JP5673077B2 - Image processing apparatus, processing method thereof, and program. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that displays a message, a processing method thereof, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there is already a bulletin board function for an administrator to notify a message such as a printer failure or maintenance notification to an operator / user for the purpose of notifying a user of information when using a multifunction machine.

  Regarding the bulletin board function, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a mechanism for setting a message displayed on the bulletin board function.

JP 2002-067452 A

  A bulletin board function exists in the MFP main body, and information can be notified to the user using a message display screen of the bulletin board function. Since this message display screen is intended to notify the user of information, in the screen display of the multifunction peripheral, the message display screen is displayed with priority over any screen (scan screen or print screen).

  On the other hand, in recent years, in order to meet various user needs, multifunction devices can realize functions (extended functions) other than the functions originally provided in the multifunction device.

  Specifically, it is configured such that individual applications can be installed in the multifunction peripheral, and the installed application can be realized on the multifunction peripheral as one function.

  Therefore, in addition to the authentication function to authenticate by entering the user ID and password provided in advance in the MFP, in order to perform authentication using an IC card or authentication using a fingerprint, an authentication application is installed separately, The multi-function device is used by using another authentication method.

  In this case, generally, the top screen of the authentication application is displayed as the default display of the multifunction device screen, and the user is prompted to hold the IC card over the card reader. More specifically, the screen “Please hold the IC card over the card reader” is displayed as the default screen of the multifunction device.

  In this way, when the message display screen of the bulletin board function of the MFP main body and the top screen of the authentication application coexist on the MFP, the message display screen of the bulletin board function of the MFP main body is displayed on the top screen of the authentication application. Displayed with priority. Therefore, in a company that uses the bulletin board function, when the user uses the multifunction machine, the message is confirmed on the message display screen of the bulletin board function of the bulletin board function, and the OK button on the message display screen is pressed. It is necessary to cancel the message display screen.

  When the message display screen of the bulletin board function is canceled, the authentication application screen is displayed (appears). When the user succeeds in authentication by holding the IC card over the card reader, the authentication application screen is canceled, and the multifunction device The scan function and print function can be used.

  It is seemingly annoying for the user to press the OK button to release the message display screen of the bulletin board function, but it seems to be troublesome for the user, so it is not desirable to use the bulletin board function of the MFP main body (convenient) There was a case)

  Therefore, in order to respond to a request to notify information (messages) without using the bulletin board function of the MFP main body (Bulletin board function OFF), the authentication application screen displayed by default on the MFP has a message display function. It is necessary to make it.

  If the message display function is provided on the authentication application screen and the bulletin board function of the MFP is turned on, the message display screen of the MFP bulletin board function and the authentication application display overlap. A message is displayed and it is not in the desired form. Therefore, when installing an authentication application with a message display function, the administrator of the multifunction device must check that the bulletin board function, which is the main body function of each multifunction device, is ON / OFF, and install and operate the authentication application. It was rather complicated.

  In addition, since an authentication application is running on the multifunction device, even if a message display screen by the bulletin board function of the multifunction device main body is displayed, authentication processing is performed by holding the IC card over the card reader. In this case, the message display screen by the bulletin board function is a function of the MFP main body and operates separately from the authentication application. Therefore, the message display screen remains displayed on the MFP screen, and the authentication process succeeds or fails. An unknown situation occurred.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a bulletin board screen of a bulletin board function as a main body function by determining an operation state of the authentication application in a configuration in which the authentication application shares a message used for display by the bulletin board function and displays the message. It is to provide a mechanism that prevents duplicate message contents from being displayed on the authentication application screen.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, an authentication application for executing processing related to authentication is configured to be installable, has a bulletin board function as a main body function for displaying a message, and displays a message displayed by the bulletin board function of the main body function. An image processing apparatus having a message storage means for storing, wherein a state determination unit that determines an operation state of the authentication application and a state determination unit that determines that the authentication application is in an operating state, by the authentication applications to share a message of said message storage means, so that the contents of the message between the authentication application and the bulletin board are not overlapped displays, without displaying the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board as the main body function , this from the previous Symbol message storage means When the message displayed by the bulletin board function of the body function is read, the content of the message is displayed on the screen of the authentication application, and it is determined that the authentication application is not operating, the bulletin board function as the main body function And a display means for displaying the content of the message stored in the message storage means.

Further, the state determining means, when the authentication application is determined to be a state of operating, in order to hide the bulletin board screen displayed by bulletin board function as the main body function, bulletin board as the main body function the set hidden configure, when the authentication application is determined to be a state that does not work, so as to display the bulletin board screen displayed by bulletin board function as the main body function, the bulletin board as the main body function Setting means for displaying and setting the setting is further provided, and the display means displays the message stored in the message storage means on the bulletin board screen or the authentication application screen according to the display setting or non-display setting set by the setting means. It is characterized by that.

Further, the apparatus further comprises message receiving means for receiving a message from an external device, wherein the state determining means determines an operation state of the authentication application when the message receiving means receives the message, and the setting means includes the setting means The setting means receives the message by the message receiving means, and performs display setting or non-display setting according to the operation state of the authentication application by the state determination means.

In the image processing apparatus, a message receiving application for receiving a message is installed, and the setting unit is set by the message receiving application.

In addition, when the image processing apparatus is activated or when logout processing of the image processing apparatus is performed, a setting determination unit that determines a setting set by the setting unit, and the display unit is configured to display the setting by the setting determination unit. is determined to be, when the authentication application in the state determining means Ru is determined that the state does not work, the message stored in said message storage means Forums screen displayed by bulletin board function as the main body function displaying the determined at setting judgment means that the non-display setting, the state when said authentication application Ru is determined that the state of operating in the determination unit, the authentication application messages stored in said message storage means It is characterized by being displayed on the screen.

  In addition, the determination of the operation state of the authentication application by the state determination unit determines whether or not the authentication application is activated.

According to the present invention, in the configuration in which the authentication application shares the message used for display by the bulletin board function and displays the message, the bulletin board screen of the bulletin board function as the main body function and the authentication application are determined by determining the operation state of the authentication application. It is possible to prevent duplicate message contents from being displayed on the screen.

1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus applicable to a client PC 100, a message transmission client 200, and an authentication server 500. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine 300. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an application configuration that operates on the multifunction peripheral 300. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the message reception control in this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control procedure after activation of the multifunction peripheral 300 according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the message update procedure in this invention. 3 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a data image referred to by an authentication application 2008 operating on the multifunction peripheral 300. FIG. A screen showing a bulletin board function operating on the MFP 300. The authentication screen in the authentication application in this invention. The menu screen after the authentication success in the authentication application in this invention. A setting screen for a message to be displayed on the MFP 300. Functional block diagram of MFP 300

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a bulletin board function and an authentication system configured by a client PC 100, a message transmission client 200, a multifunction device 300, and an authentication server 500 according to the present invention. The multifunction machine 300 can also be called an image processing apparatus. The message transmission client 200 can also be called an external device.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which one or a plurality of multifunction peripherals 300, a client PC 100, a message transmission client 200, and one or two authentication servers 500 are connected via a local area network (LAN) 400. Here, one or a plurality of multifunction peripherals 300 may be configured. In this case, the multifunction device 300 is installed, for example, for each floor, the client PC 100 is installed, for example, by an administrator, and the message transmission client 200 and the authentication server 500 are installed, for example, for each site.

  The client PC 100 is a PC for setting the multifunction device 300, and can communicate with the multifunction device 300 by HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) via a network. The client PC 100 is, for example, a PC having a Microsoft Internet Explorer (registered trademark) function.

  The message transmission client 200 is a PC that transmits a message to an application that operates on the multifunction peripheral 300.

  The authentication server 500 holds user information (for example, an IC card authentication table). The user is searched according to the user information (card number or user name and password) transmitted from the multifunction device 300, and the user information is returned to the multifunction device 300.

  Hereinafter, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus applicable to the client PC 100, the message transmission client 200, and the authentication server 500 illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration applicable to the client PC 100, the message transmission client 200, and the authentication server 500 illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the step comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204. Further, the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 stores a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), an operating system program (OS), and the like, which are step control programs. The ROM 202 or the external memory 211 also stores various programs described below that are necessary for realizing the functions executed by each server or each PC.

  The RAM 203 functions as a main memory and work area for steps. In the step, various operations are realized by loading a necessary program or the like from the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 to the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program when executing the processing.

  An input controller 205 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 209, a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown), and the like. A video controller 206 controls display on a display unit such as the display 210. In FIG. 2, the display unit 210 is described, but the display unit may be configured by a liquid crystal display or the like. The keyboard 209 and the display 210 are used by an administrator as necessary.

  The memory controller 207 controls access to an external memory 211 such as a hard disk (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), or a compact flash (registered trademark) memory connected to a PCMCIA card slot via an adapter. The hard disk stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like.

  An authentication server 500 operating in cooperation with the authentication system stores an IC card authentication table (information holding a card number, a user name, a password, etc.) (not shown), and an authentication request using an IC card from the multifunction device 300; Alternatively, authentication processing is performed using an IC card authentication table in response to an authentication request using a user name and a password.

  A communication I / F controller 208 is connected to and communicates with an external device via a network, and executes communication control processing in the network. The communication I / F controller can perform communication using TCP / IP, for example.

  Note that the step can be displayed on the display 210 by executing outline font expansion processing (rasterization) on the display information area in the RAM 203, for example. Further, the step can be instructed to the user by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 210 or the like.

  Various programs to be described later for realizing the present invention are recorded in the external memory 211 and are executed in steps by being loaded into the RAM 203 as necessary. Furthermore, a definition file and various information tables used when executing the program are also stored in the external memory 211, and detailed description thereof will be described later.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the controller unit that controls the multifunction peripheral 300 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the controller unit of the multifunction peripheral 300 illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, a controller unit 300 is connected to a scanner 314 that functions as an image input device and a printer 312 that functions as an image output device. In addition, image data and device information can be input / output by being connected to a LAN or a public line (WAN) (for example, PSTN or ISDN).

  In the controller unit 316, reference numeral 301 denotes a CPU, which is a processor that controls the entire system. Reference numeral 302 denotes a RAM, which is a system network memory for the CPU 301 to operate. The RAM 302 also functions as a program memory for recording programs and an image memory for temporarily recording image data.

  A ROM 303 stores a system boot program and various control programs. A hard disk drive (HDD) 304 stores various programs for controlling the system, image data, and the like.

  In 303, there is a platform for controlling the MFP 300, and an authentication application for communicating with the authentication server 500 is operating on this platform. This authentication application is an authentication system. The authentication application is stored in the HDD 304. Furthermore, an area is secured on the HDD for a login context that stores user information at the time of login managed by the platform.

  An operation unit interface (operation unit I / F) 307 is an interface unit with the operation unit (UI) 308. For example, image data such as an IC card authentication screen as shown in FIG. Output and display.

  In addition, the operation unit I / F 307 transmits user information and the like input by the user of the system from the operation unit 308 to the CPU 301. Note that the operation unit 308 includes a display unit having a touch panel, and the user can give various instructions by pressing a button displayed on the display unit with a finger or the like.

  A network interface 305 is connected to a network (LAN) and inputs / outputs data. Reference numeral 306 denotes a modem, which is connected to a public line to input / output data such as FAX transmission / reception.

  Reference numeral 318 denotes an external interface, which accepts external input via USB, IEEE 1394, a printer port, RS-232C, or the like. In this embodiment, a card reader 319 for reading an IC card required for authentication is connected to the external interface 318. The CPU 301 can control reading of information from the IC card by the card reader 319 via the external interface 318, and can acquire information read from the IC card. The above devices are arranged on the system bus 309.

  An image bus interface 320 is a bus bridge that connects the system bus 309 to the image bus 315 that transfers image data at high speed, and converts the data structure. The image bus 315 is configured by a PCI bus or IEEE1394. The following devices are arranged on the image bus 315.

  A raster image processor (RIP) 310 develops vector data such as a PDL code into a bitmap image. A printer interface 311 connects the printer 312 and the controller unit 316 and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data. Reference numeral 313 denotes a scanner interface, which connects the scanner 314 and the controller unit 316 to perform synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data.

  An image processing unit 317 corrects, processes, and edits input image data, and performs printer correction, resolution conversion, and the like on print output image data. In addition, the image processing unit 317 performs image data rotation and compression / decompression processing such as JBIG and MH on the binary image data on the multi-valued image data.

  The scanner 314 verifies an image on paper as a document and scans it with a CCD line sensor, thereby converting it into an electrical signal as raster image data. The original sheet is set on the tray of the original feeder, and the CPU 301 instructs the scanner 314 when the apparatus user issues a reading start instruction from the operation unit 308. As a result, the feeder feeds original sheets one by one and performs an original image reading operation.

  The printer 312 is a part that converts raster image data into an image on paper, and as its method, an electrophotographic method using a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive belt, or by ejecting ink from a micro nozzle array and directly on the paper. There is an ink jet method for printing an image. Any method may be used in the present embodiment. The activation of the printing operation is started by an instruction from the CPU 301. The printer 312 has a plurality of paper feed stages so that different paper sizes or different paper orientations can be selected, and paper cassettes corresponding to these are provided.

  The operation unit 308 has an LCD display unit, a touch panel sheet is pasted on the LCD, and a system operation screen is displayed. When the displayed key is pressed, the position information is transmitted to the CPU 301 via the operation unit I / F 307. The operation unit 308 includes, for example, a start key, a stop key, an ID key, a reset key, and the like as various operation keys.

  Here, the start key of the operation unit 308 is used when starting a document image reading operation. There is a green and red two-color LED in the center of the start key, and the color indicates whether or not the start key can be used. Further, the stop key of the operation unit 308 functions to stop the operation in operation. The ID key of the operation unit 308 is used when inputting the user ID of the user. The reset key is used when initializing settings from the operation unit.

  The card reader 319 reads information stored in an IC card (for example, Sony FeliCa (registered trademark)) under the control of the CPU 301, and reads the read information via the external I / F 318. The CPU 301 is notified.

  With the configuration as described above, the multifunction peripheral 300 can transmit the image data read from the scanner 314 to the LAN and print out the print data received from the LAN by the printer 312.

  In addition, the MFP 300 can send the image data read from the scanner 314 to the public line by the modem 306 and output the image data received by FAX from the public line by the printer 312.

  In the above-described multifunction device 300, a platform for controlling the multifunction device 300 exists, and an authentication application for communicating with the authentication server 500 is operating on the platform. The authentication application is stored in the HDD 304. An area is secured on the HDD 304 for a login context that is managed by the platform and stores user information at the time of login, and a bulletin board message used by a bulletin board function and an authentication application.

  Next, the premise of the environment in the MFP 300 will be described using the application configuration diagram of FIG. The additionally provided software operating environment is called an application platform 2009 (hereinafter also referred to as a platform). The platform 2009 includes an interpreter and a set of application program interfaces (hereinafter referred to as API) and a framework. This platform 2009 provides what should be a kind of pseudo-OS or computing platform for the software running on it.

  The interpreter sequentially reads, interprets and executes a series of instruction sequences including instructions included in a predetermined instruction set. When this instruction set is regarded as equivalent to an instruction set for a hardware CPU, the interpreter is sometimes called a virtual machine. The API group and the framework group have access to various resource groups abstracted from the resources and hardware resources provided by the real-time OS inherent in the lower layer of the software operating environment. To provide for. The resources include an instruction execution context by a processor, various inputs / outputs (I / O) including a memory, a file system, and a network interface. In particular, the instruction execution context can independently manage the instruction execution context on the interpreter independently of the multitask mechanism provided by the actual CPU and the real-time OS. Similarly, the memory can also provide its own memory management for the software operating environment.

  Since software operating on the platform is sequentially read and interpreted and executed by the interpreter, there is a possibility that operations that adversely affect the system can be excluded by monitoring the instruction sequence in the course of these processes. In addition, access to various resources from software on the software execution environment indirectly manipulates the resources via APIs and frameworks provided by the platform, so operations that adversely affect the system in this process can be excluded. . Therefore, the approach of providing a hierarchy of software execution environments consisting of an interpreter, API group, and framework group inside the firmware is basically the operation of software in the firmware of a low-cost embedded system that should be configured statically and fixedly. It is very effective for introducing partial characteristics.

  On the platform 2009, an application 1 (2005), an application 2 (2006), and the like are arranged. These applications 1 and the like are executed using the platform API.

  A message reception module 2007 is an application that operates on the application platform 2009 that receives a bulletin board message from the message transmission client 200 and stores the bulletin board message on the RTOS. In addition, a bulletin board function, which is a function of the main body of the multifunction peripheral 300, operates based on bulletin board message information stored on the RTOS.

  2008 is an authentication application that runs on the application platform 2009. The authentication application system periodically checks the bulletin board message stored on the RTOS and displays the message when the bulletin board message information exists. . Note that when the message is periodically checked and the bulletin board message is changed, the message displayed on the operation unit I / F 307 is also updated. Details of the operation will be described later in the description of the flowchart of FIG.

  Next, a functional block diagram of the MFP 300 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 13, basic functions are described, and detailed control processed by each functional unit will be described in a flowchart described later.

  First, the multifunction device 300 has a bulletin board function for displaying a message, which is configured to be able to install an authentication application for executing processing related to authentication. The multifunction device 300 includes functional units such as a message storage unit 1301, a state determination unit 1302, and a display unit 1303.

  The message storage unit 1301 is a functional unit that stores messages to be displayed on the multifunction device 300. The state determination unit 1302 is a functional unit that determines the operation state of the authentication application. The display unit 1303 displays the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function, which is the main body function of the multi-function device 300, when the state determination unit 1302 determines that the authentication application is in an operating state. When a message stored in the message storage unit 1301 is displayed on the screen of the authentication application and it is determined that the authentication application is not operating, a bulletin board screen displayed by a bulletin board function that is a main body function of the multifunction peripheral 300 The message stored in the message storage unit is displayed.

  FIG. 8 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a data image (message setting information) referred to by the authentication application 2008 operating on the multifunction device 300. The message information input in FIG. 12 is received by the message reception module 2007, and information managed by the RTOS 2010 includes “Bulletin Board Setting Category”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 1”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 2”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 3”, and “Bulletin Board Message”. Message information is stored in "line 4". When displaying a message using the bulletin board function of the MFP main body, 2 (ON) in the “Bulletin board setting classification”, and when displaying a message using the bulletin board function of the MFP main body, “Bulletin board setting classification” 1 (OFF) is stored, and the message (character string) of each line is stored in “Bulletin Board Message Line 1”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 2”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 3”, and “Bulletin Board Message Line 4”.

  Further, the authentication application refers to the message setting information, and the acquired message is displayed at the message display location on the screen of the authentication application.

  The overall processing flow related to control of the bulletin board function will be described below. 5, 6 and 7 are flowcharts showing control of the bulletin board function, and details of the operation will be described later.

  The characteristic steps of this embodiment are, for example, step S104, step S105, step S106, step S202, step S203, step S204, and step S210.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the bulletin board function, which is the main body function of the MFP 300, is displayed on the operation unit 308 in FIG. The bulletin board function is a main body function of the multi-function peripheral 300, but may be operated on the application platform 2009 as an independent application. Therefore, in the following description, it is expressed as a bulletin board application for convenience.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the authentication application 2008 is displayed on the operation unit 308 in FIG. If both the bulletin board application of the multifunction peripheral 300 in FIG. 9 (the bulletin board function of the multifunction peripheral main body) and the authentication application 2008 in FIG. 10 operate, the operation unit 308 in FIG. First, a screen of ten authentication applications 2008 is displayed, and a screen of a bulletin board application of FIG. 9 is further displayed thereon.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a usage screen (menu screen) of the multifunction machine 300 after successful authentication by the authentication application 2008, which is displayed on the operation unit 308 of FIG. When the MFP 300 is activated with the setting that the authentication application 2008 is not activated and the setting that the bulletin board application is not activated, the usage screen (menu screen) shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. Further, when the authentication application 2008 is not activated and the bulletin board application shown in FIG. 9 is activated, the usage screen appears by closing the bulletin board application shown in FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a bulletin board message setting and browsing screen. The bulletin board message stored in the RTOS shown in FIG. 8 can be browsed from the client PC 100 via the network. By using HTTP, the client PC 100 can display a screen showing an example of a bulletin board message setting and browsing screen by using HTTP. The contents shown in the message of FIG. 12 correspond to “Bulletin Board Message Line 1”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 2”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 3”, and “Bulletin Board Message Line 4” in FIG. The content shown in “Display in pop-up window” corresponds to “Bulletin board setting category” (referred to as a main board bulletin board flag) in FIG.

  The processing flow of the message transmission client 200 and the message reception module 2007 in the present invention will be described below using the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S100, the message transmission client 200 determines whether the CPU 101 has reached the set message transmission time. If the message transmission time has been reached, the process proceeds to step S101. If the message transmission time has not been reached, wait.

  In step S101, the CPU 101 confirms whether or not communication with the message reception module 2007 is possible. If communication with the message reception module 2007 cannot be performed, the message cannot be transmitted. Therefore, the CPU 101 waits until the next set message transmission time. The process from step S100 is performed. If communication with the message reception module 2007 is possible, the process proceeds to step S102.

  If communication with the message reception module 2007 is possible in step S102, the CPU 101 transmits the message input to the message reception module 2007, and the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the message reception module 2007 receives a message from the message transmission client 200 (message reception), and proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, the message receiving module 2007 that has received the message determines whether or not the authentication application 2008 is activated. If the authentication application 2008 is activated, the process proceeds to step S106. If the authentication application 2008 is not activated, the process proceeds to step S105. That is, it is a process for determining the operation state of the authentication application (state determination).

The information on the “bulletin board setting category”, “bulletin board message line 1”, “bulletin board message line 2”, “bulletin board message line 3”, and “bulletin board message line 4” in FIG. 8 is confirmed, and the activation state of the authentication application 2008 shown in FIG. If the authentication application is activated, the process proceeds to step S106. If the authentication application is not activated, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S105, the CPU 301 stores the information in the “bulletin board setting category”, “bulletin board message line 1”, “bulletin board message line 2”, “bulletin board message line 3”, and “bulletin board message line 4” according to the received message. If the authentication application has not been activated, information for enabling the bulletin board application (referred to as the main body bulletin board flag “ON”) is written in “Bulletin board classification setting”. In “Bulletin Board Message Line 1”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 2”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 3”, and “Bulletin Board Message Line 4”, the messages input in FIG. 12 are stored. In other words, it is a process of storing a message to be displayed on the operation unit 308 of the multifunction machine 300 (message storage). Further, when it is determined that the authentication application is in an operating state, the bulletin board function is set to non-display (OFF) so as to hide the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function.

  In step S106, the CPU 301 stores the information in the "Bulletin board setting category", "Bulletin board message line 1", "Bulletin board message line 2", "Bulletin board message line 3", and "Bulletin board message line 4" according to the received message. When the authentication application is activated, information that does not enable the bulletin board application (referred to as main body bulletin board flag “OFF”) is written in “Bulletin board classification setting”. That is, when it is determined that the authentication application is not operating, the bulletin board function is set to display setting (ON) in order to display the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function.

  In step S107, the CPU 301 transmits the processing result of the information reception process of the message reception module 2007 to the message transmission client 200, and the process proceeds to step S108.

  In step S108, the message transmission client 200 receives the processing result from the message reception module 2007, and proceeds to step S109.

  In step S109, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the received processing result is an error. If the processing result is an error, the process proceeds to step S110. If the processing result is not an error, the processing from step S100 is performed again.

  In step S110, if the processing result received from the message reception module 2007 is an error, the message transmission client 200 displays an error message on the display 210 of the message transmission client 200, displays the error message, and then repeats step S100. Process from.

  FIG. 6 shows processing of the message receiving module 2007 at the time of activation of the multifunction peripheral 300 and display of the bulletin board message of the main body bulletin board function and the authentication application 2008 in the present invention.

  Note that Step S201, Step S202, Step S203, Step S205, Step S2007, and Step S208 are processing by the message receiving module 2007.

  In step S <b> 200, the MFP 300 is activated by a user power-on operation or the like. The process advances to step S201 when the MFP 300 is activated.

  In step S201, when the multi-function device 300 is activated, the CPU 301 sets the “Bulletin Board Setting Category”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 1”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 2”, “Bulletin Board Message Line 3”, and “Bulletin Board Message Line 4” in FIG. Information is acquired and it progresses to step S202.

  In step S202, information on “Bulletin board setting category” (main body bulletin board flag) is acquired and its state is confirmed. If the main bulletin board flag is “ON”, the process proceeds to step S203, and if the main bulletin board flag is “OFF”, the process proceeds to step S207. In other words, this is a process for determining ON / OFF setting when the MFP is activated or when the MFP is logged out (setting determination).

  In step S203, the activation state of the authentication application 2008 is confirmed. If the authentication application is not activated, the process proceeds to step S204. If the authentication application is activated, the process proceeds to step S205.

  In this embodiment, it is determined whether the authentication application is activated. However, if the authentication application is installed, the authentication application is automatically activated when the MFP 300 is activated. You may judge by whether the application is installed. That is, it is determined whether or not the authentication application is in an operating state.

  In step S204, since the main body bulletin board flag is “ON”, that is, the bulletin board application is in a valid state (starting state), the “bulletin board message line 1” “bulletin board message” acquired in step S201. “Line 2”, “Bulletin board message line 3”, and “Bulletin board message line 4” (collectively referred to as “bulletin board message”) are displayed on the operation unit 308 of FIG. That is, when it is determined that the authentication application is not operating, the message is displayed on the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function of the main body.

  In step S205, since the authentication application is activated, the main body bulletin board flag is updated to “OFF” in order to prevent duplicate display with the bulletin board application (the bulletin board function of the MFP main body). As a result, the bulletin board application of the multifunction peripheral becomes invalid. Then, the process proceeds to step S206.

  In step S206, since the main body bulletin board flag is “OFF”, that is, the bulletin board application is invalid (not activated), the authentication application screen is displayed on the operation unit 308 in FIG. The bulletin board message is displayed on the screen of the authentication application 2008 (FIG. 10).

  In step S207, the activation state of the authentication application 2008 is confirmed. If the authentication application 2008 is not activated, the process proceeds to step S208. If the authentication application 2008 is activated, the process proceeds to step S210.

  In step S208, the “Bulletin Board Setting Category” shown in FIG. 8, that is, the authentication application 2008 is not activated and there is no overlapping display with the bulletin board application (the bulletin board function of the MFP main body). Update the information to “ON”. As a result, the bulletin board application on the multifunction peripheral 300 becomes valid. Then, the process proceeds to step S209.

  In step S209, since the main body bulletin board flag is “ON”, that is, the bulletin board application is in a valid state (a state to be activated), the bulletin board message acquired in step S201 is changed to the operation unit in FIG. A bulletin board application posting screen of the MFP 300 is displayed on 308 (FIG. 9).

  In step S210, because the main body bulletin board flag is “OFF”, that is, the bulletin board application is in an invalid state, the screen of the authentication application 2008 is displayed on the operation unit 308 in FIG. It is displayed on the screen of the authentication application 2008 (FIG. 10). That is, when it is determined that the authentication application is in an operating state, the message is displayed on the authentication application screen without displaying the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function of the multifunction peripheral body.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the multifunction device 300 is activated has been described. However, after the multifunction device 300 is activated, the MFP 300 is logged in by an authentication process, and in response to a logout instruction from the user. When the logout process is performed, the same process is performed. That is, when logout is performed, the process starts from step S201.

  If the authentication application is installed, the authentication application is automatically started when the MFP 300 is started. In this case, when the MFP 300 is activated, the bulletin board flag is OFF and the authentication application is activated. Therefore, the authentication application is displayed in step S210 without displaying the bulletin board function screen of the MFP 300. A message is displayed on the screen.

  In FIG. 7, the bulletin board message update process of the authentication application 2008 according to the present invention will be described. This is a message update process after displaying a message in S206 and S210 of FIG.

  In step S301, the authentication application 2008 determines whether or not the message update time is reached. When the message update time is reached, the process proceeds to step S302 to perform the message update process. The message update time holds time information such as “1 hour interval” as the setting information of the authentication application, and the update time is determined according to this time information. In this case, it is determined using the system time managed by the multifunction machine 300.

  In step S302, the authentication application 2008 acquires a bulletin board message. The bulletin board message is acquired by accessing the information stored in the RTOS shown in FIG. After obtaining the bulletin board message, the process proceeds to step S303.

  If acquisition of the bulletin board message is successful in step S303, the process proceeds to step S304. If the bulletin board message acquisition fails, the process proceeds to step S306.

  In step S304, the message board message held by the authentication application 2008, that is, the message board message currently displayed on the operation unit 308 of FIG. 3 by the authentication application 2008 and the message board message acquired in step S303 are compared. If the wording is changed, the process proceeds to step S305. If there is no difference between the wording comparisons, there is no need to update the bulletin board message, so the procedure proceeds to step S308 without changing the bulletin board message displayed on the operation unit 308 of FIG.

  In step S305, the authentication application 2008 discards the bulletin board message held therein, displays the bulletin board message acquired in step S303 on the operation unit 308 of FIG. 3 of the multifunction peripheral 300, and proceeds to step S308.

  If the bulletin board message cannot be obtained in step S306, the bulletin board message is obtained again. Performing this message acquisition again is called a retry, and the retry is performed only once. The bulletin board message is obtained by accessing the information stored in the RTOS shown in FIG. 8, as in the method shown in step S302. After the retry process is completed, the process proceeds to step S307.

  If acquisition of the bulletin board message is successful in step S307, the process proceeds to step S304, and the process of step S304 is performed. If acquisition of the bulletin board message has failed, the process proceeds to step S308.

  In step S308, the process waits until the bulletin board message update time, and returns to step S301 when the update time is reached. If the application ends, the process ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent duplicate message displays from being displayed by determining the operation state of the authentication application.

  Further, when the bulletin board function of the main body and the posting (message display) of the authentication application coexist, the convenience for the user can be improved.

  It should be noted that the configuration and contents of the various data described above are not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the various data and configurations are configured according to the application and purpose.

  Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system including a single device.

  Moreover, the program in this invention is a program which can perform the processing method of the flowchart shown to FIGS. 5-7, and the storage medium of this invention memorize | stores the program which can execute the processing method of FIGS. Has been. In addition, the program in this invention may be a program for every processing method of each apparatus of FIGS.

  As described above, a recording medium that records a program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the program stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by executing the reading.

  In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, silicon A disk, solid state drive, or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on an instruction of the program is actually It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  Furthermore, by downloading and reading a program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  In addition, all the structures which combined each embodiment mentioned above and its modification are also included in this invention.

100 client PC
200 Message sending client 300 MFP 400 LAN
500 Authentication Server 1301 Message Storage Unit 1302 State Determination Unit 1303 Display Unit

Claims (8)

An image processing apparatus configured to be able to install an authentication application for executing processing relating to authentication, having a bulletin board function as a main body function for displaying a message, and having a message storage means for storing a message displayed by the bulletin board function of the main body function Because
State determination means for determining an operation state of the authentication application;
When the status determination unit determines that the authentication application is in an operating state, the authentication application shares the message stored in the message storage unit, so that the content of the message is transmitted between the authentication application and the bulletin board function. as but not overlap the display, the without displaying the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board as a main body function, before SL message storage reads the message to be displayed in the bulletin board function of the body function, the message depending on the screen of the authentication application Display means for displaying the contents of the message stored in the message storage means on the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board function as the main body function when it is determined that the authentication application is not in operation. Characterized by comprising The image processing apparatus. Setting of the bulletin board function as the main body function to hide the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function as the main body function when the state determination means determines that the authentication application is in an operating state. In order to display the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function as the main body function when it is determined that the authentication application is in a non-operating state, the bulletin board function setting as the main body function is set. It further comprises setting means for display setting,
2. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the message stored in the message storage unit on the bulletin board screen or the screen of the authentication application in accordance with the display setting or non-display setting set by the setting unit. Image processing device. Message receiving means for receiving a message from an external device;
The state determination unit determines an operation state of the authentication application when a message is received by the message reception unit,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the setting unit receives a message by the message receiving unit and performs display setting or non-display setting according to an operation state of the authentication application by the state determination unit. The image processing apparatus is installed with a message receiving application for receiving a message,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the setting unit is set by the message receiving application. A setting determination unit that determines a setting set by the setting unit when the image processing apparatus is activated or a logout process of the image processing apparatus is performed;
The display means determines the display setting by the setting determination means, and when the state determination means determines that the authentication application is not operating, the display unit stores a message stored in the message storage means. When displayed on the bulletin board screen displayed by the bulletin board function as a function, when it is determined that the setting determination unit is in the non-display setting, and the state determination unit determines that the authentication application is operating, The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a message stored in the message storage unit is displayed on a screen of the authentication application.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination of the operation state of the authentication application by the state determination unit determines whether the authentication application is activated. An image processing apparatus configured to be able to install an authentication application for executing processing relating to authentication, having a bulletin board function as a main body function for displaying a message, and having a message storage means for storing a message displayed by the bulletin board function of the main body function Processing method,
The image processing apparatus is
A state determination step of determining an operation state of the authentication application;
In the state determination step, when it is determined that the authentication application is in an operating state, the authentication application shares the message stored in the message storage unit, so that the content of the message is transmitted between the authentication application and the bulletin board function. as but not overlap the display, the without displaying the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board as a main body function, before SL message storage reads the message to be displayed in the bulletin board function of the body function, the message depending on the screen of the authentication application displays the contents, if the authentication application is determined to be a state that does not work, the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board as a main body function, the display for displaying to display the contents of the message to be stored in said message storage means Step and Processing method characterized by rows. An image processing apparatus configured to be able to install an authentication application for executing processing relating to authentication, having a bulletin board function as a main body function for displaying a message, and having a message storage means for storing a message displayed by the bulletin board function of the main body function There is a program that can be executed with
The image processing apparatus;
State determination means for determining an operation state of the authentication application;
When the status determination unit determines that the authentication application is in an operating state, the authentication application shares the message stored in the message storage unit, so that the content of the message is transmitted between the authentication application and the bulletin board function. as but not overlap the display, the without displaying the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board as a main body function, before SL message storage reads the message to be displayed in the bulletin board function of the body function, the message depending on the screen of the authentication application Display means for displaying the contents of the message stored in the message storage means on the bulletin board screen by the bulletin board function as the main body function when it is determined that the authentication application is in a non-operating state. To make it work Program which is characterized.

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