JP2019087088A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To allow for launching an application while appropriately controlling other applications without requiring complex user operation.SOLUTION: An information processing device comprises first identification means configured to identify applications to be halted on the basis of constraint information of an application to be launched anew, and halting means configured to halt the applications to be halted identified by the first identification means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

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

  Conventionally, in a multifunction peripheral (MFP: Multi Function Peripheral) having a scan function and a print function, a system capable of extending the function by installing an application (hereinafter referred to as an application) in the multifunction peripheral has become widespread. There are various types of MFP applications. For example, a copy application using a scanner or a printer installed in the MFP, a fax application for scanning and transmitting a document, a printing application for printing a stored document, and the like can be given.

  Some application providers may want to use an application provided as a standard in the MFP and an application having the same function (eg, copy), because of the needs for using the company's applications and functions. In such a case, there is a demand for using only the copy application adopted by the application provider and not using the standard copy application of the MFP. In order to meet these demands, the installer of the MFP has to work to use only the application that he / she wants to use. Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism that streamlines operations such as stopping a plurality of applications.

JP, 2017-4175, A

  However, there has been a demand for a technology for performing an appropriate application stop process more easily.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to appropriately control another application when starting one application without requiring a complicated user operation.

  Therefore, the present invention is an information processing apparatus, which is specified by a first specifying unit that specifies an application to be stopped based on restriction information of an application to be started newly to be started, and the first specifying unit. And stopping means for stopping the stopped target application.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when starting one application, without requiring a complicated user operation, other applications can be controlled appropriately.

1 is an overall view of an information processing system. It is a hardware block diagram of MFP. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an application of an MFP. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of each application as a local MFP application. It is a figure which shows an example of a manifest file. It is a figure which shows the data structural example of a table. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of an application. It is a flow chart which shows application information registration processing. It is a flow chart which shows application stop processing. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed process in a calling button non-display process.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall view of an information processing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing system 100 includes an MFP 110 and a PC 120. The MFP 110 and the PC 120 are connected via the LAN 130. The MFP 110 is a multifunction peripheral (multifunction processing apparatus) including an operation unit 111, a scanner unit 112, and a printer unit 113. The MFP 110 according to the embodiment can print an image obtained by reading a document using the scanner unit 112 using the printer unit 113.

  The PC 120 functions as a terminal device for performing various settings on the MFP 110. The above-described system configuration is merely an example, and the number of these devices and the like are not limited to this embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, the MFP 110 will be described as an example of the information processing apparatus, but the information processing apparatus is not limited to the MFP, and may be a single function printer or a PC or the like. Good.

  A plurality of applications are installed in the MFP 110 according to the present embodiment, and new applications can be installed. There are several types of apps. For convenience of explanation, some apps are defined as follows, based on the usage and role of the app. Depending on the function, it may be assumed to use only one app. In this case, one application to be used instructs other applications that are prohibited from being used simultaneously. An application used in this function is referred to as an instruction application. Further, the application instructed to stop from the instruction application is referred to as a stop target application. Also, an application that calls another application is referred to as a calling application. Also, an application called by the calling application is called a called application.

  In the present embodiment, the calling application performs screen display on which icons such as buttons for calling other applications are displayed. The call application also includes an application that displays a screen with buttons of shortcuts of other applications. The call application also includes an application that displays a button for displaying a setting screen for setting other applications. The button display of the calling application will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the MFP 110. As shown in FIG. The operation unit 111 has a display unit having a touch panel function, various hardware keys, etc., displays information to the user according to data from the control unit 200, and inputs information according to the user's operation to the control unit 200 Do. The scanner unit 112 reads an image on a document, creates image data of the image, and supplies the image data to the control unit 200. The printer unit 113 prints an image on a sheet based on the image data received from the control unit 200.

  The control unit 200 is electrically connected to the operation unit 111, the scanner unit 112, and the printer unit 113, and is also connected to the LAN 130 via a network interface (I / F) 206. As a result, communication by means of a communication protocol such as TCP / IP is possible via the LAN 130. The control unit 200 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an HDD 204, an operation unit I / F 205, a network I / F 206, a scanner I / F 207, an image processing unit 208, and a printer I / F 209. Each unit of the control unit 200 is connected via a system bus 211.

  The CPU 201 executes a boot program of the ROM 202 to expand the OS and control program stored in the HDD 204 in the RAM 203, and centrally controls the MFP 110 based on the program. This control also includes the execution of a program for realizing the flowchart described later. The ROM 202 stores a boot program of the MFP 110 and various data. The RAM 203 provides a work memory for the CPU 201 to operate, and also provides an image memory for temporarily storing image data. An HDD 204 is a hard disk drive, and stores an OS, various programs, and image data. Note that the functions and processing of the MFP 110 described later are realized by the CPU 201 reading a program stored in the ROM 202 or the HDD 204 and executing this program.

  The operation unit I / F 205 is an interface unit for connecting the system bus 211 and the operation unit 111. A network I / F 206 is connected to the LAN 130 and the system bus 211 to input and output information via the network. The scanner I / F 207 controls an interface between the scanner unit 112 and the control unit 200. An image processing unit 208 performs image processing such as rotation, color conversion, and image compression / decompression processing on the image data input from the scanner unit 112 and the image data output to the printer unit 113. A printer I / F 209 receives the image data processed by the image processing unit 208, and controls printing by the printer unit 113 according to attribute data attached to the image data.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an application of the MFP 110. An installation unit 301 installs an MFP application and performs control to start the application. The installation unit 301 is connected to the PC 120 via the network I / F 206, and executes installation of an application according to an instruction from the PC 120. The stop unit 302 controls the stop of the application. The registration unit 303 registers application information. Here, the application information is information related to the application, such as an attribute of the application. In the present embodiment, the application information includes an application identifier, an application name, and an application function type (type). However, the application information is not limited to this, and may further include a version, a library name imported by the application, and the like. The registration unit 303 further registers call information. Here, the call information is information indicating a combination of a call application and a called application.

  The stop target application identification unit 304 specifies a stop target application. The application information management table 306 is a table for managing application information. The call management table 307 is a table for managing a call application. The call application management unit 305 and the application information management table 306 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The local MFP application 310 is stored in the HDD 204 of the MFP 110. The local MFP application 310 is an application that provides the MFP 110 with a function using the scanner unit 112, the printer unit 113, the image processing unit 208, and the like of the MFP 110 as an application. The local MFP application 310 executes a function provided by itself on the MFP 110 by calling an application that the local MFP application 310 has. In the example of FIG. 3, five applications are installed in the MFP 110 as the local MFP application 310. The five applications are a standard copy application 311, a simple copy application 312, a custom menu application 314, a cost management copy application 313, and a setting menu application 315.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of each application as the local MFP application 310. As shown in FIG. The local MFP application 310 includes a manifest file 401 and a function processing unit 402. The manifest file 401 is a data file in which basic information of the MFP application is described. The function processing unit 402 is responsible for function processing (copying, printing) and the like in the application.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a manifest file. The manifest file 501 in FIG. 5A corresponds to the standard copy application 311. The manifest file 502 corresponds to the simple copy application 312. The manifest file 503 corresponds to the cost management copy application 313. The manifest file 504 corresponds to the custom menu application 314. The manifest file 505 corresponds to the setting menu application 315.

  In each of the manifest files 501 to 505, an "application ID", an "application name", and a "type" are defined. The "application ID" is an identifier for identifying an application. The “application name” 502 is the name of an application. "Type" is a functional category (type) of the application. For example, in the case of an application that performs copying, "type" is described as "COPY". Each item is an item commonly defined in the local MFP application 310. In the manifest file 503, "control" is further defined. "Control" is information to be referred to when specifying an application having a type character string in the manifest as a stop target application. That is, the application of the type shown in "control" is specified as the stop target application. For example, when “COPY” is described in “Control”, an application whose “type” is “COPY” is specified as a stop target application.

  FIG. 6A shows an example of the data configuration of the application information management table 306. As shown in FIG. The application information management table 306 includes, as items, an “application ID”, an “application name”, a “type”, and a “control condition”. Here, the “control condition” corresponds to the “control” of the manifest file, and these are examples of control information. The application information management table 306 stores application information of all the applications managed by the MFP 110 as the local MFP application 310 as a record. In the application information management table 306 illustrated in FIG. 6A, five records 601 to 605 are stored. Each record 611 to 615 includes the information of each item described above. Each of the records 601 to 605 is application information of the corresponding application. A record 601 has the same information as the manifest file 501 of the standard copy application 311. The record 602 has the same information as the manifest file 502 of the simple copy application 312. Similarly, the records 603 to 505 have the same information as the manifest files 503 to 505, respectively. Each record (application information) is stored in the application information management table 306 by the registration unit 303 at the time of installation of the corresponding application. This process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the MFP 110 manages application information by the application information management table 306. However, as another example, the manifest files 501 to 505 of each application shown in FIG. 5 are used as application information. You may manage. In this case, the MFP 110 does not have to store the application information management table 306.

  FIG. 6B is a view showing an example of the data configuration of the call management table 307. As shown in FIG. The call management table 307 has items “called application ID” and “call application ID”. The called application ID is an application ID of the called application. The calling application ID is an application ID of the calling application. It is assumed that the called application is registered on the screen displayed by a certain application. In this case, the registration unit 303 registers in the call management table 307 a record in which the application performing the screen display and the called application are associated with the application ID of each application as the calling application and the called application, respectively. .

  Here, the calling application and the called application will be described with reference to FIG. The display screen 700 of FIG. 7A is a screen displayed by the custom menu application 314. On the display screen 700, a button 701 for calling the standard copy application 311 and a button 702 for calling the simple copy application 312 are displayed. Here, the custom menu application 314 is a calling application, and the standard copy application 311 and the simple copy application 312 are called applications. Here, the button is an example of an icon.

  The display screen 710 in FIG. 7B is a screen displayed by the setting menu application 315. On the display screen 710, a button 711 for calling the standard copy application 311 and a button 712 for calling the simple copy application 312 are displayed. Here, the setting menu application 315 is a calling application, and the standard copy application 311 and the simple copy application 312 are called applications. Note that the number of called applications called from the setting menu application 315 can be arbitrarily set. In addition, the display indicating the called application is not limited to the button. As another example, information such as a text string indicating the application name may be used.

  Next, registration processing of the call management table 307 shown in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that both the custom menu application 314 of the application ID “APP004” and the setting menu application 315 of “APP 005” are calling applications. The standard copy application 311 of the application ID "AP001" and the simple copy application 312 of the application ID "AP002" are assumed to be called applications.

  It is assumed that the custom menu application 314 of the application ID “APP 004” displays the display screen 700 shown in FIG. 7A. It is assumed that a button 701 for calling the standard copy application 311 is registered in the display screen 700. In this case, the registration unit 303 registers, in the call management table 307, a record 611 in which the call application ID “AP004” is associated with the called application ID “AP001”. Further, it is assumed that a button 702 for calling the simple copy application 312 is registered in the display screen 700. In this case, the registration unit 303 registers, in the call management table 307, a record 612 in which the call application ID “AP004” and the called application ID “AP002” are associated.

  Further, it is assumed that the setting menu application 315 of the application ID “APP005” displays the display screen 710 shown in FIG. 7B. It is assumed that a button 711 for calling the standard copy application 311 is registered on the display screen 710. In this case, the registration unit 303 registers, in the call management table 307, a record 613 in which the call application ID “APP005” and the called application ID “AP001” are associated. Further, it is assumed that a button 712 for calling the simple copy application 312 is registered in the display screen 710. In this case, the registration unit 303 associates the call application ID “APP005” with the called application ID “APP002” and registers the code 614 in the call management table 307.

  The MFP 110 only needs to store information that can specify the correspondence between the calling application and the called application, and the specific data configuration is not limited to the call management table 307. As another example, the MFP 110 may describe information associating the called application ID with the calling application ID in the manifest file of each application as the local MFP application 310, and may refer to the manifest file.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing application information registration processing by the MFP 110. In step S801, the registration unit 303 acquires a manifest file of an application to be installed. Hereinafter, the newly installed application will be referred to as a target application. In the present embodiment, the target application is an application that is automatically activated after installation. The target application is an example of an application to be started. Next, in step S802, the registration unit 303 determines whether the target application is the instruction application according to the presence or absence of the definition of “control” in the manifest file. When there is a definition of “control”, the registration unit 303 determines that the application is an instruction application. When there is no definition of “control”, the registration unit 303 determines that the application is not an instruction application. If the registration unit 303 determines that the application is an instruction application (YES in S802), the registration unit 303 advances the process to S803. If the registration unit 303 determines that the application is not an instruction application (NO in S802), the registration unit 303 advances the process to S808.

  In step S803, the registration unit 303 refers to the application information management table 306, and determines whether a record for which the same control condition as the definition of “control” is defined exists. If there is a record with the same control condition as the definition of “control” (YES in S803), the registration unit 303 advances the process to S804. If there is no record with the same control condition as the definition of “control” (NO in S803), the registration unit 303 advances the process to S805. In S804, the registration unit 303 controls not to install the target application, and ends the application information registration process. In this case, the registration unit 303 does not register the application information corresponding to the target application in the application information management table 306. This is because the same control can not be performed when there is a record of the same control condition as the definition of “control”.

  On the other hand, in S805, the registration unit 303 stores a record (application information) in which the application ID, application name, type, and control value are associated with each other in the application information management table 306 based on the manifest file of the target application ( sign up. Next, in S806, the installing unit 301 installs the target application and starts (starts up). Next, in S807, the stop target application identification unit 304 performs an application stop process, and then ends the application information registration process. The application stop process will be described later with reference to FIG. Also, the processing of S 808 and S 809 is similar to the processing of S 805 and S 806. After the process of S809, the CPU 201 ends the application information registration process.

  The application information registration process will be specifically described. For example, it is assumed that the cost management copy application 313 is an installation target. The cost management copy application 313 is not installed in the MFP 110, and the application information (record 603) of the cost management copy application 313 is not registered in the application information management table 306. In this case, the registration unit 303 acquires the manifest file 503 of the cost management copy application 313 in S801. Since “control” is defined in the manifest file 503 (YES in S802), the process proceeds to S803. When the application information management table 306 is referred to in step S803, the same control type is not described (NO in step S803), and thus the process proceeds to step S805. Then, the application information (record 603) of the cost management copy application 313 is registered (S805), and the cost management copy application 313 is installed and started (S806).

  Also, for example, it is assumed that the standard copy application 311 is an installation target. The standard copy application 311 is not installed in the MFP 110, and the application information (record 601) of the standard copy application 311 is not registered in the application information management table 306. In this case, the registration unit 303 acquires the manifest file 501 of the standard copy application 311 in S801. Since “control” is not defined in the manifest file 501 (NO in S802), the process proceeds to S808. Then, the application information (record 601) of the standard copy application 311 is registered (S808), and the standard copy application 311 is installed (S809).

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the detailed process in the application stop process (S807) described with reference to FIG. In S901, the stop target application identification unit 304 identifies the restriction condition from the application information of the target application (the record of the application information management table 306). Here, the restriction condition is an example of restriction information. Next, in S902, the stop target application identification unit 304 selects one record of the application other than the target application from the application information management table 306. Hereinafter, the selected record is referred to as a selected record.

  Next, in S903, the stop target application identification unit 304 determines whether the type of the selection record satisfies the restriction condition. If the stop target application identification unit 304 satisfies the restriction condition (Yes in S803), the process advances to S904. If the stop target application specifying unit 304 does not satisfy the restriction condition (NO in S803), the process advances to S905. Here, the application corresponding to the record that satisfies the restriction condition is the application to be stopped. That is, the process of S903 is an example of a specifying process of specifying the application to be stopped based on the application to be started.

  In S904, the stop unit 302 identifies the selected record as the stop target application. Then, control is performed to stop the stop target application. Next, in step S905, the call application management unit 305 performs non-display processing of the call button corresponding to the stop target application. This process will be described later with reference to FIG. Next, in S906, the stop target application identification unit 304 determines whether or not the processing of S903 to S905 has been completed for the records of all the applications other than the target application in the application information management table 306.

  If there is an unprocessed record (YES in S906), the stop target application identifying unit 304 advances the process to S902. In this case, the stop target application identification unit 304 selects one unprocessed record in S902, and performs processing in S903 and thereafter. In the present embodiment, the stop target application identification unit 304 selects records of the application information management table 306 in order from the top. If the process for all the records has been completed (NO in S906), the stop target application identifying unit 304 advances the process to S907. In step S 907, the installation unit 301 performs processing for starting a target application. This is the end of the application stop process.

  For example, it is assumed that the target application is the cost management copy application 313. In this case, based on the record 603 of the cost management copy application 313, the control condition “type = COPY” is identified. Then, first, the record 601 is selected (S902), and the types are compared. The “type” of the record 601 is “COPY”, which satisfies the control condition. Therefore, in S904, the standard copy application 311 corresponding to the record 601 is specified as the stop target application and is stopped. In the application information management table 306 of FIG. 6, the simple copy application 312 corresponding to the record 602 is further specified as a stop target application and is stopped.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a detailed process in the call button non-display process described with reference to FIG. In S1001, the call application management unit 305 selects one stop target application stopped in S904. Hereinafter, the application selected in S1001 will be referred to as a selected application. Next, in step S1002, the call application management unit 305 refers to the call management table 307 and determines whether there is a record in which the selected application is the called application. If there is a record in which the selected application is the called application (YES in S1002), the call application management unit 305 advances the process to S1003. If there is no record in which the selected application is the called application (NO in S1002), the call application management unit 305 advances the process to S1004.

  In S1003, the call application management unit 305 identifies an application to be a call application in the record. Then, the call application management unit 305 hides the button indicating the selected application, which is displayed on the display screen of the specified application. Specifically, the call application management unit 305 deletes the button of the selected application from the display screen. Note that the call application management unit 305 may perform restriction processing such that the user can not select the selected application in S1003, and specific processing therefor is not limited to the embodiment. As another example, the call application management unit 305 may gray out the button of the selected application.

  Next, in step S1004, the call application management unit 305 determines whether the processing in steps S1002 and S1003 has been completed for all the applications stopped in step S904. If there is an unprocessed application (NO in S1004), the call application management unit 305 advances the process to S1001. In this case, in S1001, the call application management unit 305 selects one unprocessed application from among the applications stopped in S904, and performs processing in S1002 and subsequent steps. When the processing for all the applications is completed (NO in S1004), the call application management unit 305 ends the call button non-display processing.

  For example, it is assumed that the standard copy application 311 is selected as the stopped application. In this case, referring to the call management table 307, there is a record in which the standard copy application 311 is the called application (YES in S1002), so the process proceeds to S1003. Then, the button of the standard copy application 311 on the display screen of the custom menu application 314 (APP 004) which is the calling application is not displayed. Similarly, the button of the standard copy application 311 on the display screen of the setting menu application 315 (APP 005) is not displayed.

  As described above, when installing an application, the MFP 110 according to the present embodiment can perform necessary application stop processing in conjunction with this. Furthermore, the MFP 110 controls to hide the button for calling the stopped application. As described above, the MFP 110 can appropriately control another application when starting one application without requiring a complicated user operation.

  In the embodiment, when the application is installed, the MFP 110 performs processing to stop the application or to hide the call button based on the application to be installed. However, the execution timing of these processes is not limited to the embodiment. For example, when targeting an application that is automatically activated after installation, it is preferable to perform processing for hiding the stop and call buttons of the application at the time of installation. On the other hand, when targeting an application that can be different from the installation timing and the activation timing, processing for hiding the application stop / call button is not performed at the time of installation but at the time of activation. It may be Even in the case of targeting an application whose installation and start timings can be different, the process of stopping the application and hiding the call button may be performed at the installation timing. Thus, the timing of the process of hiding the stop and call buttons of the application can be set arbitrarily.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims.・ Change is possible.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. Can also be realized. It can also be implemented by a circuit (eg, an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

100 information processing system 110 MFP
120 pcs
301 installation unit 302 stop unit

Claims (8)

First specifying means for specifying an application to be stopped based on control information of an application to be started newly to be started;
An information processing apparatus comprising: stopping means for stopping the application to be stopped specified by the first specifying means. The control information is information indicating the type of the application to be stopped,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first specifying unit specifies an application of a type indicated in the control information as the application to be stopped.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stopping unit stops the application to be stopped when the application to be started is activated.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stopping unit stops the application to be stopped when the application to be started is installed. A second identification unit that identifies an application that calls the application to be stopped, with reference to a table that associates an application with an application that the application calls;
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: restricting means for restricting a call of the application to be stopped by the application specified by the second specifying means.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the restriction unit performs control to hide an icon for calling the application to be stopped. An information processing method executed by the information processing apparatus;
A first identification step of identifying an application to be stopped based on restriction information of the application to be started newly.
A stop step of stopping the application to be stopped specified by the first specifying step.   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the information processing apparatus in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6.

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