JP2018173683A - Image forming system, management server, image forming apparatus, and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system for facilitating management of management information for enterprises.SOLUTION: An image forming system X comprises a management server 1 for managing management information and an image forming apparatus 2 for acquiring information from the managing server 1. The management server 1 structuralizes management information into constitution consisting of common use data 300 which can be commonly used regardless of a country region, specific data 310 specific to the country region, and language-specific data 320 which is language-specific data in the country region correlated with the common use data 300, for each acquisition target 400, and stores it in the storage part 19. The data request receiving unit 100 receives a data request 430 including the management information acquisition target 400, destination information 410 indicating a destination country region, and language information 420 from the image forming apparatus 2. An acquired data acquisition unit 110 searches the management information according to the data request 430. An acquired data transmission unit 120 transmits an acquired data 330 to the image forming apparatus 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system, a management server, an image forming apparatus, and an image forming method, and more particularly to an image forming system, a management server, and an image forming apparatus that manage management information for companies such as ECM (Enterprise Content Management). And an image forming method.

Conventionally, there are image forming apparatuses such as multifunction peripherals (MFPs) capable of printing documents and images.
In addition, as a management information management for enterprises, a tool for executing ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and a server for executing the tool have become widespread.
A management server that executes ECM can store, store, and distribute management information including document files and the like related to operations in an organization such as a company.

  On the other hand, with the progress of globalization in recent years, companies and the like are increasingly using a plurality of languages as in-house languages.

  Here, with reference to Patent Document 1, a multilingual processing apparatus is described that relates to an apparatus that processes a plurality of languages, and shares the data of each language to improve the efficiency of language processing such as analysis and generation. When generating a plurality of languages having similar language structures, the device of Patent Document 1 shares data common to the languages. At this time, first, processing common to each language is performed, and then processing for each language is performed. This makes it possible to efficiently process a plurality of languages having similar language structures.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-326159

However, the technique of performing machine translation by natural language processing like the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot be used for management of management information that requires accuracy.
For this reason, when managing management information, it is necessary to prepare all management information for each region and language.

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

The image forming system of the present invention is an image forming system including a management server that manages management information and an image forming apparatus that can acquire information from the management server, wherein the management server stores the management information, For each acquisition target, common usage data that can be used in common regardless of the country / region, unique data unique to the country / region, and language-specific data that is data for each language in the country / region associated with the common usage data. A data request including a management information storage unit structured and stored, the acquisition target of the management information stored in the management information storage unit, destination information indicating a destination country region, and language information. Corresponding to the common use data in the acquisition target corresponding to the data request received by the data request receiving unit and the data request receiving unit received from the forming apparatus The acquired data acquisition unit that acquires the language-specific data of the language of the language information obtained and the unique data of the country area of the destination information as acquisition data, and the acquisition data acquired by the acquisition data acquisition unit An acquisition data transmission unit that transmits the image information to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus stores the destination information of the own apparatus and the set language information, and the management information The management server as the data request with an input unit for instructing the acquisition target, the acquisition target instructed by the input unit, the destination information stored in the device information storage unit, and the language information A data request transmission unit for transmitting to the management server, the acquired data corresponding to the data request transmitted by the data request transmission unit, Characterized in that it comprises the acquisition data receiving unit that receives from the parts.
The management server according to the present invention is a management server for managing management information, wherein the management information is classified according to the acquisition target, the common usage data that can be shared regardless of the country / region, and the unique data specific to the country / region. , A management information storage unit structured and stored in language-specific data that is data by language in a country region associated with the common use data, and the acquisition of the management information stored in the management information storage unit A data request receiving unit that receives from the image forming apparatus a data request including a target, destination information indicating a destination country area, and language information; and the data request received by the data request receiving unit In the acquisition object, the language-specific data of the language information associated with the common use data and the specific data of the country area of the destination information are acquired data. And obtaining the data acquisition unit that acquires, characterized in that it comprises an acquisition data transmission unit for transmitting the acquired data acquired by the acquisition data acquisition unit to the image forming apparatus.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention instructs an acquisition target for a management information server that stores destination information indicating a destination country region of the apparatus itself and set language information, and a management server that manages management information A data request transmission unit that transmits the acquisition target instructed by the input unit, the destination information stored in the device information storage unit, and the language information to the management server as a data request. And language-specific data of the language information associated with the common use data in the acquisition object corresponding to the data request transmitted by the data request transmission unit, and the country-specific data of the destination information And an acquisition data receiving unit that receives the acquisition data including the management data from the management server.
The image forming method of the present invention is an image forming method executed by an image forming system including a management server that manages management information and an image forming apparatus that can acquire information from the management server. The management information includes, for each acquisition target, common usage data that can be used in common regardless of the country / region, unique data unique to the country / region, and language-specific data associated with the common usage data. The language forming data is structured and stored, and the image forming apparatus stores destination information indicating a destination country region of the apparatus, and set language information, and the image forming apparatus The acquisition target of the management information stored in the management server is instructed, and the image forming apparatus includes a data including the instructed acquisition target, the stored destination information, and the language information. Data request to the management server, the management server receives the data request from the image forming apparatus, and the management server receives the common use data in the acquisition target corresponding to the received data request. The language-specific data of the language information associated with the language information and the unique data of the country information of the destination information are acquired as acquisition data, and the management server acquires the acquired data as the image formation And the image forming apparatus receives the acquired data corresponding to the transmitted data request from the management server.

  According to the present invention, the management information is structured and stored in the management server into the common usage data, the specific data, and the data for each language in the country / region associated with the common usage data for each acquisition target, By requesting data based on the destination information and language information of the image forming apparatus and acquiring the management information acquisition data corresponding to this by the image forming apparatus, it is not necessary to prepare all the management information for each language. An image forming system capable of managing management information can be provided.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of common usage data, unique data, and language-specific data shown in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart of the management information acquisition process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the management information acquisition process shown in FIG.

<Embodiment>
[System configuration of image forming system X]
First, a system configuration of an image forming system X according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The image forming system X of the present embodiment includes a management server 1 and an image forming apparatus 2 that can output management information from the management server 1, and these apparatuses are connected via a network 5.

The management server 1 is an ECM (Enterprise Content Management) server that manages management information (enterprise contents) for enterprises.
In the present embodiment, the management server 1 may be a general-purpose machine, a PC (Personal Computer) server, a NAS (Network Attached Storage), or the like.

The image forming apparatus 2 is an image forming apparatus such as an MFP, a network scanner, a document scanner, a network FAX, or a printer. The image forming apparatus 2 may execute application software (hereinafter simply referred to as “application”) for connecting to the management server 1.
In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 2 executes a control program including a management information acquisition application for managing management information in cooperation with the management server 1. As a result, the image forming apparatus 2 can acquire management information from the management server.

  In this embodiment, the network 5 is a local area network (LAN) such as an intranet, a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet (registered trademark) or a mobile phone network, and the like. When the network 5 is a WAN, it may be connectable to another management server via a router or a gateway. The network 5 may constitute a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

  In addition, the management server 1 includes a control unit 10, a network transmission / reception unit 15, and a storage unit 19.

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). An information processing unit such as a processor for a specific application).
The control unit 10 reads out a control program stored in the ROM, SSD, or HDD of the storage unit 19 and expands and executes the control program in the RAM, whereby the control unit 10 is operated as each unit of functional blocks to be described later. .
Note that the control unit 10 may incorporate a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, or the like. In addition, the control unit 10 may include an accelerator that speeds up database management and search speed.

  The network transmission / reception unit 15 is a network connection unit including a LAN board for connecting to the network 5 and a wireless transceiver.

The storage unit 19 is a non-temporary recording medium. The storage unit 19 may include a RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like as a main storage unit. The storage unit 19 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory), an eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card), a semiconductor recording medium such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) as an auxiliary storage unit. May be. In this case, a control program for performing operation control of the management server 1 is stored in the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 19.
Further, the storage unit 19 may include an area for a document box (storage folder, shared folder) for each user.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit 19 is a management information storage unit that stores management information.

  The image forming apparatus 2 includes an image processing unit 21, a document reading unit 22, a document feeding unit 23, a sheet feeding unit 24, a network transmission / reception unit 25, an operation panel unit 26, an image forming unit 27 (image forming unit), a FAX. A transmission / reception unit 28, a storage unit 29, and the like are included. Each unit is connected to the control unit 20 and controlled in operation by the control unit 20.

The control unit 20 is an information processing unit such as GPP, CPU, MPU, DSP, GPU, ASIC.
The control unit 20 reads out a control program stored in the ROM or HDD of the storage unit 29, expands and executes the control program in the RAM, and is operated as each unit of functional blocks described later. The control unit 20 controls the entire apparatus in response to a predetermined instruction input from an external terminal (not shown) or the operation panel unit 26.

The image processing unit 21 is an information processing unit such as a DSP or a GPU. The image processing unit 21 performs predetermined image processing on the image data. The image processing unit 21 performs various types of image processing such as enlargement / reduction, density adjustment, gradation adjustment, and image improvement.
The image processing unit 21 stores the image read by the document reading unit 22 in the storage unit 29 as document data. At this time, the image processing unit 21 can also convert the print data into a file unit in a format such as PDF or TIFF.

The document reading unit 22 reads (scans) the set document. The document reading unit 22 is disposed on the upper part of the main body of the image forming apparatus 2.
The document reading unit 22 includes a scanner, a platen glass, and a document reading slit. When reading a document placed on the platen glass, the document reading unit 22 moves the scanner to a position facing the platen glass and reads the document placed on the platen glass while scanning to obtain image data. The acquired image data is stored in the storage unit 29.

  Further, when reading the document fed from the document feeding unit 23, the document reading unit 22 moves the scanner to a position facing the document reading slit. Then, the document reading unit 22 reads the document in synchronization with the document feeding operation by the document feeding unit 23 through the document reading slit, and acquires image data. The document reading unit 22 stores the acquired image data in the storage unit 29.

The document feeding unit 23 conveys the document read by the document reading unit 22. The document feeding unit 23 is disposed on the upper part of the document reading unit 22.
The document feeding unit 23 includes a document placing unit and a document transport mechanism. The document feeding unit 23 sequentially feeds the documents placed on the document placing unit one by one by the document transport mechanism and feeds them to the document reading unit 22.

  The paper feed unit 24 is a unit that feeds the recording sheets one by one toward the image forming unit 27. The paper feed unit 24 is provided in the main body unit.

The network transmission / reception unit 25 is a network connection unit including a LAN board for connecting to the network 5 and a wireless transmission / reception unit.
The network transmission / reception unit 25 transmits / receives data on a data communication line and transmits / receives an audio signal on a voice telephone line.

The operation panel unit 26 includes an input unit 46 such as a button or a touch panel, and a display unit 47 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL display. The operation panel unit 26 is disposed on the front side of the image forming apparatus 2.
The buttons of the input unit 46 are buttons for giving instructions related to numeric keypad, start, cancel, operation mode switching, and job execution. This operation mode may include types of modes such as copying, FAX transmission, scanner, and network scanner. In addition, the input unit 46 acquires an instruction for setting output of various jobs of the image forming apparatus 2 by the user.
It is also possible to input and change each user's information according to user instructions acquired from the input unit 46.

The image forming unit 27 stores the acquired data 330 (FIG. 2) acquired from the management server 1, stored in the storage unit 29, read by the document reading unit 22, or recording paper such as document data acquired from an external terminal Image formation is performed.
The image forming unit 27 includes a photosensitive drum, an exposure unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and the like. The image forming unit 27 records a toner image on a recording sheet by executing an image forming process including charging, exposure, development, transfer, and fixing.

The FAX transmission / reception unit 28 is a means for performing facsimile transmission / reception. The FAX transmission / reception unit 28 can receive a facsimile from another FAX apparatus (not shown) via a voice line, store it in the storage unit 29, and cause the image forming unit 27 to form an image.
Further, the FAX transmitting / receiving unit 28 converts the acquired data 330 acquired from the management server 1, the document read by the document reading unit 22 and the data of the network FAX transmitted from an external terminal into image data, and other data It is possible to send a facsimile to a FAX apparatus by voice line.

The storage unit 29 is a storage unit that uses a semiconductor recording medium such as a ROM or RAM, or a non-temporary recording medium such as an HDD.
A control program for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 2 is stored in the ROM and HDD of the storage unit 29. In addition to this, the storage unit 29 also stores user account settings. The storage unit 29 may also include a document box area for each user.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit 29 is a device information storage unit that stores various device information of the own device.

In the image forming apparatus 2, the control unit 20 and the image processing unit 21 may be integrally formed, such as a CPU with a built-in GPU or a chip-on-module package.
The control unit 20 and the image processing unit 21 may incorporate a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, or the like.

[Functional configuration of image forming system X]
Here, the functional configuration of the image forming system X will be described with reference to FIG.
The control unit 10 of the management server 1 includes a data request reception unit 100, an acquisition data acquisition unit 110, and an acquisition data transmission unit 120.
The storage unit 19 of the management server 1 stores common usage data 300, unique data 310, language-specific data 320, acquired data 330, and data request 430.
The control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 2 includes a data request transmission unit 200 and an acquired data reception unit 220.
The storage unit 29 of the image forming apparatus 2 stores acquisition data 330, acquisition target 400, destination information 410, language information 420, and data request 430.

  The data request receiving unit 100 receives the data request 430 from the image forming apparatus 2 and stores it in the storage unit 19.

The acquisition data acquisition unit 110 includes, for the acquisition target of the acquisition target 400 of the data request 430 received by the data request reception unit 100, the language-specific data 320 of the language information 420 associated with the common usage data 300, and the destination The unique data 310 of the country area 410 is acquired as acquired data 330 and temporarily stored in the storage unit 19.
As the country / region, for example, in addition to the actual country / region, a unit having a different management unit such as a legal division or a division of a company may be set. For example, in the United States, a “state” or the like may be set, and in Canada, an “region” may be set as an English region or a French region.
In addition, the unique data 310 may include data according to a legal system, a supervisory office format, or the like, rather than just a country region.

  The acquisition data transmission unit 120 transmits the acquisition data 330 acquired by the acquisition data acquisition unit 110 to the image forming apparatus 2.

  In the present embodiment, the input unit 46 instructs the management information acquisition target 400 through a GUI (Graphical User Interface) linked to the display unit 47.

  The data request transmission unit 200 transmits the acquisition target 400 instructed by the input unit 46, the destination information 410 stored in the device information storage unit, and the language information 420 as a data request 430 to the management server.

  The acquisition data receiving unit 220 receives the acquisition data 330 from the acquisition data transmission unit 120 of the management server. The acquired data 330 corresponds to the data request 430 transmitted by the data request transmission unit 200.

  Further, the management information of this embodiment is structured and stored in the common usage data 300, the specific data 310, and the language-specific data 320 for each content to be acquired. Details of these data will be described later.

  The acquired data 330 is data in which the common usage data 300, the unique data 310, and the language-specific data 320 associated with the common usage data 300 are collected. The acquisition data 330 is, for example, content data, files, document data, and the like of the acquisition target 400. A specific example of the acquired data 330 will also be described later.

  The acquisition target 400 is data indicating an acquisition target of management information stored in the storage unit 19 of the management server 1. The acquisition target 400 may be a content name or the like input by the user from the input unit 46 of the operation panel unit 26 using a GUI.

The destination information 410 is information indicating a country region of the image forming apparatus 2. The destination information 410 may be set by a service person or the like when the image forming apparatus 2 is shipped, for example.
The destination information 410 is a type of device information of the image forming apparatus 2.

The language information 420 is information such as language setting of the image forming apparatus 2. This language information 420 may be the same as, for example, the display language of the operation panel unit 26 or the language used when error information is output. The language information 420 may be set in accordance with the destination information 410 by a service person or the like when the image forming apparatus 2 is shipped. The language information 420 may be changeable by an administrator.
The language information 420 is also a kind of device information of the image forming apparatus 2.

  The data request 430 is data including an acquisition target 400, destination information 410, and language information 420. Specifically, the data request 430 is a data group for requesting transmission of the acquired data 330. The management server 1 can search for management information based on each data in the data request 430.

  Here, each data of the management information stored in the management server 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The common use data 300 is data that can be used in common regardless of the country / region (country or region) among the management information. In the present embodiment, the common usage data 300 may be, for example, metadata (meta data) having a structure like a link list including a pointer pointing to each language-specific data 320 for each content to be acquired. FIG. 3 shows an example of the common usage data 300 when the acquisition target 400 is an employee list.

The unique data 310 is data unique to the country / region in the management information. The example of FIG. 3 shows an example of unique data 310a for the United States (US) and unique data 310b for Japan (JP). These unique data 310 may be created in a language that is standardly used in a country region.
It is possible to add data for a plurality of languages to the specific data 310.

  The language-specific data 320 is data for each language in the country / region associated with the common usage data 300. FIG. 3 shows an example in which words in English (EN) and Japanese (JP) languages associated with “First name” and “Last name” of the common usage data 300 are stored in a table such as a dictionary. Show.

  In addition to these data, the management information may include data such as a title that can be viewed by the user for each acquisition target 400, creation, update date and time, a history of the viewed user, and the like.

Here, the control unit 10 of the management server 1 is caused to function as the data request reception unit 100, the acquisition data acquisition unit 110, and the acquisition data transmission unit 120 by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 19.
In addition, the control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 2 is caused to function as the data request transmission unit 200 and the acquired data reception unit 220 by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 29.
Each unit of the management server 1 and the image forming apparatus 2 described above is a hardware resource for executing the image forming method of the present invention.
Note that a part or any combination of the above-described functional configurations may be configured in hardware by an IC, programmable logic, or the like.

[Management Information Acquisition Processing by Image Forming System X]
Next, management information acquisition processing by the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the management information acquisition process of the present embodiment, the management information of the management server 1 is searched by the data request 430 from the image forming apparatus 2. At this time, the management server 1 uses the device information of the image forming apparatus 2 to return (send) the acquired data 330 collected in the content of appropriate management information. This may be acquired by the image forming apparatus 2 and output.
In the management information acquisition process of the present embodiment, the control unit 10 of the management server 1 mainly stores the program stored in the storage unit 19, and the control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 2 stores the program stored in the storage unit 29. Cooperate with each unit and execute using hardware resources.
Hereinafter, the details of the management information acquisition process will be described step by step with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S201)
First, the input unit 46 of the image forming apparatus 2 performs an acquisition target instruction process.
According to the screen example 500 in FIG. 5A, for example, the user activates a management information acquisition application that cooperates with the management server 1 from the operation panel unit 26 or the like of the image forming apparatus 2. At this time, user authentication or the like may be performed. Then, the control unit 20 executes the management information acquisition application and connects to the management server 1. As a result, the control unit 10 of the management server 1 transmits a list of stored management information to the image forming apparatus 2. Receiving this, the control unit 20 displays it on the display unit 47 of the operation panel unit 26. This allows the user to select the content name of the acquisition target 400 of the management information desired to be acquired from the management server 1 by using the input unit 46. FIG. 5A shows an example in which “employee list” is selected.
In this application or the like, it is also possible to specify necessary common usage data 300, unique data 310, etc., instead of simply specifying the name of content to be acquired. It is also possible to specify the acquisition target 400 not by the content name itself but by ID (Identification) or the like.

(Step S202)
Next, the data request transmission unit 200 performs data request transmission processing.
The data request transmission unit 200 collects the acquisition target 400 instructed by the input unit 46, the destination information 410 stored in the storage unit 29, and the language information 420 into a data request 430 and transmits the data request 430 to the management server 1.
In the example of FIG. 5A, a data request 430 is acquired in which the acquisition target 400 is the content name of “employee list”, the destination information 410 is “JP”, and the language information 420 is “JP”.

(Step S101)
Here, the data request receiving unit 100 of the management server 1 performs a data request receiving process.
The data request receiving unit 100 receives the data request 430 transmitted from the data request transmitting unit 200 of the image forming apparatus 2 and stores it in the storage unit 19.

(Step S102)
Next, the acquisition data acquisition unit 110 performs acquisition data acquisition processing.
The acquisition data acquisition unit 110 searches the storage unit 19 using the acquisition target 400 of the data request 430 received by the data request reception unit 100. Thereby, the acquisition data acquisition unit 110 searches the common usage data 300 of the content corresponding to the acquisition target 400.
Moreover, the acquisition data acquisition part 110 acquires the data 320 classified by language of the language of the language information 420 matched with the common use data 300, when it can be searched. At this time, the acquired data acquisition unit 110 uses the language information 420 included in the received data request 430.
Further, the acquisition data acquisition unit 110 acquires the unique data 310 of the country area of the destination information 410 of the data request 430.
The acquired data acquisition unit 110 collects (optimizes) the acquired common usage data 300, language-specific data 320, and unique data 310 and temporarily stores them in the storage unit 19 as acquisition data 330.

(Step S103)
Next, the acquisition data transmission unit 120 performs acquisition data transmission processing.
The acquired data transmission unit 120 transmits the acquired data 330 acquired and temporarily stored in the storage unit 19 to the image forming apparatus 2.
Thereby, the process in the management server 1 of the management information acquisition process ends.
Note that the acquisition data transmission unit 120 may transmit the acquisition data 330 including an error to the image forming apparatus 2 when the acquisition data acquisition unit 110 cannot perform a search.

(Step S203)
Here, the acquisition data reception unit 220 of the image forming apparatus 2 performs an acquisition data reception process.
The acquisition data receiving unit 220 receives the acquisition data 330 from the acquisition data transmission unit 120 of the management server 1 and stores it in the storage unit 29. As described above, the acquired data 330 is content data corresponding to the transmitted data request 430.
FIG. 5B shows an example of the acquired data 330 that is the contents of the “employee list” corresponding to the examples of FIGS. 3 and 5A. In this example, a table of Japanese (JP) acquisition data 330 for Japan (JP) as a country region is acquired.

(Step S204)
Next, the acquisition data receiving unit 220 performs acquisition data output processing.
The acquired data receiving unit 220 performs various outputs in accordance with user instructions on the operation panel unit 26. At this time, for example, the acquired data receiving unit 220 records the acquired acquired data 330 on a recording sheet by the image forming unit 27, transmits it by facsimile using the FAX transmitting / receiving unit 28, or transmits it by e-mail or FTP. May be output.
The acquired data receiving unit 220 may store the acquired data 330 in an external recording medium (not shown) such as a user's document box or a connected flash memory.
At the time of these outputs, the control unit 20 can perform output corresponding to the content management rules in the management server 1.
Thus, the management information acquisition process according to the embodiment of the present invention is completed.

With the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.
In recent years, global development is required in developing management servers and management tools for management information such as ECM. At this time, it is difficult to perform development and sales that differ from country to country in terms of development resources and product management.
However, conventionally, the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot be used for managing management information such as ECM, and it is necessary to prepare all management information for each region and each language.
On the other hand, the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a management server 1 that manages management information for companies and the like, and an image forming apparatus 2 that can acquire information from the management server 1. An image forming system. The management server 1 manages the management information for each acquisition target 400, the common usage data 300 that can be commonly used regardless of the country / region, the unique data 310 unique to the country / region, and the country / region associated with the common usage data 300. Storage unit 19 that is a management information storage unit that is structured and stored in language-specific data 320 that is language-specific data, an acquisition target 400 of management information stored in storage unit 19, and a destination country region In the data request receiving unit 100 that receives the data request 430 including the destination information 410 and the language information 420 from the image forming apparatus 2 and the acquisition target 400 corresponding to the data request 430 received by the data request receiving unit 100, Language-specific data 320 of the language information 420 associated with the common use data 300 and country-specific data 3 of the destination information 410 It includes 0 and the acquired data acquisition unit 110 for acquiring the acquired data 330 and acquired data transmitting unit 120 for transmitting the acquired data 330 acquired by the acquisition data acquisition unit 110 to the image forming apparatus 2. The image forming apparatus 2 includes a storage unit 29 that is a device information storage unit that stores destination information 410 of the device itself and language information 420 that has been set, an input unit 46 that instructs an acquisition target 400 of management information, A data request transmitting unit 200 that transmits the acquisition target 400 instructed by the input unit 46, the destination information 410 stored in the device information storage unit, and the language information 420 to the management server 1 as a data request 430; An acquisition data receiving unit 220 that receives the acquisition data 330 corresponding to the data request 430 transmitted by the transmission unit 200 from the acquisition data transmission unit 120 of the management server 1 is provided.
By configuring the data structure of the content stored in the management server 1 and optimizing the data to be handled, the management information can be managed without preparing all the language-specific management information. A possible image forming system can be provided.

In addition, in the conventional contents for enterprises, the data required for handling differ because the laws differ from country to region. For example, personal identification numbers such as “street number” and “town name, street address”, tax classification, and my number are different for each country and region.
As described above, since the data to be handled is different for each country / region, in a typical technique, a data table that is not used is generated if a different data table is provided for each country, and a useless data area is occupied.
On the other hand, the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention is associated with the common usage data 300 that can be commonly used, the unique data 310 that is specific to the country / region, and the common usage data 300 on the management server 1 side. By using the three types of language-specific data 320 of the country / region as management information, the data handled can be easily switched according to the country / region of the global product, and the management information can be used efficiently. can do.

In addition, if data is frequently added and changed for the country / region, it is not easy for the image forming apparatus to cope with the release timing and development resources.
On the other hand, the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention performs meta-data on the language-specific data 320 and the country / region specific data 310 associated with the common use data 300 when performing the region / region correspondence. It only needs to be structured and added corresponding to the common usage data 300 which is data.
For this reason, management information can be easily added or changed in order to cope with a country region. That is, it is possible to facilitate multi-regional correspondence such as ECM. In addition, management information in a language that can be browsed in common can be easily obtained without data on a specific country region or language.

[Other Embodiments]
In the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which management information is managed like a record on a relational database or other database has been described.
However, the management information may be managed in file units for each content of the acquisition target 400. The management information may be document data itself such as PDF. The document data may include image data, binary data, and the like other than the common usage data 300, the unique data 310, and the language-specific data 320.
With this configuration, it is possible to flexibly include necessary data and create and manage content corresponding to a country / region.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which management information is acquired from the management server 1 by the image forming apparatus 2 has been described.
However, it is not a simple output, and it is possible to scan the actual document or the like with the image forming apparatus 2 and replace or edit the location of the acquired data 330 and store the corresponding location in the management server 1. It is.

  The present invention can also be applied to an information processing apparatus other than the image forming apparatus. In other words, a configuration using a network server, a management server in which the scanner is separately connected by a USB, or the like may be used.

  Further, the configuration and operation of the above-described embodiment are examples, and it goes without saying that they can be appropriately modified and executed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Management server 2 Image forming apparatus 5 Network 10, 20 Control part 15, 25 Network transmission / reception part 19, 29 Storage part 21 Image processing part 22 Original reading part 23 Original feeding part 24 Paper feeding part 26 Operation panel part 27 Image forming part 28 FAX transmission / reception unit 46 Input unit 47 Display unit 100 Data request reception unit 110 Acquisition data acquisition unit 120 Acquisition data transmission unit 200 Data request transmission unit 220 Acquisition data reception unit 300 Common use data 310, 310a, 310b Specific data 320 Language-specific data 330 Acquisition Data 400 Acquisition Target 410 Destination Information 420 Language Information 430 Data Request 500 Screen Example

Claims (4)

An image forming system including a management server that manages management information, and an image forming apparatus that can acquire information from the management server,
The management server is
The management information includes, for each acquisition target, common usage data that can be used in common regardless of the country / region, unique data specific to the country / region, and data for each language in the country / region associated with the common usage data. A management information storage unit structured and stored in language-specific data;
A data request receiving unit that receives from the image forming apparatus a data request including the acquisition target of the management information stored in the management information storage unit, destination information indicating a destination country region, and language information;
In the acquisition target corresponding to the data request received by the data request receiving unit, the language-specific data of the language information language associated with the common usage data, and the country information of the destination information An acquisition data acquisition unit that acquires specific data as acquisition data;
An acquisition data transmission unit that transmits the acquisition data acquired by the acquisition data acquisition unit to the image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus includes:
A device information storage unit for storing the destination information of the own device and the set language information;
An input unit for instructing the acquisition target of the management information;
A data request transmission unit that transmits the acquisition target instructed by the input unit, the destination information stored in the device information storage unit, and the language information to the management server as the data request;
An image forming system, comprising: an acquisition data receiving unit that receives the acquisition data corresponding to the data request transmitted by the data request transmission unit from the acquisition data transmission unit of the management server. A management server that manages management information,
The management information includes, for each acquisition target, common usage data that can be used in common regardless of the country / region, unique data specific to the country / region, and data for each language in the country / region associated with the common usage data. A management information storage unit structured and stored in language-specific data;
A data request receiving unit that receives a data request from the image forming apparatus including the acquisition target of the management information stored in the management information storage unit, destination information indicating a destination country region, and language information;
In the acquisition target corresponding to the data request received by the data request receiving unit, the language-specific data of the language information language associated with the common usage data, and the country information of the destination information An acquisition data acquisition unit that acquires specific data as acquisition data;
A management server, comprising: an acquisition data transmission unit that transmits the acquisition data acquired by the acquisition data acquisition unit to the image forming apparatus. A device information storage unit for storing destination information indicating a country area for the device itself and set language information;
An input unit for instructing an acquisition target for a management server that manages management information;
A data request transmission unit that transmits the acquisition target instructed by the input unit, the destination information stored in the device information storage unit, and the language information to the management server as a data request;
In the acquisition target corresponding to the data request transmitted by the data request transmission unit, language-specific data of language information associated with common use data, and country-specific data of the destination information An image forming apparatus, comprising: an acquisition data receiving unit that receives the acquired data from the management server. An image forming method executed by an image forming system including a management server for managing management information and an image forming apparatus capable of acquiring information from the management server,
The management server, for each acquisition target, the management information, common usage data that can be used in common regardless of the country / region, unique data specific to the country / region, and the language of the country / region associated with the common usage data It is structured and stored in different data, which is language-specific data,
The image forming apparatus stores destination information indicating a destination country region of the apparatus, and set language information.
The image forming apparatus instructs the acquisition target of the management information stored in the management server;
The image forming apparatus transmits a data request including the instructed acquisition target, the stored destination information, and the language information to the management server,
The management server receives the data request from the image forming apparatus;
The management server, in the acquisition target corresponding to the received data request, the language-specific data in the language of the language information associated with the common use data, and the unique region of the destination area country Data and as acquisition data,
The management server transmits the acquired data acquired to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus receives the acquired data corresponding to the transmitted data request from the management server.

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