JP2008258957A - Image forming apparatus, and control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that there is no idea of whether to be able to store an image read by a scanner before the data are actually written in when the image is stored in directories of a host connected through a network in an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus uses a method in which a dummy file in the directories of the host is written and only directories that can be confirmed to be writable are displayed and can be selected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to displaying only writable hosts and directories when storing image data read by a scanner in an image forming apparatus on a host (electronic device such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a server) connected via a network. Is.

  When an image is read by the scanner of the image forming apparatus, a storage destination for storing the read image is designated. The storage destination in this case is not limited to the storage location in the image forming apparatus, but can be stored in a shared directory on a host electronic device such as a PC connected via a network.

  As a conventional technique, by searching for a destination (destination information: host name or directory name) necessary for transmission from an image forming apparatus to a PC on a LAN, a list of search results is displayed on a liquid crystal touch panel and selected. There is a method in which the destination information can be easily set by setting (see Patent Document 1).

  However, in this method, when a shared directory whose access permission is set to be unwritable is set, a shared directory in which the access permission can be written is set until the read image data is actually transmitted. I can't confirm that.

JP 2003-274102 A

  The problem to be solved is that when the image forming apparatus writes data to the directory of the host connected via the network, it is not known in advance whether the access permission is writable. It is a point that could not be prevented.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of storing predetermined data in a host electronic device connected via a network using a communication unit, and a host search unit that searches for the host electronic device on the network; A write confirmation unit for writing a dummy file in the directory of the host electronic device and confirming whether writing is possible; a writable directory display unit for displaying the directory confirmed to be writable by the write confirmation unit; It has the most important feature.

  The control program of the present invention is a control program for realizing a communication function in a computer so that predetermined data can be stored on a host electronic device connected via a network, and searches for the host electronic device on the network. A search function to write, a write confirmation function for writing a dummy file in the directory of the host electronic device to check whether the directory can be written, and the directory confirmed to be writable by the write check means It is a control program for causing a computer to realize a writable directory display function, and is the main feature.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of storing predetermined data in a host electronic device connected via a network using a communication unit, and a host search unit that searches for the host electronic device on the network; A write confirmation unit for writing a dummy file in the directory of the host electronic device and confirming whether writing is possible; a writable directory display unit for displaying the directory confirmed to be writable by the write confirmation unit; The most important feature is that it can recognize the phenomenon that cannot be written due to access permission before actually sending the image data, and only the writable directory is displayed so that the image data can be sent reliably. It became.

  The control program of the present invention is a control program for realizing a communication function in a computer so that predetermined data can be stored on a host electronic device connected via a network, and searches for the host electronic device on the network. A search function to write, a write confirmation function for writing a dummy file in the directory of the host electronic device to check whether the directory can be written, and the directory confirmed to be writable by the write check means Because it is a control program for realizing a writable directory display function in a computer, it can recognize the phenomenon that cannot be written due to access permission before actually sending image data, Since only writable directories are displayed, Data has become capable of transmitting.

  In an image forming apparatus, image data read by a scanner, image data received by FAX, image data received by e-mail, or printed image data is connected to a host (PC (Personal Computer), server, image forming apparatus, etc.) connected via a network. Can be stored in an electronic device). In the present invention, when the storage destination host and its directory are displayed, it is displayed after confirming whether or not writing is possible.

[Constitution]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 101 includes a login authentication unit 111, a display unit 113 (a writable directory display unit), a user information recording unit 115, a host search unit 117, a write confirmation unit 119, and a communication unit 121. Other functional blocks such as a printing unit provided in a normal image forming apparatus are omitted because they are not related to the essence of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 101 is connected to a host 1; 201 (PC (Personal Computer), electronic device such as a server, an image forming apparatus), a host 2; 203 (same as above), a host 3; Same as above).

  Next, each functional block of the image forming apparatus 101 will be described.

  The login authentication unit 111 confirms the login of the user by inputting a login name and password from the user, communicating with an IC card possessed by the user, or the like.

  The user information recording unit 115 records the host name used by the user and the name of the shared directory in which the user writes, along with user information such as the user's name and affiliation. If you need a username and password to access the host, record them together. A user authenticated by the login authentication unit 111 can access the user information described above.

  The host search unit 117 searches for a host connected to the image forming apparatus. The host information broadcasts to the network, and acquires information such as the server name, IP address, MAC address, and shared directory from the responding server.

  Based on the host and directory information held by the user information recording unit 115, the write confirmation unit 119 performs dummy processing for the directory of the host and the shared directory of the host acquired by the host search unit. Write the file and check if the directories are actually writable. After writing, the written dummy file is erased from the host destination.

  A display unit 113 (a writable directory display unit) displays information about the image forming apparatus, and displays a directory of the host that the writing confirmation unit 119 has confirmed as a data storage destination. Directories that were not writable will not be displayed, so the user may accidentally choose to write to those writable directories and spend unnecessary time waiting until the timeout period elapses because there is no response. It ’s gone.

  The communication unit 121 is an interface that connects the functional blocks to the network. The image forming apparatus 101 exchanges information with an external host (201, 203, 205) through the communication unit 121.

[flowchart]
The operation flow will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  S 11: When the user authentication is performed by the user authentication unit 111, the storage host and directory (the login name and password if necessary) of the user are acquired from the user information recording unit 115.

  S13: The host search unit 117 searches for a host on the network and acquires host information.

  S15: The host obtained in S11 and S13 is accessed and listed. At this point, no response from the host is removed from the list.

  S17: A dummy file is created in the shared directory of the host listed in S15.

  S19: It is determined whether a dummy file can be created. If it is possible, the operation proceeds to S21. If not possible, the operation proceeds to S23.

  S21: Since the storage destination is writable, it is added to the list of directories to be displayed. Delete the written dummy file.

  S23: It is determined whether there is a directory in the list created in S15 that has not yet been confirmed whether or not the dummy file can be written. If there is, the operation proceeds to S17. If not, the operation proceeds to S25.

  S25: The list of writable directories added in S21 is displayed on the display unit 113.

  The display of the save destination directory is terminated by the above series of operations.

[Effect of Example]
The image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can recognize a phenomenon in which writing cannot be performed due to access permission before actually transmitting image data, and can reliably transmit image data.

  Check whether the access permission of the destination directory is writable in advance, and display only the directories where the access permission is writable on the display unit and let the user select, so the user selects the directory where the access permission is not writable So there was no time wasted waiting for no response and finding that the directory could not be written as a result of waiting.

  In this method, it is confirmed whether writing is possible for two types of shared directories: the shared directory of the host that responds by broadcasting to the network, and the shared directory of the host and directory held by the user and the user login information. Is possible.

  Since the written dummy file is erased from the host destination after writing, the host destination memory is not wasted.

1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (Embodiment 1). FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (Embodiment 1).

Explanation of symbols

101 Image forming apparatus 111 Login authentication unit 113 Display unit (writable directory display unit)
115 User Information Recording Unit 117 Host Search Unit 119 Write Confirmation Unit 121 Communication Unit 201, 203, 205 Host (Host Electronic Device)
301 network

Claims (6)

An image forming apparatus capable of storing predetermined data in a host electronic device connected via a network using a communication unit,
A host search unit for searching for the host electronic device on the network;
A write confirmation unit for writing a dummy file in the directory of the host electronic device and confirming whether writing is possible;
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a writable directory display unit that displays the directory that is confirmed to be writable by the write confirmation unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
A login authentication unit that performs user login authentication;
A user information recording unit that records information on a host electronic device and a directory on the network that the user accesses based on the login authentication;
The image forming apparatus, wherein the writing confirmation unit confirms whether or not writing to the host electronic device and the directory recorded by the user information recording unit is possible. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The image forming apparatus, wherein the write confirmation unit erases the dummy file that has been written. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the predetermined data is image data read by a scanner, image data received by FAX, image data received by e-mail, printed image data, or a free combination thereof. A control program for realizing a communication function in a computer so that predetermined data can be stored on a host electronic device connected via a network,
A search function to search for host electronic devices on the network;
A write confirmation function for writing a dummy file in the directory of the host electronic device and confirming whether the directory can be written;
A writable directory display function for displaying the directory confirmed to be writable by the write confirmation means;
A control program for realizing a computer. It is a control program of Claim 5, Comprising:
A login authentication function to perform user login authentication;
A user information recording function for recording information of a host electronic device and a directory on the network accessed by the user based on the login authentication;
The control program is characterized in that the write confirmation function confirms whether or not writing to the host electronic device and the directory recorded by the user information recording means is possible.

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