JP2010282591A - Information processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, processing control system, processing control method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To also include and set processing in an error in a processing flow when the processing flow is generated. <P>SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus which distributes obtained image data, includes: a generation means 204 for generating flow definition data in which flows of one or more processes to the image data are defined by constructing the flows on a generation screen; a storage means 206 for storing the flow definition data generated by the generation means; and a flow execution control means 203 for controlling execution of jobs which are one or more processes to the image data on the basis of the flow definition data, wherein the generation means constructs the processing in the error to each processing included in the flows by including the processing in the flows on the generation screen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that performs distribution processing on image data, an image forming apparatus, a processing control system, a processing control method, a program, and a recording medium.

  In recent years, in many companies, the arrangement and connection of image input / output devices such as multi-function multifunction devices on a network has been progressing. Image input / output devices play a major role as means for improving business efficiency. In particular, a distribution management system that efficiently digitizes and distributes paper documents is important. Major elements constituting the distribution management system are an image input device (for example, a scanner or an MFP) and a distribution processing server. In the distribution processing server, a plurality of distribution processing menus are registered in advance for various businesses and applications.

  For example, the “document distribution processing device” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-208934 (Patent Document 1) can easily perform necessary image processing automatically when a document is read and distributed. As shown in FIG. 17, an OCR form sheet is arranged on the first page of the input document. From the document data obtained by reading the document with the scanner, the code data corresponding to the image processing menu entered in the OCR form sheet and the image processing position data designating the image processing range are recognized and extracted. Image processing corresponding to the extracted code data is performed for the range determined by the image processing position data. After the designated image processing is performed, the data after the image processing is distributed to a predetermined distribution destination.

  However, in the case of a processing error included in the job processing flow in a conventional distribution management system, it is limited to recording the error content in a log or sending the error content to the administrator. Could not set.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem, and an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a process control that can include a process at the time of an error when generating a process flow. It is an object to provide a system, a process control method, a program, and a recording medium.

  An information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that distributes acquired image data, wherein flow definition data that defines a flow of one or more processes for the image data is displayed on the generation screen with the flow definition data Generating means for generating the image data; storage means for storing the flow definition data generated by the generating means; and the one or more processes for the image data based on the flow definition data. A flow execution control means for controlling the execution of the job, and the generation means can construct a process at the time of error for each process included in the flow in the flow on the generation screen. To do.

  An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that distributes acquired image data, and generates flow definition data that defines a flow of one or more processes for the image data on a generation screen. Generating means for generating the flow by constructing, storage means for storing the flow definition data generated by the generating means, and based on the flow definition data, the one or more of the image data A flow execution control unit that controls execution of a job that is a process, and the generation unit includes a process at the time of error for each process included in the flow in the flow on the generation screen. Is possible.

  A processing control system according to another aspect of the present invention is a processing control system including an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus via a network. Generation means for generating flow definition data defining one or more processing flows for image data by constructing the flow on a generation screen, and storage means for storing the flow definition data generated by the generation means And flow execution control means for controlling execution of a job that is the one or more processes for the image data based on the flow definition data, and the generation means includes each of the flows included in the flow The process at the time of an error for the process is constructed by including it in the flow on the generation screen, and the image forming apparatus can display and input operations. Operation display means, image input means for inputting image data, execution instruction means for designating execution of the flow for the image data by designating the flow definition data received from the information processing apparatus, and the flow A transmission unit that transmits the image data and information for identifying the specified flow definition data to the information processing apparatus.

  The present invention also relates to a processing control method, a program, and a recording medium that are executed by the information processing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, when generating a processing flow, there is an effect that branch processing at the time of an error can be included and set in the processing flow.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing a network configuration of a network distribution system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a distribution server according to the first embodiment. Explanatory drawing which showed typically an example of the flow of the process defined by flow definition data. Explanatory drawing which shows the description content of flow definition data. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of screen definition data. The schematic diagram which shows an example of the flow definition data generation screen (the 1). The schematic diagram which shows an example of the flow definition data generation screen (the 2). The figure which shows an example of the data structure of an error folder. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a process setting dialog box. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a screen definition data generation screen. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a multifunction machine. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of image data distribution processing according to the first embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a flow selection screen. The schematic diagram which shows an example of a bibliographic information input screen. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a multifunction machine according to a second embodiment. 12 is a flowchart of image data distribution processing according to the second embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the concept of the conventional delivery processing system.

  Exemplary embodiments of an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a process control system, a process control method, a program, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiments, an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a processing control system, a processing control method, a program, and a recording medium of the present invention, a distribution server that performs distribution processing of image data scanned by the multifunction peripheral, a multifunction peripheral, An example applied to a network distribution system, a distribution processing control method, a program, and a recording medium will be described.

  However, the information processing apparatus, the image forming apparatus, the processing control system, the processing control method, the program, and the recording medium of the present invention are not limited to the contents described below, as long as they control processing for image data. The present invention can be applied to any apparatus and system.

  In the embodiments described below, an image input apparatus for inputting image data is described by taking a multifunction machine having a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, and a facsimile function mounted in one housing as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any image forming apparatus capable of inputting image data can be applied to any of a scanner apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, a copying apparatus, and the like.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a network configuration of the network distribution system according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the network distribution system according to the present embodiment includes a distribution server 200 connected to the Internet 104, a file server 101 connected to the Internet 104, an Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS) 102, and an SMTP. (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server 103, distribution server 200, and MFP 300 connected to a network 105 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet.

  The multi function device 300 has a scan function, a copy function, a printer function, a facsimile function, and the like mounted in a single housing. The multifunction device 300 scans a paper medium or the like with the scanner function to generate image data, and transmits the generated image data to the distribution server 200. Details of the MFP 300 will be described later.

  The distribution server 200 is a computer such as a workstation that receives image data scanned by the MFP 300 and executes various types of processing and distribution processing according to flow definition data described below.

  The file server 101 is a computer that stores and manages files shared on the Internet 104. The EDMS 102 is a so-called document management system. The SMTP server 103 is a server for transmitting electronic mail that is compliant with SMTP, which is a mail transmission protocol. Any of the file server 101, the EDMS 102, and the SMTP 103 is accessed by distribution processing by the distribution server 200.

  Next, details of the distribution server 200 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the distribution server 200. As shown in FIG. 2, the distribution server 200 includes a remote communication unit 201, a processing unit 210, a flow execution control unit 203, a flow definition generation unit 204, a screen definition generation unit 205, flow definition data 206, It mainly includes screen definition data 207.

  Here, the flow definition data 206 is data that defines the flow of various processes for image data scanned and input by the multifunction peripheral 300. The flow definition data 206 is not only for the scanned image data but also for the image data received by FAX by the MFP 300 and the image data acquired from the shared folder by the HotFolder function having a folder monitoring function. There may be.

  The screen definition data 207 is data defining a bibliographic information input screen for displaying bibliographic information for image data on the display unit of the operation panel of the multi-function device 300 so that the multi-function device 300 can input bibliographic information. Is associated with the flow definition data to set.

  The flow definition data 206 and the screen definition data 207 are stored in a storage means such as a hard disk drive (HDD). Details of the flow definition data 206 and the screen definition data 207 will be described later.

  The remote communication unit 201 controls the request for screen definition data and the reception of image data and bibliographic information from the multifunction device 300 and the transmission of the screen definition data to the multifunction device 300. The remote communication unit 201 controls transmission / reception of various data when performing various processes.

  The processing unit 210 executes various processes defined in the flow definition data 206. The processing unit 210 includes an image processing unit 211 that performs image processing such as conversion of image data, a distribution processing unit 212 that distributes the image data to the file server 101, the EDMS 102, the SMTP server 103, the MFP 300, and the like. .

  The flow execution control unit 203 reads the flow definition data 206 from the HDD, and controls the execution of various processes defined by the flow definition data 206 by the processing unit 210. Further, the flow execution control unit 203 associates the bibliographic information received from the MFP 300 by the remote communication unit 201 by setting the bibliographic information in the flow definition data 206, and based on the flow definition data 206 associated with the bibliographic information, Controls the execution of various processes on image data.

  The flow definition generation unit 204 generates or edits the flow definition data 204 according to an instruction of a system administrator such as an administrator of the distribution server 200, and saves the generated or edited flow definition data 204 in the HDD (storage unit).

  The screen definition generation unit 205 generates or edits the screen definition data 207 according to an instruction from the system administrator, and saves the generated or edited screen definition data 207 in the HDD (storage unit).

  The generation processing of the flow definition data 206 by the flow definition generation unit 204 and the generation processing of the screen definition data 207 by the screen definition generation unit 205 will be described later.

  Next, details of the flow definition data 206 will be described. A processing flow (hereinafter also simply referred to as a flow) is a flow of one or a plurality of processes executed on image data or the like scanned and input by the multi-function device 300. The processes included in the flow include an output process that is a distribution process of image data and an intermediate process that is executed before the output process. In the flow definition data 206, a flow of a series of processes in which one or a plurality of intermediate processes executed by the distribution server 200 and one or a plurality of output processes are combined in order, or a flow of one or a plurality of output processes is sequentially performed. A flow of a series of combined processes is described. In addition, the flow definition data 206 can be defined so that a series of processing flows are executed in parallel.

  Here, as output processing, distribution processing to a folder of an arbitrary PC (Personal Computer) on the MFP 300, the Internet 104, or the network 105, distribution processing to the file server 101 or WEB server, and image data as an attached document An E-Mail transmission process (e-mail transmission process) or the like that is transmitted by electronic mail (the SMTP server 103 is used at this time) can be given. The intermediate processing includes image conversion processing for converting image data into image data of a predetermined format.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an example of the flow of processing defined in the flow definition data 206. FIG. 3 shows an example of a contract flow diagram regarding distribution processing of image data obtained by scanning a contract. The flow definition data 206 of the contract document flow includes a flow for sequentially executing an image conversion process on the image data of the scanned contract document, a distribution process of the image data subjected to the image conversion to a folder, and the scanned image data as electronic data. It shows that the flow of E-Mail processing transmitted by mail is executed in parallel.

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, folder distribution is defined as an error process in the process included in the flow. Folder distribution at the time of error is distributed to an error folder that accumulates data dedicated to errors. The error folder stores error contents, flow information, image data, and the like. Note that the number of error folders is not limited to one, and a plurality of folders such as an error folder for intermediate processing and an error folder for output processing may be used. Further, if the image data can identify a partner (such as a customer) such as a contract, an error folder may be provided for each partner.

  The actual flow definition data 206 is described in an XML (eXtend Markup Language) format. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the description content of the flow definition data 206. The flow definition data 206 in FIG. 4 defines the contract document flow shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a number of descriptor tags are embedded in the flow definition data 206 in the XML format.

  The tag <ID> is a descriptor that sets a flow ID for identifying a flow. The tag <Plugin> is a descriptor for describing the processes constituting the flow. A tag <PluginID> is a process ID for identifying a process. When <PluginID> is “ImageConverter”, image conversion processing is indicated. When <PluginID> is “ToFolder”, folder distribution processing is indicated. When <PluginID> is “ToEmail”, E-Mail transmission processing is indicated. Is shown.

  The tag <PluginType> is a descriptor for setting the type of processing of the tag <PluginID>, that is, intermediate processing or output processing. When <PluginType> is “Filter”, intermediate processing is indicated, and when <PluginType> is “OutPut”, output processing is indicated.

  The tag <Parameter> is a descriptor for setting the input value of the bibliographic information input by the user on the bibliographic information input screen displayed on the MFP 300 side. In the example of FIG. 4, the input value of the input bibliographic information is embedded and set in the portions {} of reference numerals 401 to 406.

  A tag <Error> is a descriptor for describing a process to be executed when an error occurs. A portion surrounded by a frame shown in FIG. 4 is a portion describing processing when an error occurs. In the example shown in FIG. 4, data relating to an error is stored in an “Error” folder with a file path “111.11.11.11.111”. The format shown in FIG. 4 is an example, and any format may be used as long as error processing can be defined.

  Next, details of the screen definition data 207 will be described. The screen definition data 207 is data constituting a bibliographic information input screen for inputting bibliographic information input values necessary for a series of processes defined by the flow definition data. The screen definition data 207 is described in XML format, for example. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the screen definition data 207. The screen definition data 207 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the bibliographic information input screen for inputting the bibliographic information input value set in the flow definition data 206 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

  As shown in FIG. 5, various tags are described in the screen definition data 207. The tag <ID> is a descriptor for setting a definition data ID for identifying screen definition data. A tag <Items> is used to set an input field for allowing the user to input an input value of bibliographic information from the bibliographic information input screen generated from the screen definition data, a display name thereof, a field input condition, and the like. Is a descriptor.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, the user is made to input the input value of the bibliographic information of the contract conclusion destination and contract number as the display name (DisplayName) from the bibliographic information input screen. Also, as input conditions, input attributes such as character type and numeric type, maximum field length (MaxLength), whether or not the input character string is treated as a password (IsPassword), verification character string (ValidationString), maximum value (MaxValue) , A minimum value (MinValue) can be set. When “IsPassword” is set to “Yes”, an asterisk (“*”) is displayed as a mask when input.

  Next, generation processing of flow definition data 206 by the flow definition generation unit 204 will be described. The flow definition generation unit 204 displays a flow definition data generation screen on a display device (not shown) of the distribution server 200. Then, the system administrator performs operation input using the flow definition data display screen, and constructs the process defined in the flow definition data 206 as a flow diagram, and the flow definition generation unit 204 constructs on the flow definition data generation screen. The flow definition data 206 in the XML format is generated from the information (flow diagram).

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a flow definition data generation screen (part 1) that can be displayed by the system administrator. FIG. 6 shows a case where the contract document flow shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is generated.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the flow definition data generation screen displays a list of buttons for intermediate processing and output processing in the left area. Then, the user sequentially selects a button of a process for which a flow is to be constructed from the list, and arranges it at a desired position in the right region by a drag and drop operation. In the contract document flow in FIG. 6, a circle in the right area indicates image data input processing, and it is defined that the processing is executed in the order of buttons following the circle with an arrow.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, in order to set the process at the time of error, for example, it is performed from the menu (see A) displayed by right-clicking the arrow. When “set to error flow” is selected from the displayed menu, an icon indicating an error flow is displayed on the arrow (see B). Processing after the arrow in which the error flow is set is processing in the error flow. Here, the error flow means a processing flow after an error.

  Next, when the flow definition data generation is executed in the state shown in FIG. 6, the flow definition generation unit 204 generates the flow definition data in the XML format from the flow constructed on the generation screen (see FIG. 4). . At this time, the process set in the error flow is generated as error flow data (<Error> tag in FIG. 4). Note that the operation method shown in FIG. 6 is merely an example, and for example, an error flow may be set by clicking an error designation button with an arrow selected.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a flow definition data generation screen (part 2) that can be displayed by the system administrator. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the flow constructed on the generation screen is different from the flow shown in FIG. The example shown in FIG. 7 is an example in which processing at the time of error is divided according to the content of the error.

  For example, it is assumed that the content of an image conversion error is an error (error 2) that is required to be converted into an incompatible format. The processing after error 2 shown in FIG. 7 is to convert the image into a predetermined format that allows image conversion, and distribute the image data after the image conversion to a folder.

  For example, it is assumed that the original image data is in the TIFF format and that conversion to PDF is required by image conversion. However, it is assumed that the image processing unit 211 included in the processing unit 210 does not support PDF conversion. In this case, an error occurs in the image processing unit 211, and the image processing unit 211 converts the image into image conversion (for example, JPEG format) that can be processed.

  Also, if there is folder delivery immediately after the arrow with the error flow set, it means error folder delivery, and if there is an intermediate process after the arrow with the error flow set and there is folder delivery, it is set It may mean distribution to a destination. That is, even in the folder distribution in the error flow, the distribution destination may be different depending on whether there is an intermediate process. This is because when image processing (intermediate processing) is performed again in the error flow, there is a high possibility that image conversion can be performed correctly, and it is considered that the image may be distributed to a set destination.

  In addition, for example, the error content of the image conversion is an error (error 1) indicating a memory over. The processing after error 1 shown in FIG. 7 is to deliver to the error folder. The content of the error is output by a processing module (an image conversion module, a folder distribution module, etc.) in which the error has occurred. The flow execution control unit 203 can determine the next error flow by acquiring the output error content.

  As shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to select one error flow from a plurality of error flows based on the processing contents at the time of an error and perform processing after the error. Note that it is possible to select one flow from a plurality of flows not only at the time of an error but also based on attribute information of image data, for example.

  Specifically, when flow 1 and flow 2 are set after image data acquisition, it is possible to decide which flow to select according to image data attribute information (for example, image data acquisition date and time). it can.

  In the examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the output process in the error flow is the folder distribution process, but it goes without saying that the mail may be transmitted. In the case of mail transmission, error information can be accumulated by transmitting error contents to a certain destination.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the error folder. As shown in FIG. 8, in the error folder, error contents, processing names, flow names, and image names are associated with each job. In the error folder, error information that causes an error in each processing unit is accumulated. Further, the error folder is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 8, and it is sufficient that at least the job ID and the image data are stored.

  The error folder may be configured to have a list for intermediate processing for storing error information generated in the intermediate processing and a list for output processing for storing error information generated in the output processing.

  In addition, for the image data stored in the error folder, the size of the stored image data may be changed based on attribute information indicating the importance of the image data. For example, if the attribute information of the image data indicates “most important”, all the image data is accumulated. In addition, if the attribute information of the image data indicates “important”, a part of the image data is accumulated. Further, if the attribute information of the image data indicates “normal”, only the front page of the image data may be accumulated or not accumulated at all. It is assumed that the attribute information of the image data is input by the user when scanning.

  As other attribute information, the size of the image data to be accumulated may be changed based on the number of pages of the image data. For example, when the number of pages of attribute information is larger than a predetermined number, a part of the image data is accumulated in the error folder, and when the number of pages is smaller than the predetermined number, all the image data may be accumulated in the error folder. It is done.

  The attribute information is information indicating the content characteristics of the image data, and the bibliographic information is information indicating the bibliography of the image data. The attribute information includes the importance of data, the number of pages, and the resolution, and the bibliographic information includes an image name.

  The stored image data may be changed depending on an error during intermediate processing or an error in output processing. For example, since an error during intermediate processing is highly likely to have occurred during image conversion, the image data before image conversion is stored in the error folder. In addition, since the image conversion is correctly performed in the error during the output process, the image data after the image conversion is accumulated in the error folder.

  Here, when the system administrator right-clicks on a button of a desired process arranged in the right area of FIG. 6, the flow definition generation unit 204 displays a process setting dialog box corresponding to the process. Then, the setting contents of the process can be set by input from the process setting dialog box. Also. With this processing setting dialog box, it is possible to set the processing setting contents using the input value of the bibliographic information input by the multifunction peripheral 300 as a setting value. That is, the input value of this bibliographic information is used as a set value at the time of processing execution.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a process setting dialog box. The process setting dialog box shown in FIG. 9 is a process setting dialog box for E-Mail transmission processing. In the example shown in element 7, the input value of the bibliographic information input in the attached file name and the mail text is used. That is, the input value of the bibliographic information can be referred to by enclosing the XML format tag name specified in the attribute setting dialog displayed in the generation of the screen definition data 207 described later with curly braces ({}).

  When the system administrator defines a flow on the flow definition data generation screen and gives an instruction to execute it, the flow definition generation unit 204 displays the processing buttons arranged in the area on the right side of the flow definition data generation screen and their arrangement order. Analyzing from position coordinates on the screen. Also, the contents set in the process setting dialog box are acquired. Then, the flow definition generation unit 204 determines a process ID corresponding to the process of each button, and merges the contents set in the process setting dialog box in consideration of the process order. Then, the flow definition generation unit 204 performs XML tag definition and the like, converts the merged contents into the XML format using the tags, and generates the XML format flow definition data 206 shown in FIG. Then, the flow definition generation unit 204 stores the generated flow definition data 206 in an HDD (storage medium).

  Next, generation processing of the screen definition data 207 by the screen definition generation unit 205 will be described. The screen definition generation unit 205 displays a screen definition data generation screen on a display device (not shown) of the distribution server 200. Then, the system administrator performs an operation input on the screen definition data generation screen, and the screen definition generation unit 205 receives the operation input and generates the screen definition data 207.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a screen definition data generation screen that can be displayed by the system administrator. FIG. 10 shows a case where screen definition data corresponding to the bibliographic information input screen for inputting the bibliographic information input value set in the contract flow shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is generated. In the screen definition data generation screen, as shown in FIG. 10, bibliographic information items of a character string type, a numerical value type, a date type, a drop-down list type, and a check box type can be set.

  The bibliographic information input screen displayed on the operation panel of the MFP 300 is displayed with the same screen design as that constructed on the screen definition data generation screen. However, it is possible to set so that the added bibliographic information item is not displayed on the display screen of the operation panel. In this case, the system administrator sets a fixed value in the bibliographic information item.

  In addition, on the screen definition data generation screen, the system administrator can specify initial values for display on the operation panel of the multifunction peripheral 300 for each bibliographic information item. Also, by double-clicking each bibliographic information item, the screen definition generation unit 205 displays an attribute setting dialog box on the display device. Details of bibliographic information items can be set by inputting from the attribute setting dialog box.

  Next, details of the MFP 300 will be described. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the multifunction machine 300. As shown in FIG. 11, the MFP 300 according to the first embodiment includes a scanner application 301, a printer application 302, a control unit 303, a remote communication unit 304, a display control unit 305, an input control unit 306, An operation panel 310, a scanner engine 307, a printer engine 308, and server information 309 are mainly provided.

  Here, the server information 309 is a database in which the IP address of the distribution server 200 is registered, and is stored in a storage medium such as an HDD or a memory.

  The scanner engine 307 is hardware that executes a scan operation, and the printer engine 308 is hardware that executes a printer operation. The operation panel 310 is hardware that allows the user to perform various screens and operation inputs. The operation panel 310 includes a display unit 311 capable of displaying various screens and an operation unit 312 such as a start button, a stop button, a copy button, and a scan button.

  The control unit 303 receives a request from an application such as the scanner application 301 or the printer application 302, and controls the scanner engine 307, printer engine 308, HDD, memory, and the like.

  The remote communication unit 304 controls transmission / reception of various data to / from the distribution server 200. Specifically, the remote communication unit 304 requests the flow selection screen, the flow ID of the selected flow, the request for the screen definition data 207 for the bibliographic information, and the distribution of the IP address registered in the server information 309 for the scanned image data. It transmits to the server 200.

  Further, the remote communication unit 304 receives from the distribution server 200 screen definition data 207 of bibliographic information corresponding to the flow selection screen and the flow. The remote communication unit 304 transmits the input value of the bibliographic information input from the bibliographic information input screen displayed based on the received screen definition data 207 to the distribution server 200.

  The display control unit 305 controls the display unit 311 to display various screens, software keyboard screens, and the like so that touch input is possible. Specifically, the display control unit 305 displays the bibliographic information input screen on the display unit 311 by executing the screen definition data 207 in the XML format received by the remote communication unit 304.

  The input control unit 306 performs input control by receiving touch input, software key input from the display unit 311, and operation input from the operation unit 312. Specifically, the touch input or button press is detected by inputting an event by touch input to the display unit 311 or pressing of various buttons of the operation unit 312. Such detection is notified to the scanner application 301.

  Also, the input control unit 306 receives the input value of the bibliographic information input from the bibliographic information input screen, and converts it into XML format data.

  The scanner application 301 is an application that performs setting of scan conditions and scan processing according to an instruction from the operation unit 312 (scan button or the like) by the user. Specifically, the scanner application 301 sends a scan request to the control unit 303, operates the scanner engine 307, and scans the document. Then, the scanner application 301 inputs image data of the scanned document.

  In addition, the scanner application 301 transmits a request for a flow selection screen to select a processing flow when the scanning process starts, that is, when the input control unit 306 detects that the user has pressed the scan button. The remote communication unit 304 is instructed to do so. Further, the scanner application 301 instructs the remote communication unit 304 to transmit a request for the screen definition data 207 to the distribution server 200 in order to display the bibliographic information input screen on the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310.

  The printer application 302 is an application that executes print processing. Specifically, the printer application 302 makes a print request to the control unit 303 and operates the printer engine 308.

  In FIG. 11, only the scanner application 301 and the printer application 302 are shown as applications. However, as other applications, a copy application that performs copy processing, a fax application that performs facsimile transmission / reception processing, and the like operate.

  Next, image data distribution processing by the network distribution system according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram of image data distribution processing according to the first embodiment.

  First, when the user presses the scan button, which is the operation unit 312 of the operation panel 310, on the multifunction device 300 side, the press is accepted and the scanner application 301 is activated (step S11). Then, the scanner application 301 instructs the remote communication unit 304, and the remote communication unit 304 transmits a flow selection screen request to the distribution server 200 registered in the server information 309 (step S12). When receiving the request for the flow selection screen, the remote communication unit 201 of the distribution server 200 transmits the flow selection screen (or its screen definition data) to the multi-function device 300 (step S13).

  When the remote communication unit 304 of the MFP 300 receives the flow selection screen, the display control unit 305 displays the received flow selection screen on the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a flow selection screen. A flow ID is assigned to each flow button on the flow selection screen. The user selects a desired flow from the flow selection screen.

  Returning to FIG. 12, the input control unit 306 accepts a flow selection (step S14), and the remote communication unit 304 transmits the flow ID of the selected flow to the distribution server 200 (step S15).

  In the distribution server 200, when the flow ID is received by the remote communication unit 201, the flow execution control unit 203 searches the HDD for the flow definition data 206 of the received flow ID (step S16). Then, the flow execution control unit 203 determines whether or not the screen definition data 207 of the bibliographic information input screen is associated with the retrieved flow definition data 206, and if it is associated, the screen definition Data 207 is retrieved from the HDD (step S17). Then, the remote communication unit 201 transmits the searched screen definition data 207 to the multifunction device 300 (step S18).

  The remote communication unit 304 of the MFP 300 receives the screen definition data 207 and executes the XML format screen definition data 207 by the display control unit 305, thereby displaying the bibliographic information input screen on the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310. (Step S19). FIG. 14A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a bibliographic information input screen. The bibliographic information input screen shown in FIG. 14A corresponds to the screen definition data 207 of the contract bibliographic information shown in FIG.

  A user inputs data of desired bibliographic information in a field of the bibliographic information input screen. FIG. 14B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a bibliographic information input screen in a state where bibliographic information is input. Returning to FIG. 12, the input control unit 306 receives the input value of the bibliographic information (step S20). Then, the scanner engine 301 operates the scanner engine 307 via the control unit 33, and scans the document (step S21). The scanner application 301 converts the input value of the input bibliographic information into the XML format.

  The remote communication unit 304 transmits the scanned image data and the input value of the bibliographic information in XML format to the distribution server 200 (step S22).

  In the distribution server 200, the remote communication unit 201 receives the scanned image data and the input value of the bibliographic information in XML format. Then, the flow execution control unit 203 merges the received bibliographic information input value into the flow definition data 206 (step S23). Specifically, the flow execution control unit 203 inserts and sets the input value of the bibliographic information in the portions 401 to 406 having curly braces ({}) in the flow definition data 206 in FIG.

  The flow execution control unit 203 controls the execution of processing based on the flow definition data 206 obtained by merging input values of bibliographic information. Specifically, when intermediate processing is defined in the flow definition data 206, the processing unit 210 executes the intermediate processing (step S24).

  If an error occurs during processing, the processing unit 210 that performs intermediate processing outputs the error content to the flow execution control unit 203. The flow execution control unit 203 determines whether or not an error has occurred depending on whether or not an error content has been output by the processing unit 210 that has performed the intermediate processing (step S26).

  If no error content is notified by the processing unit 210, the flow execution control unit 203 causes the processing unit 210 to execute the output process defined in the flow definition data 206 (step S25).

  If the error content is notified by the processing unit 210 that has performed the intermediate processing, the flow execution control unit 203 causes the processing unit 210 to execute an error flow output process defined in the flow definition data 206 (step S27).

  When an error occurs during processing, the processing unit 210 that performs output processing outputs the error content to the flow execution control unit 203. The flow execution control unit 203 determines whether or not an error has occurred depending on whether or not an error content has been output by the processing unit 210 that has performed the output process (step S28). If no error has occurred in step S28, the distribution process is terminated.

  If the error content is notified by the processing unit 210, the flow execution control unit 203 causes the processing unit 210 to execute an error flow output process defined in the flow definition data 206 (step S29). In the example shown in FIG. 12, the process after the error is the output process (steps S27 and S29), but the output process may be performed after the intermediate process.

  As described above, in the network distribution system according to the first embodiment, the processing flow after an error can be set visually on the flow definition data generation screen, and the usefulness of the system can be improved. In the network distribution system according to the first embodiment, bibliographic information necessary for the distribution flow is input on the bibliographic information input screen at the start of scanning, and the input value of the bibliographic information is set in the flow definition data 206 for distribution. Since the flow is executed, bibliographic information necessary for the distribution of the input image data can be set, and execution of processing for the image data can be easily controlled.

(Example 2)
In the first embodiment, the flow execution control is performed on the distribution server 200 side, but in the second embodiment, the flow execution control is performed on the multi-function peripheral side.

  FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a functional configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the second embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the MFP 500 according to the second embodiment includes a scanner application 301, a printer application 302, a control unit 303, a remote communication unit 304, a display control unit 305, an input control unit 306, Operation panel 310, scanner engine 307, printer engine 308, processing unit 510, flow execution control unit 503, flow definition generation unit 504, screen definition generation unit 505, flow definition data 506, and screen definition data 507.

  Here, the functions of the scanner application 301, the printer application 302, the control unit 303, the display control unit 305, the input control unit 306, the operation panel 310, the scanner engine 307, and the printer engine 308 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The flow definition data 506 is data that defines the flow of various processes for scanned image data and the like, and has the same format as in the first embodiment. The screen definition data 507 is data defining a bibliographic information input screen that displays bibliographic information for image data so as to be input to the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310, and has the same format as that of the first embodiment. The screen definition data 507 is associated with flow definition data 506 for setting bibliographic information necessary for the flow. Flow definition data 506 and screen definition data 507 are stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

  The remote communication unit 304 controls transmission / reception of various data when executing various processes. The processing unit 510 executes various types of processing defined in the flow definition data 506. The processing unit 510 performs image processing such as image data conversion, and the image data is transmitted to the file server 101, the EDMS 102, and the SMTP server 103. And the like are provided with a distribution processing unit 512 and the like.

  The flow execution control unit 503 reads out the flow definition data 506 from the HDD, and controls the execution of various processes defined by the flow definition data 506 by the processing unit 510. The flow execution control unit 503 associates the bibliographic information by setting the input bibliographic information in the flow definition data 506, and performs various processing on the image data based on the flow definition data 506 associated with the bibliographic information. Control execution. Specific processing of the flow execution control unit 503 is performed in the same manner as the processing of the flow execution control unit 203 in the distribution server 200 of the first embodiment.

  The flow definition generation unit 504 generates or edits the flow definition data 506 according to an instruction of a system administrator such as an administrator of the multi-function device 500, and stores the generated or edited flow definition data 506 in the HDD.

  The screen definition generation unit 505 generates or edits the screen definition data 507 according to an instruction from the system administrator, and stores the generated or edited screen definition data 507 in the HDD.

  For details of the generation processing of the flow definition data 506 by the flow definition generation unit 504 and the display processing of the generation processing of the screen definition data 507 by the screen definition generation unit 505, the flow definition generation unit 204 of the distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment, The same processing as that performed by the screen definition generation unit 205 is performed. However, each screen such as a flow definition data generation screen, a process setting dialog, and a screen definition data generation screen is displayed on the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310.

  Next, image data distribution processing by the multi-function device 500 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of image data distribution processing according to the second embodiment.

  First, when the user presses a scan button, which is the operation unit 312 of the operation panel 310, the press is accepted and the scanner application 301 is activated (step S31). Then, the scanner application 301 displays the flow selection screen shown in FIG. 13 on the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310 (step S32). From this flow selection screen, the user selects a desired flow.

  The input control unit 306 receives a flow selection (step S33), and the flow execution control unit 503 searches the HDD for flow definition data 506 corresponding to the flow ID of the selected flow (step S34). Then, the flow execution control unit 503 determines whether or not the screen definition data 507 of the bibliographic information input screen is associated with the retrieved flow definition data 506. Data 507 is retrieved from the HDD (step S35). Then, by executing the screen definition data 507 in the XML format searched by the display control unit 305, the bibliographic information input screen shown in FIG. 14A is displayed on the display unit 311 of the operation panel 310 (step S36).

  A user inputs data of desired bibliographic information in a field of the bibliographic information input screen. The input control unit 306 receives the input value of the bibliographic information (step S37). Then, the scanner application 301 operates the scanner engine 307 via the control unit 303 to execute scanning of the document (step S38). The scanner application 301 converts the input value of the input bibliographic information into the XML format.

  Next, the flow execution control unit 503 merges the input values of the bibliographic information input to the flow definition data 506 as in the first embodiment (step S39).

  The flow execution control unit 503 controls the execution of processing based on flow definition data 506 obtained by merging input values of bibliographic information. Specifically, when an intermediate process is defined in the flow definition data 506, the processing unit 510 causes the intermediate process to be executed (step S40).

  When an error occurs during processing, the processing unit 510 that performs intermediate processing outputs the error content to the flow execution control unit 503. The flow execution control unit 503 determines whether or not an error has occurred depending on whether or not an error content has been output by the processing unit 510 that has performed the intermediate processing (step S42).

  If no error content is notified by the processing unit 510, the flow execution control unit 503 causes the processing unit 510 to execute the output process defined in the flow definition data 506 (step S41).

  When the error content is notified by the processing unit 510 that has performed the intermediate processing, the flow execution control unit 503 causes the processing unit 510 to execute an error flow output process defined in the flow definition data 506 (step S43).

  If an error occurs during processing, the processing unit 510 that performs output processing outputs the error content to the flow effective control unit 503. The flow execution control unit 503 determines whether or not an error has occurred depending on whether or not an error content has been output by the processing unit 510 that has performed the output process (step S44).

  If the error content is notified by the processing unit 510, the flow execution control unit 503 causes the processing unit 510 to execute an error flow output process defined in the flow definition data 506 (step S45). In the example shown in FIG. 16, the process after the error is the output process (steps S43 and S45), but the output process may be performed after the intermediate process.

  As described above, in the multi-function device 500 according to the second embodiment, the flow of processing after an error can be visually set on the flow definition data generation screen, and the usefulness of the system can be improved. In the MFP 500 according to the second embodiment, bibliographic information necessary for the distribution flow is input on the bibliographic information input screen at the start of scanning, and the input value of the bibliographic information is set in the flow definition data 506 for distribution. Since the flow is executed, bibliographic information necessary for the distribution of the input image data can be set, and execution of processing for the image data can be easily controlled.

  The distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment includes a control device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM, an external storage device such as an HDD and a CD drive device, a display device such as a display device, It has input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, and has a hardware configuration using a workstation or a normal computer.

  The processing control program executed by the distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment is a file in an installable or executable format, such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). The program is provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  The processing control program executed by the distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The processing control program executed by the distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The processing control program executed by the distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The processing control program executed by the distribution server 200 according to the first embodiment has a module configuration including the above-described units (remote communication unit, processing unit, flow execution control unit, flow definition generation unit, screen definition generation unit). As actual hardware, a CPU (processor) reads out and executes a processing control program from the storage medium, and the above-described units are loaded onto the main storage device. A remote communication unit, a processing unit, a flow execution control unit, a flow A definition generation unit and a screen definition generation unit are generated on the main storage device.

  The processing control program executed by the multifunction machine according to the first and second embodiments is provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The processing control program executed by the multifunction machine of the first and second embodiments is a file in an installable or executable format, such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), etc. It may be configured to be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  Furthermore, the processing control program executed by the multifunction machine of the first and second embodiments may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. In addition, the processing control program executed by the multifunction machine of the first and second embodiments may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The processing control program executed by the MFPs of the first and second embodiments includes the above-described units (scanner application, printer application, control unit, remote communication unit, display control unit, input control unit, processing unit, flow execution control unit, The module configuration includes a flow definition generation unit and a screen definition generation unit). As actual hardware, the CPU (processor) reads the processing control program from the ROM and executes it, so that each unit is stored on the main storage device. The scanner application, printer application, control unit, remote communication unit, display control unit, input control unit, processing unit, flow execution control unit, flow definition generation unit, and screen definition generation unit are generated on the main storage device. It has become so.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example as it is, A component can be deform | transformed and embodied in the implementation stage in the range which does not deviate from the summary. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

101 File server 102 EDMS
103 SMTP server 104 Internet 105 Network 200, 2700 Distribution server 201 Remote communication unit 203, 503 Flow execution control unit 204, 504 Flow definition generation unit 205, 505 Screen definition generation unit 206, 506 Flow definition data 207, 507 Screen definition data 210 , 510 Processing unit 211, 511 Image processing unit 212, 512 Distribution processing unit 300, 500 MFP 301 Scanner application 302 Printer application 304 Remote communication unit 305 Display control unit 306 Input control unit 307 Scanner engine 308 Printer engine 309 Server information 310 Operation Panel 311 Display unit 312 Operation unit

JP 2005-208934 A

Claims (11)

An information processing apparatus for distributing acquired image data,
Generation means for generating flow definition data defining one or a plurality of processing flows for the image data by constructing the flow on a generation screen;
Storage means for storing flow definition data generated by the generation means;
Flow execution control means for controlling execution of a job as the one or more processes for the image data based on the flow definition data;
The generating means includes
An information processing apparatus capable of constructing an error process for each process included in the flow in the flow on the generation screen.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a folder distribution unit that outputs error content, flow information, and image data to the error folder when a flow for distributing the folder to an error folder is constructed as the error process. The folder delivery means includes:
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether to store all the image data in the error folder based on attribute information of the image data. When the attribute information is information indicating the importance of the image data,
The folder delivery means includes:
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein it is determined that all the image data is output to the error folder only when the attribute information indicates the most important. When the flow includes an image conversion process and an output process for outputting the image data after the image conversion,
The folder delivery means includes:
If an error occurs during the image conversion process, the image data before image conversion is output to the error folder, and if an error occurs during the output process, the image data after image conversion is output to the error folder. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The generating means includes
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a plurality of processes corresponding to error contents of the processes can be constructed. An image forming apparatus that distributes acquired image data,
Generation means for generating flow definition data defining one or a plurality of processing flows for the image data by constructing the flow on a generation screen;
Storage means for storing flow definition data generated by the generation means;
Flow execution control means for controlling execution of a job as the one or more processes for the image data based on the flow definition data;
The generating means includes
An image forming apparatus capable of constructing an error process for each process included in the flow in the flow on the generation screen. A processing control system comprising an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus via a network,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Generation means for generating flow definition data defining one or a plurality of processing flows for the image data by constructing the flow on a generation screen;
Storage means for storing flow definition data generated by the generation means;
Flow execution control means for controlling execution of a job that is the one or more processes for the image data based on the flow definition data;
The generating means includes
The process at the time of error for each process included in the flow is built in the flow on the generation screen,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Operation display means capable of operation display and input;
Image input means for inputting image data;
Execution instruction means for designating the flow definition data received from the information processing apparatus and instructing execution of the flow on the image data;
When the execution of the flow is instructed, a transmission means for transmitting the image data and information for identifying the specified flow definition data to the information processing apparatus;
A processing control system comprising: A processing control method in an information processing apparatus for distributing acquired image data,
A generation step of generating flow definition data defining one or a plurality of processing flows for the image data by constructing the flow on a generation screen;
A storage step of storing in the storage means the flow definition data generated by the generation step;
A flow execution control step for controlling execution of a job which is the one or more processes for the image data based on the flow definition data,
The generating step includes
A process control method that allows a process at the time of an error for each process included in the flow to be constructed by including the process on the generation screen. A processing control program for distributing acquired image data,
A generation step of generating flow definition data defining a flow of one or more processes for the image data by constructing the flow on a generation screen;
A storage step of storing in the storage means the flow definition data generated by the generation step;
Based on the flow definition data, let the computer execute a flow execution control step for controlling execution of a job that is the one or more processes for the image data,
The generating step includes
A processing control program that makes it possible to construct an error process for each process included in the flow in the flow on the generation screen.   A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 10 is described.

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