JP2020096340A - Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing method, and web browser system - Google Patents

Abstract

To achieve a function specific to an image processing apparatus by using a general-purpose HTML.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus has a web browser and an image processing service unit that controls execution of predetermined image processing. The web browser has an interpretation unit that interprets a content acquired from a web server connected to the image processing apparatus via a network, an UI unit that displays a screen based on the content interpreted by the interpretation unit, and a control unit that, in response to a user's input on the screen displayed by the UI unit, at least requests the image processing service unit to execute the image processing. When an HTML tag of the content includes a predetermined tag, the control unit requests the image processing service unit, as the image processing, to transmit image data created by reading a document to a transmission destination indicated by the predetermined tag.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing device, an image processing system, an image processing method, and a web browser program.

In an image processing apparatus such as a multi-function peripheral (MFP), a technique for realizing various image processing functions such as printing and scanning by using a web application running on a web browser has been conventionally known (for example, See Patent Document 1).

By the way, the various image processing functions such as printing and scanning as described above are functions peculiar to the image processing apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral. In a Web application that realizes such a function unique to an image processing apparatus, it is necessary to describe HTML (HyperText Markup Language) using Java Script (registered trademark) dedicated to the image processing apparatus.

On the other hand, Web applications used by information processing devices such as smartphones, tablet terminals, and PCs (personal computers) are described in general-purpose HTML. A general-purpose HTML does not have an HTML tag or the like for realizing the above-described functions peculiar to the image processing apparatus such as printing and scanning.

For this reason, it is difficult for a general-purpose Web application using HTML to realize functions unique to the image processing apparatus, such as printing and scanning.

The embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to realize a function peculiar to an image processing apparatus by using a general-purpose HTML.

In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention is an image processing apparatus including a web browser and an image processing service unit that controls execution of predetermined image processing, wherein the web browser is the image processing device. An interpretation unit that interprets content acquired from a Web server connected to the device via a network, a UI unit that displays a screen based on the content interpreted by the interpretation unit, and a user on the screen displayed by the UI unit. And a control unit that requests the image processing service unit to execute the image processing in accordance with the input, and the HTML tag of the content includes a predetermined tag, the control unit controls the image As a process, the image processing service unit is requested to transmit the image data generated by reading the original document to the destination indicated by the predetermined tag.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to realize a function peculiar to an image processing apparatus by using a general-purpose HTML.

It is a figure showing an example of the whole composition of the image processing system concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hierarchical structure of the software group contained in the operating device and main body apparatus of the image processing device concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the software configuration of the image processing system which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of print processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transitions in print processing. It is a figure which shows an example of an a tag. It is a figure which shows an example of a PHP code. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing another example (1) of the print processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a print setting screen. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing another example (No. 2) of the print processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing another example (3) of the print processing according to the present embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the Web browser when executing print processing. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the scanning process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition in a scan process. It is a figure which shows an example of an a tag. It is a sequence diagram which shows the other example (the 1) of the scanning process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a scan setting screen. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the image processing based on the interpretation of the general-purpose HTML tag which concerns on this embodiment. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the Web browser at the time of executing scanning and mail transmission processing. It is a figure which shows the other example of the software configuration of the image processing system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of the whole composition of the image processing system concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the software configuration of the image processing system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the scanning process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition in a scan process. It is a figure which shows an example of an a tag. It is a sequence diagram which shows the other example (the 1) of the scanning process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a scan setting screen. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the image processing based on the interpretation of the general-purpose HTML tag which concerns on this embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the Web browser when executing a scan and fax transmission process. It is a figure which shows the other example of the software configuration of the image processing system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the image processing system which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an MFP according to an embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the Web server which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of software of the MFP according to the embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a functional block of an image processing system concerning an embodiment. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of scan/print processing of the image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of screen transitions in scan/print processing. It is a figure which shows an example of a scan execution tag. It is a figure which shows an example of a print execution tag. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the functional block of the image processing system which concerns on the modification 1 of embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of scan/print processing of an image processing system according to Modification 1 of the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the functional block of the image processing system which concerns on the modification 2 of embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
<Overall configuration example>
First, the overall configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an image processing system 1 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes one or more image processing apparatuses 10, one or more Web servers 20, one or more mail servers 30, and an information processing apparatus 40. included. The image processing apparatus 10 and the Web server 20 are communicably connected via a wide area network N such as the Internet. The image processing apparatus 10 and the mail server 30 are communicatively connected via a wide area network N such as the Internet.

The image processing apparatus 10 is an electronic device such as a multi-function peripheral equipped with a web browser. The user of the image processing apparatus 10 uses the Web application provided by the Web server 20 to print, for example, electronic data downloaded from the Web server 20 or send image data generated by scanning to the mail server 30 by mail. You can

The web server 20 is a computer or a computer system that provides a web application using general-purpose HTML via the network N. The general-purpose HTML is HTML5 or HTML 5.1 defined by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Further, general-purpose is a general-purpose Web browser, unlike content (extended contents such as extended HTML and extended Javascript) defined so that it can be interpreted and processed only by a device such as an image processing device. For example, it refers to content that can be interpreted and processed regardless of the type of device. The general-purpose HTML can be used in a personal terminal such as a PC, a mobile terminal, and a smartphone, and is commonly used in general web servers and web applications.

Various web services are realized by providing a web application by the web server 20. Examples of such Web services include cloud storage services, SNS (Social Networking Services), cloud print services, blog services, bulletin board services, online game services, online shopping services, and the like.

The mail server 30 is a computer or a computer system that receives the image data sent by the image processing apparatus 10 by mail via the network N and sends the image data to a designated mail address.

The information processing device 40 is a PC (personal computer) equipped with a web browser, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like.

The configuration of the image processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, the image processing apparatus 10 is not limited to the multi-function peripheral, and may be, for example, a digital camera, a printing device, a scanner device, a copying machine, a projector, a facsimile, an electronic conference terminal, an electronic blackboard device, or the like. That is, the image processing apparatus 10 may be any electronic device that inputs and/or outputs data with the Web server 20. Further, for example, the image processing system 1 may not include the information processing device 40.

<Example of Hardware Configuration of Image Processing Device 10>
Next, the hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus 10 according to this embodiment includes an operation device 11 and a main body device 12.

The operation device 11 selects an image processing function to be executed by the main body device 12, inputs various setting values for executing the image processing function, inputs an execution instruction for starting execution of the image processing function, and switches display screens. It is used when the user performs various operations such as.

The main body device 12 executes various processes such as execution of an image processing function according to various operations of the user on the operation device 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation device 11 of the image processing device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 113. Further, the operation device 11 includes a flash memory 114, an operation panel 115, a connection I/F 116, and a communication I/F 117. These pieces of hardware are connected to each other via a bus 118.

The CPU 111 is an arithmetic device that controls the entire operation device 11 by executing various programs stored in the ROM 112 or the flash memory 114 using the RAM 113 as a work area.

The ROM 112 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain data even when the power is turned off. The RAM 113 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily holds programs and data.

The flash memory 114 is a non-volatile storage device, and stores various programs executed by the CPU 111 (for example, programs implementing the present embodiment) and various data.

The operation panel 115 is used when the user performs various operations. The operation panel 115 also displays various screens and the like to the user.

The connection I/F 116 is an interface for communicating with the main body device 12 via the communication path 13. For the connection I/F 116, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard interface is used.

The communication I/F 117 is an interface for communicating with other devices and the like. For the communication I/F 117, for example, a Wi-Fi standard wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or the like is used.

Similarly, the main body device 12 of the image processing device 10 includes a CPU 121, a ROM 122, and a RAM 123. The main body device 12 also includes an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 124, an image processing engine 125, a connection I/F 126, and a communication I/F 127. These pieces of hardware are connected to each other via a bus 128.

The CPU 121 is an arithmetic unit that controls the entire main body device 12 by executing various programs stored in the ROM 122 or the HDD 124 using the RAM 123 as a work area.

The ROM 122 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain data even when the power is turned off. The RAM 123 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily holds programs and data.

The HDD 124 is a non-volatile storage device, and stores various programs executed by the CPU 121 (for example, programs implementing the present embodiment) and various data.

The image processing engine 125 is hardware that performs image processing for realizing various image processing functions such as a print function, a scan function, a copy function, and a FAX function.

The image processing engine 125 includes, for example, a plotter that prints on a sheet material such as paper, a scanner that optically reads a document to generate image data, and a FAX communication device that performs FAX communication. Further, the image processing engine 125 may include, for example, a finisher for sorting printed sheet materials, an ADF (automatic document feeder) for automatically feeding a document, and the like.

The connection I/F 126 is an interface for communicating with the controller device 11 via the communication path 13. For the connection I/F 126, for example, a USB standard interface is used.

The communication I/F 127 is an interface for communicating with other devices and the like. For the communication I/F 127, for example, a Wi-Fi standard wireless LAN or the like is used.

The image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2 and thus can realize various processes described later.

Note that, in FIG. 2, the configuration in which the image processing device 10 has the operation device 11 is shown as an example, but the configuration is not limited to this, and, for example, an information processing terminal such as a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a mobile phone, or a PDA can display an image It may function as an operation device of the processing device 10. That is, these information processing terminals can control the image processing apparatus 10 by communicating with the image processing apparatus 10 via the communication I/F 117 of the operation device 11 or the communication I/F 127 of the main body device 12. May be.

<Hierarchical Structure of Software Group of Image Processing Device 10>
Next, a hierarchical structure of software groups included in the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of software groups included in the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 of the image processing device 10 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows the hierarchical structure of the software group included in the operation device 11 and the hierarchical structure of the software group included in the main body device 12.

First, the hierarchical structure of the software group included in the main body device 12 (that is, the program group stored in the ROM 122 or the HDD 124 of the main body device 12) will be described. The software group included in the main body device 12 can be roughly divided into an application layer 221, a service layer 222, and an OS layer 223.

The software classified into the application layer 221 is software for operating hardware resources to realize an image processing function. Specifically, a print application, a scan application, a copy application, a FAX application, and the like are included.

The software classified into the service layer 222 is software that intervenes between the application layer 221 and the OS layer 223. The software plays a role as an interface for the software of the application layer 221 to use the hardware resources included in the main body device 12 and to notify the state of the hardware resources included in the main body device 12.

Specifically, the execution request for the hardware resource is accepted, and the accepted execution request is arbitrated. The execution request received by the service layer 222 includes, for example, an image processing execution request by the image processing engine 125 (scan execution request by the scanner, print execution request by the plotter, etc.).

It should be noted that the role of the above-mentioned interface played by the software divided into the service layer 222 is the same for the application layer 211 of the operation device 11. That is, the software that is divided into the application layer 211 of the operation device 11 can also operate the hardware resources of the main body device 12 by accessing the service layer 222 to realize the image processing function.

The software divided into the OS layer 223 is a program called basic software (OS: Operating System) and provides a basic function of controlling the hardware resources of the main body device 12. The software segmented in the OS layer 223 receives an execution request for the hardware resource from the software segmented in the application layer 221, via the software segmented in the service layer 222, and performs a process according to the execution request. Execute.

Next, a hierarchical structure of a software group included in the operating device 11 (that is, a program group stored in the ROM 112 or the flash memory 114 of the operating device 11) will be described. Similar to the main body device 12, the software group included in the operation device 11 can be roughly divided into an application layer 211, a service layer 212, and an OS layer 213.

However, the functions provided by the software classified into the application layer 211 and the types of execution requests that the service layer 212 can receive are different from those of the main body device 12. The software divided into the application layer 211 of the operation device 11 mainly provides a user interface function for performing various operations and displays.

In the present embodiment, the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 operate independently of each other. If the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 can communicate with each other, the OSs do not have to be of the same type. For example, the operating device 11 can use Android (registered trademark) as the OS, while the main body device 12 can use Linux (registered trademark) as the OS.

As described above, in the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 are controlled by different OSs. Therefore, the communication between the operation device 11 and the main body device 12 is not communication between processes in one device but communication between different information processing devices.

However, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is not limited to the case where different types of OSs are operating on the operating device 11 and the main body device 12, and the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 may operate on the same type of OS. It may be working. The image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is not limited to the case where the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 operate independently of each other, and one operating system operates on the operating device 11 and the main body device 12. You can do it.

<Example of Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Device 40>
Next, the hardware configuration of the information processing device 40 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 40 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the information processing device 40 includes an input device 31, a display device 32, an external I/F 33, a RAM 34, a ROM 35, a CPU 36, a communication I/F 37, and an auxiliary storage device 38. Have. These pieces of hardware are connected to each other via a bus B so that they can communicate with each other.

The input device 31 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc., and is used by the user to input various operations. The display device 32 is, for example, a display, and displays the processing result of the information processing device 40.

The external I/F 33 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 33a and the like. The information processing device 40 can read or write the recording medium 33a or the like via the external I/F 33.

The recording medium 33a includes, for example, a flexible disk, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD memory card (Secure Digital memory card), and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory card.

The RAM 34 is a volatile semiconductor memory that temporarily holds programs and data. The ROM 35 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory that can retain programs and data even when the power is turned off. The ROM 35 stores, for example, OS settings and network settings.

The CPU 36 is an arithmetic device that reads programs and data from the ROM 35, the auxiliary storage device 38, and the like onto the RAM 34 and executes processing.

The communication I/F 37 is an interface for connecting the information processing device 40 to the network N. The auxiliary storage device 38 is, for example, an HDD, an SSD, or the like, and is a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data. The programs and data stored in the auxiliary storage device 38 include, for example, an OS and application programs that implement various functions on the OS.

<Software configuration example>
Next, the software configurations of the image processing device 10 and the information processing device 40 included in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

<<Image processing device 10>>
As shown in FIG. 5, the operating device 11 of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a web browser 310, a print UI application 320, a scan UI application 330, and a mail UI application 392. The web browser 310, print UI application 320, scan UI application 330, and mail UI application 392 are executed by the CPU 111.

Further, the main body device 12 of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a WebAPI 340, a print application 350, a scan application 360, and a mail transmission application 390. The Web API 340, print application 350, scan application 360, and mail transmission application 390 are executed by the CPU 121.

The web browser 310 realizes a web application by acquiring web contents (eg, HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Javascript, various electronic files, etc.) from the web server 20.

For example, the web browser 310 realizes a web application for browsing the SNS, sharing files on the SNS, and the like by acquiring the web content from the web server 20 that provides the SNS. Further, for example, the web browser 310 realizes a web application that browses the storage, uploads a file to the storage, and the like by acquiring the web content from the web server 20 that provides the cloud storage service.

Note that the web application is generally realized by causing content such as Javascript acquired from the web server 20 to operate on the web browser 310 and executing processing in cooperation with the web server 20.

The web browser 310 includes a browser function unit 311 and a control unit 312. Note that, hereinafter, the Web content will be simply referred to as “content”.

The browser function unit 311 interprets and displays content. The browser function unit 311 includes a UI unit 313 and an interpretation unit 314. When a link is pressed on the Web page displayed by the UI unit 313, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag corresponding to the link and notifies the control unit 312 of the result of the interpretation.

The UI unit 313 displays a web page or the like according to the content acquired from the web server 20. The UI unit 313 also receives various operations (for example, pressing a link) by the user on the Web page. The browser function unit 311 can be realized using, for example, WebView.

The control unit 312 controls to execute the image processing function of the image processing apparatus 10 in response to the notification from the interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311. For example, when a download notification indicating that the linked content is downloaded from the Web server 20 is received from the interpretation unit 314, the control unit 312 controls to download and print the content. Further, for example, even when the display notification indicating that the linked content is displayed is received from the interpretation unit 314, if the content is in a predetermined format (for example, JPEG format), the control unit 312 Control to download and print the content.

Since the web browser 310 includes a browser function unit 311 that realizes a web application and a control unit 312 that controls the image processing function of the image processing apparatus 10, it can be called a so-called hybrid application. The web browser 310 is implemented in a programming language such as Java (registered trademark), for example. That is, the basic part of the browser application that constitutes the Web browser 310 is composed of a Java application program. This Java application uses the API provided by the operation device 11 to call the browser function unit 311 (for example, WebView) included in the operation device 11 to configure the Web browser 310 including the interpretation unit 314 and the UI unit 313. ing. The Java application program, which is the basic part, includes a control unit 312, and the control unit 312 controls the operation so that the operation after Web content interpretation is flexible, and operations that can be performed by general-purpose HTML (download and Not only uploading but also image processing (printing, scanning, sending email) operations can be requested.

The print UI application 320 is an application program that provides a UI (user interface) related to printing. The print UI application 320 displays, for example, a screen indicating that printing is being executed, a screen indicating that printing has been completed, and the like.

In addition, the print UI application 320 requests the print application 350 to execute printing via the WebAPI 340 in response to a request from the control unit 312.

The scan UI application 330 is an application program that provides a UI related to scanning. The scan UI application 330 displays, for example, a screen showing that scanning is in progress, a screen showing that scanning has been completed, a screen showing that image data generated by scanning is being sent by email, and completion of email sending. The screen shown is displayed.

In addition, the scan UI application 330 requests the scan application 360 to execute the scan and to send the image data generated by the scan by mail via the WebAPI 340 in response to the request from the control unit 312.

The mail UI application 392 is an application program that provides a UI related to mail. The mail UI application 392 displays, for example, a screen indicating that mail transmission/reception is in progress, a screen indicating that mail transmission/reception is completed, and the like.

The WebAPI 340 is an API (Application Programming Interface) for the print UI application 320, the scan UI application 330, and the mail UI application 392 to request execution of image processing.

The print application 350 controls the image processing engine 125 to execute printing in response to a request from the print UI application 320.

The scan application 360 controls the image processing engine 125 to execute a scan in response to a request from the scan UI application 330. Further, the scan application 360 requests the mail transmission application 390 to mail the image data generated by the scan.

The mail transmission application 390 controls the image processing engine 125 in response to a request from the scan application 360 to execute mail transmission.

Hereinafter, the print UI application 320, the web API 340, and the print application 350 will be referred to as a “print service unit 370”. Further, the scan UI application 330, the WebAPI 340, and the scan application 360 are referred to as a “scan service unit 380”. Further, the mail UI application 392, the WebAPI 340, and the mail transmission application 390 are referred to as a “mail service unit 391”.

The operation device 11 may include, for example, an application that provides a UI related to copying, an application that provides a UI related to FAX, an application that provides a UI related to OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and the like. Further, the main body device 12 may include, for example, an application that executes copying, an application that executes FAX, an application that realizes OCR, and the like. Therefore, the image processing apparatus 10 may include various image processing service units such as a copy service unit, a FAX service unit, and an OCR service.

In addition to the image processing service unit, the image processing device 10 includes, for example, an address book service unit that executes a process related to an address book held by the image processing device 10, and an authentication for a user to use the image processing device 10. An authentication service unit and the like for executing the processing regarding are included.

<<Information processing device 40>>
As shown in FIG. 5, the information processing device 40 according to the present embodiment has a web browser 410. The web browser 410 is executed by the CPU 36.

The web browser 410 includes a UI unit 411 and an interpretation unit 412. The UI unit 411 displays a web page or the like according to the content acquired from the web server 20. Further, the UI unit 411 receives various operations (for example, pressing a link) performed by the user on the web page.

When a link is pressed on the Web page displayed by the UI unit 411, the interpretation unit 412 interprets the HTML corresponding to the link and notifies the UI unit 411 of the result of the interpretation.

<Operation Comparison of Image Processing Device 10 and Information Processing Device 40>
The UI unit 411 of the Web browser 410 installed in the information processing apparatus 40 receives the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the Web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 412 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the UI unit 411 of a notification (display notification or download) according to the interpretation result. Notification). For example, if the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 (for example, if the extension is html, img, pdf, etc.), a display notification is given. .. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 410 (for example, when the extension is zip or the like), a download notification is given. However, for example, even when the extension of the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is the extension of the file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 such as pdf, the attribute “download” is specified. Will be a download notification.

Then, when the UI unit 411 of the Web browser 410 receives the display notification, the UI unit 411 displays the file. On the other hand, when the UI unit 411 of the web browser 410 receives the download notification, the UI unit 411 displays, for example, a screen for downloading the file (for example, a screen for the user to select start or cancel of the download).

On the other hand, the UI unit 313 of the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 accepts the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the control unit 312 of a notification (display notification or download) according to the interpretation result. )I do. This is similar to the case of the information processing device 40, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 310 (for example, the extension is html, img, pdf, etc.). If it is), it is a display notification. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 310 (for example, when the extension is zip or the like), a download notification is given.

When the control unit 312 receives the download notification, the control unit 312 determines whether the file to be downloaded is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Take control. On the other hand, when the display unit receives the display notification, the control unit 312 determines whether or not the file to be displayed is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Control.

As described above, the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 is configured to print the file when the file that is interpreted as the download target or the display target by the web browser 410 of the information processing device 40 can be printed. Take control. As a result, the image processing apparatus 10 can download and print the content by the Web application using the general-purpose HTML.

The UI unit 411 of the web browser 410 installed in the information processing device 40 receives the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 412 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the UI unit 411 of a notification according to the interpretation result (mail transmission notification). I do. This e-mail transmission notification is a notification to be sent to the e-mail address specified by the scheme "mail to" in the attribute "href" of the a tag.

Then, when the UI unit 411 of the Web browser 410 receives the email transmission notification, it activates the email software and displays a new email creation screen in which the designated email address is input in the destination field.

On the other hand, the UI unit 313 of the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 accepts the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation has been performed, and notifies the control unit 312 of the interpretation result (mail transmission notification). I do. This e-mail transmission notification is a notification that e-mails the image data generated by scanning to the e-mail address specified by the scheme "mail to" in the attribute "href" of the a tag.

Then, when the control unit 312 receives the mail transmission notification, the control unit 312 controls to generate the image data by scanning, and then mail-transmits the generated image data to the designated e-mail address.

As described above, the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 sends the image data generated by the scan by email to the email address that is interpreted as the destination of the email by the web browser 410 of the information processing apparatus 40. .. As a result, the image processing apparatus 10 can generate image data and send it by e-mail by a Web application using general-purpose HTML.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of the processing of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Example 1)
Hereinafter, a process in which the user uses the image processing apparatus 10 to download the content from the Web server 20 and print the content using a general-purpose Web application using HTML will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the printing process according to this embodiment.

First, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays, for example, the web page G110 illustrated in FIG. 7 (step S601). The web page G110 illustrated in FIG. 7 is displayed by the interpretation unit 314 interpreting the content (HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc.) acquired from the web server 20. Such contents can be obtained by, for example, inputting a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for displaying the Web page G110 or pressing a link to the URL.

The web page G110 shown in FIG. 7 includes a link G111 to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file stored in the web server 20. Here, it is assumed that the user has pressed the link G111.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 receives a press of the link G111 by the user (step S602). Here, the link G111 included in the Web page G110 shown in FIG. 7 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, an a tag (anchor tag) in which an attribute “href”, an attribute “download”, an attribute “type”, etc. are set. ) Is realized. In the attribute “href” of the a tag shown in FIG. 8, the storage destination URL (the scheme is “http”) of the PDF file with the file name “file.pdf” is specified by the relative path. In addition to these, various attributes may be set in the a tag.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 transmits an interpretation request for the a tag that realizes the link G111 pressed by the user to the interpretation unit 314 (step S603).

The interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 interprets the a tag that realizes the link G111 (step S604). That is, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the a tag to determine whether the content of the link destination specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is the content displayed on the Web browser 310 or the content to be downloaded. To judge.

Whether it is the content displayed on the Web browser 310 or the content to be downloaded is determined by, for example, the extension of the content of the link destination specified in the attribute “href”. For example, if the extension is “html”, “htm”, “jpeg”, “gif”, etc., it is determined that the content is displayed on the Web browser 310. On the other hand, for example, when the extension is “pdf”, “doc”, “xls”, “zip”, etc., it is determined that the content is to be downloaded. It should be noted that whether to display or download on the Web browser 310 is defined in a setting file of the Web browser 310 for each extension, for example. It should be noted that it is possible to set whether to download or display each extension, for example, by setting "jpeg" as a download target.

When it is determined in step S604 that the content is to be downloaded, the interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 sends a download notification to the control unit 312 (step S605). The interpretation unit 314 can issue a download notification by calling, for example, onDwonloadStart, as an example of a download API for causing a device equipped with a browser to execute the download. At this time, the URL specified in the attribute “href” and the MIME type specified in the attribute “type” are specified as the arguments of onDownloadStart. onDwonloadStart is one of the APIs (operation unit API, operation device API) provided by the operation device 11.

The control unit 312 confirms whether or not the content to be downloaded (that is, the content of the link destination designated by the attribute “href”) can be printed (step S606).

Whether or not the content to be downloaded can be printed is determined by, for example, the MIME type specified in the attribute "type", the extension of the content, or the like. For example, if the MIME type specified in the attribute “type” is “application/pdf”, “application/msword”, “application/msexcel”, or the like, it is determined that printing is possible. On the other hand, for example, when the MIME type specified in the attribute “type” is “application/zip” or the like (that is, when the content is compressed), it is determined that printing is not possible. In addition to this, for example, when the content to be downloaded is encrypted, it is determined that printing is not possible.

However, for example, when the content is compressed, the content may be downloaded and decompressed, and then it may be confirmed whether or not the decompressed content is printable. At this time, if the decompressed content is not printable, an error screen or the like may be displayed on the Web browser 310, for example. When the decompressed content is not printable, for example, a movie file (for example, extension “.mp4” or the like) or an audio file (for example, extension “.mp3”) in which the decompressed content is encrypted. Etc.) and the like.

The MIME type is specified as an argument of onDownloadStart, for example. Further, the extension of the content can be specified, for example, from the URL specified in the argument of onDownloadStart.

In the following description, it is assumed that the content to be downloaded is determined to be printable in step S606 described above. If it is determined in step S606 that the download target content is not printable, the control unit 312 returns a download permission notification to the interpretation unit 314, for example. As a result, for example, after the dialog for prompting the user to specify the save destination is displayed, the browser function unit 311 downloads the content from the Web server 20.

However, if it is determined that the download target content is compressed or encrypted and thus cannot be printed, it may be determined whether the decompressed content or the decrypted content is printable. .. At this time, the control unit 312 may perform the decompression and decryption of the content, or may request the external server or the like. The user may perform a start operation for starting the decompression of the content, an input operation for a password used for decryption, and the like.

As a result, when the decompressed content and the decrypted content can be printed, steps S607 to S619 described below are executed.

When it is determined that the content to be downloaded can be printed, the control unit 312 transmits a display request for the downloading screen to the UI unit 313 (step S607).

When the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 receives the display request for the downloading screen, for example, the downloading screen G120 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed (step S608). By displaying the downloading screen G120 shown in FIG. 7, the user can know that the content is being downloaded.

The control unit 312 transmits a download request for the content to be downloaded (that is, the content of the link destination specified by the attribute “href” of the a tag) to the Web server 20 (step S609). As a result, the content is downloaded from the Web server 20. The content downloaded from the Web server 20 is stored in, for example, a predesignated storage area in the flash memory 114.

The control unit 312 may add, for example, a user ID for identifying the user of the image processing apparatus 10 to the downloaded content. Further, the control unit 312 may add information indicating print settings to the downloaded content, for example.

When the content is downloaded from the Web server 20, the control unit 312 sends a display completion screen display request to the UI unit 313 (step S610).

Upon receiving the download completion screen display request, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays, for example, the download completion screen G130 shown in FIG. 7 (step S611). By displaying the download completion screen G130 shown in FIG. 7, the user can know that the download of the content has been completed.

Further, the download completion screen G130 shown in FIG. 7 includes a print execution button G131. The user can start printing the downloaded content by pressing the print execution button G131. Here, it is assumed that the user has pressed the print execution button G131.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 receives the press of the print execution button G131 by the user (step S612). When the print execution button G131 is not pressed (or the cancel button G141 described later is pressed), the downloaded content may be deleted or may be saved in the image processing apparatus 10.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 transmits a print execution request for the downloaded content to the control unit 312 (step S613).

Upon receiving the print execution request from the browser function unit 311, the control unit 312 transmits the print execution request to the print service unit 370 (step S614). The print execution request includes information indicating the storage destination of the content downloaded in step S609 described above. In addition to this, the print execution request includes, for example, information indicating predetermined print settings (that is, information indicating default print settings, information indicating print settings determined by the control unit 312, etc.). It may be.

Note that the control unit 312 can call the print UI application 320 of the print service unit 370 using intent as an example of an application cooperation API for calling another application of the device. The intent is one of the APIs (operation unit API, operation device API) provided by the operation device 11. The called print UI application 320 may be used to display, for example, print settings for executing an image processing function, a print execution button, printing, print cancel, and the like.

Upon receiving the print execution request from the control unit 312, the print service unit 370 displays the print in-execution screen G140 shown in FIG. 7, for example (step S615). The print execution screen G140 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed by the print UI application 320. By displaying the print execution screen G140 shown in FIG. 7, the user can know that the downloaded content is being printed.

Next, the print service unit 370 prints the content downloaded in step S609 (step S616). The printing can be performed by the print UI application 320 by sending a print request to the print application 350 via the WebAPI 340. As a result, the content downloaded from the web server 20 is printed.

The print execution screen G140 shown in FIG. 7 includes a cancel button G141. When the cancel button G141 is pressed by the user, the print UI application 320 transmits a print cancel request to the print application 350 via the WebAPI 340. As a result, printing of the downloaded content is stopped.

Upon completion of printing, the print application 350 sends a response to the print request to the print UI application 320. On the other hand, for example, when an error occurs during printing, the print application 350 transmits a notification indicating that the error has occurred to the print UI application 320. Upon receiving the notification indicating that an error has occurred, the print UI application 320 displays, for example, a screen indicating that an error has occurred.

Next, when the printing executed in step S616 is completed, the print service unit 370 sends a print completion notification to the control unit 312 (step S617). The print completion notification is transmitted by the print UI application 320.

Upon receiving the print completion notification from the print service unit 370, the control unit 312 transmits the print completion notification to the UI unit 313 (step S618).

Upon receiving the print completion notification, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays, for example, the print completion screen G150 shown in FIG. 7 (step S619). By displaying the print completion screen G150 shown in FIG. 7, the user can know that the printing of the content is completed.

When the content of the link destination is determined to be the content to be downloaded in step S604 through the above steps S605 to S619, the content is printed.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S604 that the content is to be displayed on the web browser 310, the interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 transmits a display notification to the control unit 312 (step S620). The interpretation unit 314 can issue a display notification by calling, for example, a shoutOverrideUrlLoading as an example of a screen update API for updating the screen displayed on the UI of the browser. At this time, the URL specified in the attribute “href” is specified as the argument of the methodOverrideUrlLoading. The methodOverrideUrlLoading is one of the APIs (operation unit API, operation device API) provided by the operation device 11.

The control unit 312 confirms whether or not the content to be displayed (that is, the content of the link destination designated by the attribute “href”) is printable (step S621).

Whether or not the display target content can be printed is determined by, for example, the extension of the content. For example, when the extension of the content is “jpg”, “jpeg”, “tiff”, etc., it is determined that printing is possible. On the other hand, for example, when the extension of the content is “html” or “htm”, it is determined that printing is not possible.

However, for example, when the extension of the content is “html” or “htm”, the content may be displayed on the Web browser 310 and the print execution button may be displayed. As a result, the user can print the content (web page) displayed on the web browser 310 by pressing the print execution button.

Note that the extension of the content can be specified, for example, from the URL specified in the argument of the methodOverrideUrlLoading.

However, whether or not the content to be displayed is a print target may be determined from, for example, the MIME type specified in the attribute “type”. In this case, if the MIME type specified in the attribute "type" is "image/jpeg", "image/gif", "image/png", or the like, it is determined that printing is possible. On the other hand, for example, when the MIME type specified in the attribute “type” is “text/html” or the like, it is determined that printing is not possible.

In the following description, it is assumed that the content to be displayed is determined to be printable in step S621. When it is determined in step S621 that the content to be displayed is not printable, the control unit 312 returns a display permission notification to the interpretation unit 314, for example. Thereby, for example, the browser function unit 311 acquires the content from the Web server 20 and then displays the content on the Web browser 310.

When it is determined that the display target content can be printed, the control unit 312 transmits a print execution notification to the interpretation unit 314 (step S622). Then, the image processing apparatus 10 executes steps S607 to S619. As described above, even when the link destination content of the link pressed by the user is the content to be displayed, for example, when the content is image data in the JPEG format or the like, the content is printed.

As described above, in the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, when the link realized by the a tag which is a general-purpose HTML tag is pressed by the user, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the type of the linked content is Content can be downloaded and printed. As described above, in the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the print function is realized without using a dedicated HTML tag for realizing the print function.

Therefore, for example, a developer of a web application provided by the web server 20 develops a web application that realizes an image processing function unique to the image processing apparatus 10 without requiring knowledge such as dedicated Java Script or HTML. be able to.

The printing process described with reference to FIG. 6 can be realized by using PHP, for example, in addition to the case of using Javascript or the like. For example, a PHP code as shown in FIG. 9 is created and saved under the name “dl.php” on the Web server 20 side, and in the HTML received by the Web browser 310, for example, <a href=“. /Dl.php">download</a>. As a result, when the user presses the download link defined in the HTML, "dl.php" is executed on the web server 20, and the HTTP header indicating the download instruction from the web server 20 to the web browser 310 is displayed. Sent.

Here, in the case of the PHP code shown in FIG. 9, the HTTP header indicating the download instruction includes “Content-Type: application/force-download” and “Content-disposition: attachment; filename=“myfile. pdf"" is included. From this, in step S604, the interpretation unit 314 of the Web browser 310 determines that "myfile.pdf" is the content to be downloaded.

(Other Example of Example 1 (Part 1))
Next, another example (1) of the printing process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing another example (1) of the print processing according to the present embodiment. Note that steps S601 to S622 in FIG. 10 are the same as those in FIG. 6, so description thereof will be omitted.

Following step S614, when the print service unit 370 receives the print execution request from the browser function unit 311, the print service unit 370 displays, for example, the print setting screen G210 shown in FIG. 11 (step S1001). The print setting screen G210 shown in FIG. 11 is displayed by the print UI application 320.

The print setting screen G210 shown in FIG. 11 includes a print setting field G211 and a print execution button G212. The user can specify various print settings such as “number of copies”, “color”, “print surface”, and “paper size” in the print setting field G211. Here, it is assumed that the user performs an operation (print setting operation) of designating print settings in the print setting field G211, and then presses the print execution button G212.

The print service unit 370 receives the print setting operation and the press of the print execution button G212 by the user (step S1002). The print setting operation and the press of the print execution button G212 are accepted by the print UI application 320. As a result, in step S616, the content is printed with the print settings specified by the user.

(Another Example of Example 1 (Part 2))
Next, another example (2) of the printing process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing another example (No. 2) of the print processing according to this embodiment.

In the printing process shown in FIG. 12, steps S610 to S613 in FIG. 6 are not executed. That is, in the print processing illustrated in FIG. 12, when the user presses the link realized by the a tag, the content of the link destination is downloaded and printed without the user pressing the print execution button. As a result, the user can print the linked content by performing the operation once (pressing the link realized by the a tag).

Further, in the print processing illustrated in FIG. 12, following step S609, the control unit 312 transmits a deletion request for the screen during download to the UI unit 313 (step S1201). When the UI unit 313 receives the deletion request for the downloading screen, the UI unit 313 deletes the downloading screen G120 (step S1202).

(Other example of Example 1 (3))
Next, another example (3) of the printing process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing another example (No. 3) of the print processing according to this embodiment. Note that steps S601 to S622 in FIG. 13 are the same as those in FIG. 6, so description thereof will be omitted.

Following step S614, the print service unit 370 executes predetermined image processing on the content downloaded in step S609 (step S1301). Here, as the image processing executed by the print service unit 370, for example, processing of adding predetermined information (for example, download destination URL or time) to the content, data format conversion processing, and the like can be mentioned. As a result, in step S616, the content after the image processing is printed.

Next, an example of the operation of the Web browser 310 at the time of executing the print process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the web browser 310 when executing the print processing.

First, the web browser 310 acquires content (web page) from the web server 20 and displays a screen including a link, as described in step S601 of FIG. 6 (step S1401).

Next, the web browser 310 accepts the pressing of the link by the user as described in step S602 of FIG. 6 (step S1402). Upon receiving the link press, the Web browser 310 detects a predetermined tag name (a tag) indicating download (step S1403).

Next, the web browser 310 uses the file format (extension) of the linked content (file) in the download format or the format displayed on the web browser 310, as described in step S604 of FIG. It is determined whether there is any (step S1404). Here, examples of the format to be downloaded include file formats with extensions such as "PDF", "JPEG", "doc", "xls", "zip", "mp3", "mp4". Examples of the format displayed on the Web browser 310 include file formats with extensions such as "html", "gif", and "png".

When it is determined in step S1404 that the file format is the download format, the web browser 310 determines whether the file format is the printable format or the unprintable format after the download, as described in step S606 of FIG. Is determined (step S1405). Here, examples of formats that can be printed after downloading include file formats with extensions such as “PDF”, “JPEG”, “doc”, and “xls”. In addition, examples of formats that cannot be printed after downloading include file formats with extensions such as “zip”, “mp3”, and “mp4”.

When it is determined in step S1405 that the file format is a printable format after downloading, the web browser 310 downloads the content (file) as described in step S609 of FIG. 6 (step S1406). That is, at this time, the web browser 310 does not display the content. However, for example, the content may be displayed by another application such as a viewer application. In this case, the content may be displayed by the other application after the print execution button is pressed in step S1408 described later.

Next, the web browser 310 displays a screen including a print execution button (for example, a download completion screen) as described in step S611 of FIG. 6 (step S1407).

Next, the Web browser 310 determines whether or not the press of the print execution button included in the screen displayed in step S1407 has been accepted (step S1408). At this time, the Web browser 310 may accept the press of the print execution button on the print setting screen for making print settings.

If it is determined in step S1408 that the press of the print execution button has been accepted, the web browser 310 executes printing of the content as described in step S613 of FIG. 6 (step S1409).

When it is not determined in step S1408 that the press of the print execution button has been accepted (for example, when the printing is canceled), the web browser 310 does not execute the content printing (step S1410). In this case, the web browser 310 erases the content. Note that the Web browser 310 may display an error screen, for example, when the printing is not canceled.

When it is determined in step S1405 that the file format is a format that cannot be printed after downloading, the web browser 310 downloads the file, performs a predetermined process, and then executes printing (step S1411). For example, when the extension is “zip”, the content (file) is decompressed and the decompressed file is printed. However, for example, when the file after decompression is also in a format that cannot be printed (for example, when the extension of the file after decompression is “mp3”, “mp4”, etc.), the Web browser 310 does not print.

When it is determined in step S1404 that the file format is the format to be displayed on the web browser 310, the web browser 310 determines whether the file format is a print format or a non-print format (step S1412). ). Here, examples of the format for printing include file formats with extensions such as “gif” and “png”. Further, examples of the format that is not printed include a file format with an extension such as "html".

When it is determined in step S1412 that the file format is the print format, the web browser 310 downloads and displays the content (file) (step S1413). At this time, the Web browser 310 also displays a print execution button for printing the displayed content on the screen.

Next, the web browser 310 determines whether or not the press of the print execution button included in the screen displayed in step S1413 is accepted (step S1414). At this time, the Web browser 310 may accept the press of the print execution button on the print setting screen for making print settings.

If it is determined in step S1414 that the press of the print execution button has been accepted, the web browser 310 executes printing of the content (step S1415).

When it is not determined in step S1414 that the press of the print execution button has been accepted (for example, when printing has been canceled), the web browser 310 does not execute printing of the content (step S1416). In this case, the web browser 310 erases the content. Note that the Web browser 310 may display an error screen, for example, when the printing is not canceled.

When it is determined in step S1412 that the file format is a non-printing format, the web browser 310 downloads and displays the content (file) (step S1417). At this time, the Web browser 310 does not display the print execution button for printing the displayed content on the screen, unlike step S1413 described above.

(Example 2)
Hereinafter, a process in which the user uses the image processing apparatus 10 to transmit the image data generated by scanning to the mail server 30 by the Web application using a general-purpose HTML will be described with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram showing an example of scanning and mail transmission processing according to this embodiment.

First, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays, for example, the Web page G510 shown in FIG. 16 (step S2101). The web page G510 illustrated in FIG. 16 is displayed by the interpretation unit 314 interpreting the content (HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc.) acquired from the web server 20. Such contents can be obtained by, for example, inputting a URL for displaying the web page G510 or pressing a link to the URL.

The web page G510 shown in FIG. 16 includes a link G511 for sending a mail to the electronic mail address designated as the link destination. Here, it is assumed that the user has pressed the link G511. It is assumed that a document to be scanned is set on the scanner of the image processing apparatus 10.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 receives a press of the link G511 by the user (step S2102). Here, the link G511 included in the Web page G510 shown in FIG. 16 is realized by, for example, an a tag in which the attribute “href” is set as shown in FIG. In the attribute “href” of the a tag shown in FIG. 17, an electronic mail address is designated by the scheme “mail to”. In addition to the above, various attributes may be set in the a tag.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 transmits an interpretation request for the a tag that realizes the link G511 pressed by the user to the interpretation unit 314 (step S2103).

The interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 interprets the a tag that realizes the link G511 (step S2104). That is, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the a tag to specify scanning and mail transmission from the scheme "mail to" specified in the attribute "href" of the a tag.

Next, the interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 transmits a mail transmission notification to the control unit 312 (step S2105). The interpretation unit 314 can perform the mail transmission notification by calling the API of the mail transmission library held inside the Web browser 310 of the operation device 11 or the application, for example. Alternatively, the interpretation unit 314 may notify the mail transmission by calling the mail transmission program (or the mail transmission module or the like) stored in the main body device 12 via the WebAPI, for example. At this time, the e-mail address specified in the attribute “href” is specified as the argument of the API to be called.

Upon receiving the mail transmission notification, the control unit 312 transmits a scan execution request and a mail transmission request to the designated e-mail address to the scan service unit 380 (step S2106). Note that the control unit 312 can call the scan UI application 330 of the scan service unit 380 using, for example, intent.

When the scan execution unit 380 receives the scan execution and mail transmission request from the control unit 312, the scan service unit 380 displays, for example, a scanning screen G320 shown in FIG. 16 (step S1507). The in-scan screen G320 shown in FIG. 16 is displayed by the scan UI application 330. The scanning screen G320 shown in FIG. 16 is displayed, so that the user can know that the document is being scanned.

Next, the scan service unit 380 scans the document set on the scanner to generate image data (step S1508). The scan can be executed by the scan UI application 330 by transmitting a scan request to the scan application 360 via the WebAPI 340. As a result, image data is generated from the original set on the scanner. The image data generated by the scan is stored in, for example, a previously designated storage area in the flash memory 114.

When an error occurs during scanning, the scan application 360 sends a notification indicating that an error has occurred to the scan UI application 330. When the scan UI application 330 receives the notification indicating that an error has occurred, the scan UI application 330 displays, for example, a screen indicating that an error has occurred.

The in-scan screen G320 shown in FIG. 16 includes a cancel button G321. When the cancel button G321 is pressed by the user, the scan UI application 330 transmits a scan request to the scan application 360 via the WebAPI 340. As a result, the scanning of the document is stopped.

Following step S1508, the scan service unit 380 displays, for example, the scan completion and email transmission screen G520 shown in FIG. 16 (step S2107). Then, the scan application 360 of the scan service unit 380 transmits the scan result (for example, the image data generated by the scan or the information indicating the storage destination of the image data) to the mail transmission application 390 of the mail service unit 391.

Upon receiving the scan result, the mail transmission application 390 of the mail service unit 391 sends the image data generated by the scan to the electronic mail address specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag (step S2108). As a result, the image data generated by the scan is mail-transmitted to the specified e-mail address.

A scan button G521 is included in the scan completion and mail transmission screen G520 shown in FIG. When the user presses the cancel button G521, the scan UI application 330 transmits a mail transmission stop request to the mail transmission application 390. As a result, the mail transmission of the image data is stopped.

The scan application 360 transmits a scan result to the mail transmission application 390, and then transmits a mail transmission completion notification to the UI unit 313 (step S2109). Note that the scan application 360 may transmit the mail transmission completion notification to the UI unit 313 after receiving the mail transmission completion notification from the mail transmission application 390 (in this case, the Web application side presupposes the mail transmission completion). Will be able to work as).

Upon receiving the mail transmission completion notification, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays, for example, a mail transmission completion screen G530 shown in FIG. 16 (step S2110). Since the mail transmission completion screen G530 shown in FIG. 16 is displayed, the user can know that the original document has been scanned and the image data generated by the scanning has been completely transmitted by mail.

As described above, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment scans a document with a scanner and generates image data when a user presses a link realized by a tag which is a general-purpose HTML tag. , The generated image data can be sent by mail. As described above, in the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the scan function is realized without using a dedicated HTML tag for realizing the scan function.

Therefore, for example, a developer of a web application provided by the web server 20 develops a web application that realizes an image processing function unique to the image processing apparatus 10 without requiring knowledge such as dedicated Java Script or HTML. be able to.

(Other Example of Example 2 (Part 1))
Next, another example (1) of the scanning process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing another example (No. 1) of the scan processing according to this embodiment. Hereinafter, differences from the second embodiment of FIG. 15 will be described.

Following step S2106, when the scan service unit 380 receives the scan execution and mail transmission request from the control unit 312, the scan service unit 380 displays, for example, the scan setting screen G410 shown in FIG. 19 (step S1801). The scan setting screen G410 shown in FIG. 19 is displayed by the scan UI application 330.

The scan setting screen G410 shown in FIG. 19 includes a scan setting field G411 and a scan execution button G412. In the scan setting field G411, the user can specify various scan settings such as "document type", "resolution", "document setting direction", "document surface", "read size", and "file format". You can Here, it is assumed that the user performs an operation (scan setting operation) for specifying scan settings in the scan setting field G411 and then presses the scan execution button G412.

The scan service unit 380 receives the scan setting operation and the press of the scan execution button G412 by the user (step S1802). The scan setting operation and the pressing of the scan execution button G412 are accepted by the scan UI application 330. As a result, in step S1508, the document is scanned according to the scan settings designated by the user.

FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram showing an example of image processing based on the interpretation of the general-purpose HTML tag according to this embodiment.

In step S1, the UI unit 313 receives a user's press of a link on the Web page.

In step S2, the UI unit 313 requests the interpretation unit 314 to interpret the HTML tag corresponding to the link pressed in S1.

In step S3, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag requested in S2. Specifically, the interpretation unit 314 determines whether or not the attribute “href” of the anchor tag (a tag) starts with “mail to”.

In step S4, when the attribute "href" of the anchor tag (a tag) starts with "mail to" in step S3, the interpretation unit 314 outputs a character string after "mail to" (that is, an email address). Extract.

In step S5, the interpretation unit 314 notifies the control unit 312 of the above-described mail transmission notification.

In step S6, the control unit 312 requests the scan UI application 330 to execute the scan and send the mail. At this time, the control unit 312 gives the e-mail address extracted in S3 as a parameter.

In step S7, the scan UI application 330 requests the scan application 360 to execute the scan. At this time, the control unit 312 gives the e-mail address extracted in S3 as a parameter.

In step S8, the scan application 360 executes the scan requested in S7 to generate image data.

In step S9, the scan application 360 requests the email transmission application 390 to email the image data generated by the scan in step S8.

In step S10, the mail transmission application 390 transmits the mail requested in S9. That is, the mail transmission application 390 mail-transmits the data of the image generated by the scan in S8 to the electronic mail address assigned as the parameter in S6.

If the attribute “href” of the anchor tag (a tag) does not start with “mail to” in step S3, the process described in (Example 1) may be executed. For example, if the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 (for example, if the extension is html, img, pdf, etc.), a display notification is given. .. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 410 (for example, when the extension is zip or the like), a download notification is given. When the control unit 312 receives the download notification, the control unit 312 determines whether the file to be downloaded is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Take control. On the other hand, when the display unit receives the display notification, the control unit 312 determines whether or not the file to be displayed is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Control.

Next, an example of the operation of the web browser 310 at the time of executing the scan and mail transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the web browser 310 when executing the scan and mail transmission processing.

First, the web browser 310 acquires content (web page) from the web server 20 and displays a screen including a link, as described in step S2101 of FIG. 15 (step S2401).

Next, the web browser 310 receives the user's pressing of the link, as described in step S2102 of FIG. 15 (step S2402). When the web browser 310 receives the press of the link, the web browser 310 detects a predetermined tag (a tag) related to the mail transmission (step S2403). When the Web browser 310 detects the a tag, the Web browser 310 sends a mail transmission notification as described in step S2105 of FIG. 15 (step S2404).

Next, the Web browser 310 performs the scan execution and the mail transmission request as described in step S2106 of FIG. 15 (step S2405).

After that, as described in step S1508 of FIG. 15, the scan application 360 executes a scan to generate image data. Then, as described in step S2108 of FIG. 15, the mail transmission application 390 transmits the image data generated by the scan by mail (step S2406).

<Example of anchor tag>
The following is an example of an anchor tag (a tag) that can be used in scanning and email transmission processing.

Example 1 <a href="mailto:aaa@bb.cc?subject=test title"> Email </a>
Example 2 <a href="mailto:aaa@bb.cc?cc=ddd@ee.ff"> Email </a>
Example 3 <a href="mailto:aaa@bb.cc?bcc=ggg@hh.ii"> Email </a>
Example 4 <a href="mailto:aaa@bb.cc?body=test body"> Email </a>
In an embodiment of the present invention, a subject is set for a mail (in the case of Example 1), an e-mail address of cc (carbon copy) is set (in the case of Example 2), an electronic mail of bcc (blind carbon copy) is set. An anchor tag (a tag) that sets a mail address (in the case of Example 3) or sets a body (in the case of Example 4) may be used. Examples 1 to 4 may be used alone or in combination.

<Other software configuration example>
Next, another example of the software configuration of the image processing device 10 and the information processing device 40 included in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing another example of the software configuration of the image processing system 1 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 22, the operation device 11 of the image processing device 10 according to the present embodiment has an operation unit API application 400 instead of the print UI application 320, the scan UI application 330, and the mail UI application 392. Is also good.

The operation unit API application 400 is an application program that provides a UI related to image processing such as printing and scanning. The operation unit API application 400 has the same function as an application that provides a UI related to image processing, such as a print UI application 320, a scan UI application 330, and a mail UI application 392.

Therefore, in the case of the software configuration shown in FIG. 22, the print UI application 320, the scan UI application 330, and the mail UI application 392 in the first and second embodiments described above may be read as the operation unit API application 400. By using the operation unit API application 400, it is possible to uniformly provide UIs relating to various image processes such as printing and scanning.

In addition, the operation unit API application 400 includes an API group for developing an application that provides a UI related to image processing by a third vendor or the like. By using the API group of the operation unit API application 400, a third vendor or the like can easily develop an application that provides a UI related to an image without requiring knowledge about the specifications of the WebAPI 340. That is, the operation unit API application 400 can also be referred to as an application program that provides an API group wrapping the WebAPI 340 to a third vendor or the like.

In the software configuration shown in FIG. 22, the operation device 11 has the operation unit API application 400 instead of the print UI application 320, the scan UI application 330, and the mail UI application 392. Not limited to The operation device 11 may include an operation unit API application 400 in addition to the print UI application 320, the scan UI application 330, and the mail UI application 392.

One embodiment of the present invention can be used, for example, when a customer receives an inquiry by e-mail from a home page of a store or the like. When it is desired to put handwritten information in an inquiry, conventionally, it was necessary to digitize the handwritten information and attach it to a mail, but in the embodiment of the present invention, the handwritten information should be Can be scanned and attached to an email.

<Embodiment 2>
BACKGROUND ART In an image processing apparatus such as a multi-function peripheral (MFP), a technique for realizing various image processing functions such as printing and scanning by using a web application running on a web browser has been conventionally known (for example, See Patent Document 1).

By the way, the various image processing functions such as printing and scanning as described above are functions peculiar to the image processing apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral. In a Web application that realizes such a function unique to an image processing apparatus, it is necessary to describe HTML (HyperText Markup Language) using Java Script (registered trademark) dedicated to the image processing apparatus.

On the other hand, Web applications used by information processing devices such as smartphones, tablet terminals, and PCs (personal computers) are described in general-purpose HTML. A general-purpose HTML does not have an HTML tag or the like for realizing the above-described functions peculiar to the image processing apparatus such as printing and scanning.

For this reason, it is difficult for a general-purpose Web application using HTML to realize functions unique to the image processing apparatus, such as printing and scanning.

The embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to realize a function peculiar to an image processing apparatus by using a general-purpose HTML.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to realize a function peculiar to an image processing apparatus by using a general-purpose HTML.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Overall configuration example>
First, the overall configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 23, the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes one or more image processing apparatuses 10, one or more Web servers 20, one or more fax receivers 30, and an information processing apparatus 40. Is included. The image processing apparatus 10 and the Web server 20 are communicably connected via a wide area network N such as the Internet. Further, the image processing apparatus 10 and the fax receiver 30 are communicably connected via a network N such as a telephone line or the Internet.

The image processing apparatus 10 is an electronic device such as a multi-function peripheral equipped with a web browser. The user of the image processing apparatus 10 uses the Web application provided by the Web server 20 to print, for example, electronic data downloaded from the Web server 20 or fax image data generated by scanning to the fax receiver 30. You can

The web server 20 is a computer or a computer system that provides a web application using general-purpose HTML via the network N. The general-purpose HTML is HTML5 or HTML 5.1 defined by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Further, general-purpose is a general-purpose Web browser, unlike content (extended contents such as extended HTML and extended Javascript) defined so that it can be interpreted and processed only by a device such as an image processing device. For example, it refers to content that can be interpreted and processed regardless of the type of device. The general-purpose HTML can be used in a personal terminal such as a PC, a mobile terminal, and a smartphone, and is commonly used in general web servers and web applications.

Various web services are realized by providing a web application by the web server 20. Examples of such Web services include cloud storage services, SNS (Social Networking Services), cloud print services, blog services, bulletin board services, online game services, online shopping services, and the like.

The fax receiver 30 is a device (also called a facsimile or FAX) that receives image data faxed by the image processing apparatus 10 via a network N such as a telephone line or the Internet. The fax receiver 30 is not limited to a fax using a telephone line, but may be an internet fax using the internet.

The information processing device 40 is a PC (personal computer) equipped with a web browser, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like.

The configuration of the image processing system 1 shown in FIG. 23 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, the image processing apparatus 10 is not limited to the multi-function peripheral, and may be, for example, a digital camera, a printing device, a scanner device, a copying machine, a projector, a facsimile, an electronic conference terminal, an electronic blackboard device, or the like. That is, the image processing apparatus 10 may be any electronic device that inputs and/or outputs data with the Web server 20. Further, for example, the image processing system 1 may not include the information processing device 40.

<Example of Hardware Configuration of Image Processing Device 10>
The hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is the same as that of <Embodiment 1>, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

<Hierarchical Structure of Software Group of Image Processing Device 10>
The hierarchical structure of the software group included in the operating device 11 and the main body device 12 of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is the same as that in <Embodiment 1>, and therefore description thereof is omitted.

<Example of Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Device 40>
The hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 40 according to the present embodiment is the same as that in <Embodiment 1>, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

<Software configuration example>
Next, the software configurations of the image processing device 10 and the information processing device 40 included in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

<<Image processing device 10>>
As illustrated in FIG. 24, the operation device 11 of the image processing device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a web browser 310, a print UI application 320, and a scan UI application 330. The Web browser 310, the print UI application 320, and the scan UI application 330 are executed by the CPU 111.

Further, the main body device 12 of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a WebAPI 340, a print application 350, a scan application 360, and a fax transmission application 390. The Web API 340, print application 350, scan application 360, and fax transmission application 390 are executed by the CPU 121.

The web browser 310 realizes a web application by acquiring web contents (eg, HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Javascript, various electronic files, etc.) from the web server 20.

For example, the web browser 310 realizes a web application for browsing the SNS, sharing files on the SNS, and the like by acquiring the web content from the web server 20 that provides the SNS. Further, for example, the web browser 310 realizes a web application that browses the storage, uploads a file to the storage, and the like by acquiring the web content from the web server 20 that provides the cloud storage service.

Note that the web application is generally realized by causing content such as Javascript acquired from the web server 20 to operate on the web browser 310 and executing processing in cooperation with the web server 20.

The web browser 310 includes a browser function unit 311 and a control unit 312. Note that, hereinafter, the Web content will be simply referred to as “content”.

The browser function unit 311 interprets and displays content. The browser function unit 311 includes a UI unit 313 and an interpretation unit 314. When a link is pressed on the Web page displayed by the UI unit 313, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag corresponding to the link and notifies the control unit 312 of the result of the interpretation.

The UI unit 313 displays a web page or the like according to the content acquired from the web server 20. The UI unit 313 also receives various operations (for example, pressing a link) by the user on the Web page. The browser function unit 311 can be realized using, for example, WebView.

The control unit 312 controls to execute the image processing function of the image processing apparatus 10 in response to the notification from the interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311. For example, when a download notification indicating that the linked content is downloaded from the Web server 20 is received from the interpretation unit 314, the control unit 312 controls to download and print the content. Further, for example, even when the display notification indicating that the linked content is displayed is received from the interpretation unit 314, if the content is in a predetermined format (for example, JPEG format), the control unit 312 Control to download and print the content.

Since the web browser 310 includes a browser function unit 311 that realizes a web application and a control unit 312 that controls the image processing function of the image processing apparatus 10, it can be called a so-called hybrid application. The web browser 310 is implemented in a programming language such as Java (registered trademark), for example. That is, the basic part of the browser application that constitutes the Web browser 310 is composed of a Java application program. This Java application uses the API provided by the operation device 11 to call the browser function unit 311 (for example, WebView) included in the operation device 11 to configure the Web browser 310 including the interpretation unit 314 and the UI unit 313. ing. The Java application program, which is the basic part, includes a control unit 312, and the control unit 312 controls the operation so that the operation after Web content interpretation has flexibility, and operations that can be performed by a general-purpose HTML (download and Not only uploading but also image processing (printing, scanning, faxing) operations can be requested.

The print UI application 320 is an application program that provides a UI (user interface) related to printing. The print UI application 320 displays, for example, a screen indicating that printing is being executed, a screen indicating that printing has been completed, and the like.

In addition, the print UI application 320 requests the print application 350 to execute printing via the WebAPI 340 in response to a request from the control unit 312.

The scan UI application 330 is an application program that provides a UI related to scanning. The scan UI application 330 displays, for example, a screen indicating that scanning is in progress, a screen indicating that scanning has been completed, a screen indicating that fax transmission of image data generated by scanning is in progress, or that fax transmission has been completed. The screen shown is displayed.

In addition, the scan UI application 330 requests the scan application 360 to execute scan and fax transmission of image data generated by the scan via the WebAPI 340 in response to a request from the control unit 312.

The WebAPI 340 is an API (Application Programming Interface) for the print UI application 320 and the scan UI application 330 to request execution of image processing.

The print application 350 controls the image processing engine 125 to execute printing in response to a request from the print UI application 320.

The scan application 360 controls the image processing engine 125 to execute a scan in response to a request from the scan UI application 330. Further, the scan application 360 requests the fax transmission application 390 to fax the image data generated by scanning.

The fax transmission application 390 controls the image processing engine 125 in response to a request from the scan application 360 to execute fax transmission.

Hereinafter, the print UI application 320, the web API 340, and the print application 350 will be referred to as a “print service unit 370”. Further, the scan UI application 330, the WebAPI 340, the scan application 360, and the fax transmission application 390 are referred to as a “scan service unit 380”.

The operation device 11 may include, for example, an application that provides a UI related to copying, an application that provides a UI related to FAX, an application that provides a UI related to OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and the like. Further, the main body device 12 may include, for example, an application that executes copying, an application that executes FAX, an application that realizes OCR, and the like. Therefore, the image processing apparatus 10 may include various image processing service units such as a copy service unit, a FAX service unit, and an OCR service.

In addition to the image processing service unit, the image processing device 10 includes, for example, an address book service unit that executes a process related to an address book held by the image processing device 10, and an authentication for a user to use the image processing device 10. An authentication service unit and the like for executing the processing regarding are included.

<<Information processing device 40>>
As shown in FIG. 24, the information processing device 40 according to the present embodiment has a web browser 410. The web browser 410 is executed by the CPU 36.

The web browser 410 includes a UI unit 411 and an interpretation unit 412. The UI unit 411 displays a web page or the like according to the content acquired from the web server 20. Further, the UI unit 411 receives various operations (for example, pressing a link) performed by the user on the web page.

When a link is pressed on the Web page displayed by the UI unit 411, the interpretation unit 412 interprets the HTML corresponding to the link and notifies the UI unit 411 of the result of the interpretation.

<Operation Comparison of Image Processing Device 10 and Information Processing Device 40>
The UI unit 411 of the Web browser 410 installed in the information processing apparatus 40 receives the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the Web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 412 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the UI unit 411 of a notification (display notification or download) according to the interpretation result. Notification). For example, if the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 (for example, if the extension is html, img, pdf, etc.), a display notification is given. .. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 410 (for example, when the extension is zip or the like), a download notification is given. However, for example, even when the extension of the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is the extension of the file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 such as pdf, the attribute “download” is specified. Will be a download notification.

Then, when the UI unit 411 of the Web browser 410 receives the display notification, the UI unit 411 displays the file. On the other hand, when the UI unit 411 of the web browser 410 receives the download notification, the UI unit 411 displays, for example, a screen for downloading the file (for example, a screen for the user to select start or cancel of the download).

On the other hand, the UI unit 313 of the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 accepts the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the control unit 312 of a notification (display notification or download) according to the interpretation result. )I do. This is similar to the case of the information processing device 40, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 310 (for example, the extension is html, img, pdf, etc.). If it is), it is a display notification. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 310 (for example, when the extension is zip or the like), a download notification is given.

When the control unit 312 receives the download notification, the control unit 312 determines whether the file to be downloaded is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Take control. On the other hand, when the display unit receives the display notification, the control unit 312 determines whether or not the file to be displayed is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Control.

As described above, the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 is configured to print the file when the file that is interpreted as the download target or the display target by the web browser 410 of the information processing device 40 can be printed. Take control. As a result, the image processing apparatus 10 can download and print the content by the Web application using the general-purpose HTML.

The UI unit 411 of the web browser 410 installed in the information processing device 40 receives the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 412 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the UI unit 411 of a notification according to the interpretation result (telephone call notification). I do. This telephone call notification is a notification to call the telephone number specified by the scheme "tel" in the attribute "href" of the a tag.

Then, when the UI unit 411 of the Web browser 410 receives the telephone call notification, the UI unit 411 executes processing to call the designated telephone number.

On the other hand, the UI unit 313 of the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 accepts the link pressing operation when the user presses the link on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed, and notifies the control unit 312 of a notification according to the interpretation result (fax transmission notification). I do. This fax transmission notification is a notification for faxing the image data generated by scanning to the telephone number specified by the scheme "tel" in the attribute "href" of the a tag.

When the control unit 312 receives the fax transmission notification, the control unit 312 controls to generate the image data by scanning, and then faxes the generated image data to the designated telephone number.

In this way, the web browser 310 installed in the image processing apparatus 10 faxes the image data generated by scanning to the telephone number that is interpreted as the destination of the call by the web browser 410 of the information processing apparatus 40. As a result, the image processing apparatus 10 can perform image data generation and fax transmission by a Web application using general-purpose HTML.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of the processing of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Example 1)
Example 1 is similar to <Embodiment 1>, and therefore its description is omitted.

(Example 2)
Hereinafter, a process in which the user uses the image processing apparatus 10 to transmit the image data generated by scanning to the fax receiver 30 by the Web application using the general-purpose HTML will be described with reference to FIG. 25. FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the scan and fax transmission processing according to this embodiment.

First, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays, for example, the web page G510 shown in FIG. 26 (step S2101). The web page G510 shown in FIG. 26 is displayed by the interpretation unit 314 interpreting the content (HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc.) acquired from the web server 20. Such contents can be obtained by, for example, inputting a URL for displaying the web page G510 or pressing a link to the URL.

The Web page G510 shown in FIG. 26 includes a link G511 for transmitting a fax to the telephone number designated as the link destination. Here, it is assumed that the user has pressed the link G511. It is assumed that a document to be scanned is set on the scanner of the image processing apparatus 10.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 receives a press of the link G511 by the user (step S2102). Here, the link G511 included in the web page G510 shown in FIG. 26 is realized by, for example, an a tag in which the attribute “href” is set, as shown in FIG. The telephone number is specified by the scheme "tel" in the attribute "href" of the a tag shown in FIG. In addition to the above, various attributes may be set in the a tag.

The UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 transmits an interpretation request for the a tag that realizes the link G511 pressed by the user to the interpretation unit 314 (step S2103).

The interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 interprets the a tag that realizes the link G511 (step S2104). That is, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the a tag to specify the scan and fax transmission from the scheme “tel” specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag.

Next, the interpretation unit 314 of the browser function unit 311 transmits a fax transmission notification to the control unit 312 (step S2105). The interpretation unit 314 can issue a fax transmission notification by, for example, calling the API of the fax transmission library held inside the Web browser 310 of the operation device 11 or the application. Alternatively, the interpretation unit 314 may perform the fax transmission notification by calling the fax transmission program (or the fax transmission module or the like) held by the main body device 12 via the WebAPI, for example. At this time, the telephone number specified in the attribute “href” is specified as the argument of the API to be called.

Upon receiving the fax transmission notification, the control unit 312 transmits a scan execution request and a fax transmission request to the designated telephone number to the scan service unit 380 (step S2106). Note that the control unit 312 can call the scan UI application 330 of the scan service unit 380 using, for example, intent.

When the scan service unit 380 receives the scan execution and fax transmission request from the control unit 312, the scan service unit 380 displays the in-scan screen G320 shown in FIG. 26, for example (step S1507). The scanning screen G320 shown in FIG. 26 is displayed by the scan UI application 330. By displaying the scanning screen G320 shown in FIG. 26, the user can know that the document is being scanned.

Next, the scan service unit 380 scans the document set on the scanner to generate image data (step S1508). The scan can be executed by the scan UI application 330 by transmitting a scan request to the scan application 360 via the WebAPI 340. As a result, image data is generated from the original set on the scanner. The image data generated by the scan is stored in, for example, a previously designated storage area in the flash memory 114.

When an error occurs during scanning, the scan application 360 sends a notification indicating that an error has occurred to the scan UI application 330. When the scan UI application 330 receives the notification indicating that an error has occurred, the scan UI application 330 displays, for example, a screen indicating that an error has occurred.

The in-scan screen G320 shown in FIG. 26 includes a cancel button G321. When the cancel button G321 is pressed by the user, the scan UI application 330 transmits a scan request to the scan application 360 via the WebAPI 340. As a result, the scanning of the document is stopped.

Following step S1508, the scan service unit 380 displays the scan completion and fax transmission screen G520 shown in FIG. 26, for example (step S2107). Then, the scan application 360 of the scan service unit 380 transmits the scan result (for example, the image data generated by the scan or information indicating the storage destination of the image data) to the fax transmission application 390.

Upon receiving the scan result, the fax transmission application 390 faxes the image data generated by the scan to the telephone number specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag (step S2108). As a result, the image data generated by scanning is faxed to the specified telephone number. Note that the fax transmission application 390 may use a transmission line selected from a plurality of transmission lines for fax transmission (for example, a telephone line, the Internet, etc.).

The scan completion and fax transmission screen G520 shown in FIG. 26 includes a cancel button G521. When the user presses the cancel button G521, the scan UI application 330 transmits a fax transmission stop request to the fax transmission application 390. As a result, the fax transmission of the image data is stopped.

When the fax transmission is completed, the fax transmission application 390 transmits a fax transmission completion notification to the UI unit 313 (step S2109).

Upon receiving the fax transmission completion notification, the UI unit 313 of the browser function unit 311 displays the fax transmission completion screen G530 shown in FIG. 26, for example (step S2110). By displaying the fax transmission completion screen G530 shown in FIG. 26, the user can know that the original document has been scanned and the fax transmission of the image data generated by the scanning has been completed. The image processing apparatus 10 can also record a fax transmission history of image data generated by scanning and print it on paper.

As described above, the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment scans a document with a scanner and generates image data when a user presses a link realized by a tag which is a general-purpose HTML tag. The generated image data can be faxed. As described above, in the image processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the scan function is realized without using a dedicated HTML tag for realizing the scan function.

Therefore, for example, a developer of a web application provided by the web server 20 develops a web application that realizes an image processing function unique to the image processing apparatus 10 without requiring knowledge such as dedicated Java Script or HTML. be able to.

(Other Example of Example 2 (Part 1))
Next, another example (1) of the scan processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram showing another example (No. 1) of the scan processing according to this embodiment. Hereinafter, differences from the second embodiment of FIG. 25 will be described.

Following step S2106, when the scan service unit 380 receives the scan execution and fax transmission request from the browser function unit 311, the scan service unit 380 displays, for example, the scan setting screen G410 shown in FIG. 29 (step S1801). The scan setting screen G410 shown in FIG. 29 is displayed by the scan UI application 330.

The scan setting screen G410 shown in FIG. 29 includes a scan setting field G411 and a scan execution button G412. In the scan setting field G411, the user can specify various scan settings such as "document type", "resolution", "document setting direction", "document surface", "read size", and "file format". You can Here, it is assumed that the user performs an operation (scan setting operation) for specifying scan settings in the scan setting field G411 and then presses the scan execution button G412.

The scan service unit 380 receives the scan setting operation and the press of the scan execution button G412 by the user (step S1802). The scan setting operation and the pressing of the scan execution button G412 are accepted by the scan UI application 330. As a result, in step S1508, the document is scanned according to the scan settings designated by the user.

FIG. 30 is a sequence diagram showing an example of image processing based on the interpretation of the general-purpose HTML tag according to this embodiment.

In step S1, the UI unit 313 receives a user's press of a link on the Web page.

In step S2, the UI unit 313 requests the interpretation unit 314 to interpret the HTML tag corresponding to the link pressed in S1.

In step S3, the interpretation unit 314 interprets the HTML tag requested in S2. Specifically, the interpretation unit 314 determines whether or not the attribute “href” of the anchor tag (a tag) starts with “tel”.

In step S4, if the attribute "href" of the anchor tag (a tag) starts with "tel" in step S3, the interpretation unit 314 extracts a character string after "tel" (that is, a telephone number).

In step S5, the interpretation unit 314 notifies the control unit 312 of the above fax transmission notification.

In step S6, the control unit 312 requests the scan UI application 330 to perform scan and fax transmission. At this time, the control unit 312 gives the telephone number extracted in S3 as a parameter.

In step S7, the scan UI application 330 requests the scan application 360 to execute the scan. At this time, the control unit 312 gives the telephone number extracted in S3 as a parameter.

In step S8, the scan application 360 executes the scan requested in S7 to generate image data.

In step S9, the scan application 360 requests the fax transmission application 390 to fax the image data generated by scanning in step S8.

In step S10, the fax transmission application 390 performs the fax transmission requested in step S9. That is, the fax transmission application 390 faxes the image data generated by scanning in S8 to the telephone number assigned as a parameter in S6.

If the attribute "href" of the anchor tag (a tag) does not start with "tel" in step S3, the process described in the first embodiment may be executed. For example, if the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 (for example, if the extension is html, img, pdf, etc.), a display notification is given. .. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 410 (for example, when the extension is zip or the like), a download notification is given. When the control unit 312 receives the download notification, the control unit 312 determines whether the file to be downloaded is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Take control. On the other hand, when the display unit receives the display notification, the control unit 312 determines whether or not the file to be displayed is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Control.

Next, an example of the operation of the Web browser 310 when executing the scan and fax transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the web browser 310 when executing the scan and fax transmission processing.

First, the web browser 310 acquires content (web page) from the web server 20 and displays a screen including a link, as described in step S2101 of FIG. 25 (step S2401).

Next, the web browser 310 receives the user's pressing of the link, as described in step S2102 of FIG. 25 (step S2402). Upon receiving the press of the link, the web browser 310 detects a predetermined tag (a tag) relating to the telephone call (step S2403). When the Web browser 310 detects the tag a, it sends a fax transmission notification as described in step S2105 of FIG. 25 (step S2404).

Next, the Web browser 310 makes a scan execution request and a fax transmission request as described in step S2106 of FIG. 25 (step S2405).

After that, as described in step S1508 of FIG. 25, the scan application 360 executes the scan to generate the image data. Then, as described in step S2108 of FIG. 25, the fax transmission application 390 faxes the image data generated by scanning (step S2406).

<Other software configuration example>
Next, another example of the software configuration of the image processing device 10 and the information processing device 40 included in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 32 is a diagram showing another example of the software configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 32, the operation device 11 of the image processing device 10 according to the present embodiment may include an operation unit API application 400 instead of the print UI application 320 and the scan UI application 330.

The operation unit API application 400 is an application program that provides a UI related to image processing such as printing and scanning. The operation unit API application 400 has the same function as an application that provides a UI related to image processing, such as the print UI application 320 and the scan UI application 330.

Therefore, in the case of the software configuration shown in FIG. 32, the print UI application 320 and the scan UI application 330 in the first and second embodiments described above may be read as the operation unit API application 400. By using the operation unit API application 400, it is possible to uniformly provide UIs relating to various image processes such as printing and scanning.

In addition, the operation unit API application 400 includes an API group for developing an application that provides a UI related to image processing by a third vendor or the like. By using the API group of the operation unit API application 400, a third vendor or the like can easily develop an application that provides a UI related to an image without requiring knowledge about the specifications of the WebAPI 340. That is, the operation unit API application 400 can also be referred to as an application program that provides an API group wrapping the WebAPI 340 to a third vendor or the like.

Note that the software configuration illustrated in FIG. 32 illustrates the configuration in which the operation device 11 includes the operation unit API application 400 instead of the print UI application 320 and the scan UI application 330, but the configuration is not limited to this. The operation device 11 may include an operation unit API application 400 in addition to the print UI application 320 and the scan UI application 330.

One embodiment of the present invention can be used in the following scenes, for example. From the operating device 11 of the image processing apparatus 10 to easily scan and send a fax to the fax number published when the Web application of the store site or the like is opened by the web browser 310 of the operating device 11 of the image processing apparatus 10 such as an MFP. can do. Further, the work of faxing the quotation to the fax number posted on the Web page of the supplier becomes simple. As a result, for example, even when a web page created without being aware of job execution in the image processing apparatus 10 such as an MFP is displayed on the web browser 310 of the operation device 11 of the image processing apparatus 10, the user can easily execute the job. Can be instructed to execute. Further, the developer of the Web page can cooperate with the image processing apparatus 10 and the Web page (Web application) without creating a dedicated Web page for causing the image processing apparatus 10 such as the MFP to execute the job.

<Embodiment 3>
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a web browser is installed on an operation panel, and a technique for displaying content and the like received from a web server is known. Here, the MFP is a multifunction peripheral having at least two functions of a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a fax function.

A technique for realizing various image forming functions such as printing and scanning by using a Web application operating on the Web browser as the MFP having the Web browser installed on the operation panel is disclosed.

However, in order to realize various image forming functions such as printing and scanning by using a web application that operates on a web browser, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is used by using Javascript (registered trademark) peculiar to the image forming function. ) Must be described. In this case, if the scan and print functions are called without describing the HTML specific to the image forming function in the Web application, the scan and print UIs (User Interfaces) are individually activated. Therefore, there is a problem that the scan and print settings must be set in each UI, and the scan and print operations cannot be continuously executed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an image forming apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing method, and an image processing apparatus capable of executing a scanning operation and a printing operation in a series of operations by setting a job only once. The purpose is to provide the program.

According to the present invention, it is possible to execute the scanning operation and the printing operation in a series of operations by setting the job only once.

Embodiments of an image forming apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and constituent elements in the following embodiments include those that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art, those that are substantially the same, and those that are within a so-called equivalent range Is included. Furthermore, various omissions, replacements, changes and combinations of the constituent elements can be made without departing from the scope of the following embodiments.

(Structure of image processing system)
FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image processing system according to the embodiment. The configuration of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 33, the image processing system 1 according to this embodiment includes one or more MFPs (MFPs 10a, 10b,...) And a web server 20 (one example of a first server and a second server). Including. Although MFPs 10a, 10b,... Are shown in FIG. 33, they are simply referred to as “MFP10” when any communication terminal among them is shown or collectively referred to. Further, the MFP 10 and the Web server 20 can communicate with each other via a wide area network N such as the Internet. The network N may include not only a wired network but also a wireless network.

The MFP 10 is an image forming apparatus in which a web browser is installed. The user of the MFP 10 uses a web application provided by the web server 20 to upload image data generated by scanning to the web server 20 and print the image data downloaded from the web server 20, for example. You can

The web server 20 is an information processing device or an information processing system that provides a web application using general-purpose HTML to the MFP 10 via the network N. Here, the general-purpose HTML is HTML5 or HTML5.1 defined by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Further, general-purpose is different from general-purpose Web unlike, for example, contents (extended contents such as extended HTML and extended JavaScript (registered trademark)) defined so that it can be interpreted only by a device such as an image forming apparatus. Indicates that the content can be interpreted by any browser regardless of device type.

Various web services are realized by providing a web application by the web server 20. Examples of such a Web service include a cloud storage service, an SNS (Social Networking Service), a cloud print service, a blog service, a bulletin board service, an online game service, an online shopping service, and the like.

Note that the configuration of the image processing system 1 shown in FIG. 33 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, the image processing system 1 may include an image processing device other than the MFP 10. The web server 20 has a function of providing a web application to the MFP 10 and performing image processing on an image read by a scanner transmitted from the MFP 10 as described later. May be performed by a server (an example of a second server) different from the web server 20 (first server).

(MFP hardware configuration)
FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the MFP according to the embodiment. The hardware configuration of the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 34.

As shown in FIG. 34, the MFP 10 includes an operation unit 11 that receives a user operation, and a main body 12 that implements various image forming functions such as a scanner function and a printer function. Here, accepting a user's operation is a concept including accepting information (including a signal indicating a coordinate value of a screen) input according to the user's operation.

The operation unit 11 and the main body 12 are communicably connected to each other via a dedicated communication path 13. The communication path 13 can use, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard, but the communication path 13 is not limited to this, and may be any standard regardless of whether it is wired or wireless. The main body 12 performs an operation according to the operation received by the operation unit 11. Further, the main body 12 can communicate with an external device and can also perform an operation according to an instruction received from the external device.

<Hardware configuration of operation unit>
As shown in FIG. 34, the operation unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 113, a flash memory 114, an operation panel 115, and a connection. The I/F 116, the communication I/F 117, and the bus 118 are provided.

The CPU 111 is an arithmetic device that controls the operation of the operation unit 11 as a whole. The CPU 111 controls the overall operation of the operation unit 11 by executing a program stored in the ROM 112, the flash memory 114, or the like, using the RAM 113 as a work area (work area). For example, the CPU 111 realizes various functions such as displaying information (image) corresponding to the input received from the user on the operation panel 115.

The ROM 112 is a non-volatile memory that stores, for example, a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) executed when the operation unit 111 is activated, and various settings. The RAM 113 is a volatile memory used as a work area or the like of the CPU 111. The flash memory 114 is, for example, a non-volatile storage device that stores an OS (Operating System), application programs, various data, and the like.

The operation panel 115 receives various inputs according to the user's operation, and displays various information (for example, information according to the received operation, information indicating the operation status of the MFP 10, setting information, etc.). It is a device having a function and a display function. The operation panel 115 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display) having a touch panel function. The operation panel 115 is not limited to the liquid crystal display device, and may be configured of, for example, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display device having a touch panel function. The operation panel 115 may be provided with an operation unit such as a hardware key or a display unit such as a lamp, in addition to or instead of the touch panel function.

The connection I/F 116 is an interface for communicating with the main body 12 via the communication path 13.

The communication I/F 117 is a network interface for connecting the operation unit 11 to the network N and performing communication with an external device connected to the network N. The communication I/F 117 is, for example, an interface that is compatible with Ethernet (registered trademark) and that can perform communication based on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)/IP (Internet Protocol) and the like.

The bus 118 is a transmission line that connects the above-described components to each other and transmits an address signal, a data signal, various control signals, and the like.

Note that the hardware configuration of the operation unit 11 illustrated in FIG. 34 is an example, and may include components other than the components illustrated in FIG. 34.

<Hardware configuration of the main unit>
As shown in FIG. 34, the main body 12 includes a CPU 121, a ROM 122, a RAM 123, a storage 124, a scanner engine 125, a printer engine 126, a connection I/F 127, a communication I/F 128, and a bus 129. Is equipped with.

The CPU 121 is an arithmetic unit that totally controls the operation of the main body 12. The CPU 121 controls the overall operation of the main body 12 by executing a program stored in the ROM 122, the storage 124, or the like, using the RAM 123 as a work area (work area). For example, the CPU 121 realizes various functions such as a copy function, a scanner function, a fax function, and a printer function.

The ROM 122 is, for example, a non-volatile memory that stores a BIOS executed when the main body 12 is started up, various settings, and the like. The RAM 123 is a volatile memory used as a work area or the like of the CPU 121. The storage 124 is, for example, a non-volatile storage device that stores an OS, application programs, various data, and the like. The storage 124 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive).

The scanner engine 125 is hardware that performs processing other than general-purpose information processing and communication for realizing a scanner function of scanning an original document as an image among the image forming functions. The printer engine 126 is hardware that performs general-purpose information processing and processing other than communication for realizing a printer function of performing printing on a print medium such as paper among the image forming functions.

The connection I/F 127 is an interface for communicating with the operation unit 11 via the communication path 13.

The communication I/F 128 is a network interface for connecting the main body 12 to the network N and performing communication with an external device connected to the network N. The communication I/F 128 is, for example, an interface that supports Ethernet and is capable of communication based on TCP/IP or the like.

The bus 129 is a transmission line that connects the above-described components to each other and transmits an address signal, a data signal, various control signals, and the like.

The hardware configuration of the main body 12 shown in FIG. 34 is an example, and may include components other than the components shown in FIG. 34. For example, a specific option such as a finisher for sorting printed print media or an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) for automatically feeding an original may be included.

(Web server hardware configuration)
FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the Web server according to the embodiment. The hardware configuration of the Web server 20 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 35.

As shown in FIG. 35, the web server 20 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an auxiliary storage device 205, a media drive 207, a display 208, a network I/F 209, a keyboard 211, a mouse 212, and A DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) drive 214 is provided.

The CPU 201 is an arithmetic device that controls the operation of the entire Web server 20. The ROM 202 is a non-volatile storage device that stores a program for the Web server 20. The RAM 203 is a volatile storage device used as a work area of the CPU 201.

The auxiliary storage device 205 is a storage device such as an HDD or an SSD that stores an image or the like read by the MFP 10 with a scan function. The media drive 207 is a device that controls reading and writing of data with respect to the recording medium 206 such as a flash memory under the control of the CPU 201.

The display 208 is a display device composed of a liquid crystal or an organic EL that displays various information such as a cursor, a menu, a window, characters and images.

The network I/F 209 is an interface for communicating data with an external device such as the MFP 10 using the network N. The network I/F 209 is, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like that is compatible with Ethernet and is capable of communication based on TCP/IP or the like.

The keyboard 211 is an input device that selects characters, numbers, various instructions, and moves a cursor. The mouse 212 is an input device for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, and the like.

The DVD drive 214 is a device such as a DVD-ROM or a DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disk Recordable), which is an example of a removable storage medium, and controls reading and writing of data with respect to the DVD 213.

The CPU 201, ROM 202, RAM 203, auxiliary storage device 205, media drive 207, display 208, network I/F 209, keyboard 211, mouse 212, and DVD drive 214 described above can communicate with each other via a bus line 210 such as an address bus and a data bus. It is connected to the.

Note that the hardware configuration of the Web server 20 illustrated in FIG. 35 is an example, and it is not necessary to include all the components illustrated in FIG. 35, or the other components may be included.

(Hierarchical structure of MFP software)
FIG. 36 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of software of the MFP according to the embodiment. The hierarchical structure of software of the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 36, the main body 12 of the MFP 10 includes an application layer 321, a service layer 322, and an OS layer 323. The substance of the application layer 321, the service layer 322, and the OS layer 323 is various software stored in the ROM 122, the storage 124, or the like. Various functions of the main body 12 are provided by the CPU 121 executing these software (programs).

The application layer 321 is application software (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as “app”) for operating hardware resources and providing a predetermined function. Examples of the application include a copy application for providing a copy function, a scanner application for providing a scanner function, a fax application for providing a fax function, and a printer application for providing a printer function.

The service layer 322 is software that is interposed between the application layer 321 and the OS layer 323, and provides an application for the application layer 321 with an interface for using the hardware resources included in the main body 12. Specifically, the service layer 322 provides a function of receiving an operation request for a hardware resource and arbitrating the operation request. The operation request received by the service layer 322 includes a request for reading by a scanner and a print for a plotter. The interface function of the service layer 322 is provided not only to the application layer 321 of the main body 12 but also to the application layer 311 of the operation unit 11. That is, the application layer 311 of the operation unit 11 also realizes a function using the hardware resources of the main body 12 (for example, the scanner engine 125 and the printer engine 126) via the interface function of the service layer 322 of the main body 12. You can

The OS layer 323 is basic software (operating system) for providing a basic function of controlling the hardware included in the main body 12. The service layer 322 converts requests for using hardware resources from various applications into commands that can be interpreted by the OS layer 323, and passes the commands to the OS layer 323. When the OS layer 323 executes the command, the hardware resource operates according to the request of the application.

As shown in FIG. 36, the operation unit 11 of the MFP 10 includes an application layer 311, a service layer 312, and an OS layer 313. The application layer 311, the service layer 312, and the OS layer 313 included in the operation unit 11 have the same hierarchical structure as the main body 12 side. However, the functions provided by the applications in the application layer 311 and the types of operation requests that the service layer 312 can receive are different from those on the main body 12 side.

The application of the application layer 311 may be software for operating the hardware resources included in the operation unit 11 to provide a predetermined function, but is a UI mainly for performing an operation and a display regarding a function included in the main body 12. Provides the function of.

In this embodiment, the software of the OS layer 323 on the main body 12 side and the software of the OS layer 313 on the operation unit 11 side are different from each other in order to keep the functions independent. That is, the main body 12 and the operation unit 11 operate independently of each other by different operating systems. For example, Linux (registered trademark) can be used as the software of the OS layer 323 on the main body 12 side, and Android (registered trademark) can be used as the software of the OS layer 313 on the operation unit 11 side.

As described above, in the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment, the main body 12 and the operation unit 11 operate on different operating systems, so that the communication between the main body 12 and the operation unit 11 is the inter-process communication in the common device. Rather, as communication between different devices. This includes an operation (command communication) of transmitting information (operation instruction content from the user) received by the operation unit 11 to the main body 12, an operation of transmitting information to the operation unit 11 by the main body 12, and the like. Here, the functions of the main body 12 can be used by the operation unit 11 performing command communication with the main body 12. Further, the information transmitted from the main body 12 to the operation unit 11 includes, for example, the execution status of the operation in the main body 12 and the contents set on the main body 12 side.

(Functional block configuration of image processing system)
FIG. 37 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of functional blocks of the image processing system according to the embodiment. The configuration of functional blocks of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

<Functional block configuration of MFP>
As illustrated in FIG. 37, the operation unit 11 of the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment includes a web browser 410, a communication unit 415, an input unit 416, a display unit 417, a scan UI application 420, and a print UI application 430. , With. Of these, the Web browser 410, the scan UI application 420, and the print UI application 430 are executed by the CPU 111.

Further, the main body 12 of the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment has a WebAPI (Application Program Interface) 440, a scan application 450, and a print application 460. The WebAPI 440, scan application 450, and print application 460 are executed by the CPU 121.

The Web browser 410 realizes the function of the Web application by acquiring Web content (for example, HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), JavaScript, various electronic files, etc.) from the Web server 20.

For example, the web browser 410 realizes a function of a web application that browses the SNS, shares files on the SNS, and the like by acquiring web content from the web server 20 that provides the SNS. In addition, for example, the web browser 410 realizes a function of a web application that browses the storage or uploads a file to the storage by acquiring the web content from the web server 20 that provides the cloud storage service.

Note that the web application is generally realized by causing the content such as JavaScript acquired from the web server 20 to operate on the web browser 410 and to execute the process in cooperation with the web server 20.

The web browser 410 includes a browser function unit 411 and a control unit 412. Note that, hereinafter, the Web content may be simply referred to as “content”.

The browser function unit 411 interprets and displays contents. The browser function unit 411 includes a UI unit 413 (display control unit) and an interpretation unit 414.

The UI unit 413 displays on the display unit 417 a Web page or the like corresponding to the content acquired from the Web server 20, that is, a Web page provided by the Web application. In addition, the UI unit 413 receives various operations (for example, pressing a link) on the Web page in response to a user operation input to the input unit 416.

The interpretation unit 414 interprets the HTML tag included in the Web page and notifies the control unit 412 according to the interpretation result.

The control unit 412 controls to execute the image forming function of the MFP 10 in response to the notification from the interpretation unit 414 of the browser function unit 411. For example, when the control unit 412 receives a file selection notification indicating that a file is selected from the interpretation unit 414, the control unit 412 scans the document set in the MFP 10 and uploads the read image to the Web server 20. .. Also, for example, when the control unit 412 receives a display notification indicating that the linked content is displayed from the interpretation unit 414, the content is in a predetermined format (for example, PDF (Portable Document Format) format). Etc.), the content is controlled to be downloaded and printed.

The web browser 410 has a browser function unit 411 that realizes the functions of the Web application and a control unit 412 that controls the image forming function of the MFP 10. Therefore, the Web browser 410 can be called a so-called hybrid application. The web browser 410 is implemented in a programming language such as Java (registered trademark), for example. That is, the basic part of the browser application that constitutes the web browser 410 is composed of a Java application program. The Java application uses the API provided by the operation unit 11 to call the browser function unit 411 included in the operation unit 11, thereby configuring the Web browser 410 including the interpretation unit 414 and the UI unit 413. The Java application program, which is the basic part, includes a control unit 412, and the control unit 412 controls the operation so that the operation after the interpretation of the tag of the Web content has flexibility and the operation that can be performed by a general-purpose HTML. Not only (downloading and uploading) but also image forming (scanning and printing) operations can be requested.

The communication unit 415 performs data communication with the web server 20 via the network N under the control of the web browser 410. The communication unit 415 is realized by the communication I/F 117 shown in FIG.

The input unit 416 receives an operation input from the user. The input unit 416 is realized by the input function of the operation panel 115 shown in FIG.

The display unit 417 displays various kinds of information according to instructions from the UI unit 413, the scan UI application 420, and the print UI application 430. The display unit 417 is realized by the display function of the operation panel 115 shown in FIG.

The scan UI application 420 is an application program that provides a UI related to scanning. The scan UI application 420 causes the display unit 417 to display, for example, a screen indicating that scanning is in progress and a screen indicating that scanning has been completed.

Further, the scan UI application 420 requests the scan application 450 to execute the scan via the WebAPI 440 in response to the request from the control unit 412.

The print UI application 430 is an application program that provides a UI related to printing. The print UI application 430 causes the display unit 417 to display, for example, a screen indicating that printing is being executed, a screen indicating that printing has been completed, and the like.

In addition, the print UI application 430 requests the print application 460 to execute printing via the WebAPI 440 in response to a request from the control unit 412.

The WebAPI 440 is an API for the scan UI application 420 and the print UI application 430 to request execution of image formation.

The scan application 450 controls the scanner engine 125 to execute a scan in response to a request from the scan UI application 420.

The print application 460 controls the printer engine 126 in response to a request from the print UI application 430 to execute printing.

Hereinafter, the scan UI application 420, the WebAPI 440, and the scan application 450 will be referred to as a “scan service unit 470” (first image forming unit). Further, the print UI application 430, the WebAPI 440, and the print application 460 are referred to as a “print service unit 480” (second image forming unit).

The operation unit 11 may include, for example, an application that provides a UI related to copying, an application that provides a UI related to fax, or an application that provides a UI related to OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Further, the main body 12 may include, for example, an application that executes copying, an application that executes fax, or an application that realizes OCR. Therefore, the MFP 10 may include various image forming (image processing) service units such as a copy service unit, a FAX service unit, and an OCR service.

In addition to the image forming (image processing) service unit, the MFP 10 also executes, for example, an address book service unit that executes a process related to an address book held by the MFP 10, and a process related to authentication for a user to use the MFP 10. Authentication service department etc. are included.

<Functional block configuration of Web server>
As shown in FIG. 37, the Web server 20 according to this embodiment has a communication unit 511, a storage unit 512, and an image processing unit 513.

The communication unit 511 performs data communication with the MFP 10 via the network N under the control of the image processing unit 513. The communication unit 511 is realized by the network I/F 209 shown in FIG.

The storage unit 512 stores images and the like uploaded from the MFP 10. The storage unit 512 is realized by the RAM 203 or the auxiliary storage device 205 shown in FIG.

The image processing unit 513 is a functional unit that performs image processing such as inserting an advertisement or adding a watermark such as a logo mark to the image uploaded from the MFP 10. For example, when the image processing unit 513 inserts an advertisement into an image, the image processing unit 513 may insert the advertisement between images so that the advertisement is printed on the back surface when the advertisement is printed later by the MFP 10. Good. The image processing unit 513 is realized by the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 35 executing a program.

<Operation comparison of MFP and general-purpose information processing device>
As a general-purpose information processing device, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) or the like is assumed. Hereinafter, a general-purpose information processing device, simply referred to as "information processing device".

For example, when a user performs a file selection operation on a Web page, the Web browser installed in the information processing apparatus interprets the HTML tag (input tag) of the button on which the operation is performed, and the interpretation result is displayed. The corresponding notification (file selection notification) is performed. Then, the Web browser uploads the selected file to the designated server or the like, for example.

On the other hand, the UI unit 413 of the web browser 410 installed in the MFP 10 accepts a file selection operation performed by the user on the web page, for example. Next, the interpretation unit 414 interprets the HTML tag (input tag) of the button on which the operation is performed, and notifies the control unit 412 according to the interpretation result (file selection notification).

Then, when the control unit 412 receives the file selection notification from the interpretation unit 414, the control unit 412 scans the document set in the MFP 10 and uploads the read image to the Web server 20.

In this way, the web browser 410 installed in the MFP 10 performs control to generate a scanned image of a file that is interpreted as a file selection target by the web browser of the information processing apparatus, and uploads the generated file. .. As a result, in the MFP 10, a web application using a general-purpose HTML does not use a dedicated HTML tag for realizing an image forming function, but only adds a setting parameter according to a certain rule, A forming function can be added to generate and upload content.

Further, the Web browser installed in the information processing device, for example, when a user performs a link pressing operation on a Web page, inserts an HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) of the link on which the link pressing operation is performed. Interpret and give notification (display notification or download notification) according to the interpretation result.

For example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by a Web browser (for example, when the extension is “html”, “img”, or “pdf”) , Display notification. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the Web browser (for example, the extension is “zip” or the like), a download notification is given. .. However, for example, even if the extension of the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is “pdf” or the like that can be displayed by the Web browser, the attribute “download” is specified. In some cases, it will be a download notification.

Then, when the web browser receives the display notification, the web browser displays the file. On the other hand, when the Web browser receives the download notification, the Web browser displays, for example, a screen for downloading the file (for example, a screen for the user to select start or cancel of the download).

On the other hand, when the interpretation unit 414 of the Web browser 410 installed in the MFP 10 interprets the HTML tag (a tag (anchor tag)) corresponding to the case where the link pressing operation is performed, the interpretation result is given to the control unit 412. Notifications (display notifications or download notifications) according to. This is similar to the case of the MFP 10, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that can be displayed by the Web browser 410 (for example, the extension is “html”, “img” or “ In the case of “pdf” or the like), a display notification is given. On the other hand, for example, when the file specified in the attribute “href” of the a tag is a file that cannot be displayed by the web browser 410 (for example, the extension is “zip” or the like), a download notification is given. Become.

Then, when the control unit 412 receives the download notification, the control unit 412 determines whether or not the download target file is printable, and when the download is possible, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Take control. On the other hand, when the display unit receives the display notification, the control unit 412 determines whether or not the file to be displayed is printable, and when the file is printable, downloads the file and prints the downloaded file. Control.

In this way, the web browser 410 installed in the MFP 10 performs control for printing the file that is interpreted as the download target or the display target by the web browser of the information processing device when the file is printable. As a result, in the MFP 10, a web application using a general-purpose HTML does not use a dedicated HTML tag for realizing an image forming function, but only adds a setting parameter according to a certain rule, A forming function can be added to download and print the content.

(Scan and print processing of image processing system)
FIG. 38 is a sequence diagram showing an example of scan/print processing of the image processing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 39 is a diagram showing an example of screen transitions in the scan/print processing. FIG. 40 is a diagram showing an example of the scan execution tag. FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating an example of the print execution tag. The scan/print processing of the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 38 to 41. It is assumed that a document to be scanned/printed is set in the MFP 10 in advance.

<Step S101>
First, the UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 causes the display unit 417 to display the setting screen 1001 provided by the Web application shown in FIG. 39, for example. The setting screen 1001 shown in FIG. 39 is displayed by the interpretation unit 414 interpreting the content (HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc.) acquired from the Web server 20. The acquisition of such content by the interpretation unit 414 via the communication unit 415 is performed by, for example, inputting a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for displaying the setting screen 1001 or pressing a link to the URL. Can be done at.

<Step S102>
A setting screen 1001 shown in FIG. 39 includes an input unit for setting the number of print copies (the number of copy copies), the reading surface of the scanner, the reading resolution, and the printing surface. On the setting screen 1001, the user inputs these settings from the input unit 416, presses the start button, and the pressing information is sent to the UI unit 413.

<Step S103>
The start button of the setting screen 1001 is realized by, for example, as shown in FIG. 40, an input tag in which the attribute “type” and the attribute “Job” are set. In addition to these, various attributes may be set in the input tag. The UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 sends to the interpreting unit 414 a request for interpreting an input tag (scan execution tag) that realizes the start button pressed by the user.

<Steps S104 and S105>
The interpretation unit 414 of the browser function unit 411 interprets the input tag (scan execution tag) (an example of the first tag) in response to the interpretation request received from the UI unit 413. That is, the interpreting unit 414 interprets that the file is selected by interpreting the input tag, and scans the reading surface of the scanner and the reading resolution specified by the attribute “Job” of the input tag. It is acquired as a parameter (first parameter). In the input tag shown in FIG. 40, the reading surface of the scanner is set to both sides and the reading resolution is set to 200 [dpi] as default settings. When the reading surface of the scanner and the reading resolution are set to values different from the default by the user on the setting screen 1001, the interpreting unit 414 interprets the attribute “Job” of the input tag with the set value. Then, the value is acquired as a scan parameter. Then, the interpretation unit 414 sends to the control unit 412 a file selection notification indicating that a file is selected as the tag interpretation result and the acquired scan parameter.

<Step S106>
Upon receiving the file selection notification and the scan parameter from the interpretation unit 414, the control unit 412 transmits a scan execution request to the scan service unit 470 together with the scan parameter.

<Steps S107 and S108>
Further, the control unit 412 sends a scanning screen display request to the UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 in order to notify the user that scanning is in progress. When the UI unit 413 receives the in-scan screen display request, the UI unit 413 causes the display unit 417 to display the in-scan screen 1002 illustrated in FIG. As a result, the user can recognize that the scanning/printing process being executed is at the stage of the scanning process.

The display of the in-scanning screen 1002 may be realized by the function of the Web application or may be realized by the function of the scan UI application 420.

<Step S109>
Upon receiving the scan execution request and the scan parameters from the control unit 412, the scan service unit 470 causes the scanner engine 125 shown in FIG. 34 to scan the set original document. The scan can be executed by the scan UI application 420 by transmitting a scan request to the scan application 450 via the WebAPI 440. As a result, image data (read image) is generated from the set document. The read image generated by the scan is stored in a predetermined storage area in the flash memory 114 shown in FIG. 34, for example.

The in-scan screen 1002 shown in FIG. 39 may include a cancel button. In this case, when the user presses the cancel button, the scan UI application 420 sends a scan stop request to the scan application 450 via the WebAPI 440. As a result, the document scanning process is stopped.

<Step S110>
If an error such as an abnormality occurs in the operation of the scanner engine 125 during the scan processing by the scan service unit 470, the scan application 450 interrupts the scan processing and sends an error notification to the scan UI application 420. Upon receiving the error notification, the scan UI application 420 causes the display unit 417 to display that an error has occurred during the scan process.

<Step S111>
When the scan process is completed, the scan application 450 of the scan service unit 470 transmits the scanned read image to the scan UI application 420. The scan UI application 420 sends the received read image (first image) to the control unit 412.

<Step S112>
Upon receiving the read image, the control unit 412 subsequently uploads the read image to the Web server 20 via the communication unit 415.

Note that the control unit 412 may send a request to display the uploading screen to the UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 while uploading the read image. In this case, when the UI unit 413 receives the display request for the uploading screen, the UI unit 413 displays the uploading screen on the display unit 417. As a result, the user can recognize that the scanned read image is in the stage of being uploaded to the Web server 20 in the scanning/printing process being executed.

<Step S113>
When the image processing unit 513 of the Web server 20 receives the read image from the MFP 10 via the communication unit 511, the image processing unit 513 executes predetermined image processing on the read image. For example, the image processing unit 513 executes image processing such as inserting an advertisement or adding a watermark such as a logo mark to the read image.

<Step S114>
When the image processing on the read image ends, the image processing unit 513 transmits a processing completion notification indicating the end to the MFP 10 via the communication unit 511.

<Step S115>
Upon receiving the processing completion notification via the communication unit 415, the control unit 412 subsequently sends a print execution tag interpretation request to the interpretation unit 414 of the browser function unit 411.

<Steps S116 and S117>
When the interpretation unit 414 of the browser function unit 411 receives the print execution tag interpretation request, for example, an a tag (anchor tag) (second tag of the second tag) as a print execution tag in which the attribute “href” illustrated in FIG. 41 is set. One example). In addition to these, various attributes may be set in the a tag. As shown in FIG. 41, in the a tag (anchor tag), the storage destination URL of the PDF file of the read image is designated by the relative path as the attribute “href”, and the number of print copies (the number of copy copies) and the print surface Is specified. For example, the storage destination URL of the PDF file of the read image is assumed to be included in the processing completion notification in step S114, and the URL is interpreted in a mode in which the attribute “href” of the a tag (anchor tag) is set. It may be interpreted by the unit 414. That is, the interpreting unit 414 interprets that the link to the content stored in the Web server 20 is indicated by interpreting the a tag (anchor tag), and is specified by the attribute “href” of the a tag. The number of prints (the number of copies) and the printing surface are acquired as print parameters (second parameter), and the URL of the storage location of the read image file is acquired. In the a tag (anchor tag) shown in FIG. 41, as the default setting, the number of print copies (the number of copy copies) is specified as both sides, and the printing surface is specified as both sides.

Further, in step S102, when the user sets the number of copies (the number of copies) and the printing surface on the setting screen 1001 to values different from the defaults, the interpreting unit 414 causes the attribute “href” of the a tag (anchor tag). Is interpreted as a set value and the value is acquired as a print parameter. Then, the interpretation unit 414 sends the acquired print parameters and the storage destination URL of the read image file to the control unit 412.

<Steps S118 and S119>
The control unit 412 transmits a download request for the content (read image) at the link (URL) destination specified by the attribute “href” of the a tag to the Web server 20 via the communication unit 415. As a result, the content (read image) is downloaded from the Web server 20 to the control unit 412. However, since the read image is subjected to image processing in step S113, the read image after this image processing will be referred to as a “processed image” hereinafter. The control unit 412 stores the processed image (second image) downloaded from the Web server 20 in, for example, a previously designated storage area in the flash memory 114.

The control unit 412 may send a request to display the downloading screen to the UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 while the processed image is being downloaded. In this case, when the UI unit 413 receives the display request for the downloading screen, the UI unit 413 displays the downloading screen on the display unit 417. Thus, the user can recognize that the processed image is being downloaded from the Web server 20 in the scanning/printing process being executed.

<Step S120>
When the download of the processed image from the Web server 20 is completed, the control unit 412 subsequently sends a print execution request to the print service unit 480 together with the processed image and print parameters.

<Steps S121 and S122>
Further, the control unit 412 sends a printing screen display request to the UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 to notify the user that printing is in progress. Upon receiving the in-printing screen display request, the UI unit 413 causes the display unit 417 to display the in-printing screen 1003 shown in FIG. As a result, the user can recognize that the printing/printing process is being executed among the scanning/printing processes being executed.

The display of the printing-in-progress screen 1003 as described above may be realized by the function of the Web application or may be realized by the function of the print UI application 430.

<Step S123>
Upon receiving the print execution request, the processed image and the print parameter from the control unit 412, the print service unit 480 causes the printer engine 126 shown in FIG. 34 to print the processed image according to the print parameter. Printing can be performed by the print UI application 430 transmitting a print request to the print application 460 via the WebAPI 440. As a result, the processed image downloaded from the Web server 20 is printed.

The in-printing screen 1003 shown in FIG. 39 may include a cancel button. In this case, when the user presses the cancel button, the print UI application 430 sends a print stop request to the print application 460 via the WebAPI 440. As a result, the printing process of the processed image is stopped.

<Step S124>
If an error such as an abnormality occurs in the operation of the printer engine 126 during the print processing by the print service unit 480, the print application 460 interrupts the print processing and sends an error notification to the print UI application 430. Upon receiving the error notification, the print UI application 430 causes the display unit 417 to display that an error has occurred during the print processing.

<Step S125>
When the print process is completed, the print application 460 of the print service unit 480 sends a print process result notification (completion notification) to the control unit 412.

<Steps S126 and S127>
Further, the control unit 412 sends a setting screen display request to the UI unit 413 of the browser function unit 411 to notify the user that the printing process has been completed. Upon receiving the setting screen display request, the UI unit 413 causes the display unit 417 to display the setting screen 1001 shown in FIG. By displaying the original setting screen 1001 in this way, the user can recognize that the scan/print processing has been completed. Note that a predetermined completion screen may be displayed instead of redisplaying the setting screen 1001.

As described above, in the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment, the job setting for the scan operation and the print operation is performed only once, for example, on the setting screen 1001 shown in FIG. 39, and the document scan operation and the scan operation are performed. The printing operation based on the image obtained in step 1 can be executed in a series of operations. That is, the setting screen is activated for each processing of the scanning operation and the printing operation, and the user does not need to make the setting for each processing, so that the convenience is improved.

Further, in the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment, when a general-purpose HTML tag, an input tag, is interpreted, a document is read by a scanner, a read image is generated, and the image can be uploaded to the Web server 20. Therefore, the scan function can be realized only by giving the setting parameter according to a certain rule without using a dedicated HTML tag or the like for realizing the scan function. In addition, when the a tag, which is a general-purpose HTML tag, is interpreted, the linked content (image after processing) can be downloaded and printed. Therefore, the print function is realized only by giving the setting parameter according to a certain rule without using a dedicated HTML tag or the like for realizing the print function. That is, a developer of a web application provided by the web server 20 can develop a web application utilizing an image forming function specific to the MFP 10 without requiring knowledge such as dedicated Java Script and HTML.

Further, in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the read image read by the scanning process is subjected to predetermined image processing in the Web server 20, and then the image after the image processing is printed out. can do. That is, since predetermined image processing can be incorporated into a read image in a series of operations of scanning operation and printing operation, it is possible to exert a value-added image forming function, not just copy processing of a document. it can. Further, similar to the above, it can be realized without using a dedicated HTML tag or the like for performing such image processing.

(Modification 1)
Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 42 and 43, the image processing system according to the modified example 1 of the present embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment. In this modification, an operation of storing the image log of the image uploaded to the Web server will be described. The hardware configuration and the functional block configuration of the MFP 10 according to the present modification, and the hardware configuration of the Web server are the same as the respective configurations described in the above embodiments.

<Structure of functional block of image processing system>
FIG. 42 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of functional blocks of the image processing system according to the first modification of the embodiment. The configuration of functional blocks of the image processing system 1a according to the present modification will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, as shown in FIG. 42, the functional block configuration of the MFP 10 is similar to that shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 42, the Web server 20a of the image processing system 1a according to this modification includes a communication unit 511, a storage unit 512, an image processing unit 513, and an image management unit 514. The operations of the communication unit 511, the storage unit 512, and the image processing unit 513 are as described above with reference to FIG.

The image management unit 514 is a functional unit that stores the image uploaded from the MFP 10 in the storage unit 512 as an image log. The image management unit 514 may store an image (image after processing), which has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 513, in the storage unit 512 as an image log. The image management unit 514 is realized by the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 35 executing a program.

<Scan and print processing of image processing system>
FIG. 43 is a diagram illustrating an example of scan/print processing of the image processing system according to the first modification of the embodiment. The scan/print processing of the image processing system 1a according to the present modification will be described with reference to FIG.

<<Steps S101 to S112>>
The processing of steps S101 to S112 in FIG. 43 is the same as the processing of steps S101 to S112 in FIG. 38, respectively.

<<Step S112a>>
Upon receiving the read image from the MFP 10 via the communication unit 511, the image management unit 514 of the Web server 20a stores the read image in the storage unit 512 as an image log.

<<Steps S113 to S127>>
The processing of steps S113 to S127 in FIG. 43 is the same as the processing of steps S113 to S127 in FIG. 38, respectively.

As described above, in the series of operations of the scanning operation, the image processing, and the printing operation, the image log can be stored on the side of the Web server 20a. Therefore, it is possible to collectively manage what kind of image is handled. This makes it possible to strengthen security against information leakage. Further, as described above, the processed image may be stored as the image log, and in this case, the image actually printed out on the print medium can be left as the image log.

(Modification 2)
Hereinafter, the image processing system according to the second modification of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 44, focusing on differences from the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment. The hardware configuration of the MFP 10 according to the present modification and the hardware configuration and functional blocks of the Web server are the same as the configurations described in the above embodiments.

FIG. 44 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of functional blocks of an image processing system according to Modification 2 of the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 44, the operation unit 11 of the MFP 10 according to this modification may include an operation unit API application 490 instead of the scan UI application 420 and the print UI application 430.

The operation unit API application 490 is an application program that provides a UI relating to image forming functions such as printing and scanning. The operation unit API application 490 has the same function as an application that provides a UI related to an image forming function such as the scan UI application 420 and the print UI application 430.

Therefore, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 44, the scan UI application 420 and the print UI application 430 may be read as the operation unit API application 490 in the above-described embodiment and modification 1. By using the operation unit API application 490, it is possible to uniformly provide UIs relating to various image forming functions such as printing and scanning.

In addition, the operation unit API application 490 includes an API group for developing an application that provides a UI related to image formation by a third vendor or the like. By using the API group of the operation unit API application 490, a third vendor or the like can easily develop an application that provides a UI related to image formation without requiring knowledge about the specifications of the WebAPI 440. .. That is, the operation unit API application 490 can also be referred to as an application program that provides an API group wrapping the WebAPI 440 to a third vendor or the like.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 44, the operation unit 11 has the operation unit API application 490 instead of the scan UI application 420 and the print UI application 430, but the configuration is not limited to this. That is, the operation unit 11 may include the operation unit API application 490 in addition to the scan UI application 420 and the print UI application 430.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment and each modified example, the operation unit 11 and the main body 12 are separate operating systems and operate independently of each other, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the same operating system is used. It may be a form that operates in the system.

Further, in the above-described embodiment and each modified example, when at least one of the functional units of the MFP 10 and the web server 20 (20a) is realized by executing a program, the program is provided in advance in a ROM or the like and provided. To be done. In addition, the programs executed by the MFP 10 and the Web server 20 (20a) according to the above-described embodiment and each modified example are files in an installable format or an executable format in a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), A flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Compact Disk-Recordable), a DVD, or other computer-readable recording medium may be recorded and provided. Further, the program executed by the MFP 10 and the Web server 20 (20a) according to the above-described embodiment and each modification is stored in a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. It may be configured as follows. Further, the programs executed by the MFP 10 and the Web server 20 (20a) according to the above-described embodiment and each modification may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the program executed by the MFP 10 and the Web server 20 (20a) according to the above-described embodiment and each modification has a module configuration including at least one of the above-described functional units, and actual hardware As a result, the CPU reads out the program from the storage device and executes the program, so that the functional units described above are loaded and generated in the main storage device.

Further, the MFP 10 according to the above-described embodiment and each modification is not limited to the image forming apparatus as long as the apparatus has a communication function. That is, instead of the MFP 10, for example, a PJ (Projector), an IWB (Interactive White Board: a white board having an electronic blackboard function capable of mutual communication), an output device such as a digital signage, and a HUD (Head Up Display). Equipment, industrial machinery, manufacturing equipment, imaging equipment, sound collection equipment, medical equipment, network home appliances, notebook PC (Personal Computer), mobile phones, smartphones, tablet terminals, game consoles, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant), digital cameras, wearables It may be a PC or a desktop PC.

Further, each function in the above-described embodiment and each modification can be realized by one or a plurality of processing circuits. Here, the “processing circuit” means a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated) designed to execute each function described above. Circuits, DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), conventional circuit modules, and other devices.

A browser application may be installed in an information processing terminal such as a user's PC terminal, mobile terminal, or smartphone as an operation device for operating the MFP or the like. Further, the server device may provide the cloud service or the web service by one device for each function or a server system using a plurality of server devices.

The present invention is not limited to the above specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing system 10 Image processing apparatus 20 Web server 30 Mail server 40 Information processing apparatus 310 Web browser 311 Browser function section 312 Control section 313 UI section 314 Interpretation section 320 Print UI application 330 Scan UI application 340 Web API
350 Print Application 360 Scan Application 370 Print Service Unit 380 Scan Service Unit 390 Mail Send Application 391 Mail Service Unit 392 Mail UI Application 1 Image Processing System 10 Image Processing Device 20 Web Server 30 Fax Receiver 40 Information Processing Device 310 Web Browser 311 Browser Functional unit 312 Control unit 313 UI unit 314 Interpretation unit 320 Print UI application 330 Scan UI application 340 WebAPI
350 Print Application 360 Scan Application 370 Print Service Section 380 Scan Service Section 390 Fax Transmission Application 1, 1a Image Processing System 10, 10a, 10b MFP
11 Operation part 12 Main body 13 Communication path 20, 20a Web server 111 CPU
112 ROM
113 RAM
114 Flash Memory 115 Operation Panel 116 Connection I/F
117 Communication I/F
118 Bus 121 CPU
122 ROM
123 RAM
124 Storage 125 Scanner Engine 126 Printer Engine 127 Connection I/F
128 Communication I/F
129 Bus 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
205 auxiliary storage device 206 recording medium 207 media drive 208 display 209 network I/F
210 Bus line 211 Keyboard 212 Mouse 213 DVD
214 DVD drive 311 App layer 312 Service layer 313 OS layer 321 App layer 322 Service layer 323 OS layer 410 Web browser 411 Browser function unit 412 Control unit 413 UI unit 414 Interpretation unit 415 Communication unit 416 Input unit 417 Display unit 420 Scan UI application 430 Print UI application 440 Web API
450 Scan application 460 Print application 470 Scan service section 480 Print service section 490 Operation section API application 511 Communication section 512 Storage section 513 Image processing section 514 Image management section 1001 Setting screen 1002 Scanning screen 1003 Printing screen N Network

JP, 2011-259464, A

Claims (39)

An image processing apparatus having a Web browser and an image processing service unit that controls execution of predetermined image processing,
The Web browser is
An interpretation unit that interprets content acquired from a Web server connected to the image processing apparatus via a network;
A UI unit for displaying a screen based on the content interpreted by the interpreting unit;
A control unit that requests execution of the image processing to at least the image processing service unit in response to a user input on the screen displayed by the UI unit,
When the HTML tag of the content includes a predetermined tag,
An image processing apparatus, wherein the control unit requests the image processing service unit to transmit image data generated by scanning a document to a destination indicated by the predetermined tag as the image processing. .. If the HTML tag of the content indicates sending an email to an email address,
As the image processing, the control unit requests the image processing service unit to email the image data generated by reading a document to the email address indicated by the predetermined tag. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The web browser cooperates with each of the plurality of web servers to realize a plurality of different web applications,
The control unit is
In response to a user's pressing operation on a display component on the screen of the Web application, an execution request of a predetermined process to the Web server and an execution request of the image processing based on an HTML tag that realizes the display component. I do,
The image processing device according to claim 2, wherein The control unit is
When the HTML tag is a tag indicating a link to an electronic file stored in the Web server, a download request for the electronic file is made to the Web server, and the electronic file is downloaded in response to the download request. Making a print request for the electronic file to the image processing service unit,
The image processing device according to claim 3, wherein In the Web browser,
The interpreting unit may download the electronic file according to information indicating a file format of the electronic file, which is included in an HTML tag for instructing a device to download the electronic file, the print request following the download, and the print request. Selecting and executing one of the download of the electronic file and the display of the electronic file, the download of the electronic file and the display of the electronic file, and the print request following the download,
The image processing device according to claim 4, wherein The control unit is
When the HTML tag is a tag indicating a link to an electronic file stored in the Web server and the MIME type of the linked electronic file is a predetermined type, a download request for the electronic file is issued. A print request of the electronic file downloaded in response to the download request to the image processing service unit.
The image processing device according to claim 4, wherein The control unit is
When the HTML tag is a tag indicating that an electronic file to be transmitted to the Web server is selected from electronic files stored in the image processing apparatus, a scan for reading a document and generating an electronic file A request is made to the image processing service unit, and an upload request for an electronic file generated in response to the scan request is made to the Web server;
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that. In the Web browser,
The interpreting unit makes the scan request and the upload request according to information indicating a file selection included in the HTML tag that instructs a device to upload the electronic file.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that. In the Web browser,
The interpreting unit makes the scan request and the upload request in accordance with information indicating camera activation included in the HTML tag that instructs a device to upload the electronic file.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that. The Web browser is realized by a Java application program,
The interpretation unit and the UI unit are configured by a browser function provided in the operation unit of the image processing apparatus, and realized by the Java application program calling the browser function via an API provided by the operation unit. To do
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein The image processing device includes
An operating device having a first program for providing an interface to a user, a second program for controlling execution of the image processing, and the first program requesting execution of the image processing to the second program. And a main unit having a WebAPI for
In the image processing service section,
The first program, the second program, and the WebAPI are included.
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first program provides an API group obtained by wrapping the Web API. Different OSs are mounted on the operating device and the main device,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the Web browser and the first program operate on an OS mounted on the operation device. 14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the UI unit displays that the image processing has been completed. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 14, wherein the transmitted mail is created based on the content specified by the HTML tag. If the HTML tag of the content indicates a call to a telephone number,
The control unit requests, as the image processing, the image processing service unit to fax image data generated by reading a document to the telephone number indicated by the predetermined tag. The image processing device according to item 1. The web browser cooperates with each of the plurality of web servers to realize a plurality of different web applications,
The control unit is
In response to a user's pressing operation on a display component on the screen of the Web application, an execution request of a predetermined process to the Web server and an execution request of the image processing are performed based on an HTML tag realizing the display component. I do,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein: The control unit is
When the HTML tag is a tag indicating a link to an electronic file stored in the Web server, a download request for the electronic file is made to the Web server, and the electronic file is downloaded in response to the download request. Making a print request for the electronic file to the image processing service unit,
The image processing device according to claim 17, wherein In the Web browser,
The interpreting unit may download the electronic file and the print request following the download according to information indicating a file format of the electronic file, which is included in an HTML tag for instructing a device to download the electronic file; Selecting and executing one of the download of the electronic file and display of the electronic file, the download of the electronic file and display of the electronic file, and the print request following the download;
The image processing device according to claim 18, wherein The control unit is
When the HTML tag is a tag indicating a link to an electronic file stored in the Web server and the MIME type of the linked electronic file is a predetermined type, a download request for the electronic file is issued. A print request of the electronic file downloaded in response to the download request to the image processing service unit.
The image processing device according to claim 18, wherein The control unit is
When the HTML tag is a tag indicating that an electronic file to be transmitted to the Web server is selected from electronic files stored in the image processing apparatus, a scan for reading a document and generating an electronic file A request is made to the image processing service unit, and an upload request for an electronic file generated in response to the scan request is made to the Web server;
21. The image processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus. In the Web browser,
The interpreting unit makes the scan request and the upload request according to information indicating a file selection included in the HTML tag that instructs a device to upload the electronic file.
The image processing device according to claim 21, wherein In the Web browser,
The interpreting unit makes the scan request and the upload request in accordance with information indicating camera activation included in the HTML tag that instructs a device to upload the electronic file.
The image processing device according to claim 21, wherein The Web browser is realized by a Java application program,
The interpretation unit and the UI unit are configured by a browser function provided in the operation unit of the image processing apparatus, and realized by the Java application program calling the browser function via an API provided by the operation unit. To do
The image processing device according to any one of claims 16 to 23, characterized in that. The image processing device includes
An operating device having a first program for providing an interface to a user, a second program for controlling execution of the image processing, and the first program requesting execution of the image processing to the second program. And a main unit having a WebAPI for
In the image processing service section,
The first program, the second program, and the WebAPI are included.
The image processing device according to any one of claims 16 to 24, wherein: The image processing apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the first program provides an API group obtained by wrapping the Web API. Different OSs are mounted on the operating device and the main device,
27. The image processing apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the Web browser and the first program operate on an OS installed in the operation device. 28. The image processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image processing further includes printing a history of the fax transmission. 29. The image processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the transmission line for the fax transmission is a transmission line selected from a plurality of transmission lines. The image processing apparatus includes a browser that processes content from the first server, which is a Web server,
The browser is
An interpretation unit that interprets a first tag indicating a file selection acquired from the first server;
When the interpreting unit interprets that the first tag indicates file selection, the first image forming unit is caused to scan the document, and the first image obtained after the scan operation is transferred to the second image. A control unit that uploads to the server,
Equipped with
The interpretation unit interprets a second tag indicating a link to information stored in the second server after uploading the first image,
When the interpretation unit interprets that the second tag indicates a link to information stored in the second server, the control unit is based on the first image in response to a download request to the second server. An image processing apparatus that downloads a second image and causes a second image forming unit to perform a printing operation of the second image. And a display control unit configured to display a setting screen on the display unit for setting parameters relating to operations of the first image forming unit and the second image forming unit based on the content received from the first server. ,
The interpreting unit acquires the first parameter regarding the operation of the first image forming unit set on the setting screen when interpreting the first tag, and displays the first parameter on the setting screen when interpreting the second tag. Acquiring a second parameter relating to the operation of the second image forming unit that has been set,
The control unit causes the first image forming unit to perform the scanning operation based on the first parameter acquired by the interpretation unit, and the second image processing unit based on the second parameter acquired by the interpretation unit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 30, which causes an image forming unit to perform the printing operation. The second server generates the second image by performing predetermined image processing on the first image uploaded from the control unit,
The image processing device according to claim 30, wherein the control unit downloads the second image in response to the download request to the second server. The said 2nd server memorize|stores the said 1st image uploaded from the said control part, or the said 2nd image which performed the said image processing with respect to this 1st image as an image log. Image processing device. The image according to claim 31, wherein the interpretation unit interprets the first tag according to an operation on a display component realized by the first tag on a screen displayed on the display unit by the display control unit. Processing equipment. The display control unit causes the display unit to display a message indicating that the scan operation is being performed when the control unit is causing the first image forming unit to perform the scan operation of the document. The image processing apparatus according to claim 31. When the control unit is causing the second image forming unit to perform the printing operation of the second image, the display control unit indicates to the display unit that the printing operation is in progress. The image processing device according to claim 31 or 35 for displaying. An image processing system having an information processing terminal equipped with a Web browser and an image processing apparatus for controlling execution of predetermined image processing,
The Web browser is
An interpretation unit that interprets content acquired from a Web server connected to the image processing system via a network;
A UI unit for displaying a screen based on the content interpreted by the interpreting unit;
A control unit that requests execution of the image processing to at least the image processing apparatus in response to a user input on the screen displayed by the UI unit,
When the HTML tag of the content includes a predetermined tag,
The image processing system, wherein the control unit requests the image processing apparatus to transmit image data generated by scanning an original to the destination indicated by the predetermined tag as the image processing. An image processing apparatus having a Web browser and an image processing service unit that controls execution of predetermined image processing,
With the Web browser,
An interpretation procedure for interpreting content acquired from a Web server connected to the image processing apparatus via a network;
A UI procedure for displaying a screen based on the content interpreted by the interpretation procedure;
A control procedure for at least requesting execution of the image processing to the image processing service unit in response to a user input on the screen displayed by the UI procedure;
When the HTML tag of the content includes a predetermined tag,
The control procedure requests the image processing service unit to transmit image data generated by scanning a document to a destination indicated by the predetermined tag as the image processing. .. An image processing apparatus having an image processing service unit that controls execution of predetermined image processing,
An interpretation procedure for interpreting content acquired from a Web server connected to the image processing apparatus via a network;
A UI procedure for displaying a screen based on the content interpreted by the interpretation procedure;
A control procedure for performing at least the image processing execution request to the image processing service unit according to a user input on the screen displayed by the UI procedure;
When the HTML tag of the content includes a predetermined tag,
In the control procedure, as the image processing, the image processing service unit is requested to transmit image data generated by reading a document to a destination indicated by the predetermined tag, and a Web browser program. ..

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