JP2963259B2 - Facsimile apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which can be connected to a host computer and a control method therefor .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, attempts have been made to realize various applications by controlling a facsimile apparatus by a host computer as an external information processing apparatus.

[0003]

By the way, documents handled by the conventional facsimile apparatus are exclusively limited to image documents.

However, with the recent spread of personal computers and word processors, digital networks (for example, ISD
With the rapid spread of N network), there is an increasing demand for communication of character documents.

[0005] The present invention is a facsimile device and can process the character document like the image document
An object is to provide a control method thereof .

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus having an information transmitting unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus, receiving document data of a plurality of data types from the external information processing apparatus and converting the received document data. management means for managing a file, receiving a print output request any file from the external information processing apparatus, when the printing process, automatically identify the attributes of the specified file,
If the result is character data, output control means for performing image processing and printing out the image data is provided.

[0007] The present invention also provides information on an external information processing apparatus.
In the facsimile apparatus having a broadcast transmission section, the external
Document data of multiple data types from the information processing device
And manage the document data as a file
Means for receiving an arbitrary file transmission request from the external information processing apparatus, automatically identifying the attribute of the specified file at the time of the transmission processing, and, in the case of a character document, according to the reception capability of the partner machine. Transmission control means for selectively executing transmission processing as it is as a character document or normal transmission processing after performing image conversion.

[0008] Further , the present invention provides information on an external information processing apparatus.
In a facsimile apparatus having a communication unit,
Document data of multiple data types from the information processing device
And manage the document data as a file
Means, with respect to the file managed arbitrary character document in the document storage unit, performs image processing in accordance with an instruction from the external information processing apparatus, to register and create a new image file, and the file setting means for managing It is characterized by having.

Further, the present invention provides information on an external information processing apparatus.
In a facsimile apparatus having a communication unit,
Document data of multiple data types from the information processing device
And manage the document data as a file
And means, when receiving a reception processing according to an instruction from the external information processing apparatus, receiving the advance notice of the document type that can be processed by the external information processing apparatus, processed by the data type of the received processed document the external information processing apparatus possible whether a determined, if the data type can not be processed by the external information processing apparatus, automatically the data type into a data type that can be processed by the external information processing apparatus, the file update for updating the received file and having a means. In addition, the present invention relates to information
In a control method of a facsimile machine having a transmission unit,
Documents of multiple data types from the above external information processing device
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
Management process and any files from the external information processing device.
File print output request is accepted and during print processing
Automatically identifies the attributes of the specified file and
If the result is character data, perform image processing and print
And an output control step of outputting the output.
Also, the present invention has an information transmission unit with an external information processing device.
In the method of controlling a facsimile apparatus,
Receiving document data of multiple data types from
Manager that manages the document data as a file
And transmission of any file from the external information processing device
The request is accepted and the specified file is
File attributes are automatically identified. For character documents,
Depending on the receiving capability of the other machine, sending as character documents
Normal processing after performing communication processing or image conversion
Transmission control means for selectively executing processing.
Features. In addition, the present invention provides information on an external information processing device.
In the control method of the facsimile machine having the notification section
Of multiple data types from the external information processing device
Receiving document data and converting the document data into a file
Management process to manage and file management in the document storage
For any character document, use the external information processing device
Perform image processing according to the instructions of
File setting means for creating, registering and managing files
And characterized in that: Also, the present invention relates to external information.
Facsimile machine with an information transmission unit
In the control method, a plurality of the
Receiving document data of the data type and converting the document data
A management process for managing as a file, and the above external information processing
When receiving the receiving process according to the instruction from the device,
Notify the document types that can be processed by the external information processing device in advance
The data type of the received and received document is
The external information processing device
If the data type cannot be processed by the
Data type that can be processed by the external information processing device.
File update that converts the file to a file and updates the received file
Means.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

This facsimile apparatus has a CPU 1 for controlling the entire apparatus, and a ROM 2 for storing programs and the like.
A RAM 3 for temporarily storing data, an image memory 4 for temporarily storing image data, an image conversion unit 5 for performing conversion processing such as resolution, paper size, and encoding method. It has an image reading section 6 for reading and an image recording section 7 for printing out.

The facsimile apparatus has a line controller 8 for controlling a communication procedure and a host i / f for controlling a communication procedure with a host computer 15 by, for example, a SCSI interface (i / f). Part 9;
It has a file management unit 10 for managing documents created in the facsimile machine and a storage device 11 for storing document data.

Further, this facsimile apparatus realizes operation as a facsimile apparatus, and dedicated cables 13 and 14 for connecting a line control unit 8 and a host i / f unit 9, a network and a host computer 15, respectively. Operating unit 12 for converting a character document into an image document, and a character / image converting unit 16 for converting an image document into a character document by, for example, OCR analysis.
And a character conversion unit 17.

In FIG. 1, transmission, reception and copy operations as a normal facsimile apparatus are realized by a conventionally known method.

The operation via the host i / f unit 9 will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram in which each block constituting the facsimile apparatus is assigned to a logical unit for each function, and here, only a portion related to the present invention is described. A block 20 is a printer unit related to the image recording unit 7, and a block 21 is an image memory unit related to the image memory 4, the file management unit 10, the storage device 11, and the like. Block 22
Is a line unit related to the line control unit 8.

In this embodiment, for each of the units,
Various services are provided in a form in which unique commands are set and control from the host computer 15 is easy.

Hereinafter, functions and the like provided for each unit will be described.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of the processing of each command input to the host interface unit 9. First, S
In 301, S302, and S303, it is determined which unit the command is for, and S3 corresponding to each unit is determined.
04, S305, and S306 are performed. Details of these processes will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the printer command processing in S304. However, here,
The description is limited to the parts related to the present invention. Also,
FIG. 11 shows parameters related to the printer command.

The print output request command shown in FIG. 11 is used for selectively instructing the host computer 15 to print out a document managed in the facsimile apparatus.

First, in S401, if it is determined that the command is the command, print output processing in S402 is performed.

The information of the document managed in the facsimile apparatus can be notified to the host computer 15 by a file information request command described later.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the print output processing of S402.

In step S701, the information of the file specified by the host computer 15 is searched. Then, it is determined whether the attribute of the designated file is an image or a character (S702). If the attribute is a character file, the process proceeds to S703, where the character / image conversion unit 16 converts the character into an image. Subsequently, S70
In step 4, normal image output processing is executed, and the print output processing ends.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the image memory command processing in S305. However, the description here is limited to the parts related to the present invention.
FIG. 12 shows parameters related to the image memory command.

In this embodiment, the following command group is used:
An arbitrary document transfer process is supported between the facsimile machine and the host computer 15. <Attribute specifying command> This command specifies in advance the attribute of a file created by the data write command described below.

In FIG. 5, if this command is determined in S501, information necessary for file creation is internally managed in S502. <Data Write Command> This command is used to transfer the data from the host computer 15 to the facsimile apparatus when a document file is created in the facsimile apparatus.

In FIG. 5, if this command is determined in S503, data is received from the host computer 15 in S504, and file creation and registration are performed based on the file information designated by the attribute designation command. <File Specification Command> This command specifies a file of data to be transferred to the host computer by a data read command described below.

In FIG. 5, if this command is determined in S505, information necessary for file data transfer is internally managed in S506. <Data Read Command> This command is used to transfer document file data managed in the facsimile apparatus to the host computer 15.

In FIG. 5, if it is determined in S507 that the command is the command, in S508, the file data specified by the file
Process. <File Information Request Command> This command is used to transfer file information of a document file managed in the facsimile apparatus to the host computer 15.

In FIG. 5, if it is determined in step S509 that the command is the present command, in step S510, the file-related information specified by the command
Process.

FIG. 14 shows details of the command type used in this command, FIG. 15 shows details of file information, and FIG. 16 shows an example of an identifier for identifying a file attribute. <File attribute conversion command> This command is used to convert the attribute (image, character) of a document file managed in the facsimile machine.

In FIG. 5, if it is determined in S511 that the command is the command, in S512, attribute conversion processing of the file specified by the command parameter is executed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the file attribute conversion process.

First, in S801, the host computer 1
5 to retrieve the information of the specified file. And
It is determined whether the attribute of the designated file is image or character (S802).
Proceeding to step 3, the character / image conversion unit 16 converts the character into an image.

If it is not a character file, S
Proceeding to 804, the image / character conversion is performed using the image / character conversion unit 17.

In step S805, the converted document is set as a new file in the file management unit 1.
Register to 0. In S806, the host computer 15
Then, it is determined whether or not to delete (delete) the source file designated as the conversion processing target. If there is a delete instruction, the delete processing is executed in S807. Thus, the file attribute conversion processing ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the line unit command processing. However, here, the description is limited to the portions related to the present invention. FIG. 13 shows parameters related to the line unit command.

<Transmission Request Command> This command is to execute transmission of a document managed in the facsimile apparatus by specifying a file from the host computer 15 and a destination.

In FIG. 6, if it is determined in S601 that the command is the present command, the document file specified by the present command parameter is transmitted to the specified destination in S602.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining this transmission request processing.

In step S901, the host computer 1
The information of the file to be transmitted specified from 5 is obtained from the file management unit 10. Next, in step S902, it is determined whether the file attribute is an image document, and the process branches. Then, in the case of an image document, the process proceeds to S903; otherwise, the process proceeds to S906.

In step S903, a calling process is performed on the destination specified by the host computer 15. In the case of the G4 protocol, connection processing up to the session layer is performed. Next, in S904, transmission processing of the designated image document is executed using a normal means. In S905,
As a post-process of communication, a line disconnection process is executed.

From S906, processing when the transmission-designated document is a character document is shown. First, in S906, it is determined whether it is known whether or not the destination designated for transmission has a character document receiving function. As this determination means, for example, there is the following method. First, there is a method of managing on the host computer 15 side and notifying the facsimile apparatus side with a parameter of a transmission request command. Next, a second method is to manage a communication history in the facsimile apparatus and create a destination list having a character document receiving function.

Next, the process from S907 is a process with a partner that is known to have a character document receiving function. Basically, it is the same as the above-mentioned image document transmission processing.
At 907, a calling process is performed, and at S908, a character document transmitting process is performed. This character document transmission processing is performed by G
It can be easily realized by applying the control document communication means in the four protocols. Also, S
Reference numeral 909 denotes a disconnection process.

Next, from S910, the character document transmission process is performed when it is not known whether or not the designated destination has the character document receiving function. In this case, S910
First, an image conversion process of the character file is executed, and in S911, the image-converted document is temporarily registered in the file management unit 10 as a current file.

Then, the calling process is performed in S912, and the process proceeds to S91.
In step 3, the communication procedure is advanced until the processing capability of the partner terminal is obtained.
Therefore, in S914, if there is a character document receiving function according to the processing capability of the partner terminal, a character document transmitting process is executed in S915, and if there is no character document receiving function, in S916, the image file registered in S911 The image document transmission process using is performed.

When the document transmission processing is completed, S91
In step S911, a disconnection process is performed on the temporarily registered image file.
The above is the contents of the transmission request processing. <Reception Request Command> This command is for executing a reception process according to an instruction from the host computer 15.

More specifically, the type of document that can be processed by the host computer 15 is limited, and if the type of document handled by the facsimile machine cannot be processed by the host computer 15, the host computer 15 issues an instruction. Provides a service for automatically converting the received document into a document type suitable for the capability of the host computer 15 on the facsimile side. For example, when the host computer 15 can handle only a "raw image", the service automatically converts an MMR image received by the G4 protocol into a "raw image".

In the present embodiment, the reception of a document after receiving the main reception request command from the host computer 15 is all regarded as a document managed by the host computer 15, and it is assumed that one reception request command corresponds to one reception request command. In other words, up to one reception process (including a multi-document) is valid.

In FIG. 6, if it is determined in S603 that the command is the present command, a process corresponding to the receiving capability specified by the present command parameter is executed in S604.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the reception request processing.

In step S1001, the reception capability notified from the host computer 15 is managed internally (in the RAM 3). In step S1002, a document (image or character) receiving process as a normal facsimile is executed. After executing the file registration in S1003, it is determined in S1004 whether or not the attribute (document type) of the received document matches the processing capability of the host computer 15. If not, the process proceeds to S10.
In step S1006, a predetermined file attribute conversion process is performed.
Execute the update of the received file with. <File Information Request Command> This command is used to transfer file information of a file managed in the facsimile apparatus, particularly regarding a received document, to the host computer 15. By issuing this command after the execution of the reception request command is completed,
The host computer 15 can know the information of the received document.

In FIG. 6, if it is determined in S605 that the command is the present command, in S606 the host computer 15 transmits the file-related information specified by the present command parameter.
Process.

In the file attribute conversion process shown in FIG. 8, there may be various types of character documents. In some cases, character-to-character conversion may be supported.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Communication and print output services for various documents including character documents can be provided in a form that minimizes the load on the external information processing apparatus, and this has the effect of meeting new demands in the field of information processing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of each command in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing printer command processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an image memory command process of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a line unit command process of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a print output process of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a file attribute conversion process of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission request process of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a reception request process of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing parameters related to a printer command of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing parameters related to an image memory command of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing parameters related to the line unit command of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing details of a command type used in the file information request command of the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing details of file information used in the file information request command of the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an identifier for identifying a file attribute used in the file information request command of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... Image memory, 5 ... Image conversion part, 6 ... Image reading part, 7 ... Image recording part, 8 ... Line control part, 9 ... Host i / f part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... File management part, 11 ... Storage device, 12 ... Operation part, 13, 14 ... Dedicated cable, 15 ... Host computer, 16 ... Character / image conversion part, 17 ... Image / character conversion part.

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an information transmission unit with an external information processing apparatus, a management means for receiving document data of a plurality of data types from the external information processing apparatus and managing the document data as a file; said external information processing apparatus accepts a print output request any file from, during the printing process, automatically identify the attributes of the specified file, the output control means for printing out performed the result image processing if the character data And a facsimile machine having: 2. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
In a facsimile machine , a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing device
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
Management means for the; receiving a request for transmission of any file from the external information processing apparatus, when the transmission process, automatically identify the attributes of the specified file, in the case of a character document, the receiving capability of the partner device in response, the transmission processing of the left character document or a transmission control means for performing selectively the normal transmission processing of performing image conversion; facsimile apparatus characterized by having a. 3. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
In a facsimile machine, a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing device
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
Management means and for, with respect to the document storage unit files managed arbitrary character document, subjected to image processing by an instruction from the external information processing apparatus, the file set that is registered to create a new image file, manage Means ; and a facsimile apparatus comprising: 4. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
In a facsimile machine, a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing device
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
Management means for the; when receiving a reception process according to an instruction from the external information processing apparatus, receiving the advance notice of the document type that can be processed by the external information processing apparatus, the data type of the received processed document the external information processing apparatus in determining whether the processing is possible or not, if the data type can not be processed by the external information processing apparatus, automatically the data type into a data type that can be processed by the external information processing apparatus updates the received file A facsimile apparatus comprising: file updating means ; 5. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
A method of controlling a facsimile apparatus, wherein a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing apparatus is provided.
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
Management process to perform; printing of an arbitrary file from the external information processing device
An output request is accepted and the specified file is
File attributes are automatically identified and the resulting character
Output system that performs image processing and prints out data
Control side of the facsimile device characterized by having: a control step
Law. 6. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
A method of controlling a facsimile apparatus, wherein a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing apparatus is provided.
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
A management step to perform; and a request to transmit an arbitrary file from the external information processing apparatus.
At the time of reception and transmission processing, the attribute of the specified file
Is automatically identified, and in the case of a character document,
Depending on the receiving capability of the
Or normal transmission processing after image conversion
Controlling the facsimile apparatus by selectively performing a transmission control step.
Law. 7. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
That a control method for a facsimile apparatus, a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing apparatus
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
An arbitrary character document file managed in the document storage unit
To the image according to the instruction from the external information processing device.
Image processing, create a new image file and register
Recording and managing a file setting step; and a facsimile apparatus control method.
Law. 8. An information transmission unit for communicating with an external information processing apparatus.
A method of controlling a facsimile apparatus, wherein a document of a plurality of data types from the external information processing apparatus is provided.
Receiving data and managing the document data as a file
A receiving process in accordance with an instruction from the external information processing device.
When attaching, the document type that can be processed by the external information processing device
Of the document that has been received and received
Judge whether the type can be processed by the external information processing device,
If the data type cannot be processed by the external information processing device
Automatically processes the data type in the external information processing device.
To a data type that can be
Control side of the facsimile device characterized by having; a file update process performed
Law.