JP4676977B2 - Image forming apparatus, application information acquisition method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that provides user services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles, and to an image forming apparatus that acquires application information related to an application that performs installation processing, and an application information acquiring method. is there.

  In recent years, there has been known an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “multifunction machine”) in which functions of apparatuses such as a printer, a copy machine, a facsimile machine, and a scanner are housed in one casing. This multifunction device is provided with a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like in one casing, and is provided with three types of software respectively corresponding to a printer, a copy machine, and a facsimile machine, and by switching these software, Are operated as a printer, a copy, a scanner, or a facsimile machine.

In such a conventional multi-function peripheral, all application programs are activated in units of functions such as a printer, a copy, a facsimile, and a scanner. In the case of these existing applications, each application is preliminarily subjected to an installation process for making it startable. In other words, in the case of an existing application installed in advance, in the case of an existing application installed in advance, the version consistency between the application and the MFP, the amount of resources to be used, etc. are determined in advance when performing the installation process to make it startable. Because I know, you just have to install it normally, start it up, and run it. There is no need to check the version or amount of resources before installing.
JP-A-11-112701

  By the way, in such a conventional multi-function machine, software corresponding to a printer, a copy, a scanner, and a facsimile apparatus is provided separately, so that development of each software requires a lot of time. For this reason, the applicant has hardware resources used in image forming processing such as a display unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and has an application that performs processing specific to each user service such as a printer, copy, or facsimile. When a user service is provided by interposing between these applications and hardware resources, hardware resource management, execution control, and image formation processing that are commonly required by at least two of the applications are provided. Invented an image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) equipped with a platform comprising various control services.

  In such a new multifunction device, a control service that provides services commonly required by at least two of the applications is provided separately from the application. The third vendor has developed a new application and can be installed in the multifunction device. For this reason, in this multifunction device, in addition to existing applications such as copy, printer, scanner, and facsimile installed at the time of shipment, new applications developed by users or third vendors that are different from conventional multifunction devices are copied to the multifunction device. After that, it is necessary to perform an installation process to make the application startable. In the case of existing applications of the above-mentioned multifunction peripherals, the consistency of the version and the amount of resources used are known in advance, so even if installed and started, malfunctions due to inconsistencies in the version or lack of resources may occur. It is not. However, in the case of new applications developed by third-party vendors, etc., it has not been developed taking into account the status of the installed multifunction device (version and resource capacity), so the multifunction device will operate when the new application is started. May become unstable. Therefore, it may be possible to prevent the operation from becoming unstable if it is installed for the time being and checked before it is activated. However, it does not make sense to install an application that may cause unstable operation of the MFP when it is started. In this way, in a new multifunction device that can be equipped with a new application, if it is started without performing a new application version check or resource check, the operation becomes unstable or the operation stops halfway. A new problem that did not become a problem with the machine arises.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an application necessary for determining whether or not an application that can be installed is installed before the installation process in which a new application is installed in the multifunction peripheral and is activated. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an image forming apparatus and application information acquisition method capable of acquiring accurate application information related to the application.

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus configured to be able to install an application, and obtains application information including information on resources used by the application in the image forming apparatus. Performing application information acquisition means, comparing the resource information to be used included in the application information acquired by the application information acquisition means with the resource information of the image forming apparatus, thereby determining the application comprising judging means for judging whether it is possible to install the image forming apparatus, wherein the application information obtaining means, and characterized in that the application in the image forming apparatus acquires the application information held itself That is an image forming apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately determine whether an application is installable. Further, according to the present invention, the application information acquisition unit can acquire accurate information directly from the application.

The invention according to claim 2, in the description of claim 1, wherein the application information by the application's own is characterized in that information included in the execution file of the application. Thereby, accurate information can be obtained directly from the application.

Note that in the image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , the application information acquisition unit may acquire the application information by temporarily starting the application.

  According to the present invention, accurate application information can be acquired even for an application before normal startup.

  In the image forming apparatus, the application information acquisition unit may acquire the application information by interprocess communication from a temporarily activated application.

  According to the present invention, accurate application information can be acquired by inter-process communication for an application before normal startup.

  In the image forming apparatus, the application communicates with the application information acquisition unit in the case of temporary startup based on a request from the application information acquisition unit to determine whether to perform temporary startup or normal startup. Thus, the step of providing the application information to the application information acquisition unit may be executed by the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention, since the application is provided with means for determining whether the application is provisionally activated or normally activated based on a request from the application information acquisition means, it is possible to select whether the application is provisionally activated or normally activated.

In the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, it may be e further Bei storage means for storing the application information in which the application information acquiring unit has acquired.

  According to the present invention, since the application information acquired by the application information acquisition unit is stored in the storage unit, the acquired application information can be taken out whenever necessary, so that it can be used like a database. The time required for obtaining application information can be shortened to speed up the processing.

  In the image forming apparatus, the storage unit is at least one of a hard disk, a non-volatile memory, and a memory card such as an SD card, and the application information acquisition unit is stored in the storage medium. It is good also as acquiring application information by reading information.

  According to the present invention, various storage media can be used as application information storage means, and the storage media can be used properly according to the situation.

The invention according to claim 3 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the application information by the application information acquiring unit is acquired, characterized in that it comprises a unique product ID to the application.

  According to the present invention, application information can be exchanged easily and quickly based on the product ID, and application information can be managed centrally, so that the reliability of information can be improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect , in addition to the product ID and the resource information to be used, the application information includes a vendor name, an application name, And at least one of version information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately determine whether there is a cause of instability of operation due to version consistency or resource shortage, which becomes a problem when starting an application.

  In the image forming apparatus, the storage unit stores a product ID of an installable application, and the installable application depends on whether or not the product ID of the application to be determined is stored in the storage unit. It may be automatically determined whether or not.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not an application can be installed quickly and accurately with a simple configuration.

The image forming apparatus operates as a hardware resource used in image forming processing, a control service for controlling the hardware resource, and a client process using the control service as a server, and a server process using the application as a client. The virtual application service may include the application information acquisition unit.
An invention according to claim 5 is a program for causing an image forming apparatus having a computer configuration to function as each unit of the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , The invention according to claim 6 is a computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to claim 5 .

The invention described in claims 7 to 10 is an invention of a method for obtaining application information, and has the same effects as the image forming apparatus.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the image forming apparatus acquires application information, it can be determined whether or not the application can be installed using the application information.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus and an application information acquisition method according to the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “multifunction machine”) according to the present embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-function device 100 includes a monochrome laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, and hardware resources 103 such as a scanner, a facsimile, a hard disk, a memory, and a network interface. A software group 110 including a platform 120, an application (hereinafter also referred to as an application) 130, and a virtual application service (VAS) 140 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, a virtual application service (VAS) 140 is arranged between the application 130 and the platform 120. The virtual application service (VAS) 140 operates as a client process using the control service as a server and operates as a server process using the application as a client. An application information acquisition thread is included in the virtual application service 140. Yes. The VAS 140 acquires application information and generates the application information file in a hard disk (HD) 200 as a storage unit before performing an installation process for making a certain application startable. As an example of application information to be acquired, here, product information is acquired, product ID, vendor name, application name, version, contact information (phone number), necessary resources, determination at installation, related application information Etc. are included. This product information is stored in the application execution file, acquired as a file via the network, or previously acquired product information is stored in the hard disk 200, the NVRAM 104 which is a nonvolatile memory, and the application information table 106 dedicated to the application. Can be used by reading the product information.

  The application information in the application execution file can be acquired by the VAS 140 through inter-process communication between the VAS 140 and the application when the VAS 140 temporarily starts the application.

  In addition, the application itself is copied to the hard disk 200 of the multifunction peripheral 100, or after being copied via various data cards such as a PC card, an IC card, and an SD card, installation processing is performed so that the application can be activated. become. In the present embodiment, before performing the installation process, application information, which is information about the application, is acquired, and it is determined whether or not the application can be installed based on the application information. The determination of whether or not this installation process is possible is based on the lack of resources in relation to the existing application of the installed MFP and other newly installed applications when the application is started after the installation process. It depends on whether there is a possibility that the operation of the MFP itself becomes unstable or the operation stops due to problems such as version consistency. The reason for making such a determination is that there is no point in installing an application that cannot be started, and if it is installed, the operation of the MFP itself will be hindered if it is started accidentally.

  The platform 120 interprets a processing request from an application and generates a hardware resource acquisition request, and a system resource manager that manages one or a plurality of hardware resources and arbitrates the acquisition request from the control service. (SRM) 123 and a general-purpose OS 121.

  The control service is formed of a plurality of service modules, and includes an SCS (system control service) 122, an ECS (engine control service) 124, an MCS (memory control service) 125, an OCS (operation panel control service) 126, and an FCS. (Fax Control Service) 127 and NCS (Network Control Service) 128. The platform 120 has an application program interface (API) that can receive a processing request from the application 130 by a predefined function.

  The general-purpose OS 121 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes the software of the platform 120 and the application 130 in parallel as processes.

  The process of the SRM 123 performs system control and resource management together with the SCS 122. The SRM123 process uses hardware resources such as engines such as a scanner unit and printer unit, memory, HDD file, and host I / O (Centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, RS232C I / F, etc.). Arbitration is performed according to the request from the upper layer to be used, and execution control is performed.

  Specifically, the SRM 123 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is used. Tell the upper layer that it is possible. In addition, the SRM 123 performs use scheduling of hardware resources in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly executes request contents (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation, memory allocation, file generation, etc. by a printer engine). .

  The process of the SCS 122 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

  In the ECS process, a hardware resource engine including a black and white laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, a scanner, a facsimile, and the like is controlled.

  The MCS 125 process acquires and releases an image memory, uses a hard disk device (HDD), compresses and decompresses image data, and the like.

  The FCS 127 process includes facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. Provides an API to do.

  The NCS 128 process is a process for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. Data received from the network side according to each protocol is distributed to each application, and data from the application. Mediation when sending to the network side. Specifically, it has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd, and smtpd and client functions of the same protocol.

  The process of the OCS 126 controls an operation panel (operation panel) 105 serving as information transmission means between the operator (user) and the main body control. The OCS 126 acquires a key press from the operation panel 105 as a key event, transmits a key event function corresponding to the acquired key to the SCS 122, and displays various screens on the operation panel according to a request from the application 130 or the control service. A drawing function for drawing and outputting, a function for controlling the operation panel, and the like are composed of pre-registered OCS library portions. The OCS library is mounted by being linked to each module of the application 130 and the control service. The OCS 126 may be configured to operate as a process, or the OCS 126 may be configured as an OCS library.

  The application 130 includes a printer application 111 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 112 that is a copy application, and a fax application 113 that is a facsimile application. A scanner application 114 as a scanner application, a network file application 115 as a network file application, and a process inspection application 116 as a process inspection application. Each of these applications is an application specific to the multifunction peripheral (image forming apparatus specific), transmits an application registration request message together with the process ID of its own process to the VAS 140 at startup, and receives the application registration request message by the VAS 140. The registration process for the activated application is performed.

  Each process of the application 130 and each process of the control service realize user services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles while performing inter-process communication by calling functions, sending return values thereof, and sending and receiving messages. is doing.

  As described above, the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of applications 130 and a plurality of control services, all of which operate as processes. In each of these processes, one or a plurality of threads are generated and parallel execution is performed in units of threads. The control service provides a common service to the application 130. For this reason, a large number of these processes perform a parallel operation and a parallel operation of threads to perform inter-process communication with each other. User services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles are provided. In addition, a third party such as a third vendor can develop and install new applications 117 and 118 in the application layer above the control service layer in the multifunction peripheral 100. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the new applications 117 and 118 are installed.

  In the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of application 130 processes and a plurality of control service processes operate. However, the application 130 and the control service process have a single configuration. Is also possible. Each application 130 can be added or deleted for each application.

  FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration example of the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The multi-function device 100 includes a controller 160, an operation panel 175, a fax control unit (FCU) 176, and an engine unit 177 that is a hardware resource unique to image forming processing such as a printer. The controller 160 includes a CPU 161, a system memory 162, a north bridge (NB) 163, a south bridge (SB) 164, an ASIC 166, a local memory 167, an HDD 168, a network interface card (NIC) 169, and an SD card. Slot 170, USB device 171, IEEE 1394 device 172, and Centronics 173. The memories 162 and 167 include RAM, ROM, and the like. The FCU 176 and the engine unit 177 are connected to the ASIC 166 of the controller 160 via the PCI bus 178.

  The CPU 161 reads programs such as applications and control services installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 from the memory and executes them.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the VAS 140 of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment and the relationship between the VAS 140 and each application, the control service layer 150, and the general-purpose OS 121. In FIG. 3, the printer application 111, the copy application 112, and the new applications 117 and 118 are shown as examples of the application 130, but other applications have the same configuration.

  The process of the virtual application service (VAS) 140 includes a dispatcher 145, a control thread 144, an application information acquisition thread 141 as application information acquisition means, a screen display thread 142 that generates an operation screen for the operation panel, and An application check thread 143 that checks whether or not an application can be installed based on the acquired application information is operating.

  The dispatcher 145 monitors message reception from the application 130 and the control service, and makes a processing request to the control thread 144, the application information acquisition thread 141, the screen display thread 142, and the application check thread 143 according to the received message. It is. In the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, when the dispatcher 145 receives an application activation request message for an application installed from the control service, the dispatcher 145 transmits the received application activation request message to the control thread 144. Processing requests are made to the application information acquisition thread 141, the screen display thread 142, and the application check thread 143.

  The control thread 144 receives the application activation request message from the dispatcher 144, and performs application information acquisition processing, screen display processing, and application check processing. Here, the application check process is a process of checking whether or not there is a possibility of affecting the multifunction device when the application is activated after being installed. For example, by acquiring the application information of the application that requested installation and other installed applications, and performing version check and resource check, whether or not starting up after installation will not affect the operation It becomes possible to judge. At that time, the screen display thread 142 displays the application information of each application on the operation panel 105 using the application information stored in the application information file 201 in the hard disk (HD) 200. The situation can be grasped. Therefore, even if it is determined by the application check thread 143 that installation is impossible, it can be understood why the installation could not be performed.

  Further, the control thread 143 controls an uninstall process that is deleted when it is determined that the application check thread 143 can be installed, or when an installed application becomes unnecessary, as will be described later.

  Upon receiving a processing request from the control thread 143, the application information acquisition thread 141 acquires application information in a state in which inter-process communication is possible by performing temporary activation for an application before installation. In addition, by installing an installed application, application information can be acquired by inter-process communication. In this way, the acquired application information of each application is generated in the hard disk (HD) 200 as an application information file 201. Such application information is recorded as a record for each application.

  The VAS 140 program is a file that can be executed or installed in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or FD (flexible disk) as a part or all of a software development kit (SDK). Provided. Further, the VAS 140 program file in such an executable format or installable format may be provided by a method that can be obtained via a network.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the VAS 140 and the hard disk 200 for storing application information, the application information table 106, and the NVRAM 104. As shown in FIG. 4, the product information stored in the hard disk 200 is managed for each application unit, and if the product ID can be specified, the corresponding application information can be specified. In addition, the hard disk 200 stores the data of the application A and the application C before installation copied to the multifunction peripheral, and the application B performs the installation process using the data stored in the IC card or the like. Is what you do. F indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 indicates an executable file group in a specific path.

  The NVRAM 104 is a non-volatile memory that retains memory contents even when the power is turned off, and stores a product ID, activation information, and additional information for each application, such as the application A and the application B. Information is recorded in the NVRAM 104 by performing an application installation process. Also, information indicating whether or not the application is activated when the power is turned on is set as activation information.

  The application information table stores information about applications as table data for each application. Therefore, if the product ID of the application A is input, the application information such as the application name, version, installation attribute, etc. of the application A can be extracted. Then, it can be displayed on the operation panel.

  FIG. 5 is an overall flowchart in the case where an installation process or an uninstallation process is performed on an application in the MFP according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of an application information acquisition process in step S401 in FIG. It is.

  First, in step S401 in FIG. 5, the dispatcher 145 requests the application information acquisition thread 141 for the application information acquisition process before the installation or for the installed application via the control thread 144. The application information thread 141 generates an application information file 201 by performing an application information acquisition process in FIG.

  In step S401, the control thread 144 reads the application information from the generated application information file 201, generates an operation screen to be displayed on the operation panel 105, and displays the screen (step S402). This display screen displays information such as the application name, version, resource, etc. related to the copied application, and the user can select whether or not the installation is possible by simply selecting it along the selection screen. The situation of the case can be understood by the screen display. The user performs selection processing according to the screen display.

  After the user selection process is performed for all items, in step S403, after waiting for a user operation (step S403), it is determined whether there is a user request (step S404). Here, the user request is either an app install request or an uninstall request. If the user request is permitted by installation, registration processing is performed on the NVRAM 104 shown in FIG. 4 (step S405). If the user request is uninstallation, the application information is deleted from the NVRAM 104 shown in FIG. 4 to be uninstalled (step S406).

  FIG. 6 explains the application information acquisition processing operation in FIG. 5 in detail. Since the application information cannot be acquired as it is for the application before installation or before activation, the VAS 140 temporarily activates the information acquisition target application (step S501), and obtains desired information by inter-process communication. Application information can be acquired by requesting. In the present embodiment, when a product ID capable of centralized management of application information is requested and acquired (step S502), it can be determined whether the application is a registered application by referring to the NVRAM 104 (step S502). S503).

  If it is not registered in the NVRAM 104, it is determined whether or not there is a product information file (step S504). If there is no product information, various information is acquired from the application using interprocess communication (step S505). Thereby, after generating a product information file (step S506), an installation determination process is performed (step S507). Then, the determination processing result is reflected in the product information (step S508). The installation determination is performed, for example, by comparing the used resource information acquired from the application with the resource information included in the system.

  In step S509, whether or not installation is possible is determined based on the determination result. If there is a product information file in step S504, application information is acquired from the product information (step S510), and determination information at the time of installation is acquired (step S511). Then, in step S509 described above, Whether installation is possible is determined.

  If installation is possible in step S509, an installable flag is set (step S512), and writing to the application information table is performed (step S516). If installation is not possible, an installation impossible flag is set (step S513), and writing to the application information table is performed (step S516). Further, in the above-described step S503, if the application has a product ID registered in the NVRAM 104, the application information is acquired from the NVRAM 104 (step S514), and the installed flag is set (step S515). Writing to the application information table is performed (step S516).

  If the processes for all applications have not been completed, the process returns to step S501 again, and the above processes are repeated until the processes for all applications are completed.

  As described above, in the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, when installing a new application, the application information acquisition thread 141 of the virtual application service 140 is used to acquire application information for all applications. Based on this acquired application information, it is possible to accurately grasp the operating status when the application is started after installation, and even if the application is started after installation, the operation of the multifunction device may become unstable It is possible to prevent a situation where the operation stops.

  Next, the temporary activation of the application will be described in more detail. Temporary activation is activation different from normal activation of an application that uses resources of the multifunction peripheral (activation for performing an original function of the application is referred to as normal activation). In provisional activation, the application does not acquire resources such as securing the memory necessary for the original operation of the application, and only performs inter-process communication processing with the VAS. The app then provides information to the VAS. The process of the temporarily activated application ends when the communication process with the VAS ends. In addition, the function related to the temporary activation of the application is a function common to the application operating on the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment, regardless of the original function of the application. Therefore, for example, when a vendor develops an application, a program template including a provisional activation function can be provided to the vendor, and the vendor can develop an application for a multifunction device using the program template. Note that the above-described application information can be included in the application execution file by, for example, creating an include file in which the vendor records the application information and including the application information when compiling the application.

  Since the application has a provisional activation function, application information can be provided to the VAS through communication with the VAS without performing normal activation, and the VAS can check whether or not it can be installed.

  FIG. 7 shows an outline of the program description (main function) of the application including the provisional activation function. This description is provided as the above program template.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this program description, an application (tentatively or normally) is designated by an argument (-v). Thereby, when the VAS activates the application, the normal activation and the temporary activation can be easily used properly. That is, if temporary activation is specified using an argument (-v), temporary activation is executed and application information provision processing is performed. If temporary activation is not designated, normal activation is performed to perform the original operation of the application.

  In the above embodiment, the VAS acquires information from the application, determines whether installation is possible, and registers the application. However, as shown in the sequence shown in FIG. After the determination, the VAS makes an inquiry to the application as to whether or not the installation of the application can be started (step S601), and when the application returns a notification that the installation is possible to the VAS in response to the inquiry ( In step S602), the VAS may register the application (step S603).

  In addition, between step S601 and step S602, the application may acquire system information (resource information or device configuration information) from the VAS, and the application may determine whether installation is possible based on the information. .

  Note that there are other methods for the VAS to acquire the application information other than the method for acquiring the application information included in the execution file of the application. For example, the application information is created in a file different from the application, and the contents of the file are read by the VAS. By placing the file in a server external to the multifunction device, the application information can be acquired via the network.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment; It is a block diagram which shows the structure of VAS of the multifunctional device concerning this Embodiment, and the relationship between VAS, each application, a control service layer, and general purpose OS. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the hard disk which stores VAS and application information, an application information table, and NVRAM. 4 is an overall flowchart in a case where an install process or an uninstall process is performed on an application in the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the application information acquisition process in step S401 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the program description (main function) of the application containing the function of temporary starting. It is a figure which shows negotiation of VAS and an application.

Explanation of symbols

100 MFP 101 Monochrome Laser Printer 102 Color Laser Printer 104 NVRAM
105 Operation Panel 110 Software Group 111 Printer Application 112 Copy Application 113 Fax Application 114 Scanner Application 115 Net File Application 116 Process Inspection Application 117, 118 New Application 120 Platform 121 General-purpose OS
122 SCS
123 SRM
124 ECS
125 MCS
126 OCS
127 FCS
128 NCS
130 Application 140, 841-848 Virtual Application Service (VAS)
141 Application information acquisition thread 142 Screen display thread 143 Application check thread 144 Control thread 145 Dispatcher 150 Control service layer 200 Hard disk (HD)
201 Application information file

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus configured to install an application,
Application information acquisition means for acquiring application information including resource information used by the application in the image forming apparatus;
The application is installed in the image forming apparatus by comparing the resource information to be used included in the application information acquired by the application information acquisition unit with the resource information of the image forming apparatus. Determination means for determining whether or not is possible ,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the application information acquiring unit acquires the application information held by the application in the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the application information held by the application is information included in an execution file of the application. It said application information by the application information acquiring unit acquires the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a unique product ID to the application. The application information in addition to the product ID and the information of the resource to the use, vendor name of the corresponding application, the application name, and claim 3, characterized in that it comprises at least one of version information Image forming apparatus. A program for causing an image forming apparatus having a computer configuration to function as each unit of the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . A computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to claim 5 . A method executed by an image forming apparatus configured to install an application,
An application information acquisition step for acquiring application information including information on resources used by the application in the image forming apparatus;
The application is installed in the image forming apparatus by comparing the resource information to be used included in the application information acquired in the application information acquisition step with the resource information of the image forming apparatus. have a, a determining step of determining whether the available or not,
In the application information acquisition step, the image forming apparatus acquires the application information held by the application in the image forming apparatus . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the application information held by the application itself is information included in an execution file of the application. The method according to claim 7 or 8 , wherein the application information includes a product ID unique to the application. The application information in addition to the product ID and the information of the resource to the use, vendor name of the corresponding application, the application name, and claim 9, characterized in that it comprises at least one of version information the method of.

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