JP2014127127A - Information processing device, program, information processing system, and data conversion processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device, a program, an information processing system, and a data conversion processing method that are capable of distributing a load of data conversion processing.SOLUTION: An information processing device comprises: a plurality of pieces of conversion request holding means that hold a conversion request of data conversion from a certain data format into another data format for each type of the data conversion; and a plurality of pieces of conversion means that can execute a plurality of types of the data conversion or more. On the basis of conversion requests held by a plurality of pieces of associated conversion request holding means among the plurality of pieces of conversion request holding means, the plurality of pieces of conversion means perform the data conversion of types corresponding to the conversion request holding means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a program, an information processing system, and a data conversion processing method.

  Conventionally, with the object of providing an information processing system that uses computer resources more appropriately, whether or not the number of queue messages is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and processing of print requests corresponding to the queue messages are performed. It is known to adjust the number of print services depending on whether or not the number of print services is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Conventionally, electronic data in a data format suitable for use at the time of output by converting electronic data in one data format into electronic data in another data format, such as a printer driver that converts office documents into print data There was a data conversion process to convert to. The data conversion process is performed by, for example, a different data conversion engine for each pair of input data format type and output data format type.

  Therefore, when data conversion processes having the same data conversion type (conversion type) are continuously registered as a print job, for example, until the data conversion process of the previous print job is completed by the data conversion engine of the conversion type. There was a problem that data conversion processing for the next print job did not start.

  As described above, conventionally, when data conversion processes having the same conversion type are continuously registered as a print job, for example, there is a problem that the load is concentrated on the data conversion engine of the conversion type.

  Embodiments of the present invention have been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, a program, an information processing system, and a data conversion processing method capable of distributing the load of data conversion processing.

  In order to achieve the above object, claim 1 of the present application provides a plurality of conversion request holding means for holding a conversion request for data conversion from one data format to another data format for each type of data conversion, and the data conversion A plurality of conversion means capable of executing a plurality of types, wherein the plurality of conversion means are held by the plurality of conversion request holding means associated with each other among the plurality of conversion request holding means. Based on the conversion request, the data conversion of the type corresponding to the conversion request holding means is performed.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, the load of data conversion processing can be distributed.

It is a figure for demonstrating a cloud print. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the computer system which implement | achieves cloud printing. It is a flowchart which illustrates the utilization procedure of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the conversion means of FIG. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of the asynchronous conversion server of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the request transmitted by S202. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the information of the request registered into job information management DB. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the state transition of a request. It is a block diagram of an example of the system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a hardware block diagram of an example of a computer system. It is a process block diagram of an example of the service provision system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram of an example of organization management information. It is a block diagram of an example of user management information. It is a block diagram of an example of apparatus management information. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the data conversion process in 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of matching with a queue and a data format conversion part.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
First, a usage form of the present embodiment will be described, and then a functional configuration and operation of the present embodiment will be described.
(Cloud print)
What is called “cloud print” in this specification is a cloud computing type print service. The concept will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining cloud printing.

  In a conventional technique, an input side device (for example, a personal computer (PC) 12) converts an electronic document file created by a word processor application into print data such as RPCS (page description language developed by Ricoh Co., Ltd.). Convert (A1). The PC 12 transmits print data to an output side device (for example, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) 13) via USB or LAN (A2), and causes the MFP 13 to output the print data.

  In the cloud print, the procedure of A1 is executed on the cloud 10 (A4). The input side device and the output side device are clients when viewed from the cloud 10 side. These clients communicate with the virtual server 11 on the cloud 10 to achieve a given purpose.

  In the cloud print, since it is not necessary to perform the data conversion process of A1, it is not necessary to have a data conversion engine in the local client. However, the data conversion engine prepared on the cloud 10 side needs to support a wide variety of electronic document files, and the types may increase in the future. With regard to output, the data conversion engine may support output to an output side device not only for the MFP 13 but also to a projector or a completely unknown device. In addition, the data conversion engine may be converted into a data format that can be connected to another cloud service. One of the problems of this embodiment is to distribute the load of data conversion processing on the cloud 10 side and perform efficient data conversion processing.

  The cloud print shown in FIG. 1 is composed of a cloud computing type computer system as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer system that implements cloud printing.

  In FIG. 2, there are general-purpose PCs 12 and MFPs 13 on the local side. The PC 12 and the MFP 13 are connected to the Internet via a firewall 103 installed in a LAN gateway or the like. Note that the cloud print is effective whether the PC 12 and the MFP 13 are on the same network. In the following description, it is assumed that they are not on the same network. This is because the convenience of cloud print can be better understood when data cannot be easily exchanged between local devices.

  In FIG. 2, the cloud side includes a data conversion system 100, a print job management server 102, a reverse proxy 104, an authentication server 105, and an authentication database 106.

  The data conversion system 100 includes an asynchronous conversion server 101, a shared file storage 107, and a job information management database 108. The shared file storage 107 may be designed to be placed outside the data conversion system 100. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the job information management database 108 may be designed to be a part of the asynchronous conversion server 101.

  Since the local device is mediated by the reverse proxy 104, the local device does not need to perform processing or communication in consideration of the server group on the cloud side or the internal structure of the storage. The authentication server 105 and the authentication database 106 authenticate users and / or local devices. The print job management server 102 and the data conversion system 100 manage / register a print job uploaded by the local device. When there is a print request from the local device, print data is transmitted.

  The print job includes an electronic document file created by a word processor application or the like. The data conversion system 100 converts an electronic document file included in a print job into print data that is electronic data in a data format (page description language (PDL)) that can be output by the MFP 13, for example.

  An example of use of the computer system shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the use procedure of FIG. First, the user logs in to the cloud print service from the PC 12 (S101). Authentication processing is executed by the authentication server 105.

  Next, the user uploads an electronic document file to be printed from the PC 12 to the cloud print service (S102). This is registration of a print job. The print job management server 102 executes print job registration processing. This is the procedure performed by the PC 12.

  When a print job is registered, the cloud print service performs data conversion in the background. The print job management server 102 requests the data conversion system 100 to convert the data of the registered electronic document file (S103). Details of the processing performed here will be described later.

  When the user prints out, the MFP 13 performs the following series of procedures. First, the cloud side confirms whether the MFP 13 is a device compatible with the cloud print service. This is authentication (S104) as a device. Next, the user operates the MFP 13 to log in to the cloud print service from the MFP 13. This is authentication as a user (S105).

  After the authentication, the MFP 13 acquires a job list from the cloud print service and displays it on a display unit (not shown) (S106). Next, the user selects a print job desired to be printed out from the displayed job list (S107). When the user selects a print job, the MFP 13 acquires the print job from the cloud print service and outputs it (S108).

As described above, the PC 12 and the MFP 13 may be physically separated. Since this cloud print service does not require the printer driver (data conversion engine) of the MFP 13 to be prepared on the PC 12, it is effective for, for example, creating / uploading conference materials and printing them out locally on a business trip abroad. is there.
(Data conversion system)
The data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment has a configuration described below. FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration of the data conversion system 100. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the data conversion system 100 includes a front-end application 102a, a shared file storage 107, and an asynchronous conversion server 101. The front-end application 102 a is a function of the print job management server 102. The asynchronous conversion server 101 provides an asynchronous conversion service. The asynchronous conversion server 101 includes a data conversion request management unit 111, a message queue 112, a job information management database 108, and a plurality of conversion units 120.

  The print job management server 102 receives a print job transmitted from an input-side device such as the PC 12 and shares an electronic document file included in the print job in the cloud print solution as described with reference to FIG. A function of registering in the file storage 107 is provided. Further, the print job management server 102 determines necessary file conversion and performs control for causing the data conversion system 100 to execute conversion.

  The converted file is registered in the shared file storage 107. Upon receiving a print job output instruction from the output side device such as the MFP 13, the print job management server 102 transmits the registered converted file to the MFP 13 that has transmitted the output instruction.

  The front-end application 102a has a function of determining file conversion necessary for executing the output instruction. For example, if the registered electronic file is a Microsoft Word (registered trademark) document file and the MFP 13 that transmits the output instruction is a model that supports RPCS, the front-end application 102a has the data format of the word document file. It is determined that it is necessary to convert the data into data in the RPCS data format.

  The front-end application 102a sets the determined data conversion type as a parameter such as “type = doc2rpcs”, and embeds it in the request transmitted to the asynchronous conversion server 101. Similarly, the URI (Uniform Resource Indicator) of the conversion source data is also embedded in the request as a parameter. The URI is information on a location where data exists in the shared file storage 107.

  In the asynchronous conversion server 101 that has received a request including at least the data conversion type and the data URI, the data conversion request management unit 111 receives the request. The data conversion request management unit 111 analyzes a request related to data conversion and puts a message in the message queue 112 that matches the type of data conversion.

  The data conversion request management unit 111 registers or updates the information of the request in the job information management database 108 in parallel with putting the message into the message queue 112.

  Information registered in the job information management database 108 includes the file location (URI on the shared file storage 107), the type of data conversion included in the request, the status of the request, and the like. The request status includes “data conversion in progress” and “data conversion complete”. The status of the request represents a status indicating the processing status of data conversion.

  The message queue 112 has a queue provided for each type of data conversion (conversion type). The conversion unit 120 and the queue of the message queue 112 correspond to many-to-many as shown in FIG. That is, the queue provided for each conversion type corresponds to a plurality of conversion means 120. The conversion unit 120 corresponds to a plurality of queues.

  4 illustrates an example in which the conversion unit 120 and the queue of the message queue 112 correspond to many-to-many, but many-to-one, one-to-many, and one-to-one correspondence may be included. . Since the conversion unit 120 includes a conversion engine (to be described later) corresponding to a plurality of queue conversion types, data conversion processing corresponding to a plurality of queues can be performed.

  Each conversion unit 120 monitors a plurality of corresponding queues. When a message enters the queue, the conversion unit 120 retrieves request information corresponding to the message registered in the job information management database 108. Each conversion unit 120 acquires data on the shared file storage 107 based on the URI included in the request information acquired from the job information management database 108.

  Each conversion unit 120 performs a data conversion process corresponding to the conversion type of the queue on the acquired data. Each conversion unit 120 registers the converted data on the shared file storage 107 and rewrites and updates the request information registered on the job information management database 108.

  Since queues provided for each conversion type are monitored by a plurality of conversion means 120, even if messages are continuously entered in the same queue, the plurality of conversion means 120 can correspond to the messages. Therefore, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment waits for the data conversion process of the previous print job to end even if data conversion processes having the same conversion type are continuously queued as print jobs. The data conversion process for the next print job can be started without any problem.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of conversion means 120 are configured to include a plurality of conversion processing libraries 120a and a plurality of conversion engines 120b. Since the conversion unit 120 includes a plurality of conversion processing libraries 120a and conversion engines 120b, it can perform data conversion processing corresponding to the conversion types of a plurality of queues.

  The conversion processing library 120a monitors the corresponding queue, registers the converted data on the shared file storage 107, and rewrites and updates the request information registered on the job information management database 108. And so on.

Examples of the conversion engine 120b include the following.
・ Office2rpcs: An engine that converts electronic document files created with office software provided by Microsoft into RPCS ・ pdf2rpcs: An engine that converts PDF (Portable Document Format) into RPCS ・ img2pdf: An engine that converts image files into PDF ・ html2pdf : Engine that converts page files described in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) into PDF (asynchronous conversion service)
The flow of the asynchronous conversion service by the asynchronous conversion server 101 shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the operation of the asynchronous conversion server.

  The front-end application 102a registers data in the shared file storage 107 (S201). The front-end application 102a transmits a data conversion request (request) for the data registered in the shared file storage 107 to the data conversion request management unit 111 (S202).

  The asynchronous conversion service starts when a data conversion request for data registered in the shared file storage 107 is transmitted to the data conversion request management means 111 constituting the data conversion system 100.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the request transmitted in S202. In the request transmitted in S202, the type of data conversion determined by the front-end application 102a is embedded with a parameter such as “office2rpcs”. In the request, a URI (Uniform Resource Indicator) of data to be converted is also embedded as a parameter.

  The data conversion request management unit 111 that has received the request registers the information of the request as a job in the job information management database 108 (S203). Further, the data conversion request management unit 111 analyzes a request related to data conversion and puts a message in the message queue 112 corresponding to the type of data conversion (S204).

  When each conversion unit 120 monitoring the queue detects that a message has entered the queue (S205), the conversion unit 120 retrieves the request information registered in the job information management database 108 corresponding to the message.

  The conversion unit 120 acquires data on the shared file storage 107 based on the URI included in the acquired request information (S206, S207). Then, the conversion unit 120 converts the acquired data (S208).

  Each conversion unit 120 registers or updates the converted data on the shared file storage 107 (S209), and at the same time displays the information on the request registered in the job information management database 108 to indicate that the conversion has been performed. Update (S210). At this time, the status of the request is updated to “data conversion completed”. In addition, the update date and time included in the request information is updated.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an example of request information registered in the job information management DB. The request information in FIG. 8 includes a job Id, a job URI, a data conversion type (Type), a file name (file), a request status (Status), and a registration date and time indicating a processing start date and time ( “created_at” and an update date and time (update_at) indicating the time when the processing result was last written are included as data items.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a request state transition. As shown in FIG. 9, the status (Status) of a request registered as a job in the job information management database 108 transitions between accepted, doing, done, and error.

  After registration, the status of the request is “accepted”. When data conversion is started, the request state transitions to “doing”. If the data conversion ends normally, the request state transitions from “doing” to “done”. If the data conversion fails after the number of retries, the request state transitions from “doing” to “error”.

  Note that there are various possible ranges of the queue monitored by each conversion unit 120, in other words, the distribution of the conversion unit 120 to the queue.

  For example, depending on the type of data conversion, the conversion engine 120b must be executed on a specific OS, such as the conversion engine 120b that operates only on the Windows (registered trademark) server or the conversion engine 120b that operates only on the Linux (registered trademark) server. It may be necessary. Therefore, the distribution of the conversion means 120 to the queue can be performed for each OS in consideration of the OS executing the conversion engine 120b. The sorting of the conversion means 120 to the queue can be performed for each service in consideration of services such as a print service.

  As described above, the queue and the conversion unit 120 can be grouped in consideration of the OS, service, processing characteristics, and the like. Accordingly, the sorting of the conversion means 120 to the queue can use the grouped queue and the range of the conversion means 120.

  By performing the above-described operation, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment allows the plurality of conversion units 120 to perform data conversion processing in parallel even if jobs having the same conversion type are continuously queued. Can be executed. Therefore, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment can distribute the data conversion processing load on the cloud 10 side and perform efficient data conversion processing.

Note that the type of the conversion engine 120b is not limited to that of the above embodiment. For example, various means such as conversion means for converting barcode image data into character string data, conversion means for converting image file data into character string data by OCR (character reading), and the like can be considered. Further, the above-described embodiments can be applied in appropriate combination within a consistent range.
[Second Embodiment]
Distributing the load of data conversion processing can also be realized by the following second embodiment.

<System configuration>
FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of an example of a system according to the second embodiment. 10 includes a network N1 such as an intra-office network, a network N2 of a service providing system represented by a cloud service, and a network N3 such as the Internet.

  The network N1 is a private network inside the firewall FW. The firewall FW is installed at the contact point between the network N1 and the network N3, and detects and blocks unauthorized access. An image forming apparatus 1013 such as a client terminal 1011, a portable terminal 1012, or a multifunction peripheral is connected to the network N 1.

  The client terminal 1011 is an example of a terminal device. The client terminal 1011 can be realized by an information processing apparatus equipped with a general OS or the like. The client terminal 1011 has a wireless communication means or a wired communication means. The client terminal 1011 is a terminal that can be operated by the user, such as a tablet PC or a notebook PC.

  The mobile terminal 1012 is an example of a terminal device. The portable terminal 1012 has a wireless communication means or a wired communication means. The mobile terminal 1012 is a terminal that can be carried by the user, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet PC, or a notebook PC.

  The image forming apparatus 1013 is an apparatus having an image forming function such as a multifunction peripheral. The image forming apparatus 1013 includes a wireless communication unit or a wired communication unit. The image forming apparatus 1013 is an apparatus that performs processing related to image formation, such as a multifunction peripheral, a copier, a scanner, a printer, a laser printer, a projector, and an electronic blackboard. FIG. 8 shows an example in which the client terminal 1011, the mobile terminal 1012, and the image forming apparatus 1013 are each one as an example, but there may be a plurality of them.

  Note that the client terminal 1011 and the mobile terminal 1012 correspond to the PC 12 of the first embodiment. An image forming apparatus 1013 corresponds to the MFP 13 of the first embodiment.

  The network N2 is connected to the network N3 by the access control device 1021. The network N2 is protected by the access control device 1021. A print service providing apparatus 1022, a scan service providing apparatus 1023, and another service providing apparatus 1024 are connected to the network N2.

  In the system 1000 of FIG. 10, an access control device 1021, a print service providing device 1022, a scan service providing device 1023, and another service providing device 1024 implement a service providing system.

  The service providing system corresponds to the cloud-side data conversion system 100, the print job management server 102, the reverse proxy 104, the authentication server 105, and the authentication database 106 according to the first embodiment.

  The access control apparatus 1021 controls login to a print service provided by the print service providing apparatus 1022 or a scan service provided by the scan service providing apparatus 1023.

  The access control device 1021, the print service providing device 1022, the scan service providing device 1023, and the other service providing device 1024 are realized by one or more information processing devices.

  The access control device 1021, the print service providing device 1022, the scan service providing device 1023, and the other service providing device 1024 may be realized by being integrated into one information processing device, or may be realized by being distributed to a plurality of information processing devices. May be.

  Some of the services on the network N2 side may be outside the network N2. The mobile terminal 1012 may be other than the network N1 such as an intra-office network. In the system 1000 of FIG. 10, an example in which the mobile terminal 1012 is in the network N1 and the network N3 is shown.

<Hardware configuration>
The client terminal 1011, the mobile terminal 1012, the access control apparatus 1021, the print service providing apparatus 1022, the scan service providing apparatus 1023, and the other service providing apparatus 1024 are realized by a computer system having a hardware configuration as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of a computer system. The computer system 1500 includes an input device 1501, a display device 1502, an external I / F 1503, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 1504, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1505, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1506, a communication I / F 1507, and an HDD ( Hard Disk Drive) 1508 and the like are connected to each other via a bus B.

  The input device 1501 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like, and is used by a user to input each operation signal. The display device 1502 includes a display and the like, and displays a processing result by the computer system 1500.

  A communication I / F 1507 is an interface for connecting the computer system 1500 to the networks N1 to N3. Accordingly, the computer system 1500 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 1507.

  The HDD 1508 is a nonvolatile storage device that stores programs and data. The stored programs and data include, for example, an OS (Operating System) that is basic software for controlling the entire computer system 1500, and application software that provides various functions on the OS.

  The HDD 1508 manages stored programs and data by a predetermined file system and / or DB (database). The external I / F 1503 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 1503a. Accordingly, the computer system 1500 can read and / or write the recording medium 1503a via the external I / F 1503. The recording medium 1503a includes a flexible disk, CD (Compact Disk), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), SD memory card (SD Memory card), USB memory (Universal Serial Bus memory), and the like.

  The ROM 1505 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain programs and data even when the power is turned off. The ROM 1505 stores programs and data such as BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), OS settings, and network settings that are executed when the computer system 1500 is started. The RAM 1504 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily stores programs and data.

  The CPU 1506 is an arithmetic device that implements control and functions of the entire computer system 1500 by reading a program and data from a storage device such as the ROM 1505 and the HDD 1508 onto the RAM 1504 and executing processing.

  The client terminal 1011, the mobile terminal 1012, the access control device 1021, the print service providing device 1022, the scan service providing device 1023, and the other service providing device 1024 can implement various processes as described later depending on the hardware configuration of the computer system 1500. .

<Software configuration>
《Service provision system》
The service providing system according to the second embodiment is realized by, for example, the processing blocks shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a processing block diagram of an example of a service providing system according to the second embodiment.

  The service providing system 1100 of FIG. 12 implements a service application 1101, a platform 1102, a management data storage unit 1103, and a platform API (Application Programming Interface) 1104 by executing a program.

  The service application 1101 includes a print service application 1111, a scan service application 1112, and one or more other service applications 1113 as an example. The print service application 1111 is an application that provides a print service. The scan service application 1112 is an application that provides a scan service. The other service application 1113 is an application that provides some service.

  The platform API 1104 is an interface for the service application 1101 such as the print service application 1111, the scan service application 1112, and other service applications 1113 to use the platform 1102. The platform API 1104 is a pre-defined interface provided for the platform 1102 to receive a request from the service application 1101 and includes, for example, a function or a class. When the service providing system 1100 is configured to be distributed among a plurality of information processing apparatuses, for example, a web API that can be used via a network can be used as the platform API 1104.

  The platform 1102 includes an authentication processing unit 1121, a device communication unit 1122, a session management unit 1123, a processing control unit 1124, and a data processing unit 1125. The data processing unit 1125 includes a message queue 1131 and one or more data format conversion units 1132.

  The authentication processing unit 1121 corresponds to the authentication server 105 of the first embodiment. The authentication processing unit 1121 performs authentication based on a login request from an office device such as the client terminal 1011 or the image forming apparatus 1013. Office equipment is a generic term for the client terminal 1011, the mobile terminal 1012, the image forming apparatus 1013, and the like. For example, the authentication processing unit 1121 accesses a user management information storage unit 1142 described later to authenticate the user. Further, the authentication processing unit 1121 accesses the organization management information storage unit 1141 and the device management information storage unit 1143 to authenticate the image forming apparatus 1013 and the like.

  The device communication unit 1122 executes communication with the office device. A session management unit 1123 manages a session with an office device. The processing control unit 1124 controls data processing executed by the data processing unit 1125 based on a request from the service application 1101. The data processing unit 1125 executes data processing under the control of the processing control unit 1124. Note that the processing control unit 1124 corresponds to the data conversion request management unit 111 of the first embodiment. The message queue 1131 of the data processing unit 1125 corresponds to the message queue 112 of the first embodiment. The data format conversion unit 1132 corresponds to the conversion unit 120 of the first embodiment.

  The message queue 1131 has a queue corresponding to the type of data conversion to be described later, and can receive a message of a request related to data conversion from the processing control unit 1124. The data format conversion unit 1132 monitors a plurality of corresponding queues. When a message enters the monitored queue, the data format conversion unit 1132 performs data conversion and the like. Details of the asynchronous conversion service processing in the second embodiment will be described later.

  The management data storage unit 1103 includes an organization management information storage unit 1141, a user management information storage unit 1142, a device management information storage unit 1143, a job management information storage unit 1144, and a data storage 1145.

  The organization management information storage unit 1141 stores organization management information described later. The user management information storage unit 1142 stores user management information described later. The device management information storage unit 1143 stores device management information described later. The organization management information storage unit 1141, the user management information storage unit 1142, and the device management information storage unit 1143 correspond to the authentication database 106 of the first embodiment.

  The job management information storage unit 1144 corresponds to the job information management database 108 of the first embodiment, and stores request information related to data conversion. The data storage 1145 corresponds to the shared file storage 107 of the first embodiment, and stores data such as electronic document files included in the print job.

  The service providing system 1100 functions as a cloud platform having functions such as authentication and data format conversion, and a service group that provides services such as a print service using the cloud platform functions. The cloud platform includes, for example, a platform 1102, a management data storage unit 1103, and a platform API 1104. The service group is configured by, for example, a service application 1101.

  The authentication function included in the cloud platform of the service providing system 1100 includes, for example, an authentication processing unit 1121 and an authentication database. The authentication database includes an organization management information storage unit 1141, a user management information storage unit 1142, a device management information storage unit 1143, and the like. The data format conversion function of the cloud platform of the service providing system 1100 includes a data processing unit 1125, a job management information storage unit 1144, a data storage 1145, and the like.

  The service group provides services by using functions such as authentication and data format conversion that the cloud platform of the service providing system 1100 has. Further, the service providing system 1100 in FIG. 12 integrates authentication functions by managing organization management information, user management information, and device management information that are commonly used by a plurality of service applications 1101 as management data. The classification form of each software and each storage unit in FIG. 12 is an example, and it is not essential to be classified in a hierarchy as shown in FIG.

<Management data>
FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of an example of organization management information. The organization management information of FIG. 13 has an organization code, organization name, country, language, address information, and the like as data items. The organization code is organization identification information. The organization name is the name of the organization. Country represents the name of the country to which the organization belongs. The language represents the language used by the organization. The address information represents the email address of the organization.

  FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of an example of user management information. The user management information in FIG. 14 has an organization code, a user name, a password, address information, and the like as data items. The user name and password are information for identifying the user. Therefore, the user name may be a user ID or the like. A password is not essential. The user name and password managed by the same organization code are unique, but may be duplicated if the organization codes are different. The address information represents the user's mail address, for example.

  Furthermore, the user ID may use information for identifying an electronic medium (for example, an IC card) possessed by the user. As an electronic medium possessed by the user, an IC card, a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, an electronic book terminal, or the like can be used. As information for identifying the electronic medium, a card ID, serial ID, mobile phone number, terminal profile information, and the like can be used. Information for identifying electronic media may be used in combination.

  FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of an example of device management information. The device management information in FIG. 15 includes data items such as an organization code, device authentication information, business office information, and capabilities. The device authentication information is information for device authentication that determines that the office device has a specific condition. The device authentication information may be an ID indicating that a specific application is installed in the office device, a device number indicating that the device is a specific office device, or the like. The office information represents, for example, an office where office equipment is installed. Capabilities represent, for example, the capabilities of office equipment.

<Details of processing>
The details of the processing of the service providing system 1100 according to the second embodiment will be described below, but the description of the same parts as in the first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate.

<Data conversion processing>
The service providing system 1100 according to the second embodiment includes a configuration described below in order to distribute the load of data conversion processing. FIG. 16 shows a functional configuration of data conversion processing in the service providing system 1100. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of data conversion processing according to the second embodiment. Note that FIG. 16 is the same as FIG. 4 except for a part, and thus the description of the same part will be omitted as appropriate.

  As illustrated in FIG. 16, the service providing system 1100 includes a front-end application 1111 a that is a function of the print service application 1111, a data storage 1145, a processing control unit 1124, a message queue 1131, and a job management information storage unit 1144. And a plurality of data format conversion units 1132.

  The processing control unit 1124, the message queue 1131, the job management information storage unit 1144, and the plurality of data format conversion units 1132 provide an asynchronous data conversion service. In the cloud print solution, the front-end application 1111 a has a function of receiving a print job from an input-side device such as the client terminal 1011 and registering an electronic document file or the like included in the print job in the data storage 1145. The front-end application 1111a determines necessary file conversion and performs control for causing the asynchronous data conversion service to perform data conversion.

  The converted file is registered in the data storage 1145. Upon receiving a print job output instruction from an output-side device such as the image forming apparatus 1013, the print service application 1111 transmits the registered converted file to the image forming apparatus 1013 that has transmitted the output instruction.

  The front-end application 1111a has a function of determining file conversion necessary for executing the output instruction. The front-end application 1111a embeds the determined data conversion type as a parameter such as “office2rpcs” in the request to the processing control unit 1124. Similarly, the front-end application 1111a embeds a URI, which is information on the location where the conversion source data exists, as a parameter in the request.

  The process control unit 1124 receives a request including at least the data conversion type and the data URI. The processing control unit 1124 analyzes the request for data conversion, and puts the message in the queue of the message queue 1131 that matches the type of data conversion.

  The processing control unit 1124 registers request information in the job management information storage unit 1144 in parallel with putting a message into the message queue 1131. The request information registered in the job management information storage unit 1144 includes the file location (URI on the data storage 1145), the type of data conversion included in the request, the status of the request, and the like.

  Similar to the message queue 112 in FIG. 4, the message queue 1131 has a queue provided for each conversion type. Each data format conversion unit 1132 and the queue of the message queue 1131 correspond to many-to-many as shown in FIG. That is, the queue provided for each conversion type corresponds to a plurality of data format conversion units 1132. The data format conversion unit 1132 supports a plurality of queues.

  FIG. 16 shows an example in which the data format conversion unit 1132 and the queue of the message queue 112 correspond to many-to-many, but many-to-one, one-to-many, and one-to-one correspondences may be included. . Since the data format conversion unit 1132 has a conversion engine corresponding to a plurality of queue conversion types, data conversion processing corresponding to a plurality of queues can be performed.

  The data format conversion unit 1132 monitors a plurality of corresponding queues. When a message enters the queue, the data format conversion unit 1132 goes to the job management information storage unit 1144 for request information corresponding to the message. The data format conversion unit 1132 acquires data on the data storage 1145 based on the URI included in the request information acquired from the job management information storage unit 1144.

  Each data format conversion unit 1132 performs data conversion processing corresponding to the conversion type of the queue on the acquired data. Each data format conversion unit 1132 registers the converted data on the data storage 1145, and rewrites and updates the request information registered on the job management information storage unit 1144.

  In addition, since the queue provided for each conversion type is monitored by a plurality of data format conversion units 1132, even if messages are continuously entered in the same queue, a plurality of data format conversion units 1132 are included in the message. Each can respond. Therefore, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment waits for the data conversion process of the previous print job to end even if data conversion processes having the same conversion type are continuously queued as print jobs. The data conversion process for the next print job can be started without any problem.

  The queue of the message queue 1131 and the data format conversion unit 1132 may be associated with each other as shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of association between a queue and a data format conversion unit.

  The message queue 1131 has a plurality of queues. The queue is separated for each type of data conversion such as “office2rpcs”. The data format converter 1132 operates on the worker node. The Worker node is realized by, for example, a Windows (registered trademark) server or a Linux (registered trademark) server.

  For example, the data format conversion unit 1132 can be configured to operate two on one Windows (registered trademark) server and operate three on one Linux (registered trademark) server. As described above, there are a plurality of data format converters 1132 operating on one server. Therefore, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment can reduce the number of servers that operate the data format conversion unit 1132 with respect to the number of data format conversion units 1132.

  In FIG. 17, the data format conversion unit 1132 operating on the Windows (registered trademark) server can perform data conversion processing of “office2rpcs”, “office2pcl”, “pdf2rpcs”, and “pdf2pcl”. In FIG. 17, the data format conversion unit 1132 operating on the Linux (registered trademark) server can perform data conversion processing of “html2pdf” and “image2pdf”.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the data format conversion unit 1132 polls jobs in a plurality of queues with one connection. However, the range of a plurality of queues that can be polled by one connection is, for example, the range of the data format conversion unit 1132 that operates on the same OS server, such as the range of the data format conversion unit 1132 as described above. Range.

  It should be noted that the data format conversion unit 1132 can be dynamically added to the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment by making the rules for assigning the data format conversion unit 1132 to the queue as follows. When a server that operates the data format conversion unit 1132 is added, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment distributes the data format conversion unit 1132 to a plurality of queues based on the OS of the server.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 17, when a Windows (registered trademark) server that operates the data format conversion unit 1132 is added, a queue corresponding to the conversion type of “office2rpcs”, “office2pc1”, “pdf2rpcs”, “pdf2pc1” (the left side of the message queue 1131) The data format conversion unit 1132 is distributed to four queues).

  For example, in the example of FIG. 17, when a Linux (registered trademark) server that operates the data format conversion unit 1132 is added, queues corresponding to the conversion types “html2pdf” and “image2pdf” (two queues on the right side of the message queue 1131). The data format conversion unit 1132 is assigned to each other.

  In addition, when a server for operating the data format conversion unit 1132 is added, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment uses the data format conversion unit 1132 based on a service (print service or the like) associated with the server. You may make it distribute to several queues.

  In addition, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment can dynamically change the distribution of the data format conversion unit 1132 and a plurality of queues as follows. For example, when the number of input messages is larger than the number of data format conversion units 1132 distributed to a queue, the data conversion system 100 according to the present embodiment performs distribution so that the load is distributed. Can be changed.

  Note that the rules for assigning the data format conversion unit 1132 to the queue can be executed by the processing control unit 1124, for example. The processing control unit 1124 adds the dynamic data format conversion unit 1132 or dynamically allocates the data format conversion unit 1132 and a plurality of queues, for example, changes information that associates the data format conversion unit 1132 and the queues. To do.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if jobs having the same conversion type are continuously queued, the data conversion processing can be executed in parallel. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to distribute the load of data conversion processing and perform data conversion processing efficiently.

  The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. The conversion request holding means described in the claims corresponds to a queue. The conversion unit corresponds to the conversion unit 120 or the data format conversion unit 1132.

10 cloud 11 server 12 PC (personal computer)
13 MFP (MFP)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Data conversion system 101 Asynchronous conversion server 102 Print job management server 103 Firewall 104 Reverse proxy 105 Authentication server 106 Authentication database 107 Shared file storage 108 Job information management database 111 Data conversion request management means 112 Message queue 120 Conversion means 120a Conversion processing Library 120b Conversion engine 1000 System 1011 Client terminal 1012 Portable terminal 1013 Image forming apparatus 1021 Access control apparatus 1022 Print service providing apparatus 1023 Scan service providing apparatus 1024 Other service providing apparatus 1100 Service providing system 1101 Service application 1102 Platform 1103 Management data storage unit 1104 Pratt Omu API (Application Programming Interface)
1111 Print service application 1111a Front-end application 1112 Scan service application 1113 Other service application 1121 Authentication processing unit 1122 Device communication unit 1123 Session management unit 1124 Processing control unit 1125 Data processing unit 1131 Message queue 1132 Data format conversion unit 1141 Organization management information storage Unit 1142 User management information storage unit 1143 Device management information storage unit 1144 Job management information storage unit 1145 Data storage 1500 Computer system 1501 Input device 1502 Display device 1503 External I / F
1503a Recording medium 1504 RAM
1505 ROM
1506 CPU
1507 Communication I / F
1508 HDD
B bus FW firewall N1-N3 network

JP2011-95835A

Claims (11)

A plurality of conversion request holding means for holding a conversion request for data conversion from one data format to another data format for each type of data conversion;
A plurality of conversion means capable of executing a plurality of types of the data conversion;
Have
A plurality of the conversion means, based on the conversion requests held by the plurality of conversion request holding means associated among the plurality of conversion request holding means, the type of the data corresponding to the conversion request holding means An information processing apparatus that performs conversion. The conversion request holding unit is associated with a plurality of the conversion units capable of executing the data conversion of the conversion request to be held, and the conversion request holding unit stores one of the conversion units associated with the conversion request. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data conversion is performed. The conversion request holding unit is a queue that receives a conversion request for the data conversion for each type of data conversion, and the data conversion of the conversion request is performed by one of the plurality of associated conversion units. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The conversion unit monitors a plurality of associated conversion request holding units, and if the data conversion of the conversion request held by the conversion request holding unit is not performed by the plurality of conversion units, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data conversion of the conversion request held by a conversion request holding unit is performed. The conversion means monitors a queue that receives the conversion request for the data conversion for each type of data conversion, and if the data conversion of the conversion request received by the queue by a plurality of the conversion means is not performed, The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the data conversion of the conversion request received by the queue is performed. The conversion means includes a plurality of types of conversion engines that perform data conversion from one data format to another data format, and a type corresponding to the conversion request holding means based on the conversion request held by the conversion request holding means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a conversion processing library that performs the data conversion using the conversion engine. The association between the conversion request holding means and the conversion means is based on a group of the conversion means operating on the same type of operating system, and a conversion request for the data conversion executed by the conversion means included in the group. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus performs the conversion request holding group. The association between the conversion request holding unit and the conversion unit is performed by the group of the conversion unit and the group of the conversion request holding unit according to the nature of the data conversion process. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. An information processing system including a plurality of computer systems,
A plurality of conversion request holding means for holding a conversion request for data conversion from one data format to another data format for each type of data conversion;
A plurality of conversion means capable of executing a plurality of types of the data conversion;
Have
A plurality of the conversion means, based on the conversion requests held by the plurality of conversion request holding means associated among the plurality of conversion request holding means, the type of the data corresponding to the conversion request holding means An information processing system characterized by performing conversion. A data conversion processing method executed by an information processing system including a plurality of computer systems,
A plurality of conversion means capable of performing a plurality of types of data conversion from one data format to another data format, among a plurality of conversion request holding means for holding the conversion request for the data conversion for each type of data conversion, A data conversion processing method comprising: performing the data conversion corresponding to the conversion request holding unit based on the conversion requests held by a plurality of the conversion request holding units associated with each other.

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