JP2009064420A - Image forming apparatus and information display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus for displaying application information for determining whether an application can be installed or not on an operation panel. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus provided with the operation panel for displaying or inputting operation information is further provided with an information acquisition means for acquiring application information concerned with an application to be used for the image forming apparatus, a determination means for determining whether the application can be installed in the image forming apparatus or not on the basis of the application information acquired by the information acquisition means and a display means for displaying the application information acquired by the information acquisition means or information concerned with the application information on the operation panel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that provides a user service for image forming processing such as a copy, a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile, and that performs display on an operation panel based on application information related to the application, and an operation to the operation panel. The present invention relates to a method for displaying information.

  In recent years, there has been known an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “multifunction machine”) in which functions of apparatuses such as a printer, a copy machine, a facsimile machine, and a scanner are housed in one casing. This multifunction device is provided with a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like in one casing, and is provided with three types of software respectively corresponding to a printer, a copy machine, and a facsimile machine, and by switching these software, Are operated as a printer, a copy, a scanner, or a facsimile machine.

In such a conventional multi-function peripheral, all application programs are activated in units of functions such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner. In the case of these existing applications, the version consistency and the amount of resources to be used are known in advance when performing the installation process to make it startable. There was no need to check.
JP-A-11-112701

  By the way, in such a conventional multi-function machine, software corresponding to a printer, a copy, a scanner, and a facsimile apparatus is provided separately, so that development of each software requires a lot of time. For this reason, the applicant has hardware resources used in image forming processing such as a display unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and has an application that performs processing specific to each user service such as a printer, copy, or facsimile. When a user service is provided by interposing between these applications and hardware resources, hardware resource management, execution control, and image formation processing that are commonly required by at least two of the applications are provided. Invented an image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) equipped with a platform comprising various control services.

  In such a new multifunction device, a control service that provides services commonly required by at least two of the applications is provided separately from the application. The third vendor has developed a new application and can be installed in the multifunction device.

  In order to execute a new application developed by a user or a third vendor on the multifunction device in addition to the existing applications such as copy, printer, scanner, and facsimile that are installed at the time of shipment, the new application is executed on the multifunction device. After copying to, you need to process the installation to make the application bootable. In the case of existing applications of the above-mentioned multifunction peripherals, the consistency of the version and the amount of resources used are known in advance, so even if installed and started, malfunctions due to inconsistencies in the version or lack of resources may occur. It is not. However, in the case of new applications developed by third-party vendors, etc., it has not been developed taking into account the status of the installed multifunction device (version and resource capacity), so the multifunction device will operate when the new application is started. May become unstable.

  Therefore, it may be possible to prevent the operation from becoming unstable if it is installed for the time being and checked before it is activated. However, it does not make sense to install an application that may cause unstable operation of the MFP when it is started. In this way, in a new multifunction device that can be equipped with a new application, if it is started without performing a new application version check or resource check, the operation becomes unstable or the operation stops halfway. A new problem that did not become a problem with the machine arises.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and a display method that can display application information on an operation panel for determining whether or not an application can be installed. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus including an operation panel for displaying or inputting operation information, and information for acquiring application information relating to an application used in the image forming apparatus. An acquisition unit; a determination unit that determines whether or not the application can be installed in the image forming apparatus based on the application information acquired by the information acquisition unit; and the application information acquired by the information acquisition unit or the application information Display means for displaying information to be displayed on the operation panel.

  According to the present invention, the display on the operation panel is performed based on the application information. Therefore, the user can accurately select an application to be installed and determine whether or not the application can be installed. Further, according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus can determine whether installation is possible. By displaying the determination result, the user can select only applications that can be installed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the display unit displays an installable application on the operation panel so as to be selectable based on a result of determination by the determination unit.

  According to the present invention, the user can select only applications that can be installed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the information displayed on the operation panel includes an application name of an installable application and an application outline description.

  By displaying the application name of the installable application and the application outline description, the user can easily select the application to be used.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the display unit displays a reason why the installation is impossible for an application that cannot be installed based on a result of the determination by the determination unit.

  According to the present invention, the user can know the reason why installation is impossible. For example, when installation is not possible because a certain device is not mounted on the multi-function peripheral, it is possible to take measures such as mounting that device.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, when the same application as the application selected for installation already exists in the image forming apparatus, the display means displays a warning. is there. Thereby, it can be confirmed whether or not the user wants to reinstall.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the application information or related information displayed on the operation panel includes information necessary for determining whether or not the application can be installed.

  According to the present invention, the user can determine whether or not to install based on the data displayed on the operation panel.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the information necessary for determining whether or not to install the application includes version information on the application side and version information on the image forming apparatus side.

  Based on version information on the application side and version information on the image forming apparatus side, an application that cannot be installed due to version mismatch can be determined.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the information necessary for determining whether or not to install the application includes a resource scheduled to be used for the application and a resource that can be used in the image forming apparatus.

  An application that cannot be installed due to a shortage of resources can be determined based on the scheduled use resource of the application and the resources that can be used in the image forming apparatus.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the display unit displays an install operation screen or an uninstall operation screen based on the application information, and an application program is displayed according to an operation on the operation screen. The apparatus further includes means for performing an installation process or an uninstallation process.

  According to the present invention, application installation processing or uninstallation processing can be easily performed according to an operation screen.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to ninth aspects, means for causing an external device to display a screen equivalent to the screen displayed on the operation panel is provided. In addition.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to operate an image forming apparatus from an external apparatus.

  The invention described in claims 11 to 20 is an invention of a display method suitable for the image forming apparatus. According to the invention described in claims 11 to 20, the same effects as those of the image forming apparatus described above can be obtained. The invention described in claims 21 to 22 is an invention of a program suitable for the image forming apparatus. According to the invention described in the twenty-first to twenty-second aspects, the same effect as that of the image forming apparatus described above can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, since the display on the operation panel is performed based on the application information, the user can accurately select the application to be installed and check whether or not the application can be installed.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus and an application check method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “multifunction machine”) according to the present embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-function device 100 includes a monochrome laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, and hardware resources 103 such as a scanner, a facsimile, a hard disk, a memory, and a network interface. A software group 110 including a platform 120, an application (hereinafter also referred to as an application) 130, and a virtual application service (VAS) 140 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, a virtual application service (VAS) 140 is arranged between the application 130 and the platform 120. The virtual application service (VAS) 140 operates as a client process using the control service as a server and operates as a server process using the application as a client. The application information acquisition thread and screen display means serve as application information acquisition means. The virtual application service 140 includes a screen display thread as an application check thread, an application check thread as an application check means, and a control thread as an application control means. Note that if only the application check is performed, the VAS does not have to register the client with the service layer.

  The VAS 140 acquires application information and generates the application information file in a hard disk (HD) 200 as a storage unit before performing an installation process for making a certain application startable. As an example of application information to be acquired, here, product information is acquired, product ID, vendor name, application name, version, contact information (phone number), required resources, determination at installation, related application information Etc. are included. This product information is stored in the hard disk 200, the NVRAM 104, which is a nonvolatile memory, the application information table 106 dedicated to the application, etc. Can be used by reading the product information. At that time, the VAS 140 temporarily activates the application before installation, thereby performing inter-process communication only between the VAS 140 and the application, and can individually acquire the application information.

  In addition, after the application is copied from various data cards such as a PC card, an IC card, and an SD card to the hard disk 200 of the multi-function device 100, an installation process is performed so that the application can be activated. In performing this series of processing, the VAS displays a screen to be described later on the operation panel.

  The screen display on the operation panel and the application check can be configured to be executed by processes other than the VAS.

  In the present embodiment, before performing the installation process, application information, which is information about the application, is acquired, and it is determined based on this application information whether the application can be installed. Whether or not this installation is possible depends on the relationship between the existing application and other newly installed applications when the application is started, and the operation of the MFP itself due to problems such as lack of resources and version consistency. Judgment is made based on whether there is a possibility that the operation becomes unstable or the operation stops. The reason for determining whether installation is possible is that there is no point in installing an application that cannot be started, and if it is installed, it will interfere with the operation of the MFP itself if it is started accidentally. It is.

  The platform 120 interprets a processing request from an application and generates a hardware resource acquisition request, and a system resource manager that manages one or a plurality of hardware resources and arbitrates the acquisition request from the control service. (SRM) 123 and a general-purpose OS 121.

  The control service is formed of a plurality of service modules, and includes an SCS (system control service) 122, an ECS (engine control service) 124, an MCS (memory control service) 125, an OCS (operation panel control service) 126, and an FCS. (Fax Control Service) 127 and NCS (Network Control Service) 128. The platform 120 has an application program interface (API) that can receive a processing request from the application 130 by a predefined function.

  The general-purpose OS 121 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes the software of the platform 120 and the application 130 in parallel as processes.

  The process of the SRM 123 performs system control and resource management together with the SCS 122. The SRM123 process uses hardware resources such as engines such as a scanner unit and printer unit, memory, HDD file, and host I / O (Centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, RS232C I / F, etc.). Arbitration is performed according to the request from the upper layer to be used, and execution control is performed.

  Specifically, the SRM 123 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is used. Tell the upper layer that it is possible. In addition, the SRM 123 performs use scheduling of hardware resources in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly executes request contents (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation, memory allocation, file generation, etc. by a printer engine). .

  The process of the SCS 122 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

  In the ECS process, a hardware resource engine including a black and white laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, a scanner, a facsimile, and the like is controlled.

  The MCS 125 process acquires and releases an image memory, uses a hard disk device (HDD), compresses and decompresses image data, and the like.

  The process of FCS 127 includes facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. Provides an API to do.

  The NCS 128 process is a process for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. Data received from the network side according to each protocol is distributed to each application, and data from the application. Mediation when sending to the network side. Specifically, it has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd, and smtpd and client functions of the same protocol.

  The process of the OCS 126 controls an operation panel (operation panel) 105 serving as information transmission means between the operator (user) and the main body control. The OCS 126 acquires a key press from the operation panel 105 as a key event, transmits a key event function corresponding to the acquired key to the SCS 122, and displays various screens on the operation panel according to a request from the application 130 or the control service. A drawing function for drawing and outputting, a function for controlling the operation panel, and the like are composed of pre-registered OCS library portions. The OCS library is mounted by being linked to each module of the application 130 and the control service. The OCS 126 may be configured to operate as a process, or the OCS 126 may be configured as an OCS library.

  The application 130 includes a printer application 111 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 112 that is a copy application, and a fax application 113 that is a facsimile application. A scanner application 114 as a scanner application, a network file application 115 as a network file application, and a process inspection application 116 as a process inspection application. Each of these applications is an application specific to the multifunction peripheral (image forming apparatus specific), transmits an application registration request message together with the process ID of its own process to the VAS 140 at startup, and receives the application registration request message by the VAS 140. The registration process for the activated application is performed.

  Each process of the application 130 and each process of the control service realize user services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles while performing inter-process communication by calling functions, sending return values thereof, and sending and receiving messages. is doing.

  As described above, the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of applications 130 and a plurality of control services, all of which operate as processes. In each of these processes, one or a plurality of threads are generated and parallel execution is performed in units of threads. The control service provides a common service to the application 130. For this reason, a large number of these processes perform a parallel operation and a parallel operation of threads to perform inter-process communication with each other. User services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles are provided. In addition, a third party such as a third vendor can develop and install new applications 117 and 118 in the application layer above the control service layer in the multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the new applications 117 and 118 are installed.

  In the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of application 130 processes and a plurality of control service processes operate. However, the application 130 and the control service process have a single configuration. Is also possible. Each application 130 can be added or deleted for each application.

  FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration example of the multifunction machine 100.

  The multi-function device 100 includes a controller 160, an operation panel 175, a fax control unit (FCU) 176, and an engine unit 177 that is a hardware resource unique to image forming processing such as a printer. The controller 160 includes a CPU 161, a system memory 162, a north bridge (NB) 163, a south bridge (SB) 164, an ASIC 166, a local memory 167, an HDD 168, a network interface card (NIC) 169, and an SD card. Slot 170, USB device 171, IEEE 1394 device 172, and Centronics 173. The memories 162 and 167 include RAM, ROM, and the like. The FCU 176 and the engine unit 177 are connected to the ASIC 166 of the controller 160 via the PCI bus 178.

  The CPU 161 reads programs such as applications and control services installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 from the memory and executes them.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the VAS 140 of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment and the relationship between the VAS 140 and each application, the control service layer 150, and the general-purpose OS 121. In FIG. 2, as an example of the application 130, the printer application 111, the copy application 112, and the new applications 117 and 118 are shown, but other applications have the same configuration.

  The process of the virtual application service (VAS) 140 includes a dispatcher 145, a control thread 144, an application information acquisition thread 141 as application information acquisition means, a screen display thread 142 that generates an operation screen for the operation panel, and An application check thread 143 that checks whether or not an application can be installed based on the acquired application information is operating.

  The dispatcher 145 monitors message reception from the application 130 and the control service, and makes a processing request to the control thread 144, the application information acquisition thread 141, the screen display thread 142, and the application check thread 143 according to the received message. It is.

  The control thread 144 receives a message from the dispatcher 145 and performs application information acquisition processing, screen display processing, and application check processing. Here, the application check process is a process of checking whether or not there is a possibility of affecting the multifunction device when the application is activated. For example, by acquiring the application information of the application that requested installation and other installed applications, and performing version check and resource check, whether or not it will affect the operation even if started after installation to decide. At that time, the screen display thread 142 displays the application information of each application on the operation panel 105 using the application information acquired by the application information acquisition thread 141 and stored in the application information file 201 in the hard disk (HD) 200. Let As a result, the status of the application to be installed can be grasped, so that even if it is determined that the installation is impossible by the application check thread 143, the user understands why the installation could not be performed. be able to. The screen display thread can be configured to display a series of screens from copying an application to installation and activation settings.

  The control thread 144 also installs an application that is determined to be installable by the application check thread 143, or an uninstall process that is deleted when an installed application becomes unnecessary, as will be described later. To control.

  Upon receiving a processing request from the control thread 144, the application information acquisition thread 141 acquires application information in a state in which inter-process communication is possible by performing provisional activation for an application before installation. In addition, by installing an installed application, application information can be acquired by inter-process communication. In this way, the acquired application information of each application is generated in the hard disk (HD) 200 as an application information file 201. Such application information is recorded as a record for each application.

  The VAS 140 program is a file that can be executed or installed in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or FD (flexible disk) as a part or all of a software development kit (SDK). Provided. Further, the program file of the VAS 140 in such an executable format or installable format may be provided by a method that can be acquired via a network.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the VAS 140 and the hard disk 200 for storing application information, the application information table 106, and the NVRAM 104. As shown in FIG. 4, the product information stored in the hard disk 200 is managed for each application unit, and if the product ID can be specified, the corresponding application information can be specified. In addition, the hard disk 200 stores the data of the application A and the application C before installation copied to the multifunction peripheral, and the application B performs the installation process using the data stored in the IC card or the like. Is what you do. F indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 indicates an executable file group in a specific path.

  The NVRAM 104 is a non-volatile memory that retains memory contents even when the power is turned off, and stores the product ID, activation information, and additional information for each application, such as the applications A and B, by performing an installation process. .

  The application information table stores information related to applications as table data for each application, and is used, for example, for screen display. If the product ID of the application A is input, application information such as the application name, version, and installation attribute of the application A can be extracted.

  FIG. 5 is an overall flowchart in the case where installation processing or uninstallation processing is performed on an application in the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. First, in step S401 of FIG. 4, the dispatcher 145 requests the application information thread 141 for the application information acquisition process for the installed application or the installed application to the application information thread 141 via the control thread 144. The application information thread 141 generates an application information file 201 by performing application information acquisition processing.

  In step S402, application information is read from the generated application information file 201, an operation screen to be displayed on the operation panel 105 is generated, and screen display is performed. This display screen displays information such as the application name, version, and resource related to the copied application. Just by the user making a selection along the selection screen, whether installation is possible or the situation when installation is impossible is displayed on the screen. The user performs selection processing according to the screen display.

  After a user selection process is performed for an item, in step S403, after waiting for a user operation (step S403), it is determined whether there is a user request (step S404). Here, the user request is either an app install request or an uninstall request. If the user request is permitted by installation, application information registration processing is performed on the NVRAM 104 shown in FIG. 4 (step S405). If the user request is uninstallation, the application information is deleted from the NVRAM 104 shown in FIG. 4 to be uninstalled (step S406).

  FIG. 6 explains the application information acquisition processing operation in FIG. 5 in detail. Since the application information cannot be acquired as it is for the application before installation or before activation, the VAS 140 temporarily activates the information acquisition target application (step S501), and obtains desired information by inter-process communication. Application information can be acquired by requesting. In the present embodiment, when a product ID capable of centralized management of application information is requested and acquired (step S502), it can be determined whether the application is a registered application by referring to the NVRAM 104 (step S502). S503).

  If it is not registered in the NVRAM 104, it is determined whether or not there is a product information file (step S504). If there is no product information, various information is acquired from the application using interprocess communication (step S505). Thereby, after a product information file is generated (step S506), an installation determination process is performed (step S507). Then, the determination processing result is reflected in the product information (step S508). The installation determination is performed, for example, by comparing the used resource information acquired from the application with the resource information included in the system.

  In step S509, whether or not installation is possible is determined based on the determination result. If there is a product information file in step S504, application information is acquired from the product information (step S510), and determination information at the time of installation is acquired (step S511). Then, in step S509 described above, Whether installation is possible is determined.

  If installation is possible in step S509, an installable flag is set (step S512), and writing to the application information table is performed (step S516). If installation is not possible, an installation impossible flag is set (step S513), and writing to the application information table is performed (step S516). Further, in the above-described step S503, if the application has a product ID registered in the NVRAM 104, the application information is acquired from the NVRAM 104 (step S514), and the installed flag is set (step S515). Writing to the application information table is performed (step S516). The information in the application information table can be used for screen display.

  If the processes for all applications have not been completed, the process returns to step S501 again, and the above processes are repeated until the processes for all applications are completed.

  Next, the temporary activation of the application will be described in more detail. Temporary activation is activation different from normal activation of an application that uses resources of the multifunction peripheral (activation for performing an original function of the application is referred to as normal activation). In provisional activation, the application does not acquire resources such as securing the memory necessary for the original operation of the application, and only performs inter-process communication processing with the VAS. The app then provides information to the VAS. The process of the temporarily activated application ends when the communication process with the VAS ends. In addition, the function related to the temporary activation of the application is a function common to the application operating on the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment, regardless of the original function of the application. Therefore, for example, when a vendor develops an application, a program template including a provisional activation function can be provided to the vendor, and the vendor can develop an application for a multifunction device using the program template. Note that the above-described application information can be included in the application execution file by, for example, creating an include file in which the vendor records the application information and including the application information when compiling the application.

  Since the application has a provisional activation function, application information can be provided to the VAS through communication with the VAS without performing normal activation, and the VAS can check whether or not it can be installed.

  FIG. 7 shows an outline of the program description (main function) of the application including the provisional activation function. This description is provided as the above program template.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this program description, an application (tentatively or normally) is designated by an argument (-v). Thereby, when the VAS activates the application, the normal activation and the temporary activation can be easily used properly. That is, if temporary activation is specified using an argument (-v), temporary activation is executed and application information provision processing is performed. If temporary activation is not designated, normal activation is performed to perform the original operation of the application.

  In the above embodiment, the VAS acquires information from the application, determines whether installation is possible, and registers the application. However, as shown in the sequence shown in FIG. After the determination, the VAS makes an inquiry to the application as to whether or not the installation of the application can be started (step S601), and when the application returns a notification that the installation is possible to the VAS in response to the inquiry ( In step S602), the VAS may register the application (step S603).

  In addition, between step S601 and step S602, the application may acquire system information (resource information or device configuration information) from the VAS, and the application may determine whether installation is possible based on the information. .

  Note that there are other methods for the VAS to acquire the application information other than the method for acquiring the application information included in the execution file of the application. For example, the application information is created in a file different from the application, and the contents of the file are read by the VAS. By placing the file in a server external to the multifunction device, the application information can be acquired via the network.

  Next, FIGS. 9 to 36 are diagrams showing examples of state transitions of the operation screen displayed on the operation panel 105 of the multifunction machine. First, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an authentication screen in the initial setting screen, FIGS. 10 to 16 are diagrams illustrating a file copy operation, and FIGS. 17 to 28 are diagrams illustrating an installation operation. 29 to 36 are diagrams illustrating the uninstall operation.

  First, the user ID and password are input on the authentication screen of FIG. When the user presses the OK button 210 after inputting both, a desired mode can be selected. Here, as a premise for performing a process for installing a new application, a process for copying the application to the multifunction peripheral is performed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10A, the file copy screen is displayed and the storage source of the copy target file is designated. Here, there are three options of the memory card 211, the SD card 212, and the network via 213. As shown in FIG. 10 (b), when the user selects 213 via the network and presses the OK button 216, the application download screen using the Web shown in FIG. 11 (a) or the LAN shown in FIG. 11 (b) is displayed. A copy screen of the used application file is displayed. When the CANCEL button 215 is pressed in FIG. 10B, the screen returns to FIG. 10A, and when the EXIT button 214 is pressed, the screen returns to the screen where the authentication screen of FIG. 9 is not displayed.

  FIG. 12A shows the case where the memory card 211 is selected, and FIG. 12B shows the case where the SD card 212 is selected. When the OK button 216 is pressed, the screen transitions to the screen of FIG. 13A and a file list creation waiting screen is displayed. When the CANCEL button 221 is pressed here, the screen returns to the screen of FIG. FIG. 13B is a screen showing the file list 222.

  FIG. 14A shows a screen in which only simplecopy 225 is selected from the file list, and FIG. 14B shows a screen in a case where simpleprint 223 is also selected. When the OK button 216 is pressed in FIG. 14A, a transition is made to the standby screen in FIG. If the same file exists, the warning screen of FIG. 15B is displayed, and overwriting confirmation display is performed. When the file copy processing is completed, the screen is displayed as shown in FIG. At this point, the desired application file has been copied to the hard disk or the like.

  Next, FIG. 17 is an example of an installation operation screen. Note that when the install tag is selected, the above-described application information is acquired.

  Here, registration possible, registration impossible, and registered information can be displayed on the screen. “Registered” means that application information is registered in NVRAM by the installation process. By referring to the NVRAM, the VAS can determine whether or not a certain application has been registered.

  “Unregistrable” is displayed when the VAS determines that the application cannot be installed in the multifunction peripheral for some reason. For example, when the use-scheduled resource acquired from the application by the VAS is not provided in the multi-function peripheral, it is determined that it cannot be installed in the multi-function peripheral.

  “Unregistered (can be registered)” means that it has been determined that the MFP can be installed, but the installation process has not yet been performed.

  As shown in FIG. 17B, blinking is displayed when the simple copy 235 that is a registerable application is designated. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 19 (a), when the unregistrable application 234 is designated, a transition is made to FIG. 19 (b), and a message indicating that registration is impossible and registration is not possible. The information for displaying this message is stored in the multi-function peripheral when the VAS determines whether or not the application can be installed.

  When an application to be installed is selected on the screen shown in FIG. 17A, as shown in FIG. 18, the installation source medium (medium in which the application is copied) and the installation destination medium (application can be started) Medium that exists as a new state) may be displayed. In this case, the installation destination medium can be selected. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, an application copied to the SD card can be activated (installed) while being copied to the SD card.

  When a registered application is selected, the screen changes from FIG. 20A to FIG. 20B, and a warning screen is displayed. When an application that can be registered is selected, an application registration standby screen 240 shown in FIG. 21A is displayed, and then a registration end screen shown in FIG. 21B is displayed. Thereby, application registration (installation in this specification) is completed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 22, the number of registered applications increases.

  Further, FIG. 23A shows an example in which registered and unregisterable are displayed in the same manner. From the state of FIG. 23 (b), when all are in a non-selected state, the process returns to (a). As shown in FIG. 24A, a plurality of applications can be selected as registration targets, or once selected, they can be canceled as shown in FIG.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 25A, when an application that cannot be registered is selected, a warning screen is displayed as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 26 (a), also when trying to select a registered application, a warning screen as shown in (b) is displayed. Here, a notice that the set value is initialized is shown. Then, when registration is in progress as shown in FIG. 27A, the screen changes to a standby screen, a completion result as shown in FIG. 27B is displayed, and a specific application name of the registration result is displayed as shown in FIG.

  Next, in the case of uninstallation processing, the screen shown in FIG. (B) is a state where a specific application to be deleted is selected. When deletion registration is performed for an application for which deletion is prohibited, warning screens shown in FIGS. 30A to 30B are displayed. When deletion registration is permitted, it becomes like FIG. 31 (a), (b), and the deletion registration result is displayed as shown in FIG. FIG. 33 and FIG. 34 are examples of registration deletion screens when keys are assigned to the application. As shown in FIG. 34A, when SimpleScan is selected, an inquiry screen as to whether or not to cancel the key assignment and delete the registration is displayed in FIG. When OK is pressed here, the screen is displayed as shown in FIGS. 35A and 35B, and the deletion registration result is displayed as shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, copy processing is performed to install a new application, and installation or uninstallation processing is performed using an operation screen example of the operation panel as shown in FIGS. As shown, it is easy to understand and easy to operate. Since various application information is displayed on the operation panel, the user only has to sequentially select screens based on the information displayed on the screen, and the operation becomes very simple.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 9 to 36, the MFP determines whether or not to install and displays the result on the operation panel. However, the MFP determines whether or not to install without determining whether or not to install. Information necessary for the display may be displayed. In this case, for example, the API version information used by the application and the API version information in the MFP system are displayed. Further, the resource amount that the application plans to use and the resource amount that can be used in the multifunction peripheral may be displayed in a format that can be compared.

  Now, it is also possible to display the above series of screens on a device such as an external PC connected to the multifunction peripheral via a network, and perform installation processing or the like therefrom.

  In this case, the net file application shown in FIG. 1 has a Web server function, and a Java (registered trademark) program that is a part of the net file application uses the so-called servlet method to create the above-described series of screens, and Performs multi-function processing such as installation processing. The PC also includes a web browser.

  The configuration of the net file application 115 in this case is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 37, the net file application 115 has a Web server 1151, a JVM (Java (registered trademark) virtual machine) 1152, and a Java (registered trademark) program 1153. The net file application 115 receives a request related to installation processing from the PC, performs actual processing, creates HTML, and returns it to the PC.

  The screen display on the PC can be performed in parallel with the screen display of the multifunction peripheral, or can be performed independently. When performing in parallel with the screen display of the multifunction peripheral, for example, the net file application 115 acquires drawing information from the OCS, converts it into HTML, and transmits it to the PC.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of VAS of the multifunctional device concerning this Embodiment, and the relationship between VAS, each application, a control service layer, and general purpose OS. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the hard disk which stores VAS and application information, an application information table, and NVRAM. 4 is an overall flowchart in a case where an install process or an uninstall process is performed on an application in the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating in detail the application information acquisition process operation | movement in FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the program description (main function) of the application containing the function of temporary starting. It is a figure which shows the negotiation between VAS and an application. It is a figure which shows an initial setting screen. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows file copy operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows installation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows uninstallation operation. It is a figure which shows the structure of a net file application.

Explanation of symbols

100 MFP 101 Monochrome Laser Printer 102 Color Laser Printer 104 NVRAM
105 Operation panel 110 Software group 111 Printer application 112 Copy application 113 Fax application 114 Scanner application 115 Net file application 116 Process inspection application 117, 118 New application 120 Platform 121 General-purpose OS
122 SCS
123 SRM
124 ECS
125 MCS
126 OCS
127 FCS
128 NCS
130 Application 140 Virtual Application Service (VAS)
141 Application information acquisition thread 142 Screen display thread 143 Application check thread 144 Control thread 145 Dispatcher 150 Control service layer 200 Hard disk (HD)
201 Application information file

Claims (22)

An image forming apparatus having an operation panel for displaying or inputting operation information,
Information acquisition means for acquiring application information related to an application used in the image forming apparatus;
Determination means for determining whether or not the application can be installed in the image forming apparatus based on the application information acquired by the information acquisition means;
An image forming apparatus comprising: display means for displaying application information acquired by the information acquisition means or information related to the application information on the operation panel.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays an installable application on the operation panel in a selectable manner based on a result of determination by the determination unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information displayed on the operation panel includes an application name of an installable application and an application outline description.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a reason for the inability to install an application that cannot be installed based on a result of the determination by the determination unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a warning when the same application as the application selected for installation already exists in the image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application information or related information displayed on the operation panel includes information necessary for determining whether to install the application.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the information necessary for determining whether the application can be installed includes version information on the application side and version information on the image forming apparatus side.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the information necessary for determining whether or not to install the application includes a resource scheduled to be used for the application and a resource that can be used in the image forming apparatus. The display means displays an install operation screen or an uninstall operation screen based on the application information,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an application installation process or an uninstallation process according to an operation on the operation screen.   10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit configured to display a screen equivalent to a screen displayed on the operation panel on an external device via a network. A method of displaying operation information on the operation panel in an image forming apparatus having an operation panel for displaying or inputting operation information,
An information acquisition step of acquiring application information related to an application used in the image forming apparatus;
A determination step of determining whether the application can be installed in the image forming apparatus based on the application information acquired in the information acquisition step;
A display step of displaying the application information acquired in the information acquisition step or information related to the application information on the operation panel.   12. The method according to claim 11, wherein an installable application is displayed on the operation panel so as to be selectable based on a result of the determination in the determination step.   13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the information displayed on the operation panel includes an application name of an installable application and an application summary description.   The method according to claim 11, wherein a reason for the inability to install is displayed for an application that cannot be installed based on a result of the determination in the determination step.   The method according to claim 11, wherein a warning is displayed when the same application as the application selected for installation already exists in the image forming apparatus.   The method according to claim 11, wherein the application information or related information displayed on the operation panel includes information necessary for determining whether to install the application.   The method according to claim 16, wherein the information necessary for determining whether the application can be installed includes version information on the application side and version information on the image forming apparatus side.   The method according to claim 16, wherein the information necessary for determining whether or not to install the application includes a resource scheduled to be used for the application and a resource that can be used in the image forming apparatus. Based on the application information, an installation operation screen or an uninstallation operation screen is displayed,
The method according to claim 11, further comprising performing an application installation process or an uninstallation process in accordance with an operation on the operation screen.   The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, further comprising a step of causing a screen equivalent to a screen displayed on the operation panel to be displayed on an external device via a network. An image forming apparatus having an operation panel for displaying or inputting operation information is provided.
Information acquisition means for acquiring application information relating to an application used in the image forming apparatus;
Determination means for determining whether or not the application can be installed in the image forming apparatus based on the application information acquired by the information acquisition means;
A program that functions as display means for displaying application information acquired by the information acquisition means or information related to the application information on the operation panel.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 21 is recorded.

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