JP2013251714A - Image data processor, image data processing method, image data processing program, recording medium storing image data processing program and image data processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image data processor which can simplify processing of image data stored in a server, and to provide an image data processing method, an image data processing program, a recording medium storing the image data processing program and an image data processing system.SOLUTION: An image data processor includes: a transmission section which can upload image data on one or a plurality of servers; a common ID generation section for generating common ID of the image data; a management information storing section for acquiring unique ID in every server of image data stored in the server and associates the acquired unique ID with the common ID to store it as image management information; and an instruction section which inputs a processing instruction to perform prescribed processing on the image data stored in one of servers, specifies the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data by referring to the image management information and transmits the processing instruction to the server by using the specified unique ID.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image data processing apparatus, an image data processing method, an image data processing program, a recording medium storing the program, and an image data processing system.

  2. Description of the Related Art A digital multi-function peripheral having a facsimile communication function and a scan function and generating image data by facsimile transmission / reception or scanning is known. In the digital multi-function peripheral, when new image data is generated, the image data is uploaded (transferred) to an external server via a network such as the Internet. One server or a plurality of servers may be provided.

  For example, as described in Patent Document 1 below, an apparatus that uploads scan data to a plurality of servers (content servers) is known. In this apparatus, scan data is simultaneously uploaded to a plurality of servers by selecting a plurality of upload destination URLs at the time of scanning.

JP 2009-296163 A

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, when certain scan data is uploaded to a plurality of servers, the scan data is stored in each server. Even if the original scan data is common, once it is stored in each server, each scan data is managed separately. For example, when the user wants to delete all the scan data stored in a plurality of servers after using the uploaded scan data, the user is forced to perform an operation of accessing each server individually.

  Even if one server is provided, for example, the URL of the server may be unknown to the user, or the format of the image data may differ depending on the type of server. As described above, regardless of whether there is one server or a plurality of servers, in the conventional technology, processing of image data uploaded and stored in the server has been complicated.

  The present invention provides an image data processing device, an image data processing method, an image data processing program, a recording medium storing the image data processing system, and an image data processing system capable of simplifying the processing of image data stored in a server. For the purpose.

  An image data processing apparatus that has solved the above problems includes a transmission unit that can upload image data to one or a plurality of servers, a common ID generation unit that generates a common ID of image data, and a server for image data stored in the server. A management information storage unit that acquires a unique ID for each, stores the acquired unique ID and the common ID in association with each other as image management information, and performs predetermined processing on image data stored in at least one of the servers An instruction to input the processing instruction, specify the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data with reference to the image management information, and send the processing instruction to the server using the specified unique ID And a section.

  According to this image data processing apparatus, the common ID of the image data is generated by the common ID generation unit. The unique ID and common ID for each server of the image data stored in the server are associated with each other and stored as image management information in the storage management information storage unit. The instruction unit identifies a unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data to be processed, and uses the unique ID to transmit a processing instruction to the server that stores the image data to be processed. Therefore, by managing the shared ID and the unique ID in association with each other, it is only necessary to instruct processing using the common ID at all times, and it becomes easy to access a plurality of uploaded data having a common source. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the processing of the image data stored in the server.

  In the image data processing apparatus, the instruction unit inputs a deletion instruction for deleting the image data stored in at least one of the servers, refers to the image management information, and is associated with the common ID of the image data. It includes a deletion instruction unit that identifies a unique ID in the server and transmits a deletion instruction to the server using the identified unique ID. In this case, since a deletion instruction using a unique ID is given by the deletion instruction unit, the user does not need to access each server, and only accesses the image data processing apparatus. Accordingly, it is possible to simplify the deletion instruction work for the image data stored in the server.

  In the image data processing device, the transmission unit can upload image data to a plurality of servers, and the instruction unit uses the image data stored in the first server to store the image data stored in the second server. An update instruction for updating is input, the unique ID in the first server associated with the common ID of the image data is identified with reference to the image management information, and the second server is identified using the identified unique ID Includes an update instruction unit that transmits an update instruction. In this case, since an update instruction using a unique ID is given by the update instruction unit, the user does not need to access each server, but only accesses the image data processing apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the update instruction work for the image data stored in the server.

  In the image data processing device, the update instruction unit uses the specified unique ID to include a unique attribute including at least one of the format, the image name, the number of pages, and the creation date of the image data stored in the first server. Information is acquired, and based on the acquired unique attribute information, it is determined whether to update the image data stored in the second server. The unique attribute information is considered to reflect whether the image data has been changed by another user or the like. Therefore, by determining whether or not to update the image data based on the unique attribute information, the update of the image data can be stopped when the image data in the update target server has not been changed. Therefore, useless update processing can be avoided.

  In the image data processing apparatus, the transmission unit can upload image data to a plurality of servers, and the instruction unit inputs a transfer instruction for transferring the image data stored in the first server to the second server. Then, the unique ID in the first server associated with the common ID of the image data is identified with reference to the image management information, and a transfer instruction is transmitted to the second server using the identified unique ID. Includes a transfer instruction section. In this case, since a transfer instruction using a unique ID is given by the transfer instruction unit, the user does not need to access each server, and only needs to access the image data processing apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the transfer instruction work of the image data stored in the server.

  In the image data processing apparatus, the instruction unit inputs a transfer instruction for transferring the image data stored in the first server to the second server, refers to the image management information, and has a common ID for the image data. A transfer instruction unit that specifies the unique ID of the first server associated with the server and transmits a transfer instruction to the second server using the specified unique ID. In this case, since a transfer instruction using a unique ID is given by the transfer instruction unit, the user does not need to access each server, and only needs to access the image data processing apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the transfer instruction work of the image data stored in the server.

  The image data processing method includes a transmission step of uploading image data to one or a plurality of servers, a common ID generation step of generating a common ID of the image data, and a unique ID for each server of the image data uploaded in the transmission step. A management information storage step of acquiring and storing the acquired unique ID and common ID in association with each other as image management information, and a processing instruction for performing predetermined processing on the image data stored in at least one of the servers An instruction step of inputting, identifying a unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data with reference to the image management information, and transmitting a processing instruction to the server using the identified unique ID It is characterized by that.

  The image data processing program is an image data processing program that causes the image data processing apparatus to perform image data processing, and the image data processing apparatus shares a common image data with a transmission unit that can upload image data to one or a plurality of servers. A common ID generation unit that generates an ID, a management information storage unit that acquires a unique ID for each server of image data stored in the server, and stores the acquired unique ID and the common ID as image management information in association with each other Inputting a processing instruction for performing predetermined processing on the image data stored in at least one of the servers, specifying the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data with reference to the image management information, The specified unique ID is used to function as an instruction unit that transmits a processing instruction to the server.

  Also provided is a recording medium storing the image data processing program.

  The image data processing system includes one or more servers, a transmission unit capable of uploading image data to the server, a common ID generation unit that generates a common ID of image data, and image data stored in the server for each server. A management information storage unit that acquires a unique ID, associates the acquired unique ID and common ID with each other, and stores them as image management information, and performs predetermined processing on image data stored in at least one of the servers An instruction unit that inputs a processing instruction, identifies a unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data with reference to the image management information, and transmits the processing instruction to the server using the identified unique ID; It is characterized by providing.

  According to the present invention, processing of image data stored in a server can be simplified.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image data processing system including an image data processing apparatus according to an embodiment. 2 is a functional block diagram of an MFP, a network device, and a PC in FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the server in FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the upload process to the server of image data. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing subsequent to FIG. 4. It is a conceptual diagram of the upload process to the server of image data. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the specific attribute information stored in each server. It is a figure which shows the image management information stored in a network device. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the deletion process of image data. It is a display screen of the monitor of PC at the time of deletion processing of image data. It is a conceptual diagram of the deletion process of image data. It is a sequence diagram which shows the other example of the deletion process of image data. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing subsequent to FIG. 12. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the update process of image data. It is a display screen of the monitor of PC when the update process of image data is performed. It is a conceptual diagram of the update process of image data. It is a display screen of a monitor of a PC when image data transfer processing is performed. It is a conceptual diagram of the transfer process of image data. It is a block diagram of the recording medium which stores an image data processing program.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

(Image data processing system)
As shown in FIG. 1, the image data processing system 1 of the present embodiment includes an MFP 4, a network device 5, a plurality of PCs 6 and 7, a plurality of servers A, a server B, and a server C. The PC 6 and PC 7 used by the user can communicate data with the MFP 4 and the network device 5 through the LAN 3 and can communicate with the server A, the server B, and the server C through the router 8 and the Internet 2. The MFP 4 and the network device 5 can communicate with the server A, the server B, and the server C via the LAN 3, the router 8, and the Internet 2. A network system including the LAN 3, the MFP 4, the network device 5, the PC 6, and the PC 7 is constructed in an office, for example.

  In FIG. 1, one MFP 4 and one network device 5 are shown, but the image data processing system 1 may include a plurality of MFPs and network devices. The number of PCs and servers may be any number.

  In the present embodiment, the network device 5 corresponds to an image data processing device. The image data processing apparatus is not limited to the case where the network apparatus 5 configures the image data processing apparatus, and the MFP 4 and the network apparatus 5 may configure the image data processing apparatus.

  The MFP 4 is a multi-function device having various functions such as a copy function, a facsimile function, a scanner function, and a printer function. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the MFP 4 includes a control unit 10, a storage unit 11, a transmission / reception unit 12, an operation unit 13, a touch panel display 14, a scanner unit 15, a FAX unit 16, and a printer unit 17. With.

  The control unit 10 includes, for example, hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), and RAM (Random Access Memory), and software such as a program stored in the ROM. The overall control of the MFP 4 is performed. The storage unit 11 includes a hard disk device or a flash memory, and stores image data obtained by the above functions. Examples of the image data include scan image data scanned using a scanner function, and transmission / reception image data transmitted / received using a facsimile function.

  The transmission / reception unit 12 transmits and receives data between computers connected via the LAN 3 by using a protocol such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol). The transmission / reception unit 12 transmits image data obtained by the above-described functions to the network device 5. The operation unit 13 includes a hardware key for inputting various instructions to the MFP 4. The touch panel display 14 displays information related to the MFP 4 and various operation menus. The user can perform various operations of the MFP 4 using the operation unit 13 and the touch panel display 14.

  The scanner unit 15 generates scanned image data by scanning a document set on an auto document feeder (not shown) or a document set on a glass plate of a flatbed scanner. The FAX unit 16 performs facsimile communication via a public line network (not shown) and generates transmission / reception image data. The printer unit 17 prints scanned image data or image data received by the FAX unit 16.

  The network device 5 is a device that receives the image data transmitted from the MFP 4 and uploads the image data to the server A, the server B, and the server C. The network device 5 includes a control unit 20, a transmission / reception unit (transmission unit) 21, and a storage unit 22. The control unit 20 includes hardware such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and software such as a program stored in the ROM, and performs overall control of the network device 5. The transmission / reception unit 21 transmits / receives data between computers connected via the LAN 3 by using a protocol such as TCP / IP. The storage unit 22 includes a hard disk device or a flash memory, and stores image data generated by the MFP 4. The storage unit 22 includes an image data storage unit 22a and a management information storage unit (management information storage unit) 22b.

  The network device 5 of the present embodiment uploads image data to the server A, the server B, and the server C via the LAN 3, the router 8, and the Internet 2 by the transmitting / receiving unit 21. Furthermore, the network device 5 manages the image data stored in the server A, the server B, and the server C in an integrated manner. An employee or the like can handle the image data stored in the server A, the server B, and the server C in an integrated manner by accessing the network device 5 using the PC 6 or the PC 7 or the like. That is, when an employee or the like wants to perform some processing (for example, deletion) on the image data stored in each of the server A, the server B, and the server C, each of the server A, the server B, and the server C There is no need to access. Details of the functions of the network device 5 will be described later.

  PC6 and PC7 are terminal devices used by users such as office employees. The PC 6 includes an operation unit 6a, a monitor 6b, and a WEB browser 6c. The operation unit 6a is a mouse and a keyboard, and accepts various instructions to the PC 6. The monitor 6b is a liquid crystal display or the like. Based on the web page transmitted from the MFP 4, the WEB browser 6c causes the monitor 6b to display a selection list for selecting image data to be browsed or processed. The PC 7 has the same configuration as the PC 6 and includes an operation unit 7a, a monitor 7b, and a WEB browser 7c.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the server A, the server B, and the server C are external storage servers (so-called cloud servers) used in cloud computing, for example. Each of server A, server B, and server C is provided by a different service provider. Each cloud computing user (including users of PCs 6 and 7) can access server A, server B, and server C via the Internet 2. Note that a so-called cloud server is not only a file storage but also a network form processed by a server including an application (service), but the form of each server is not limited to this. For example, each server may be a so-called on-premises server that owns and uses the system in an area managed by the user.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the server A includes a transmission / reception unit 30, a control unit 31, and a storage unit 32. The transmission / reception unit 30 transmits / receives data using a protocol such as TCP / IP. The control unit 31 includes hardware such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and software such as a program stored in the ROM, and performs overall control of the server A. The storage unit 32 includes a hard disk device or a flash memory, and stores image data uploaded by the network device 5. The server B has the same configuration as that of the server A, and includes a transmission / reception unit 40, a control unit 41, and a storage unit 42. The server C has the same configuration as the server A, and includes a transmission / reception unit 50, control units 51, and 52.

(Function of network device 5)
Next, the control unit 20 of the network device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 20 of the network device 5 includes an attribute information generation unit (common ID generation unit) 20a, a format conversion unit 20b, and an instruction unit 20c. The instruction unit 20 c includes a deletion instruction unit 26, an update instruction unit 27, and a transfer instruction unit 28. In other words, the network device 5 cooperates with hardware and software to generate an attribute information generation unit 20a, a format conversion unit 20b, and an instruction unit 20c (deletion instruction unit 26, update instruction unit 27, and transfer instruction unit 28). ).

(Processing in image data processing system; image data processing method)
Hereinafter, various processes executed in the image data processing system 1 will be described.

(Upload process)
4 and 5 are sequence diagrams illustrating an example of an image data upload process to the server. As shown in FIG. 4, first, the transfer setting in the network device 5 is performed by the user (step S100). In step S100, for example, the image data is set to be transferred (uploaded) to the server A, the server B, and the server C by an operation using the PC 6 or 7 or the MFP 4. Which server is the upload destination server can be appropriately selected by the user. Which server is the upload destination server can also be assigned according to the transmission source or creation date of the image data.

  The scanner unit 15 or the FAX unit 16 of the MFP 4 generates image data (step S101). The control unit 10 of the MFP 4 stores the generated image data in the image data storage unit 11 a of the storage unit 11. The transmission / reception unit 12 of the MFP 4 transmits (uploads) the generated image data to the network device 5 (step S102; transmission step). The attribute information generation unit 20a of the network device 5 generates common attribute information of the received image data and stores it in the management information storage unit 22b (step S103; common ID generation step). The common attribute information generated and stored here is information including a common image ID (common ID) of image data, the number of pages, a creation date, and the like.

  Here, the common image ID is an identifier unique to the image data given to one piece of image data generated by the MFP 4 (for example, the image data Da shown in FIG. 6). The common image ID is stored in association with the image data in each of the network device 5, the server A, the server B, and the server C (see FIG. 8). The common image ID is an ID that specifies image data for the entire server (including the network device 5) regardless of which server the image is stored in. In the present embodiment, the common image ID plays a role of collectively managing image data scattered in the server, that is, a grouping role. That is, by using the common image ID, the relevance with the image data stored in each server can be specified, and operations can be collected.

  The format conversion unit 20b of the network device 5 converts the format of the received image data into the format for the server A (step S104). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 transmits the image data and the common attribute information to the server A (step S105; transmission step). The control unit 31 of the server A stores the received image data in the image data storage unit 32a, generates unique attribute information of the image data, and stores it in the unique attribute information storage unit 32b (step S106). The unique attribute information is information including a unique image ID (unique ID) of image data, a format, an image name, the number of pages, a creation date, and the like. In step S106, the control unit 31 generates the unique image ID, format, and image name of the image data, and extracts the number of pages and the creation date from the common attribute information. The control unit 31 stores the unique image ID, format, image name, number of pages, and creation date of the image data in the unique attribute information storage unit 32b as unique attribute information.

  Here, the unique image ID is an identifier (for each server) unique to the server and the image data, which is given to the image data (for example, the image data Da shown in FIG. 6) received by a certain server. . The unique image ID is stored in association with the image data and the common image ID in each of the server A, the server B, and the server C (see FIGS. 7A to 7C). The format of the unique image ID is usually different for each server. For example, there is a format in which a unique number is combined after a character string “IMG =” such as “IMG = 0001”, or a format using time such as “20120129032143”.

  The transmission / reception unit 30 of the server A transmits the generated unique attribute information to the network device 5 (step S107). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 receives the unique attribute information of the server A, and the control unit 20 adds the unique attribute information of the server A to the common attribute information stored in the management information storage unit 22b (step S108; Management information storage step). In step S108, the control unit 20 associates the common image ID and the unique image ID of the server A with each other, and stores them as image management information in the management information storage unit 22b.

  The format converter 20b of the network device 5 converts the format of the received image data into the format for the server B (step S109). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 transmits the image data and the common attribute information to the server B (step S110; transmission step). The control unit 41 of the server B stores the received image data in the image data storage unit 42a, generates unique attribute information of the image data, and stores it in the unique attribute information storage unit 42b (step S111). In step S111, the control unit 41 generates the unique image ID, format, and image name of the image data, and extracts the number of pages and the creation date from the common attribute information. The control unit 41 stores the unique image ID, format, image name, number of pages, and creation date of the image data in the unique attribute information storage unit 42b as unique attribute information.

  The transmission / reception unit 40 of the server B transmits the generated unique attribute information to the network device 5 (step S112). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 receives the unique attribute information of the server B, and the control unit 20 adds the unique attribute information of the server B to the common attribute information stored in the management information storage unit 22b (step S113; Management information storage step). In step S113, the common image ID and the unique image ID of the server B are associated with each other by the control unit 20, and are stored in the management information storage unit 22b as image management information.

  The format conversion unit 20b of the network device 5 converts the format of the received image data into the format for the server C (step S114). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 transmits the image data and the common attribute information to the server C (step S115; transmission step). The control unit 51 of the server C stores the received image data in the image data storage unit 52a, generates unique attribute information of the image data, and stores it in the unique attribute information storage unit 52b (step S116). In step S116, the control unit 51 generates the unique image ID, format, and image name of the image data, and extracts the number of pages and the creation date from the common attribute information. The control unit 51 stores the unique image ID, format, image name, number of pages, and creation date of the image data in the unique attribute information storage unit 52b as unique attribute information.

  The transmission / reception unit 50 of the server C transmits the generated unique attribute information to the network device 5 (step S117). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 receives the unique attribute information of the server C, and the control unit 20 adds the unique attribute information of the server C to the common attribute information stored in the management information storage unit 22b (step S118; Management information storage step). In step S118, the common image ID and the unique image ID of the server C are associated with each other by the control unit 20 and stored in the management information storage unit 22b as image management information.

  By repeating the above processing for a plurality of image data, the plurality of image data is uploaded to each of the server A, the server B, and the server C by the network device 5 (see FIG. 6). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, each of the unique attribute information storage units 32b, 42b, and 52b of the server A, the server B, and the server C includes image list information including unique attribute information. Is stored. Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the management information storage unit 22b of the network device 5 stores image management information including common attribute information and unique attribute information unique to the server.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example, the image data with the common image ID “3” is uploaded to any of the server A, the server B, and the server C. The server A has a unique image ID “0002” at the server A, a unique image ID “0001” at the server B, and a unique image ID “0003” at the server C. Is attached. In this way, different unique image IDs are assigned to the image data having the same original in each server. Also, the format is “jpeg” or “pdf”, which is different for each server. The image data stored in each server is related by the network device 5 by the common image ID and the unique image ID shown in FIG. As a result, the image data stored in each server is centrally managed by the network device 5.

  Note that the unique attribute information of each server added to the common attribute information in step S108, step S113, and step S118 may be only the unique image ID as shown in FIG. 8, or includes information other than the unique image ID. May be. At least the unique image ID may be associated with the common image ID.

(Display of images on the Web)
FIG. 10 is an example of a Web screen displayed on the monitor 6b of the PC 6 (or the monitor 7b of the PC 7). In the example shown in FIG. 10, three thumbnails Ta, thumbnail Tb, and thumbnail Tc are displayed on the screen. Among these, each thumbnail is associated with each image data by a common image ID of each image data having a common original. For example, the thumbnail Ta corresponds to the image data Da. As described above, according to the network device 5 and the image data processing system 1, the image data having the same original and scattered in the different servers A, B, and C are managed by one common image ID, Can be displayed together.

(Deletion process)
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of image data deletion processing. In the following description, a case where image data stored in the server B is deleted will be described as an example. As shown in FIG. 9, first, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 inputs a deletion instruction to delete specific image data Da in the server B (step S130). In step S130, for example, an instruction to delete image data stored in at least one of the server A, the server B, and the server C is given by an operation using the PC 6 or the PC 7. As shown in FIG. 10, which image data in which server is to be deleted can be appropriately selected by the user. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the user has instructed to delete the image data Da of the server B (“thumbnail Ta” “server B” is selected, and the “delete” button is clicked). .

  Next, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 acquires the unique attribute information (unique image ID) of the server B corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S131). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 transmits a deletion instruction for deleting the image data Da to the server B through the transmission / reception unit 21 together with the unique image ID of the server B (S132; instruction step). The transmission / reception unit 40 of the server B receives the deletion instruction and the unique image ID from the network device 5. The control unit 41 of the server B refers to the unique image ID and deletes the unique attribute information and the image data Da corresponding to the image data Da (step S133). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 deletes the unique attribute information (including the unique image ID) of the server B corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S134).

  Through the above processing, the image data Da and its unique attribute information of the server B are deleted, and the image data Da and its unique attribute information are also deleted from the network device 5 (see FIG. 11).

  According to the image data processing system 1, the network device 5, and the image data processing method of the present embodiment, the common ID of the image data is generated by the attribute information generation unit 20a. The unique image ID and common image ID for each server of the image data stored in the server are associated with each other and stored in the management information storage unit 22b as image management information. The instruction unit 20c identifies the unique image ID associated with the common image ID of the image data to be processed, and the processing instruction is transmitted to the server that stores the image data to be processed using the unique image ID. The Therefore, by managing the shared image ID and the unique image ID in association with each other, it is only necessary to always instruct processing using the common image ID, and it becomes easy to access a plurality of uploaded data sharing the original. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the processing of the image data stored in the server.

  In the deletion process, since the deletion instruction unit 26 issues a deletion instruction using the unique image ID, the user does not need to access each server, but only accesses the image data processing system 1. Accordingly, it is possible to simplify the deletion instruction work for the image data stored in the server.

  The deletion process is not limited to deleting image data of a specific server. For example, image data stored in all servers can be deleted. 12 and 13 are sequence diagrams illustrating another example of image data deletion processing.

  As shown in FIG. 12, first, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 inputs a deletion instruction to delete specific image data Da in all servers (that is, server A, server B, and server C). (Step S140). In step S140, for example, an instruction to delete the image data stored in the server A, the server B, and the server C is given by an operation using the PC 6 or the PC 7.

  Next, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 acquires the unique attribute information (unique image ID) of the server A corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S141). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 transmits a deletion instruction for deleting the image data Da to the server A through the transmission / reception unit 21 together with the unique image ID of the server A (S142; instruction step). The transmission / reception unit 30 of the server A receives the deletion instruction and the unique image ID from the network device 5. The control unit 31 of the server A refers to the unique image ID and deletes the unique attribute information and the image data Da corresponding to the image data Da (step S143). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 deletes the unique attribute information (including the unique image ID) of the server A corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S144).

  Next, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 acquires the unique attribute information (unique image ID) of the server B corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S145). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 transmits a deletion instruction for deleting the image data Da to the server B through the transmission / reception unit 21 together with the unique image ID of the server B (S146; instruction step). The transmission / reception unit 40 of the server B receives the deletion instruction and the unique image ID from the network device 5. The control unit 41 of the server B refers to the unique image ID and deletes the unique attribute information and the image data Da corresponding to the image data Da (step S147). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 deletes the unique attribute information (including the unique image ID) of the server B corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S148).

  Next, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 acquires the unique attribute information (unique image ID) of the server C corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S149). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 transmits a deletion instruction for deleting the image data Da to the server C through the transmission / reception unit 21 together with the unique image ID of the server C (S150; instruction step). The transmission / reception unit 50 of the server B receives the deletion instruction and the unique image ID from the network device 5. The control unit 51 of the server C refers to the unique image ID and deletes the unique attribute information and the image data Da corresponding to the image data Da (step S151). The deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 deletes the unique attribute information (including the unique image ID) of the server C corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S152).

  Next, the deletion instruction unit 26 of the network device 5 deletes the common attribute information (including the common image ID, the number of pages, and the creation date) corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S153).

  The image data Da and its unique attribute information of all servers are deleted by the above processing, and the image data Da, the unique attribute information of the image data Da, and the common attribute information of the image data Da are also received from the network device 5. Deleted. By such processing, the image data stored in the plurality of servers is automatically deleted by only accessing the image data processing system 1 once.

  According to the image data processing system 1 of the present embodiment, various effects are assumed even in actual use. For example, image data is temporarily uploaded from a notebook PC to a plurality of external servers (cloud servers), and the notebook PC is used on the go to access the image data based on stored image management information. If the processing is completed, it is possible to delete the image data from a plurality of external servers at once. Since the access method to each external server is different, such a usage pattern is more effective as the number of external servers increases.

(Update process)
FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of image data update processing. In the following description, the case where the image data Da stored in the server A and the server C is updated using the image data Da stored in the server B will be described as an example. As shown in FIG. 14, first, the update instruction unit 27 of the network device 5 inputs an update instruction using the image data Da of the server B (step S160). In step S160, for example, an instruction to update the image data of another server using the image data stored in the server B is given by an operation using the PC 6 or PC7. As shown in FIG. 15, which image data in which server is used for updating can be appropriately selected by the user. In the example shown in FIG. 15, the user gives an instruction to update using the image data Da of the server B (“Thumbnail Ta” “Server B” is selected, and the “Update” button is clicked). )

  Next, the update instruction unit 27 of the network device 5 acquires the unique attribute information (unique image ID) of the server B corresponding to the image data Da from the image management information (step S161). The update instruction unit 27 of the network device 5 transmits a deletion instruction for confirming the status of the image data Da to the server B through the transmission / reception unit 21 together with the unique image ID of the server B (S162). The control unit 41 of the server B refers to the unique image ID and acquires unique attribute information corresponding to the image data Da (step S163). In step S163, if the unique attribute information corresponding to the image data Da cannot be acquired, the image data Da may have already been deleted. Therefore, in the next step S164, a response to the effect that the image data Da has already been deleted is returned to the network device 5. In that case, the network device 5 deletes the unique attribute information of the server B.

  Next, the control unit 41 of the server B transmits unique attribute information (unique image ID, format, image name, number of pages, and creation date) corresponding to the image data Da to the network device 5 (step S164). The transmission / reception unit 21 of the network device 5 receives the unique attribute information corresponding to the image data Da from the server B. The update instruction unit 27 of the network device 5 determines whether or not the content of the unique attribute information of the server B corresponding to the image data Da has changed (step S165). In step S165, the update instruction unit 27 performs a determination process by comparing the unique attribute information of the server B stored in the management information storage unit 22b with the received unique attribute information. If it is determined in step S165 that the content of the unique attribute information of the server B has not changed (step S165; NO), the update instruction unit 27 estimates that the image data Da of the server B has not changed, and the image data is The update process is terminated without updating.

  If it is determined in step S165 that the content of the unique attribute information of the server B has changed (step S165; YES), the update instruction unit 27 updates the unique attribute information of the server B corresponding to the image data Da in the image management information ( Step S166). The update instruction unit 27 determines whether the contents of items other than the image name in the unique attribute information of the server B have changed (step S167). If it is determined in step S167 that the contents of the items other than the image name have not changed (step S167; NO), the update instruction unit 27 estimates that the image data Da of the server B has not changed, and updates the image data. The update process is terminated without doing so.

  If it is determined in step S167 that the contents of items other than the image name have changed (step S167; YES), the update instruction unit 27 estimates that the image data Da itself has been changed, and the unique image ID of the image data Da in the server B. And request the server B to transmit the changed image data Da ′ (step S168). The control unit 41 of the server B reads the image data Da ′ (step S169). The control unit 41 of the server B transmits the unique image ID of the image data Da and the image data Da ′ to the network device 5 via the transmission / reception unit 40 (step S170). The update instruction unit 27 of the network apparatus 5 updates the unique attribute information of the server A and the server C corresponding to the image data Da in the image management information stored in the management information storage unit 22b using the unique attribute information of the server B. (Step S171). The update instruction unit 27 of the network device 5 transmits the image data Da ′ received in step S170 to the server A and the server C via the transmission / reception unit 21, and updates (overwrites) the image data Da to the image data Da ′. (Step S172; instruction step). The server A and the server C update (overwrite) the image data Da to the image data Da ′ in response to an instruction from the network device 5.

  Through the above processing, the image data Da stored in the server A and the server C is updated using the image data Da stored in the server B. That is, the image management information of the network device 5 is automatically updated (synchronized) so as to match the specific attribute information of the designated server (server B in the above example). Furthermore, the image data Da in other servers (server A and server C in the above example) is automatically updated so as to match the image data Da ′ of the designated server (see FIG. 16).

  As described above, in the update process, the update instruction unit 27 issues an update instruction using the unique image ID. Therefore, the user does not need to access each server, and only accesses the image data processing apparatus 1. Good. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the update instruction work for the image data stored in the server.

  Further, by determining whether or not to update the image data based on the unique attribute information, the update of the image data can be stopped when the image data in the update target server has not been changed. Therefore, useless update processing can be avoided.

  Since external storage servers for cloud computing, such as servers A to C, can be accessed by other users, image data may be rewritten. For example, even if the image data of the server B is rewritten by the user of the PC 7, it is difficult for the user of the PC 6 to detect this. According to the above update process, the image data of the other server can be synchronized with the rewritten image data of the server B.

(Transfer process)
According to the image data processing system 1, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, image data transfer processing can also be performed. For example, as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, an instruction to transfer image data stored in the server A to the server C is given by an operation using the PC 6 or 7 (“thumbnail Ta “Server A” is selected and the “Transfer” button is clicked, and “Server C” is selected as the transfer destination server).

  Also in the transfer process, the transfer instruction unit 28 of the network device 5 inputs a transfer instruction for transferring the image data Da stored in the server A to the server C. The transfer instruction unit 28 specifies the unique ID in the server A associated with the common ID of the image data Da with reference to the image management information. The transfer instruction unit 28 transmits a transfer instruction to the server A and the server C together with the specified unique ID (see FIG. 18).

  As described above, in the transfer process, the transfer instruction unit 28 issues a transfer instruction using the unique image ID. Therefore, the user does not need to access each server, but only accesses the image data processing apparatus 1. Good. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the transfer instruction work of the image data stored in the server.

  Subsequently, an image data processing program for causing the control unit 20 of the network device 5 to execute the above-described series of image data processing will be described. As shown in FIG. 19, the image data processing program 120 is inserted into a computer and accessed, or stored in a program storage area 110 formed on a recording medium 100 provided in the computer.

  The image data processing program 120 includes an attribute information generation module 121, a format conversion module 122, and an instruction module 123. The instruction module 123 includes a deletion instruction module 126, an update instruction module 127, and a transfer instruction module 128. Functions realized by executing the attribute information generation module 121, the format conversion module 122, and the instruction module 123 include the attribute information generation unit 20a, the format conversion unit 20b, and the instruction unit 20c of the network device 5 described above. These functions are the same. The functions realized by executing the deletion instruction module 126, the update instruction module 127, and the transfer instruction module 128 are the deletion instruction unit 26, the update instruction unit 27, and the transfer instruction unit 28 of the network device 5 described above. The function is the same as that.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the deletion process of the above embodiment, the image data, the common attribute information, and the unique attribute information to be deleted are deleted from the network device 5, but the common attribute information or the unique attribute information may be left without being deleted. Good.

  In the update process of the above-described embodiment, the case where the image data of the other server is synchronized with the image data of the server B has been described. However, a server that stores image data used for the update process (so-called priority server). May be automatically selected according to some condition. For example, a server storing image data whose creation date is the latest date may be monitored by the network device 5 and the image data of the server may be used for updating.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image data processing system, 4 ... MFP, 5 ... Network apparatus (image data processing apparatus), 20a ... Attribute information generation part (common ID generation part), 21 ... Transmission / reception part (transmission part), 22b ... Management information storage part 20c ... instruction unit, 26 ... deletion instruction unit, 27 ... update instruction unit, 28 ... transfer instruction unit, A ... server, B ... server, C ... server.

Claims (10)

A transmission unit capable of uploading image data to one or more servers;
A common ID generator for generating a common ID of the image data;
A management information storage unit for acquiring a unique ID for each server of the image data stored in the server, and storing the acquired unique ID and the common ID as image management information in association with each other;
A processing instruction for performing predetermined processing on the image data stored in at least one of the servers is input, and the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data is determined by referring to the image management information. An instruction unit that identifies and transmits the processing instruction to the server using the identified unique ID;
An image data processing apparatus comprising: The instruction unit includes:
A deletion instruction to delete the image data stored in at least one of the servers is input, and the unique ID in the server associated with the common ID of the image data is identified with reference to the image management information The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion instruction unit that transmits the deletion instruction to the server using the specified unique ID. The transmission unit can upload the image data to a plurality of the servers,
The instruction unit includes:
An update instruction for updating the image data stored in the second server using the image data stored in the first server is input, and the common ID of the image data is referred to with reference to the image management information An update instruction unit that identifies the unique ID in the first server associated with the first server and transmits the update instruction to the second server using the identified unique ID. The image data processing apparatus described.   The update instruction unit acquires unique attribute information including at least one of a format, an image name, a page number, and a creation date of the image data stored in the first server, using the specified unique ID. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein it is determined whether to update the image data stored in the second server based on the acquired unique attribute information. The transmission unit can upload the image data to a plurality of the servers,
The instruction unit includes:
The first server associated with the common ID of the image data by inputting a transfer instruction for transferring the image data stored in the first server to the second server and referring to the image management information 3. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a transfer instruction unit that specifies the unique ID in step S <b> 1 and transmits the transfer instruction to the second server using the specified unique ID. The instruction unit includes:
A transfer instruction for transferring the image data stored in the first server to the second server is input, and the first associated with the common ID of the image data with reference to the image management information 5. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a transfer instruction unit that specifies the unique ID in the server and transmits the transfer instruction to the second server using the specified unique ID. A transmission step of uploading image data to one or more servers;
A common ID generation step of generating a common ID of the image data;
A management information storage step of acquiring a unique ID for each server of the image data uploaded in the transmission step, and storing the acquired unique ID and the common ID as image management information in association with each other;
A processing instruction for performing predetermined processing on the image data stored in at least one of the servers is input, and the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data is determined by referring to the image management information. An instruction step of identifying and transmitting the processing instruction to the server using the identified unique ID;
An image data processing method comprising: An image data processing program for causing an image data processing apparatus to perform image data processing,
The image data processing device;
A transmission unit capable of uploading image data to one or more servers;
A common ID generator for generating a common ID of the image data;
A management information storage unit for acquiring a unique ID for each server of the image data stored in the server, and storing the acquired unique ID and the common ID as image management information in association with each other;
A processing instruction for performing predetermined processing on the image data stored in at least one of the servers is input, and the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data is determined by referring to the image management information. An instruction unit that identifies and transmits the processing instruction to the server using the identified unique ID;
An image data processing program to be functioned.   A recording medium storing the image data processing program according to claim 8. One or more servers;
A transmission unit capable of uploading image data to the server;
A common ID generator for generating a common ID of the image data;
A management information storage unit for acquiring a unique ID for each server of the image data stored in the server, and storing the acquired unique ID and the common ID as image management information in association with each other;
A processing instruction for performing predetermined processing on the image data stored in at least one of the servers is input, and the unique ID associated with the common ID of the image data is determined by referring to the image management information. An instruction unit that identifies and transmits the processing instruction to the server using the identified unique ID;
An image data processing system comprising:

Images