JP5558230B2 - Log information processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, log information processing method, and log information processing program - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a log information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a log information processing method, and a log information processing program.

  When a job is executed in an image forming apparatus or the like, the log of the job (information relating to print amount, print information, etc.) is transmitted to the management server so that the management server can calculate the print amount and charge amount. There is a log information management system to be used.

    JP 2006-4165 A

  However, in the above log information management system, all log information acquired by the image forming apparatus is sent to the management server. That is, for example, when billing calculation is intended, document names and job executor names that are not necessary for billing calculation are also sent as logs to the management server, which may cause information leakage.

    However, in the configuration in which the contents to be recorded at the time of log information acquisition are selected and the acquired contents are sent to the management server, log information that is determined not to be recorded at the time of log information acquisition cannot be obtained. In other words, it is impossible to deal with the case where an item of log information that is not required at the time of acquisition of log information becomes necessary after that. Further, when log information is managed in a certain format by the management server, it is necessary to change the format when the content of the log information to be recorded changes.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem. When log information is transmitted from an image forming apparatus to a management server, the log can be easily managed by the management server while reducing the risk of information leakage. Provided is a log information processing apparatus capable of sending information.

In order to solve the above problem, a log processing information device according to the present invention includes an authentication unit that authenticates a user, and log information that is log information of a job based on the user's request and includes information regarding a plurality of items. The log information is created by replacing the log information of the user name that is a part of the plurality of items with the log information of the department name related to the user name, and the created log information is externally stored. And a control unit that gives an instruction to transmit to the device.

The block diagram showing the process part in connection with log information management in embodiment of this invention An example of log information stored in the storage unit according to the embodiment of the present invention An example of log information obtained by replacing a part of the log information in FIG. 2 with related information An example of log information in which part of the log information in FIG. 2 is replaced with irrelevant information Flowchart relating to log information transmission in the first embodiment Flowchart relating to log information transmission in the second embodiment

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)

  A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus has a function as a log information processing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a processing unit related to log information management of the image forming apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus 1 is connected to a management server 2 and an external PC 3 via a network.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation panel 101, a scanner unit 102, a printer unit 103, a control unit 104, a communication unit 105, a storage unit 106, an authentication unit 107, and the like.

  The operation panel 101 is a user interface through which an operation instruction from a user is input. The operation panel 101 includes a hard key such as a numeric keypad, a touch key of a display unit such as a display device with a built-in touch panel, and the like, and an operation instruction is input from the user.

  The scanner unit 102 converts a document image into image data. The printer unit 103 forms an image on a recording medium. The scanner unit 102 and the print unit 103 are an execution unit 4 that executes a job in accordance with an instruction from a user.

  The control unit 104 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 110, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 111, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112. The CPU 110 is a processor that controls the entire control unit 104. The RAM 111 is a memory that temporarily stores work data and stores reference data. The ROM 112 is a nonvolatile memory, and stores a control program and control data for controlling the image forming apparatus 1. The CPU 110 implements various processes and various functions by operating based on a control program stored in the ROM 112. The control unit 104 also performs control when transmitting log information of the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2. In addition, although CPU110 was used as a processor, the kind of processor is not restricted to this.

  The communication unit 105 controls data communication via the network. The image forming apparatus 1 can transmit information to the management server 2 and the external PC 3 connected via the communication unit 105.

The storage unit 106 stores log information such as a print job performed by the user.
The authentication unit 107 acquires user authentication data, such as an ID and a password, and performs user authentication. In addition, the authentication data may include biometric authentication data. For example, the ID (personal name, department name, etc.) acquired by the authentication unit 107 may be included in the log information and stored in the storage unit 106. For example, the authentication unit 107 is realized by a card reader that reads information stored in an IC card held by a user. Alternatively, the user may be authenticated by directly typing an ID or password into the operation panel 101, and the operation panel 101 may serve as the authentication unit 107.

  Among the processing units included in the image forming apparatus 1, the authentication unit 107, the storage unit 106, and the control unit 104, which are particularly related to log information processing, correspond to the log information processing device 5. This log information processing apparatus may include a communication unit 105.

  Next, the management server 2 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via the network will be described.

  The management server 2 includes a communication unit 201, a control unit 202, an operation unit 203, a storage unit 204, and the like. The communication unit 201 communicates with the image forming apparatus 1 and receives log information sent from the image forming apparatus 1. The log information of the image forming apparatus 1 received by the communication unit 201 is stored in the storage unit 204.

  The operation unit 203 is used when a service person or the like sets a log information disclosure level to be described later. The control unit 202 controls each unit of the management server 2.

  The external PC 3 is connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via a network, and if a driver for the image forming apparatus 1 is installed, a print instruction for a document created by the PC 3 can be sent to the image forming apparatus 1. .

  In the log information management apparatus according to the present embodiment, when log information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2, the log information stored in the storage unit 106 of the image forming apparatus 1 is directly transmitted to the management server 2. Instead of sending, the log information sent to the management server 2 can be changed according to the log information disclosure level set by the service person.

  A method for changing the log information transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2 in accordance with the log information disclosure level will be described.

  The service person sets the log information disclosure level from the management server 2 to the image forming apparatus 1 connected to the management server 2. By selecting the log information disclosure level, the control unit 104 of the image forming apparatus 1 can be set so that a part of the log information stored in the storage unit 105 is replaced and transmitted to the management server 2.

  In the present embodiment, the log information disclosure level can be selected from, for example, “all published”, “published by replacing contents”, and “unpublished”. “Open all” is selected when the log information stored in the image forming apparatus 1 is transmitted to the management server 2 as it is. “Replace content and release” is selected when a part of log information stored in the image forming apparatus 1 is replaced and transmitted to the management server 2 as described above. When “unpublished” is selected, log information is not transmitted to the management server 2.

  “Replace and publish content” will be described in more detail. When “publishing with the content replaced”, the item to be replaced in the log information is selected by the serviceman from the operation unit 203 of the management server 2, and is recognized by the control unit 202. Send information about the item to be replaced with. The communication unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 1 receives information on the item to be replaced, and the control unit 103 recognizes the item to be replaced with log information. Then, the control unit 104 of the image forming apparatus 1 replaces the item recognized as the item to be replaced at the time of “replace content and release” thereafter.

  In this way, the service person can set an item to be replaced in the management server 2 whenever an item required as log information changes. The service person can also set the log information disclosure level and the item to be replaced from the operation panel 101 of the image forming apparatus 1.

  “Replace content and publish” can select two more methods.

  The first is a method of replacing information after replacement with information related to the information before replacement. FIG. 2 shows log information stored in the storage unit 106. FIG. 3 shows an example of log information when the log information shown in FIG. 2 is replaced with related information when viewed by the management server 2. .

  In FIG. 3, the user's name is replaced with the name of the department to which the user belongs, and the file name is replaced with a file format name such as PowerPoint or Word. These replaced items are replaced with information related to the information before replacement. That is, the log information after replacement is not uniquely determined like the log information before replacement, but is information including information before replacement. Therefore, it can be said that the log information before replacement and the log information after replacement are related information.

  By using this method, the log information transmitted to the management server 2 cannot be determined uniquely for each individual user or file, but is set so that log information related to the user or file is transmitted to the management server 2. Therefore, it may be useful when collecting log information in an arbitrary category while maintaining security.

  The second is a method of replacing with information not related to the information before replacement. FIG. 4 is an example when some items of the log information in FIG. 2 are replaced with unrelated information. In FIG. 4, the user name is replaced, and this item is indicated as “private”. In this way, by replacing with information that has nothing to do with the information before replacement, the replaced log information includes information before replacement, but for example, personal information is replaced with other unrelated information. It increases security.

  Next, processing when log information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the authentication unit 107 acquires information about the user of the image forming apparatus 1, and the control unit 104 authenticates the user (S101). When the user is authenticated, a job such as printing or scanning is executed (S102). An instruction for a job performed in the image forming apparatus 1 may be performed from an operation panel of the image forming apparatus 1 or may be performed by a printer driver of an external PC 3 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via a network.

  When recognizing the end of the job (S103), the control unit 104 proceeds to a log information acquisition process (S104). The log information of the completed job is stored in the storage unit 106 (S105). Then, the control unit 104 starts creating log information to be transmitted to the management server 2 (S106).

  The control unit 104 determines whether or not the log information disclosure level is “unpublished” (S107).

  If the control unit 104 determines that the log information disclosure level is “unpublished” (YES in S107), the log information is not transmitted to the management server 2 and the process is terminated. When the control unit 104 determines that the log information disclosure level is not “unpublished” (NO in S107), the control unit 104 determines whether the log information disclosure level is “all open” (S108). ).

  When the control unit 104 determines that the log information disclosure level is “all open” (YES in S108), the log information is read from the storage unit 106, and the log information is directly transmitted from the communication unit 105 to the management server 2. (S113).

  If the control unit 104 determines that the log information release level is not “all open”, the control unit 104 determines that the log information release level is “open after replacing the contents” (S109). Thereafter, the control unit 10 confirms an item for replacing the contents in the log information set by the service person (S110).

  After confirming the replacement item in the log information in S110, it is determined whether or not the “replace with related information” method described above is set (S111). If it is determined that “Replace with related information” is set (YES in S111), for example, as described above, the user name is replaced with the department name to which the user belongs, and the item to be replaced is related information. It is replaced (S112). The log information replaced with relevant information in the control unit 104 is transmitted from the communication unit 105 to the management server 2 (S114).

  When it is determined that “replace with related information” is not selected in the control unit 104 (NO in S111), the control unit 104 determines that “replace with unrelated information” is selected and replaces it. The item is replaced with “private” (S113).

  The log information replaced with unrelated information in the control unit 104 is transmitted from the communication unit 105 to the management server 2 (S114).

  In the above embodiment, the log information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2 every time one job ends. However, after the log information to be transmitted to the management server 2 is created, The created log information may be stored in the image forming apparatus 1 and the log information of a plurality of jobs may be collectively transmitted to the management server 2. Further, the management server 2 may periodically make a log information transmission request and collect the log information from the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 has only the scanner function and the print function. However, the image forming apparatus 1 may have a facsimile function. In that case, the log information when the facsimile function is executed can also be replaced with a part of the log information by the log information processing apparatus as in the above embodiment.

  As in the above-described embodiment, when “Replace contents and publish” is selected and the log information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2, the contents previously determined by the serviceman are replaced. By transmitting, the risk of information leakage when transmitting log information from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2 can be reduced.

  In addition, when sending from the image forming apparatus 1 to the management server 2, only the log information items are replaced, so the number of log information items does not increase or decrease. Therefore, when managing log information in a fixed format in the management server, according to the above embodiment, there is no need to change the format even if necessary log information items are changed. Convenience increases.

In the above embodiment, the function for implementing the invention is recorded in advance in the apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same function may be downloaded from the network to the apparatus. What is recorded on the recording medium may be installed in the apparatus. The recording medium may be any form as long as the recording medium can store the program and can be read by the apparatus, such as a CD-ROM. In addition, the function obtained by installation or download in advance may be realized in cooperation with an OS (operation system) or the like inside the apparatus.
(Embodiment 2)

  A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  Hereinafter, the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as those of the first embodiment, and only the characteristic parts of the present embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, an administrator who manages log information or the like requests log information from the management server 2 or the external PC 3 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 to the image forming apparatus 1, thereby obtaining log information. Can be acquired. This can be realized, for example, by assigning a unique job ID to the log information and specifying the job ID so that the log information can be acquired.

  When requesting transmission of log information from the external PC 3, the log information is not transmitted to the external PC 3 but is transmitted to the management server 2.

  The management server 2 and the external PC 3 are arbitrary PCs connected to the image forming apparatus 1 collectively.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a request for transmission of log information is made to the image forming apparatus 1 from an arbitrary PC connected to the image forming apparatus.

  First, when a job ID of log information to be acquired from an arbitrary PC connected to the image forming apparatus 1 is designated, the communication unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 1 receives the input job ID (S201). The control unit 104 of the image forming apparatus 1 recognizes the received job ID (S202), and starts creating log information to be transmitted to the management server 2 (S203).

  The flow of creating log information in S204 to S211 and transmitting the log information to the management server 2 corresponds to S107 to S114 in the flowchart of FIG.

  According to the present embodiment, when the log information manager needs log information of an arbitrary job of the image forming apparatus 1, it can be requested from the management server 2 or the external PC 3 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 at any time. The log information can be acquired, and the convenience for the administrator of the log information is enhanced.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

1 Image forming apparatus 2 Management server 3 External PC
4 execution unit 5 log information processing apparatus 101 operation panel 102 scanner unit 103 printer unit 104, 202 control unit 105, 201 communication unit 106 storage unit 107 authentication unit

Claims (8)

An authentication unit for authenticating the user;
A storage unit that stores log information that is information about a plurality of items that is log information of a job based on the user's request;
The log information of the user name that is a part of the plurality of items is replaced with the log information of the department name related to the user name to create log information, and an instruction to transmit the created log information to an external device is issued A control unit;
A log information processing apparatus. An authentication unit for authenticating the user;
A storage unit that stores log information that is information about a plurality of items that is log information of a job based on the user's request;
The log information of the user name that is a part of the plurality of items is replaced with the log information of the department name related to the user name, and the log information of the user name is related to the user name. An instruction to accept whether to replace with log information of a department name or information that is not related to the user name of the log information stored in the storage unit, and to transmit log information created based on the selection to an external device A control unit for performing
A log information processing apparatus. The log information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit issues an instruction to transmit the replaced log information to the external device when the job ends. The log information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit receives a log information transmission request from the external device, and instructs the external device to transmit log information. An authentication unit for authenticating the user;
A storage unit that stores log information that is information about a plurality of items that is log information of a job based on the user's request;
The log information of the user name that is a part of the plurality of items stored in the storage unit is replaced with the log information of the department name related to the user name, and the log information is created. A control unit that gives an instruction to transmit to,
An image forming apparatus comprising: Authenticate the user,
Log information of a job based on the user's request and having information on a plurality of items,
The log information of the user name that is a part of the plurality of items is replaced with the log information of the department name related to the user name to create log information,
A log information processing method comprising transmitting the replaced log information to an external device connected via a network. Authenticate the user,
Log information of a job based on the user's request and having information on a plurality of items,
The log information of the user name that is a part of the plurality of items is replaced with the log information of the department name related to the user name, and the log information of the user name is related to the user name. Accepts selection of whether to replace with log information of a department name or information not related to the log information of the user name stored in the storage unit, and create log information by replacing the log information created based on the selection And
A log information processing method, wherein the log information with the part replaced is transmitted to an external device connected via a network. On the computer,
An authentication function to authenticate users;
Control that creates log information by replacing log information of a user name of a job based on the user's request with log information of a department name related to the user name, and gives an instruction to transmit the created log information to an external device Function and
Log information processing program to realize.

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