JP2012043455A - Data conversion device, data processing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data conversion device, which converts received data but does not correspond to communication across a firewall, and is capable of being easily rendered corresponding to communication across the firewall.SOLUTION: A data conversion device 20 converting data received from an information processing device 10 capable of being connected to a network across a firewall 50 comprises: a first data conversion function unit 21 for listening to a first port that is not allowed to be used in the firewall 50 and performing a specified data conversion with respect to the received data from the first port regardless of the data format thereof; and a second data conversion function unit 22 for listening to a second port that is allowed to be used in the firewall 50, converting data received from the second port into the data format capable of being processed by the first data conversion function unit 21 and looping back result data to the first port.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data conversion device that converts the format of received data, a data conversion system including such a data conversion device and an information processing device, a control method for such a data conversion device, and such a data conversion device. The present invention relates to a data conversion function adding method, a program for causing a computer to control such a data conversion device, and a computer-readable recording medium on which such a program is recorded.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a data conversion apparatus that listens to a specific port and performs specific data conversion on data received at the port regardless of the data format.
A specific example of such a data conversion apparatus is a printer that performs printing based on print data received from a PC (personal computer).

FIG. 22 shows the functional configuration of such a PC and printer.
As shown in this figure, the PC 80 generally includes an application (application) 81 for realizing various functions such as a word processor, spreadsheet, and drawing. In order to print a document or a figure to be handled, an instruction for printing is issued to the application 81.

  In addition, the PC 80 includes a printer driver 82 that converts the content of an image to be printed output from the application 81 into print data (print language format print data) described in a printer language in a format that can be processed by the printer 90. I have. When the user instructs printing, the application 81 passes data indicating the contents of the output image to the printer driver 82 corresponding to the designated printer, and the printer driver 82 designates the data. The print data is converted into a format that can be processed by the printer and spooled in the spool directory of the port monitor 83.

  The port monitor 83 is a driver that transfers data between the PC 80 and the printer 90, and transmits the data spooled in the spool directory to the 9100th port of the printer address to be used. This port is a port that a printer generally uses to receive print data.

On the other hand, the printer 90 includes a print engine 93 that is an engine unit that actually performs a print operation, and a printer application 91.
The printer application 91 always listens to the 9100 port while it is running, and when data is sent here, it is assumed that the data is print data described in a specific printer language. The print data is converted into image data for causing the print engine 93 to perform printing. This process is, for example, a process of drawing in an image memory based on print data to generate image data in a bitmap format. Then, by driving the print engine 93 based on the image data, an image based on the received print data can be formed on the paper.

In this case, from the viewpoint of improving development efficiency and reducing the processing load, the printer application 91 does not check the format of the received data, and performs the same processing when receiving any data. Has been done. Even in such a case, the printer 90 can be operated without any problems if the control of transmitting data in a format that can be processed by the printer application 91 is securely performed on the data transmission source PC side. it can.
Such a printer is described in Patent Document 1, for example.
Examples of techniques for sending commands to an image forming apparatus such as a printer from the outside of a firewall include those described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, for example.

By the way, in recent years, a tendency of emphasizing security on various data including personal information is increasing. For this reason, various measures are taken to protect data in the HDD (hard disk drive) and to protect the communication path.
Of these, for communication path protection, data exchange between customers and providers using the Internet channel is encrypted, but in-house communication infrastructure (between PC and printer, between printers) Etc.) is also spreading.
In response to this trend, companies such as financial institutions, for example, are installing firewalls in the in-house environment such as boundaries with DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone), server rooms, and between bases.

On the other hand, many devices connected to the in-house network use a unique protocol and communicate using a unique port corresponding to the protocol. The printer 90 described above and the 9100 port used by the printer 90 are examples. The firewall is normally set not to permit the use of such a unique port, and communication with respect to such a port is blocked.
Therefore, to be able to use a device that communicates using a unique protocol over a firewall, it is necessary to change the firewall settings so that the unique port can be used. There was a problem that it took.

To deal with this problem, the technology described in Patent Document 2 or 3 above is used, and the side of the device that performs communication using a unique protocol and port is usually used as HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). It may be modified to perform communication using a port that is allowed to be used by the firewall.
However, such a modification has a problem that a conventionally known method requires a lot of man-hours and costs, and a burden is large. In particular, considering the use only within the firewall, it is preferable that communication using a unique protocol can be performed even after modification, but such modification requires design that takes into account multiple protocols. There was a problem that it took extra man-hours and costs.

  The present invention solves such a problem, and enables a data conversion apparatus that performs data conversion on received data and does not support communication through a firewall, and can easily support communication through a firewall. For the purpose. In particular, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily develop a device having such a function using existing resources.

In order to achieve the above object, a data conversion apparatus according to the present invention is a data conversion apparatus for converting data received through a firewall from a device connectable to a network. A first data conversion unit that listens to a port and performs specific data conversion on data received at the port regardless of the format of the data; and a second port that is permitted to be used by the firewall. A second data conversion unit that listens and converts the data received at the port into a format that the first data conversion unit can handle and loops back to the first port; Is provided.
In such a data conversion apparatus, the second port may be a port reserved to be used for communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP.

Further, each of the second data conversion means listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and listens to the data conversion means at the next stage. A plurality of data conversion means that loop back to each other, and each of the data conversion means performs a plurality of stages of data conversion processing so that the data received at the second port is handled by the first data conversion means. It is preferable to convert the data into a format that can be used and loop back to the first port.
Furthermore, means for shifting itself to the energy saving mode, means for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port, and any data at the second port. It is preferable to provide means for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to the normal operation mode to the first port when it is received.

Furthermore, the data conversion performed by the first data conversion unit may be conversion from print data described in a printer language to image data for causing the print engine to form an image.
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means may be conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language.
Further, in the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means, the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message is converted into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and the data is converted into a print after conversion. It is recommended to include processing that is part of the data.

The data conversion system of the present invention is a data conversion system comprising an information processing device and a data conversion device for processing data received from the information processing device through a firewall. A first data conversion unit that listens to a first port that is not permitted to be used and performs specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data; Listening to the permitted second port, converting the data received at that port into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion means, and looping back to the first port Second data conversion means for transmitting data to the information processing apparatus to the data conversion apparatus The data format that can be processed above the second data conversion means is provided with a means for transmitting to said second port.
In such a data conversion system, the second port may be a port reserved for use in communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP.

Further, the second data conversion means of the data conversion apparatus listens to a specific port that is different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and performs data conversion at the next stage. A plurality of data conversion means that loop back to the port on which the means listens, and each of the data conversion means performs a plurality of stages of data conversion processing, whereby the data received at the second port is converted into the first data; The data may be converted into data in a format that can be handled by the conversion means and looped back to the first port.
Further, means for causing the data converter to shift itself to an energy saving mode, means for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when receiving some data at the first port, and the second It is preferable to provide means for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to the normal operation mode to the first port when any data is received at the first port.

Furthermore, in the data conversion apparatus, the data conversion performed by the first data conversion unit may be conversion from data described in a printer language into image data for causing the print engine to form an image.
In the data conversion apparatus, the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means may be conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language.
Further, in the data conversion device, the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message is converted into the print attribute data described in the printer job language for the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means, A process for converting the data into a part of the converted print data may be included.

The data conversion device control method of the present invention also listens to the data conversion device that converts data received through a firewall from a device that can be connected to a network, by using the first port that is not permitted by the firewall. The first data conversion procedure for performing specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the data format, and the second port permitted to be used by the firewall , Executing data conversion into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion procedure for the data received at the port, and executing a second data conversion procedure for looping back to the first port It is.
In such a data conversion apparatus control method, if the second port is a port reserved for use in communication using any one of the protocols HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. Good.

Further, in the second data conversion procedure, each procedure listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at that port, and performs the next data conversion procedure. By performing a plurality of stages of data conversion processing by a plurality of data conversion procedures that loop back to the listening port, the data received at the second port is converted into data that can be handled by the first data conversion procedure. The procedure may be to convert and loop back to the first port.
And a procedure for causing the data converter to shift itself to the energy saving mode, a procedure for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when receiving some data at the first port, and the second When any data is received at this port, it is preferable to execute a procedure for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to the normal operation mode to the first port.

Furthermore, the data conversion performed in the first data conversion procedure may be conversion from data described in the printer language into image data for causing the print engine to form an image.
The data conversion performed in the second data conversion procedure may be conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language.
Further, in the data conversion performed in the second data conversion procedure, the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message is converted into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and the converted print data It is recommended to include processing that is part of the data.

The data conversion function addition method of the present invention is a data conversion device for converting data received through a firewall from a device connectable to a network, wherein the first port that is not permitted to be used by the firewall is provided. Listen to the data conversion device having the first data conversion means for performing specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data. Second data that loops back to the first port by converting the data received at that port into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion means. Conversion means is added.
In such a data conversion function addition method, the second port may be a port reserved to be used for communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. .

Further, each of the second data conversion means listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and listens to the data conversion means at the next stage. A plurality of data conversion means that loop back to each other, and each of the data conversion means performs a plurality of stages of data conversion processing so that the data received at the second port is handled by the first data conversion means. It is preferable to convert the data into a format that can be used and loop back to the first port.
Further, the data conversion device has means for shifting itself to the energy saving mode, means for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when receiving some data at the first port, and the second It is preferable that the apparatus has a means for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to the normal operation mode to the first port when any data is received at the first port.

Furthermore, the data conversion performed by the first data conversion means may be conversion from data described in the printer language into image data for causing the print engine to form an image.
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means may be conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language.
Further, in the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means, the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message is converted into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and the data is converted into a print after conversion. It is recommended to include processing that is part of the data.

In addition, the program of the present invention listens to a first port that is not permitted to be used by the firewall for a computer that controls a data conversion device that converts data received through a firewall from a device connectable to a network. And listening to the first data conversion means for performing specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data, and the second port permitted to be used by the firewall, The data received at the port is converted into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion means and functions as a second data conversion means that loops back to the first port. It is a program.
In such a program, the second port may be a port reserved to be used for communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP.

Further, each of the second data conversion means listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and listens to the data conversion means at the next stage. A plurality of data conversion means that loop back to each other, and each of the data conversion means performs a plurality of stages of data conversion processing so that the data received at the second port is handled by the first data conversion means. It is preferable to convert the data into a format that can be used and loop back to the first port.
Means for causing the computer to shift the data conversion device to an energy saving mode; and means for returning the data conversion device from an energy saving mode to a normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port. A program for causing the first port to function as a means for transmitting dummy data for returning the data converter to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the second port may be included. .

Furthermore, the data conversion performed by the first data conversion means may be conversion from data described in the printer language into image data for causing the print engine to form an image.
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means may be conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language.
Further, in the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means, the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message is converted into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and the data is converted into a print after conversion. It is recommended to include processing that is part of the data.
The recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium on which any one of the above programs is recorded.

According to the data conversion device, the data conversion system, the data conversion device control method, or the data conversion function addition method of the present invention as described above, the data conversion is performed on the received data, and the communication through the firewall is supported. It is possible to make it possible for a data conversion device that has not been used to easily handle communication through a firewall. In addition, a device having such a function can be easily developed using existing resources.
Further, according to the program of the present invention, the same function can be obtained by causing the computer to control the data conversion apparatus to realize the above functions.
According to the recording medium of the present invention, the above effect can be obtained by causing a computer not storing the above program to read and execute the program.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of 1st Embodiment of the data conversion system of this invention. In the data conversion system, it is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement in the state without a firewall between information processing apparatus and a data converter. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the data converter shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the modification of the system shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the other modification. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system which is 2nd Embodiment of the data conversion system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the format of the data which a printer handles in the system shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an environment in which the PC and the printer illustrated in FIG. 6 are installed. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for setting use of an extension spooler and presence / absence of communication encryption in the PC illustrated in FIG. 6. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen which similarly refers the setting state of the port used for printing. 7 is a flowchart of processing executed on the PC side in the system shown in FIG. 6. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the HTTP communication application on the printer side. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the HTTPS communication application on the printer side. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the printer application on the printer side. It is a figure which shows the example of handling of the data in the application for HTTP communication in the modification of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the other example. It is a figure which shows another example. It is a figure which shows the example of handling of the data in the application for HTTPS communication in the modification of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 6 which shows the structure of the modification of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure corresponding to Drawing 6 showing the composition of another modification of a 2nd embodiment. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 6 which shows the structure of another modification of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the functional structure of the printer which is an example of the conventional data converter together with the functional structural example of PC which instruct | indicates printing to the printer.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment: FIGS. 1 to 5]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the data conversion system of the present invention.
As shown in this figure, the data conversion system is configured by connecting the information processing apparatus 10 and the data conversion apparatus 20 so that they can communicate with each other through some communication path such as a network such as a LAN (local area network). Can do. However, this communication path only needs to be at least capable of transmitting data from the information processing apparatus 10 to the data conversion apparatus 20, and need not be able to transmit data in the reverse direction.

  Further, the data conversion device 20 includes a first data conversion function unit 21 and a second data conversion function unit 22. The first data conversion function unit 21 is a first data conversion unit that listens to the first port and converts the data received at the port to a specific data conversion regardless of the data format. It has a function to perform. The second data conversion function unit 22 is a second data conversion unit, which listens to a second port different from the first port and performs a first operation on data received at the port. The data conversion function unit 21 has a function of performing data conversion into a format that can be handled, and transmitting the converted data to the first port by loopback.

The data processed by the first data conversion function unit 21 may be output to the outside or used for another purpose inside the data conversion device 20.
Further, the term “regardless of the data format” here refers to a format at a level recognized by the application as a processing target. When data is transmitted and received between devices, a header or footer of a predetermined format is attached to a data packet in accordance with a communication protocol. Therefore, data input to a port itself may have a predetermined format. Although there is a necessary part, the data of this part is not considered.

  On the other hand, the information processing apparatus 10 includes a transmission data generation unit 11 and a communication control unit 12. The transmission data generation unit 11 has a function of generating data to be transmitted to the data conversion device 20 and processed, and the communication control unit 12 converts the data generated by the transmission data generation unit 11 to the data conversion device 20. It has a function of transmitting to the first port or the second port. The destination information such as the address of the data conversion device 20 is set in advance so that the communication control unit 12 can refer to it.

Further, a firewall 50 is provided between the information processing apparatus 10 and the data conversion apparatus 20, and communication using a port other than a predetermined specific port is blocked so that unauthorized communication can be prevented. That is, the data conversion apparatus 20 receives data from the information processing apparatus 10 through the firewall 50. The second port in the data conversion device 20 is a port that is permitted to be used in the firewall 50, and the first port is a port that is not permitted to be used in the firewall 50.
For this reason, when data is to be transmitted from the information processing apparatus 10 to the data conversion apparatus 20, the transmission is blocked by the firewall 50 when attempting to transmit to the first port. On the other hand, if the data is transmitted to the second port, the data can be delivered to the data converter 20 through the firewall 50.

Here, HTTP or HTTPS (HyperText
Transfer Protocol Security (LDAP), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3), SMTP (Simple
Ports used for communication using commonly used protocols such as Mail Transport Protocol (FTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), that is, ports reserved for communication using these protocols are: Since the use is often permitted in the firewall 50, it is suitable for the second port.
When data is transmitted to the second port of the data converter 20, a protocol corresponding to the port number is used, and the data format may be a format suitable for transfer using the protocol. The second data conversion function unit 22 has a function of converting this data into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion function unit, and loops back the converted data to the first port.

Then, the first data conversion function unit 21 converts the data transmitted from the second data conversion function unit 22 as if the data from the information processing apparatus 10 was transmitted to the first port from the beginning. The converted data can be output.
Therefore, according to the data conversion apparatus 20, even in an environment where data cannot be transmitted from the information processing apparatus 10 to the first port, the data conversion apparatus 20 is designed on the assumption that it is used in an environment without a firewall. A format suitable for transmission from the information processing apparatus 10 to the second port without any change to the first data conversion function unit 21 and without changing the setting of the firewall 50. By transmitting the data, it is possible to obtain an output equivalent to the case where the data is transmitted to the first port.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 10 is inside the same firewall as the data conversion apparatus 20, and there may be no firewall between them.
In such a case, data in a format that can be handled by the first data conversion function unit 21 can be transmitted from the information processing apparatus 10 to the first port of the data conversion apparatus 20 for processing. It is. Even if the second data conversion function unit 22 is provided in the data conversion device 20, the function of the first data conversion function unit 21 is not hindered at all. Therefore, in such a case, even if the communication control unit 12 is not provided with a function for transmitting data in a format that can be handled by the second data conversion function unit 22, the data conversion device 20 can perform post-conversion. Data can be output.

  However, the first data conversion function unit 21 performs specific data conversion regardless of the format of the received data. Therefore, if data in a format other than the format assumed as the processing target is received, the conversion processing does not make sense, and the output becomes completely meaningless data. Therefore, it is necessary for the information processing apparatus 10 side to transmit data in an appropriate format according to the transmission destination port to the data conversion apparatus 20.

Similarly, the second data conversion function unit 22 may perform specific data conversion regardless of the format of the received data. However, the data processed by the second data conversion function unit 22 is preferably data in a format suitable for transfer using a commonly used protocol such as HTTP or HTTPS described above. Since data in such a format is often used to indicate the contents of the data including various parameters, the values of such parameters are referred to, and the contents of processing are changed according to the values. It may be.
For example, as a basic process, a process for extracting the contents of a predetermined tag of an HTTP message is performed. If the HTTP message includes information indicating that the contents of the predetermined tag are compressed, the contents are extracted. For example, the data is further decompressed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration of the data conversion apparatus 20 described above.
As shown in this figure, the data conversion apparatus 20 includes a CPU 121, ROM 122, RAM 123, nonvolatile memory 124, and communication interface (I / F) 125, which are connected by a system bus 126.

The CPU 121 is a control unit that performs overall control of the entire data conversion device 20, and executes various programs recorded in the ROM 122 and the non-volatile memory 124, whereby each of the first and second data conversion units and the like is executed. It functions as a means to realize various functions according to the features of this embodiment.
The ROM 122 is a nonvolatile storage unit, and stores programs executed by the CPU 121, fixed parameters, and the like. The ROM 122 may be configured as a rewritable storage means so that these data can be updated.

The RAM 123 is storage means for storing temporarily used data or used as a work memory for the CPU 121.
The non-volatile memory 124 is a rewritable non-volatile storage means such as a flash memory or an HDD (hard disk drive). The program executed by the CPU 121 and parameters that need to be retained even after the apparatus is turned off. The value of etc. is memorized.

  The communication I / F 125 is an interface for connecting the data conversion apparatus 20 to a network, and can be a network interface for performing Ethernet (registered trademark) communication, for example. And when communicating with another apparatus via a network, this communication I / F125 and CPU121 function as a communication means. Note that an appropriate communication I / F 125 is prepared in accordance with a network standard, a communication protocol to be used, and the like. It is also possible to provide a plurality of communication I / Fs 125 corresponding to a plurality of standards.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, the data conversion device 20 may be provided with an engine unit for performing physical output other than communication to the outside. For example, if the data conversion device 20 is a laser printer, the engine unit is an electrophotographic print engine, and the CPU 121 causes the data conversion device 20 to execute a print operation by appropriately controlling these operations. Can do.
Also, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 may be a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an HDD, and a communication I / F as in the case shown in FIG. 3. For example, a known computer is used. it can.

  Then, by realizing the functions described with reference to FIG. 1 in these hardware, the first data conversion function unit 21 uses the firewall 50 to acquire data to be processed in the data conversion device 20. Even if it has only a function to be performed from the first port that is not permitted, data is transmitted from the outside of the firewall 50 to the data conversion device 20 to cause the first data conversion function unit 21 to process the desired data. Finally, the data in the format after the conversion by the first data conversion function unit 21 can be output.

Further, in this case, since the first data conversion function unit 21 receives the data receiving port from the information processing apparatus 10 and the second data conversion function unit 22 in common, the first data conversion function unit 21 receives the data. When one data conversion function unit 21 (software or hardware for realizing the data conversion function unit 21) has been developed, there is no need to modify itself. Then, the function described above can be realized in the data conversion apparatus 20 only by adding software or hardware for realizing the second data conversion function unit 22.
Therefore, the data conversion device 20 can receive data at a port permitted to be used by the firewall and can be used for processing by the first data conversion function unit 21, while a device having such a function is provided. Can be developed easily using existing resources.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the data conversion function part is provided in multiple stages, sequentially converts to a data format that can be processed by the data conversion function part in the next stage, and the data conversion function part receives data. In addition, the same effect can be obtained by looping back the converted data. In this case, each data conversion function unit other than the first data conversion function unit 21 corresponds to the second data conversion unit. If only the port that receives data first (the third port in FIG. 4) is permitted by the firewall 50, the subsequent processing can be performed without any problem. Moreover, although it is three steps in the figure, it is needless to say that a data conversion function unit beyond that may be provided.

  Even in this case, the port when the communication control unit 12 on the information processing device 10 side transmits the print data to the data conversion device 20 ′ is the third port, and the third data conversion function unit 23 is If transmission is performed in a data format that can be handled, each data conversion function unit performs data conversion on the data conversion device 20 'side, and finally conversion by the first data conversion function unit 21 is performed. Later data can be output.

  In this case, if the use of the port corresponding to the data conversion function part in the middle (for example, the second port in FIG. 3) is permitted by the firewall in the multi-stage conversion process, the data can be transmitted here. It is also possible to execute conversion processing after the corresponding conversion function unit. That is, of the multi-stage conversion processing, control for starting processing from an intermediate process is also possible by selecting a port when transmitting data to the data conversion device 20 ′ on the information processing device 10 side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, on the data conversion device 20 ″ side, a plurality of data conversion function units perform data conversion into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion function unit 21. A configuration is also possible in which the data is looped back to the first port, and even in this case, the firewall 50 is permitted to use the ports that receive data first (the second and third ports in FIG. 5). If so, the data converted by the first data conversion function unit 21 can be finally output.
In the configuration as shown in FIG. 4, when it is necessary to perform data conversion in a nested manner, the configuration as shown in FIG. 5 performs data conversion until the first data conversion function unit 21 can process the data at a time. One type may be used, but it may be adopted when it is desired to support a plurality of conversion methods or protocols. Of course, these may be combined.

[Second Embodiment: FIGS. 6 to 14]
Next, a more specific second embodiment of the data conversion system of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the print system according to the second embodiment. In this figure, the name of the software is attached to the block indicating the function realized by the software. Further, hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, processing and operations performed by the CPU executing the software may be described as processing performed by the software.

As shown in FIG. 6, this print system includes a PC 30 and a printer 40. These correspond to the information processing apparatus 10 and the data conversion apparatus 20 of the first embodiment, respectively.
The printer 40 includes a printer application 41 as the first data conversion unit, and an HTTP communication application 42 and an HTTPS communication application 43 as the second data conversion unit.

  Then, when the printer application 41 listens to the 9100 port as the first port and receives some data here, the printer application 41 treats the data as print data written in a specific printer language, and handles the print data. Then, the image data is converted into image data for causing the print engine 44 to perform printing. That is, it has the same function as that of the printer application 91 of the printer 90 described with reference to FIG.

  The HTTP communication application 42 has a function of performing communication using an HTTP with an external device such as the PC 30. When listening to an HTTP port as a second port, more specifically, a port normally used for communication using HTTP, such as port 80 or port 8080, and receiving some data here The data is handled as an HTTP message, the structure thereof is analyzed, and the element in a specific tag in which print data in a format that can be handled by the printer application 41 should be extracted is included. In addition, it has a function of transmitting the extracted print data to the 9100 port by loopback. Other functions may be provided, but this point will be described later.

  In addition, the HTTPS communication application 43 is a port that is normally used for communication using HTTPS such as an HTTPS port, more specifically, a port 443, and the protocol used for communication is HTTPS. The HTTP communication application 42 has the same function as the HTTP communication application 42 except that the HTTP message to be handled is transmitted in an encrypted state.

  Accordingly, when the printer 40 receives print data written in a specific printer language at the 9100 port, the printer 40 can perform printing based on the print data, and at a different HTTP port or HTTPS port, When the print data described in the message is received, the print data is taken out from the print data, and printing can be performed based on the print data.

  Since the printer application 41 performs data conversion processing on the assumption that the received data is in a specific format, the output is meaningless if the format of the actually received data is a different format. It becomes data. However, even in such a configuration, if the data transmission side is controlled to transmit data in the correct format, it operates without any problem. Therefore, this configuration is adopted in consideration of a reduction in processing load. Yes.

Similarly, the HTTP communication application 42 and the HTTPS communication application 43 may perform data conversion processing on the assumption that the received data is in a specific format.
Further, the HTTP communication application 42 and the HTTPS communication application 43 use a device embedded Java (registered trademark) J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) and operate in a DSDK (Device Software Development Kit) environment. It is possible to create it as a server application.

  In addition to the above, the printer 40 is provided with an energy saving control unit 45 so that the printer 40 shifts itself to the energy saving mode when no data is received for a certain period of time and no printing operation is performed. I have to. In this state, in order to reduce energy consumption, a program that is resident in the RAM, such as by shutting off the power supply of each part of the printer 40, is kept to a minimum.

  However, in the range shown in FIG. 6, since the printer application 41, the HTTP communication application 42, and the HTTPS communication application 43 are all important applications, they are made to stay resident even in the energy saving mode. The function is stopped only by the print engine 44.

The energy saving control unit 45 returns the printer 40 to the normal operation mode when receiving some data at the 9100 port to which print data should be sent or accepting some operation by an operation unit (not shown). The program deleted from the RAM is also read from the nonvolatile memory and returned to an executable state.
In addition, when any data is received at the HTTP port or the HTTPS port, the HTTP communication application 42 or the HTTPS communication application 43 is, for example, dummy data for returning itself to the normal operation mode at the 9100 port. The printer 40 can be returned to the normal operation mode by transmitting the print data of only the header and the footer in a loopback manner.

  On the other hand, the PC 30 includes an application 31, a printer driver 32, and a port monitor 33. Of these, the application 31 and the printer driver 32 are the application 81 and the printer driver of the PC 80 described with reference to FIG. 82 has the same function.

The port monitor 33 includes a standard spooler 34 and an expansion spooler 35. Among these, the function of the standard spooler 34 is the same as the function of the port monitor 83 of the PC 80 described above. In other words, the printer driver 32 spools the print data converted into the printer language format into the spool directory of the standard spooler 34. The standard spooler 34 uses the data spooled in the spool directory for the address of the printer to be used. , 9100 port transmission function.
If there is no firewall between the PC 30 and the printer 40, or even if the use of the 9100 port is permitted, the standard spooler 34 is used to transmit print data to the printer 40 for printing. It is also possible.

However, when print data is transmitted to a printer that is set to use the extended spooler 35 at the time of printing as described later, the data transmission function of the standard spooler 34 is not used, and the standard spooler 34 The data spooled in the spool directory is re-spooled in the spool directory of the expansion spooler 35, and the expansion spooler 35 transmits the data to a predetermined port of the printer 40.
At this time, communication encryption is performed if necessary according to the user's designation. If encryption is not performed here, the message is transmitted to the HTTP port using HTTP. If encryption is performed, the message is transmitted to the HTTPS port using HTTPS.

  The hardware configurations of the PC 30 and the printer 40 as described above may be the same as those described with reference to FIG. 3 in the first embodiment. However, the printer 40 includes a print engine 44 as an engine unit. The printer 40 may be a digital multi-function peripheral (MFP) having functions such as copying and facsimile communication.

Here, FIG. 7 shows a data format handled by the printer 40.
As shown in FIG. 7, the printer 40 is configured assuming that the data received at the HTTP port or the HTTPS port is an HTTP message. The data received at the HTTPS port is encrypted and includes a header and a footer that describe information necessary for decryption. However, if decrypted, the data is an HTTP message.
In the HTTP message, various information marked up with a predetermined tag can be described.
For example, in the example shown in (a), print attribute data and a print data file are described in the HTTP message.

Among these, the print data file is a file including data in which print data in a printer language that can be handled by the printer application 41 is described in binary. When PCL (Printer Control Language) 6, PCL5e, RPCS, etc. are used as the printer language, PJL (Printer
A header and a footer described in the (Job Language) language are attached, and information relating to the contents of the image data among the information relating to the execution of the print job such as the paper size and resolution is described here.

  In this example, the print data file is simply taken out of the HTTP message as it is, and for example, the received HTTP message is simply taken out of the received HTTP message and marked with a specific tag. Can be converted to data that can be handled.

  The print attribute data may be omitted, but image data includes information regarding execution of a print job, such as whether or not double-sided printing is performed, if aggregated printing is performed, the aggregation format, whether or not stapling is performed, and whether punching is performed. This is data indicating information for specifying processing on the printer 40 side, irrespective of the contents of. Based on this data, the HTTP communication application 42 and the HTTPS communication application 43 generate an extension header in the PJL language, merge it with the print data extracted from the HTTP message, and send it back to the 9100 port. Can do.

The print attribute data is described in the HTTP message as an extension header of the PJL language, and even if it can be extracted and merged with the print data as it is, it is described in the HTTP message as a list of parameters, and is printed on the printer 40 side. Although it may be converted into the PJL language, the latter method is adopted here. This is preferable because settings relating to functions that cannot be executed on the printer 40 side, such as duplex printing settings when there is no duplex unit, can be eliminated by judgment on the printer 40 side.
In addition, if the print attribute data and the subdivided items in it are marked up with tags, the contents of the tags are simply skipped when there is no need to perform processing related to the print attribute data. As a result, the processing can be simplified.

On the other hand, in the example shown in (b), print attribute data and a print content file are described in the HTTP message.
Among these, the print content file is a PDF (Portable) image content to be printed by the printer 40.
The content of information to be described or printed in a page description language such as Document Format or PS (PostScript) is XML (eXtensible
A file containing data described in a structured language such as Markup Language.

  When the HTTP communication application 42 and the HTTPS communication application 43 receive an HTTP message including such a print content file, the HTTP communication application 42 interprets the content of the print content file and prints an image to be printed based on the content. Can be provided with a function of converting the contents of the print data into print data in a printer language that can be handled by the printer application 41. This may be a function that can process only data in a specific format such as PDF or PS, or a function that can identify a plurality of formats and perform appropriate processing on each.

However, even if print data is generated by such a function, if the original print content file does not include a header or footer in the PJL language, the converted data does not include the header or footer. Therefore, a default header and footer may be automatically generated and attached to the converted print data.
If print attribute data is included in the HTTP message, an extension header in PJL language can be generated as in the case of (a), and this can be attached to the converted print data. In this case, only the footer may be automatically generated.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example of an environment in which the PC 30 and the printer 40 shown in FIG. 6 are installed.
When a network environment is constructed in a company or the like, the servers 60a to 60c that permit external access are widely provided in an area called DMZ that is isolated from both the internal environment and the external environment by a firewall 50e.
In recent years, even in the in-house environment, firewalls 50a to 50d are provided for each environment such as each base, each department, and each floor to enhance security. The PC 30 and the printer 40 shown in FIG. 6 are arranged inside the firewalls 50a to 50d like the PCs 30a to 30d and the printers 40a to 40d. Such an arrangement is not essential, but at least the printer 40 is effective when arranged at such a position.

  In other words, the firewalls 50a to 50d permit the use of ports used for communication with commonly used protocols such as HTTP and HTTPS, but ports used for communication with model-dependent protocols such as the 9100th port. The use of is often not allowed. Accordingly, when the printer 40 (the alphabet of reference numerals is omitted when referring generically) is arranged inside the firewall 50 in each environment, print data from the PC 30 in the same environment is directly at port 9100. In the case of the PC 30 in another environment, transmission to the 9100 port is blocked by the firewall 50.

  However, an HTTP communication application 42 and an HTTPS communication application 43 as described with reference to FIG. 6 are provided, and print data is transmitted and received using a protocol that uses a port permitted to be used by the firewall 50, such as HTTP or HTTPS. If it is possible, even if the firewall 50 exists, print data can be transmitted beyond the firewall 50 and the printer 40 can execute printing. At this time, the printer application 41 and the print engine 44 do not need to be changed at all in the conventional model that receives the print data at the 9100 port.

Next, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show examples of screens used for setting the expansion spooler 35 in the PC 30. These screens are GUIs (graphical user interfaces) displayed on the display of the PC 30.
FIG. 9 is an example of a screen for setting the use of the extension spooler 35 and the presence / absence of communication encryption when the printer executes printing.
When the expansion spooler 35 is registered as a device driver in the OS (operating system) of the PC 30, the setting screen 150 is displayed by the function of the expansion spooler 35 when the user attempts to perform print settings using the expansion spooler 35. It is what is displayed.

  In this screen, when the user selects a protocol to be used for print data transfer at the time of printing with the protocol selection unit 151 and presses the search button 152, the PC 30 performs broadcasting by the function of the OS, and the usable printer And the information is displayed on the printer list unit 153. For information on printers in other environments beyond the firewall 50, a device list may be registered in the server 60 or the like, and the information may be displayed with reference to the device list. In the example shown in the drawing, the printer model, the individual ID of the printer, and the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the printer are displayed on the printer list unit 153, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  When the user moves the cursor 154 to select one of the printers from the printer list unit 153 and presses the OK button 156, a port for instructing the printer to print is created, and the OS prints to the printer. Is set to use the expansion spooler 35. In addition, an IP address for transmitting data to the printer is also set. At this time, if the check box 155 is checked, it is also set that the print data is transferred to the HTTPS port after being encrypted by the HTTPS protocol. If the cancel button 157 is pressed, this screen is closed without setting.

FIG. 10 is an example of a screen that is displayed when the printer for which use of the expansion spooler 35 is set on the setting screen 150 is instructed to refer to the setting state of the port used for printing.
In the reference screen 160, it can be seen from the screen title 161 that the expansion spooler 35 is used, and the port number display unit 162 can confirm to which port the data is transmitted when data is transmitted to the printer. it can. The check box 163 can also confirm whether or not to encrypt communication.

  Here, the destination port is 443 in order to encrypt communication. However, this content can be changed according to the setting on the printer side. Further, when it is set that communication is not encrypted, the destination port may be automatically changed to 80 or 8080.

  Next, processing according to the feature of this embodiment executed by the PC 30 and the printer 40 in the print system shown in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14. Various variations are conceivable for this processing, but here, a processing example is shown assuming that an HTTP message as shown in FIG. 7A is transmitted from the PC 30 to the printer 40.

First, FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of processing executed on the PC 30 side.
This processing is performed by the CPU executing the printer driver and the expansion spooler 35 when the PC 30 is instructed to print with a printer that is set to use the expansion spooler 35.

In this process, first, in step S <b> 11, the printer driver spools print data indicating print contents in the spool directory of the standard spooler 34.
After that, in step S12, an HTTP message including spooled print data and print attribute data based on the extended print attribute (the attribute of the item to be described as print attribute data shown in FIG. 7) designated at the time of printing is generated. In step S13, the created HTTP message is spooled in the spool directory of the extension spooler 35.

In step S14, it is determined whether or not a setting for encrypting communication is made.
If no encryption is set here, the process proceeds to step S15, and the HTTP message spooled in the spool directory of the expansion spooler 35 is transferred to the HTTP port (port set as the transmission destination) of the printer 40 by the HTTP protocol. ) To finish the process.

If encryption is set in step S14, the process proceeds to step S16, in which the HTTP message spooled in the spool directory of the extension spooler 35 is set to the HTTPS port (set as the transmission destination) of the printer 40 by the HTTPS protocol. Port) to finish the process.
These transmissions may be performed for each predetermined size, such as 4096 bytes.

With the above processing, when print data is transmitted in a format that can be processed by the HTTP communication application 42 of the printer 40, a format that can be processed by the HTTPS communication application 43 at a port on which the HTTP communication application 42 is listening. Can be transmitted to the port on which the HTTPS communication application 43 is listening.
Therefore, each data can be appropriately processed on the printer 40 side.

Next, FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 42 using the HTTP communication application 42 on the printer 40 side.
When the printer 40 is activated, the CPU starts the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 by executing the HTTP communication application 42.

In step S21, the HTTP communication application 42 is bound to the HTTP port, and the port is set to listen. In steps S22 and S23, the connection to the HTTP port is awaited.
After that, when data related to the connection request is received from an external client such as the PC 30 or by local loopback or the like, the process proceeds from step S23 to step S24 to permit the connection and to connect to the 9100 port of the local host in step S25. Make a request and get permission to connect.

In step S26, dummy data is transmitted to the 9100 port of the local host, and if the printer 40 is in the energy saving mode, the normal operation mode is restored.
Thereafter, in step S27, an HTTP message is received at the HTTP port, and the print data is extracted from the accumulated HTTP message while accumulating it in the buffer.
In step S28, it is determined whether or not print attribute data is included in the received data. If there is, the PJL language extension header is generated from the print attribute data in step S29, and the print data extracted in step S27 is added. Merge and proceed to step S30 and subsequent steps. If not, the process proceeds to step S30 and subsequent steps.

In step S30, it is determined whether any one of the disconnection from the client and the extraction processing error in step S27 has occurred. Here, the extraction processing error is a case where an error is returned as a processing result from the library used for extraction. Even if the data extracted as print data is in an inappropriate format, no error will occur.
If none of the above has occurred in step S30, the extracted print data including the merged extension header is transmitted to port 9100 of the local host in step S31. The transmission may be performed by a predetermined size such as 4096 bytes without being aware of data breaks. Further, the size to be transmitted at a time may be the same size as when print data is directly transmitted from the PC 30 to the 9100th port.

Thereafter, in step S32, it is determined whether or not print data extraction and transmission to the 9100th port are completed. If not completed, the process returns to step S27 to repeat the process. If completed, the process proceeds to step S33. Then, the communication is disconnected and the process returns to step S22.
Also in the case of YES at step S30, the process proceeds to step S33 to disconnect the communication and returns to step S22.

  Through the above processing, the printer 40 performs specific conversion processing for converting the HTTP message, which is data received at the HTTP port, into data in a format that can be processed by the printer application 41, and sets the processed data to number 9100. Can be sent to the port. This conversion processing is the same processing here regardless of the format of the received data. However, if data in an appropriate format is received, the output is print data in a format that can be processed by the printer application 41. Note that the processing in steps S28 and S29 may not be performed.

Next, FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 43 using the HTTPS communication application 43 on the printer 40 side.
When the printer 40 is activated, the CPU starts the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 by executing the HTTPS communication application 43.
However, this process is substantially the same as the process shown in FIG. 12, except that the listening port is an HTTPS port (S41, S42) and the received HTTP message is decrypted (S47). Therefore, detailed description is omitted.
Through this process, the printer 40 performs a specific conversion process for converting the encrypted HTTP message, which is the data received at the HTTPS port, into data in a format that can be processed by the printer application 41. Can be transmitted to the 9100 port.

Next, FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of processing executed by the printer application 41 by the CPU on the printer 40 side.
When the printer 40 is activated, the CPU starts the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14 by executing the printer application 41.
In step S61, the printer application 41 is bound to the 9100th port, and the port is set to listen. In steps S62 and S63, the connection to the port 9100 is awaited.

Thereafter, when there is a connection request by an external client such as the PC 30 or a local loopback, the process proceeds from step S63 to step S64 and the connection is permitted.
In step S65, data is received at port 9100, and the data is stored in the buffer, and based on the stored data, image data is drawn in the image memory, and the print engine 44 stores the image data. Direct print based.
In step S66, the process returns to step S65 and repeats until one of disconnection of communication from the client, drawing process error in step S65, and drawing completion occurs. If any of them occurs, the communication is disconnected in step S67, and the process returns to step S62 to repeat the process.

Through the above processing, the printer 40 performs a specific drawing process for converting the data received at the 9100th port into image data for driving the print engine 43, and the print engine is based on the processed data. 44 can execute printing. This processing is commonly performed regardless of whether the data transmission source is the PC 30, the HTTP communication application 42, or the HTTPS communication application 43. The drawing process is the same regardless of the format of the received data, but if data in an appropriate format is received, image data indicating the contents of the image to be formed can be obtained by drawing. .
Note that the processing shown in this flowchart may be the same as that of a print engine provided in a conventional printer.

  According to the print system as described above, by realizing the functions as described above in the PC and the printer, the print data in the printer 40 can be printed only at a port that the printer application is not permitted to use by the firewall. Even if it is not possible to receive the print data, the print data can be transmitted from the PC 30 to the printer 40 to the port permitted to be used by the firewall, and printing based on the data can be performed.

  In this case, the printer application 41 receives the data reception port from the PC 30 and the case where the reception is received from the HTTP communication application 42 or the HTTPS communication application 43. There is no need to modify. Then, the function described above can be realized in the printer 40 only by adding the HTTP communication application 42 and the HTTPS communication application 43 and performing necessary settings. Also, on the PC 30 side, without changing the conventional configuration, when the expansion spooler 35 is newly installed and the printer 40 is instructed to print, the setting is made to transmit print data using the expansion spooler 35. Just do it.

  Therefore, it is possible to develop a print system that can effectively use existing resources and transfer print data across a firewall with a small number of development steps. In addition, since the printer 40 side performs specific processing on the data received by the printer application 41, the processing load on the printer 40 side, which generally has severe hardware resource restrictions, is reduced. Even in this respect, the development man-hours for the application can be reduced. If data handled by the HTTP communication application 42 or the HTTPS communication application 43 is handled in the same manner, a greater effect can be obtained.

[Modifications of Second Embodiment: FIGS. 15 to 21]
Next, a modified example of the print system of the second embodiment described above will be described.
In the second embodiment, the example in which the print data described in the printer language is described as it is in the HTTP message is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the print data may be described in the HTTP message in a compressed or encrypted state. In addition, it may be described as form data defined in the XML format.

15 to 17 show examples of data handling in the HTTP communication application 42 in these cases.
For example, when the compressed print data is described in the HTTP message as shown in FIG. 15, the HTTP communication application 42 decompresses the compressed print data extracted from the received HTTP message and sends it to the 9100 port as a loopback. To do.
By doing so, the size of data transmitted from the PC 30 to the printer 40 can be reduced, and when the data transfer speed is low, the time until printing as a whole can be shortened.

In addition, when the encrypted print data is described in the HTTP message as shown in FIG. 16, the HTTP communication application 42 decrypts the encrypted print data extracted from the received HTTP message and loops to the 9100 port. Send back.
This makes it possible to improve the security by encrypting the data to be transferred without using the HTTPS protocol.

Also, as shown in FIG. 17, when form data defined in the XML format is directly described in the HTTP message, the HTTP communication application 42 converts the form data extracted from the received HTTP message into print data in the printer language format. The data is converted and looped back to the 9100 port.
In this way, it is possible to cause the printer 40 to print without providing a printer driver on the PC 30 side. Therefore, when a large number of clients share the printer 40, it is not necessary to install a printer driver individually for each client, and the management burden can be reduced.

In addition, in the case of a portable terminal such as a PDA (personal digital assistant) or a mobile phone, it is difficult to always set an appropriate driver, and the processing capacity of the CPU is considered to be relatively small. In particular, it is considered to be particularly effective to provide the printer driver function on the printer 40 side.
In addition, the print data description format (compression, encryption, XML format, etc.) is described in the HTTP message, and the data in the description format is first read from the HTTP message received by the HTTP communication application 42, and the contents thereof A corresponding process may be selected and executed.

Similarly, when using HTTPS, the print data may be described in the HTTP message in a compressed state, an XML format state, or the like. Encryption is also possible although it has little meaning because it overlaps with encryption by the HTTPS protocol.
FIG. 18 shows an example corresponding to FIG.

Also, as corresponding to the example described with reference to FIG. 4 in the first embodiment, print data in the printer language format supported by the printer application 41 is generated by a plurality of stages of data conversion processing, and the number 9100 is generated. It is possible to forward to a port.
FIG. 19 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the print system in such a case.
In this example, the HTTPS communication application 43 is omitted from the printer 40 ′, but a decompression application 46 is provided in addition to the configuration of the printer 40 in FIG. 5, and specific decryption is performed on the data received at the 9200th port. The result is transmitted to the 9100 port. Then, the HTTP communication application 42 ′ extracts compressed print data from the received HTTP message and transmits it to the 9200th port.

On the PC 30 side, the print data is subjected to compression processing. When this data is described in an HTTP message and transmitted to the HTTP port of the printer 40 ', the printer 40' side performs decompression processing, and print based on the print data is performed. Can be done. That is, the same processing as that described with reference to FIG. 15 is possible.
In this case, the HTTP communication application 42 ′ does not have to have a function for decompressing the print data, and the decompression application 46 simply performs a specific decompression process on the received data and sets the port 9100 to the port. A function for performing loopback transmission may be provided. Therefore, the configuration of each application can be simplified, and the development man-hours can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 20 shows another example. Depending on whether or not the print data described in the received HTTP request is compressed as in the HTTP communication application 42 ″ included in the printer 40 ″ shown in FIG. Thus, the loopback transmission destination may be changed. In this way, even if the format of the print data transmitted from the PC 30 varies depending on the case, the printer 40 ″ can distribute and properly process the print data based on the print data.

Of course, an application with a decryption function, an application with a function to convert form data in XML format into print data, etc. are provided, and loopback to the port where these applications listen according to the data format included in the HTTP message. It may be possible to transmit.
Further, as a specific example of an apparatus for transmitting print data to the printer 40, an image device (image processing apparatus) such as a scanner or an MFP can be considered in addition to the PC 30 as described above.

FIG. 21 shows a configuration example of the print system in this case.
An image device 70 shown in this figure includes an operation panel 71 and a scanner engine 73. The scanner application 72 detects an instruction from the operation panel 71, and drives the scanner engine 73 according to the detected instruction, thereby ADF (automatic document feeder). Image data is obtained by reading an image of a document placed on the contact glass.

Then, the scanner engine 73 passes the image data to the printer driver 74, and thereafter includes print data for printing an image related to the image data, as in the case of the PC 30, with a standard spooler 76 and an expansion spooler 77. The port monitor 75 transmits the data to an appropriate port of the printer 40 that executes printing by using an appropriate protocol to perform printing. It is possible to specify which protocol to send to which printer by which protocol using the operation panel 71.
By configuring the printing system in this manner, an image read by the scanner engine 73 can be printed on the printer 40. As a whole, if the image device 70 and the printer 40 are close to each other, a copier, and if far away, a facsimile machine is used. Operation like an apparatus can be performed.

  Further, the print data transmitted from the PC 30 or the image device 70 to the printer 40 does not have to be created on the transmission side itself, but may be print data included in a print request received from another apparatus. In this case, print attribute data as shown in FIG. 7 may be added and transferred.

Although the description of the embodiment has been completed above, in the embodiment and modifications described above, the configuration of the apparatus and system, specific processing contents, the communication protocol used for communication, and the like described in the above embodiment Of course, it is not limited to.
For example, it is possible to use a communication path via a parallel cable as a communication path in addition to a network.

In addition, when the printer application 41 recognizes that the data has an illegal content during the processing (when the data is arranged in a format that is not possible if the data is in the correct format), the printer application 41 recognizes the error and prints the data. A function to cancel may be provided. In this way, it is possible to prevent unnecessary printing from being performed based on erroneous data.
Of course, the present invention can be applied to a data conversion apparatus other than an image forming apparatus such as a printer. Specific examples thereof include business systems such as form systems and ticket issuing systems, recording devices such as televisions, videos, and radios, output devices, and the like.
Furthermore, the configurations of the embodiments and the modifications described above can be combined as appropriate within a consistent range.

Further, the program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to control a data conversion device that converts the format of received data and causing the computer to function as a device such as the data conversion device 20 described above. By executing the above, the effects as described above can be obtained.
Such a program may be stored in a storage means such as a ROM or HDD provided in the computer from the beginning, but a non-volatile recording such as a CD-ROM or flexible disk, SRAM, EEPROM, memory card or the like as a recording medium. It can also be recorded on a medium (memory) and provided. Each procedure described above can be executed by installing a program recorded in the memory in a computer and causing the CPU to execute the program, or causing the CPU to read and execute the program from the memory.
Furthermore, it is also possible to download and execute an external device that is connected to a network and includes a recording medium that records the program, or an external device that stores the program in the storage unit.

As described above, according to the data conversion device, the data conversion system, the data conversion device control method, the data conversion function addition method, the program, or the recording medium of the present invention, data conversion is performed on the received data. A data conversion apparatus that does not support communication through a firewall can be easily made compatible with communication through a firewall. In addition, a device having such a function can be easily developed using existing resources. Therefore, by applying the present invention, a data conversion device with high processing flexibility can be made inexpensive. Can be provided.

10: Information processing device, 11: Transmission data generation unit, 12: Communication control unit,
20: data conversion device, 21: first data conversion function unit,
22: second data conversion function unit, 23: third data conversion function unit,
30, 80: PC, 31, 81: Application,
32, 74, 82: Printer driver, 33, 75, 83: Port monitor,
34,76: Standard spooler, 35,77: Expansion spooler,
40, 40 ′, 40 ″, 90: printer, 41, 91: printer application,
42, 42 ', 42 ": HTTP communication application, 43: HTTPS communication application,
44, 93: Print engine, 45: Energy saving control unit, 46: Defrosting application,
50: Firewall

JP 2004-252984 A, paragraph 0061 JP 2003-323360 A JP 2004-5418 A

The present invention relates to an apparatus for receiving and processing data, a data processing method in such an apparatus, and a program executed in such an apparatus .

The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible for a device that receives and processes data to easily cope with communication through a firewall .

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus comprising: a first port that receives data; and a first data processing unit that performs predetermined data processing on data received from the first port. A second port that permits reception of data in a specific data format through a firewall, and the data in the specific data format received from the second port is different from the first data processing means. A second data processing unit that performs predetermined data processing; and a data transmission unit that transmits data subjected to predetermined data processing by the second data processing unit to the first port. is there.

Further, output means for outputting data is provided, and the predetermined data processing by the first data processing means is performed when the data format of the data received from the first port is the first data format. The processing of creating output data in a data format that can be output by the output means using data in the data format of 1 is performed, and predetermined data processing by the second data processing means is performed on the data received from the second port. When the data format is the second data format, the data in the first data format is created using the data in the second data format, and the output means is the first data processing means. It is preferable to output the output data created by the above.

Further, the predetermined data processing by the second data processing means is performed to take out the data in the first data format included as a part of the data in the second data format and to convert the data in the first data format. It is better to create it.
Further, predetermined data processing by the second data processing means further extracts attribute data included as part of the data in the second data format, and merges the attribute data into the data in the first data format It is better to do this.

Alternatively, extended data generation means for generating extended data that can be merged with the data in the first data format based on the attribute data is provided, and the data processing by the second data processing means is performed by the second data processing means. The attribute data included as part of the data in the data format may be further extracted, and the extended data generated based on the attribute data by the extended data generation unit may be merged with the data in the first data format. Good.

Alternatively, there is provided a judging means for judging whether or not the attribute data is included in the data extracted from the data in the second data format by the second data processing means, and the extended data generating means The extension data may be generated when the determination unit determines that the attribute data is included.
Alternatively, partial data generation means for generating partial data, which is part of data constituting the data in the first data format, is provided, and predetermined data processing by the second data processing means is performed by the second data processing means. Output content data to be output included as part of the data in the data format is extracted, and the output content data is converted into data that can be handled by the first data processing means. The partial data generated by the partial data generation means may be added to create data of the first data format.

Further, the predetermined data processing by the second data processing means is related to output content data that is output target data included as part of the data in the second data format and a description format of the output content data. It is also conceivable to take out the description format information, which is information, and perform processing according to the content of the extracted description format information to create data of the first data format.
Furthermore, the second data processing means includes means for performing data decompression processing for decompressing the compressed data, means for performing data decryption processing for decrypting the encrypted data, and the first data processing. It is preferable to provide means for performing data conversion processing for converting output content data that cannot be handled by the means into data that can be handled by the first data processing means.

Further, in each of the above devices, the first data format is a print language format, and the second data format is a message transferred by one of the protocols HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. It is good to use the form.
Furthermore, the first data processing means may perform the predetermined data processing on the received data regardless of the data format of the data received from the first port.

Further, the data processing method of the present invention is a data processing executed in an apparatus including a first port for receiving data and a second port for permitting reception of data of a specific data format through a firewall. A first method for performing predetermined data processing on data in the specific data format received from the second port, and obtained by the predetermined data processing according to the first procedure A second procedure for transmitting data to the first port, and a third procedure for performing predetermined data processing different from the first procedure on the data received at the first port It is.

Further, the program of the present invention includes a first port for receiving data, first data processing means for performing predetermined data processing on data received from the first port, and specific data through a firewall. A program that is executed in an apparatus comprising: a second port that permits reception of data in a format, the computer receiving the data in the specific data format received from the second port. Second data processing means for performing predetermined data processing different from the first data processing means, and data for transmitting the data obtained by the predetermined data processing by the second data processing means to the first port This is a program for realizing the functions of the transmission means.

According to the device, the data conversion method, or the program of the present invention as described above, the device that receives and processes data can be easily adapted to the communication through the firewall .

As described above, according to the device, the data conversion method, or the program of the present invention, the device that receives and processes the data can be easily adapted to the communication through the firewall .
Therefore, by applying the present invention, a data conversion apparatus with high processing flexibility can be provided at low cost.

Claims (36)

A data conversion device that converts data received through a firewall from a device connectable to a network,
A first data conversion unit that listens to a first port that is not allowed to be used by the firewall and performs specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data;
The second port that is permitted to be used by the firewall is listened to, and the data received at the port is converted into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion unit, and the first port is converted. And a second data conversion means for looping back to one port. The data conversion device according to claim 1, wherein
2. The data conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second port is a port reserved for use in communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. The data conversion device according to claim 1 or 2,
Each of the second data conversion means listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and loops to the port on which the data conversion means at the next stage listens By having a plurality of data conversion units to be backed up and performing data conversion processing in a plurality of stages by each of these data conversion units, the data received at the second port can be handled by the first data conversion unit A data conversion device comprising means for converting data into a format and looping back to the first port. The data conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Means to shift itself to energy saving mode;
Means for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port;
A data conversion apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to a normal operation mode to the first port when any data is received at the second port. The data conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
The data conversion performed by the first data conversion means is conversion from print data described in a printer language into image data for causing the print engine to form an image. A data conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means is conversion from an HTTP message into print data described in a printer language. The data conversion device according to claim 6, wherein
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means converts the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and converts the data into the converted print data. A data conversion apparatus characterized by including processing as a part. A data conversion system comprising an information processing device and a data conversion device that processes data received from the information processing device through a firewall,
In the data converter,
A first data conversion unit that listens to a first port that is not allowed to be used by the firewall and performs specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data;
The first port that is permitted to be used by the firewall is listened, and the data received at the port is converted into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion means, and the first port is converted. A second data conversion means for looping back to the other port,
In the information processing apparatus,
A data conversion system comprising means for transmitting data in a format that can be processed by the second data conversion means to the second port when data is transmitted to the data conversion apparatus. The data conversion system according to claim 8, wherein
2. The data conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the second port is a port reserved for use in communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. The data conversion system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein
The second data conversion means of the data conversion device listens to a specific port that is different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and the next data conversion means A plurality of data conversion means for looping back to the listening port, and each of the data conversion means performs a plurality of stages of data conversion processing, whereby the data received at the second port is converted into the first data conversion means; A data conversion system, characterized in that the data conversion system converts the data into a format that can be handled by and loops back to the first port. The data conversion system according to claim 8, wherein
In the data converter,
Means to shift itself to energy saving mode;
Means for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port;
A data conversion system comprising means for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to a normal operation mode to the first port when any data is received at the second port. A data conversion system according to any one of claims 8 to 11,
In the data converter,
A data conversion system characterized in that the data conversion performed by the first data conversion means is conversion from data described in a printer language into image data for causing a print engine to form an image. The data conversion system according to any one of claims 8 to 12,
In the data converter,
A data conversion system characterized in that the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means is conversion from an HTTP message into print data described in a printer language. 14. A data conversion system according to claim 13, wherein
In the data converter,
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means converts the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and converts the data into the converted print data. A data conversion system characterized by including processing as a part. To a data conversion device that converts data received through a firewall from a device that can be connected to the network,
A first data conversion procedure for listening to a first port that is not allowed to be used by the firewall and performing specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data;
The first port that is permitted to be used by the firewall is listened, and the data received at the port is converted into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion procedure, and the first port is converted. And a second data conversion procedure for looping back to the other port. A control method for a data conversion device according to claim 15,
The second port is a port reserved to be used for communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. . A control method for a data conversion device according to claim 15 or 16,
The second data conversion procedure listens to a specific port different from the first port in each procedure, performs data conversion on the data received at that port, and listens in the next data conversion procedure By performing a plurality of stages of data conversion processing in a plurality of data conversion procedures that loop back to the port, the data received at the second port is converted into data in a format that can be handled by the first data conversion procedure. A method for controlling the data conversion apparatus, characterized in that the procedure is to loop back to the first port. A data conversion device control method according to any one of claims 15 to 17,
In the data converter,
The procedure to shift itself to energy saving mode,
A procedure for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port;
A control of a data converter characterized by causing the first port to execute dummy data for returning itself to a normal operation mode when any data is received at the second port Method. A data conversion device control method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, comprising:
A data conversion apparatus control method, wherein the data conversion performed in the first data conversion procedure is conversion from data described in a printer language into image data for causing a print engine to form an image. . A data conversion device control method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, comprising:
A method for controlling a data conversion apparatus, wherein the data conversion performed in the second data conversion procedure is conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language. A method for controlling a data conversion apparatus according to claim 20, comprising:
In the data conversion performed in the second data conversion procedure, the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message is converted into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and the data is converted into the print data after conversion. A method for controlling a data conversion apparatus, comprising a process as a part. A data conversion device that converts data received from a device that can be connected to a network through a firewall, listening to a first port that is not allowed to be used by the firewall, and for data received at that port In the data conversion apparatus having the first data conversion means for performing specific data conversion regardless of the data format,
The second port that is permitted to be used by the firewall is listened to, and the data received at the port is converted into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion unit, and the first port is converted. A method for adding a data conversion function, comprising adding a second data conversion means for looping back to one port. A data conversion function adding method according to claim 22,
The data conversion function adding method, wherein the second port is a port reserved for use in communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. A data conversion function adding method according to claim 22 or 23,
Each of the second data conversion means listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and loops to the port on which the data conversion means at the next stage listens By having a plurality of data conversion units to be backed up and performing data conversion processing in a plurality of stages by each of these data conversion units, the data received at the second port can be handled by the first data conversion unit A data conversion function adding method, characterized in that the data conversion function is means for converting the data into a format and looping back to the first port. A data conversion function addition method according to any one of claims 22 to 24, wherein:
The data converter is
Means to shift itself to energy saving mode;
Means for returning itself from the energy saving mode to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port;
A data conversion function comprising: means for transmitting dummy data for returning itself to a normal operation mode to the first port when any data is received at the second port Append method. A data conversion function adding method according to any one of claims 22 to 25,
A data conversion function adding method characterized in that the data conversion performed by the first data conversion means is conversion from data described in a printer language into image data for causing the print engine to perform image formation. A data conversion function adding method according to any one of claims 22 to 26,
A data conversion function adding method, wherein the data conversion performed by the second data conversion means is conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language. A data conversion function addition method according to claim 27,
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means converts the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and converts the data into the converted print data. A method for adding a data conversion function, characterized in that the method includes a part of processing. A computer that controls a data conversion device that converts data received through a firewall from a device connectable to the network.
A first data conversion unit that listens to a first port that is not allowed to be used by the firewall and performs specific data conversion on the data received at the port regardless of the format of the data;
The second port that is permitted to be used by the firewall is listened to, and the data received at the port is converted into a format that can be handled by the first data conversion unit, and the first port is converted. A program for functioning as second data conversion means for looping back to one port. A program according to claim 29,
The program characterized in that the second port is a port reserved to be used for communication using any one protocol of HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP. A program according to claim 29 or 30, wherein
Each of the second data conversion means listens to a specific port different from the first port, performs data conversion on the data received at the port, and loops to the port on which the data conversion means at the next stage listens By having a plurality of data conversion units to be backed up and performing data conversion processing in a plurality of stages by each of these data conversion units, the data received at the second port can be handled by the first data conversion unit A program for converting data into a format and looping back to the first port. A program according to any one of claims 29 to 31, comprising:
The computer,
Means for shifting the data converter to an energy saving mode;
Means for returning the data conversion device from an energy saving mode to a normal operation mode when any data is received at the first port;
A program for causing the first port to function as a means for transmitting dummy data for returning the data converter to the normal operation mode when any data is received at the second port; A featured program. A program according to any one of claims 29 to 32, wherein
The data conversion performed by the first data conversion means is conversion from data described in a printer language into image data for causing the print engine to perform image formation. A program according to any one of claims 29 to 33,
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means is a conversion from an HTTP message to print data described in a printer language. A program according to claim 34, wherein
The data conversion performed by the second data conversion means converts the data indicating the print attribute included in the HTTP message into the print attribute data described in the printer job language, and converts the data into the converted print data. A program characterized by including a part of processing.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to any one of claims 29 to 35 is recorded.

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