JP2014186473A - Program and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate migration of a part of a software system to a device through a network, especially to a server device or a cloud service on the Internet.SOLUTION: A component framework 121 of an image processing device 20 applies in-component communication when components running on the component framework 121 communicate with each other, and applies inter-component communication when a component running on the component framework 121 communicates with a component running on a component framework 111. For the inter-component communication, the component framework 121 relays the communication through a WebSocket connection, which the component running on the own component framework performs with the component running on the other component framework.

Description

  The present invention relates to a program and an apparatus.

Until now, various techniques for realizing distributed processing by software are known. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for managing a communication path between a client process and a server process that resides in a host computer connected to a physical network having a transport layer and a network layer, and is in a distributed computing environment. It is described that the client process makes a remote procedure call (RPC), checks whether the server process specified by RPC exists on the server, sets the communication path, and calls the remote procedure. ing. Patent Document 2 describes a network management system in which modules cooperate with each other to realize a management function. When a module is started, program interface information is registered in a repository, a module is searched based on an operation name, and distributed arrangement is performed. It is described that the communicated modules communicate with each other transparently via the base. Patent Document 3 describes that in a system in which a client requests a service from a server device using RPC, an internal processing communication path is set if the server processing is in a host computer. As described above, conventionally, a method of performing distributed processing among devices in a local network has been studied.
On the other hand, in recent years, it has become possible to enable a system on a server device on the Internet, in particular, a virtual machine operating in a group of server devices. By using a so-called cloud service, it has become possible to operate processes that were running in sites such as offices in the cloud.

JP 09-160856 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-308736 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-115288

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for facilitating migration of a part of a software system to a device via a network, particularly a server device or cloud service on the Internet.

  The invention according to claim 1 is used in a process in which a framework program and a plurality of component programs are stored in a storage unit, and a computer having a communication unit is in accordance with each of the plurality of component programs in accordance with the framework program. A process for constructing a first software framework for providing a program, a process for recognizing a second software framework constructed in another computer communicating by the communication means, and a process for recognizing the first software framework. In accordance with each of the plurality of component programs, a software component that operates on the first software framework is constructed in accordance with a process for establishing a connection with the second software framework. And the one software component that communicates with another software component in accordance with a predetermined rule with respect to the one software component operating on the first software framework When the process of providing an interface and the other software component is operating on the second software framework, the one software component is connected to the first software framework via the interface. Provided is a program for executing processing for relaying communication performed with other software components via the connection.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the first aspect, when the same common software component exists in both the computer and the other computer, the first software framework is the common software component. When the component is operated on the other computer, a selection process is further executed.
The invention according to claim 3 is the program according to claim 1, wherein the same common software component exists in both the computer and the other computer, and the common software component depends on resources of the computer. If so, the first software framework further executes a process of selecting the common software component to operate on the computer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the first aspect, based on the process of acquiring information about a software component and whether the software component corresponding to the information is operated on the computer based on the acquired information The process of selecting whether to operate on the other computer and the case where the software component corresponding to the acquired information is selected to operate on the other computer, and the software component is included in the other computer. When the software component is not installed, a process of transmitting information necessary for operating the software component to the other computer is further executed.
The invention according to claim 5 is a case in which, in the program according to claim 1, the software component corresponding to the acquired information is selected to operate on the computer, and the software component is installed in the computer If not, in order to operate the software component transmitted as a response to the request data and the process of transmitting request data requesting the transmission of the software component to the other computer or a predetermined computer And receiving the information necessary for the software component, and further executing a process of executing the installation process of the software component.

  The invention according to claim 6 provides a program used in processing according to each of the plurality of component programs in accordance with the framework program, storage means for storing the framework program and the plurality of component programs, and communication means. A process for constructing the first software framework, a process for recognizing a second software framework constructed in another computer that communicates with the communication means, and a process for recognizing the first software framework. A process for establishing a connection with two software frameworks, a process for constructing software components operating on the first software framework according to each of the plurality of component programs, and the first Providing an interface for one software component operating on the software framework of the first software component to communicate with another software component in accordance with a predetermined rule; When the other software component is operating on the second software framework, the one software component communicates with the other software component via the interface in the first software framework. And a data processing means for executing a process of relaying the communication performed through the connection via the connection.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it becomes easy to transfer a part of the software system to a device via a network, particularly a server device or cloud service on the Internet.
According to the invention described in claim 2, a part of the software system can be operated on another computer different from the own computer.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, software components that depend on computer resources can be operated on the computer.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a part of the software system can be transferred to a device via a network, particularly a server device or a cloud service on the Internet.
According to the invention described in claim 5, a part of the software system can be migrated from another computer to the own computer.
According to the invention described in claim 6, it becomes easy to transfer a part of the software system to a device via a network, particularly a server device or cloud service on the Internet.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a communication system. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a cloud service provision apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of an image processing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a cloud service provision apparatus and an image processing apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the communication by a WebSocket protocol. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of a packet. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the HTTP header. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the starting process which a component framework performs. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the starting process which a component framework performs. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which a component framework performs. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a communication system. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a communication system. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a communication system. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a communication system. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a function structure of the conventional communication system.

1. First embodiment 1-1. Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 1 includes a cloud service providing device 10 and an image processing device 20. The cloud service providing apparatus 10 is an apparatus that provides a so-called cloud service. The network 30 is a network such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), and is a communication line that connects the cloud service providing apparatus 10 and the image processing apparatus 20. The image processing apparatus 20 is, for example, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The image processing apparatus 20 receives the image data from the cloud service providing apparatus 10, and outputs the image data by forming an image indicated by the received image data on a medium such as paper.

1-2. Configuration of Cloud Service Providing Device FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the cloud service providing device 10. In the figure, the control unit 11 (an example of data processing means) includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a main storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). . The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the cloud service providing apparatus 10 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 13 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 12 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the network 30. The storage unit 13 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 11. The storage unit 13 stores a definition file 14, a framework program 15, and a component program 16. The definition file 14 relates to installed components such as information indicating software components (hereinafter simply referred to as “components”) installed in the cloud service providing apparatus 10 and information used by the installed components. Contains information. The framework program 15 is a software framework program for operating components, and the component program 16 is a component program.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 20. In the figure, the control unit 21 (an example of data processing means) includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU and a main storage device such as a ROM and a RAM. The ROM stores a program executed by the arithmetic device. The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the image processing device 20 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 22 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the network 30. The operation unit 23 includes operators such as various keys and touch sensors, and supplies an operation signal corresponding to a user operation to the control unit 21. The control unit 21 performs processing according to the operation signal. The display unit 24 includes a liquid crystal panel and a liquid crystal driving circuit, and displays an image under the control of the control unit 21. The image forming unit 25 forms an image by electrophotography. The image reading unit 26 optically reads an image of a document. The storage unit 27 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 21. The storage unit 27 stores a definition file 271, a framework program 272, and a component program 273. The definition file 271 includes information related to the installed component such as information indicating the component installed in the image processing apparatus 20 and information used by the installed component. The framework program 272 is a software framework program for operating components, and the component program 273 is a component program.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional configurations of the cloud service providing apparatus 10 and the image processing apparatus 20. The control unit 11 of the cloud service providing apparatus 10 constructs a component framework 111 according to the framework program 15 stored in the storage unit 13, reads various component programs as necessary, and reads component frames according to the read component programs. Various components (image processing unit 112, etc.) are constructed using various functions provided by the work 111. In addition, the control unit 21 of the image processing apparatus 20 constructs the component framework 121 according to the framework program 272 stored in the storage unit 27, reads various component programs as needed, and reads component components according to the read component programs. Various components (reading control unit 122, print control unit 123, etc.) are constructed using various functions provided by the framework 121. Hereinafter, the component frameworks 111 and 121 and each component (the image processing unit 112, the reading control unit 122, the print control unit 123, and the like) will be described as the main subject of the operation. The following operations are performed by reading out and executing 15, 272 and component programs 15, 273.

  The component frameworks 111 and 121 are software frameworks that operate components, and provide programs used by the components. In this embodiment, a component is a unit of a software module that is recognized and executed by the component frameworks 111 and 121. The component frameworks 111 and 121 switch communication methods depending on whether or not the components that exchange data are components stored in the own device.

  The component frameworks 111 and 121 recognize a software framework constructed in another computer that communicates with the communication units 12 and 22. In addition, the component frameworks 111 and 121 establish a connection between them, and this one software component is connected to another software component with respect to one software component operating on its own component framework. An interface for performing communication in accordance with a predetermined rule is provided. In addition, when other software components are operating on other component frameworks, the component frameworks 111 and 121 are configured so that components operating on the component framework can communicate with other components via the interface. The communication performed between the two is relayed through the established connection.

  In the following description, for convenience of explanation, communication between components operating on one component framework is referred to as “intra-framework communication”, and a component operating on one component framework is displayed on another component framework. Communication in the case of exchanging data with a component operating in is called “interframework communication”.

  Different communication protocols are applied to inter-framework communication and intra-framework communication. A communication method for maintaining a connection is applied to inter-framework communication. In addition, communication that can pass through a firewall is applied to this communication. Specifically, for example, TCP / IP port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (SSL) may be used. On the other hand, communication that is not network transparent is applied to intra-framework communication. For example, Unix (registered trademark) domain socket communications, named pipes, message queues, and other interprocess communications are applied. In both communications, the same protocol is applied as the upper protocol. In this embodiment, data is exchanged using CORBA.

  For example, OSGi, Struts, Seasar, JBoss, or the like may be used as the component frameworks 111 and 121. In this embodiment, the WebSocket protocol is used for communication between the component framework 111 and the component framework 121. The WebSocket protocol is a protocol that maintains a connection and is transparent to a firewall. In this embodiment, the component framework 121 on the image processing apparatus 20 side functions as a client, and the component framework 111 on the cloud service providing apparatus 10 side functions as a server.

  Here, data communication using the WebSocket protocol will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining communication using the WebSocket protocol, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a packet exchanged between the component frameworks 111 and 121. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the HTTP header. The component frameworks 111 and 121 open a connection at the start timing and maintain the opened connection. In FIG. 5, first, the component frameworks 111 and 121 establish a TCP connection (steps S1 and S2). The control packet used in the TCP connection has a data structure illustrated in FIG. Next, the component framework 121 transmits an HTTP UPGRADE request (step S3), and the component framework 111 transmits an HTTP response (step S4), thereby establishing a WebSocket connection. The HTTP request and the HTTP response have the data structure illustrated in FIG. 6B, and the data structure illustrated in FIG. 6C is obtained by upgrading to the WebSocket. An example of the UPGRADE request header is shown in FIG. 7A, and an example of the UPGRADE response header is shown in FIG.

  In this way, the HTTP UPGRADE request is changed from HTTP to WebSocket, and communication is performed using the WebSocket header after the change. Since the WebSocket protocol is a protocol for maintaining a connection, the overhead for establishing a connection is reduced. In this embodiment, since the WebSocket that is lighter than the HTTP header is used, the overhead of the header is less than that of the HTTP.

  When the connection is established, the component framework 121 and the component framework 111 exchange data using the established connection (steps S5 and S6 in FIG. 5). Data according to various application protocols can be stored in the data portion of the WebSocket. In this embodiment, data in a data format according to the CORBA protocol used in the component frameworks 111 and 121 is exchanged. Note that the transmission direction of the WebSocket data request and response shown in steps S5 and S6 of FIG. 5 may be reversed. That is, the component framework 111 may send a request, and the component framework 121 may send a response. Further, the component framework 111 and the component framework 121 may be authenticated by an authentication method that is uniquely determined.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The image processing unit 112, the reading control unit 122, and the print control unit 123 are examples of components that operate on the component frameworks 111 and 121. The reading control unit 122 has a function of controlling the image reading unit 26 and causing the image reading unit 26 to read an image. The reading control unit 122 includes an interface unit 1221. The interface unit 1221 provides an interface for exchanging data with the print control unit 123. The print control unit 123 has a function of supplying image data to the image forming unit 27 and causing the image forming unit 27 to form an image. The print control unit 123 includes interface units 1231 and 1232. The interface unit 1231 provides an interface for exchanging data with the reading control unit 122. The interface unit 1232 provides an interface for exchanging data with the image processing unit 112. The image processing unit 112 performs various types of image processing on the image data such as character recognition processing and data format conversion processing. The image processing unit 112 has an interface unit 1121. The interface unit 1121 provides an interface for exchanging data with the print control unit 123.

  The component interface is defined in an interface definition language such as IDL. Note that an interface definition language is not always necessary. Each component may be implemented according to a predetermined rule. Also, an interface may be provided as a program, such as a Java (registered trademark) interface. The components communicate using a communication protocol such as CORBA provided by the component frameworks 111 and 121. Each component communicates without being aware of whether the communication partner component is a component operating on the same component framework or a component operating on a component framework of another device.

1-3. Operation Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, operations performed by the component framework 121 of the image processing apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the activation process of the component framework 121. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the image processing apparatus 20 is referred to as “local”, and the cloud service providing apparatus 10 is referred to as “remote”. First, the component framework 121 obtains (necessary) component information related to a function to be executed by the apparatus and refers to a remote address.

  In FIG. 8, the component framework 121 identifies components operating in the component framework of the image processing device 20 and the cloud service providing device 10. Specifically, first, in step S <b> 101, the component framework 121 refers to the definition file 271 to identify a component that operates on the component framework 121. In step S <b> 102, the component framework 121 inquires of the component framework 111 of the cloud service providing apparatus 10 about the components operating in the cloud service providing apparatus 10 among the components defined in the definition file. The component framework 121 transmits processing that may be executed remotely or a list of components used for the processing, and inquires about components that are actually operating in the component framework 111 among them. Good. Also, the component framework 121 transmits the type of the local device, the version of the component framework, the list of components on the local side and their versions, the functions provided locally, etc. A response may be obtained.

  At this time, the component framework 121 may select to use the component on the cloud service providing apparatus 10 side when the same component exists in both the image processing apparatus 20 and the cloud service providing apparatus 10. In addition, when the same component exists both locally and remotely, the method of selecting which component to use is not limited to this. For example, the component framework 121 for components that depend on local resources You may choose to use local components.

  In step S <b> 103, the component framework 121 locally activates a component that does not exist remotely among the components defined in the definition file 271. Note that the component framework 121 may search for and start up components stored in the repository (file, directory) instead of referring to the definition file 271.

  In step S <b> 104, the component framework 121 establishes a connection with the component framework 111 that is operating remotely, and shifts to WebSocket. At this time, the component framework 121 assigns a URI for WebSocket to the component. In step S105, information indicating a component that is operating remotely is stored in the definition file 271. As information indicating the component, a URL, UUID, or the like is used. Information such as a connection identification key may also be used.

  Next, processing performed by the component framework 111 of the cloud service providing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process flow of the component framework 111. In step S201, the component framework 111 refers to the definition file 14 and determines a component to be activated. Note that the component framework 111 may start a program stored in a repository (directory, folder, etc.) without referring to the definition file 14, or start according to a startup program or script file. You may do it. Next, in step S202, the component framework 111 activates the determined component. This is the initial processing on the remote side.

  In step S203, the component framework 111 accepts a local request (establishment of a TCP / IP connection and a subsequent HTTP request). In step S204, the component framework 111 determines whether the request received in step S203 is a component inquiry. If it is a component inquiry, in step S205, the component framework 111 responds to the inquiry from the local with information indicating the active component. Here, the component framework 111 may select and respond to an appropriate component according to the inquiry parameter (S102) from the local.

  On the other hand, if the request accepted in step S203 is a connection establishment request, that is, the content of the HTTP request is a connection establishment request (UPGRADE information is included. Further, it may be determined that the URL is a specific URL. ) (Step S204; NO, step S206; YES), the component framework 111 accepts connection establishment in step S207 and responds to UPGRADE. In step S <b> 208, the component framework 111 acquires information indicating a request source, that is, a component operating on the local side, and stores the information in the definition file 14. As information indicating the component, a URL, UUID, or the like is used. Information such as a connection identification key may also be used. The component framework 111 may not execute step S208.

  Next, the flow of processing performed by the component frameworks 111 and 121 after the connection is established will be described. The component framework 121 converts the data from the component into a WebSocket frame and transfers it. Further, the component framework 121 decodes the WebSocket frame received from the remote and delivers it to the component as an inter-component communication message.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when the component frameworks 111 and 121 receive a request from the component after establishing a connection. In the following description, the operation of the component framework 121 will be described. However, both the component framework 111 and the component framework 121 execute the same processing shown in FIG. The component framework 121 receives a request from the component in step S301 in FIG. In steps S302 and S304, the component framework 121 determines whether the request destination is local (addressed to a component operating on the self-component framework 121) or remote (addressed to a partner component that has established a connection). Judging. This determination is made by referring to the information stored in the definition file 271 (or definition file 14) in step S105 of FIG. 8 (or step S208 of FIG. 9 in the case of the component framework 111). Instead of referring to the information stored in the definition files 271, 14, it is determined whether or not the component is operating on its own component framework. In some cases, it may be determined as remote.

  In step S303, the component framework 121 applies intra-framework communication when it is determined that the component framework 121 is addressed to a local component (a component in its own component framework). This is normal component framework communication. For example, communication is performed using UNIX domain socket communication, or interprocess communication such as a pipe or a message queue.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the address is remote (a component of another component framework), the component framework 121 applies inter-framework communication in step S305. This communication is performed using the connection established in step S104 in FIG. 8 and step S207 in FIG. In both cases of step S303 and step S305, the same upper protocol is used for communication. For example, when UNIX domain socket communication is used in its own component framework and WebSocket communication is used between component frameworks, CORBA is used for both the protocol that flows in the UNIX domain socket communication and the protocol that flows in the WebSocket data. If the request received from the component is not addressed to the local component or the remote component, the component framework 121 performs error processing in step S306. If the connection has been disconnected, the component framework 121 may perform communication between the component frameworks after re-opening the connection by executing the process of step S104 again when the state is detected. good.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional system. In this system, when the function of a certain component (image processing service 125) is migrated to the server apparatus 10B on the cloud, the stub 1242 generated using the WSDL of the Web service is used, and the skeleton 1241 of the component framework 121B is used. A component (redirector 124) that performs conversion and redirection, such as requesting an accepted request using the generated stub 1242, is created. Since this conversion differs for each service provided by the component, a redirector is created for each function to be used and for each component.

In this embodiment, since the component exchanges data via the component framework, it is not necessary to create a redirector even when the component is migrated to the cloud.
In this embodiment, by using the cloud service providing apparatus 10, CPU time and time required for processing requiring memory are shortened as compared with the system configuration of FIG. 15.
In the present embodiment, the WebSocket protocol is applied to remote communication between component frameworks. Since the WebSocket protocol maintains the connection and omits the HTTP header while the connection is maintained, the data amount is reduced compared to the case where the WebSocket protocol is not applied.

2. Second embodiment 2-1. Configuration Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the component is operated by one or both of the component framework 111 and the component framework 121 using an arrangement mechanism for arranging components. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the communication system 1A according to this embodiment. The communication system 1A is different from the communication system 1 according to the first embodiment described above in that the communication system 1A includes a component arrangement device 60. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  The component arrangement device 60 includes a control unit 61, a communication unit 62, and a storage unit 63. The control unit 61 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU and a main storage device such as a ROM and a RAM. The arithmetic device controls the operation of each unit of the component arrangement device 60 by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 63 using the RAM as a work area. The communication unit 62 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the network 30. The storage unit 63 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores data and programs used by the control unit 61. The storage unit 63 has a component repository 64. The component repository 64 stores data necessary for installing components. The storage unit 63 stores a program (not shown) for realizing the function of an arrangement mechanism 161 (see FIG. 12) described later.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration according to the communication system 1A. The control unit 61 of the component arrangement device 60 realizes the function of the arrangement mechanism 161 by reading and executing the program stored in the storage unit 63. The arrangement mechanism 161 includes an acquisition unit 162, a selection unit 163, and a transmission unit 164. The acquisition unit 162 acquires information related to the component. For example, this information corresponds to the function selected by the user of the image processing apparatus 20 using the operation unit 23 and the control unit 21 according to the information output from the operation unit 23. It may be transmitted as information. Further, for example, a list of components stored in the component repository 64 may be stored in the storage unit 63 in advance, and the acquisition unit 162 may acquire the stored list.

  The selection unit 163 selects whether to operate a component corresponding to the acquired information on at least one of the image processing device 20 and the cloud service providing device 10 based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit 162. To do. For example, the component that depends on the local resource may be selected to operate locally. Specifically, for example, components related to input / output devices, components handling user operations, components related to local data, on-premises systems, directory servers, authentication servers, etc. operate locally. You may choose. Further, regarding the services and functions provided by the component, the selection may be performed based on an attribute indicating the range of use of the services and functions (operator / intra / global, etc.).

  When the transmission unit 164 is operated on the image processing apparatus 20 by the selection unit 164, the transmission unit 164 transmits data necessary for installing the selected component to the image processing apparatus 20. In addition, when the transmission unit 164 is operated on the cloud service providing apparatus 10 by the selection unit 164, the transmission unit 164 transmits data necessary for installing the selected component to the cloud service providing apparatus 10. At this time, if the component is already installed in the transmission destination device, the transmission unit 164 does not transmit data necessary for installation. The arrangement mechanism 161 is software such as Maven, for example. The arrangement mechanism 161 may include an update function for updating components installed in the image processing apparatus 20 or the cloud service providing apparatus 10.

2-2. Operation Next, an example of the operation of this embodiment will be described. The arrangement mechanism 161 executes component arrangement processing described below at a timing when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The arrangement timing may be, for example, the timing at which the image processing device 20 is activated, or when the image processing device 20 is stopped, before the image processing device 20 enters the sleep mode, It may be a predetermined timing such as when the predetermined time has not been used. The image processing device 20 transmits data to the component placement device 60 at a timing when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the placement mechanism 161 starts the placement processing when the component placement device 60 receives the data. In the case where the arrangement change is performed when the image processing 20 is not used for a predetermined time, the arrangement mechanism 161 may cancel the switching when the use is detected during the change process.

  The arrangement mechanism 161 acquires information about the component at a timing when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and determines whether the component corresponding to the acquired information is operated by the image processing apparatus 20 or the cloud service providing apparatus 10. select. For the component that is selected to operate on the image processing apparatus 20, the arrangement mechanism 161 transmits data necessary for installation of the component to the image processing apparatus 20. In addition, for the component selected when operating on the cloud service providing apparatus 10, the arrangement mechanism 161 transmits data necessary for installing the component to the cloud service providing apparatus 10.

  Further, the arrangement mechanism 161 may move data in accordance with a change in the arrangement of components. For example, when the component selected when operated by the cloud service providing apparatus 10 is installed in the image processing apparatus 20, the arrangement mechanism 161 displays data handled by the local component (data that cannot be referred to from outside the component, etc.). ) To the remote side, and the remote component may be used when the movement is completed. In this case, the arrangement mechanism 161 may switch the connection to the remote component when the movement is completed, and may not use the local component and data. The switching timing may be, for example, shutdown, booting, idle time, or the like, or may be switched to a predetermined time zone such as a night time zone. The local component and data may be maintained without being deleted, and may be used when the remote component cannot be connected. In this case, the data held on the local side is synchronized with the data on the remote side at a predetermined timing.

  In this way, the image processing apparatus 20 searches for a component registered in the arrangement mechanism at a timing when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and finds what can be used or what is described in the definition file. Place (download).

  In addition, when the version of the component installed in the image processing apparatus 20 and the version of the component installed in the cloud service providing apparatus 10 do not match, the arrangement mechanism 161 has at least one of the image processing apparatus 20 and the cloud service providing apparatus 10. On the other hand, an adapter component for correcting the inconsistency of the versions may be arranged to perform communication via the adapter component.

3. The above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention, and may be modified as follows. The following modifications may be combined with each other.

(1) In each of the above-described embodiments, the communication system that shares processing between the image processing device 20 and the cloud service providing device 10 has been described. However, the communication system according to the present invention is limited to that shown in the above-described embodiment. Not. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a distributed processing system in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses 20A and 20B and a cloud service providing apparatus 10A communicate via the Internet 40 may be used. Further, inter-framework communication may be applied when the firewall 50 is exceeded. For example, in intranet communication, communication is performed using a port number (other than 80) determined in advance by the component frameworks 121A, 121B, and 111A as a destination port, while “80” is set as the destination port when using the Internet. It may be used.
Further, the intranet and the Internet may be determined based on the other party's IP address or the like. Further, it may be applied after confirming by probe processing whether or not normal interframework communication results in an error.

(2) In the above-described second embodiment, the case where the cloud service providing apparatus 10 and the component arrangement apparatus 60 are provided as separate apparatuses has been described. However, the cloud service providing apparatus 10 and the component arrangement apparatus 60 are integrated. It may be configured. In other words, the cloud service providing apparatus 10 may have a configuration mechanism. In this case, the control unit 11 (an example of an acquisition unit, a selection unit, a transmission unit, a request data transmission unit, and an installation execution unit) of the cloud service providing apparatus 10 acquires information about the software component, and based on the acquired information, The software component corresponding to the information is selected to operate on the cloud service providing apparatus 10 or the image processing apparatus 20. When the control unit 11 selects that the component is to be operated by the image processing apparatus 20 and the component is not installed in the image processing apparatus 20, information necessary for installation is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 20. To do. Further, the control unit 11 performs image processing on data indicating that data required for installation is requested when the component is selected to operate on the own device and the component is not installed on the own device. It transmits to the apparatus 20 and receives data necessary for component installation, which is transmitted as a response, and executes the installation process.

  Further, the image processing device 20 and the component arrangement device 60 may be configured as a single unit. That is, the image processing apparatus 20 may be configured to include an arrangement mechanism. In this case, the control unit 21 (an example of an acquisition unit, a selection unit, a transmission unit, a request data transmission unit, and an installation execution unit) of the image processing apparatus 20 performs the same processing as the above-described control unit 11 and performs component placement processing. I do.

(3) In each of the above-described embodiments, the WebSocket protocol is applied to communication between component frameworks. However, the communication protocol used for communication between the frameworks is not limited to this, and other communication protocols may be used. For example, the connection may be maintained by using an HTTP Keep-Alive header. In addition, it is preferable to apply the communication which can permeate | transmit a firewall for the communication between component frameworks. Specifically, for example, TCP / IP port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (SSL) may be used.

(4) In each embodiment described above, OSGi or the like is exemplified as the component framework, but the component framework is not limited to this. For example, it may be a software platform. In that case, the application corresponds to a component.

(5) In the first embodiment described above, when the same component exists in both the image processing apparatus 20 and the cloud service providing apparatus 10, it is dynamically determined which component the component framework 121 uses. You may change to In this case, the same component is arranged both locally and remotely, and the component framework 121 determines which component is more advantageous to use each time. This determination may be made according to, for example, the time zone, communication traffic status, processing load status of the cloud service providing apparatus 10, and the like.

  In addition, instead of the component frameworks 111 and 121 making the determination, an independent component for making the determination is provided, and the component framework requests the component to make a determination and switches the transmission destination according to the response. May be. In this case, the component frameworks 111 and 121 may dynamically establish a connection with the counterpart component framework.

Further, as another method for selecting whether to use local or remote, the component framework 121 may change the sharing according to the usage range of the function or service. Specifically, for example, when a function or service provided by a component is shared, the component framework 121 may select to use a remote component. In addition, for example, when a setting such as sharing functions on a server in the site / cloud is made by a contract or the like, the component framework 121 may select according to the setting content.
Further, in the electronic document storage function, even if the component framework 121 makes a selection according to the conditions such as whether to share an electronic document, whether the sharing range is within a site, whether to share between sites. Good.

(6) In the second embodiment described above, the adapter software is used when the versions of the component frameworks 111 and 121 are not matched. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the versions are not matched. The remote component may be controlled not to be used. Further, different inter-framework communication (for example, different versions of the WebSocket protocol) may be applied according to the version of the component framework 111 on the remote side.

(7) The configuration of the communication system 1 is not limited to the configuration described in the above-described embodiment. For example, the number of devices constituting the communication system 1 may be different from that in the embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the communication system 1 includes one image processing device 20 has been described. However, the number of image processing devices 20 is not limited to 1, and may be plural. In the above-described embodiment, one cloud service providing apparatus provides one cloud service. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one cloud service may be provided by a plurality of server apparatuses.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the image processing device 20a may be connected to the cloud service providing device 10 via the local device 20b.

(8) The image processing device 20 described in the above-described embodiment is an example of a client device that receives a service from the cloud service providing device 10. The client device may be another device such as a personal computer, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), or a mobile phone.

(9) The program executed in the cloud service providing apparatus 10 or the image processing apparatus 20 may be downloaded via a communication line such as the Internet. The program is provided in a state of being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape, magnetic disk, etc.), an optical recording medium (optical disk, etc.), a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. May be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication system, 10 ... Cloud service provision apparatus, 11, 21 ... Control part, 12, 22 ... Communication part, 13, 23 ... Memory | storage part, 14,271 ... Definition file, 15 ... Framework program, 16 ... Component program , 20 ... Image processing device, 24 ... Display unit, 25 ... Image forming unit, 26 ... Image reading unit, 27 ... Storage unit, 30 ... Network, 111, 121 ... Component framework, 112 ... Image processing unit, 122 ... Reading Control unit, 123 ... print control unit, 272 ... framework program, 273 ... component program.

Claims (6)

A storage unit stores a framework program and a plurality of component programs.
A process of constructing a first software framework that provides a program used in a process according to each of the plurality of component programs according to the framework program;
Processing for recognizing a second software framework constructed in another computer that communicates with the communication means;
A process of causing the first software framework to establish a connection with the second software framework;
A process of building a software component that operates on the first software framework according to each of the plurality of component programs;
An interface is provided for one software component operating on the first software framework to communicate with the one software component according to a predetermined rule with another software component. Processing,
When the other software component is operating on the second software framework, the one software component communicates with the other software component via the interface in the first software framework. A program for executing the process of relaying the communication performed by using the connection. When the same common software component exists in both the computer and the other computer, the first software framework further executes a process of selecting the common software component to operate on the other computer. A program according to claim 1 for. When the same common software component exists in both the computer and the other computer, and the common software component depends on the resources of the computer, the first software framework is the common software component. The program according to claim 1, further causing a process to be selected when a software component is operated on the computer. Processing to obtain information about software components;
Based on the acquired information, a process of selecting whether to operate a software component corresponding to the information on the computer or the other computer;
When the software component corresponding to the acquired information is selected to be operated on the other computer and the software component is not installed on the other computer, the software component is operated The program of Claim 1 for performing further the process which transmits the information required for this to said another computer. Processing to obtain information about software components;
Based on the acquired information, a process of selecting whether to operate a software component corresponding to the information on the computer or the other computer;
When it is selected that the software component corresponding to the acquired information is operated on the computer, and the software component is not installed in the computer, request data for requesting transmission of the software component is received. A process of transmitting to the other computer or a predetermined computer;
The program according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving information necessary for operating a software component transmitted as a response to the request data, and executing a process of installing the software component. Storage means for storing a framework program and a plurality of component programs;
Communication means;
A process of constructing a first software framework that provides a program used in a process according to each of the plurality of component programs according to the framework program;
Processing for recognizing a second software framework constructed in another computer that communicates with the communication means;
A process of causing the first software framework to establish a connection with the second software framework;
A process of building a software component that operates on the first software framework according to each of the plurality of component programs;
An interface is provided for one software component operating on the first software framework to communicate with the one software component according to a predetermined rule with another software component. Processing,
When the other software component is operating on the second software framework, the one software component communicates with the other software component via the interface in the first software framework. And a data processing means for executing a process of relaying the communication performed in step 1 through the connection.

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