JP2013106275A - Image forming device, control method therefor, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism for easily displaying a reprintable image processing job in document list display on an image forming device provided with a reprinting function.SOLUTION: The image forming device manages history information pieces of jobs for which processing related to image formation has been completed, and displays only a history information piece of a reexecutable job among the plurality of managed history information pieces on a display unit.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of reprinting a printed job, a control method thereof, and a program.

  Some recent image forming apparatuses include a storage device such as a large-capacity hard disk, and have a function of storing image data and job settings in the storage device so that printing can be easily performed at an arbitrary timing. According to this function, if the output result of the electronic document that has been printed once is not what is desired, it is possible to change the setting and reprint.

  When printing an electronic document stored in a storage device, a document list is generally displayed on an image forming apparatus, and a desired document is selected and printed. In some cases, the stored document cannot be executed with the designated job setting, and it is not preferable from the viewpoint of convenience to execute printing without displaying the fact in the document list. In order to deal with such a problem, Patent Document 1 proposes a method for displaying information indicating “printable with specified job setting”, “printable with attribute change”, and “printing impossible” in a document list. .

JP 2008-152726 A

  However, the above prior art has the following problems. According to the above prior art, it is possible to distinguish on the document list whether the image data stored in the storage device can be printed with the designated job setting or not. However, this method cannot list only printable jobs, and it has been difficult to quickly identify only reprintable jobs in a reprint use case.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a mechanism for easily displaying reprintable image processing jobs in a document list display of an image forming apparatus having a reprint function. Objective.

  The present invention is, for example, an image forming apparatus, and includes a job history management unit that manages history information of a job that has completed processing relating to image formation, and a plurality of history information managed by the job history management unit. And a job history display means for displaying only history information on which the job can be re-executed on the display unit.

  The present invention can provide a mechanism for easily displaying reprintable image processing jobs in a document list display of an image forming apparatus having a reprint function.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the software structure which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the job history information list screen which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a job history information management table and a number management table according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a job history display process according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the log | history management screen which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the table which memorize | stores the flag set with the log | history management screen which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of history management processing according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention.

<First Embodiment>
<Hardware configuration of image forming apparatus>
Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. In the present embodiment, a mode for displaying a list of all re-executable and non-re-executable image processing jobs, a mode for displaying only a list of re-executable image processing jobs, and an authentication user image processing job only are displayed. An image forming apparatus having a display mode will be described.

  First, the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101, a RAM 102, an auxiliary storage device 103, an image display device 104, a user command input device 105, a NIC 106, a printing unit 107, a reading unit 108, a DSU 110, a modem 111, an NCU 112, and a USB communication unit 114. . Each component is connected to exchange data with each other via the main bus 109. The CPU 101 controls the image forming apparatus 100 in an integrated manner. The RAM 102 is a RAM for providing a work area for the CPU 101 and temporarily storing data. An auxiliary storage device (hard disk, CD-ROM, etc.) 103 is used for temporary storage of data and instead of the RAM 102. The image display device 104 is configured with a touch panel or the like, and can be used when displaying the status of a printer device (image forming device), an error message, or the like. A user command input device (such as a touch panel) 105 is used by the user to input login information, specify desired print data, and the like.

  The NIC 106 exchanges data bidirectionally with other network devices via the LAN 120. A printing unit (print engine) 107 prints scanned image data or the like on a sheet. A reading unit (scanner) 108 reads a paper document placed on a document table, and generates monochrome binary or color multi-value image data. The read image data can be printed by the printing unit 107, or can be temporarily stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 and printed at an arbitrary timing. A DSU (Digital Service Unit) 110 is connected to a digital line 130 and is used for data transmission / reception. An NCU (Network Control Unit) 112 is connected to the analog line 140 and performs opening / closing of the line, outgoing / incoming call control, transmission / reception of image data (analog), and the like. The modem 111 modulates / demodulates transmission / reception data. The USB communication unit 114 transmits and receives data to and from an external information terminal using USB.

<Software configuration of image forming apparatus>
Next, an example of a software configuration realized by executing a control program stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a job history management unit 201, a job history display unit 202, a job control unit 203, and an authentication unit 204 as control configurations. The job history management unit 201 manages job history information (hereinafter referred to as history information) when a print job for printing an image by the printing unit 107 or a transmission job for transmitting an image read by the reading unit 108 is executed. Specifically, the job history management unit 201 controls updating and reading of job history information 500 (described later with reference to FIG. 4) stored in the auxiliary storage device 103.

  The job history display unit 202 displays the job history, that is, the job history information 500 read by the job history management unit 201 on the image display device 104. The job control unit 203 is used when the image forming apparatus 100 processes a print job or a scan job using the printing unit 107 or the reading unit 108. Further, the job control unit 203 uses the job history management unit 201 to update the job history information 500 such as the success or failure of the executed job. The authentication unit 204 manages overall user authentication when using the image forming apparatus 100. Detailed description of the authentication unit 204 will be omitted. In the present embodiment, the job history management unit 201 can grasp the user ID of the image forming apparatus 100 at an arbitrary timing.

<Screen example>
Next, an example of a display screen related to the job history displayed on the image display device 104 by the job history display unit 202 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, when the job history is displayed on the history display screen, the authenticated user can arbitrarily select from three modes of “all jobs”, “My jobs”, and “re-executable jobs” as shown in FIG. It has a possible configuration.

  When the “all jobs” mode is selected, all of a plurality of history information managed by the job history management unit 201 is displayed in the history display area 309. When the “My job” mode is selected, only the history information of a job that matches the user ID of the authenticated user authenticated by the authentication unit 204 among the plurality of history information managed by the job history management unit 201. It is displayed in the history display area 309. That is, only history information of jobs executed by the authenticated user in the past is displayed in the history display area 309. When the “re-executable job” mode is selected, only history information of a re-executable job among a plurality of history information managed by the job history management unit 201 is displayed in the history display area 309. . Here, the re-executable job refers to a job in which data of a re-execution image processing job is stored in the auxiliary storage device 103. The history display process according to each of these modes will be described later with reference to FIG. Here, only the above three modes will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be configured to have other modes.

  In the screens 401, 402, and 403 in FIG. 3, the history display function 301 is selected. A screen 401 shows a state where all job buttons 302 are pressed. A screen 402 shows a state where the My job button 303 is pressed. A screen 403 shows a state where the re-executable job button 304 is pressed. Note that the all job button 302, the My job button 303, and the re-executable job button 304 are examples of selection means, and a mode in which history information is displayed by a pressed button according to a user input of pressing these buttons. Selected.

  A job history display area 305 includes a job name display area 306, an executor display area 307, a date and time display area 308, a history display area 309, and a re-execution availability area 310 in this embodiment. Reference numeral 311 denotes a print button used to issue a print instruction for a job selected by the authenticated user from the job history list displayed in the history display area 309. When the print button 311 is pressed, the job control unit 203 can execute print control when the selected job can be re-executed.

  According to this embodiment having such a display configuration, it is possible to switch between displaying all history information managed by the job history information 500 or displaying only re-executable history information. When the all job button 302 is pressed, all history information managed by the job history management unit 201 is displayed. When the re-executable job button 304 is pressed, the history information managed by the job history management unit 201 is displayed. Display only re-executable history information.

<History information>
Next, the history information will be described with reference to FIG. The history information includes information for displaying a target history on the screens 401, 402, 403, and the like. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the job history information 500 includes a history ID 501, a job name 502, an executor 503, a date 504, a result (result information) 505, and an image processing job ID 506. Also, a history information number 600 for managing the number of information managed in the job history information 500 is managed. These pieces of information are generated by the job control unit 203 after execution of the target job.

  The history ID 501 is an identification ID assigned to each history information 507 to 514. A job name 502 indicates the name of the executed job. An executor 503 indicates an operator of the image forming apparatus 100 that has executed the job. A date 504 indicates the date when the job is executed. The result 505 is information (result information) indicating a determination result of whether or not the job has been normally completed when the job is executed. In FIG. 4, “OK” is defined when the process is completed normally, and “NG” is defined when the process is unsuccessful. The image processing job ID 506 is an identification ID assigned to each piece of history information (the history information 507, 510, 511, 512, 513, and 514 in FIG. 4) whose result 505 is OK.

  In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when job execution is completed normally, the image processing job data is stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 together with history information for re-execution, and is re-executed when the job fails. Only the history information is saved without saving the data of the image processing job for execution. When the image processing job data for re-execution is stored in the auxiliary storage device 103, the job control unit 203 uses the image processing job ID 506 to identify the data or control it as a re-execution job. can do. In the history information number 600, the number of information managed in the job history information 500 is managed. In FIG. 4, the history information 507 to 514 is defined and becomes 8.

<Display processing>
Next, a processing procedure for displaying job history information in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the processing described below is realized by the CPU 101 reading out the control program stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 to the RAM 102 and executing it. 5 is started when any of the buttons 302 to 304 is pressed by the authenticated user on the job history screen of FIG.

  First, in step S <b> 701, the job history display unit 202 refers to the history number information number N (600) illustrated in FIG. 4 managed by the job history management unit 201. In step S <b> 702, the job history display unit 202 refers to the authentication user ID from the authentication unit 204, and initializes the control variable I to 1 in step S <b> 703. In step S704, the job history display unit 202 determines whether the variable I is N or less. If it is determined that the variable I is N or less, the process advances to step S705, the job history display unit 202 refers to the I-th history information, and advances to step S706. For example, when the variable I is 1 and will be described with reference to the example of FIG. 4, the history information 507 is referred to. On the other hand, if it is determined that the variable I is not N or less, the process is terminated.

  In step S <b> 706, the job history display unit 202 determines whether the authenticated user has pressed the My job button 303 on the job history screen illustrated in FIG. 3. If it is determined that the My job button 303 has been pressed by the authenticated user, the process proceeds to S707. Otherwise, the process proceeds to S708. In step S <b> 707, the job history display unit 202 acquires the authentication user ID from the authentication unit 204, and determines whether or not the acquired authentication user ID matches the executor of the I-th history information. If it is determined that the ID of the authenticated user matches the executor of the I-th history information, the process advances to step S709, and the job history display unit 202 displays the I-th history information in the history display area 305. On the other hand, if it is determined that the ID of the authenticated user does not match the executor of the I-th history information, the I-th history information is determined as the job history of another user, and the history information is added to the list. If no, go to S711.

  In step S708, the job history display unit 202 determines whether the all job button 302 has been pressed. If it is determined that all job buttons 302 have been pressed, the process advances to step S709, and the job history display unit 202 displays the I-th history information in the history display area 305. At this time, if there is an image processing job ID 506 corresponding to the I-th history information, a message (“OK”) that can be identified as being re-executable is displayed in the area 310 of the history display area 305. It is desirable to display on. On the other hand, if there is no image processing job ID 506 corresponding to the I-th history information, a message (“impossible”) that can identify that re-execution cannot be performed is displayed in the area 310.

  If it is determined in step S708 that all job buttons 302 have not been pressed, that is, it is determined that the re-executable job button 304 has been pressed, the process advances to step S710. In step S <b> 710, the job history display unit 202 determines whether the image processing job ID 506 corresponding to the I-th history information is managed (that is, re-executable job data is stored in the auxiliary storage device 103). To do. If the image processing job ID 506 is managed, it is determined that the image processing job data for re-execution exists and can be re-executed. The process advances to step S709, and the job history display unit 202 displays the I-th history information. Is displayed in the history display area 305. If the image processing job ID 506 corresponding to the I-th history information is not managed, the job data is deleted because the job is an old job, or the job execution result is NG. Either you do not remember. Therefore, the I-th job history information is not added to the list and the process proceeds to S711.

  In step S711, the job history display unit 202 increments the variable I, and causes the process to transition to step S704. The processing of S704 to S710 is executed for all N pieces of history information, and when the above processing is executed for all job history information (that is, in the case of NO in S704), the processing of this flowchart ends. .

  According to this embodiment, it is possible to easily select an image processing job that can execute an image from the job history list display, and convenience is improved. Specifically, in the mode in which all job histories are displayed, which jobs can be re-executed and which jobs cannot be re-executed among the displayed job histories is displayed in a distinguishable manner. As a result, the user can grasp which job data is stored in the image forming apparatus 100 from the job history and which job data is not stored by simply glanceping. On the other hand, in the mode in which only re-executable jobs are displayed, only re-printable jobs are displayed, so that image-executable image processing jobs can be easily selected, and the target job can be quickly identified. Will improve.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present exemplary embodiment, a configuration will be described in which job history information 500 managed by the job history management unit 201 is deleted from old history information when the upper limit preset in the image forming apparatus is reached. The basic configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 in the first embodiment. Therefore, only the characteristic part of the second embodiment will be described below.

  First, a configuration for instructing a management method of the job history information 500 managed by the job history management unit 201 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, when the job history information 500 reaches the upper limit, it is deleted from the old history information of the date 504, and further from the history information in which no re-execution data exists according to the setting item 801 shown in FIG. You can specify to delete. The history information in which re-execution data does not exist refers to history information in which no image processing job ID 506 exists in the job history information 500. Information on the setting item 801 is managed by the job history management unit 201 as a flag 901 shown in FIG. Specifically, the job history management unit 201 sets the flag to “1” when the authenticated user or the administrator checks the setting item 801, and sets the flag to “0” when the check is removed. To do.

  Next, a processing procedure for updating the job history information 500 when a print job or a transmission job is completed by the job control unit 203 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the processing described below is realized by the CPU 101 reading out the control program stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 to the RAM 102 and executing it.

  The job history management unit 201 detects that the job has been completed in S1001, acquires the history information number N (600) in S1002, and determines whether or not N has reached the upper limit in S1003. If the upper limit has not been reached, the process advances to step S1008, and the job history management unit 201 adds the job history information of the completed job to the job history information 500, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the upper limit has been reached, the process advances to step S1004, and the job history management unit 201 acquires the value of the flag 901 illustrated in FIG. In step S <b> 1005, the job history management unit 201 determines whether the acquired flag value is “1”. If the value of the flag is 1, the process advances to step S1006, and the job history management unit 201 refers to the job history information 500 and determines whether there is a history that cannot be re-executed. If there is a history that cannot be re-executed, the process advances to step S1007, and the job history management unit 201 deletes one of the oldest job history information that cannot be re-executed. In step S1008, the job history information of the completed job is stored in the job history information. The information is added to the history information 500, and the process ends.

  If the flag value is not 1 in S1005, or if there is no history information that cannot be re-executed in S1006, the process proceeds to S1009, and the job history management unit 201 deletes one old history from the job history information 500. , The process proceeds to S1008.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when an upper limit is set for the management number of job history information, when the management number exceeds the upper limit, the history information managed is selected. Delete job history information that cannot be re-executed with priority. Furthermore, when there is no history information that cannot be re-executed, the image forming apparatus deletes the history information that has been managed the oldest. As a result, when the job history information 500 reaches the upper limit, it is possible to preferentially leave the re-executable history information, and it is possible to increase the re-execution use opportunities.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (8)

An image forming apparatus,
Job history management means for managing history information of jobs that have completed processing relating to image formation;
An image forming apparatus comprising: job history display means for displaying only history information capable of re-execution of a job among a plurality of history information managed by the job history management means on a display unit. Selection to select a mode for displaying all history information managed by the job history management means on the display unit or a mode for displaying only history information on which the job can be re-executed on the display unit according to user input Further comprising means,
The job history display means includes:
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein history information is displayed on the display unit according to a mode selected by the selection unit. An authentication unit for authenticating a user who uses the image forming apparatus;
The selecting means can further select a mode for displaying only history information executed by a specific user on the display unit among a plurality of history information managed by the job history managing means,
The job history display means includes:
When the mode for displaying only history information executed by a specific user on the display unit is selected by the selection unit, only the history information of jobs executed in the past by the user authenticated by the authentication unit is displayed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus displays the image on a screen. A determination means for determining whether or not the job execution has been normally completed;
Generation means for generating history information including result information indicating a determination result by the determination means;
The job history management means includes:
When the result information indicates that the job has been completed normally, the data for re-execution of the job is managed together with the history information,
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the result information indicates that the job has not been completed normally, only the history information is managed. The job history management means includes:
When adding new history information to the job history management means, if the number of history information managed by the job history management means has reached a preset value, a plurality of 5. The image formation according to claim 4, wherein, in the history information, the result information deletes history information indicating that the job has not been completed normally and adds the new history information. apparatus. The job history management means includes:
If there is no history information indicating that the job has not been completed successfully among the plurality of history information managed, the oldest history information is deleted and the new history information is deleted. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: An image forming apparatus control method comprising:
A job history management means for managing history information of a job for which processing related to image formation has been completed;
The job history display means executes a job history display step of displaying only history information capable of re-execution of a job on a display unit among a plurality of history information managed in the job history management step. And a control method of the image forming apparatus.   The program for making a computer perform each step in the control method of the image forming apparatus of Claim 7.

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