, and the user uses application software that operates on the terminal apparatus. Information can be referenced and set. A detailed configuration of the printing apparatus 101 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The LAN 104 is a so-called LAN (Local Area Network), and is assumed to be Ethernet (registered trademark) (Ethernet (registered trademark)). The personal computer 102 is assumed to be a general personal computer, and is used by a user to process office work such as business processing and calculation processing. The personal computer 102 is installed with electronic mail transmission / reception software, and can transmit an electronic mail to an electronic mail server 108 (to be described later) or receive an electronic mail. The detailed configuration of the personal computer 102 will be described later with reference to FIG. The printing apparatuses 101 and 108, the personal computer 102, and a firewall 106 described later are all connected to the LAN 104 by a network interface card (NIC). Each terminal and each printing apparatus connected to the LAN 104 are connected via an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable, a hub (HUB), or the like.

  Note that the LAN type here is Ethernet (registered trademark), but this is not limited, and any LAN may be used as long as it generally forms a LAN. For example, token ring may be used. The Internet 105 is the so-called Internet itself, and is a general term for networks in which computers around the world are interconnected by a network protocol based on packet communication based on TCP / IP. The Internet is called a network of networks because it takes a form in which local LANs are interconnected and users in the world participating in the Internet can communicate with each other. The firewall 106 is provided to prevent sending illegal packets from the outside (Internet 105) into the LAN 104. A general firewall is a router or host computer installed for the purpose of preventing unauthorized access between the local network inside the organization and the Internet that extends outside, or the functional role of the router or host computer. is there. The name originates from the “firewall” that prevents the fire and prevents the spread of fire. Functionally, by capturing all communication requests from inside and outside the organization and arbitrarily passing or prohibiting them, only necessary services are provided to the user while ensuring security. However, the firewall construction method does not have a specific format, and varies greatly depending on the security policy of the organization. Generally, when security is strengthened, services that can be provided to users are limited or restricted. On the other hand, if the Internet service is made relatively free to use, the security will be reduced accordingly. There are three ways to arbitrarily pass only the necessary services: application gateway (Proxy), circuit level gateway, and packet filter. In a real system, a highly secure firewall system can be constructed by flexibly combining them. is doing.

  The role of the firewall 106 in this embodiment is to have a file (filter setting file) in which data defining what kind of IP packet is prohibited from entering the LAN 104 (filter setting file). Thus, when an IP packet of a type that is prohibited from entering the LAN 104 is transmitted from the Internet 105 side, the IP packet is discarded to prevent entry into the LAN 104. When an IP packet that is not prohibited from entering the LAN 104 is transmitted in the filter setting file, it is transferred to the LAN 104. When the e-mail server 107 transmits or receives an e-mail to a terminal or printing apparatus on the LAN 104 or to the Internet, the e-mail server 107 receives e-mails. It is a server that plays the role of sorting. The e-mail server is composed of two functions, one of which is SMTP and the other is POP. SMTP is a protocol used when e-mail software transmits mail to the server, and POP is a protocol used when e-mail software receives the mail server. Unlike SMTP, a user name and password are required to perform authentication.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that e-mail accounts for the printing apparatuses 101 and 108 and the personal computer 102 and various apparatuses connected to the LAN 104 already exist. The network management device 103 is a personal computer used by an administrator who manages the LAN 104 and various devices connected to the LAN 104. An operator of the network management device 103 uses the network management device 103 to configure the printing apparatuses 102 and 108. Management is performed. Although a detailed description of the configuration of the personal computer is omitted in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the hardware and software configuration is generally used, and an e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail server 107, and Assume that mailer software is installed so that e-mail can be received.

  Next, details of the controller unit will be mainly described with respect to the configuration of the printing apparatus 101. The main configuration of the printing apparatus 101 as described above is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a CPU 201 that controls operation of the entire device, and a ROM 202 that stores various programs and data for operation control by the CPU 201. The RAM 203 including the main memory and work area of the CPU 201, the engine 204 for device functions (printer function, copy function, etc.), the engine controller 205 for controlling the drive of the engine 204, and various operation instructions from the user. A panel 206 for displaying various information, a panel controller 207 for controlling input / output on the panel 206 and managing the panel 206, and a hard disk drive 208 for storing various programs and data are provided. Detailed description regarding data and programs held in the hard disk drive 208 will be described later.

  The printing apparatus 101 also includes a disk controller 209 that controls access to the hard disk drive 208, a nonvolatile RAM 210, and a network interface card 211 for bidirectionally exchanging data with other terminals and printing apparatuses via the LAN 104. And. The hard disk drive 208 described above stores a program executed by the CPU 201 and data used by each program.

  In this embodiment, the main programs and data stored in the hard disk drive 208 include the following. The apparatus control software 212 is a software group for performing control for realizing the operation of the printing apparatus 101 as a multifunction peripheral. The OS unit 213 is an operating system of the printing apparatus 101, and software groups such as the device control software 212, e-mail software 214 and authentication software 215 described later are operated on the OS unit 213.

  The operating system used in the OS unit 213 used in this embodiment is assumed to be VxWorks or Linux that is expected to be used by a general multifunction peripheral or controller. The e-mail software 214 is software that transmits an e-mail to the e-mail server 107 on the LAN 104 or another e-mail server, or receives an e-mail server that has arrived at its own device. In addition, it has a function of editing a transmitted electronic mail such as editing the body of the electronic mail to be transmitted or specifying an attached file, and a function of decoding the content of the received electronic mail. In addition, a function for storing an e-mail address (e-mail address) as destination information is provided. The authentication software 215 authenticates the user who uses the printing apparatus 101, and unless the unauthorized user is allowed to use the printing apparatus 101, the authentication software 215 mainly uses the printing apparatus 101 for the authenticated user. Functions such as limiting functions are provided. The address book 216 is an address book of the user of the printing apparatus 101 and the apparatus, and is a set of transmission destination addresses when data scanned by the scanner 217 described later is transmitted to another apparatus or personal computer. A scanner 217 is a scanner unit of the printing apparatus 101 and is a part that scans a paper document and converts it into electronic data. A document converted into electronic data is copied or transmitted to a device on a network or a personal computer using each network protocol. The Web server software 219 accumulates information such as an HTML file (Hyper Text Markup Language file) and images, and transmits these information through a network such as the Internet in response to a request from client software such as a Web browser. Play a role. In the present embodiment, the description thereof is omitted, but it is assumed that other software for operating the printing apparatus 101 is also held in the hard disk drive 208. For example, software for managing data decompression exists, but in the present embodiment, these are assumed to be included in the device control software 212. The configuration of the printing apparatus 108 is basically the same as that of the printing apparatus 101.

  Next, the configuration of the personal computer 102 on the print job transmission side will be described. The personal computers 102, 103, and 110 as described above are configured to be able to send e-mails, for example, with the configuration shown in FIG. A personal computer 102 shown in FIG. 3 includes a CPU 301 that controls the operation of the entire personal computer, a ROM 302 that stores various programs and data for controlling the operation of the CPU 301, a main memory and a work area of the CPU 301, and the like. RAM 303 including, mouse controller 305 for controlling instruction input from mouse 306, keyboard 308, keyboard controller 307 for controlling instruction input from keyboard 308 or pointing device (not shown), and CRT display 310, a CRT controller 309 that controls display on the CRT display 310, and various programs and data (a boot program, various applications, a printer driver, a port monitor, etc.) are stored. Hard disk drive 312 and floppy (registered trademark) disk drive 313, disk controller 311 for controlling access to hard disk drive 312 and floppy (registered trademark) disk drive 313, and printing apparatus 101 and other personal computers via LAN 104. A computer or electronic mail server 107 (see FIG. 1) and a network interface card 314 for bidirectionally exchanging data are provided, and these components can communicate with each other via a system bus 304. So connected. The hard disk drive 312 stores e-mail software 315 and is installed in an operating system 316 described later. The e-mail software 315 is software that transmits an e-mail to the e-mail server 108 on the LAN 104 or another e-mail server, or receives an e-mail server that has arrived at its own device. In addition, it has a function of editing a transmitted electronic mail such as editing the body of the electronic mail to be transmitted or specifying an attached file, and a function of decoding the content of the received electronic mail. In addition, a function for storing an e-mail address (e-mail address) as destination information is provided. An operating system 316 is installed in the hard disk drive 312.

  Next, the operation when the user of the printing apparatus 101 performs address registration will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the registration address is an address for specifying a transmission destination device of the scan image transmission function of the printing apparatus. The scanned image transmission function is a function for transmitting image data scanned by the scanner 217 to another device via a network. The protocol used in network communication can be determined selectively by the user from FTP (File Transfer Protocol), e-mail, and SMB (Server Message Block). The printing apparatus 101 can store address information of a device as a transmission destination in the address book 216, and the address book 216 collects address information registered by each user. The address book 216 has a function of restricting visibility of the address book display for each user. When the user registers the address information in the address book 216, the registered user information is registered in pairs in addition to the address information. As a result, when the user refers to the address book when using the scan image transmission function, only the registered address is displayed, and unnecessary address information is prevented from being displayed. The effect of security improvement by not being seen can be expected. The user can select permission or disapproval of browsing to other users at the time of address registration.

  FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the address book 216. Reference numeral 501 denotes an ID, which is an ID for specifying individual address information stored in the address book 216. Reference numeral 502 denotes a protocol used as a transmission unit, and in this embodiment, as described above, it can be selected from electronic mail, FTP, and SMB. Reference numeral 503 denotes address information, and the format differs depending on the type of the protocol 502. Reference numeral 504 denotes registrant information of address information, which includes information for identifying an authenticated user of the printing apparatus 101. Reference numeral 505 includes information indicating whether or not to permit other users to use the address information.

  FIG. 4 illustrates a flow in which a user performs user authentication with the printing apparatus 101 and an authenticated user registers an address. First, in Step 401, user authentication is performed. The authentication software 215 in the printing apparatus 101 performs user authentication for the user, and only the authenticated user can use the printing apparatus 101. In this embodiment, it is assumed that authentication information of a user who is permitted to use the printing apparatus 101 is recorded in the printing apparatus 101 in advance.

FIG. 6 is an example of a user authentication screen displayed on the panel 206 of the printing apparatus 101. The printing apparatus 101 always displays the screen of FIG. 6 while it is not being used by any user, and authentication is required when the user uses it. The input item 601 is a user ID input field. The user ID is an ID for identifying a user of the printing apparatus 101, and a unique character string is assigned to each user. An input item 602 is a password input item. A password is registered as a pair in the user ID and is used for user authentication. A GUI 603 is a software keyboard and is used for inputting an ID and a password. The user inputs the ID and password from this screen. If the ID and password input here are not correct values, authentication fails and the user cannot use the function of the printing apparatus 101 (Step 402). If the ID and password entered by the user are correct values, the user becomes an authenticated user and proceeds to the next step. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the ID has the following value and the authentication is successful.
ID: Canon

  Step 403 represents processing in which the authenticated user selects an address book registration function from various functions of the printing apparatus 101. The user instructs new registration of the address book of the scan image transmission function from the menu screen displayed on the panel 206. Next, the process proceeds to address information new registration processing. First, in Step 404, the communication method with the transmission destination device is designated. As described above, the methods supported by the printing apparatus 101 as the communication method of the scan image transmission function are FTP, SMB, and electronic mail. On the panel 206, a selection screen for these methods is displayed. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user designates an e-mail protocol. Next, in Step 405, address information is input.

  FIG. 7 illustrates an e-mail address registration screen. A transmission destination name input field 701, an e-mail input field 702, and a software keyboard 703 are displayed, and the transmission destination name input field 701 and the e-mail input field 702 are registered. Next, in Step 406, it is specified whether or not other users can browse the registered address. If the user specifies that other users can browse, the address information registered this time can be browsed regardless of which user references the address book. . In this embodiment, since the address is for personal use, browsing to other users is prohibited. When the processing so far is completed, the printing apparatus 101 newly registers address information, authenticated user information, and information on whether or not the address is disclosed to other users in the address book 216 (Step 407). The new registration process of address information ends here.

Next, a flow of backup processing of address information registered by the user will be described with reference to FIG. First, in Step 801, the user is authenticated. As described above, the authentication software 215 in the printing apparatus 101 allows the user to perform user authentication, and only the authenticated user can use the printing apparatus 101. The user authenticates the user from the GUI illustrated in FIG. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the ID has the following value and the authentication is successful.
ID: Canon

  If the authentication fails here, the user cannot use the function of the printing apparatus 101. The process ends here (Step 802). Step 803 shows processing in which the authenticated user selects the address book backup function from various functions of the printing apparatus 101. The user instructs execution of the address book backup function from the menu screen displayed on the panel 206. Next, in Step 804, a device as a backup destination of address data is designated. In this embodiment, data transmission processing is performed by electronic mail. Therefore, the backup destination device performs by specifying the email address of the transmission destination device.

FIG. 9 exemplifies a destination device designation screen for address data displayed on the panel 206. An e-mail address input field 901 and a software keyboard 902 are included. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the backup destination device is the printing apparatus 108. Therefore, in the e-mail address input field 901, the e-mail address Device 108 @ test. canon. co. jp
Shall be entered. In step 805, address data backup processing is executed. The device control software 212 extracts from the registered address data in the address book 216 address data whose user ID that registered the address data is Canon. Thereafter, the device control software 212 activates the electronic mail software 214. The device control software 212 describes the address data group whose user ID is Canon and the ID and password of the user Canon in the body of the electronic mail according to a predetermined format. Further, a character string indicating notification of data backup is described in the Subject portion of the e-mail. The e-mail address of the printing apparatus 108 is described in the e-mail destination (To). Next, the e-mail software 214 transmits the created e-mail from the printing apparatus.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the e-mail transmission / reception setting of the printing apparatus 101 is made in advance, and the address of the e-mail server 107 is set in the SMTP server. The e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail server 107 by the SMTP protocol, and the printing apparatus 108 receives the e-mail using the e-mail reception protocol. Detailed operation of the printing apparatus 108 will be described later. If transmission of the address data is successful, the process proceeds to address data erasure processing. Here, if the transmission cannot be continued due to some error or malfunction during the address data transmission process, the backup process is interrupted (Step 806). If the backup transmission process is successful, in Step 807, a process for selecting whether or not to erase the original address data is performed. The device control software 212 displays on the panel 206 a GUI for inquiring the user whether or not to delete the address information whose registrant is Canon, that is, the address information for which the current backup was executed from the address book 216. Here, when the user selects not to delete the original address data, the backup process performed by the printing apparatus 101 is ended. When the user selects execution of data deletion, the device control software 212 deletes information related to the address information whose registrant is Canon from the address book 216 (Step 808). This completes the address backup processing performed on the printing apparatus 101.

  Next, a process in which the printing apparatus 108 receives an address book addition request transmitted from the printing apparatus 101 and adds it to the address book of the own apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in Step 1001, the e-mail software of the printing apparatus 108 inquires of the e-mail server 107 whether or not an e-mail addressed to itself is received. This inquiry is made using a POP3 (Post Office Protocol Ver3) protocol. The POP3 protocol is a protocol for receiving e-mails from servers storing e-mails on the Internet or intranet. It is the most widely used e-mail receiving protocol at present.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the inquiry interval to the electronic mail server 107 is set in advance, and the printing apparatus 108 makes an inquiry to the electronic mail server 107 at regular intervals (Step 1002). If the e-mail addressed to the printing apparatus 108 exists in the e-mail server 107 as a result of the inquiry process in Step 1001, the printing apparatus 108 downloads the e-mail (Step 1003). Next, in step 1004, the printing apparatus 108 performs processing for analyzing the downloaded email. The e-mail received by the printing apparatus includes not only a request to add to the address book but also print data, Internet fax data, and the like. Or, what the printing device 108 does not want, such as a computer virus, is included in the email downloaded by the printing device 108. The printing apparatus 108 analyzes the subject, body, and attached file of the received e-mail, and identifies that the e-mail downloaded in step 1003 from the format is an instruction to add data to the address book. If the received electronic mail is not a data addition command to the address book, the process is terminated (Step 1005). If the received electronic mail is an instruction to add data to the address book, the printing apparatus 108 performs processing to add the address information described in the received electronic mail to the address book of the own apparatus (Step 1008).

  In this embodiment, the e-mail downloaded at Step 1003 is an address used by the user “Canon” authenticated at Step 801 in FIG. Next, in Step 1007, the user “Canon” performs a check process as to whether or not the right to use the printing apparatus 108 exists. Similarly to the printing apparatus 101, the printing apparatus 108 requires authentication when the user uses the functions of the printing apparatus 108. In this case, the authentication process does not make sense unless the user information of the user is registered in the printing apparatus 108 in advance. Therefore, when an address book registration request is received, it is checked whether the user who uses the address has already been registered as a user of the printing apparatus 108. Register with.

  In this embodiment, since the user “Canon” has not been registered, the Canon password registered in the e-mail with ID: Canon is registered (Step 1008). By this processing, the user “Canon” can be authenticated by the printing apparatus 108, and the address book can be used.

  Although the first embodiment has been described above, when the user “Canon” performs backup processing with the printing apparatus 101, the printing apparatus 101 receives only the address data registered by the user “Canon”. Since the backup is performed, it is possible to ensure security without using the address registered by another user for the user “Canon”. In addition, since it becomes possible to copy only the address of the person to another device, it is possible to cope with a change in the device used due to movement between departments.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, the address book backup request to the printing apparatus 101 is instructed remotely without using the panel 206, and the printing apparatus 101 backs up the address book to the printing apparatus 108. A description will be given of a configuration in which, when sending a request, the address book itself is not sent, but the URL of the own apparatus is notified, and the printing apparatus 108 accesses the URL and downloads the address book. Note that the address book 216 of the printing apparatus 101 is recorded with a plurality of addresses registered in advance by the user “Canon”, and the processing flow is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, for example. is there.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart when the user “Canon” backs up an address in the printing apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As a precondition, the user “Canon” communicates with the printing apparatus 101 using the personal computer 102. The user “Canon” backs up the address book of the printing apparatus 101 to the printing apparatus 108.

  First, in Step 1001, the user operates the personal computer 102 to start a Web browser. A web browser is application software for browsing web pages. Download an HTTP file, image file, music file, etc. from the Internet, analyze the layout, and display / play it. It is also possible for a user to send data to a Web server using a form or to run application software written in a computer language.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the Web browser exists as a function of the operating system 316. The user inputs a URL for accessing the Web server software 219 of the printing apparatus 101 in a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) input field of the browser. The Web browser accesses the printing apparatus 101 using the HTTP protocol (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). The Web server software 219 analyzes and responds to various HTTP commands received from the personal computer 102. The personal computer 102 downloads various resource information such as an HTML file downloaded from the printing apparatus 101 and displays it on the browser as a Web site (Step 1102).

Next, in Step 1103, the user is authenticated. As described above, the authentication software 215 in the printing apparatus 101 allows the user to perform user authentication, and only the authenticated user can use the printing apparatus 101. The user authenticates the user from the authentication GUI displayed on the browser. The user inputs the user ID and password in the GUI displayed on the browser. The input ID and password are transmitted to the Web server software 219 of the printing apparatus 101 by the HTTP protocol. The transmission data is notified to the authentication software 215, and the authentication result is returned to the personal computer 102 through the Web server software 219. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the ID has the following value and the authentication is successful.
ID: Canon

  If the authentication fails here, the user cannot use the function of the printing apparatus 101. The process ends here (Step 1104). Step 1105 indicates processing in which the authenticated user selects an address book backup function from various functions of the printing apparatus 101. The user instructs execution of the address book backup function from the menu screen displayed on the browser.

Next, in Step 1106, a device as a backup destination of address data is designated. In this embodiment, data transmission processing is performed by electronic mail. Therefore, the backup destination device performs by specifying the email address of the transmission destination device. An e-mail address input field is displayed on the browser of the personal computer 102. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the backup destination device is the printing apparatus 108. Therefore, in the e-mail address input field 801, Device 108 @test. canon. co. jp
Shall be entered. Next, in Step 1107, backup of address data is created. The device control software 212 extracts from the registered address data in the address book 216 address data whose user ID that registered the address data is Canon. Next, in Step 1108, a backup data acquisition request is made to the printing apparatus 108. Device control software 212 activates email software 214. The device control software 212 describes the URL of its own device from which backup address data can be obtained in the body of the electronic mail according to a predetermined format. In the Subject part of the e-mail, a character string indicating that an address data acquisition request is notified is described. The e-mail address of the printing apparatus 108 is described in the e-mail destination (To).

  Next, the e-mail software 214 transmits the created e-mail from the printing apparatus. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the e-mail transmission / reception setting of the printing apparatus 101 is made in advance, and the address of the e-mail server 107 is set in the SMTP server. The e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail server 107 by the SMTP protocol, and the printing apparatus 108 receives the e-mail using the e-mail reception protocol. Detailed operation of the printing apparatus 108 will be described later. If transmission of the address data is successful, the process proceeds to address data erasure processing. If the transmission of the address data cannot be continued due to some error or malfunction during the transmission process of the address data, the backup process is interrupted (Step 1109). If the backup transmission process is successful, in Step 1110, a process for selecting whether or not to erase the original address data is performed. Based on the HTML file received from the printing apparatus 101, the personal computer 102 uses a GUI for inquiring the user whether or not to delete the address information whose registrant is Canon, that is, the address information that has been backed up this time from the address book 216. indicate. Here, when the user selects not to delete the original address data, the backup process performed by the printing apparatus 101 is ended. When the user selects execution of data deletion, the device control software 212 deletes information related to the address information whose registrant is Canon from the address book 216 (Step 1111). This completes the address backup processing performed on the printing apparatus 101.

  Next, a process in which the printing apparatus 108 receives a backup data acquisition request transmitted from the printing apparatus 101 and adds it to the address book of the own apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in Step 1201, the e-mail software of the printing apparatus 108 inquires of the e-mail server 107 whether an e-mail addressed to itself is received. This inquiry is made using a POP3 (Post Office Protocol Ver3) protocol. The POP3 protocol is an e-mail receiving protocol that is currently most widely used as a protocol for receiving e-mail from a server storing e-mail on the Internet or an intranet.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the inquiry interval to the electronic mail server 107 is set in advance, and the printing apparatus 108 makes an inquiry to the electronic mail server 107 at regular intervals (Step 1202). If an e-mail addressed to the printing apparatus 108 exists in the e-mail server 107 as a result of the inquiry process in Step 1201, the printing apparatus 108 downloads the e-mail (Step 1203). Next, in Step 1204, the printing apparatus 108 performs analysis processing of the downloaded electronic mail. The e-mail received by the printing apparatus includes not only backup data acquisition requests but also print data and Internet fax data. Or, what the printing device 108 does not want, such as a computer virus, is included in the email downloaded by the printing device 108. The printing apparatus 108 analyzes the subject, body, and attached file of the received e-mail, and identifies that the e-mail downloaded in step 1203 is a request for acquiring backup data of the address book from the format. If the received electronic mail is not an address book backup data acquisition request, the process ends (Step 1205).

  If the received e-mail is an instruction to add data to the address book, the printing apparatus 108 recognizes the URL of the printing apparatus 101 included in the received e-mail and performs access using the HTTP protocol. (Step 1206). A file of address book data to be backed up exists in the logical hierarchy of the hard disk drive 208 of the printing apparatus 101 indicated by the URL. The printing apparatus 108 downloads the address data file using the HTTP protocol Get command (Step 1207). Then, the printing apparatus 108 performs a process of adding the address information included in the acquired address data file to the address book of its own apparatus (Step 1208). In this embodiment, the address data file downloaded in Step 1207 is an address used by the user “Canon” authenticated in Step 1103 of FIG.

  Next, in Step 1209, the user “Canon” performs a check process to determine whether or not the right to use the printing apparatus 108 exists. Similarly to the printing apparatus 101, the printing apparatus 108 requires authentication when the user uses the functions of the printing apparatus 108. In this case, the authentication process does not make sense unless the user information of the user is registered in the printing apparatus 108 in advance. Therefore, when an address book registration request is received, it is checked whether the user who uses the address has already been registered as a user of the printing apparatus 108. Register with. In this embodiment, since the user “Canon” has not been registered, ID: Canon and the password of Canon described in the e-mail are registered (Step 1210). By this processing, the user “Canon” can be authenticated by the printing apparatus 108, and the address book can be used.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal structure of the printing apparatus. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a personal computer. It is a flowchart explaining address registration. It is the figure which showed the logical structure of the address book. It is the figure which illustrated GUI of user authentication. It is the figure which illustrated GUI of address input. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of transmission of an address book in 1st embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a GUI for designating a backup destination device. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of reception of an address book in 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of transmission of an address book in 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of reception of an address book in 1st embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

101 Printing Device 102 Personal Computer 103 Network Management Device 104 LAN
105 Internet 106 Firewall 107 E-mail Server 108 Printing Device 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 Engine 205 Engine controller 206 Panel 207 Panel controller 208 Hard disk drive 209 Disk controller 210 NVRAM
211 Network Interface Card 212 Device Control Software 213 OS Unit 214 E-mail Software 215 Authentication Software 216 Address Book 217 Scanner 218 Scanner Controller 219 Address Book Web Server Software 301 CPU
302 ROM
303 RAM
304 System Bus 305 Mouse Controller 306 Mouse 307 Keyboard Controller 308 Keyboard 309 CRT Controller 310 CRT
311 Disk controller 312 Hard disk drive 313 Floppy (registered trademark) disk drive 314 Network interface card 315 E-mail software 316 OS section

Claims (14)

In a printing system that can register addresses,
Authentication means for authenticating an operator of the printing apparatus;
Registrant recording means for registering registrant information when registering address data;
Address extracting means for extracting only address information registered by an operator authenticated by the authentication means from an address book;
Address editing means for editing only the address information registered by the operator authenticated by the authentication means from the address book;
An address backup means for backing up only address information registered by an operator authenticated by the authentication means from an address book;
A printing system comprising:   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus includes a network interface.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the backup unit includes authentication information of the authenticated operator in the backup data simultaneously with the backup of the address information.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the backup copies backup data to another printing apparatus or information processing apparatus.   5. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein the backup is performed by the printing apparatus notifying backup data to another printing apparatus or an information processing apparatus via a network.   5. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein the backup is performed in the printing apparatus in which the printing apparatus holds backup data in the printing apparatus and the backup data exists in another printing apparatus or information processing apparatus via a network. A printing system characterized by notifying logical address information.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the authentication unit is performed by an operator using a control panel of a printing apparatus.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the authentication unit authenticates the operator remotely via a network.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the backup unit performs backup by an operator using a control panel of the printing apparatus.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the backup unit is configured such that an operator remotely executes a backup via a network.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the address editing unit includes deleting address information registered by an authenticated operator. In a printing system that can register addresses,
Authentication means for authenticating an operator of the printing apparatus;
Registrant recording means for registering registrant information when registering address data;
Address edit command receiving means for receiving a request to add address data from an arbitrary device;
Address data acquisition means for communicating with an arbitrary device to acquire address data;
Address book addition editing means for adding address and registrant authentication information of the address from the address data to the address book of the self-printing device;
A printing system comprising:   The printing system according to claim 12, wherein the printing apparatus includes a network interface.   13. The printing system according to claim 12, wherein the address data includes an address and registrant authentication information of the address.

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