JP5036273B2 - Image forming apparatus, display data generation method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a display data generation method, and a program.

In recent years, not only general computers but also various embedded devices have been provided that function as Web servers. For example, image forming apparatuses such as printers, fax machines, copiers, and multi-function machines (multifunction machines) are also used for device status, stored document information, spooled jobs, faxes, e-mails, etc. Some address books are provided by a Web page to a terminal connected via a network (for example, Patent Document 1). As an advantage of providing such information by Web page, there is no need to install special software if there is a general-purpose Web browser on the terminal side. Can be confirmed.
JP 2004-206456 A

  On the other hand, an image forming apparatus is provided in which an application can be added (installed) or deleted (uninstalled) after shipment. When a Web page is provided by such an image forming apparatus, it is desirable that the display content be in accordance with the addition or deletion of an application.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an image forming apparatus, a display data generation method, and a program capable of appropriately changing display contents of display data in accordance with changes in the configuration of an application. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus to which an application can be added, a display item definition file in which display items in display data to be displayed on a display device are defined, and the display item definition file Display data generating means for generating the display data based on the image data, and each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a display item definition relating to the application into the display item definition file. And

  In such an image forming apparatus, it is possible to appropriately change the display content of the display data in accordance with the change in the configuration of the application.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus, a display data generation method, and a program that can appropriately change the display content of display data in accordance with a change in the configuration of an application.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a multi-function apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A compound machine 101 in FIG. 1 is an example of an image forming apparatus, and includes various hardware 111, various software 112, and a compound machine starting unit 113.

  As the hardware 111 of the multi-function peripheral 101, there are an imaging unit 121, a printing unit 122, and other hardware 123. The imaging unit 121 is hardware for reading an image (image data) from a read original. The printing unit 122 is hardware for printing an image (image data) on printing paper.

  As the software 112 of the multi-function peripheral 101, there are various applications 131 and various platforms 132. These programs are executed in parallel on a process basis by an OS (Operating System) such as UNIX (registered trademark).

  The application 131 includes a copy application 141 that is a copy application, a printer application 142 that is a printer application, a scanner application 143 that is a scanner application, a facsimile application 144 that is a facsimile application, and a network. There are an information providing application 145 and an SDK application 146 which are applications for executing processing for generating a Web page (display data) for displaying information requested from a client PC (Personal Computer) to be connected.

  The SDK application 146 is various applications developed using a dedicated SDK (software development kit). That is, the multifunction peripheral 101 can enhance the function by installing (adding) an application developed using a dedicated SDK after the shipment. Therefore, the SDK application 146 is not necessarily one application, and a plurality of applications can be installed. Further, once installed SDK application 146 can be uninstalled (deleted) thereafter.

  The platform 132 includes various control services 151, a system resource manager 152, and various handlers 153. The control service 151 includes a network control service (NCS) 161, a facsimile control service (FCS) 162, a delivery control service (DCS) 163, an engine control service (ECS) 164, a memory control service (MCS) 165, and an operation panel control service. There are (OCS) 166, a certification control service (CCS) 167, a user directory control service (UCS) 168, and a system control service (SCS) 169. As the handler 153, there are a facsimile control unit handler (FCUH) 171 and an image memory handler (IMH) 172.

  The process of the NCS 161 mediates network communication. The FCS 162 process provides a facsimile API. The process of the DCS 163 performs control related to the distribution processing of the stored document. The process of the ECS 164 performs control related to the imaging unit 121 and the printing unit 122. The process of the MCS 165 controls the memory and hard disk drive. The process of the OCS 166 performs control related to the operation panel. The process of the CCS 167 performs control related to authentication processing and billing processing. The process of the UCS 168 performs control related to management of user information. The process of the SCS 169 performs control related to system management.

  A virtual application service (VAS) 135 exists as software 112 that mediates between the application 131 and the platform 132. The VAS 135 operates as a server process using the application 131 as a client, and also operates as a client process using the platform 132 as a server. The VAS 135 has a wrapping function that hides the platform 132 when viewed from the application 131, and plays a role of absorbing version differences associated with version upgrades of the platform 132.

  The MFP starter 113 is executed first when the MFP 101 is turned on. As a result, an OS such as UNIX (registered trademark) is activated, and the application 131 and the platform 132 are activated. These programs are stored in the hard disk drive or the memory card, and are reproduced from the hard disk drive or the memory card and activated in the memory.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram according to the MFP 101 of FIG. The hardware 111 of the multi-function peripheral 101 includes a controller 201, an operation panel 202, a facsimile control unit (FCU) 203, an imaging unit 121, and a printing unit 122.

  The controller 201 includes a CPU 211, ASIC 212, NB221, SB222, MEM-P231, MEM-C232, HDD (hard disk drive) 233, memory card slot 234, NIC (network interface controller) 241, USB device 242, IEEE 1394 device 243, and Centronics device. 244.

  The CPU 211 is an IC for various information processing. The ASIC 212 is an IC for various image processing. The NB 221 is a north bridge of the controller 201. The SB 222 is a south bridge of the controller 201. The MEM-P 231 is a system memory of the multifunction machine 101. The MEM-C 232 is a local memory of the multifunction machine 101. The HDD 233 is a storage of the multifunction machine 101. The memory card slot 234 is a slot for setting (inserting) a memory card 235 in which programs such as the application 131 and the platform 132 are stored. The NIC 241 is a controller for network communication using a MAC address. The USB device 242 is a device for providing a USB standard connection terminal. The IEEE 1394 device 243 is a device for providing a connection terminal of the IEEE 1394 standard. The Centronics device 244 is a device for providing a Centronics specification connection terminal. The software 121 in FIG. 1 functions when a program recorded on a recording medium such as the MEM-P 231 or the memory card 235 is processed by the CPU 211.

  The operation panel 202 is hardware (operation unit) for an operator to input to the multifunction machine 101 and hardware (display unit) for the operator to obtain an output from the multifunction machine 101.

  Details of the information providing application 145 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the information providing application. In FIG. 3, the information providing application 145 includes a Web application 10, an XSLT (XML Stylesheet Language Transformations) processor 20, a menu. xml30, and menu. xsl40 and the like.

  The web application 20 is a software module that controls the entire generation process of web pages (HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data). The XSLT processor 20 is a software module that executes conversion processing on XML (eXtensible Markup Language) data according to format information defined in XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language) data. menu. The xml 30 is an XML file in which display items on a Web page (hereinafter referred to as “menu page”) for displaying and setting various types of information related to the multifunction machine 101 are defined. menu. xsl40 is a file in which the format information of the menu page is defined. Note that menu. xml30 and menu. xsl40 is stored in the HDD 233, for example.

  When an HTTP request for requesting a menu page is received from the client (S11), the Web application 10 specifies an XML file and an XSL file (that is, menu.xml30 and menu.xsl40) corresponding to the menu page, and the XSLT processor 20 Is activated (S12). The XSLT processor 20 receives the menu. xml30 and menu. xsl40 is read (S13, S14). Subsequently, the XSLT processor 20 loads the menu. For xml30, menu. By executing the conversion process according to the format information defined in xsl40, HTML data related to the menu page is generated, and the HTML data is output to the Web application 10 (S15). The Web application 10 returns the HTML data to the client via the NCS 161.

  The client may be a Web browser displayed on a display device of a computer connected via a network, or performs display control of the display device (operation panel 202) of the MFP 101 (that is, the MFP 101). Web browser).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a menu page. In FIG. 4, the menu page 50 includes a status menu 51, a setting menu 52, and a security menu 53. The state menu 51 is a menu for confirming various states, and includes a paper item 511, a counter item 512, and an inquiry item 513 in the example of the figure.

  The setting menu 52 is a menu for performing various settings. In the example shown in the figure, IPv4 item 521, IPv6 item 522, network item 523, SNMP item 524, SNMPv3 item 525, time item 526, timer item 527, and the like. Consists of.

  The security menu 53 is a menu for making settings related to security, and includes an SSH (Secure Shell) item 531, a device certificate item 532, and the like.

  Each item of each menu has a link to a Web page corresponding to the item. Therefore, when any item is clicked, a Web page that displays information (for example, the remaining amount of paper) related to the item is displayed.

  FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. The menu page 50 shown in FIG. Generated based on xml30.

  As shown in the figure, menu. In xml, each menu and each item belonging to each menu is defined by an element (node element) surrounded by <node> tags. The subordinate relationship (parent-child relationship) between the menu and the item (menu item) is defined by the parent-child relationship of the node element.

  For example, in the figure, the node element 31 is a definition related to the state menu 51. A node element 312 is a definition related to the paper item 511. The node element 313 is a definition related to the counter item 512. A node element 313 is a definition related to the inquiry item 513. In the figure, the node elements related to the setting menu 52 and the security menu 53 are omitted for convenience.

  In each node element, a url element is defined as a child element. For example, a url element 311 l is defined in the node element 311, a url element 312 l is defined in the node element 312, and a url element 313 l is defined in the node element 313. These indicate link destinations of items corresponding to the respective node elements. That is, when each item is clicked on the menu page 50, a Web page related to a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) defined in the url element corresponding to each item is displayed.

  By the way, in this embodiment, menu. The contents of the xml 30 are not fixed, and are edited according to the operation at the start of the multi-function apparatus 101 or after the start-up of the multi-function apparatus 101. For example, FIG. 6 shows menu. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the edit process of an xml file. In the sequence diagram of FIG. 6, an application A 146a and an application B 146b correspond to an application (SDK application 146) newly installed in the multi-function peripheral 101.

  When the multi-function peripheral 101 is activated, each application is activated as a process by the OS. In the drawing, an example is shown in which the web application 10 is activated (S101), the application A 146a is activated (S102), and the application B 146b is activated (S103). When each application is started, the menu definition related to the application is defined as menu. Register in xml30. For example, the Web application 10 sets a node element corresponding to a menu (for example, the status menu 51, the setting menu 52, and the security menu 53) basically displayed on the menu page 50 to menu. Insert into xml 30 (S104). In addition, the application A 146a sets the node element corresponding to the menu related to the application A to menu. Insert into xml 30 (S105). In addition, the application B 146b sets a node element corresponding to the menu related to the application B to menu. Insert into xml 30 (S106). That is, each of these node elements is in the menu. It is not included in xml30.

  The description about the node element inserted by each application may be described (hard-coded) in the source code of each application, but is described in an XML file different from the execution file of each application. Good. This is because the items related to the menu of the application can be easily customized by editing the XML file.

  Thus, menu. Each node element of xml30 is registered (inserted) at the time of activation by the corresponding application. Therefore, when the application A 146a and the application B 146b are added, the menu. The definition content of xml30 is as follows.

  FIG. 7 shows the menu. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. In FIG. 7, the same parts as those in FIG.

  In FIG. 7, a node element 34 is a definition of a menu corresponding to the application A 146a. That is, in step S105 of FIG. 6, the node element 34 is inserted by the application A 146a. The node element 34 includes two node elements (a node element 341 and a node element 342) as child elements. Therefore, it can be seen that the menu of the application A 146a is composed of two items. In the figure, the node element corresponding to the application B 146b is omitted for convenience.

  FIG. 8 shows a menu. When the application is added. It is a figure for demonstrating the edit process of xml, and the production | generation process of a menu page. In FIG. 8, the same steps as those in FIG.

  As described with reference to FIG. 6, when the multi-function peripheral 101 is activated, the menu definition for each application is defined by menu. Registered in xml 30 (S101 to S106). After that, when an HTTP request for requesting the menu page 50 is received from the client (S111), processing similar to steps S12 to S16 described in FIG. 3 is executed (S112 to S116), and the added application is related. Menu. HTML data related to the menu page 50 is generated based on the xml 30 and returned to the client.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a menu page when an application is added. 9, parts that are the same as the parts shown in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals, and explanation thereof is omitted.

  The menu page 50 in FIG. 9 is displayed on the menu. 50 shown in FIG. It is generated based on xml30. Here, menu. In xml30, node elements corresponding to the menus of application A 146a and application B 146b are added. Therefore, the application A menu 54 and the application B menu 55 are added to the menu page 50 in accordance with the addition of the node element. The application A menu 54 corresponds to the node element 34. The basic setting item 541 and the detailed setting item 542 correspond to the node element 341 and the node element 342, respectively.

  As described above, when an application is added to the MFP 101, a menu corresponding to the application is newly added to the menu page 50.

  Next, a case where a setting change is made for an application will be described. FIG. 10 shows the menu. Menu when the setting is changed for the application. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating edit processing of xml.

  For example, when a setting change is made regarding the attribute of the application A 146a in the Web page for setting the attribute of the application A 146a, an HTTP request for requesting the setting change is notified to the Web application 10. In response to the HTTP request, the web application 10 notifies the application A 146a of the contents of the setting change. The application A 146a changes the setting of its own attribute (S202), and if the display content of the menu page 50 changes according to the setting change, the application A 146a modifies (related) the change corresponding to the change to the menu. This is performed for xml 30 (S203).

  FIG. 11 shows menu.menu when the attribute setting of application A is changed. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. In FIG. 11, the same parts as those of FIG. In FIG. 11, the node element 342 is deleted. That is, FIG. 11 shows menu. An example in which the node element 342 is deleted from the definition content of xml30 is shown. For example, it is a case where the detailed setting for the application A 146a is unnecessary or invalid according to the attribute setting change of the application A 146a.

  FIG. 12 shows a menu. When the attribute setting of the application A is changed. It is a figure for demonstrating the edit process of xml, and the production | generation process of a menu page. In FIG. 12, the same steps as those in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same step numbers.

  As described with reference to FIG. 10, menu. The definition content of xml30 is corrected (S201 to S203). Thereafter, when an HTTP request for requesting the menu page 50 is received from the client (S211), the same processing as steps S12 to S16 described in FIG. 3 is executed (S212 to S216), and the modified menu. HTML data related to the menu page 50 is generated based on the xml 30 and returned to the client.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the menu page when the attribute setting of the application A is changed. In FIG. 13, the same parts as those in FIG.

  The menu page 50 shown in FIG. It is generated based on xml30. Here, menu. In xml30, the node element 342 is deleted. Therefore, in the menu page 50, the detailed setting item 542 corresponding to the node element 342 is deleted.

  Thus, when the attribute of the application is changed, the display content of the menu page 50 changes according to the change. In the above, an example in which an item is deleted has been shown, but an item may be newly added in accordance with a change in application attribute setting. In this case, the node element corresponding to the item is menu. Added to xml30.

  Next, a description will be given of when the application process is completed or when the application is deleted (uninstalled) (hereinafter referred to as “when the application is terminated”).

  FIG. 14 shows a menu. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating edit processing of xml.

  For example, when the end of the application A 146a is instructed via the operation panel 202, the OS notifies the application A 146a of an instruction to end the application A (S301). In response to the end instruction, the application A 146a determines the menu. The node element corresponding to the menu of application A 146a is deleted from xml30 (S302). Thereafter, the application A 146a is terminated.

  FIG. 15 shows a menu. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. 15, the same parts as those in FIG. 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 15, the node element 34 is deleted. That is, the node element 34 is deleted in step S302 of FIG. The illustrated node element 35 is a node element corresponding to the menu 55 of the application B 146b.

  FIG. 16 shows a menu. It is a figure for demonstrating the edit process of xml, and the production | generation process of a menu page. In FIG. 16, the same step numbers are assigned to the same steps as in FIG.

  As described with reference to FIG. 14, the menu. The node element 34 is deleted from the xml 30 (S301, S302). Thereafter, when an HTTP request for requesting the menu page 50 is received from the client (S311), processing similar to steps S12 to S16 described in FIG. 3 is executed (S312 to S316), and the node element 34 is deleted. Menu. HTML data related to the menu page 50 is generated based on the xml 30 and returned to the client.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the menu page when the application A is terminated. In FIG. 17, the same parts as those in FIG.

  The menu page 50 of FIG. It is generated based on xml30. Here, menu. In xml30, the node element 34 is deleted. Therefore, in the menu page 50, the application A menu 54 corresponding to the node element 34 is deleted.

  As described above, when the application is terminated, the display content of the menu page 50 changes accordingly.

  As described above, according to the MFP 101 in the present embodiment, it is possible to dynamically change the display content of the Web page in accordance with addition, setting change, termination, and the like of an application. Also, menu. Since editing to xml30 is left to each application, it is not necessary to change the existing implementation part. In addition, the change is made to menu. Since it is performed on xml30, the display items of the Web page can be changed without compiling the source code of the program.

  Note that menu. For xml 40, format information may be defined by logic that can cope with changes in the number of node elements (for example, logic that loops by the number of node elements). By doing so, menu. No modification to xml40 is required.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to such specific embodiment, In the range of the summary of this invention described in the claim, various deformation | transformation・ Change is possible.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the compound machine in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the compound machine in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an information provision application. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a menu page. menu. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. Menu. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the edit process of an xml file. The menu when the application is added. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. The menu when the application is added. It is a figure for demonstrating the edit process of xml, and the production | generation process of a menu page. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a menu page when an application is added. The menu when the setting is changed for the application. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating edit processing of xml. The menu when the attribute setting of the application A is changed. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. The menu when the attribute setting of the application A is changed. It is a figure for demonstrating the edit process of xml, and the production | generation process of a menu page. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a menu page when the setting of the attribute of the application A is changed. The menu when the application is terminated. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating edit processing of xml. The menu when application A is terminated. It is a figure which shows the example of a definition of xml. The menu when application A is terminated. It is a figure for demonstrating the edit process of xml, and the production | generation process of a menu page. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a menu page when the application A is complete | finished.

Explanation of symbols

10 Web application 20 XSLT processor 30 menu. xml
40 menu. xsl
101 MFP 111 Hardware 112 Software 113 MFP Start Unit 121 Imaging Unit 122 Printing Unit 123 Other Hardware 131 Application 132 Platform 133 Application Program Interface 134 Engine Interface 135 Virtual Application Service 141 Copy Application 142 Printer Application 143 Scanner Application 144 Facsimile Application 145 Information providing application 146 SDK application 151 Control service 152 System resource manager 153 Handler 161 Network control service 162 Facsimile control service 163 Delivery control service 164 Engine control service 165 Memory control service 166 Deployment panel control service 167 a certification control service 168 user directory control service 169 system control service 171 a facsimile control unit handler 172 image memory handler 181 Web browser 182 Web server software 183 SDK application service 201 controller 202 an operation panel 203 facsimile control unit 211 CPU
212 ASIC
221 NB
222 SB
231 MEM-P
232 MEM-C
233 HDD
234 Memory card slot 235 Memory card 241 NIC
242 USB device 243 IEEE 1394 device 244 Centronics device

Claims (15)

An image forming apparatus to which an application can be added,
A display item definition file in which display items in display data to be displayed on the display device are defined;
Display data generation means for generating the display data based on the display item definition file,
Each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a definition of a display item related to the application into the display item definition file.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a definition of a display item related to the application into the display item definition file when the application is started.   3. The application according to claim 1, wherein when a setting change of the attribute of the application is requested, the display item definition file is corrected with respect to the definition of the display item related to the setting change. Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application deletes the definition of a display item related to the application from the display item definition file when the application is terminated. The display data is HTML format data,
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display item definition file is an XML format file. A display data generation method executed by an image forming apparatus to which an application can be added,
Each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a display item definition related to the application into a display item definition file in which display items in display data to be displayed on the display device are defined;
And a display data generation procedure for generating the display data based on the display item definition file.   7. The display data generation method according to claim 6, wherein each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a definition of a display item related to the application into the display item definition file when the application is started. .   The said application performs correction with respect to the definition of the display item relevant to the said setting change with respect to the said display item definition file, when the setting change of the attribute of the said application is requested | required. Display data generation method.   9. The display data generation method according to claim 6, wherein the application deletes the definition of a display item related to the application from the display item definition file when the application is terminated. The display data is HTML format data,
10. The display data generation method according to claim 6, wherein the display item definition file is an XML format file. For image forming devices that can add applications,
Each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a display item definition related to the application into a display item definition file in which display items in display data to be displayed on the display device are defined;
A display data generation program for executing a display data generation procedure for generating the display data based on the display item definition file.   12. The display data generation program according to claim 11, wherein each application added to the image forming apparatus inserts a definition of a display item related to the application into the display item definition file when the application is started. .   The said application performs correction with respect to the definition of the display item relevant to the said setting change with respect to the said display item definition file, when the setting change of the attribute of the said application is requested | required. Display data generation program.   The display data generation program according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the application deletes the definition of a display item related to the application from the display item definition file when the application ends. The display data is HTML format data,
15. The display data generation program according to claim 11, wherein the display item definition file is an XML format file.

Images