JP2023112969A - Information processing apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus and program capable of presenting an operator related to processing to be performed by a user from among a plurality of operators shared by a plurality of users.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus (image forming apparatus 10) comprises a processor (CPU11). The processor presents an operator, from among a plurality of operators obtained by acquiring data to be processed and associating with processing to be performed respectively, and shared by a plurality of users, with which processing performed in the past on data similar to acquired data to be processed is associated, to a user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

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

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200000 discloses a method in which a record (history) of saved job history information is searched for a record closely related to a new job to be executed, and detailed settings, functions, etc. of the searched history are performed. An output device for providing to a user is disclosed.

Patent No. 5129640 publication

In information processing devices such as multi-function machines, a technology that enables the user to easily perform the same processing as the previously executed processing by associating and registering the previously executed processing with the operator and operating the operator. is proposed. It is conceivable that such controls are shared by a plurality of users, one user provides controls recommended to other users, and an administrator provides controls that are commonly used within a group. . However, when a large number of controls are registered, a problem arises in that it becomes difficult for the user to find a desired control.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and a program capable of presenting an operator related to a process that a user is about to execute from among a plurality of operators shared by a plurality of users. be.

An information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a processor, and the processor acquires target data to be processed, and the processor is a plurality of operators each associated with a process to be executed, and is shared by a plurality of users. A user is presented with an operator associated with a process performed in the past on data similar to the acquired target data from among a plurality of operators.

An information processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the manipulator is associated with an image feature amount of data processed in the past by the manipulator; An image feature amount of data is acquired, and among the data processed in the past, data associated with an image feature amount whose similarity to the image feature amount of the target data is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold is regarded as the similar data. , presents an operator that has processed the similar data.

An information processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein when there are a plurality of data processed by the operator in the past, and the processor determines in advance that at least one of the image feature amounts of the plurality of data associated with the operator has a degree of similarity with the image feature amount of the target data in advance. When there is an image feature amount equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the operator is presented as an operator obtained by processing similar data.

An information processing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the second aspect or the third aspect, wherein the data associated with the operator corresponds to the similar data, thereby is associated with the number of times of use after being presented, and the processor presents to the user an operator associated with a process performed in the past on data similar to the target data , the number of times of use associated with the data associated with the manipulator is presented to the user together with the data associated with the manipulator.

An information processing apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein the processor changes the initial value of the number of times of use associated with the data from a standard value according to the user who provided the data. change.

An information processing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, wherein the processor sets the initial value of the number of times of use associated with the data to the data provided in the past by the user who provided the data. The median or average value of the number of uses of

An information processing apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the processor presents an operator based on a preset condition. Sort order.

An information processing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein the processor rearranges the operators in such a manner that the more frequently used operators, the higher the order in which they are presented.

An information processing apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein the processor presents an operator with a higher degree of similarity to the target data in a higher order of presentation. Rearrange so that

An information processing apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein the processor rearranges the operators so that the operators used by a larger number of users are presented in a higher order.

An information processing apparatus according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein the processor rearranges the operators so that the closer the date and time of last use to the present, the higher the order in which they are presented.

An information processing apparatus according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, wherein the processor determines the operator to be presented based on the degree of similarity of data associated with the operator to the target data. are classified into groups, and the manipulators belonging to a group with a higher degree of similarity are rearranged so that the order in which they are presented is higher. Rearrange the order of presentation.

In the information processing apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the twelfth aspect, the processor rearranges the operators in each group so that the more frequently used operators are presented, the higher the order in which they are presented.

A program according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention comprises a plurality of operators each associated with a step of acquiring target data to be processed and a process to be executed, wherein from among a plurality of operators shared by a plurality of users, and presenting to the user an operator associated with a process performed in the past on data similar to the acquired target data.

According to the information processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to present an operator related to a process that the user is going to execute from among a plurality of operators shared by a plurality of users.

According to the information processing apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, an operator that has processed data similar to the target data of the process that the user is about to execute is presented from among the plurality of operators shared by a plurality of users. can do.

According to the information processing apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to present an operator related to the process that the user is going to execute based on a plurality of data processed by the operator in the past.

According to the information processing apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to indicate to the user the number of times the data associated with the operator is used as the degree of trust of the data.

According to the information processing apparatus of the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to adjust the presentation number of usage counts according to the user who provided the data.

According to the information processing apparatus of the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to adjust the number of presentations of the number of times of use according to the use record of data provided by the user in the past.

According to the information processing apparatus of the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to change the presentation order of the manipulators to be presented to the user based on preset conditions.

According to the information processing apparatus of the eighth aspect of the present invention, an operator that has been used more frequently can be preferentially presented to the user.

According to the information processing apparatus of the ninth aspect of the present invention, operators associated with data having a higher degree of similarity to target data can be preferentially presented to the user.

According to the information processing apparatus of the 10th aspect of the present invention, it is possible to preferentially present an operator to the user as the number of users who have used it is large.

According to the information processing apparatus of the eleventh aspect of the present invention, an operator whose last use date and time is closer to the present can be preferentially presented to the user.

According to the information processing apparatus of the twelfth aspect of the present invention, regarding the presentation order of the controls to be presented to the user, groups having a high degree of similarity are presented at the top, and the presentation order within the group is determined based on a preset condition. can be changed by

According to the information processing apparatus of the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, an operator having a higher degree of similarity and having a greater number of times of use can be preferentially presented to the user.

According to the program of the 14th aspect of the present invention, it is possible to present an operator related to the process that the user is going to execute from among a plurality of operators shared by a plurality of users.

1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a personal setting information management table stored in a setting information storage unit; FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a shared setting information management table stored in a setting information storage unit; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a job setting information list display screen displayed for the user to use the quick function. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining processing contents when a recommended function is executed; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of icons extracted by a recommendation function; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another aspect of a display example of icons extracted by the recommendation function; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining processing details when an icon extracted by a recommendation function is selected; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining processing details when an icon extracted by a recommendation function is selected; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining processing contents when a recommended function is executed; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining processing details when an icon extracted by a recommendation function is selected; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the processing contents when changing the display order of icons extracted by the recommendation function; FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when executing a recommended function; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining an operation when acquiring a presentation list; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of addition processing of the number of uses of a document when a job is executed; FIG.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

An image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an image forming apparatus 10 and a terminal device 20 interconnected by a network 30, as shown in FIG. The terminal device 20 generates print data and transmits the generated print data to the image forming device 10 via the network 30 . The image forming apparatus 10 receives print data transmitted from the terminal device 20 and outputs an image corresponding to the print data on paper. Note that the image forming apparatus 10 is a so-called multifunction device having multiple functions such as a printing function, a scanning function, a copying function, and a facsimile function. The image forming apparatus 10 is an example of an information processing apparatus according to the technology of the present invention.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 in the image forming system of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a CPU 11, a memory 12, a storage device 13 such as a hard disk drive, and a communication interface ( IF) 14 , a user interface (UI) device 15 including a touch panel or liquid crystal display and a keyboard, a scanner 16 and a print engine 17 . These components are connected to each other via a control bus 18 .

The UI device 15 receives an instruction input from the user. The scanner 16 reads a document loaded in the image forming apparatus 10 as image data. The print engine 17 prints an image on a recording medium such as printing paper through processes such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, and fixing.

The CPU 11 is a processor that executes predetermined processing based on a control program stored in the memory 12 or storage device 13 to control the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 . In this embodiment, the CPU 11 is described as reading and executing the control program stored in the memory 12 or the storage device 13, but the present invention is not limited to this. You may provide this control program in the form recorded on the computer-readable recording medium. For example, this program is recorded in an optical disk such as CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM, or semiconductor memory such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and memory card may be provided in recorded form. Alternatively, the control program may be obtained from an external device via a communication line connected to the communication interface 14. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 realized by executing the above control program.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an authentication unit 31, an operation input unit 32, a display unit 33, a data transmission/reception unit 34, a control unit 35, and an image reading unit 36. , an image output unit 37 and a setting information storage unit 38 .

The authentication unit 31 executes authentication processing for a user who tries to use the image forming apparatus 10 . The operation input unit 32 inputs various operation information performed by the user. The display unit 33 is controlled by the control unit 35 and displays various information to the user. The data transmission/reception unit 34 transmits/receives data to/from an external device such as the terminal device 20 .

The control unit 35 controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 10, generates print data based on a print job received from the terminal device 20 via the data transmission/reception unit 34, and outputs the generated print data as an image. Control for output from the unit 37, control for reading the document image by the image reading unit 36, and the like are performed.

The image reading unit 36 reads a document image from the set document under the control of the control unit 35 . The image output unit 37 outputs an image onto a recording medium such as printing paper under the control of the control unit 35 .

The setting information storage unit 38 stores job history information indicating the execution history of various jobs such as print jobs, scan jobs, copy jobs, and fax transmission jobs executed by the control unit 35, as well as settings for executing job processing. Stores setting information in which a value is stored for each setting item. Here, the job history information is history information of processing details of jobs executed in the past.

The setting information storage unit 38 includes a personal setting information management table for managing personal setting information that can be used only by a specific user, and a shared setting information table for managing shared setting information that can be used by a plurality of users. A setting information management table is stored.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, by selecting an arbitrary job from the job history information and personal setting information described above, a new job is generated using the setting contents of the previously executed job. Functions to be executed are provided as quick functions.

An example of the personal setting information management table stored in the setting information storage unit 38 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the personal setting information management table manages job history information of jobs executed in the past, and personal setting information pinned by a user's operation from the job history information. ing.

In the job history information and personal setting information, for each job, information on items such as the job's "name", "type", "settings", "date of last use", and "document image feature amount" is displayed. managed.

Here, the "name" is the name when the job is displayed on the display screen for using the quick function. "Type" is the type of processing in the job, such as copying, faxing, and scanning. Also, the “setting content” is information about the setting content required when executing a job. The "date and time of last use" is the date and time when the job was last used.

Further, in the image forming apparatus 10, some jobs such as copying, facsimile, and scanning are executed on documents prepared by the user. A document prepared by the user is acquired as image data by, for example, the scanner 16 in the image forming apparatus 10 . The “document image feature amount” is the image feature amount of image data of a document that is the target of a job executed in the past.

Here, the image feature amount is a numerical value of the feature of image data, and is a value calculated using the image data. The image feature amount may be a global feature obtained from the entire image, or may be a local feature obtained from a part of the image. For example, SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform), HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients), or the like can be used as an algorithm for acquiring the image feature amount of image data. Besides these algorithms, OCR (Optical character recognition) processing may be performed on the image data of the document, and the number of characters in the document, the ratio of the character area in the document, or the like may be used as the image feature amount. Note that the algorithm for acquiring the image feature amount of image data is not limited to the above algorithm, and any algorithm may be used. Also, the number of image feature amounts managed as the "document image feature amount" may be one image feature amount or a plurality of image feature amounts for one image data.

In this embodiment, as an example, the image feature amount of image data is the ratio of the character area in the image. Specifically, OCR processing is performed on the image data of the document, the ratio of the character area to the area of the entire document is calculated, and the calculated numerical value is used as the image feature amount. As a result, a document with a large image feature value is a document mainly composed of characters, and a document with a small image feature value is a document mainly composed of non-characters.

If the user wants to execute a job with the same settings as the job executed in the past, the user can select job history information on the display screen for using the quick function, and Jobs can be executed according to the settings.

Note that job history information is also included in personal setting information that can be used only by specific users. In other words, the job history information is personal setting information that is not pinned. However, in the following description, pinned setting information that can only be used by a specific user is called personal setting information, and unpinned setting information that is only available to a specific user is called personal setting information. is called job history information.

When a user uses the image forming apparatus 10 to execute a job, new job history information is generated each time the job is executed. However, the data storage area is limited, and storing all the job history information may result in a shortage of the data storage area. For this reason, an upper limit is set such that, for example, only the latest 200 jobs are left as job history information, and the job history information exceeding the upper limit is deleted starting with the oldest execution date and time.

Therefore, it is possible to perform pinning settings so that job histories that you do not want to delete will not be deleted. The pinned job history is managed as personal setting information, and is left without being deleted even if the number of jobs executed later exceeds the upper limit.

For example, referring to the personal setting information management table in FIG. 4, the setting information with the names "email transmission to accounting department" and "fax to travel agency" are pinned and managed separately from normal job history information. I know you are there. In other words, this pinned personal setting information remains regardless of the number of jobs to be executed later, and continues to be displayed on the operation screen. Therefore, if you register frequently used job history information as personal setting information by pinning it, you can use that personal setting information many times to execute jobs with the same settings. It becomes possible to

Here, the personal setting information and job history information shown in FIG. 4 are setting information that can be used only by a specific user such as user X, for example. However, there are cases where multiple users want to use such setting information. Therefore, personal setting information can be changed to shared setting information. Note that shared setting information can be used by all logged-in users.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a shared setting information management table for managing such shared setting information. As shown in FIG. 5, in the shared setting information management table, for each job, "name", "type", "settings", "creating user", "using user", "last used date and time", Information on items such as "document image feature amount" and "number of times of use" is managed.

Here, the "name", "type", "setting content", "date of last use", and "document image feature amount" are the same as those of the personal setting information management table. Also, the “creating user” is the user who created the setting information of the job. A "user" is a user who uses the job.

The "number of times of use" is the number of times the job has been used since the job was set to be shared. The number of times it has been used. When a plurality of "document image feature amounts" are registered for one job, the "usage count" is registered for each document. The "recommended function" will be described in detail later. In this embodiment, the "number of times of use" is set to 0 as an initial setting.

In the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, when using the quick function, in addition to the above-described job history information and personal setting information, shared setting information is also used when executing a job. Setting information can be selected.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a job setting information list display screen displayed for the user to use the quick function. As shown in FIG. 6, on the job setting information list display screen, it can be seen that shared setting information 61, personal setting information 62, and job history information 63 are displayed in a list. In this list display, each job is displayed as an icon 70, and the user can use the job of the touched icon 70 by touching the icon 70. FIG. That is, the icon 70 is an operator associated with a job.

In the job setting information list display screen shown in FIG. 6, the personal setting information management table shown in FIG. 4 and the shared setting information management table shown in FIG. This is an example of a display screen displayed when user X logs in in the state. However, due to the display space, some of the job histories displayed on the job history list display screen are omitted.

On the job setting information list display screen shown in FIG. 6, the job history information 63 is deleted sequentially from the oldest one as a new job is executed. However, the shared setting information 61 and the personal setting information 62 with the pin mark 50 are not affected even when a new job is executed, and can be displayed at the same place without changing the display position. continues to be displayed.

When the user intends to execute a job having the same content as a job executed in the past, the user can select from among the list of shared setting information 61, personal setting information 62, and job history information 63 displayed in this way. Therefore, by simply touching the icon 70 of the job whose setting content is the same as or similar to the setting content of the job to be executed, the job can be executed with the desired setting content without performing detailed setting.

For example, by simply touching the icon 70 of shared setting information named "submit report", the user can send an email to the same address as usual without entering address information. becomes.

However, in most cases, the user does not understand the contents of the shared setting information 61 registered by others. Therefore, even if there is useful setting information in the shared setting information 61, There is a problem that it is difficult to find the desired operator. Moreover, when a large number of shared setting information 61 are registered, a problem arises in that it becomes difficult for the user to find a desired operator.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the control unit 35 acquires the image data of the document as target data of the job, and selects the acquired image from among the plurality of icons 70 associated with the shared setting information 61. The user is presented with an icon 70 associated with a job performed in the past for data similar to the data.

That is, the control unit 35 presents the icon 70 associated with a job performed in the past on a document similar to the document prepared by the user as a recommended icon for the document prepared by the user. This function is hereinafter referred to as a "recommendation function".

As a specific process for executing the recommendation function, in the present embodiment, the control unit 35 acquires the image feature amount of the acquired image data, and determines the image feature amount of the acquired image data among the data processed in the past. An icon 70 obtained by processing this similar data is presented as similar data that is associated with an image feature amount whose degree of similarity to is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

The flow of processing in this case will be specifically described below.

When the user inputs an instruction to use the recommended function on a menu screen or the like, the control unit 35 displays a screen prompting the user to set a document on the image forming apparatus 10 . When the user sets a document on the image forming apparatus 10 and inputs a reading instruction, the control unit 35 drives the scanner 16 to acquire image data of the document as data to be processed.

Next, the control unit 35 acquires the image feature amount of the acquired image data. As described above, in the present embodiment, as an example, the image feature amount of image data is the ratio of the character area in the image. Therefore, the control unit 35 performs OCR processing on the image data of the document, calculates the ratio of the character area to the area of the entire document, and uses the calculated numerical value as the image feature amount.

Next, the control unit 35 associates an image feature amount whose degree of similarity with the image feature amount of the acquired image data is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold among the image data of the document that is the target of the job executed in the past. The extracted image data is extracted as similar image data.

Here, the degree of similarity between the image feature amount of the image data of the document which is the target of the job executed in the past and the image feature amount of the image data of the document prepared by the user is calculated by the following formula, for example. Also, although the threshold value can be any value, it is set to 80% or more as an example here.
D = {1-(|Fu-Fp|)/(Fu+Fp)}×100
here,
D: similarity (%)
Fu: image feature amount of the image data of the document prepared by the user Fp: image feature amount of the image data of the document processed in the past.

Note that the above formula is an example of a formula for calculating the similarity of image data when one image feature amount is used for one image data, but the formula in this case is limited to the above formula. Instead, other formulas may be used. In addition, when a plurality of image feature values are used for one image data, it is necessary to use a formula different from the above formula. Just do it. As a method for extracting similar data, in addition to the above, for example, without calculating the degree of similarity (%), data whose error in the image feature value is within a predetermined threshold value is extracted as similar data. You may make it

Next, the control unit 35 presents an icon 70 obtained by processing data extracted as similar data as a recommended icon for the manuscript prepared by the user.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, it is assumed that three pieces of setting information are registered as shared setting information: "email transmission to accounting department", "email transmission to public relations department", and "email transmission to general affairs department". . The setting information of "email transmission to accounting department" is associated with a job performed on the document A in the past, and the image feature amount of the document A is "85". The setting information of "mail transmission to public relations department" is associated with a job performed on document B in the past, and the image feature amount of document B is "10". The setting information of "email transmission to general affairs department" is associated with a job performed on document C in the past, and the image feature amount of document C is "70".

Here, when the user R intends to perform some job on the document D and inputs an instruction to use the recommended function, the control unit 35 acquires the image data of the document D as described above, and converts the acquired image data. Get image features. In the example of FIG. 7, the image feature amount of document D is "8".

Next, the control unit 35 extracts setting information for processing a document similar to the document D from the shared setting information. The image feature amount of the document A processed by the "email transmission to accounting department" is "85", and the degree of similarity with the image feature amount of the document D calculated by the above formula is 17%. The image feature amount of document B processed by the "mail transmission to public relations department" is "10", and the degree of similarity with the image feature amount of document D calculated by the above formula is 83%. The image feature amount of the document C processed by the "email transmission to general affairs department" is "70", and the similarity with the image feature amount of the document D calculated by the above formula is 20%. In this example, since the threshold is set to 80%, the setting information of "email transmission To public relations department" having a degree of similarity equal to or higher than the threshold is extracted. Hereinafter, the list of icons 70 associated with the extracted setting information will be referred to as a presentation list.

Next, the control unit 35 changes the display order of the icons 70 associated with the shared setting information. As for the display order of the icons 70, the icons 70 on the presentation list are displayed first, and then the icons 70 out of the presentation list are displayed.

First, the display order of the icons 70 in the presentation list is changed in descending order of the number of times of use. In this example, the display order is not changed because there is only the setting information of "mail transmission To Public Relations Department".

Next, the display order of the icons 70 out of the presentation list is changed according to some attribute information. Any attribute information may be used as the attribute information for changing the display order, such as the order of registration in the shared setting information, the number of times of use, the date and time of last use, and the number of users. In this example, since the setting information of "Sending Email To Accounting Department" and "Sending Email To General Affairs Department" are not included in the presentation list, these two setting information are listed in the order of their registration in the shared setting information. To Accounting Department" and "E-mail To General Affairs Department".

As shown in FIG. 8, on the display screen for the result of the recommendation function, icons 70 associated with shared setting information 61 are displayed based on the display order set as described above. An icon 70 associated with user R's personal setting information 62 and job history information 63 is displayed behind the icon 70 associated with the shared setting information 61 .

As a result, the icon 70 related to the process that the user is going to execute can be presented from among the icons 70 shared by the users, so that the user can easily find the desired icon 70. - 特許庁

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the number of times of use may be displayed in the icon 70 associated with the shared setting information 61 .

After presenting the icon 70 associated with the shared setting information 61 as the recommended function, when the icon 70 on the presentation list is used, as shown in FIG. Add the number of uses.

Also, when an icon 70 out of the presentation list is used, as shown in FIG. 11, information about the document D is newly added to the setting information associated with the icon 70 used.

Further, when the icon 70 is associated with image feature amounts of image data of a plurality of documents processed in the past, the control unit 35 selects at least one of the plurality of image feature amounts associated with the icon 70. If there is an image feature amount whose degree of similarity to the image feature amount of the target data is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the icon 70 may be presented as an icon 70 obtained by processing similar data.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, it is assumed that three pieces of setting information are registered as shared setting information: "email transmission to accounting department", "email transmission to public relations department", and "email transmission to general affairs department". . The setting information of "email transmission to accounting department" is associated with the processing performed on document A and document D in the past. ”. The setting information of "email transmission To public relations section" is associated with the processing performed on the document B in the past, and the image feature amount of the document B is "10". The setting information of "mail transmission to general affairs department" is associated with the processing performed on the document C in the past, and the image feature amount of the document C is "70".

Here, when the user S intends to perform some job on the document E and inputs an instruction to use the recommended function, the control unit 35 acquires the image data of the document E as described above, and converts the acquired image data. Get image features. In the example of FIG. 12, the image feature amount of document E is "11".

Next, the control unit 35 extracts setting information obtained by processing a document similar to the document E. FIG. The image feature amount of the document A processed by the "email transmission to accounting department" is "85", and the degree of similarity with the image feature amount of the document E calculated by the above formula is 23%. The image feature amount of the document D processed by the "email transmission to accounting department" is "8", and the degree of similarity with the image feature amount of the document E calculated by the above formula is 84%. The image feature amount of document B processed by the "mail transmission to public relations department" is "10", and the degree of similarity with the image feature amount of document E calculated by the above formula is 95%. The image feature amount of the document C processed by the "email transmission to general affairs department" is "70", and the similarity to the image feature amount of the document E calculated by the above formula is 27%. In this example, the threshold is set to 80%, so the setting information of "email transmission to accounting department" and "email transmission to public relations department" having similarities equal to or higher than the threshold is extracted.

Next, the control unit 35 changes the display order of the icons 70 associated with the shared setting information. As for the display order of the icons 70, the icons 70 on the presentation list are displayed first, and then the icons 70 out of the presentation list are displayed.

When there are a plurality of icons 70 in the presentation list, the control unit 35 may rearrange the order in which they are presented to the user based on preset conditions. As a condition for rearranging, for example, the icons 70 may be rearranged so that icons 70 that are used more frequently are presented in a higher order. Alternatively, the icons 70 associated with data having a higher degree of similarity to the target data may be rearranged so that the order of presentation is higher. Alternatively, the icons 70 used by a larger number of users may be rearranged so that the icons 70 are presented in a higher order. Alternatively, the icons 70 whose last use date and time are closer to the present may be rearranged so that the icons 70 are presented in a higher order.

In this example, since the setting information of "email transmission to accounting department" and "email transmission to public relations department" are extracted as setting information for processing a document similar to document E, the number of uses for these two setting information is as follows. The order of display will be "mail sent to Public Relations Department" and "mail sent to Accounting Department" in descending order. If the number of times of use is the same, the order of display may be changed under another condition.

Next, the display order of the icons 70 out of the presentation list is changed according to some attribute information. In this example, there is only the setting information of "mail transmission to general affairs department", so there is no change in the display order.

After presenting the icon 70 associated with the shared setting information 61 as the recommended function, when the icon 70 on the presentation list is used, as shown in FIG. , the number of times of use of manuscripts similar to the current manuscript is added.

Also, the control unit 35 may change the initial value of the number of times of use associated with the data from the standard value according to the user who provided the data. In this case, the initial value of the number of times of use may be the median or average value of the number of times of use of data provided in the past by the user who provided the data.

Specifically, in this example, the standard value of the initial value of the number of uses is set to 0, but for example, by setting the median or average value of the number of uses of data provided in the past by users who have provided new data, , the initial value of the number of times of use of new data provided by a user who has provided a large number of times increases. As a result, when the presentation order of the icons 70 is rearranged based on the number of times of use, the icon 70 associated with new data provided by a user with a large number of times of provision tends to be preferentially displayed.

The control unit 35 also classifies the icons 70 presented as recommended functions into groups according to the degree of similarity of the image data of the document associated with the icon 70 to the image data of the user's document. The icons 70 belonging to a group with a higher degree may be rearranged so that the order of presentation is higher, and the order of presentation of the icons 70 may be rearranged for each group based on a preset condition. good.

At this time, the control unit 35 preferably rearranges the icons 70 for each group so that icons 70 with a higher number of times of use are presented in a higher order. You can sort by .

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the similarity determination threshold is set to 60% or more and there are 12 icons 70 to be presented, the control unit 35 determines the degree of similarity of the data associated with the icon 70 to the target data. For each height, the group with a similarity of 100% or less and 90% or more, the group with a similarity of less than 90% and 80% or more, the group with a similarity of less than 80% and 70% or more, and the similarity of less than 70% and 60% or more group into four groups.

In addition, the control unit 35 rearranges the icons 70 so that the icons 70 belonging to a group with a higher degree of similarity are presented in a higher order, and for each group, the icon 70 with a higher number of times of use is arranged in a higher order in which they are presented. Rearrange so that

By adopting such a mode, the icons 70 can be rearranged based on both the degree of similarity and the number of times of use.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. In the following description, the icon 70 associated with shared setting information is referred to as shared pinning.

First, the process when the user inputs an instruction to use the recommended function will be described. When the user inputs an instruction to use the recommended function, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15, the control unit 35 scans the user manuscript and extracts the image feature amount of the user manuscript in step S11.

Next, in step S12, the control unit 35 acquires a sharing pinning presentation list. Processing at this time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In steps S121 to S125, the control unit 35 determines whether or not to add each of all shared pinned document histories to the presentation list. Note that the shared pinned document history is a document that has been processed in the past in shared setting information and registered in this setting information. Hereinafter, a document registered in shared setting information will be referred to as a past document, and a document newly prepared by the user will be referred to as a user document.

Specifically, in step S<b>122 , the control unit 35 calculates the degree of similarity between the image feature amount of the past document and the image feature amount of the user document for each share-pinned document history. Next, in step S123, the control unit 35 determines whether or not this degree of similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold.

If it is determined in step S123 that the degree of similarity is greater than or equal to the threshold, the control unit 35 adds the shared pinning associated with this past document to the presentation list in step S124, and proceeds to determination of the next document history. do.

If it is determined in step S123 that the degree of similarity is not equal to or greater than the threshold, the control unit 35 does not add shared pinning associated with this past document to the presentation list, and proceeds to determination of the next document history.

After the determination of all shared pinned document histories is completed, the control unit 35 changes the display order of the presentation list acquired as described above in step S13 of the flowchart of FIG. 15 .

Next, in step S<b>14 , the control unit 35 changes the display order of shared pinning that is not on the presentation list. Finally, in step S15, the control unit 35 displays shared pinning with the presentation list at the top, and ends the process.

Next, the processing for adding the number of uses of a document when a job is executed will be described. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17, in step S21, the control unit 35 determines whether or not the job has been executed from the shared pinning.

If it is determined in step S21 that the job has not been executed from shared pinning, the control unit 35 terminates the process.

When it is determined in step S21 that the job has been executed from shared pinning, the control unit 35 adds the number of times of use to all document histories registered in the executed shared pinning in steps S22 to S26. determine whether or not

Specifically, in step S<b>23 , the control unit 35 calculates the degree of similarity between the image feature amount of the past document and the image feature amount of the user document for each share-pinned document history. Next, in step S24, the control unit 35 determines whether or not this degree of similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold.

If it is determined in step S24 that the degree of similarity is greater than or equal to the threshold, the control unit 35 adds 1 to the number of times the past document has been used in step S25, and proceeds to determination of the next document history.

If it is determined in step S24 that the degree of similarity is not equal to or greater than the threshold, the control unit 35 proceeds to determination of the next document history without changing the number of times the past document has been used.

When all the manuscript histories registered in the executed shared pinning have been determined, in step S27, the control unit 35 determines whether any of the manuscript histories registered in the executed shared pinning can be used. It is determined whether or not the number of times has been added.

If it is determined in step S27 that the number of uses has been added, the control unit 35 terminates the process.

If it is determined in step S27 that the number of times of use has not been added, the control unit 35 adds the current document to the document history of shared pinning executed in step S28, and ends the process.

In the above embodiment, the processor refers to a broad sense processor, such as a general-purpose processor (e.g. CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.), a dedicated processor (e.g. GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA : Field Programmable Gate Array, Programmable Logic Device, etc.).

Further, the operations of the processors in each of the above embodiments may be performed not only by one processor but also by the cooperation of a plurality of physically separated processors. Also, the order of each operation of the processor is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate.

[Variation]
In the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and preset processing is executed. The present invention can be similarly applied to any information processing device such as a personal computer or a portable terminal device that stores processing execution information to be executed and executes processing using the stored processing execution information. It is.

10 image forming apparatus 11 CPU
12 memory 13 storage device 14 communication interface 15 user interface device 16 scanner 17 print engine 18 control bus 20 terminal device 30 network 31 authentication section 32 operation input section 33 display section 34 data transmission/reception section 35 control section 36 image reading section 37 image output section 38 setting information storage unit 50 pin mark 61 shared setting information 62 personal setting information 63 job history information 70 icon

Claims (14)

with a processor
The processor
Get the data to be processed,
A plurality of manipulators each associated with a process to be executed, and among a plurality of manipulators shared by a plurality of users, a process performed in the past on data similar to the acquired target data. An information processing device that presents associated operators to a user. The manipulator is associated with the image feature amount of the data processed in the past by the manipulator,
The processor
obtaining an image feature amount of the target data;
An operation of processing data associated with an image feature amount whose degree of similarity to the image feature amount of the target data is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold among the data processed in the past as the similar data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a child is presented. When there is a plurality of data processed in the past by the operator, the operator is associated with the image feature amount of the plurality of data processed in the past with respect to the operator,
The processor
If even one of the image feature amounts of the plurality of data associated with the operator has a degree of similarity with the image feature amount of the target data equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, the 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the manipulator is presented as a manipulator obtained by processing similar data. The data associated with the manipulator is associated with the number of times the manipulator has been presented and used because the data corresponds to the similar data, and
The processor
When presenting an operator associated with a process performed in the past on data similar to the target data to the user, the number of times of use associated with the data associated with the operator is indicated by the operator. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, presented to the user together with data associated with. The processor
5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an initial value of the number of times of use associated with data is changed from a standard value according to a user who provided the data. The processor
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the initial value of the number of times of use associated with data is the median or average value of the number of times of use of data provided in the past by users who provided the data. The processor
7. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the order in which the manipulators are presented is rearranged based on preset conditions. The processor
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the operators are rearranged so that the operator with the greater number of times of use is presented in a higher order. The processor
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the rearrangement is performed such that the manipulator associated with data having a higher degree of similarity with the target data is presented in a higher order. The processor
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the manipulators used by a larger number of users are rearranged so that the order of presentation is higher. The processor
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the operator is rearranged so that the operator whose last use date and time is closer to the present is presented in a higher order. The processor
classifying the manipulators to be presented into groups according to the degree of similarity of data associated with the manipulators to the target data;
Rearrange so that operators belonging to a group with a high degree of similarity are presented in a higher order,
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the order in which the manipulators are presented is rearranged for each group based on a preset condition. The processor
13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rearrangement is performed for each group such that the manipulators that have been used more frequently are presented in a higher order. obtaining data to be processed;
A plurality of manipulators each associated with a process to be executed, and among a plurality of manipulators shared by a plurality of users, a process performed in the past on data similar to the acquired target data. presenting the associated manipulator to the user;
A program that causes a computer to run