JP2023040889A - Information processing device, control method thereof, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To discriminate the power off of a target device from communication unavailability, and obtains information necessary to measure productivity.SOLUTION: When an information processing device that obtains operation information from a target device becomes able to communicate with the target device that was unable to communicate, the information processing device identifies, as a power off period of the target device, a period from a communication unavailability occurrence time when communication with the target device became not possible to activation time of the target device, identifies, as a communication error period during which communication with the target device is not possible, a period from the activation time to the current time, and stores the identified periods as part of the operation information on the target device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

The present invention relates to, for example, an information processing device for managing or monitoring the operating state of an external device, its control method, and a program.

Digital printers (MFPs), which have hitherto been mainly used for office purposes, have come to be used for commercial printing as well, as their performance has improved. Maintaining a high operating rate is the most important issue for an image forming apparatus as a commercial printing machine. The operating rate is an index indicated by the ratio of the time during which the image forming apparatus is in the production state and the time during which the image forming apparatus is in the non-production state. This is because an image forming apparatus as a production product is expensive, and efficient use of the apparatus directly affects the cost of the product, which is a product in commercial printing.

2. Description of the Related Art There is an operation record collection system as a system and software for easily grasping the operation status and record of an image forming apparatus. The operation record collection system has a function of collecting the operation records of a plurality of image forming apparatuses owned by a printing company and displaying them in an integrated manner. By using this, it is possible to easily obtain various information for improving the business situation, such as grasping the operating status, identifying factors that reduce the operating rate, and comparing productivity between image forming apparatuses. .

Various forms are conceivable for the operation result collection system. Among them, because of the huge volume of accumulated operation results and the high level of integrity in preparation for storage failures, etc., it is now possible to collect data on a cloud server and check the operation results using a web browser. A system with For example, there are two methods of collecting operating records. There is a method in which the operation results are sent directly from the image forming apparatus to the operation result collection system; This is a method of transmitting the performance data to the location. The method in which the image forming apparatus directly transmits the operation results can reduce the size of the operation result collection system. In addition, if the image forming apparatus has an external controller called DFE (Digital Front End), there is a problem that the image forming apparatus cannot be directly connected to an external network. Moreover, when the interface of the operation history collection server is changed, there is also a problem that it is difficult for all the image forming apparatuses to cope with the change. In view of the above points, the operation record collection system has an information processing device for collecting the operation records from the image forming apparatuses, and the information processing apparatus acquires and accumulates the operation records from the image forming apparatuses. .

Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-271450

However, the following problems exist in the operation record collection system in which the information processing apparatus acquires the operation record from the image forming apparatus. If the network with the independent image forming apparatus is disconnected, the status of the image forming apparatus cannot be obtained. In particular, it is not possible to distinguish between a state in which the power is off and a state in which the power is on but communication is interrupted. When the power is on, a print job can be input and executed without using a network, and functions other than printing can also be used. In this case, it is necessary to acquire the results of the period during which communication was interrupted. Also, it is not possible to calculate items that affect productivity, such as the effective operating time of the device, the number of times the power is turned on and off, and the stability of communication.

In Patent Document 1, before the power of the image forming apparatus is turned off, information is transmitted to an external device that manages the image forming apparatus, and it is determined that the power is turned on when communication from the external device to the image forming apparatus becomes possible. Make a decision and send back the information. In the above method, since communication processing is performed in the sequence of power-on and power-off, there is a problem that power-on and power-off are delayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to enable an operation record collection system for acquiring the operation record of an external device to identify power off and communication interruptions, and to acquire information necessary for measuring productivity. .

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention has the following configurations. That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus that acquires operation information from a target device,
When communication with the target device, which has been disabled, becomes possible, the period from the communication failure occurrence time when communication with the target device becomes impossible to the startup time of the target device is defined as the power off of the target device. identifying means for identifying a period and identifying a period from the start time to the current time as a communication error period in which communication with the target device is not possible;
and storage means for storing the identified period as part of the operation information of the target device.

According to the present invention, in an operation record collection system for acquiring the operation record of an external device, it is possible to identify power-off and communication errors even when communication is disabled, and acquire information necessary for measuring productivity. It becomes possible.

system configuration diagram Hardware configuration diagram of information processing device Software configuration diagram of operating status collection information processing device Hardware configuration diagram of image forming apparatus Software configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus Software configuration diagram of external controller information processing device Flowchart of processing when acquiring the status of an image forming apparatus Flow diagram of state determination processing during communication load Illustration of status determination when communication is not possible Schematic diagram of external device data table Schematic diagram of actual operation data Schematic diagram of operation record display screen Schematic diagram of registration screen for external devices to be managed

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system according to this embodiment. The system is roughly divided into a printing company system 102 arranged in the cloud, an operation information collection system 103 and other information processing devices 105 . The system and devices are interconnected by the Internet 101 . The internal configuration of the printing company system 102 will be described in detail below. As shown in the figure, multiple devices are interconnected by a network 112 .

Commercial printer system 102 includes four imaging systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 in FIG. The image forming systems 106 and 110 are composed of the image forming apparatuses 106 and 110 alone. The image forming device 107 includes an image forming device 109 and an external controller 108 . The image forming system 111 includes an image forming device 113 and an external controller 112 . In the description, the presence or absence of an external controller will be distinguished only where it is necessary to make a clear distinction. Note that the external controller may be a general-purpose information processing device in which a dedicated program is installed.

The information processing apparatus 104 is a part of the operation information collection system 103 that collects operation information indicating the operation record of each image forming system, and is also an information processing apparatus belonging to the network 112 of the printing company system 102 . The information processing apparatus 104 particularly has a role of acquiring operating states from the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 and transmitting operating state data to the information processing apparatus 114, which is an operating information server. The information processing apparatus 104 can be used for purposes other than acquisition of operation records, but only the functions related to acquisition of operation records will be described in this embodiment. The operation information includes, for example, information indicating the operation record of each image forming apparatus, such as printing start time, end time, error occurrence time, and recovery time. An information processing device 105 indicates other information processing devices within the printing company system 102 .

The internal configuration of the operation information collection system 103 will be described in detail below. The operating information collection system 103 includes at least an operating information server 114 that is an information processing device and an operating information database 115 that is a data storage. Further, the embodiment shown in this embodiment includes the information processing device 104 that acquires the operating information from an external device.

The operation information server 114 collects the operation performance data transmitted from the information processing apparatus 104 and stores it in the operation information database 115. In response to the display request from the other information processing apparatus 105, the other information processing apparatus 105 displays the data. Send data in a format that makes it possible. The data format is desirably HTML or the like, which can be displayed by a standard browser, but a unique format may be used when displaying using specific software.

Other information processing apparatuses 105 are information processing apparatuses connected to the external network 101 . In the description of this embodiment, the information processing device 105 is used to display the operating information provided by the operating information collection system 103 . In the description of this embodiment, the other information processing apparatus 105 is located outside the printing company system 102 , but it may be located inside the printing company system 102 and connected to the internal network 112 .

<Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Device>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of various information processing apparatuses 104, 105, 108, 112, and 114. As shown in FIG.

In the figure, a CPU 201 executes an OS and general application programs stored in a program ROM of a ROM 203 or loaded from an HDD 211 to a RAM 202 . ROM 203 also has a font ROM and a data ROM. A RAM 202 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 201 . A keyboard controller (KBC) 205 controls inputs from a keyboard (KB) 209 and a pointing device (not shown). A display controller (DC) 206 controls display on the display unit 210 . A disk controller (DKC) 207 controls access to the HDD 211 and the like that store boot programs, various applications, font data, and the like. A network controller (NIC) 212 is connected to a network and executes communication control processing with other devices connected to the network. A bus 204 connects the CPU 201, the RAM 202, the ROM 203, various controllers, and the like, and carries data signals and control signals.

In the case of a mobile terminal, instead of the keyboard controller (KBC) 205, a touch panel controller or the like may be included in the configuration. In some cases, a large-capacity storage device that replaces the HDD 211 is provided. Furthermore, the network controller (NIC) 212 has a different internal configuration depending on whether the device includes a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or both. However, these differences due to the internal configuration are hidden inside the network controller (NIC) 212, and are configured so that the other modules shown in the figure are equivalent and can control the system. Also, a plurality of NICs 212 may be provided.

<Software configuration of operating state collection information processing device>
FIG. 3 is a diagram exemplifying the software configuration of the information processing apparatus 104 that collects operation information. The boot loader 301 is a program that is executed immediately after the information processing apparatus 104 is powered on. These programs include programs for executing various startup sequences required for system startup.

The operating system 302 is a program intended to provide an execution environment for various programs that implement the functions of the information processing apparatus 104 . This provides functions such as resource management of the memory of the information processing apparatus, that is, the ROM 203, the RAM 202, the HDD 211, and the like.

The network control program 303 is a program that is executed when data is transmitted/received to/from devices connected via a network. That is, it is software used when controlling the NIC 212 and transmitting/receiving data and files to/from an external device via the internal network 112 and the external network 101 .

The communication status determination program 304 is a program for determining whether the network control program 303 can communicate with an external device. This program determines whether or not the network with a specific external device is interrupted for some reason. It may be provided as part of the network control program 303 .

The operation information acquisition program 305 is a program that performs processing relating to acquisition and acquisition of the operating status and performance of the image forming apparatuses (106, 109, 110, 113). Processing performed by this program will be described with reference to FIGS.

The elapsed time acquisition program 306 after activation is a program for acquiring the elapsed time since the image forming system (106, 107, 110, 111) was activated. In this embodiment, a method using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) will be described. Another original program may be used as long as it can acquire the time since it was started.

The information creation and transmission program 307 is a program for converting the performance record acquired by the performance information acquisition program 305 into data in a prescribed format and transmitting the data to the performance information server 114 . Data to be transmitted will be described with reference to FIG.

The target device management program 308 manages external devices that are targets of operating state management. When the target device management program 308 receives a registration screen acquisition request for registering an external device from an information processing apparatus on the network via the network control program 303, it creates and transmits data for displaying the registration screen. do. Further, processing is performed according to the operation on the same screen, and when an external device to be registered is selected, the selected external device is determined as a management target. The determined management target is saved in the HDD 211 and RAM 202 . The registration screen of the external device and the operation on the same screen will be described with reference to FIG. 12(B).

<Hardware Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113. As shown in FIG. The image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 , and 113 are apparatuses for conveying the developed image data stored in the paper feeding unit 412 on the medium and forming an image on the medium using toner.

A printer unit 403 forms an image on the surface of a medium such as a cut sheet or roll sheet according to a print job.

An operation unit 404 provides various interfaces for the operator to perform various settings and operations for the image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 and 113 .

A sheet processing apparatus 410 is an apparatus for obtaining a product obtained by performing various processing on a medium on which an image has been formed by the printer unit 403 .

The media management unit 411 is a unit for managing paper that can be handled by the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113. The media management unit 411 determines control parameters for the behavior of each unit according to the attribute values of the paper, It also manages the remaining amount of paper stored in the unit 412 .

The paper feed unit 412 is a part for storing paper to be used. The paper feed unit 412 has a function of detecting the remaining amount of stored paper, and notifies the media management unit 411 of the remaining amount.

The output tray 413 forms a tray section for discharging and stacking output materials processed by the sheet processing apparatus 410 .

A hard disk 409 (hereinafter also referred to as HDD) is a non-volatile memory and stores data of a plurality of jobs to be processed, various management information, and the like. Job data received from the scanner unit 401 is printed by the printer unit 403 via the HDD 409 . Job data received from an external device via the external I/F unit 402 corresponding to an example of a communication unit is printed by the printer unit 403 via the HDD 409 . An external I/F unit 402 transmits and receives image data and the like to and from a facsimile machine, a network connection device, and an external dedicated device.

An operation unit 404 is a part corresponding to a user interface unit, and has a display unit and an input unit.

The control unit 405 includes, for example, a processor (CPU), and executes programs stored in the ROM 407 and the RAM 408 to cause the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 to perform various operations described in this embodiment. The ROM 407 also contains programs and the like for interpreting code data forming print data such as PDF received from an external device (not shown) via the external I/F 402 and developing the data into raster image data (bitmap image data). stored in The print data includes, for example, data described in a page description language and image data. A program or the like for interpreting and processing a print job received from an external device (not shown) via the external I/F 402 is also stored in the ROM 407 . These are primarily handled by software. Details of various programs stored in the ROM 407 will be described later.

The HDD 409 (hard disk) is a large-capacity storage device that stores image data compressed by the compression/decompression unit 406 . The HDD 409 is configured to be able to hold a plurality of data such as print data of a job to be processed. A control unit 405 controls job data to be processed, which is input through various input units such as the scanner unit 401 and the external I/F unit 402 , to be printed by the printer unit 403 through the HDD 409 . Moreover, it controls so that it can be transmitted to an external device via the external I/F 402 . In this way, the control unit 405 controls so that various output processes of the data of the job to be processed stored in the HDD 409 can be executed. Further, the control unit 405 is configured to be able to implement functions such as sharing the file system built in the HDD 409 with an external device, transmission and reception, etc. by reading and executing a program in the ROM 407 .

A compression/decompression unit 406 compresses and decompresses image data and the like stored in the RAM 408 and HDD 409 using various compression methods such as JBIG and JPEG. With the above configuration, the control unit 405 as an example of a control unit included in the printing system also controls the operation of each sheet processing device 410 .

<Software Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus>
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113. As shown in FIG.

A boot loader 501 is a program that is executed immediately after power-on. These programs include programs for executing various startup sequences required for system startup.

The operating system 502 is a program intended to provide an execution environment for various programs that implement the functions of the image forming apparatuses 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , and 110 . This mainly provides functions such as resource management of the memory of the image forming apparatus, that is, ROM 207, RAM 208, HDD 209, etc., and basic input/output control of other units shown in FIG.

The network control program 503 is a program executed when data is transmitted/received to/from devices connected via a network. This program is used for receiving files to be printed, sending data from external devices, and sending and receiving commands. A driver program for controlling the external I/F 402 is also included in the network control program.

The post-startup time response program 604 acquires the elapsed time after startup managed by the operating system 602 and returns it when receiving a request for the elapsed time after startup of the image forming apparatus (elapsed time after startup). program. This embodiment uses an SNMP agent program.

A print control program 505 is a program for processing a received print job. The basic operation of the program is as follows. The job data received from the external I/F 402 is stored in the HDD 409, and the order of reception is maintained. Execute print jobs based on their order of receipt. Also, in order to stop or restart the execution of the print job, an instruction to operate or stop the queue itself is received from the operation unit 404, and the print job is executed or stopped according to the received instruction. The print control program also responds to a job queue status in response to an inquiry from an external device. The state of the job queue includes the stop state of the job queue, the execution state, the presence or absence of jobs, and the like. The status of those job queues is transmitted to the external device via the external I/F 402 .

A device status management program 506 is a program provided to manage the status of the image forming apparatus and transmit data indicating the status to an external device via the external I/F 402 in response to a request. The status of the image forming apparatus includes printing, error occurrence, idling, and the like. For example, when the print control program 505 instructs execution of printing and the printer unit is executing printing, the status of the image forming apparatus is that printing is being executed.

The print data analysis program 507 expands print data executed by the control unit 405 when the image forming apparatus receives print data via the external I/F 402 and the print control program 505 instructs analysis of the print data. Execute the process. After the expansion process is completed, the CPU 405 sequentially instructs the operation of each device in the processing order based on the processing order managed by the print control program 505 . As a result, control is performed so that PDL print processing is finally executed. These devices include the sheet processing apparatus 410, printer unit 403, HDD 409, compression/decompression unit 406, RAM 408, etc. A print setting analysis program 508 is a program for analyzing print settings. The print settings are transmitted together with the image data in the form of data such as JDF format. Based on the analyzed print settings, the control unit 405 sequentially instructs the operation of each device. As a result, control is performed so that printing is performed with the finally specified print settings.

The image creation program 509 uses intermediate image data created by analysis by the image data analysis program 507 and print settings obtained by analysis by the print setting analysis program 508 to create a print image to be used for printing. It's a program. The print settings include designations such as image processing and imposition. The image creation program 509 creates an image by performing imposition and color conversion specified in image processing.

The media management program 510 is a program for executing management functions related to sheets that can be used by the image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 , and 113 . Sheet-related information managed by this program is stored in the HDD 409 .

The print history management program 511 is a program related to the history of print jobs executed by the image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 , and 113 according to instructions from the print control program 505 . The print history is stored in the HDD 409 at the timing of the start of processing, completion of printing, and the like.

<Software configuration of external controller>
FIG. 6 is a diagram exemplifying the software configuration of the external controllers 108 and 112. As shown in FIG.

The external controllers 108 and 112 perform analysis of print settings, management of print jobs, analysis of print data, image creation, etc. performed by the connected image forming apparatuses 109 and 113 instead of the image forming apparatuses. Normally, finer settings are possible than with an image forming apparatus, and finer image processing is possible. Since these differences are not important for explaining this embodiment, the explanation is omitted. Only the functions that are different from the programs of the same names of the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 shown in FIG. 4 and that are important in this embodiment will be described.

A network control program 604 is a program that is executed when data is transmitted/received to/from a device connected via a network. In particular, the external controllers 108 and 112 exchange information with the connected image forming apparatuses 109 and 113 and process connection requests to the image forming apparatuses 109 and 113 . The network control program 604 allows the received communication request to pass through the image forming apparatus 109, 109, 109, 109, 109, 109, 109, 109, 109, 109, 100M, 100F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 109F, 113 to receive. Similarly, the communication from the image forming apparatuses 109 and 113 is passed through and received by the external device. In this embodiment, the information processing apparatus 104 that collects operation information issues communication requests such as status acquisition requests and IP address acquisition requests for the image forming apparatuses 109 and 113 . Network control program 603 passes these requests through to image forming devices 109 and 113 for receipt.

In addition, the programs with the same names as those in FIG. 5 have the same functions as those explained in FIG.

<Flow of Processing When Acquiring Status of Image Forming Apparatus>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the processing flow of the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 104 when acquiring the status of the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113, which are external apparatuses. It is assumed that the status is obtained at regular time intervals, and that this process is called each time the system time of the OS elapses for a specified time, for example, one minute. 7 may be executed for each device to be managed, or the process for each device in FIG. 7 may be executed for each device to be managed.

In step S701, the CPU 201 executes the communication state determination program 304 with respect to the IP address of the external device whose operation record is to be acquired. In this embodiment, a Ping command is used as the communication state determination program 304 . The external device is the image forming system 106, 107, 110, 111 or at least one of them that is registered as a target for acquisition of the operation record by the operation described with reference to FIG. Acquisition of the IP address will be explained with reference to FIG. 13 and step S717, and storage will be explained with reference to FIG. The Ping command is a basic communication test program using (Internet Control Message Protocol). By transmitting "Echo request" and receiving "Echo reply" Ping returned from the target external device, arrival of communication is confirmed. The OS of the external device responds to the Ping command. If no response is received, it means that there is a problem with the network and the communication is not delivered. The Ping command is implemented as part of the network control program. After executing Ping, the process proceeds to step S702.

In step S702, the CPU 201 determines whether a response to the Ping executed in step S701 has been received. The internal time owned by the operating system 302 is acquired, and if there is no response within a certain period of time, for example, two seconds, it is determined that the response has not been received. If the response has been received, the process proceeds to step S703; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S704.

In step S<b>704 , the CPU 201 determines whether another address is stored in association with the external device whose operation record is to be acquired. Details will be described later. If the IP address is stored, the process proceeds to step S701 to try to obtain the operation record using the stored IP address. If not stored, the process proceeds to step S706.

In step S<b>706 , the CPU 201 stores “communication disabled” in association with the external device whose operation record is to be acquired. The association with the external device is performed by associating with the identifier, IP address, or the like of the external device. After memorizing, the flow ends.

In step S<b>703 , the CPU 201 determines whether or not communication disabled is stored in association with the external device whose operation record is to be acquired. The details of communication failure will be described later. If it is stored, the process proceeds to step S705, and if not stored, the process proceeds to step S707.

In step S705, the CPU 201 executes state determination when communication is disabled. The state determination processing when communication is impossible will be described with reference to FIG. After execution, the process proceeds to step S707.

In step S707, the CPU 201 stores the current date and time as the last communication date and time in association with the target external device for which the operation record is to be acquired. Acquisition of the current date and time is performed by acquiring the system time managed by the operating system 302 . After storing, the process advances to step S708.

In step S<b>708 , the CPU 201 determines whether or not the reset generation time is stored in association with the external device whose operation record is to be acquired. The reset generation time will be described later. If it is stored, the process proceeds to step S709, and if not stored, the process proceeds to step S710.

In step S709, the CPU 201 acquires the elapsed time from the external device and calculates the reset occurrence time. In this embodiment, the SNMP client program, which is the operation information acquisition program 305, acquires the elapsed time after startup by acquiring hrSystemUptime. For example, hrSystemUptime of SNMP is a cyclic timer that counts up from 0 and is reset when it counts up to 4294967295 in units of 10 milliseconds. That is, it is a counter that circulates at a constant cycle. The elapsed time after activation to be acquired is the elapsed time after activation of the external controllers 108 and 112 in the image forming systems 107 and 111 that include an external controller, and the activation time of the image forming apparatuses 106 and 110 in the image forming system that does not include an external controller. is. Since the elapsed time response programs 504 and 604 of the external device having the designated IP address respond, there is no need to be aware of the configurations of the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 when acquiring the elapsed time after activation. . The system time managed by the operating system 302 is acquired, and the elapsed time after startup is subtracted from the system time to specify the last reset time. The next reset occurrence time is calculated by adding the maximum value of the elapsed time after startup, for example, 42949672.95 seconds, to that time. This step does not need to be executed when the elapsed time after activation is obtained by a method in which the elapsed time after activation is not reset. After the reset generation time is stored in association with the external device, the process proceeds to step S710.

In step S<b>710 , the CPU 201 transmits an operation status acquisition request to the image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 , and 113 . The operating status acquisition request is made by the network control program 303 sending the operating status acquisition request to the external device by a predetermined means such as TCP, UDP, or HTTP. After transmitting the acquisition request, the process proceeds to step S711. The operating status to be acquired is the operating status from the time when the operating status was last acquired to the current time.

In step S711, the CPU 201 receives a response to the acquisition request in step S710, and determines whether the operating state has been acquired. The image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 , and 113 that have received the operating status acquisition request return the current operating status created by the device status management program to the operating status collection information processing apparatus 104 . Since it has been confirmed in step S702 that there was a response to Ping, if the external device is in a normal state, the operating state can be obtained. If it cannot be obtained, it is conceivable that the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 are not in a normal state and cannot obtain or reply to the operating status. If the operating status could not be acquired, the process proceeds to step S712, and if it could be acquired, the process proceeds to step S713.

In step S712, the CPU 201 determines the operating state acquired in step S712 as the current operating state of the external device. Convert the obtained health status to the corresponding value. After determination, the process proceeds to step S714.

In step S713, the CPU 201 determines that the current operating states of the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 are down. Down means a state in which normal operation cannot be performed. After determination, the process proceeds to step S714.

In step S<b>714 , the CPU 201 acquires operation information indicating print results from the image forming apparatuses 106 , 109 , 110 , and 113 . The print history is a print history managed by the print history management program 511, and the print jobs executed during a specific period are the print results for that period. Acquisition of performance information is performed by the network control program sending a print performance acquisition request to the external device using a predetermined means such as TCP, UDP, or HTTP, in the same manner as in the operating state. At this time, if it is possible to specify the time to acquire, specify the time range between the date and time when the previous print result was acquired and the current date and time acquired from the OS, and also specify the time when the communication error occurred. good too. The time at which the error occurred may be, for example, the time at which the communication error occurred determined in step S705. Alternatively, if the target device has a power-off period, a period other than the power-off period may be specified. For example, the range may be specified from the date and time when the previous print result was obtained to the time when the communication is disabled, and from the start time to the current time. If the exact time range cannot be specified, after acquiring the print history, the completion time of the print job is checked to determine whether the job is included in the print results. In that case, for example, a range from the last successful acquisition of results to the current time may be specified. The image forming apparatus that has received the operation information acquisition request responds with the operation history of the designated institution if the time is designated. After obtaining the print results, the process advances to step S715.

In step S715, the CPU 201 converts the acquired operation information including the operating state and print performance into a specified format and transmits the converted information to the performance collection system. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the information is transmitted to the operation information server 114 . It should be noted that there is no need to transmit when the information processing apparatus 104 itself also serves as the performance collection server. The transmitted operating information is accumulated in the operating information database 15 . Periods corresponding to various states including the specified communication error period and power off period are also stored as part of the operation information of the target device. After transmission, the process proceeds to step S716.

In step S716, the CPU 201 determines whether retained IP addresses have been acquired from the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111. FIG. When the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 have a plurality of NICs 212, even if communication cannot be performed with a specific IP address, communication can be performed with another IP address. It is determined whether all the IP addresses held by the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 have been obtained, and if they have already been obtained, the flow ends. If not acquired, the process proceeds to step S717.

In step S<b>717 , the CPU 201 acquires holding addresses from the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 . Acquisition of the retained IP address is performed by the network control program 303 transmitting an IP address acquisition request to the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 using a predetermined means such as TCP, UDP, or HTTP, as in the operating state. by If it is clear that there is only one retained address, this step need not be performed. Once acquired, the process advances to step S718.

In step S718, the CPU 201 determines whether the obtained retained addresses are on the same network. The determination may be made by executing the communication state determination program 304 on the acquired IP address and by determining whether a response is obtained, or by using the subnet mask managed by the operating system 302 . If they are on the same network, the process proceeds to step S719; otherwise, the flow ends.

In step S719, the CPU 201 stores the IP address determined to be on the same network in association with the external device. After memorizing, the flow ends.

Through the above procedure, performance information indicating the operation performance of the image forming apparatus can be collected periodically. In addition, when a reset occurs before the current time, the activation time can be specified in view of the occurrence of the reset.

<Flow of state determination processing when communication is not possible>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the processing flow of the CPU 201 of the operating state collection information processing apparatus 104 when determining the state when communication is disabled. State determination when communication is impossible is performed in step S705.

In step S<b>801 , the CPU 201 makes a request to acquire the elapsed time after startup of the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 . The request to acquire the elapsed time after startup has been described in step S708. After making the acquisition request, the process proceeds to step S802.

In step S<b>802 , the CPU 201 determines whether or not the elapsed time since startup could be obtained from the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 as a result of the acquisition request in step S<b>801 . If it has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S803, and if it has not been acquired, the process proceeds to step S804.

In step S803, the CPU 201 calculates activation time. The startup time is calculated by subtracting the elapsed time after startup acquired in step 801 from the system time managed by the operating system 302 . After the calculation, the process proceeds to step S805.

In step S804, the CPU 201 sets the current date and time as the activation time. The current date and time are obtained from the system time managed by the operating system 302 . Since it is confirmed in step S702 that communication is possible, if it cannot be obtained, it may be before the elapsed time response program 504 or 604 is started. That is, since the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 have just started up, the current date and time can be set as the startup time. If the current date and time is set as the activation time, the process proceeds to step S805.

In step S805, the CPU 201 determines whether the activation time determined in step S803 or S804 is after the last communication date and time stored in association with the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 in step S707. If it is later, the process proceeds to step S806; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S809. If the startup date and time has been determined in step S804, it will always be later than the last communication date and time.

In step S806, the CPU 201 determines whether the current date and time is later than the reset occurrence date and time stored in step S709. As the current date and time, the one obtained in step S803 is used.

In step S<b>807 , the CPU 201 determines whether the activation time matches the reset occurrence date and time. Since latency (delay) occurs in communication, some leeway is allowed in this determination. If the difference is within a predetermined time period, for example, within 10 seconds, it is determined that they match. If they match, the process proceeds to step S809; if they do not match, the process proceeds to step S808.

In step S808, the CPU 201 turns off the operating states of the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 from the date and time when the communication failure occurred until the startup time calculated in step S803. The date and time of the last communication itself may be used as the date and time when communication is disabled, but since communication is actually disabled from the time of the next acquisition, in this embodiment half of the acquisition interval is added to the date and time of the last communication. Let the time be the time from the time to the startup time. After determining the operating state, the process proceeds to step S810.

In step S809, the CPU 201 sets the operating state from the last communication date and time to the current date and time as a communication error. After determining the operation status up to the current date and time, the process proceeds to step S812.

In step S810, the CPU 201 determines whether the activation time matches the current date and time. Here, the width is set to the interval of acquisition of the operating state. If the acquisition interval is 1 minute, a deviation of less than 1 minute is considered a match. As a result of the determination, if they match, the process proceeds to step S812, and if they do not match, the process proceeds to step S811.

In step S<b>811 , the CPU 201 determines that the operating state from the startup date and time to the current date and time is a communication error. After the determined state and date are stored, the process proceeds to step S812.

In step S<b>812 , the CPU 201 calculates the reset occurrence date and time using the elapsed time after activation acquired in step S<b>802 , and stores it in association with the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 . The calculation of the reset occurrence date and time has been described in step S709. In step S802, if the elapsed time after activation cannot be obtained, it is sufficient to simply delete the already stored reset occurrence date and time without calculating it. In this case, the date and time of reset occurrence is calculated in step S709 when the next operation record is obtained.

At step 813 , the CPU 201 erases the information indicating that communication is disabled and stored in association with the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 . After erasing, end the flow.

<Description of status determination when communication is not possible>
State determination when communication is disabled will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In order to simplify the explanation, the determination result of the reset occurrence date and time in step S806 will be divided into two figures for explanation. 9A and 9B are a schematic diagram 900 when the reset occurrence date and time are after the current date and time, and a schematic diagram 910 when the reset occurrence date and time are before the current date and time.

In the schematic diagram 900 in which the reset occurrence date and time 914 is later than the current date and time (also referred to as the current time), an operation result acquisition interval 902 is defined with respect to the time axis 901 . The acquisition interval 902 may be the interval at which the processing of FIG. 7 is performed for the target device. More specifically, it may be the interval at which pings are transmitted to the target device in step S701. In step S707, the last communication date and time 903 (also referred to as the last communication time) is stored in association with the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 whose operation records are to be obtained. If no response to Ping is obtained in step S702 for the next acquisition, communication disabled 904 is stored in association with the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111. FIG. It is assumed that communication failures occurred successively in subsequent acquisitions, and that it was the current date and time 905 that communication became possible. Since communication disabled 904 is stored, the process advances from step S703 to step S705, and the elapsed time after startup is acquired from the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 in step S801. If the obtained elapsed time after activation is the elapsed time after activation 906, the activation time calculated in step S803 is the activation date and time A907. Since the startup date and time A 907 is before the last communication date and time 903, the process proceeds from step S805 to step S809, and the state between communication failure occurrence date and time 913 (also called communication failure occurrence time) and current time 905 is determined as a communication error. The fact that the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 were not activated while communication was disabled indicates that the power remained on. The date and time of occurrence of communication failure 913 is obtained by adding half of the acquisition interval 902 to the last communication date and time 903 .

If the elapsed time after startup acquired in step S801 is 908, the startup time (also referred to as startup time) calculated in step S803 is startup date and time B909. Since the activation time B909 is later than the last communication date and time 903, the process proceeds from step S805 to step S806. In this schematic diagram, the reset occurrence date and time 914 calculated and stored in S709 or S812 is later than the current date and time 905 . Therefore, the process proceeds from step S806 to step S808, and in step S808, it is determined that the power is off during the period from communication failure occurrence date and time 913 to startup date and time B909. Then, the process proceeds from step S810 to step S811, and in step S811, a communication error is determined for the state from the start date/time B909 to the current date/time 905. FIG. In this case, the reset occurrence date and time 914 has been changed to a value based on the startup date and time B 909, so the reset occurrence date and time are calculated in step S812.

If the elapsed time after activation acquired in step S801 is the elapsed time after activation 912, the activation time calculated in step S803 is the activation time C911. Since the activation time C911 is later than the last communication date and time 903, the process proceeds from step S805 to step S806. Since the reset occurrence date and time 914 is later than the current date and time 905, the process advances from step S806 to step S808. Since the elapsed time after activation 912 is shorter than the acquisition interval 902, it is determined in step S810 that the activation date and time match the current date and time.

If the elapsed time after activation cannot be acquired in step S801, it is determined that the activation date and time D is the same as the current date and time 905 in step S804. Proceeding from step S805 to step S809, the operating state from the communication failure occurrence date and time 913 to the current date and time 905 is determined as a communication error.

Next, a case where the reset occurrence date and time 914 (also referred to as reset occurrence time) is before the current date and time will be described using a schematic diagram 920 . As in the schematic diagram 900 , an operation result acquisition interval 902 is defined with respect to a time axis 901 . As in the schematic diagram 900 , the last communication date and time 903 is stored, and in the next acquisition process, communication failure 904 occurs and communication is possible at the current date and time 907 . In this schematic diagram, the reset date/time 922 is after the last communication date/time 903 . Therefore, if the activation date and time is E 921 before the last communication date and time 903 , the elapsed time after activation obtained in step S 801 is the time 923 between the reset occurrence date and time 922 and the current date and time 907 . Therefore, the startup time calculated in S803 matches the reset occurrence date and time 922 . The process proceeds from step S805 to step S806, and since the reset occurrence date/time 922 is earlier than the current date/time 907 in step S806, the process proceeds to step S807. Proceeding from step S807 to step S809, the state between the communication failure occurrence date and time 904 and the current date and time 907 is determined as a communication error. The next reset occurrence date and time after the reset occurrence is calculated in step S812.

If the elapsed time after startup acquired in step S801 is 924, the startup time calculated in step S803 is startup time F923. In this case, since the position of the reset date and time 922 is irrelevant, it is the same as the activation time C 911 in the schematic diagram 900 .

As described above, the startup time is specified from the elapsed time since startup and the current time. This can be done by calculating the current time minus the elapsed time since startup. Also, the time at which communication is impossible is specified from the last communication time. The specific method is last communication time+predetermined time, and the predetermined time is an acquisition interval of operation information. If there is an activation time between the communication failure occurrence time thus obtained and the current time, the period from the communication failure occurrence time to the activation time is specified as the power-off period. Also, the period from the startup time to the current time is specified as the communication error period. If the activation time is earlier than the communication failure time, the period from the communication failure occurrence time to the current time is specified as the communication error period.

Here, in the case of a system in which a reset occurs in the elapsed time after startup (that is, a cyclical system), it may be necessary to consider the reset occurrence time. If the calculated reset occurrence time is after the current time or before the activation time, the reset time need not be considered. Therefore, each period can be specified as described above. On the other hand, if the specified activation time matches the reset occurrence time, it can be estimated that the activation time is earlier than the final communication time, so the period from the time when the communication failure occurred to the current time is specified as an error danger.

Further, the information processing apparatus 104 or the operation information server 114 may calculate the total printing time during which printing was executed from the collected operation results. Furthermore, the period excluding the period during which the power is determined to be off may be calculated as the total usage time of the managed device, and the ratio of the total printing time to the total usage time may be calculated as the productivity index.

<Schematic diagram of external device data table>
FIG. 10 is an example of an external device data table 1000 that the information processing device stores in association with the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 and holds in the RAM or HDD. The external device data table 1000 has items of identifier 1001 of the image forming systems 106, 107, 110 and 111, IP address 1002, last communication date and time 1003, communication disabled 1004, reset occurrence date and time 1005, and other address 1006 items. Three external devices 1010 , 1011 and 1012 are registered in the external device data table 1000 .

An external device A 1010 shows an example of data immediately after being added to the external device data table 1000 . A registration screen (not shown) specifies the IP addresses of the external devices selected by the user, that is, the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 . The CPU 201 of the information processing device transmits an identifier acquisition request to the designated IP address 1002 . Only when there is a response from the external device and the identifier 1001 can be acquired, it is registered in the external device data table 1000, and when it cannot be acquired, the registration request is rejected as an invalid IP address. Immediately after registration in the external device data table 1000, values other than the identifier 1001 and the IP address 1002 are not registered.

The external device B 1011 is an example of data after executing the operating state acquisition flow described with reference to FIG. 7 at least once. Data is not registered because communication failure 1004 has not occurred. The reset occurrence time is recorded in step S709, and the held address is acquired in step S717, but since it does not have another address on the same network, None is recorded as the value.

Similar to the external device B1011, the external device C1012 is also an example of data after the operating state acquisition flow described in FIG. 7 has been executed at least once. It is determined in step S702 that there is no response to the Ping command, and true is stored in communication disabled 1004 in step S706. Next, when there is a response to the Ping command, the process moves from step S703 to step S705, and the state determination processing at the time of communication load described with reference to FIG. 8 is performed.

<Schematic diagram of actual operation data>
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of data when the information processing apparatus 104 sends the operation results (that is, operation information) acquired from the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 to the operation information server 114. FIG. In step S715, the data is converted into a general data format such as XML or JSON and transmitted to the operation information server 114. FIG. This data is operation information, and is also called operation record data.

The operation record data 1100 indicates the operation record obtained by obtaining the operation information once, and is the data when the process proceeds to step S705 and passes through steps S808 and S811.

The date and time of creation 1101 is data representing the date and time when the performance data 1100 was created. When executing step S715, the system time managed by the OS of the operating state collection information processing apparatus 104 is acquired and a value is created.

An identifier 1102 is the identifier of the image forming apparatus. Acquisition of the identifiers of the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 has been described with reference to FIG.

The first operating state date and time 1103 is a value paired with the first operating state 1104 and represents the date and time when the first operating state 1104 occurred. In the example shown in this figure, the value is determined in step S808. That is, it is the date and time when communication is impossible, which is calculated by adding half the acquisition interval to the last communication date and time 1003 . The first operating state 1104 is a predetermined value associated with the determined state. Here, the value is "off" indicating power off.

The second operating status date and time 1105, the second operating status 1106, the third operating status date and time 1107, and the third operating status 1108 are the same. In the example of this figure, the second operating state date and time 1105 is the startup time calculated in step S803, and the value is determined in step S811 together with the second operating state. Here, the operating state 1106 is a value "NetworkError" indicating a communication error. A third operating state 1108 is the operating state obtained from the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 in step S712. The third operating status date and time 1107 is the current date and time, so it may be the same as the creation date and time 1101 . Here, the operating state 1108 is the value "Printing" indicating normal printing operation. When the power is on and communication is normal, a value corresponding to the state acquired from the image forming apparatus is stored as the operating state. For example, there are "Printing" and "Idle" indicating a resting state. In addition, a status indicating that maintenance work is being performed may be included.

The print results 1109 are the print results obtained from the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 in step S714. The number of printed sheets completed from the time when the communication error was recovered to the present, that is, from the second operation state date and time 1105 to the creation date and time 1101 is acquired from the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 and set.

<Schematic diagram of operation result display screen>
The data collected by the operation information server 114 can be displayed by accessing with the web browser of the information processing device 105 . FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a screen displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus 105 when the address of the web application provided by the operation information server 114 is accessed.

The operation record list display screen 1200 is a screen that enables the collective display of the operation records of all the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 registered by the user. The registered image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 are displayed like selection buttons 1201-1204. The button selected here is highlighted like the selection button 1201 , and the information of the selected image forming apparatus 106 is displayed in the individual operation record display 1220 .

A warning display 1205 is a portion for displaying a message prompting the user to take action when a problem occurs in the selected image forming apparatus 106 . A warning display 1205 in the figure displays a message indicating that the network is unstable. If the network to which the image forming apparatus 106 belongs becomes unstable and a job cannot be sent, the operating rate of the image forming apparatus 106 will decrease. The operator of the printing company must check the network environment and eliminate the cause. This message is displayed when it is determined that a communication error has occurred when communication is not possible according to the flow described with reference to FIGS.

An operating state display portion 1206 displays the state of the selected image forming apparatus 106 along a time axis. The state of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 11 is accumulated, and the state change and the time spent in that state are calculated. Off, which indicates power off, and Network Error, which indicates a communication error, are distinguished by the processing in FIG.

An operating state cumulative time display portion 1207 numerically represents the accumulated time during which the selected image forming apparatus 106 has been in each state. Each numerical value is calculated by totaling the time of each state received from the information processing device.

Productivity information 1208 is a part for displaying other values indicating productivity.

A power-off count display 1209 counts the number of times the selected image forming apparatus 106 has been powered off. According to the flow described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the power-off state is determined as the state when communication is not possible, and the number of times the power-off state is transmitted to the virtual result collection server is counted. Since the image forming apparatuses 106, 109, 110, and 113 take a long time to adjust the temperature of the fixing section, the productivity can be improved by turning off the power supply less frequently. If this value is large, the printing company is required to investigate the cause of the need to turn off the power and reduce the number of times.

A business hours display 1120 is the time during which the selected image forming apparatus 106 is in use, and represents the time when the image forming apparatus 106 is in a state other than power-off. Since it is the time during which the image forming apparatus 106 was actually used, it may be longer than the business hours of a normal printing company. This time is used to calculate production efficiency.

The total number of printed sheets 1311 displays the total number of pages produced by the selected image forming apparatus 106 on this day. A higher value indicates a higher production volume. The print results acquired from the image forming apparatus are accumulated, and the total number of sheets is displayed.

Productivity 1312 indicates the percentage of time during which the image forming apparatus 106 is effectively used in business hours. It is calculated by the ratio of printing time to business hours display 1120 . Since it is a number that represents productivity during business hours, it is the most important value for increasing productivity.

<Schematic diagram of registration screen for external devices to be managed>
In order to register the image forming apparatuses to be managed, the information processing apparatus 104 registers the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 to be managed by the information processing apparatus (not shown) or the information processing apparatus 105 on the same network. accept the registration screen request for In response to the request, the information processing apparatus 104 returns a response (HTML data) written in HTML. The requesting information processing device analyzes the received HTML data using the browser program of the information processing device, and displays an external device registration screen 1300 shown in FIG. 13 on the display unit 210 according to the HTML data. On this screen 1300, an external device to be managed is registered.

A registration screen display button 1301 is a button for displaying a screen for registering an external device to be managed. When the registration screen display button 1301 is selected, a selection screen for selecting an external device is displayed on the setting screen display portion 1302 . In addition, buttons for displaying various setting screens may be displayed.

A search button 1303 is a button for executing a search of the image forming systems 106 , 107 , 110 , and 111 connected to the information processing apparatus 104 . Is there an image forming system 106, 107, 110, or 111 that can be selected when an IP address is entered in the IP address range specification area 1304 and can be registered in the IP range specified in the IP address range specification area 1304? perform a search for

A search result display area 1305 is an area for displaying registerable external devices found by searching after the search button 1303 is selected. Device information 1306 and 1307 displayed as a result are buttons that can be selected. Information on the external device corresponding to the selected button is displayed in the selected device detail display area 1308 . The selected device details display area 1308 has a registration button 1309. By selecting this button 1309, the selected external device can be registered in the information processing apparatus 104 as a device to be managed. A nice registered target is referred to by the information processing apparatus 104 and becomes a target device for the processing shown in FIG. 7, for example. In searching for the external device, SNMP or the like is used to acquire information on the external device, and it is determined whether the image forming system 106, 107, 110, or 111 is supported by the operation record management. If the model is not supported, or if the information cannot be obtained, it is not displayed in the search result display area 1305 . The identifier and IP of the external device that received the registration instruction are registered in the external device data table 1000 .

The display as shown here may be performed by an information processing apparatus (for example, the information processing apparatus 105) that obtains operation information from the operation information server 114, or by an apparatus that obtains information from the information processing apparatus 104 (for example, operation information server 114).

As described above, the operating status collection system provided by the present embodiment, when communication with an external device whose operating status is to be acquired becomes impossible, when communication is restored, the cause of the failure is identified by the operating information collecting system. identified by the device of For example, it is determined whether the power off of the image forming systems 106, 107, 110, and 111 is the cause, or whether the cause is a communication error. Therefore, for example, even if power on/off information or communication error information cannot be obtained from a device to be managed, the cause of failure to communicate with the image forming apparatus can be identified.

Furthermore, if a communication error has occurred between the image forming apparatuses, the print results of the image forming apparatuses during the time when the communication error occurred are acquired. As a result, even when communication with the image forming system is not possible, it is possible to acquire the operation results necessary for evaluating productivity.

[Other Examples]
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by processing to It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the claims are appended to make public the scope of the invention.

102: Printer system, 103: Operation information collection system, 1, 107, 110, 111: Image forming system, 114: Operation information server, 115: Operation information database

Claims (11)

An information processing device that acquires operation information from a target device,
When communication with the target device, which has been disabled, becomes possible, the period from the communication failure occurrence time when communication with the target device becomes impossible to the startup time of the target device is defined as the power off of the target device. identifying means for identifying a period and identifying a period from the start time to the current time as a communication error period in which communication with the target device is not possible;
and storage means for storing the specified period as part of the operation information of the target device. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, if the activation time is earlier than the communication failure occurrence time, the identifying means identifies the communication error period from the communication failure occurrence time to the current time as the communication error period. . The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2,
When communication with the target device, which has been impossible to communicate with, becomes possible, the specifying means specifies the communication failure occurrence time based on the last communication time with the target device, and the target device is activated. 1. An information processing apparatus, wherein the starting time is specified from the elapsed time after starting, which is the time since starting, and the current time. The information processing device according to claim 3,
When the elapsed time after startup is a cyclic value,
The identifying means estimates the next reset occurrence time at which the elapsed time after activation is reset, and if the difference between the activation time and the reset occurrence time is smaller than a predetermined time, the activation time is the communication disabled. An information processing apparatus, wherein a period from the communication failure occurrence time to the current time is specified as the period of the communication error by estimating that it is earlier than the occurrence time. The information processing device according to claim 4,
The identifying means identifies a time at which the elapsed time after activation was last reset from the current time and the elapsed time after activation, adds a cycle of the elapsed time after activation to the time, and generates the next reset. An information processing apparatus characterized by estimating time. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
further comprising acquisition means for acquiring operation information from the target device;
An information processing apparatus, wherein the acquired operation information is saved by the saving means. The information processing device according to claim 6,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the acquisition unit also acquires operation information during the period determined by the identification unit to be the period of the communication error. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the storage unit stores the operation information, or stores the operation information by transmitting it to an external device and storing it in the external device. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
An information processing apparatus, further comprising transmitting means for transmitting the operation information collected by the information processing apparatus to a device capable of displaying the operation information. A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A control method for an information processing apparatus that acquires operation information from a target device, the method comprising identifying means and storing means,
When the specifying means becomes able to communicate with a target device that has been unable to communicate, the period from the communication failure occurrence time when communication with the target device becomes impossible to the start time of the target device is specified as the target device. identifying that the device is in a power-off period, and identifying that the period from the activation time to the current time is a communication error period in which communication with the target device is not possible;
A control method for an information processing apparatus, wherein the storage means stores the specified period as a part of operation information of the target device.

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