JP2010099993A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect a printing allowable state for an electronic document in a workflow by an image forming device side so as to control the propriety of printing. <P>SOLUTION: This image forming device is provided with a workflow printing allowable state inquiring part for inquiring the printing allowable state for the printing data to a management server which manages the workflow, and controls the propriety of printing based on the result of the inquiry. In addition, a time required for an unnecessary inquiry not related to the workflow is reduced by inquiring the permission of the printing to the workflow only when a specified character sequence exists in a printing data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology that allows an image forming apparatus to detect a print permission state of an electronic document in a workflow, which is an electronic document circulation system, and to control whether the image forming apparatus can print.

  Following the establishment of the SOX Act (Listed Corporate Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act) in the United States, it has become necessary to further improve security regarding the handling of corporate documents.

  A workflow system in which an electronic document is operated by a plurality of users in a group has a function that allows only a user who circulates and designates the electronic document to view or print the document. Conventionally, in this workflow system, the host side has inquired of the host whether or not it is in a printable workflow state, and the host side controls whether or not printing is possible if printing is possible. As a control method, the button is enabled after the print data can be created, for example, the print button is disabled or grayed out on the host-side application.

  However, with this method of restricting workflow printing by host-side control, once a workflow electronic document is converted to a printable file and sent to any number of times, it is data that is specified to be printed only once. Even in such a case, there was a problem that printing could be performed multiple times. This is to allow only the host-side application to perform the print permission control, but there has been no method for the image forming apparatus to control the printing by detecting the state of the electronic document in the workflow.

  As conventional techniques, in a security device of an image output apparatus, specific output content detection means 1 for detecting the presence or absence of specific output contents in an input print job, and paper jam detection means 2 for detecting a paper jam in the image output apparatus And a reprint control means 3 for controlling the reprint processing of the page in which the paper jam has occurred, and the reprint control / output control means 3 according to the output of the specific output content detection means 1 and the output of the paper jam detection means 2. There is a method in which reprinting is prohibited when a paper jam occurs on a page having specific contents (see Patent Document 1).

  Also, a device and a history display control method for improving security by taking measures to prevent the job history from being viewed by anyone other than the user involved in the job history, and preventing the information related to the privacy of all users from being obtained. There is a method to provide (see Patent Document 2).

However, in these methods, it is impossible to control whether or not printing is possible by detecting the print permission state of the electronic document in the workflow on the image forming apparatus side.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-125391 JP 2007-87002 A

  The problem to be solved is that it is impossible to control whether or not printing is possible by detecting the print permission state of the electronic document in the workflow on the image forming apparatus side.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention determines whether or not to perform printing based on a query result of the workflow print permission state inquiry unit that inquires the management server of the print permission state of the print data of the workflow, and the workflow print permission state inquiry unit. And a print determination unit.

  Here, the workflow refers to an electronic document circulation system that allows a plurality of users to handle an electronic document within a specific group.

  Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has a specific character string detection unit that detects the presence of a specific character string in the print data, and the specific character string detection unit detects the workflow printing permission state inquiry unit. The print permission status may be inquired based on the presence or absence of the specific character string.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention further includes a non-permitted data discarding unit that discards the print data when printing is not permitted as a result of the print permission status inquiry about the print data by the workflow print permission status query unit. This may be a feature.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention determines whether or not to perform printing based on a query result of the workflow print permission state inquiry unit that inquires the management server of the print permission state of the print data of the workflow, and the workflow print permission state inquiry unit. And a print determination unit.

  For this reason, since it is possible for the image forming apparatus itself to control whether or not printing can be performed according to the print permission state in the workflow, without performing the print permission on the host side which has been conventionally performed. Security related to printing of electronic documents is improved.

  Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has a specific character string detection unit that detects the presence of a specific character string in the print data, and the specific character string detection unit detects the workflow printing permission state inquiry unit. The print permission status may be inquired based on the presence or absence of the specific character string.

  For this reason, it is possible to check whether data that requires an inquiry to the workflow or unnecessary data by electronic documents when the print data is received, and control related to the inquiry to the management server that manages the workflow of the print data is simplified. .

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention further includes a non-permitted data discarding unit that discards the print data when printing is not permitted as a result of the print permission status inquiry about the print data by the workflow print permission status query unit. This may be a feature.

  For this reason, it is prohibited to leave print data that should not be printed in the image forming apparatus and always discard it, thereby improving the security of the print data.

  Provide an inquiry function to the management server that manages the workflow in the image forming apparatus that the printing permission state of the electronic document in the workflow is detected on the image forming apparatus side and it is not possible to control whether printing is possible, The problem was solved by a method of controlling printing based on the result of the inquiry.

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

  The image forming apparatus 101 includes a data interface unit 111, a main body setting unit 113, a storage unit 115, a control unit 117, an output setting unit 119, a print control unit 121, a printing unit 123, and an analysis unit 131. The analysis unit 131 is a functional unit that controls the essential functions of the present invention, and further includes a specific character string detection unit 133, a workflow print permission status inquiry unit 135, a print determination unit 137, and a non-permission data discard unit 139. And have.

  Each functional unit will be described below.

  The data interface unit 111 is a functional unit that receives print data transmitted from a PC (Personal Computer) 201 and transmits / receives data to / from the management server 301. The interface standard may be any of USB, serial, parallel or network interface.

  The main body setting unit 113 is a functional unit that records and holds various initial settings of the image forming apparatus 101 main body.

  The storage unit 115 includes a storage device such as a semiconductor memory and a rotating magnetic disk device, and records programs and data necessary for the operation of the image forming apparatus, and also records print data and a print data list of the present invention.

  The control unit 117 includes a CPU and peripheral circuits, and controls the operation of the image forming apparatus 101. In addition, an instruction from each function unit included in the analysis unit 131 described below is obtained, and operation related to print permission according to the present invention is controlled.

  The output setting unit 119 records and saves setting items when the image forming apparatus 101 performs print output.

  The print control unit 121 performs control necessary when the printing unit 123 performs print output.

  The printing unit 123 includes a print engine and performs print output D53 on a medium such as paper.

  The analysis unit 131 is a functional unit that controls the most essential function of the present invention, and inquires the management server 301 that manages the workflow document about the print availability state, and determines printing based on the result. In addition, the presence of a specific character string in the print data is detected in order to determine whether the data is for inquiry. Details of each operation will be described in each function section below.

  The specific character string detection unit 133 detects whether or not a specific character string for confirming the workflow exists in the header of the print data. The print data is generally written in a page description language, and the printer control command by PJL (Printer Job Language) etc. is written in the header part, but check the workflow in the header. Incorporating a workflow confirmation specific character string representing the print data, printing is permitted without saving the print data. This character string may be anything, but special characters such as “%” and “&” are embedded so that the same character string does not occur by accident. For example, “%% && WORKFLOW & ID = xxyzzz &&% % ”. It is possible to include a management server information to be inquired in the latter half of “ID = xyyz”, information on an inquiry document, and the like.

  When the specific character string detection unit 133 detects the presence of the workflow confirmation specific character string, the workflow print permission state inquiry unit 135 confirms whether the print data has a print permission status in the workflow. Do. When an electronic document in a workflow is printed once (or a predetermined number of times) according to settings, it is possible to control such that subsequent printing is not permitted.

  Conventionally, the host (PC 201 or the like) asks the management server for confirmation of such printing permission, or whether printing permission is given based on status information embedded in the sent electronic document. Judgment and control of whether or not print data can be generated have been performed.

  In the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus 101 itself does not perform such control on the host side, but the image forming apparatus 101 itself performs a workflow management server 301 even if a file in a printable state is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 101. By the method of making an inquiry to a document, it is not possible to print a document for which printing permission has not been obtained, and higher security can be maintained.

  The print determination unit 137 determines whether or not printing is possible based on the inquiry result of the workflow printing permission state inquiry unit 135. If printing is possible, the print data is transferred to the printing unit 123 for printing. If printing is impossible, printing is not performed.

  The non-permitted data discarding unit 139 deletes the print data instead of staying in the storage unit 115 of the image forming apparatus 101 when it is determined that printing is not possible as a result of the query from the workflow print permission status query unit 135. Dispose of it. In order to securely discard the data, the data is not simply deleted from the FAT (File Allocation Table), but the storage unit 115 (both primary storage and secondary storage) where the data is actually recorded is stored. For example, processing is performed such as rewriting all corresponding data values to NULL values.

[flowchart]
A flow of an operation in which the image forming apparatus 101 makes an inquiry to the management server and controls whether printing is possible based on the result will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The first steps S11 and S13 are processing operations on the PC 201.

  S11: In the PC 201, print data is generated. At this time, whether or not to add a specific character string for making an inquiry to the workflow is set.

  S13: Print data in which the specific character string is set to be added or not added in S11 is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 101, and execution of printing is instructed.

  Subsequent S 21 and S 23 are processing operations on the image forming apparatus 101.

  S21: The data interface unit 111 receives the header portion of the print data.

  S23: The specific character string detection unit 133 detects whether or not the workflow confirmation specific character string for inquiring the print permission state of the print data to the management server 301 that manages the workflow is in the header of the print data. If the workflow confirmation specific character string exists, the operation proceeds to S25. If it does not exist, the operation proceeds to S35.

  S24: The workflow print permission state inquiry unit 135 makes an inquiry to the management server 301 as to whether the print data is in a print permission state.

  Subsequent S25 and S27 are operations on the management server 301.

  S25: Upon receiving the inquiry about the print permission state, the management server 301 performs processing for confirming the print permission state in the workflow system.

  S27: The printing permission state obtained as a result of the confirmation in S25 is returned to the image forming apparatus 101.

  The subsequent operations are performed again on the image forming apparatus 101 side.

  S29: The workflow printing permission status inquiry unit 135 receives the inquiry result and confirms the content.

  S31: The print determination unit 137 determines whether to permit printing as a result of the inquiry received in S29. If printing is permitted, the operation proceeds to S33. If printing is not permitted, the operation proceeds to S39.

  S33: The data interface unit 111 receives the remaining print data. The flow that flows to S33 includes an operation flow from two systems, that is, a case where it is determined that the printing is permitted in S31 and a case where it is determined that data reception is not completed in S35 described later.

  S35: The control unit 117 determines whether reception of print data is completed. If the print data has not been received, the operation proceeds to S33 and the data reception is continued. When the reception of print data is completed, the operation proceeds to S37.

  S37: Since printing is permitted, the printing unit 123 prints out the print data.

  S39: Since the printing is not permitted, the non-permitted data discarding unit 139 performs a discarding process of the print data.

  Through the above-described series of operations, the image forming apparatus 101 inquires of the management server 301 about the electronic document printing permission state in the workflow, and determines whether printing is possible based on the inquiry result, thereby completing the printing operation. .

[Effect of Example]
The image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention enables the following.

  Workflow confirmation By detecting the presence of a specific character string, normal printing is possible for electronic documents that are not related to the workflow, and the printing permission status is checked by querying the management server for the electronic documents of the workflow. It becomes possible to do.

  Since it is possible to control the permission to print the workflow document on the image forming apparatus side, it is possible to protect the security on the image forming apparatus side even if a printing control loop hole is detected on the host side.

  Since security can be applied on the image forming apparatus side regarding the printing of the electronic document in the workflow, the responsibility of security management becomes clear.

  If the print data is not allowed to be printed, the print data is discarded, so that it is possible to prevent the remaining print data from being taken out and printed by another method, thereby further improving security.

[Others]
In the embodiment of the present invention, a method for detecting whether or not a specific character string exists in the header is used. However, a method for detecting whether or not the specific character string exists in the entire print data is not limited to the header.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the setting is made such that the inquiry to the management server 301 is made when the workflow confirmation specific character string exists. For example, the inquiry to the management server 301 is made when the workflow confirmation specific character string does not exist. It may be a method of operating by setting.

1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image forming apparatus 111 Data interface part 113 Main body setting part 115 Storage part 117 Control part 119 Output setting part 121 Print control part 123 Printing part 131 Analysis part 133 Specific character string detection part 135 Workflow printing permission state inquiry part 137 Print judgment part 139 Non-permitted data discard unit 201 PC (Personal Computer)
301 Management server

Claims (3)

A workflow print permission status inquiry section that inquires the management server of the print permission status of the print data of the workflow;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a print determination unit that determines whether to perform printing based on an inquiry result of the workflow print permission state inquiry unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
A specific character string detector that detects the presence of a specific character string in the print data;
The image forming apparatus, wherein the workflow print permission state inquiry unit inquires about the print permission state based on the presence or absence of the specific character string detected by the specific character string detection unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a non-permitted data discarding unit that discards the print data when printing is not permitted as a result of an inquiry about the print permission status of the print data by the workflow print permission status query unit.

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