JP3879747B2 - Network facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to an Internet facsimile apparatus that transmits an original by electronic mail.

  As a conventional Internet facsimile apparatus, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1. The Internet facsimile apparatus described in the same document acquires the reception capability information of the counterpart terminal device, and when the reception capability information is acquired, the destination information of the counterpart terminal device related to the reception capability information is stored in advance. A telephone book table is provided for storing the acquired reception capability information in association with destination information of the counterpart terminal apparatus.

As a result, the conventional Internet facsimile apparatus can automatically save the reception capability of the counterpart terminal apparatus, thereby saving the operator's trouble.
JP 2003-324575 A

  However, the prior art described in the above literature has room for improvement in the following points.

  First, in the Internet facsimile apparatus described in the above document, it is necessary that both apparatuses that perform communication have a configuration capable of transmitting and receiving the above-described reception capability information. For example, the Internet facsimile apparatus is specialized for communication between the same models. Technology.

  Second, in general, in an Internet facsimile apparatus, a user usually designates an e-mail address as a destination from an address book or the like, reads a document, and performs Internet facsimile transmission. However, in this case, the designated destination terminal device may be a communication terminal other than the Internet facsimile machine, such as a personal computer. A conventional Internet facsimile apparatus cannot determine whether the counterpart terminal apparatus is an Internet facsimile apparatus or a personal computer only with the destination electronic mail address information.

  Therefore, there is a possibility that color image data acquired by so-called Scan to E-mail may be transmitted even though the counterpart terminal device is an Internet facsimile machine. In this case, the Internet facsimile machine which is the counterpart terminal device has a problem that the received color image data cannot be decoded and an error occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable communication only in a format suitable for the partner communication device, and reduce the occurrence of decoding errors and the like at the time of data reception in the partner communication device. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable network facsimile apparatus.

According to the present invention, a reading unit that can read an original in an arbitrary format and form an image file;
A registration unit that registers an e-mail destination and decoding format information indicating a format that can be decoded by the partner communication device of the destination in a destination table;
An address receiving unit for receiving an e-mail address;
A determination unit that acquires the decoding format information corresponding to the destination received by the destination reception unit from the destination table and determines the format that can be decoded by the destination;
A format accepting unit that accepts only the decodable format determined by the determining unit as a format of an image file attached to the e-mail;
An acquisition unit for acquiring the image file of the format received by the format reception unit;
A transmission unit that attaches the image file and transmits the e-mail to the destination via a network ,
The acquisition unit, after the format receiving unit receives the format, causes the reading unit to read the original, and forms and acquires the image file of the format received by the format receiving unit. A network facsimile machine is provided.

  Here, the destination communication device is a device that can receive an e-mail via a network such as the Internet or an Internet such as a personal computer. When the partner communication apparatus is an Internet facsimile apparatus, the format of an e-mail attachment file that can be received is, for example, a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format. On the other hand, when the partner communication device is a personal computer, basically any format of the attached file of the e-mail can be received.

Thus, the image file format includes, for example, color and monochrome distinction of image data, resolution of image data, paper size, compression format, and the like. Alternatively, the image file format may be, for example, a distinction such as a TIFF format or a JPEG format.

  The information indicating the decodable format is information indicating which format file the destination apparatus can decode. The format of a file that can be decoded may be registered as information in the destination table. However, since the format that can be decoded is actually determined by the type of the partner communication device, for example, the type of device such as a personal computer or Internet fax is selected. Can be registered in the destination table. That is, the type of device (Internet fax / personal computer / cell phone, etc.) may be registered in the destination table as decode format information.

  Further, as the decoding format information of the destination table, whether or not the partner communication apparatus can receive color (color / monochrome) and the resolution of receivable image data (200 dpi / 400 dpi, etc.) may be registered. Alternatively, a file format (TIFF / others) that can be received by the partner communication device may be registered as the decoding format information of the destination table. Alternatively, a mode (simple / extended etc.) in which the partner communication apparatus can communicate may be registered as the decoding format information of the destination table.

According to the present invention, since each destination has information in a format that can be decoded, it is determined whether or not the data can be decoded before acquiring the data, and only the data that can be decoded is acquired and transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an error in sending an e-mail and improve the reliability of the network facsimile apparatus.

In addition, according to this configuration, since a format that can be decoded at the destination is determined before the document is read by the reading unit, it is possible to read the document in a format that matches the destination and then send an e-mail. Documents that do not fit are no longer read unnecessarily, and the usability of the network facsimile apparatus is improved.

In the network facsimile apparatus, a storage unit that stores the image file read by the reading unit ;
A reading unit that reads out the image file from the storage unit, and the acquisition unit receives the format from the storage unit after the format receiving unit has received the format. the image file format is read out, it may include obtaining.

According to this configuration, since the determination decodable format destination before reading the image file in read unit, it is possible to send attached after reading an image file format that matches the destination e-mail Therefore, it is possible to prevent attachment of a file in a format that does not match the destination, and the reliability of the network facsimile apparatus is improved. As a result, even when a file that has been read and stored in advance by a scanner or the like is transmitted, only a file in a format that can be decoded at the destination can be transmitted, thus preventing an error on the partner communication device side. it can.

In the network facsimile apparatus, the destination reception unit receives a plurality of the destinations, the determination unit acquires the decoding format information corresponding to all the destinations received by the destination reception unit from the destination table, and The formats that can be decoded by all the destinations are determined, and the format receiving unit can receive only the formats that can be decoded by all the destinations determined by the determining unit.

According to this configuration, if there is at least one address that cannot be decoded in the specified format among the broadcast specified destinations, data in that format is not acquired. Therefore, it is possible to transmit only data in a format that can be reliably decoded, and the reliability of the network facsimile apparatus is improved.

In addition, the transmission unit can transmit the electronic mail to the partner communication device via a mail server on a network. According to this configuration, if the partner communication device can access a mail server on a network such as the Internet, it is possible to receive and decode an e-mail transmitted from the network facsimile device. Increase.

The network facsimile apparatus may include a notifying unit for notifying that the format is not accepted when the format accepting unit accepts a format other than the decodable format determined by the determining unit.

  Here, the notification unit is a display unit that displays a message, an audio output unit that outputs an alarm sound or audio, and the like. According to this configuration, when the user tries to specify a format that cannot be decoded, it can be notified that the format is not accepted, and the usability is improved.

In the above network facsimile apparatus,
The decoding format information includes the type of the partner communication device, information indicating whether the partner communication device can receive a color image, the resolution of image data that the partner communication device can receive, and the partner communication device can receive And a file format and information indicating a communication mode that can be supported by the counterpart communication device.
It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly reliable network facsimile apparatus that can perform communication only in a format suitable for a partner communication apparatus and can reduce the occurrence of a decoding error at the time of data reception in the partner communication apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a system configuration of a communication apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The communication device 10 is connected to a network 1 such as the Internet. Communication device 10, for example, a network facsimile apparatus, MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral) and the like.

  The communication device 10 transmits an electronic mail to a partner communication device on the network 1, for example, a personal computer 3 (shown as “PC” in the figure) or an Internet fax machine 5 (shown as “I-FAX” in the figure). . The e-mail transmitted to the personal computer 3 or the Internet fax 5 is once transmitted from the communication device 10 to the mail server 7 and transmitted to each destination via the mail server 7.

  The partner communication device has a configuration capable of receiving an electronic mail transmitted from the communication device 10 via the network 1. The counterpart communication device includes, for example, an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral), a workstation, a mobile phone, and a PDA in addition to the personal computer 3 and the Internet fax machine 5.

  If the partner communication device can access a mail server on a network such as the Internet, it becomes possible to receive and decode an electronic mail transmitted from the communication device, thereby increasing the versatility of the system.

  When the partner communication device is the personal computer 3, the communication device 10 attaches the file acquired by the Scan to E-mail function to the email and transmits it to the email address of the personal computer 3. In this case, the format of the attached file of the e-mail is not particularly limited. The personal computer 3 only needs to have application software having a function of decoding the attached file.

  On the other hand, when the partner communication apparatus is the Internet fax 5, the receivable e-mail attachment file format is limited to the TIFF format, for example. In the present embodiment, the Internet fax machine 5 is an ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union) recommendation T.264. 37. The Internet fax machine 5 scans a manuscript with a scanner and sends it as an attached file in TIFF format by e-mail, receives periodic e-mail from the mail server 7, and prints the TIFF file attached to the e-mail. It is.

  A TIFF file that can be received by the Internet fax 5 corresponds to a minimum set called a TIFF-FX profile S defined by RF2301. In this minimum set, it is specified that the monochrome image, MH compression format, paper size is A4, and the resolution is 100 dpi or 200 dpi. Hereinafter, the communication mode corresponding to the minimum set is referred to as “simple mode”, and the communication mode corresponding to a color image or the like is referred to as “full mode”. In full mode communication, it is necessary to exchange capability information between devices.

  In the following drawings, the configuration of parts not related to the essence of the present invention is omitted. For example, a modem unit, an image processing unit, a recording unit, and the like, which are configurations of a facsimile apparatus, are not shown.

  Each component of the communication device 10 includes an arbitrary computer CPU, memory, a program for realizing the components shown in the figure loaded in the memory, a storage unit such as a hard disk for storing the program, and a network connection interface. It is realized by any combination of hardware and software. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus. Each figure described below shows functional unit blocks, not hardware unit configurations.

  The communication device 10 includes an interface unit 11 (shown as “I / F” in the figure), a display unit 13, an operation unit 15, a document acquisition unit 17, a temporary storage unit 19, a transmission unit 21, and a registration. A reception unit 23, an address book 25, a destination reception unit 27, a determination unit 29, a format reception unit 31, and a start instruction reception unit 33 are included.

  The interface unit 11 is an interface for connecting to the network 1. The display unit 13 performs various information display, operation screen display, operation and status display of the communication device 10, and the like. The display unit 13 is, for example, a lamp, LED, CRT monitor, liquid crystal display, or the like. The operation unit 15 receives instructions such as various settings and inputs from the user of the communication device 10. The operation unit 15 is, for example, an operation button, a switch, a lever, a keyboard, or a touch panel. In FIG. 1, control lines between the display unit 13 and the operation unit 15 and each component are omitted.

  The document acquisition unit 17 acquires an attached file to be attached to an e-mail. Details will be described later. The temporary storage unit 19 temporarily stores the attached file acquired by the document acquisition unit 17. The attached file stored in the temporary storage unit 19 is deleted after the e-mail is transmitted or after a predetermined time has elapsed after the transmission. The transmission unit 21 creates an e-mail attached with the attached file stored in the temporary storage unit 19 and transmits it to a designated destination. The electronic mail is delivered to the mail server 7 via the network 1, and then the destination communication device accesses the mail server 7 and receives the electronic mail.

  The registration accepting unit 23 accepts an e-mail destination and decoding format information indicating a format that can be decoded by the destination communication apparatus, and registers the e-mail in association with the address book 25.

  Here, the decoding format information indicating a format that can be decoded is information indicating which format file the destination device can decode. The format of a file that can be decoded may be registered as information in the address book 25. However, since the format that can be decoded is actually determined by the type of the partner communication device, for example, the type of device such as a personal computer or Internet fax machine. Can be registered in the address book 25.

  For example, Internet fax communicates in the simple mode as described above and can decode the minimum set data of the TIFF-FX profile S, but cannot decode other data such as a color high-resolution TIFF file. On the other hand, the personal computer can receive and decode data in various formats such as various image data file formats such as color high resolution TIFF format and JPEG format, and other document file formats.

  Therefore, the type of partner communication device (Internet fax / personal computer, etc.) may be registered in the address book 25 as decode format information. Alternatively, as the decoding format information of the address book 25, whether or not the partner communication apparatus can receive color (color / monochrome) and the resolution of receivable image data (200 dpi / 400 dpi, etc.) may be registered. Alternatively, as the decoding format information of the address book 25, a file format (TIFF / others) that can be received by the partner communication device may be registered. Alternatively, as the decoding format information of the address book 25, a mode (simple / extended) in which the partner communication apparatus can communicate may be registered.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the address book 25 according to the present embodiment. The address book 25 has an address 41 (shown as “Name” in the figure), a mail address 43 (shown as “Address” in the figure), and a device name 45 (“PC / I-FAX” in the figure). Are registered in association with each other. The device name 45 indicates whether the device of the partner communication device having the mail address 43 is the personal computer 3 or the Internet fax 5. The device name 45 is “PC” for the personal computer 3 and “I-FAX” for the Internet fax 5.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the address receiving unit 27 receives an e-mail address. The determination unit 29 acquires the decoding format information corresponding to the destination received by the destination reception unit 27 from the address book 25 and determines a format that can be decoded by the destination.

  The format receiving unit 31 receives the format of an attached file attached to an e-mail. For example, the format receiving unit 31 receives an instruction from the operation button of the operation unit 15 for selecting whether the image data of the document acquired by the document acquisition unit 17 is color or monochrome. Alternatively, the format of the attached file received by the format receiving unit 31 includes, for example, the resolution of the image data of the document acquired by the document acquiring unit 17, the paper size, the compression format, and the like. Alternatively, the format of the attached file received by the format receiving unit 31 includes a file format of a document acquired by the document acquiring unit 17, for example, various image data file formats such as TIFF and JPEG, and other document file formats. The format accepting unit 31 can also accept the designated format by providing a designation screen on the display unit 13 and allowing the user to designate the format. The start instruction receiving unit 33 receives a transmission start operation instruction when the user operates a start button provided on the operation unit 15.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel when the Internet fax is transmitted by the communication apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the transmission operation screen 51 is displayed on the display unit 13 and includes a main destination input field 53, a broadcast destination input field 55, a color / monochrome selection button 57, and a start button 59.

  The main destination input field 53 is a field for designating the mail address of the main destination. The destination input by the operation unit 15 is received by the destination receiving unit 27. The broadcast address input field 55 is a field for designating the mail address of the broadcast address, and the address input by the operation unit 15 is received by the address receiving unit 27. In the main address input field 53 and the broadcast address input field 55, a mail address can be directly input or selected from the address book 25 and input.

  The color / monochrome selection button 57 is an operation button for selecting whether the image data of the document acquired by the document acquisition unit 17 is color or monochrome, and constitutes the operation unit 15. Selection by the color / monochrome selection button 57 is received by the format receiving unit 31.

  The start button 59 is an operation button for instructing start of document reading and e-mail transmission in the document acquisition unit 17 and constitutes the operation unit 15. A start instruction by operating the start button 59 is received by the start instruction receiving unit 33.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating details of the document acquisition unit 17 of the communication apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The document acquisition unit 17 includes a reading unit 61 and a file designation receiving unit 63. The reading unit 61 is, for example, a scanner, reads a document, and acquires an attached file in a format received by the format receiving unit 31. For example, when the format accepting unit 31 accepts monochrome designation, the reading unit 61 reads an original in monochrome, acquires an attached file in the TIFF format, and stores it in the temporary storage unit 19. On the other hand, when the format accepting unit 31 accepts the color designation, the reading unit 61 reads the document in color, acquires an attached file in a color high-resolution TIFF format or JPEG format, and stores it in the temporary storage unit 19. To do.

  The file designation receiving unit 63 receives designation of a file to be transmitted as an attached file from various files stored in advance in the document storage unit 65, and reads and acquires the specified file from the document storage unit 65. The document storage unit 65 may be included in the communication device 10 or may be included in a storage area that can be referred to by the communication device 10. For example, the document storage unit 65 may be a shared file storage area connected to the communication device 10 via a network (not shown). The file specified by the file specification receiving unit 63 is stored in the temporary storage unit 19.

  The operation of the communication apparatus 10 configured as described above will be described below. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the communication device 10. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. Here, a case will be described in which a document is scanned by the reading unit 61 of the document obtaining unit 17 to obtain a file and transmitted to the personal computer 3 or the Internet fax machine 5.

  First, the address receiving unit 27 receives an e-mail address (S11). In the transmission operation screen 51 of FIG. 3, one destination input in the main destination input field 53 is accepted. The address receiving unit 27 can also receive a plurality of addresses input in the main address input field 53 and the broadcast address input field 55. Subsequently, the determination unit 29 acquires the device name 45 corresponding to the destination received by the destination reception unit 27 from the address book 25 and determines whether or not one or more Internet faxes 5 are included in the destination ( S13).

  When even one Internet fax 5 is included (YES in S13), the format that can be decoded at the destination is only the monochrome TIFF format, and the format receiving unit 31 can only accept monochrome designation (S15). That is, the format accepting unit 31 accepts only a format that can be decoded by all the destinations determined by the determining unit 29. Therefore, if even one Internet fax is included, the color designation is rejected.

  Specifically, the color / monochrome selection button 57 in FIG. The color / monochrome selection button 57 may be automatically switched from color to monochrome. Further, a message such as “Color designation is not possible because Internet fax is designated as the destination” may be displayed on the display unit 13 to notify the user that color designation is not possible.

  According to this configuration, if there is at least one address that cannot be decoded in the specified format among the broadcast specified destinations, data in that format is not acquired. Therefore, it is possible to transmit only data in a format that can be reliably decoded, and the reliability of the communication apparatus is improved.

  On the other hand, if the Internet fax 5 is not included (NO in S13), that is, if the partner communication device is only the personal computer 3, the format that can be decoded at the destination is not limited. Both designations can be accepted (S17). Therefore, the user can specify either color or monochrome.

  After the format accepting unit 31 accepts the format of the attached file in steps S15 and S17, the start instruction accepting unit 33 accepts a start instruction by pressing the start button 59 (S19), and the reading unit 61 accepts the format accepting unit. The document is read in the format accepted at 31 and stored in the temporary storage unit 19 (S21). For example, when the format accepting unit 31 accepts monochrome designation, the document is scanned in monochrome and saved in the TIFF format. On the other hand, when the format designation unit 31 accepts color designation, the document is scanned in color and saved in a pre-designated file format, such as a color high resolution TIFF format or JPEG format. The designation of these file formats can be received by the format accepting unit 31 by providing and specifying a detailed setting menu (not shown) on the operation screen 51 at the time of transmission.

  Subsequently, an e-mail is transmitted to the destination received by the registration receiving unit 23 with the file stored in the temporary storage unit 19 as an attached file (S23).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since information in a format that can be decoded is stored for each destination, it is determined whether or not the data can be decoded before the data is acquired. Since only what can be acquired and transmitted, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an e-mail transmission error, and the reliability of the communication device 10 is improved.

Further, since the determination unit 29 determines a format that can be decoded at the destination before the document is read by the reading unit 61, it is possible to transmit an e-mail after reading the document only in a format suitable for the destination. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to read a manuscript in a format that does not meet the requirements, and the usability of the communication device 10 is improved.
(Second embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the operation of the communication device 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the operation screen display when transmitting the Internet fax in the communication apparatus 10 of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and 7. Here, not only the document is scanned by the reading unit 61 of the document obtaining unit 17 to obtain the file, but the file designated by the file designation receiving unit 63 is obtained from the file stored in the document storage unit 65 in advance. A case of transmission to the personal computer 3 or the Internet fax 5 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the transmission operation screen 71 is similar to the transmission operation screen 51 of FIG. 3, and includes a main destination input field 53, a broadcast destination input field 55, a color / monochrome selection button 57, and a start button 59. , And an attachment file designation field 73 and a resolution designation field 75.

  The attached file designation field 73 is a field for designating an attached file to be attached to an e-mail to be sent to the address designated in the main address entry field 53 and the broadcast address entry field 55. Here, an attachment designated by the operation unit 15 is designated. The file is received by the file designation receiving unit 63. The resolution designation column 75 is a column for designating the resolution of the image file acquired by the document acquisition unit 17. The resolution specified by the operation unit 15 is received by the format receiving unit 31.

  Further, step S11, step S13, step S17, and step S23 of FIG. 6 are the same as the step of FIG.

  In FIG. 6, when the Internet fax 5 is included in the destination in step S13 (YES in S13), the format accepting unit 31 accepts only monochrome designation and a resolution of 200 dpi or less (S29). Here, on the transmission operation screen 71 in FIG. 7, the designation in the resolution designation column 75 may be automatically switched to 200 dpi, or a message “Please lower the resolution” is displayed to notify the user. May be. Alternatively, the user can be notified by blinking the resolution designation column 75 or outputting an alarm sound.

  Subsequently, the file designation accepting unit 63 accepts designation of a file to be attached from the files in the document storage unit 65 (S31). When the file designation accepting unit 63 accepts the designation of the attached file (YES in S31), the determining unit 29 determines whether or not the format of the file is the TIFF format (S33). In the case of the TIFF format (YES in S33), the file designation receiving unit 63 saves the file in the temporary storage unit 19 (S35).

  On the other hand, if the file designation accepting unit 63 has not accepted the designation of the attached file (NO in S31), the process proceeds to step S41. If the format of the designated file is other than the TIFF format (NO in S33), the designated file is rejected and not stored in the temporary storage unit 19, and the process proceeds to step S41. Here, a message such as “The specified file cannot be transmitted” can be displayed on the display unit 13.

  If the destination does not include the Internet fax 5 in step S13 (NO in S13), the format accepting unit 31 can accept both color and monochrome designation, and the format accepting unit 31 can accept color or monochrome designation, The designation of resolution is accepted (S17). Subsequently, designation of a file to be attached is received from the file in the document storage unit 65 (S37). When the file designation accepting unit 63 accepts the designation of the attached file (YES in S37), the file designation accepting unit 63 saves the designated file in the temporary storage unit 19 (S39). When the file designation accepting unit 63 does not accept designation of the attached file (NO in S37), the process proceeds to step S41.

  Subsequently, the start instruction receiving unit 33 receives a start instruction by pressing the start button (S41). In the present embodiment, the reading unit 61 includes a detection unit (not shown) that detects whether or not a document is set. When the detection unit detects that the read document is set (YES in S43), the reading unit 61 receives the document in the format (color / monochrome, resolution, etc.) received by the format reception unit 31 in steps S15 and S17. And stored in the temporary storage unit 19 (S45). On the other hand, when the reading unit does not detect the read original (NO in S43), the process proceeds to step S23.

  According to this configuration, each destination has information in a format that can be decoded. Therefore, before acquiring data, it is determined whether or not the data can be decoded, and only the data that can be decoded is acquired and transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an email transmission error from occurring and improve the reliability of the communication device 10.

  Further, since the file designation receiving unit 63 determines the format that can be decoded at the destination before reading the attached file, it becomes possible to read only the file in the format suitable for the destination and attach it to send an e-mail. A file of a format that does not match the destination is not erroneously attached, and the reliability of the communication device 10 is improved. As a result, even when a file that has been read and stored in advance by the reading unit 61 such as a scanner is transmitted, only a file in a format that can be decoded at the destination can be transmitted. Can be prevented.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described with reference to drawings, these are the illustrations of this invention, Various structures other than the above are also employable.

  For example, when the address is received by the registration receiving unit 23, the address book 25 can be displayed on the display unit 13, and the address can be selected and specified from the address book 25. At that time, along with the address 41 and the mail address 43, The device name 45 can also be displayed.

  According to this configuration, the user can send and receive an e-mail after confirming and recognizing the device name 45 of the partner communication device, and even when only monochrome can be accepted in step S15 of FIG. The user can easily recognize why the color is not acceptable.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, when the format reception part 31 receives formats other than the decodable format determined by the determination part 29, it is a message to a display part as a notification part which alert | reports that the format is not received. In the above description, the sound output unit for outputting an alarm sound or sound may be used. According to this configuration, when the user tries to specify a format that cannot be decoded, it can be notified that the format is not accepted, and the usability is improved.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the communication apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the address book of the communication apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen display at the time of transmitting the internet fax of the communication apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating details of a communication apparatus document acquisition unit in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the communication device in FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the operation of the communication apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the other example of the operation screen display at the time of transmitting the internet fax of the communication apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network 3 Personal computer 5 Internet fax 7 Mail server 10 Communication apparatus 11 Interface part 13 Display part 15 Operation part 17 Original acquisition part 19 Temporary storage part 21 Transmission part 23 Registration reception part 25 Address book 27 Destination reception part 29 Determination part 31 Format Reception unit 33 Start instruction reception unit 41 Address 43 E-mail address 45 Device name 51 Operation screen 53 during transmission 53 Main destination input field 55 Broadcast destination input field 57 Color / monochrome selection button 59 Start button 61 Reading unit 63 File specification reception unit 65 Document saving Section 71 Operation screen 73 for sending file Attached file designation field 75 Resolution designation field

Claims (5)

A reading unit that can read an original in an arbitrary format and form an image file;
A registration unit that registers an e-mail destination and decoding format information indicating a format that can be decoded by the partner communication device of the destination in a destination table;
An address receiving unit for receiving an e-mail address;
A determination unit that acquires the decoding format information corresponding to the destination received by the destination reception unit from the destination table and determines the format that can be decoded by the destination;
A format accepting unit that accepts only the decodable format determined by the determining unit as a format of an image file attached to the e-mail;
An acquisition unit for acquiring the image file of the format received by the format reception unit;
A transmission unit for attaching the image file and transmitting the e-mail to the destination via a network ,
The acquisition unit, after the format receiving unit receives the format, causes the reading unit to read the original, and forms and acquires the image file of the format received by the format receiving unit. Network facsimile machine. The network facsimile apparatus according to claim 1,
A storage unit for storing the image file read by the reading unit ;
A reading unit for reading the image file from the storage unit,
The acquisition unit, after the format accepting unit accepts the format, the reading unit, to read out the image file of the format accepted by the format reception unit from the storage unit, that comprises obtaining A network facsimile machine. The network facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The destination receiving unit receives a plurality of the destinations,
The determination unit obtains the decoding format information corresponding to all the destinations received by the destination reception unit from the destination table, determines the formats that can be decoded by all the destinations,
The network reception apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the format reception unit receives only the format that can be decoded by all the destinations determined by the determination unit. The network facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A network facsimile apparatus comprising: a notifying unit for notifying that the format is not accepted when the format accepting unit accepts a format other than the decodable format determined by the determining unit.   The network facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
  The decoding format information includes the type of the partner communication device, information indicating whether the partner communication device can receive a color image, the resolution of image data that the partner communication device can receive, and the partner communication device can receive A network facsimile apparatus, further comprising: a file format and information indicating a communication mode compatible with the partner communication apparatus.

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