JP2009260641A - Information processing system, information processor, image forming device, information processing method, and information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing system which manages using new functions without losing convenience even if new functions are added, an information processor, an image forming device, an information processing method, and information processing programs. <P>SOLUTION: The information processing system has a transmission means for transmitting user information acquired based on the result of user authentication to an application which executes a specific processing. Thereby, the information processing system can manage using functions to be obtained by the new application using the user information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program that execute specific processing using user information.

  In recent years, a user authentication is performed by reading user identification information (hereinafter referred to as a user ID) recorded on an IC card or the like, and a function that restricts the use of functions corresponding to individual users based on the use authority corresponding to the user ID. There are machines. In such a multifunction machine, a new function can be added by installing a new application from the outside, for example.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes an information processing management system, an information processing management method, and an information processing management program that perform user authentication using an IC card.
JP 2007-60163 A

  In the above conventional technique, for example, an application installed from the outside as a new function is not linked with a user authentication function of a multifunction peripheral or the like. Therefore, with a newly installed application, it is not possible to perform processing using information relating to the usage authority for each user acquired at the time of user authentication.

  For this reason, for example, in a conventional multi-function peripheral or the like, for newly added functions, input of user information or the like is requested again when the functions are used. Therefore, each time the user uses a newly added function, the user must provide user information such as a user ID to the multi-function peripheral, which is inconvenient.

  In addition, for example, in a conventional multifunction device, use of a newly added function may be permitted indiscriminately regardless of the result of user authentication. In this case, regarding the newly added function, there is a problem that it is impossible to manage the use based on the use authority for each user.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and even when a new function is added, an information processing system capable of managing the use of the new function without impairing convenience An information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program are provided.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to achieve the above object.

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a database in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other, a specific process executing means for executing a specific process, and a user identification recorded on a recording medium Identification information acquisition means for acquiring information; authentication means for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition means; and user information corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication means. The user information acquisition means acquired from the user information and the transmission means for transmitting the user information acquired by the user information acquisition means to the specific process execution means.

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention further includes user information setting means for setting user information used for processing executed by the specific process execution means, and the user information acquisition means is set by the user information setting means. The user information may be acquired.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention may include a read information setting unit that sets information to be read from the recording medium, and the identification information acquisition unit acquires information set by the read information setting unit. .

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention may include a transmission information setting unit that sets information transmitted by the transmission unit among the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit.

  In the information processing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the recording medium is a portable recording medium.

  The present invention is an image forming apparatus equipped with the information processing apparatus.

  The present invention is an information processing system including a user information management server in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other, and an information processing apparatus connected to the user information management server, The information processing apparatus includes: a specific process execution unit that executes a specific process; an identification information acquisition unit that acquires user identification information recorded on a recording medium; and the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit. Authentication means for performing authentication, user information acquisition means for acquiring user information corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication means from the user information management server, and user information acquired by the user information acquisition means And transmitting means for transmitting to the specific process executing means.

  The present invention relates to an information processing method by an information processing apparatus having a database in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other, a specific process execution procedure for executing a specific process, and recording on a recording medium An identification information acquisition procedure for acquiring the user identification information, an authentication procedure for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition procedure, and a user corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication procedure A user information acquisition procedure for acquiring information from the database, and a method including the information.

  The present invention relates to an information processing program that is executed in an information processing apparatus having a database in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other, and the information processing apparatus performs a specific process. Authentication is performed by the processing execution step, the identification information acquisition step for acquiring the user identification information recorded on the recording medium, the authentication step for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition step, and the authentication step. The user information acquisition step of acquiring user information corresponding to the user identification information from the database and the user information transmission step of transmitting the user information to the specific process execution procedure are executed.

  According to the present invention, even when a new function is added, use of the new function can be managed without impairing convenience.

  The present invention includes a transmission unit that transmits user information acquired based on a result of the user authentication process to a specific process execution unit that executes a specific process. In the present invention, even when an application for executing a specific process is newly installed, the use of the function realized by the new application can be managed without impairing the convenience. .

In the following embodiment, an embodiment in which the information processing apparatus of the present invention is realized by an image forming apparatus will be described.
(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a scan function, and a print function.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a scanning device 11, a plotter device 12, a drive device 13, an auxiliary storage device 14, a memory device 15, an arithmetic processing device 16, an interface device 17, and an operation panel 18 that are mutually connected by a bus B. Composed.

  The scanning device 11 includes a scanner engine, an engine control unit that controls the scanner engine, and the like, and is used to make a paper document as image data. The plotter device 12 includes a plotter engine and an engine control unit that controls the plotter engine, and is used to output image data. The interface device 17 includes a modem, a LAN card, and the like, and is used for connecting to a network. The image forming apparatus 100 transmits / receives information to / from other apparatuses on the network via the interface apparatus 17. The operation panel 18 is configured by a touch panel or the like, and displays operation keys of the image forming apparatus 100, processing progress, and the like.

  The information processing program of the present invention is at least a part of various programs that control the image forming apparatus 100. The information processing program is provided by, for example, distribution of the recording medium 19 or downloading from a network. The recording medium 19 on which the information processing program is recorded is information such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc., a recording medium for recording information optically, electrically or magnetically, a ROM, a flash memory, etc. Various types of recording media, such as a semiconductor memory that electrically records data, can be used.

  When the recording medium 19 on which the information processing program is recorded is set in the drive device 13, the information processing program is installed from the recording medium 19 to the auxiliary storage device 14 via the drive device 13. The information processing program downloaded from the network is installed in the auxiliary storage device 14 via the interface device 17.

  The image forming apparatus 100 stores the installed information processing program and stores necessary files, data, and the like. The memory device 15 reads and stores the information processing program from the auxiliary storage device 14 when the computer is activated. The arithmetic processing unit 16 realizes various processes as described later according to the information processing program stored in the memory device 15.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment.

  An IC card reader 110 is connected to the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, and reads a user ID (user identification information) recorded on the IC card. The IC card may be a non-contact type card or a contact type card. When the IC card is a contactless card, the IC card reader 110 reads the user ID when the IC card is inserted.

  The image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes an authentication control unit 120, an application group 130, and a database 140. The authentication control unit 120 manages the use of the image forming apparatus 100 for each user based on the authentication result using the user ID read by the IC card reader 110.

  The authentication control unit 120 includes a reader control unit 121, an authentication processing unit 122, a user information acquisition unit 123, a user information setting unit 124, a reading information setting unit 125, a transmission information setting unit 126, a transmission unit 127, and a display control unit 128. .

  The reader control unit 121 controls the IC card reader 110. The reader control unit 121 of the present embodiment may control the IC card reader 110 so as to read information set by a read information setting unit 125, which will be described later, from the IC card, for example. The authentication processing unit 122 performs authentication processing of the user ID read by the IC card reader 110. Specifically, the authentication processing unit 122 authenticates the user ID when there is a user ID corresponding to the read user ID in the database 140 described later.

  The user information acquisition unit 123 acquires user information corresponding to the user ID stored in the database 140. Details of the user information will be described later. The user information setting unit 124 sets items of user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit 123. The read information setting unit 125 sets information items to be read from the IC card in the IC card reader 110.

  The transmission information setting unit 126 sets information to be transmitted to the application group 130. In the transmission information setting unit 126, transmission information to be transmitted to the application group 130 is set mainly from the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit 123. The transmission information may be set for each application constituting the application group 130 described later.

  The transmission unit 127 transmits information to be transmitted to the application group 130. The transmission unit 127 of the present embodiment may transmit, for example, user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit 123 as transmission information, or may transmit information set as a transmission target by the transmission information setting unit 126. . Specifically, the transmission unit 127 may transmit transmission information using, for example, ComManager communication that is a type of software used for inter-thread communication. The display control unit 128 controls the display on the operation panel 18 according to each process.

  The application group 130 is a set of applications that perform a predetermined specific process. In the present embodiment, the application group 130 is configured by a plurality of applications, but the number of applications may not be plural. The application group 130 of this embodiment includes applications 131 and 132, for example. The specific process executed by the application 131 is, for example, a FAX transmission process. The specific processing executed by the application 132 is, for example, image data distribution processing.

  Applications included in the application group 130 of this embodiment may be downloaded from a network or the like to which the image forming apparatus 100 is connected and installed in the image forming apparatus 100. The applications included in the application group 130 of the present embodiment are recorded on a recording medium that can be read by the image forming apparatus 100 such as a memory card, and may be read from the recording medium and installed in the image forming apparatus 100. good.

  In the following description of the present embodiment, the authentication control unit 120 is described as not included in the application group 130. However, the authentication control unit 120 of the present embodiment may also be an application installed from the outside.

  The database 140 stores a user ID 141 and user information 142 in association with each other. It is assumed that the user ID 141 and the user information 142 are registered in advance by an administrator or the like.

  The user ID 141 is identification information for identifying a user recorded on an IC card, for example. Specifically, for example, the user ID of the user recorded on the IC card, a card ID unique to the IC card, or the like may be used as the user ID.

  The user information 142 is information including authority information 143 and registration information 144. The authority information 143 is information indicating the authority to use the image forming apparatus 100 for each user. The authority information 143 of this embodiment includes information indicating the authority to use each application included in the application group 130. The authority information 143 may be set for each user in advance by, for example, an administrator.

  The registration information 144 is information used when the image forming apparatus 100 is used. Specifically, for example, a mail address registered by the user, a FAX number, etc. (address book). The registration information 144 may be information registered in the image forming apparatus 100 by the user himself / herself.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the user ID 141a and the user information 142a stored in the database 140.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the user information 142a included in the user information 142 includes, in addition to the authority information 143a and registration information 144a, a card ID recorded on the IC card read by the IC card reader 110, card type information, and usage. Includes items such as start date, use end date, and invalid flag.

  The card type information is information indicating, for example, whether the IC card is a card given to a specific user for normal use or a card issued temporarily. The use start date and the use end date indicate the date and time when the user started using the image forming apparatus 100 and the date and time when the user ended use. The invalid flag indicates whether or not the user is a user who can use the image forming apparatus 100. For example, when the invalid flag is set, it indicates that the user is not permitted to use the image forming apparatus 100. The update information indicates the date and time when the user information 142a was updated.

  The authority information 143a of the present embodiment is information indicating functions of the image forming apparatus 100 that can be used by the user identified by the user ID 141a. The authority information 143a of the present embodiment includes information indicating applications that can be used among the applications configuring the application group 130.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the user identified by the user ID 141a is permitted to use the print function, copy function, and scan function. In addition, the user with the user ID 141a can use the application 131 constituting the application group 130, and cannot use the application 132. Therefore, for example, when the application 131 is an application that performs FAX transmission processing and the application 132 is an application that performs image data distribution processing, the user with the user ID 141 a can perform FAX transmission processing in the image forming apparatus 100. Image data distribution processing cannot be performed.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment will be described.

  First, processing until the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment transitions to a usable state will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing until the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment transitions to the usable state.

  In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment, when the authentication process for the acquired user ID 141a is executed and the user login is completed, the functions permitted for the logged-in user can be used.

  When the IC card is inserted in the image forming apparatus 100, the IC card reader 110 reads the user ID 141a from the IC card (S41). Note that the reader control unit 121 of this embodiment may cause the IC card reader 110 to read information set by the read information setting unit 125. For example, when the reading information setting unit 125 sets reading of a card type, an invalid flag, etc. in addition to the user ID, the IC card reader 110 reads information set by the control of the reader control unit 121.

  When the user ID 141a is read in S41, the authentication processing unit 122 compares the user ID 141a with the user ID 141 in the database 140, and performs the authentication process of the user ID 141a (S42).

  As a result of the authentication process, when the user ID 141a is authenticated (S43), the user information acquisition unit 123 acquires user information 142a corresponding to the authenticated user ID 141a from the database 140 (S44). Note that the user information acquisition unit 123 of this embodiment may acquire only the user information set by the user information setting unit 124 as an acquisition target. For example, in the present embodiment, when the authority information 143a and the registration information 144a are set as the acquisition target by the user information setting unit 125, the user information acquisition unit 123 displays only the set acquisition target information. You may get it.

  If user information is acquired in S44, the transmission part 127 will acquire the acquired user information as transmission information (S45), and will transmit to the applicable application of the application group 130 (S46). In the present embodiment, the acquired user information 142a may be used as transmission information, or only information set as a transmission target by the transmission information setting unit 126 in the user information 142a may be used as transmission information. For example, in the present embodiment, when only the registration information 144a is set as transmission target information by the transmission information setting unit 126, the transmission unit 127 transmits only the registration information 144a from the user information 142a as transmission information.

  In the present embodiment, the information indicating the transmission destination application may be set in advance by the transmission information setting unit 126. The transmission unit 127 transmits transmission information to the application that is the set transmission destination. Specifically, the information indicating the transmission destination of the transmission information may be performed, for example, on a setting screen displayed on the operation panel 18 by the display control unit 128. In the present embodiment, a product ID is assigned to each application constituting the application group 130, and this product ID may be set as information indicating a transmission destination of transmission information.

  When transmission information is transmitted to the application in S46, the application receives and stores the transmission information (S47). For example, when the application 131 receives transmission information corresponding to the user ID 141a, the application 131 may store and store the transmission information in the auxiliary storage device 14 of the image forming apparatus 100 as information used by the application 131. .

  Also, as shown in FIG. 3, according to the authority information 143a corresponding to the user ID 141a, the use of the application 132 is impossible, so the transmission information may not be transmitted to the application 132.

  Returning to FIG. 4, when the storage of the transmission information by the application is completed, the login of the user identified as the user ID 141a is completed. Then, the image forming apparatus 100 transitions to a state where the functions permitted for the user ID 141a can be used (S48). Note that the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may display a screen for causing the operation panel 18 to select a function that can be used by the display control unit 128 when the login is completed.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can transmit transmission information corresponding to the user ID 141 a acquired after the authentication process to the application 131. Therefore, when the application 131 is executed, the application 131 according to the present embodiment can execute processing using the transmitted transmission information.

  In the present embodiment, the user information 142a acquired after the authentication process of the user ID 141a includes information indicating whether or not the application 131 can be used. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to manage the use of each application constituting the application group 130 for each user.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, processing when the execution of the application configuring the application group 130 is selected in the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing processing when execution of an application is selected in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment.

  When the login of the user is completed in the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming apparatus 100 is in a state where the functions permitted by the user can be executed. When an application constituting the application group 130 is selected (S51), the selected application refers to the authority information 143a included in the user information 142a acquired at the time of the authentication process, and the selected application uses it. It is determined whether or not it is possible (S52).

  When the selected application is available, the selected application acquires information necessary for executing the application from the transmission information received from the transmission unit 127 (S53). Then, the application executes processing using the acquired information (S54).

  As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can manage the use of the applications configuring the application group 130 based on the authority information 143a acquired at the time of login. Moreover, the application which comprises the application group 130 of this embodiment can perform a process using the transmitted transmission information.

  Hereinafter, a specific example of processing performed by applications that configure the application group 130 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, a case where an application 131 that realizes the FAX transmission function is selected by a user having the user information 142a shown in FIG.

  When the application 131 is selected after the user login is completed in the image forming apparatus 100, the application 131 refers to the authority information 143a included in the user information 142a, and determines whether or not the user's use of the application 131 is permitted. to decide.

  Since use of the application 131 is permitted in the authority information 143a, the image forming apparatus 100 instructs the execution of the application 131. When the application 131 receives the execution instruction, the application 131 acquires a FAX number necessary for executing the FAX transmission process. The FAX number is included in the transmission information transmitted from the transmission unit 127 to the application 131, and is stored as information used when the application 131 is executed.

  When the application 131 acquires a FAX number that is information necessary for execution of processing, the application 131 reads a document set on the scanning device 11 and transmits the document to the acquired FAX number. Then, the application 131 stores the history of FAX transmission processing in the image forming apparatus 100. Note that the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may be capable of transmitting not only the document read from the scanning apparatus 11 but also image data stored in the auxiliary storage device 14 of the image forming apparatus 100 or the like.

  Next, a case where the application 132 that realizes the image data distribution function is selected by the user having the user information 142a shown in FIG.

  When the application 132 is selected after the user logs in in the image forming apparatus 100, the application 132 refers to the authority information 143a included in the user information 142a and determines whether or not the user is permitted to use the application 132. to decide.

  According to the authority information 143a, since the use of the application 132 is not permitted, the application 132 causes the display control unit 128 to display a message or the like indicating that the use of the application 132 is not permitted on the operation panel 18.

  If the use of the application 132 is permitted, the application 132 acquires the mail address of the delivery destination of the image data, which is information necessary for executing the process. Then, the application 132 distributes the image data read by the scanning device 11 to the acquired mail address of the distribution destination. Note that the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may distribute image data stored in the auxiliary storage device 14 or the like of the image forming apparatus 100 instead of the image data read from the scanning apparatus 11.

  Further, for example, as an example of another application that configures the application group 130, an erroneous transmission prevention application that considers erroneous transmission prevention of FAX may be included. This erroneous transmission prevention application may be a customized application 131 that performs FAX transmission processing, for example.

  The erroneous transmission prevention application performs FAX transmission processing when the same FAX number is input by two users who are permitted to use the erroneous transmission prevention application.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, when the user A selects execution of the erroneous transmission prevention application after the login of the user A is completed, the erroneous transmission prevention application determines whether the user A is permitted to use the erroneous transmission prevention application.

  When the user A is permitted to use the erroneous transmission prevention application, the erroneous transmission prevention application causes the display control unit 128 to display a FAX number input screen. When the FAX number is input by the user A, the erroneous transmission prevention application next prompts the user B to log in.

  When the login of the user B is completed in the image forming apparatus 100, the erroneous transmission prevention application determines whether or not the user B is permitted to use the erroneous transmission prevention application. When the user B is permitted to use the erroneous transmission prevention application, the erroneous transmission prevention application causes the display control unit 128 to display a FAX number input screen. When the FAX number is input by the user B, the erroneous transmission prevention application collates the FAX number input by the user B with the FAX number input by the user A, and whether or not the two FAX numbers match. Determine.

  If the two FAX numbers match, the erroneous transmission prevention application performs FAX transmission to the input FAX number.

  As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, even when processing is executed by an application customized according to the usage status of the image forming apparatus 100, the processing is executed using the user information acquired at the time of user authentication processing. Can do. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even when an application customized from the outside is installed and a new function is added, the use of the new function can be managed without impairing convenience.

  In the present embodiment, the authentication process is executed by the image forming apparatus 100 alone, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment may be connected to a server or the like that performs authentication processing. In this case, when the user ID is not authenticated in the image forming apparatus 100, the user ID may be transmitted to the server, and the server may perform the authentication process again.

Further, the image forming apparatus 100 may automatically store the user ID in the database 140 when a user ID that is not authenticated by the image forming apparatus 100 is authenticated by the server authentication process. At this time, the image forming apparatus 100 may store a preset initial value of user information as user information corresponding to the user ID in the database 140 in association with the user ID.
(Second embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that user information is acquired from a user information management server that manages user information. Therefore, in the following description of the second embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described, and those having the same functional configuration as the first embodiment will be used in the description of the first embodiment. The same reference numerals as those used are assigned, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus 100A according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 100 </ b> A according to the present embodiment is connected to the user information management server 300 via the network 200 and constitutes a system 400.

  The image forming apparatus 100A includes an authentication control unit 120A. The authentication control unit 120A of the present embodiment transmits the user ID read by the IC card reader 110 to the user information management server 300. Based on the user information transmitted from the user information management server 300, the transmission information is transmitted to the application group 130.

  The authentication control unit 120A of the present embodiment does not have the authentication processing unit 122 that the authentication control unit 120 of the first embodiment has. In addition, the user information acquisition unit 123B included in the authentication control unit 120A of the present embodiment acquires user information transmitted from the user information management server 300. The database 140A included in the image forming apparatus 100A of the present embodiment stores registration information 144 registered in advance by the user.

  The user information management server 300 constituting the system 400 is realized by a general computer or the like having an arithmetic processing device and a storage device. The user information management server 300 has a database 310. In addition, the user information management server 300 of this embodiment includes an authentication processing unit 122A and a user information acquisition unit 123A.

  The database 310 stores a user ID 141 and user information 142A. The user information 142A stored in the database 310 of this embodiment may be information obtained by removing the registration information 144 from the user information 142 of the first embodiment. That is, the user information 142A stored in the database 310 of the present embodiment may be information including the authority information 143.

  The authentication processing unit 122A according to the present embodiment performs authentication processing using the user ID 141a read by the image forming apparatus 100A with the IC card reader 110. Specifically, the authentication processing unit 122A compares the user ID 141a transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100A with the user ID 141 in the database 310, and authenticates the user ID 141a when a user ID that matches the user ID 141a exists. .

  The user information acquisition unit 123A acquires user information 142b corresponding to the authenticated user ID 141a from the user information 142A of the database 310, and transmits it to the image forming apparatus 100A.

  Hereinafter, processing until the image forming apparatus 100A according to the present exemplary embodiment transitions to the usable state will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing until the image forming apparatus 100A according to the second embodiment transitions to a usable state.

  When the IC card is inserted in the image forming apparatus 100A, the IC card reader 110 reads the user ID 141a from the IC card (S71). When the user ID 141a is read, the image forming apparatus 100A transmits the user ID 141a to the user information management server 300 (S72).

  Upon acquiring the user ID 141a, the user information management server 300 performs authentication processing by the authentication processing unit 122A (S73). When the user ID 141a is authenticated by the authentication processing unit 122A in the user information management server 300 (S74), the user information acquisition unit 123A acquires the user information 142b corresponding to the user ID 141a and transmits it to the image forming apparatus 100A (S75). ). The user information 142b acquired here may be user information 142b that does not include the registration information 144.

  The image forming apparatus 100A acquires the user information 142b transmitted from the user information management server 300 (S76). Since the processing after S77 in FIG. 7 is the same as the processing after S45 in FIG. 4, the connection is omitted.

  Thus, also in this embodiment, the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even when an application customized from the outside is installed and a new function is added, the use of the new function can be managed without impairing convenience.

  As mentioned above, although this invention has been demonstrated based on each embodiment, this invention is not limited to the requirements shown in the said embodiment. With respect to these points, the gist of the present invention can be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of user ID 141a and user information 142a stored in the database 140. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing until the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment transitions to a usable state. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing when execution of an application is selected in the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the image forming apparatus 100A of 2nd embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing until the image forming apparatus 100A according to the second embodiment transitions to a usable state.

Explanation of symbols

100, 100A Image forming apparatus 110 IC card reader 120, 120A Authentication control unit 121 Reader control unit 122, 122A Authentication processing unit 123, 123A, 123B User information acquisition unit 124 User information setting unit 125 Reading information setting unit 126 Transmission information setting unit 127 Transmission unit 128 Display control unit 130 Application group 131, 132 Application 140, 140A, 310 Database 141, 141a User ID
142, 142a, 142b User information 143 Authority information 144 Registration information 200 Network 300 User information management server 400 System

Claims (9)

An information processing apparatus having a database in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other,
Specific process execution means for executing a specific process;
Identification information acquisition means for acquiring user identification information recorded on a recording medium;
Authentication means for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition means;
User information acquisition means for acquiring user information corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication means from the database;
An information processing apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting the user information acquired by the user information acquisition means to the specific process execution means. User information setting means for setting user information used for processing executed by the specific process execution means;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user information acquisition unit acquires user information set by the user information setting unit. Read information setting means for setting information read from the recording medium,
The identification information acquisition means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information set by the read information setting unit is acquired.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmission information setting unit that sets information transmitted by the transmission unit among the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a portable recording medium.   An image forming apparatus equipped with the information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An information processing system including a user information management server in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other, and an information processing apparatus connected to the user information management server,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Specific process execution means for executing a specific process;
Identification information acquisition means for acquiring user identification information recorded on a recording medium;
Authentication means for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition means;
User information acquisition means for acquiring user information corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication means from the user information management server;
An information processing system comprising: transmission means for transmitting the user information acquired by the user information acquisition means to the specific process execution means. An information processing method by an information processing apparatus having a database in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other,
A specific process execution procedure for executing a specific process;
An identification information acquisition procedure for acquiring user identification information recorded on a recording medium;
An authentication procedure for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition procedure;
A user information acquisition procedure for acquiring user information corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication procedure from the database;
An information processing method comprising: a transmission procedure for transmitting the user information acquired by the user information acquisition procedure to the specific process execution procedure. An information processing program executed in an information processing apparatus having a database in which user identification information and user information are stored in association with each other,
In the information processing apparatus,
A specific process execution step for executing a specific process;
An identification information acquisition step of acquiring user identification information recorded on the recording medium;
An authentication step for authenticating the user identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition step;
A user information acquisition step of acquiring user information corresponding to the user identification information authenticated by the authentication step from the database;
An information processing program for executing a user information transmission step of transmitting the user information acquired in the user information acquisition step to the specific process execution procedure.

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