JP2007129556A - Information terminal for performing data conversion according to plural devices - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operation environment which is comfortable for a user by merging and displaying all devices that a document management application can use in one picture and making it possible to previously set operations for printing, facsimile transmission, etc. <P>SOLUTION: An information terminal device has a function of retrieving devices 1, 2, and 3 which can display pictures of the document management application and are connected to a LAN, and then collecting information on capabilities etc., from the retrieved devices, a function of displaying the collected information in the picture of the document management application, and a function of setting and displaying specified processes on the document management application while relating them to the information on the devices. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic document and device management system.

  An image forming system having a plurality of devices is characterized in that each device can store received images and operation modes, and can transmit these data to other devices. When this function is used, printing can be performed by another device when the device is broken or occupied for a long time by another person.

For example, Patent Document 1 can be cited as a conventional example.
JP 2001-222190 A

  Conventionally, when printing or transferring data from a document management application to a device, it is necessary to start up the information terminal and set up another area for specifying the data transfer function and printing on the device, which is a burden on the user. It was.

  Create an area where device information such as devices and storage device information can be displayed on the same screen in the document management application. This area can display information such as functions (printing, FAX, etc.), resolution, etc. for the number of devices that can be searched on the network, and if there are many devices, display is performed using the scroll function.

  A plurality of areas that can be associated with the above devices can be created on the screen of the document management application, and a plurality of device information can be associated with each project.

  Data transmission from the document management application to the device (printing, etc.): When data transmission (printing) from the document management application to the device is performed, a file on the main screen is dragged and dropped (D & D) into a folder. The D & D file is displayed in the project area and can be visually confirmed by the user.

  In the case of a print instruction, a print instruction screen (including a print format) is displayed, and at the same time, data conversion is performed in accordance with the resolution of the device associated in advance in the background. Data conversion can be converted to PDL, SVG, XAML, PDF, etc. according to the device. Depending on the function of the device, data transmission is performed immediately after the data conversion is completed. The created data is saved for a certain period of time and then automatically deleted

  Until now, when issuing instructions such as printing and faxing to multiple devices, it was necessary to launch the control screens of multiple devices separately in addition to the document management application. In this proposal, all devices that can use the document management application are merged and displayed on a single screen to provide a comfortable operating environment for users who can perform operations such as printing and fax transmission.

Example 1
First, a description will be given with reference to FIG. 1 which is a block diagram showing an embodiment of document access control in a document management application according to the present invention.

  The apparatus of this embodiment includes a CPU 11 that controls the entire apparatus, a ROM 12 that stores a control program for the CPU 11, a RAM 13 that is used as a work area for the CPU 11, a scanner 17 that reads an original and converts it into an electrical signal, A printer 18 for printing an image on recording paper, an operation unit 19 for inputting various information by an operator, a display unit 20 for displaying various information, a modem 14 for modulating / demodulating transmission / reception data, and a telephone line and a modem 14 are connected. NCU 15 that performs image processing, an image memory 21 that stores image data, and a NIC 16 that is connected to a network.

  The ROM 12 may be replaced with a hard disk 22 and an external storage device 23 depending on the system configuration, and the RAM 13 and the image memory 21 may share the same memory.

  The operation unit 11 is a minimum button group depending on the system form, and may be a keyboard. The display unit 20 may be an LCD for displaying minimum information, or may be a display device such as a cathode ray tube.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the document management application and the network device. Multiple devices such as devices 1, 2, 3,... Are connected to the LAN, and the document management application can exchange information with each device. Information on functions (printing, FAX, reading), resolutions such as printing and reading (printing 600dpi, FAX200dpi, etc.), and device-like settings are included. The document management application is software that operates on a device connectable to a LAN, and includes a main screen of the document management application, a plurality of project display areas, and a plurality of device information display areas. In the project display area, the plurality of pieces of device information can be set in association with each other. For example, information about frequently used devices. The operation by setting will be described in detail separately.

  With reference to FIG. 3, the flow of processing in which the document management application collects information about devices on the network will be described. The document management application and the device support common communication protocols, and the capabilities of the device can be transmitted from the device to the document management application using these protocols. The transmitted capabilities include device identification information (information that can uniquely identify the device), capabilities (printing, fax, scan) and resolution (600 dpi, 400 dpi, 200 dpi), operating status (operable, malfunctioning, etc.), etc. Is included.

  The document management application collects only device information on the network using the above protocol (201). Next, capability information is collected for each searched device (202). The collected information is compared whether there is new device information or whether there is a capability change image (203), and if there is no change, the processing proceeds to (201). If there is a change, device information is added or modified in the device information display area of the document management application (204), and the processing is terminated.

  With reference to FIG. 3, the document management application will explain the network device search processing.

  On the main screen of the document management application, an electronic document can be stored by the user by a method such as D & D. When the stored document (301) is D & D into the project (302), the operation is performed in accordance with a preset and registered setting. In Project 2, D & D (302) and processing will be started in the back ward round to increase the user's perceived speed. With this setting, data with a resolution of 600 dpi for devices 1 and 2 and data with a resolution of 200 dpi for device 2 FAX are created. During the creation, the icon 302 is set as a display indicating that the icon is being created (for example, gray display), and is changed to a black display after the creation. After that, the device driver is activated to perform printing and fax transmission processing.

  When different resolution data for the devices 1 and 2 are created from the electronic document (303) in the background, print data (304) and FAX transmission data (305) are created in the order of project registration.

  The operation of the document management application will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. A user moves (instructs) an electronic document from the main screen to the project area by means such as D & D. First, a project is investigated and set device information is collected (401). Next, when a device is added, an electronic document icon is displayed in the project display area (402). This icon is displayed in gray or the like so that it can be seen that it is being created. Capability information such as the resolution of each device is collected (403). Compare all collected abilities and convert electronic documents. In the case of printing, FAX, etc., conversion is performed for all necessary resolutions (404). When creating data in 404, since an arbitrary working folder defined by the application is used, it is moved to the project area (405). Display all data (all resolutions) created in the project area.

  In FIG. 6, the deletion of the created data will be described. In the project area, every time a user D & Ds an electronic document, data that matches the capabilities of the device is created.

  Since this data is automatically created and a type sentence of the capability of the device is created, there is a problem that the amount of data in the project area becomes huge after many operations by the user. For this reason, all the created data is managed in advance so that the elapsed time from the creation time is managed and can be automatically deleted after a certain time has elapsed. In this setting, it is also possible to delete only specific data (for example, a print intermediate file or image data). Furthermore, it is also possible to set to automatically delete data that has been used more than a certain number of times in combination with time and data type.

  In FIG. 7, file information and access information of all data in all created projects for explaining the data deletion process are collected (602). The creation date is confirmed from the collected information (603). It is determined whether or not 72 hours or more have elapsed since the creation (604). If not, the processes of 602 to 604 are repeated.

  If more than 72 hours have passed, delete all applicable data. The elapsed time can be arbitrarily changed by the user.

  The process associated with the project and the sequence for each data type will be described with reference to FIG. When an electronic document is D & D to the project 3 by the user from the main screen, if the operation has been set in advance for the project for printing purpose, the specified file is opened immediately after the D & D is completed, and the printing data is sent to the device. To activate the printer driver function. After the print data creation is completed, the print data is transmitted to the device. The device side receives the print data, and when the print data is completed, the print data is temporarily stored in a storage device such as a memory or HDD in the device. When information such as the number of copies is set by the user and there is a print start instruction, the print instruction information is transmitted to the device. On the device side, the number of copies is designated based on the received print instruction information, and a print instruction is given to the recording apparatus.

  If the electronic document that can be printed on the device is PDF (Portable Document Format), SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics: W3C Recommendation), XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), etc., open the specified file immediately after the user completes D & D, Starts a conversion library such as PDF, SVG, or XAML to perform data conversion in order to send print data to the device. After creation, send data to the device. The device side receives these data, and once it is finished, it stores it in a storage device such as a memory or HDD inside the device. When information such as the number of copies is set by the user and there is a print start instruction, the print instruction information is transmitted to the device. On the device side, the number of copies is designated based on the received print instruction information, and a print instruction is given to the recording apparatus. In this case, the format used for the print instruction can be used properly depending on the capability of the device, such as original or JDF data.

It is the figure explaining the system where this software operates Diagram for explaining the relationship between a document management application and network devices Flowchart explaining how document management application searches network device Illustration of the user interface of the document management application Flow chart for explaining the operation of the document management application Illustration of data management application data deletion Flow chart for explaining data deletion processing of document management application User interface and sequence diagram explaining document management application data processing

Claims (3)

  It has the ability to connect to the network and communicate with other devices in the network, and it is possible to collect capability information of other devices as a result of communication. Collecting information including information that can be collected in the main screen It has a displayable device information display area, and the main screen has an area where a plurality of files can be displayed at once. In the device information display area, a plurality of areas (projects 1, 2,...) In which the devices in the displayed device information display area are displayed in association with each other on a terminal capable of displaying the device information therein. An information terminal characterized by converting data dragged and dropped in all data structures and data structures of all associated devices when specified in this area.   2. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein when a file is dragged and dropped from the file display area to the project area, the data conversion is performed in the background so that the user can operate immediately after starting the data conversion process. Information terminal.   In the information terminal according to claim 1, when a file is dragged and dropped from the file display area to the project area, if the instruction screen is related, the data is converted into print data immediately after the drag and drop. An information terminal device.

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