JP3610776B2 - Job status display method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a job status display method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a job status display method and apparatus that can prevent an erroneous operation by a user.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Some image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and facsimile machines display the status of a job being processed on a touch panel or the like. In such an image forming apparatus, the user can instruct the job to be interrupted with reference to the job status displayed on the touch panel. This display of job status is particularly effective in an image forming apparatus that can simultaneously process (execute processing and standby processing) a plurality of jobs.
[0003]
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional facsimile apparatus.
11, a facsimile apparatus 501 includes a control unit 511 and an operation display unit 512, an image input unit 513, an image output unit 514, an image storage unit 515, a communication control unit 516, a job control unit 517, and a job connected via a bus 510. A job management unit 518 included in the control unit 517 and a modem 520 connected to the communication control unit 516 are provided.
[0004]
The control unit 511 controls the entire facsimile apparatus 501, and the operation display unit 512 displays information on a touch panel (not shown) and receives a user instruction from the touch panel, keys (not shown), and the like. An image input unit 513 optically scans and reads a document to be transmitted, and an image output unit 514 prints an image of a received document or the like on a sheet. The image storage unit 515 temporarily stores documents to be transmitted and received, and the communication control unit 516 controls the modem 520 to transmit and receive image data via the telephone line 530. A job control unit 517 controls a job for processing such as image transmission / reception and printing, and a job management unit 518 manages a job state.
[0005]
In the facsimile apparatus 501, the above-described job status is displayed by the operation display unit 512 displaying the job status managed by the job management unit 518 on a touch panel (not shown).
[0006]
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of the job status.
The job status is displayed together with the job type and processing status at display positions 551 to 554 as shown in FIG. The user can see the processing status of the job by viewing this display, and can select the desired job and interrupt the processing. The process is interrupted by pressing a portion (any one of display positions 551 to 554) where the status of the job to be interrupted is displayed, and selecting “job interrupt” to select the job and instruct to interrupt the job. ”Key 557 is pressed.
[0007]
In addition, the display of the job status changes corresponding to the change in the status of the displayed job. For example, when the job of “document number 003” whose status is displayed at the display position 552 disappears upon completion of reception, the job status display disappears from the display position 552 as shown in FIG. The job status display is erased, and the job status displayed at the display positions 553 and 554 below the erased job is sequentially raised and displayed at the display positions 552 and 553, respectively.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in a conventional image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, the job status is displayed in real time, and the user can check the job status or issue a job interruption instruction using this display. It has become.
[0009]
However, since the displayed position of another job changes as the displayed job disappears, the user may make an erroneous operation. For example, if the job display position changes due to the disappearance of another job immediately before the user selects a displayed job in order to interrupt the job, the user may suspend the job without noticing this. For example, a job different from the job to be interrupted may be interrupted.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a job status display method and apparatus capable of displaying a job status and preventing an erroneous operation by a user.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1
In a job status display method of displaying a plurality of job states on a touch panel, confirming the job, and capable of processing related to a desired job among the plurality of jobs by operating the touch panel,
From the time when the job status is displayed on the touch panel to the end of the job status display, the display position of each job status is fixed regardless of the job status change.
[0012]
In the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1,
The state change is
The job disappears, and the disappeared job is displayed together with information indicating that it has disappeared or disappeared.
[0013]
In the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 1,
The end of the job status display is
It is performed by a user instruction or a lapse of a predetermined time.
[0014]
In the invention of claim 4, in the invention of claim 1 or 2,
The job status display position is:
The update is performed based on an update instruction from the user.
[0015]
Further, in the invention of claim 5, in the invention of claim 1 or 2,
The job status display position is:
The job status is updated together with switching of the screen on which the job status is displayed or switching from the screen on which other information is displayed to the screen on which the job status is displayed.
[0016]
Further, in the invention of claim 6, in the invention of claim 4 or 5,
The update
Only the jobs that exist at the time of the update are sequentially displayed and displayed.
[0017]
In the invention of claim 7,
In a job status display device that displays the status of a plurality of jobs on a touch panel, confirms the job, and can process a desired job among the plurality of jobs by operating the touch panel.
Job management means for managing the states of the plurality of jobs,
Display position management means for managing the position for displaying the status of the job managed by the job management means,
The display position management unit fixes the display position of each job state regardless of a change in the job state from when the job state is displayed on the touch panel to when the display of the job state ends. It is characterized by that.
[0018]
In the invention of claim 8, in the invention of claim 7,
The state change is
The disappearance of the job,
The display position management means displays the disappeared job together with information indicating that it has disappeared or disappeared.
[0019]
In the invention of claim 9, in the invention of claim 7,
The end of the job status display is
It is performed by a user instruction or a lapse of a predetermined time.
[0020]
In the invention of claim 10, in the invention of claim 7 or 8,
The display position management means includes
The position for displaying the status of the plurality of jobs is updated based on an update instruction from the user.
[0021]
Further, in the invention of claim 11, in the invention of claim 7 or 8,
The display position management means includes
In addition to switching the screen displaying the job status or switching from the screen displaying the other information to the screen displaying the job status, updating the position for displaying the status of the plurality of jobs. Features.
[0022]
In the invention of claim 12, in the invention of claim 10 or 11,
The update
Only the jobs that exist at the time of the update are sequentially displayed and displayed.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a job status display method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0024]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus to which the job status display method and apparatus according to the present invention is applied.
In FIG. 1, a facsimile apparatus 1 includes a control unit 11 and an operation display unit 12 connected via a bus 10, an image input unit 13, an image output unit 14, an image storage unit 15, a communication control unit 16, a job control unit 17, and a job. The control unit 17 includes a job management unit 18, a display position management unit 19, and a modem 20 connected to the communication control unit 16.
[0025]
The control unit 11 controls the entire facsimile apparatus 1, and the operation display unit 12 displays information on a touch panel (not shown) or the like, and accepts user instructions from the touch panel or keys (not shown). The image input unit 13 optically scans and reads a document to be transmitted, and the image output unit 14 prints an image of a received document or the like on a sheet. The image storage unit 15 temporarily stores documents to be transmitted and received, and the communication control unit 16 controls the modem 20 to transmit and receive image data via the telephone line 30. The job control unit 17 controls a job for processing such as image transmission / reception and printing, and the job management unit 18 manages the job status.
[0026]
In this facsimile apparatus 1, the job status managed by the job management unit 18 is displayed on a touch panel (not shown), and the display position management unit 19 manages the display position of each job during this display.
[0027]
Here, the display position management of the job status will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the job status.
The job status being executed is displayed together with the job type and processing status at the display positions 51 to 54 as shown in FIG. If there are five or more jobs being executed, they are displayed on another page that is switched with the “previous page” key 55 or the “next page” key 56. When the execution of the job displayed at the display positions 51 to 54 is interrupted, the user presses the display position (one of 51 to 54) at which the job to be interrupted is displayed and selects the job. Then, the “job interruption” key 57 is pressed.
[0028]
When the job being executed disappears, for example, when the execution of the job of “document number 003” displayed at the display position 52 ends, the display position 52 is displayed as shown in FIG. Erase (hide) the displayed job status. At this time, the job states displayed at the display positions 51, 53, and 54 are continuously displayed at the same display position.
[0029]
Further, the disappeared job may not be simply displayed, but may be clearly indicated that the job has disappeared. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, it may be displayed at the display position 52 that the job has been completed together with the job type, and as shown in FIG. Only “End” may be displayed.
[0030]
When the disappeared job is not displayed, the job is sequentially deleted as time passes, and finally, all the display positions 51 to 54 display the job status as shown in FIG. Not in a state. Also in this case, if there is another job, the state of the other job can be confirmed by pressing the “previous page” key 55 or the “next page” key 56. Further, when the touch panel is in a state as shown in FIG. 4A with the disappearance of the job, it is clearly indicated that there is another job on the next page as shown in FIG. 4B. It can also be.
[0031]
Further, if the job status display with non-display or deletion information added increases as the job disappears, it takes time to confirm the status display of the job currently being processed. Alternatively, when the “Next Page” key 56 is pressed to open a screen (FIG. 2) for checking the job status from the page switching or other information display status, the display position is updated and the deleted job is displayed. Remove from the display target. In such a case, since the user recognizes that the display position of the job status changes (if the page is changed, the displayed contents will naturally change), and thus the user will not perform an erroneous operation even if the display position is updated. Absent. Similarly, when it is set to close the screen for checking the job status when a predetermined time has passed without any user operation, both of them can be opened even if the user opens the screen for checking the job status again. Since there is no continuity between the two, there is no erroneous operation by the user even if the display position is updated.
[0032]
By the way, in order to display the job status as described above, in the facsimile apparatus 1, the job management unit 18 manages the job status, and the display position management unit 19 manages the display position of the job status.
Here, operations of the job management unit 18 and the display position management unit 19 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of the in-execution queue of the job management unit 18, and FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the display position management queue of the display position management unit 19.
[0033]
When a job is generated, the job control unit 17 generates a job according to an instruction from the control unit 11. At this time, the job control unit 17 adds a unique job ID to the job generated for the convenience of job management, and connects the job 61 to which the job ID is added to the running queue 60 of the job management unit 18. Thereafter, the job control unit 17 returns a job ID to the control unit 11 and passes the job ID received by the control unit 11 to the display position management unit 19. The display position management unit 19 obtains the display line number of the management information at the end of the display position management queue 70 (here, there is no management information connected to the display position management queue 70) (here, 0), The management information 71 indicating the job ID and the display line number is generated using the value obtained by adding 1 to the display line number and connected to the display position management queue 70. Therefore, the job 61 and the management information 71 are associated by the job ID.
[0034]
Similarly, when the job control unit 17 generates the next job 62, the display position management unit 19 receives the job ID added to the job 62 and receives the management information at the end of the display position management queue 70 (in this case, the management information). The display line number (1) of the information 71) is obtained, management information 72 indicating the job ID and the display line number is generated using the value obtained by adding 1 to the display line number, and connected to the display position management queue 70. In this case, the connection is made after the last management information 71 connected to the display position management queue 70.
[0035]
In this way, management information is connected to the display position management queue 70, and when the job status is displayed as shown in FIG. 2A, jobs 61 to 64 are connected to the running queue 60. Management information 71 to 74 is connected to the display position management queue 70.
[0036]
In this state, when any of the jobs 61 to 64 disappears, for example, when the job 62 disappears, the job 62 disappears from the running queue 60 as shown in FIG. At this time, the job 61 becomes a job 61 ′ in which the pointer for referring to the next job is rewritten to the address of the job 63. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 8, the management information 72 associated with the job 62 disappears from the display position management queue 70, and the management information 71 uses a pointer for referring to the next management information as the address of the management information 73. The management information 71 'is rewritten as follows. When displaying the disappeared information as shown in FIG. 3, only the management information in the display position management queue 70 is left, the job is cleared from the running queue 60, and the job corresponding to the management information disappears. If so, the disappearance of the job can be indicated based on the display line number indicated by the management information.
[0037]
Next, the operation of the display position management unit 19 when displaying the job status will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of display position update performed when the user checks the job status. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the job status display operation.
[0038]
When the user operates the operation display unit 12 and tries to open a job status confirmation screen on the touch panel (not shown), the display position management unit 19 starts operation (step 101), and is displayed in the display position management queue 70. If management information exists (YES in step 102), 1 is substituted into variable N (step 103). Next, the pointer for referring to the management information is moved to the first management information (step 104), and the variable N is added to the display line number of the management information (management information 71 'in the case of FIG. 8) referred to by this pointer. Is substituted (N = 1).
[0039]
If the next management information exists in the display position management queue 70 (YES in step 106, management information 73 in the case of FIG. 8), the value of the variable N is incremented (step 107), and the management information is referred to. Is moved to the next management information (step 108), the process returns to step 105, and the value of the variable N is set to the display line number of the management information (management information 73 in the case of FIG. 8) referred to by this pointer. Substitute (N = 2). Similarly, if the next management information exists (YES in step 106, management information 74 in the case of FIG. 8), the value of the variable N is incremented (step 107), and a pointer for referring to the management information is set next. (Step 108), the value of the variable N is substituted for the display line number of the management information (management information 74 in the case of FIG. 8) referred to by this pointer (N = 3).
[0040]
Next, if there is no next job in the display position management queue 70 (NO in step 106), the display position management unit 19 ends the update process (step 109). If there is no management information in the display position management queue 70 (NO in step 102), the display position management unit 19 ends the update process without performing any process (step 109). .
[0041]
The display position management unit 19 starts an operation for displaying the job status when the update process is completed (step 201). At this time, if the management information does not exist in the display position management queue 70 (NO in step 202), “no job” is displayed on the touch panel (step 203), and the display process is terminated (step 208).
[0042]
On the other hand, if management information exists in the display position management queue 70 (YES in step 202), the pointer for referring to the management information is moved to the first management information (step 204), and the management referenced by this pointer is moved. The job status associated with the information is displayed at the position of the display line number (first line) (step 205).
[0043]
If the next management information exists in the display position management queue 70 (YES in step 206), the pointer for referring to the management information is moved to the next management information (step 207), and the process returns to step 205. The status of the job associated with the management information referred to by the pointer is displayed at the position of the display line number (second line) (step 205). Similarly, the status of the job associated with all management information is displayed, and if the status of all jobs is displayed, that is, if there is no next job in the display position management queue 70 (NO in step 206). The display position management unit 19 ends the display process (step 208).
[0044]
The update process described in FIG. 9 is performed not only when the user tries to open the job status confirmation screen, but also when the confirmation screen page is changed, as shown in FIG. The display process is performed every time the job status changes.
[0045]
In this embodiment, the status of the job being executed is displayed. However, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a job waiting for execution is displayed.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the job status is displayed on the touch panel or the like, the display position is managed, and the display position is not changed by the change of the status such as job disappearance. ,
It is possible to prevent erroneous operations by the user, in particular, deletion of a job different from a desired job due to a change in the job display position immediately before the job is interrupted.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus to which the invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a diagram (1) illustrating a display example of a job status.
FIG. 3 is a diagram (2) illustrating a display example of a job status.
FIG. 4 is a diagram (3) illustrating a display example of a job status.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a running queue of the job management unit 18;
FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a display position management queue of the display position management unit 19;
FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a running queue when a job disappears.
FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of a display position management queue when a job disappears.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of updating the display position.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of a job status display operation.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional facsimile apparatus.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a conventional job status.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile apparatus 10 Bus 11 Control part 12 Operation display part 13 Image input part 14 Image output part 15 Image storage part 16 Communication control part 17 Job control part 18 Job management part 19 Display position management part 20 Modem 30 Telephone lines 51, 52, 53, 54 Display position 55 “Previous page” key 56 “Next page” key 57 “Job abort” key 60 In-execution queue 61, 61 ′, 62, 63, 64 Job 70 Display position management queue 71, 71 ′, 72, 73, 74 Management information

Claims (12)

In a job status display method of displaying a plurality of job states on a touch panel, confirming the job, and capable of processing related to a desired job among the plurality of jobs by operating the touch panel,
A job status in which the display position of each job status is fixed regardless of a change in job status after the job status is displayed on the touch panel until the job status display ends. Display method. The state change is
2. The job status display method according to claim 1, wherein the job status is disappeared, and the disappeared job is displayed together with information indicating that the job has disappeared or disappeared. The end of the job status display is
2. The job status display method according to claim 1, wherein the job status display method is performed in response to a user instruction or a predetermined time. The job status display position is:
3. The job status display method according to claim 1, wherein the job status display method is updated based on an update instruction by a user. The job status display position is:
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the job status is updated together with switching of a screen on which the job status is displayed or switching from a screen on which other information is displayed to a screen on which the job status is displayed. Job status display method. The update
6. The job status display method according to claim 4, wherein only the jobs that exist when the update is performed are displayed in order. In a job status display device that displays the status of a plurality of jobs on a touch panel, confirms the job, and can process a desired job among the plurality of jobs by operating the touch panel.
Job management means for managing the status of each of the plurality of jobs;
Display position management means for managing the position for displaying the status of the job managed by the job management means,
The display position management unit fixes the display position of each job state regardless of the job state change from when the job state is displayed on the touch panel to when the display of the job state ends. A job status display device. The state change is
The disappearance of the job,
8. The job status display device according to claim 7, wherein the display position management means displays the disappeared job together with information indicating that it has not been displayed or has disappeared. The end of the job status display is
8. The job status display device according to claim 7, wherein the job status display device is performed in response to a user instruction or a predetermined time. The display position management means includes
9. The job status display device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein a position for displaying the status of the plurality of jobs is updated based on an update instruction from a user. The display position management means includes
Along with switching of the screen displaying the job status or switching from the screen displaying other information to the screen displaying the job status, updating the position for displaying the status of the plurality of jobs. 9. The job status display device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The update
12. The job status display device according to claim 10, wherein only the jobs that exist when the update is performed are displayed in order.

Images