JP2008046851A - Device information processor and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device information processor and a program capable of properly and easily restricting particular functions that a device has to a terminal device. <P>SOLUTION: In a server device 1, if settable information that a printer information acquisition service 18 has obtained from printers 31-33 includes restricted functions, a filtering part 16 rewrites the settable information to not include the functions, and notifies PCs 21-23 of this. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device information processing apparatus and a program.

  In recent years, devices (peripheral devices) such as printers are required to limit specific functions that require cost and time as necessary. For example, in a printer having a color printing function and a double-sided printing function, color printing and double-sided printing require cost and time compared to other printing, and there is a demand for limiting these to a predetermined user or the like. .

  In addition, the printer has a function of notifying a terminal device such as a personal computer (PC) of error information relating to a paper jam or toner shortage that occurs during a printing operation. There is also a desire to restrict as necessary because it is intrusive for non-users.

Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose a technique for applying a predetermined setting to a device driver installed in a terminal device such as a personal computer (PC) for the purpose of limiting a specific function of the device. ing.
JP 2004-21400 A JP 2005-258721 A JP 2005-258896 A

  However, in the above-described conventional technology, even if a predetermined setting is applied to the device driver, it is difficult to say that a specific function can be restricted because the setting can be changed later.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a technology in which a device driver acquires an administrator policy in which whether or not each device can be used is specified, and sets operating conditions of the device driver according to the administrator policy. The device driver must perform complicated processing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problem, and provides a device information processing apparatus and program capable of appropriately and easily restricting a specific function of a device to a terminal device. One of its purposes.

  In order to solve the above problems, a device information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a device information acquisition unit that acquires function information of a device from the device, and a function that represents a specific function of the device according to a predetermined condition. Filtering means for rewriting information as not having the specific function and notifying a terminal device that controls the device.

  Further, in the device information processing apparatus of the present invention, the filtering unit is configured to receive specific notification contents that need to be notified to the terminal device by an operation based on a function of the device according to a predetermined condition. The function information to be expressed is not notified to the terminal device.

  In the device information processing apparatus of the present invention, the filtering unit applies a common condition to each piece of function information acquired from a plurality of devices.

  In the device information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the filtering unit applies a common condition to each piece of function information notified to a plurality of terminal devices.

  Next, the program of the present invention provides a computer with device information acquisition means for acquiring function information of the device from the device, and function information indicating a specific function of the device according to a predetermined condition. It is rewritten as not having a specific function, and functions as filtering means for notifying a terminal device that controls the device.

  According to the present invention, a specific function of a device can be appropriately and easily restricted for a terminal device.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration example of the device information processing system 100. In the device information processing system 100, a server device 1 as a device information processing device, personal computers (PCs) 21 to 23 as terminal devices, and printers 31 to 33 as devices (peripheral devices) are connected to a network, respectively. And can communicate with each other.

  In the present embodiment, a printer is cited as an example of a device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and another device such as a scanner may be used. The terminal device is not particularly limited to a PC.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the server device 1. The server device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 14, and a communication connected to the network to control communication. And a computer having the unit 15.

  The CPU 11 governs the operation of the server device 1. The RAM 12 is a work memory for the CPU 11. The ROM 13 stores programs and data necessary for the operation of the CPU 11.

  The HDD 14 stores programs necessary for the operation of the CPU 11, such as an operation (OS) program and an application program. Further, the HDD 14 stores a table in which filtering processing conditions described later are described.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the server device 1, the PCs 21 to 23, and the printers 31 to 33 included in the device information processing system 100.

  The server device 1 includes a printer information acquisition service 18, a filtering unit 16, and a table storage unit 17.

  In the server device 1, the printer information acquisition service 18 acquires the settable information from the printers 31 to 33 when receiving the acquisition request for the settable information of the printers 31 to 33 from the PCs 21 to 23. The printer information acquisition service 18 acquires notification information notified from the printers 31 to 33 to the PCs 21 to 23.

  Here, the settable information of the printers 31 to 33 is one piece of function information, and is information describing functions that the printer 31 has (that is, functions that can be used by the PCs 21 to 23). For example, the settable information describes whether color printing is possible, whether double-sided printing is possible, printable paper type (plain paper, recycled paper, etc.), printable paper size, and the like.

  The notification information of the printers 31 to 33 is one piece of function information, and is information describing notification contents that need to be notified to the PCs 21 to 23 by the printing operation of the printers 31 to 33. For example, the notification information includes information such as paper jam that occurs during the printing operation and error information related to toner shortage.

  The printer information acquisition service 18 can be realized as a function of an operating system (OS) based on WINDOWS VISTA (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation, for example. For example, the printer information acquisition service 18 has information associated with each of the printers 31 to 33, and upon receiving a setting information acquisition request from the PCs 21 to 23, the printer information acquisition service 18 refers to the information of the corresponding printer. Queries the printer for settable information.

  In the server device 1, the filtering unit 16 performs filtering processing on the settable information and notification information acquired from the printers 31 to 33 by the printer information acquisition service 18 (details will be described later), and then notifies the PCs 21 to 23. To do. This filtering process is performed based on the table stored in the table storage unit 17. The table storage unit 17 is configured in the HDD 14. Further, it may be configured in an external storage device or the like.

  The PCs 21 to 23 are configured as computers having a CPU as a main body, and the application 26 and the printer driver 27 operate as software modules by the CPU. The printer driver 27 generates a print command for causing the printers 31 to 33 to print the document data based on the document data generated by the application 26, and transmits the print command to the printers 31 to 33 from the interface 28. To do.

  In the PCs 21 to 23, the printer driver 27 requests the server apparatus 1 to acquire settable information of the printers 31 to 33 at the time of installation or before printing. When the settable information is acquired, the settable information is received. Then, the content of the received settable information is displayed on the display unit, and the user is allowed to set a function used for printing.

  Further, when the server device 1 acquires the notification information from the printers 31 to 33, the printer driver 27 receives the notification information and displays the content of the notification information on the display unit.

  The printers 31 to 33 include a device unit 36 that executes a print command received from the PCs 21 to 23 via the interface 38. The device unit 36 outputs notification information that needs to be notified to the server apparatus 1 during the printing operation.

  Each of the printers 31 to 33 has an information storage unit 37 that stores its own settable information. The settable information stored in the information storage unit 37 is read by the server device 1 that has received an acquisition request from the PCs 21 to 23.

  Next, a specific operation of the server device 1 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the server apparatus 1 with respect to settable information. Here, an example in which the PC 21 requests acquisition of settable information of the printer 31 will be described.

  The printer 31 is capable of color printing as well as monochrome printing, duplex printing as well as single-sided printing, and printing on a plurality of types of paper such as plain paper and recycled paper. It is assumed that the printing is possible on a plurality of sizes of paper such as A3.

  First, when the printer information acquisition service 18 receives an acquisition request for configurable information of the printer 31 from the PC 21, it requests the printer 31 for configurable information (S11). Thereby, the printer information acquisition service 18 receives the settable information from the printer 31 (S12). Here, the settable information received from the printer 31 describes that the printer 31 has the above functions.

  Next, the filtering unit 16 performs a filtering process on the settable information acquired by the printer information acquisition service 18 based on the table stored in the table storage unit 17.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of filtering processing conditions. According to this, color printing is restricted, only monochrome printing is permitted, duplex printing is permitted, printing on plain paper is restricted, printing only on recycled paper is permitted, and printing on paper of A3 size or larger Is limited to allow printing on paper of less than A3 size.

  Based on such a table, when the setting capability information received from the printer 31 includes a restricted function (S13: YES), the filtering unit 16 can be set as not having the function. Information is rewritten (S14). That is, the settable information received from the printer 31 is rewritten to the contents that color printing is impossible, printing on plain paper is impossible, and printing on paper of A3 size or larger is impossible.

  Then, the filtering unit 16 notifies the PC 21 of the settable information rewritten in this way (S15).

  As a result, the printer driver 27 of the PC 21 recognizes that the printer 31 cannot perform color printing, cannot print on plain paper, and cannot print on paper of A3 size or larger. The user can set the functions used for printing only in a range excluding these functions. As a result, these functions of the printer 31 can be restricted for the PC 21.

  In the above description, the operation of the server apparatus 1 when the PC 21 requests acquisition of settable information has been described. However, the server apparatus 1 similarly applies when other PCs 22 and 23 request acquisition of settable information. Operate. In addition, the filtering unit 16 of the server device 1 performs filtering processing of common conditions for each settable information notified to the plurality of PCs 21 to 23 based on the table stored in the table storage unit 17. Apply. With such a configuration, the specific functions of the printers 31 to 33 are limited to a plurality of PCs 21 to 23 connected to the network only by setting the filtering processing conditions in the table storage unit 17 of the server device 1. can do.

  In the above description, the operation when the server apparatus 1 acquires the settable information of the printer 31 has been described. However, the server apparatus 1 similarly acquires the settable information of the other printers 32 and 33. Operate. Further, the filtering unit 16 of the server device 1 performs filtering processing for common conditions based on a table stored in the table storage unit 17 for each settable information acquired from the plurality of printers 31 to 33. Apply. With such a configuration, a specific function included in the plurality of printers 31 to 33 connected to the network can be provided to the plurality of PCs 21 to 23 simply by setting the filtering processing conditions in the table storage unit 17 of the server device 1. Can be limited.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example for the notification information of the server device 1. Here, an example will be described in which notification information such as paper jam that has occurred during the printing operation of the printer 31 and error information related to toner shortage is notified to the PC 21.

  First, when the printer information acquisition service 18 receives notification information from the printer 31 (S21), the filtering unit 16 stores the notification information acquired by the printer information acquisition service 18 in a table stored in the table storage unit 17. Based on this, a filtering process is performed.

  According to the table shown in FIG. 6, the notification is permitted when the notification information is error information related to paper jam, and the notification is limited when the notification information is error information related to toner shortage.

  Based on such a table, if the notification information has unrestricted contents, that is, if it is error information related to paper jam (S22: NO), the filtering unit 16 sends this error information to the PC 21. In contrast, if the notification information is limited content, that is, error information related to toner shortage (S22: YES), this error information is notified to the PC 21. do not do.

  Thereby, since specific notification information is not notified to the PC 21, it is not an obstacle for a user who has nothing to do with it. For example, if the user using the PC 21 does not serve to replace the toner, even if the printer 31 runs out of toner, error information related to the lack of toner is not notified to the PC 21, so that it does not get in the way for the user.

  The example in which the server apparatus 1 performs the filtering process on the settable information and the notification information acquired from the printers 31 to 33 has been described above. The filtering process condition set in the table storage unit 17 is the above format. It is not limited to.

  For example, the filtering process conditions set in the table storage unit 17 can be changed according to the user using the PCs 21 to 23. As shown in FIG. 7, different conditions can be set for each group to which a user belongs, or different conditions can be set for each user. Thereby, according to the user who uses PC21-23, the function which the printers 31-33 comprise can be restrict | limited in detail.

  For example, the filtering process conditions set in the table storage unit 17 can be changed according to the printers 31 to 33. As shown in FIG. 8, different conditions can be set for each printer. As a result, the functions of each of the printers 31 to 33 can be limited in detail.

It is an example of composition of a device information processing system. It is a block diagram showing the structure of a device information processing apparatus. It is a block diagram showing the function structure of a device information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart showing the 1st example of operation | movement of a device information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart showing the 2nd example of operation | movement of a device information processing apparatus. It is a figure showing the 1st example of a setting of a filtering part. It is a figure showing the 2nd example of a setting of a filtering part. It is a figure showing the 3rd example of a setting of a filtering part.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Server apparatus (device information processing apparatus), 11 CPU, 12 RAM, 13 ROM, 14 HDD, 15 Communication part, 16 Filtering part, 17 Storage part, 18 Printer information acquisition service, 21-23 PC (terminal device), 26 Application, 27 Printer driver, 28 interface, 31-33 Printer (device), 36 Device part, 37 Storage part, 38 interface, 100 Device information processing system.

Claims (5)

Device information acquisition means for acquiring function information of the device from the device;
Filtering means for rewriting function information representing a specific function of the device according to a predetermined condition as not having the specific function, and notifying a terminal device that controls the device;
A device information processing apparatus comprising: The device information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The filtering means does not notify the terminal device of function information representing specific notification contents that need to be notified to the terminal device by an operation based on the function of the device according to a predetermined condition. A device information processing apparatus. The device information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The device information processing apparatus, wherein the filtering unit applies a common condition to each piece of function information acquired from a plurality of devices. The device information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The device according to claim 1, wherein the filtering unit applies a common condition to each piece of function information notified to a plurality of terminal devices. Computer
Device information acquisition means for acquiring function information of the device from the device;
Filtering means for rewriting function information representing a specific function of the device according to a predetermined condition as not having the specific function, and notifying a terminal device that controls the device;
A program characterized by making it function.

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