JP3079999B2 - Information processing device and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and a storage medium storing a program for operating the information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, facsimile communication using a personal computer by incorporating a facsimile modem or connecting a facsimile apparatus to the personal computer has become widespread.

In such a case, a facsimile that performs data conversion such as converting text data to bitmap data
Software called a driver, software called a log manager that manages and displays communication history, and software called a status monitor that manages the transmission and reception of data between a personal computer and a facsimile machine or modem are used. Processing statuses such as end, abnormal end, and unsent are recorded in a log file managed by the log manager. This log file is actually stored on a hard disk built in the personal computer.

[0004]

However, since the processing status of facsimile transmission is recorded and managed in a log file as described above, if the status monitor is terminated in a non-transmitted state, then the user will be notified of the status. When the monitor is started, facsimile transmission may be automatically started, and there is a problem that usability is poor.

For example, although a certain user has set the timer transmission, another user terminates the status monitor and turns off the power of the personal computer, and the transmission cannot be performed at the transmission time. If the user later turns on the personal computer to send another facsimile data and turns on the word processing software or status monitor, unsent facsimile data whose transmission time has passed exists. Is recorded in the log file, the status monitor automatically starts facsimile transmission, and facsimile transmission contrary to the user's will is executed.

A similar problem is conceivable when recording and managing print processing status in a log file.

[0007] The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and an information processing apparatus which does not suddenly perform processing such as facsimile transmission and printing against a user's will, and a program therefor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage medium in which is stored.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the information processing apparatus of the invention according to claim 1, peripheral instrumentation
Data to be processed by the peripheral device.
It is stored together with the history to be processed, and
An information processor for sending data to a peripheral device to process the data;
A data storage means for storing data to be processed by a peripheral device; a processing storage means for storing , as a history, a processing content and a processing status of data stored in the data storage means; Data processing means for processing unprocessed data stored in the data storage means at an appropriate time by referring to the processing content and processing status stored in the means, and forcibly terminating the operation of the data processing means At the end of the operation of the data processing means by the forced termination means and the forced termination means, the processing status stored in the processing storage means is searched, and if any processing status is unprocessed, it is canceled. Cancel means.

According to this information processing apparatus, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated by the forced termination means, the processing status of which has not been processed is canceled by the cancellation means. No unexpected processing such as facsimile transmission or printing is performed.

[0010] The data storage means and the processing storage means are realized by, for example, a hard disk. The data processing unit, the forced termination unit, and the cancellation unit are realized by a processor that operates according to a predetermined program. The specific contents of the cancellation may be to change the processing status to hold or to delete the contents of the data storage means and the processing storage means relating to the processing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the processing status includes a status of non-transmission and suspension of facsimile transmission, and At the end of the operation of the data processing means by the ending means, if there is a processing status that has not been transmitted, the processing status is changed to hold.

According to this information processing device, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated by the forced termination means, the processing status of which has not been transmitted is changed to hold by the cancellation means. No facsimile transmission is performed suddenly against the intention of the user. Moreover,
Since the transmission data is not deleted from the data storage means only because the processing status is changed to hold, the transmission can be performed at any time if the user changes the processing status from hold to immediate transmission.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the processing status includes execution of the print and unprinted, At the end of the operation of the data processing means by the ending means, if there is an unprinted processing status, the contents stored in the processing storage means and the data storage means are deleted.

According to this information processing apparatus, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated by the forced termination means, those whose processing status is not printed are deleted by the cancellation means. There is no unexpected printing. In addition, since the print data is also deleted from the data storage means, the user does not need to perform an operation for deletion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the cancel unit is stored in the processing storage unit even when the data processing unit is activated. The processing status is searched, and if there is an unprocessed status, it is canceled.

According to this information processing apparatus, the canceling unit performs the canceling operation even when the data processing unit is activated, so that the data processing unit can be surely canceled even when the data processing unit is abnormally terminated without using the forced termination unit.

That is, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated without using the forced termination means, such as when the personal computer is forcibly terminated or the power is turned off after the activation of the data processing means, The operation is not terminated normally, so that the cancellation is not performed. However, by performing the cancellation operation even when the data processing means is started, even if the previous termination is abnormal termination, it can be reliably canceled.

Further, the storage medium according to the present invention is connected to a peripheral device, and the data to be processed by the peripheral device.
Data with the history to be processed,
The data is then sent to a peripheral device to process the data.
To realize the functions of peripheral devices
Is a storage medium that stores a program for processing
The processing contents and the processing status stored in the processing storage means for storing the processing content and the processing status as the history of the data stored in the data storage means for storing the data to be processed by the peripheral device are referred to. A data processing program for processing unprocessed data stored in the data storage means at an appropriate time, a forced termination program for forcibly terminating the operation of the data processing program, and a data processing program based on the forced termination program. At the end of the operation, the processing status stored in the processing storage means is searched, and if there is a processing status that has not been processed, a program including a cancel program for canceling the processing status is stored.

According to this storage medium, by installing its contents in a personal computer or the like,
The information processing device according to claim 1 can be realized.

The storage medium may be a flexible disk, but is not limited thereto.
It may be a D-ROM or the like.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a state in which peripheral devices are connected to a personal computer as an example of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The personal computer 1 employs a GUI using a so-called multi-window, and can simultaneously activate a plurality of application software. The multifunctional peripheral device (hereinafter, referred to as “MFD”) 2 has a plurality of functions such as a facsimile, a printer, an image scanner, and a copier. Note that MFD is an abbreviation for multi-function device.

The personal computer 1 comprises a processor 1
1, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a gate array 14, an interface 15, a hard disk drive 16, and a flexible disk drive 17. Processor 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, gate array 14,
And the interface 15 are interconnected by a bus line. Bus lines are data bus, address bus,
And a control signal line.

The processor 11 includes a hard disk drive 16
It operates based on programs such as an OS and various application software installed in the PC and performs information processing. The ROM 12 stores various data and the like. The RAM 13 is used by various application software and stores various data. The gate array 14 includes the processor 11, the hard disk drive 16, and the flexible disk drive 1.
7 functions as an interface with the C.7. The interface 15 controls transmission and reception of data between the personal computer 1 and the MFD 2 based on a standard such as RS-232C, for example. Hard disk drive 16
Stores various application software programs and the like. Flexible disk drive 17
Reads the contents of the flexible disk.

The MFD 2 includes a CPU 21, a RAM 22, an R
OM 23, gate array 24, interface 25,
A scanner 26, a printer 27, and a modem 28 are provided. The CPU 21, the RAM 22, the ROM 23, the gate array 24, and the interface 25 are mutually connected by a bus line. The bus lines include a data bus, an address bus, and a control signal line. The interface 25 is connected to the interface 15 of the personal computer 1 via a cable 31, and the telephone line 32 is connected to the modem 28.

The CPU 21 controls the entire MFD 2.
The RAM 22 stores various data. ROM23
Stores a program for controlling the MFD 2 and the like. The gate array 24 includes the CPU 21 and the scanner 2
6, functions as an interface between the printer 27 and the modem 28. The interface 25 controls transmission and reception of data between the personal computer 1 and the MFD 2 based on a standard such as RS-232C, for example. The scanner 26 reads an image of a document and converts it into an image signal. The printer 27 prints an image based on the image data. When transmitting and receiving facsimile communication, the modem 28 modulates a carrier with transmission data and demodulates a received carrier to extract received data.

In the hard disk device 16 of the personal computer 1, facsimile communication is performed between the personal computer 1 and another facsimile device using the modem 28 of the MFD 2, or created by the personal computer 1 using the printer 27. That the scanned document or image is printed, or the image signal read using the scanner 26 is taken into the personal computer 1.
MFD control application software for realizing various functions is installed. This MFD
The control application software inserts the flexible disk into the flexible disk drive 17 and performs a predetermined operation, so that the hard disk device 16
Installed in The MFD control application software includes software called a FAX driver for performing data conversion such as conversion of text data to bitmap data, software called a log manager for managing and displaying a communication history, and communication between the personal computer 1 and the MFD 2. It is composed of software called a status monitor for managing the transmission and reception of the data.

That is, the hard disk drive 16 comprises data storage means for storing data to be processed, and processing storage means for storing the processing contents and processing status of the data stored in the data storage means. The processor 11 operates based on the MFD control application software installed in the hard disk device 16 to refer to the processing content and processing status stored in the processing storage means, and to execute the processing stored in the data storage means. A data processing means for processing the data of the processing at an appropriate time; a forced ending means for forcibly terminating the operation of the data processing means; The stored processing status is searched, and if there is an unprocessed processing status, canceling means for canceling the processing status is configured. In addition, the flexible disk storing the MFD control application software is
With reference to the processing content and processing status stored in the processing storage means for storing the processing content and processing status of the data stored in the data storage means for storing the data to be processed, A data processing program that processes unprocessed data at an appropriate time, a forced termination program that forcibly terminates the operation of the data processing program, and a memory that is stored in the processing storage unit when the operation of the data processing program is terminated by the forced termination program. A search is made for the processed status, and if there is an unprocessed status, a storage medium storing a program including a cancel program for canceling the processed status is configured.

Next, an outline of the operation of the personal computer 1 and the MFD 2 configured as described above will be described. When facsimile transmission of a document created by application software of a word processor is performed using the personal computer 1, the application software of the word processor is activated, a print instruction is issued, and a fax driver is specified. This allows
When the status monitor is started, the FAX driver converts the text data to be transmitted into bitmap data and writes it to the hard disk drive 16. And
When the user performs a setting operation such as a destination telephone number, the status monitor passes the contents to the log manager, and the log manager registers the contents in a log file. The log file is stored in the hard disk device 16. If the registered transmission time is immediate transmission, the status monitor recognizes it by searching the log file,
The transmission data composed of the bitmap data is read from the hard disk drive 16 and sent to the MFD 2 via the cable 31 together with information such as the telephone number of the transmission destination. These data are stored in the interface 25 and the gate array 2
4 and transmitted to the modem 28 and sent out to the telephone line 32.

When a document created by application software of a word processor using the personal computer 1 is to be printed by the printer 27 of the MFD 2, the application software of the word processor is started, a print instruction is issued, and a fax driver is specified. As a result, the status monitor is activated, and the FAX driver converts the text data to be printed into bitmap data and writes it to the hard disk drive 16. When the user performs a setting operation such as a print start page and an end page, the status monitor passes the content to a log manager, and the log manager registers the content in a log file. The log file is stored in the hard disk device 16. When registered, the status monitor recognizes the log file by retrieving it, reads out the print data composed of bitmap data from the hard disk device 16, and sends it to the MFD 2 via the cable 31. These data are transmitted to the printer 27 via the interface 25 and the gate array 24, and an image corresponding to the data is printed on a recording sheet.

When the timer transmission is set, it is registered in the log file. If the status monitor is activated, the transmission is performed at the set time. But,
When another user who does not know that the timer transmission is set ends the status monitor, the timer transmission is not performed and the contents of the log file are not changed.
Therefore, if no action is taken and the user activates the status monitor to perform another facsimile transmission after the transmission time of the timer transmission elapses, the status monitor searches the log file and the timer transmission time becomes It detects the passage of time and automatically performs facsimile transmission against the user's will. Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation, when the operation of terminating the status monitor is performed, the status monitor searches the log file and rewrites the log file whose processing status has not been transmitted to hold.

The situation is the same when the status monitor is terminated before the print is completed after the print is registered in the log file. Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation, when the operation of terminating the status monitor is performed, the status monitor searches the log file, deletes a log file whose processing status is not printed, and further deletes the hard disk drive. 16 is also deleted.

Further, when the status monitor is abnormally terminated, such as when the power of the personal computer 1 is turned off or the personal computer 1 is forcibly terminated while the status monitor is activated, no measures are taken. Otherwise, the cancellation process of rewriting or deleting the contents of the log file to be suspended is not executed. Therefore, the cancel process is also executed when the status monitor is activated.

The procedure of such a canceling process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This cancellation process is executed when the status monitor is terminated and when the status monitor is started, as described above. This canceling process is realized by operating the processor 11 based on the status monitor program.

First, the status monitor searches the log file stored in the hard disk device 16 and determines whether or not there is any log whose processing status has not been transmitted (S1). If there is no one whose processing status has not been transmitted (S1: NO), the status monitor searches the log file stored in the hard disk device 16 and determines that the processing status has not been printed. It is determined whether or not it exists (S2). If there is no print job whose processing status is unprinted (S2: NO), this routine ends. That is, if neither untransmitted nor unprinted data exists, there is no need to cancel, and the process ends.

In S1, if there is any one whose processing status has not been transmitted (S1: YES), the status monitor rewrites the processing status to hold (S3) and returns to S1. That is, as long as there is an untransmitted one, the operation of rewriting the processing status to hold is repeated.
Therefore, if necessary, the user can transmit untransmitted transmission data by rewriting the processing status from suspension to immediate transmission.

In S2, if there is any one whose processing status is unprinted (S2: YES), the status monitor deletes the contents of the log file relating to the matter (S4), and further prints the matter. The data is also deleted from the hard disk device 16 (S5), and the process returns to S2. That is, as long as there are unprinted ones,
The operation of deleting the contents of the log file and the print data relating to the matter is repeated. Therefore,
This eliminates the need for the user to perform an operation for deletion.

In the above embodiment, the cancel process is executed both when the status monitor is terminated and when it is started up. However, the cancel process may be executed only when the status monitor is terminated. Furthermore,
Depending on the user's setting operation, the user can select whether to execute the cancellation process only when the status monitor ends, to execute the cancellation process both when the status monitor ends and when starting it, or to not execute the cancellation process at all. May be performed.

[0039]

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated by the forced termination means, the processing status of which has not been processed is canceled by the cancellation means. Therefore, when the data processing means is activated, processing such as facsimile transmission and printing is not suddenly performed against the user's will.

Further, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated by the forced termination means, the processing status of which has not been transmitted is changed to hold by the cancellation means. When the data processing means is activated, no facsimile transmission is performed suddenly against the user's will. Moreover, since the transmission data is not deleted from the data storage means only because the processing status is changed to hold, transmission can be performed at any time if the user performs an operation of changing the processing status from hold to immediate transmission.

Further, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when the operation of the data processing means is terminated by the forced termination means, the data whose processing status is not printed is deleted by the cancellation means, so that the data At the time of activation of the processing means, no sudden printing is performed against the user's will. In addition, since the print data is also deleted from the data storage means, the user does not need to perform an operation for deletion.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, since the canceling unit performs the canceling operation even when the data processing unit is activated, the data processing unit ends abnormally without using the forced termination unit. Even if you do, you can definitely cancel.

Further, according to the storage medium of the invention described in claim 5, by installing the contents in a personal computer or the like, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a state in which a peripheral device is connected to a personal computer as an example of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a cancellation process by the personal computer shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Personal computer 2 MFD 11 Processor 16 Hard disk drive 17 Flexible disk drive 21 CPU 26 Scanner 27 Printer 28 Modem

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI H04N 1/32 H04N 1/32 Z

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication device connected to a peripheral device and processed by the peripheral device.
The data to be processed is stored together with the history to be processed.
Sends the data to the peripheral device according to the history of
An information processing apparatus for processing data, comprising : a data storage unit for storing data to be processed by the peripheral device; and a processing content and a processing status of the data stored in the data storage unit as the history. A data processing means for processing unprocessed data stored in the data storage means at an appropriate time with reference to the processing content and processing status stored in the processing storage means; A forced termination unit for forcibly terminating the operation of the data processing unit; and a processing status stored in the processing storage unit when the operation of the data processing unit is terminated by the forced termination unit. An information processing apparatus comprising: a cancel unit that cancels an unprocessed one if it exists. 2. The processing status includes non-transmission and hold of facsimile transmission, and the canceling unit may have a processing status of untransmitted when the operation of the data processing unit is terminated by the forced termination unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the processing status is changed, the processing status is changed to hold. 3. The processing status includes printing completed and unprinted, and the canceling unit includes a printing status that is unprinted when the operation of the data processing unit is terminated by the forced termination unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information stored in the processing storage unit and the data storage unit is erased. 4. The canceling means searches the processing status stored in the processing storage means even when the data processing means is activated, and if there is a processing status that has not been processed, the canceling means searches the processing status. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus cancels. 5. A device connected to a peripheral device and processed by the peripheral device.
The data to be processed is stored together with the history to be processed.
Sends the data to the peripheral device according to the history of
The peripheral device is provided to an information processing device for processing data.
Stores a program that performs processing to realize the function of the
A storage medium for storing data to be processed by the peripheral device in a data storage means, the processing content and processing status as the history stored in the processing storage means; A data processing program for processing unprocessed data stored in the data storage means at an appropriate time with reference to the content and the processing status; and a forced termination program for forcibly terminating the operation of the data processing program. At the end of the operation of the data processing program by the forcible termination program, a cancellation program for searching the processing status stored in the processing storage means and canceling any unprocessed processing status if any exists. A storage medium storing a program including: