JP2009159204A - Fax driver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fax driver capable of easily making a transmission to a destination to which a transmission has been once made, without requiring registration work or the like, and also easily registering destination history information on another terminal device. <P>SOLUTION: When a FAX or mail transmission to a digital composite machine is instructed, a control unit 31 stores as a file a transmission destination in a destination history storage unit 34 and when a destination is selected from a destination history and grouping is instructed, the selected destination is stored in a group destination storage unit 35 as a group destination file. Furthermore, when it is instructed to export or import the group destination, an import/export unit 36 outputs the selected group destination to a designated folder and captures the group destination from a selected folder. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fax driver provided in a terminal device connected via a communication network to a device having a fax and mail transmission function such as a digital multi-function peripheral (MFP).

Recently, facsimile systems have been widely used in offices and the like, and play a useful role in data communication. Such a system is configured, for example, by connecting a digital multifunction peripheral and a terminal device so-called client personal computer through a communication network such as a LAN. Then, when the digital multifunction peripheral transfers the data received by facsimile to the client personal computer or receives data specifying the destination from the client personal computer, the digital multifunction peripheral transmits the received data to the specified destination (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-101776

  In such a system, when a fax transmission of image data is instructed by the application software of the personal computer, usually the fax driver software installed in the personal computer outputs the transmission image data to the digital multi-function peripheral. Thereafter, the fax driver software hooks the Internet browser and activates a transmission dialog using the HTTP protocol, and allows the user to input or select a transmission destination.

  That is, the user directly inputs a fax number or mail address as a destination on the transmission dialog screen, or selects an arbitrary destination from destinations registered in advance in the digital multifunction peripheral on the transmission dialog screen. .

  However, after sending a fax or email by directly entering a fax number or email address, if you try to send another document to the same destination, you will have to enter the destination again and again, which is troublesome. There was a problem.

  On the other hand, if a transmission destination is registered in the destination table stored in the digital multifunction peripheral, fax transmission or mail transmission can be performed to the registered destination any number of times. However, it takes time to register the transmission destination in the digital multi-function peripheral, and the registration work may be wasted if it is not the other party that repeatedly transmits.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can easily transmit to a destination once transmitted without requiring registration work or the like, and easily transmit destination history information to other terminal devices. The purpose is to provide a fax driver that can be registered.

  In order to achieve the above object, a fax driver according to the present invention is provided in a terminal device connected via a communication network to a device having a fax and / or mail transmission function, and instructs the device to send a fax or mail. An image information generation unit that generates image information, a destination history storage unit, a group destination storage unit, and the image information generated by the image information generation unit and a transmission destination via a communication network. A transfer unit that transfers to the device, and a control unit that controls each of the units. When an instruction to send a fax or mail to the device is given, the control unit uses the transmission destination instructed as a file as the file Store in the history storage unit and select multiple destinations from the destinations stored in the destination history storage unit to specify grouping. The control unit stores the selected destination as a group destination file in the group destination storage unit, and stores the destination stored in the destination history storage unit or the group destination stored in the group destination storage unit. Is selected and a fax or e-mail transmission instruction is made, the control unit transfers the image information generated by the image information generation unit and the selected destination or group destination to the device by the transfer unit. It is characterized by doing.

According to another fax driver of the present invention, in the fax driver, the destination history storage unit and the group destination storage unit store the destination and the group destination as a vCard or CSV file.
Furthermore, in another fax driver according to the present invention, when the destination file is stored in the destination history storage unit in the fax driver, the number of files stored in the destination history storage unit exceeds a predetermined number of files. In this case, the control unit deletes the file with the oldest creation date or the least frequently used file from the destination history storage unit.

  Another fax driver of the present invention includes a data input / output unit for exporting / importing destinations and / or group destinations in the fax driver described above, and when the destination or group destination is instructed to be exported, When the output unit outputs the selected destination or group destination file to the specified folder, and when the destination or group destination is instructed to be imported, the data input / output unit displays the destination or group destination of the selected folder. This file is stored in the destination history storage unit or the group destination storage unit.

According to the fax driver of the present invention, when a fax or e-mail transmission instruction is issued, the transmission destination instructed to be transmitted is stored as a file such as vCard or CSV. Can be sent to the destination.
In addition, according to the fax driver of the present invention, a plurality of destinations selected from the destination history can be stored as a group destination file. Therefore, simultaneous transmission to a plurality of destinations can be easily performed by using this group destination. it can.

  Furthermore, according to the fax driver of the present invention, when the number of files stored in the destination history storage unit exceeds a predetermined number of files, the files are deleted, thereby preventing the stored files from becoming too many. be able to.

  Further, according to the fax driver of the present invention, the transmission destination and group destination are stored as a file, so that the transmission destination and group destination can be easily used on another personal computer by exporting and importing this file. Can do.

  Embodiments of a fax driver according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of a system including a personal computer installed with software for realizing a fax driver of the present invention and a digital multi-function peripheral.

In the network configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1, 1 is a digital multifunction peripheral, 2, 3, 4... Are personal computers, 5 is a public switched telephone network (PSTN), 6 is a LAN, and 7 is an Internet network.
The digital multi-function peripheral 1 has functions of a copy mode, a printer mode, and a fax mode, and is connected to the PSTN 5 and the LAN 6, and a plurality of personal computers 2, 3, 4,... Are connected to the LAN 6 as terminal devices. . The LAN 6 is also connected to the Internet network 7, and the digital multi-function peripheral 1 can also send and receive mail via the Internet network 7.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the personal computers 2, 3, 4, etc., and the CPU 21 controls each hardware part of the personal computer 2 via the bus 28 and is based on a software program stored in the ROM 22. Execute various programs. The RAM 23 is composed of SRAM or the like, and stores temporary data generated when the program is executed.

  The display unit 24 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the input unit 25 is a keyboard for operating the personal computer 2. A hard disk drive (HDD) 26 is a storage device having a built-in storage medium, which stores programs of various functions and various data. The HDD 26 stores fax driver software that is activated when the application software instructs to send image data by fax or mail. The HDD 26 is also provided with a destination history information storage area for storing the destination as history information when a transmission instruction is issued by the fax driver software.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the fax driver executed by the above fax driver software.
The control unit 31 controls each unit constituting the fax driver. The image information generation unit 32 generates image information when an instruction to fax or mail image data is given by the application software. That is, the image information generation unit 32 generates an image compressed image (fax encoding method) of image data or PDL (Page Description Language) data described in a page description language.

The image / destination information transfer unit 33 transfers the image information generated by the image information generation unit 32 and the transmission destination to the digital multi-function peripheral 1 and instructs fax or mail transmission. The destination history storage unit 34 stores the transferred transmission destination as a destination history when the digital multifunction peripheral 1 is instructed to send a fax or mail.
As the destination history, a single destination or a plurality of destinations are stored in a file format of vCard (electronic business card data standard) or CSV (comma separated text format). The number of files stored in the destination history storage unit 34 can be set by a fax driver, and the initial value is set to 20 files, for example.

  Further, when a plurality of destinations are selected from the destinations stored in the destination history storage unit 34 and grouping is instructed, the group destination storage unit 35 stores the selected destinations as group destinations. When the export of the destination stored in the destination history storage unit 34 or the group destination stored in the group destination storage unit 35 is instructed, the import / export unit 36 is designated the file of the selected destination or group destination. Output to a folder. Further, the import / export unit 36 takes the destination or group destination file of the selected folder into the destination history storage unit 34 or the group destination storage unit 35 when the destination or group destination is instructed to be imported.

Next, for example, the operation of the fax driver when a fax transmission instruction is issued from the personal computer 2 will be described.
When the application software of the personal computer 2 instructs the facsimile transmission of the image data, the control unit 31 of the fax driver starts the transfer program shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 4-1 and 4-2.
When the transfer program is started, the control unit 31 first causes the image information generation unit 32 to generate image compressed image data of the image data as image information (step 101), and then displays a transmission dialog screen on the display unit 24. (Step 102).

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the above-mentioned transmission dialog screen. As shown in the figure, as shown in the figure, an input field for a fax transmission destination and an input field for an email transmission destination, a “Send” button, a “Re-destination” button, a “Group” button, The “Close” button is displayed. After inputting the transmission destination on this transmission dialog screen, the image information can be transmitted to the input transmission destination by clicking the “Send” button. Also, by clicking the “re-destination” button on this transmission dialog screen, the destination file stored in the destination history storage unit 34 can be converted into a viewable format and displayed. Further, by clicking the “group” button on this transmission dialog screen, the group destination file stored in the group destination storage unit 35 can be converted into a viewable format and displayed.

  After displaying the transmission dialog screen, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “transmission” button is clicked on the transmission dialog screen of FIG. 5 (step 103). If it is determined that the “send” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 stores the transmission destination input in the fax transmission destination input field or the e-mail transmission destination input field in the destination history storage unit 34 (step 104). . At this time, the control unit 31 converts one or more input transmission destinations into a CSV file format, and sets the file name as “creation / update date / time of use”, for example, a file name of 20071224093120-1.csv Remember me.

  Next, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the number of files stored in the destination history storage unit 34 exceeds a set number, for example, 20 files (step 105). If it is determined that the number of stored files has exceeded 20 files, the control unit 31 refers to the file name of each file to delete the destination file with the oldest creation / update date (step 106).

After deleting the destination file or when it is determined in step 105 that the number of files does not exceed 20 files, the control unit 31 transfers the input transmission destination and image information to the digital multi-function peripheral 1 (step S1). 107). That is, the control unit 31 causes the image / destination information transfer unit 33 to transfer the input transmission destination and the image information generated by the image information generation unit 32 to the digital multifunction peripheral 1.
As a result, in the case of fax transmission, the transferred image information is transmitted by the digital multifunction peripheral 1 through the PSTN 5 to the transmission destination.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 103 that the “send” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “re-destination” button has been clicked (step 108). If it is determined that the “re-destination” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 converts the destination file stored in the destination history storage unit 34 into a viewable format and displays it on the display unit 24 as a retransmission destination list display screen. (Step 109).

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a re-transmission destination list display screen. As shown in the figure, the number of each destination file stored in the destination history storage unit 34, a transmission destination name, a fax number or an address are displayed. Also, a “Send” button, a “Group” button, and a “Close” button are displayed at the bottom. After selecting one of the retransmission destination numbers on this retransmission destination list display screen, the image information can be transmitted to the selected retransmission destination by clicking the “Send” button. Further, after selecting a plurality of retransmission destination numbers on this retransmission destination list display screen, a group destination file in which the selected retransmission destinations are grouped can be created by clicking a “group” button.

  After displaying the retransmission destination list display screen, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “Send” button has been clicked (Step 110). If it is determined that the “Send” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 changes the file name of the selected retransmission destination (step 111). That is, the control unit 31 updates the selected re-transmission destination file name as “update date and time-use count”, for example, with a file name of 20071226125002-3.csv, and stores it in the destination history storage unit 34. Thereafter, the control unit 31 causes the image / destination information transfer unit 33 to transfer the selected retransmission destination and the image information generated by the image information generation unit 32 to the digital multifunction peripheral 1 (step 107).

If it is determined in step 110 that the “send” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “group” button has been clicked on the retransmission destination list display screen (step 112). If it is determined that the “group” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 displays a group name input screen on the display unit 24 (step 113), and then determines whether or not a group name has been input (step 114). . If it is determined that the group name is input on the group name input screen, the control unit 31 stores the destination information selected on the retransmission destination list display screen in the group destination storage unit 35 with the input group name. After (step 115), the process returns to step 110.
Thereby, the destination information selected on the retransmission destination list display screen can be stored in the group destination storage unit 35 as a desired group name, for example, as a file with the name “D Shoji Kanto Area.csv”.

  When it is determined in step 112 that the “group” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “close” button has been clicked (step 116). When it is determined that the “Close” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 returns to Step 110, and when it is determined that the “Close” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 returns to Step 102 and displays the transmission dialog screen again. .

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step 108 that the “re-destination” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “group” button has been clicked (step 117). If it is determined that the “group” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 displays a group destination list display screen on the display unit 24 (step 118).

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the group destination list display screen. As shown in the figure, the number, group name, fax number or address of each group destination file stored in the group destination storage unit 35 is displayed. In addition, a “Send” button and a “Close” button are displayed at the bottom, and an “Export” button and an “Import” button are displayed at the top.

  After selecting one of the group destination numbers on this group destination list display screen, the image information can be transmitted to the destination included in the selected group destination by clicking the “Send” button. Further, by clicking the “Export” button on this group destination list display screen, the file of the selected group destination can be output to a predetermined folder, for example, a floppy disk. Further, by clicking the “Import” button on the group destination list display screen, the file of the group destination stored in a predetermined folder can be taken in and stored in the group destination storage unit 35.

  After displaying the group destination list display screen, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “Send” button has been clicked (step 119). When it is determined that the “Send” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 uses the image / destination information transfer unit 33 to digitally convert the destinations included in the selected group destination and the image information generated by the image information generation unit 32. Transfer to the MFP 1 (step 107).

  If it is determined that the “Send” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “Export” button has been clicked (Step 120). If it is determined that the “Export” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 displays a folder selection screen for outputting a file on the display unit 24 (step 121), and then determines whether a folder has been selected (step 121). 122). If it is determined that the folder has been selected, the control unit 31 outputs the selected group destination file to the selected folder, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk (step 123).

  After outputting the group destination or when determining in step 120 that the “export” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “import” button has been clicked (step 124). If it is determined that the “Import” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 causes the display unit 24 to display a folder selection screen for extracting a file (step 125), and then determines whether a folder has been selected (step 125). 126). If it is determined that the folder has been selected, the control unit 31 takes in the group destination file stored in the selected folder and stores it in the group destination storage unit 35 (step 127).

  After fetching the group destination or when it is determined in step 124 that the “import” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “close” button has been clicked (step 128). If it is determined that the “Close” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 returns to Step 119, and if it is determined that the “Close” button has been clicked, the control unit 31 returns to Step 102 and displays the transmission dialog screen again. .

  If it is determined in step 117 that the “group” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the “close” button has been clicked on the transmission dialog screen of FIG. 5 (step 129). If it is determined that the “Close” button has not been clicked, the control unit 31 returns to Step 103 to determine whether or not the “Send” button has been clicked. If it is determined that the “Close” button has been clicked, Exit the program.

As described above, when a fax or e-mail transmission instruction is sent to the digital multifunction peripheral, the transmission destination instructed to be transmitted is stored as a file, so it can be easily transmitted to the same destination without requiring registration work or the like. Can do.
Further, since the destination selected from the destination history can be stored as a group destination file, simultaneous transmission to a plurality of destinations can be easily performed by using this group destination.

Furthermore, since the files are deleted when the number of files stored in the destination history storage unit exceeds a predetermined number of files, it is possible to prevent the number of stored files from becoming excessive.
Further, since the transmission destination and the group destination are stored as files, the transmission destination and the group destination can be easily used by another personal computer by exporting and importing the file.

In the above embodiment, when the number of files exceeds a predetermined number, the file with the oldest creation date or update date is deleted, but the file with the least number of uses may be deleted.
In the above embodiment, the file is deleted when the number of files stored in the destination history storage unit exceeds a predetermined number. However, the file is also deleted when the number of files of the group destination exceeds the predetermined number. It may be deleted.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the group destinations can be imported and exported. However, the destination file can be imported and exported on the retransmission destination list display screen of FIG.

1 is a network configuration example diagram of a system configured by a personal computer equipped with a fax driver of the present invention and a digital multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a personal computer. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function of a fax driver. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action of the fax driver at the time of fax transmission. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action of the fax driver at the time of fax transmission. It is an example of a transmission dialog screen. It is an example of a re-transmission destination list display screen. It is an example of a group destination list display screen.

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital MFP 2, 3, 4 PC 5 PSTN
6 LAN
7 Internet Network 31 Control Unit 32 Image Information Generation Unit 33 Image / Destination Information Transfer Unit 34 Destination History Storage Unit 35 Group Destination Storage Unit 36 Import / Export Unit

Claims (4)

A fax driver provided in a terminal device connected to a device having a fax and / or mail transmission function via a communication network, and instructing the device to send a fax or email;
An image information generation unit that generates image information, a destination history storage unit, a group destination storage unit, and a transfer unit that transfers the image information generated by the image information generation unit and the transmission destination to the device via a communication network And a control unit that controls each of the above-described units,
When an instruction to send a fax or mail to the device is given, the control unit stores the transmission destination instructed to be transmitted as a file in the destination history storage unit,
When a plurality of destinations are selected from the destinations stored in the destination history storage unit and grouping is instructed, the control unit stores the selected destinations as a group destination file in the group destination storage unit,
When the destination stored in the destination history storage unit or the group destination stored in the group destination storage unit is selected and a fax or mail transmission instruction is issued, the control unit generates the image information generation unit. A fax driver, wherein the transferred image information and the selected destination or group destination are transferred to the device by the transfer unit. In the fax driver according to claim 1,
A fax driver, wherein the destination history storage unit and the group destination storage unit store destinations and group destinations as vCard or CSV files. In the fax driver according to claim 1,
When the transmission destination file is stored in the destination history storage unit, if the number of files stored in the destination history storage unit exceeds a predetermined number of files, the control unit determines whether the creation date and time is the oldest file or the number of times of use. A fax driver, wherein a file with the smallest number is deleted from the destination history storage unit. In the fax driver according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A data input / output unit for exporting / importing destinations and / or group destinations;
When the destination or group destination is instructed to export, the data input / output unit outputs the selected destination or group destination file to the specified folder, and when the destination or group destination is instructed to import, A fax driver, wherein a data input / output unit stores a destination or group destination file of a selected folder in the destination history storage unit or the group destination storage unit.

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