JP2015194870A - Image forming apparatus and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that can securely start up applications in dependence thereto.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 1 can execute applications 500a and 500b. A framework 100 is an application framework that executes a plurality of applications. When the application 500b executed by the framework 100 is in dependence to another application 500a, an application management part 220 sets such that another application 500a is loaded in the framework 100 at the start-up of the application 500b. At the installation of the application 500b, the application management part 220 checks the dependence to another application 500a, and when there is the dependence, sets such that another application 500a is constantly loaded at the start-up of the application 500b.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of executing an application.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a multifunctional peripheral (MFP) capable of printing a document or an image or a printer, an application (hereinafter referred to as “application”) can be installed and executed. To do.
With these applications, functions such as PDF creation, business card management, and book management can be added to the image forming apparatus. It is also possible to link with a device such as a camera by an application.

  With reference to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-260, there is described a technique of an image forming apparatus that includes a storage unit that stores such an application and performs image processing using various applications stored in the storage unit.

JP 2004-112785 A

However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, when a plurality of apps are installed and there is a dependency relationship between these apps, depending on the order of loading at startup, the dependency relationship cannot be resolved and execution may fail. There was a problem that there was.
In other words, for example, when the app B depends on the app A, if the app A is not loaded on the framework for executing the app first, the dependency cannot be resolved and the execution may fail. there were. In this example, if the application A is activated first and exists on the framework, the activation does not fail. However, when the application B is activated first, the application A cannot be found on the framework, so that the activation of the application B has failed.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming system that solves the above-described problems.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of executing an application, and an application framework that executes a plurality of the applications, and the application executed by the application framework is dependent on other applications. In some cases, an application management unit configured to set the other application to be loaded into the application framework at startup is provided.
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the application management unit checks a dependency relationship with the other application at the time of installing the application, and if there is a dependency relationship, the other application is set to be always loaded at startup. It is characterized by.
The image forming method of the present invention is an image forming method executed by an image forming apparatus capable of executing an application, wherein the application framework executes a plurality of the applications, and the application executed by the application framework includes When there is a dependency relationship with another application, the other application is set to be loaded into the application framework at startup.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that does not fail to execute an application having a dependency by loading another application having a dependency on the framework at the time of activation.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart of the application installation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the application installation process shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the application use process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the application use process shown in FIG.

<Embodiment>
[Entire Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 1]
Next, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image processing unit 11, a document reading unit 12, a document feeding unit 13, a conveyance unit (a paper feed roller 42 b, a conveyance roller pair 44, a discharge roller pair 45), a network transmission / reception unit 15, and an operation panel unit 16. The image forming unit 17 (image forming unit), the storage unit 19 and the like are connected to the control unit 10. The operation of each unit is controlled by the control unit 10.

The control unit 10 includes a general purpose processor (GPP), a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific processor (ASIC), and a specific application. Information processor).
The control unit 10 reads out a control program stored in the ROM or HDD of the storage unit 19, develops the control program in the RAM, and executes it to operate as each unit of a functional block described later.
The control unit 10 controls the entire apparatus in response to predetermined instruction information input from an external terminal (not shown) or the operation panel unit 16.

The image processing unit 11 is control arithmetic means such as a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The image processing unit 11 performs various image processing such as enlargement / reduction, density adjustment, gradation adjustment, and image improvement on various image data.
The image processing unit 11 stores the image read by the document reading unit 12 in the storage unit 19 as print data. At this time, the image processing unit 11 can also convert the print data into a file unit in a format such as PDF or TIFF.

The document reading unit 12 is a (scan) unit that reads a set document.
The document feeding unit 13 is a unit that transports a document read by the document reading unit 12.
The image forming unit 17 is a unit that forms an image on a recording sheet from data stored in the storage unit 19 and read by the document reading unit 12 or acquired from an external terminal according to a user output instruction.
The transport unit (paper feed roller 42b, transport roller pair 44, discharge roller pair 45) transports the recording paper from the paper feed cassette 42a (FIG. 2), forms an image in the image forming unit 17, and then transfers it to the stack tray 50. Transport.
The operations of the document reading unit 12, the document feeding unit 13, the transport unit, and the image forming unit 17 will be described later.

The network transmission / reception unit 15 is a network connection unit including a LAN board, a wireless transceiver, and the like for connecting to an external network such as a LAN, a wireless LAN, a WAN, and a mobile phone network.
The network transmission / reception unit 15 transmits / receives data on a data communication line and transmits / receives voice signals on a voice telephone line.
The network transmission / reception unit 15 may be connected to an external terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Data Assistant), a mobile phone, or a server (not shown) via a network.

The operation panel unit 16 includes a display unit such as an LCD or an organic EL panel, buttons for switching operation modes such as a numeric keypad, start, cancel, copy, FAX transmission, and scanner, and printing, transmission and storage of a selected document. A button for giving an instruction related to execution of a job relating to recording, and an input unit such as a touch panel.
The operation panel unit 16 acquires a user instruction. This user instruction includes an instruction to install and use an application 500 (FIG. 3) described later. It is also possible to input and change information of each user according to user instructions.
Further, the operation panel unit 16 may be provided with a connection unit for connecting a USB memory or flash memory card recording medium or an external device incorporating the recording medium.

The storage unit 19 is a storage unit including a main storage unit such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and an auxiliary storage unit such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), and a ROM (Read Only Memory).
Further, the main storage unit of the storage unit 19 may hold the stored contents by a function such as self-refresh even in the power saving state.
A control program for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 is stored in the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 19. In addition to this, the storage unit 19 may also store user account settings.
Further, the storage unit 19 may include a document box area for each user or each application 500 (FIG. 3).

In the image forming apparatus 1, the control unit 10 and the image processing unit 11 may be integrally formed, such as a CPU with a built-in GPU or a chip-on-module package.
The control unit 10 and the image processing unit 11 may include a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, and the like.
Further, the image forming apparatus 1 may include a FAX transmission / reception unit that performs facsimile transmission / reception.

[Operation of Image Forming Apparatus 1]
Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The document reading unit 12 is arranged on the upper part of the main body unit 14, and the document feeding unit 13 is arranged on the upper side of the document reading unit 12. The stack tray 50 is disposed on the recording paper discharge port 41 side formed in the main body unit 14, and the operation panel unit 16 is disposed on the front side of the image forming apparatus 1.

The document reading unit 12 includes a scanner 12a, a platen glass 12b, and a document reading slit 12c. The scanner 12 a includes an exposure lamp, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) imaging sensor, and the like, and is configured to be movable in the document transport direction by the document feeder 13.
The platen glass 12b is an original table made of a transparent member such as glass. The document reading slit 12 c has a slit formed in a direction orthogonal to the document transport direction by the document feeding unit 13.

When reading a document placed on the platen glass 12b, the scanner 12a is moved to a position facing the platen glass 12b, and reads the document while scanning the document placed on the platen glass 12b to obtain image data. The acquired image data is output to the control unit 10 (FIG. 1) provided in the main body unit 14.
When reading the document conveyed by the document feeding unit 13, the scanner 12a is moved to a position facing the document reading slit 12c, and the document feeding unit 13 conveys the document through the document reading slit 12c. The document is read in synchronization with the operation to acquire image data, and the acquired image data is output to the control unit 10 provided in the main body unit 14.

The document feeding unit 13 includes a document placement unit 13a, a document discharge unit 13b, and a document transport mechanism 13c. The originals placed on the original placement unit 13a are sequentially fed out one by one by the original conveyance mechanism 13c, conveyed to a position facing the original reading slit 12c, and then discharged to the original discharge unit 13b.
The document feeding unit 13 is configured to be retractable, and the upper surface of the platen glass 12b can be opened by lifting the document feeding unit 13 upward.

The main body unit 14 includes the image forming unit 17, and includes a paper feeding unit 42, a paper conveyance path 43, a conveyance roller pair 44, and a discharge roller pair 45. The paper feed unit 42 includes a plurality of paper feed cassettes 42 a that store recording papers of different sizes or orientations, and a paper feed roller 42 b that feeds the recording papers one by one from the paper feed cassette 42 a to the paper transport path 43. Yes. The paper feed roller 42b, the transport roller pair 44, and the discharge roller pair 45 function as a transport unit. The recording paper is conveyed by this conveyance unit.
The recording paper fed to the paper transport path 43 by the paper feed roller 42 b is transported to the image forming unit 17 by the transport roller pair 44. Then, the recording paper on which recording is performed by the image forming unit 17 is discharged to the stack tray 50 by the discharge roller pair 45.

  The image forming unit 17 includes a photosensitive drum 17a, an exposure unit 17b, a developing unit 17c, a transfer unit 17d, and a fixing unit 17e. The exposure unit 17b is an optical unit including a laser device, a mirror, a lens, an LED array, and the like, and outputs light or the like based on image data to a photosensitive drum 17a that is primarily charged by a charging unit (not shown). And an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 17a. The developing unit 17c is a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 17a using toner, and forms a toner image based on the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 17a. The transfer unit 17d transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 17a by the developing unit 17c to a recording sheet. The fixing unit 17e heats the recording paper on which the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit 17d to fix the toner image on the recording paper.

[Control Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 1]
Next, the control configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The control unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 includes a framework 100.
The storage unit 19 of the image forming apparatus 1 stores applications 500a, 500b,. Hereinafter, when any one of the applications 500a, 500b,...

The framework 100 is an application framework that executes a plurality of applications.
The framework 100 receives control programs and data including an API (Application Programming Interface), middleware, runtime, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “API etc.”) as an execution base of the application 500 from the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 19. This is realized by being read and stored in the main storage unit and executed by the control unit 10. The API or the like provides an application interface for controlling each function of the image forming apparatus 1 from the application 500. Each application 500 described below can be executed by the control unit 10 after “loading” that is expanded from the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 19 to the main storage unit and associated with the framework 100 by API or the like.
Further, the control program and data of the framework 100 include services that are programs (classes, routines, functions, etc.) called from the application 500 and data related thereto. The framework 100 operates on an OS (not shown) installed in the storage unit 19.

Further, the framework 100 includes an application management unit 110 (application management means).
The application management unit 110 is a service in which a service for managing and executing the application 500 is executed by the control unit 10.
Specifically, the application management unit 110 saves the application 500 in the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 19 and registers it to be executable on the framework 100. The application management unit 110 executes from the standby state after installation, loading, and loading. Processes such as change (execution), end of execution, and uninstallation to delete registration from the framework 100 are managed by the API of the framework 100 (hereinafter, these processes are referred to as “life cycle” of the application 500) Called management).
In addition, when the application 500 executed by the framework 100 has a dependency relationship with the other application 500, the application management unit 110 sets the other application 500 to be loaded into the framework 100 at the time of activation. In this case, even if the application 500 is loaded from the auxiliary storage of the storage unit 19 to the main storage unit, the application management unit 110 may be placed in a standby state that is not immediately executed.
In addition, the application management unit 110 checks the dependency relationship with the other application 500 when the application 500 is installed, and if there is a dependency relationship, sets the other application 500 to be always loaded at the time of activation.
Further, the application management unit 110 may set the application 500 in a usable state when the authentication information is acquired.

The application 500 is an application (Application Software) that is installed in the image forming apparatus 1 and executed on the framework 100. The application 500 uses the function of the image forming apparatus 1 via an API or the like. Therefore, the application 500 can perform various processes that cannot be used by the image forming apparatus 1 alone.
A plurality of applications 500 may be stored in the storage unit 19.
Further, the application 500 may be configured to include an execution file that operates on the framework 100 and various types of data including class information.
The execution file of the application 500 may be, for example, an intermediate language file of a Java (registered trademark) application or an application binary file including a “native” exe file.
In addition, the various data may include information such as whether or not it is executed at startup and whether or not there is a dependency relationship.
Further, when the application 500 is loaded on the framework 100, the state may be changed between an execution state and a standby state. At this time, the application 500 in the standby state may be in a state in which only the instance indicating the address of the main storage unit of the storage unit 19 can be acquired by the framework 100. As a result, it is not necessary to secure an area such as a work memory in the main storage unit of the storage unit 19 for the application 500, and a necessary memory capacity can be saved.
The application 500 is, for example, OCR (Optical Character Recognition), surveillance camera application, watermark creation, bill creation, employee list management, slip management, contract management, business card management, PDF creation, book management. It may be an application such as group management.

  Note that each application 500 may be configured to perform “activation” that is associated with the image forming apparatus 1 or the user and can be used based on the authentication information. Further, the application 500 may be installed from another terminal, a server, or the like (not shown) and stored in the storage unit 19.

In the following, an example in which there is a dependency relationship between the application 500a and the application 500b will be described. That is, in the present embodiment, when the application 500b is executed, the application 500a which is another application needs to be loaded on the framework 100.
The storage unit 19 may store a plurality of apps 500 other than the apps 500a and 500b.

  The storage unit 19 also stores various job data specified by the operation panel unit 16 of the image forming apparatus 1, image data scanned by the document reading unit 12, image data processed by the image processing unit 11, and other terminals. Print document data transmitted from (not shown), various files read from a connected recording medium, thumbnail image data, and the like may be stored. Further, the storage unit 19 may include a document box area for each user.

[Application Installation Processing by Image Forming Apparatus 1]
Next, application installation by the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the application installation process of this embodiment, an example in which the application 500b is installed in a state where the application 500a is already installed in the storage unit 19 will be described. In this example, when registering the application 500b, it is determined whether or not there is a dependency relationship with another already installed application 500a. If there is a dependency relationship, the other application 500a is set to be surely loaded into the framework 100 at the time of activation.
In the application installation process according to the present embodiment, the control unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 mainly uses the hardware resources by using the application management unit 110 in cooperation with each unit of a program stored in the storage unit 19. Run.
Hereinafter, the details of the application installation process will be described step by step with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S101)
First, the control unit 10 performs a dependency confirmation process.
First, when an instruction to install the application 500b is given from the operation panel unit 16, the control unit 10 stores the application 500b acquired from a connected recording medium or another terminal (not shown) in the storage unit 19. Expand and check for dependencies.
According to FIG. 5, the control unit 10 determines whether or not there is a dependency relationship between the application 500 b and another application 500 a that is already stored in the storage unit 19 and registered so as to be executable by the framework 100. To check.

(Step S102)
Next, the control unit 10 determines whether or not there is a dependency relationship. The control unit 10 determines Yes when there is a dependency between the application 500b and the application 500a in the above-described dependency confirmation process. The control unit 10 determines No otherwise.
In the case of Yes, the control part 10 advances a process to step S103.
In No, the control part 10 advances a process to step S104.

(Step S103)
When there is a dependency, the control unit 10 performs a load setting process when starting another application.
The control unit 10 sets the other application 500a to be loaded into the framework 100 at the time of activation. For example, the control unit 10 registers the application 500a in data (not shown) indicating the list of the applications 500 loaded at the time of activation stored in the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 19 to set the setting. May be performed. As a result, when the application 500b is executed, the application 500a having a dependency relationship always exists on the framework 100.
The startup time may include not only a cold start when the main power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on but also a return from a power saving state such as standby. Further, the control unit 10 may load the application 500a into the framework 100 immediately after installation.

(Step S104)
Here, the control unit 10 performs an application saving process.
The control unit 10 stores the application 500b developed in the main storage unit of the storage unit 19 in the auxiliary storage unit 19 and registers it so that it can be executed by the framework 100. At this time, the control unit 10 may set an executable file name, a path, and the like in the management setting data (not shown) for the registered application 500.
Thus, the application installation process according to the embodiment of the present invention is completed.

[Application Usage Processing by Image Forming Apparatus 1]
Next, application use processing by the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the application use process of the present embodiment, an example of a process when the application 500b is used after the application 500b is installed by the above-described application installation process and the device is activated will be described. Here, if there is a dependent application 500a, it is determined whether it is in a standby state or an execution state, and if it is in a standby state, it is executed before the application 500b.
In the application use processing according to the present embodiment, the control unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 mainly uses the hardware resources by using the application management unit 110 in cooperation with each unit as a program stored in the storage unit 19. Run.
Hereinafter, details of the application use process will be described step by step with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S111)
First, the control unit 10 performs an application loading process.
The control unit 10 loads the application 500 and first puts it into a standby state.
As shown in FIG. 7A, in this example, the application 500a is already loaded on the framework 100 at the time of activation. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the control unit 10 loads the application 500b on the framework 100 and sets the application 500a in a standby state in a state where the application 500a exists on the framework 100.

(Step S112)
Next, the control unit 10 determines whether there is another application 500 having a dependency relationship. In this example, the control unit 10 determines Yes because there is an application 500a that depends on the application 500b. In other cases, that is, when there is no other application 500 having a dependency relationship, the control unit 10 determines No.
In the case of Yes, the control part 10 advances a process to step S113.
In No, the control part 10 advances a process to step S116.

(Step S113)
If there is a dependency relationship, the control unit 10 performs another application execution confirmation process.
In the example of the application 500b, the control unit 10 confirms whether another application 500a has already been executed on the framework 100. Note that although the application 500a is already loaded at the time of activation as described above, the application 500a may already be in the execution state from the standby state.

(Step S114)
Next, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the other application 500 is in an execution state.
In the example of the application 500b, the control unit 10 determines Yes when the other application 500a has already been executed. The control unit 10 determines No otherwise. In this example, the control unit 10 determines No when the application 500a is not in the running state but is still in the standby state.
In the case of Yes, the control part 10 advances a process to step S116.
In No, the control part 10 advances a process to step S115.

(Step S115)
When the other application 500 is not in the running state but is still in the standby state, the control unit 10 performs another application executing process.
In this example, the control unit 10 causes the application 500a in a standby state to be in an execution state. For example, the control unit 10 issues an event that causes the application 500a to change from a standby state to an execution state. As a result, the application 500a performs initialization processing on the framework 100, and enters the execution state by securing work memory or the like in the storage unit 19.
Here, the control unit 10 recognizes that the application 500a is in an execution state by an event or the like, and proceeds with the process.

(Step S116)
Here, the control unit 10 performs an application execution process.
In this example, the control unit 10 causes the application 500b to change from the standby state to the execution state. That is, the control unit 10 issues an event or the like, performs an initialization process of the application 500b, secures a work memory or the like, and puts it into an execution state. At this time, since the other application 500a is already in an execution state, it is possible to perform class inheritance, data read / write, and the like with the other application 500a in the initialization process or the like. Therefore, the application 500b can be surely set to the execution state.
Thus, the application use process according to the embodiment of the present invention is completed.

With the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.
Conventionally, in the case of the technique of Patent Document 1, when an application is activated mainly at the time of system activation, the activation may fail depending on the activation order. However, in the case of a method in which the order of activation is determined one by one depending on the dependency relationship between applications, it is difficult to determine the order when there are a plurality of dependency relationships.
On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is capable of executing the application 500, and includes the framework 100 that executes a plurality of applications 500 and the application 500 that is executed by the framework 100. When there is a dependency relationship with another application 500, the application management unit 110 is configured to set so that the other application 500 is loaded into the framework 100 at the time of activation.
With this configuration, it is possible to reliably load another application 500 on the framework 100 at the time of activation. For this reason, it does not occur that the other application 500 is installed but does not exist on the framework 100. That is, it becomes possible to start up the application 500 that is not loaded on the framework 100 by solving the dependency. Therefore, after loading the application 500 having the dependency relationship, it is possible to surely make it run.
In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment does not need to determine the activation order of the applications 500 having a dependency relationship in advance, so that the process can be simplified and can be used even when there are a plurality of dependency relationships. It becomes possible.

Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the application management unit 110 checks the dependency relationship with the other application 500 when the application 500 is installed, and if there is a dependency relationship, the other application 500 It is set so that it is always loaded at startup.
By configuring in this way, even when it is not possible to search for dependencies between apps 500 that are not loaded on the framework 100, a setting for grasping the dependencies at the time of installation and appropriately putting the apps 500 into an execution state It can be performed. For this reason, the installer of the application 500 can be simplified, and development costs and management costs can be reduced. In addition, when the other application 500 is originally set to be activated at the time of activation, it is possible to reduce the influence because the actual activation is the same or a little earlier.
In addition, since it is not necessary for the user to adjust the order in which the applications 500 are activated, the security risk can be reduced.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is characterized in that it remains in a standby state even when another application 500 is loaded on the framework 100 at the time of activation.
As a result, it is not necessary to secure the working memory in the main storage unit of the storage unit 19, so that it is necessary for the other application 500 at the time of startup compared to simply setting the other application 500 at the time of startup. The memory capacity of the main memory can be reduced. In addition, since another application 500 is always loaded at the time of activation, the activation can be speeded up when the application 500 having a dependency relationship is activated.

In the above-described embodiment, the application 500 is described as being associated with the image forming apparatus 1.
However, the application 500 may be associated with each user instead of the image forming apparatus 1. As a result, a different application 500 can be used for each user who has logged into the image forming apparatus 1.
Further, the application 500 may include a “general application” for calling each function of the image forming apparatus 1 to realize a desired function, and a “management application” for managing the general application 500. Further, the application 500 may include a control program and data for the image forming apparatus 1 for using the functions of the image forming apparatus 1.
With this configuration, the application 500 can flexibly control the image forming apparatus 1, and security can be improved.

In addition, the storage unit 19 of the image forming apparatus 1 can store an application different from the application 500 based on the API of the framework 100. For example, the storage unit 19 may store a web application other than the application 500 (hereinafter referred to as “external application”), user data, and the like. An external application is called by a user instruction on the operation panel unit 16 of the image forming apparatus 1 and is read and executed by the image forming apparatus 1 or executed on the image forming apparatus 1, or user data is called by the image forming apparatus 1. May be displayed on the operation panel unit 16.
By configuring in this way, it is possible to flexibly use the application of the framework 100 and the external application in a flexible manner, thereby improving the usability of the user.

  The present invention is also applicable to various information processing apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus. That is, a configuration using a network scanner, a server to which the scanner is separately connected via USB, or the like may be used. The present invention can also be applied to PCs, smartphones, mobile phones, office equipment, industrial equipment, etc., which are information processing apparatuses capable of installing applications.

  Note that the configuration and operation of the above-described embodiment are examples, and it is needless to say that the configuration and operation can be appropriately changed and executed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 5 Network 10, 20 Control part 11 Image processing part 12 Original reading part 12a Scanner 12b Platen glass 12c Original reading slit 13 Original feeding part 13a Original placing part 13b Original discharge part 13c Original conveyance mechanism 14 Main body part 15 , 25 Network transmission / reception unit 16 Operation panel unit 17 Image forming unit 17a Photosensitive drum 17b Exposure unit 17c Development unit 17d Transfer unit 17e Fixing unit 19, 29 Storage unit 41 Discharge port 42 Paper feed unit 42a Paper cassette 42b Paper feed roller 43 Paper transport path 44 Transport roller pair 45 Discharge roller pair 50 Stack tray 100 Framework 110 Application management unit 500, 500a, 500b Application

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus capable of executing an application,
An application framework for executing a plurality of the applications;
When the application executed in the application framework has a dependency relationship with another application, application management means for setting the other application to be loaded into the application framework at startup is provided. Image forming apparatus. The application management means includes
The image formation according to claim 1, wherein a dependency relationship with the other application is checked when the application is installed, and if there is a dependency relationship, the other application is set to be always loaded at startup. apparatus. An image forming method executed by an image forming apparatus capable of executing an application, wherein the application framework executes a plurality of the applications,
An image forming method, wherein when the application executed in the application framework is dependent on another application, the application framework is set to be loaded into the application framework at the time of activation.

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