JP5704208B2 - Status notification device, image processing system, and control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a status notification device, an image processing system, and a control program, and more particularly to management of operation information of the image processing device.

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to digitize information, and image processing apparatuses such as printers and facsimiles used for outputting digitized information and scanners used for digitizing documents have become indispensable devices. Such an image processing apparatus is often configured as a multifunction machine that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, or a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like.

  In addition, such an image processing apparatus is connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and similarly receives a print job from a client terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) connected to the network and forms an image. Often used as a network printer to execute.

  As a conventional method for managing such an image processing apparatus, there is a method in which a management server connected via a network monitors the state of the image processing apparatus. In this method, the management server monitors the status of each image forming apparatus at regular intervals, detects an event such as paper jam, out of paper, and printing completion in the image processing apparatus, and notifies a predetermined notification destination. .

  On the other hand, as a method for the image processing apparatus to notify the state of the apparatus to the outside, a method for notifying a change in the state of the apparatus to a predetermined notification destination has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). The image processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 notifies a predetermined notification destination of a state change at the time of execution of a process being executed by itself when an external apparatus executes a part of the process.

  However, in the conventional image processing apparatus management method, the management server described above performs management based only on administrator information determined in advance. Accordingly, it is impossible to dynamically change the manager information and manage only the necessary information when necessary. Further, information regarding the state of the image processing apparatus is not necessarily required only by an administrator who can operate the management server. For example, information such as a progress status or error of a job requested to be executed by the user is information required not only by the administrator but also by the user. In that case, the user needs information on the job in real time.

  As described above, when managing the image processing apparatus, it is not sufficient to set one rule (management method) for one event, and it is necessary to notify only necessary information to a necessary notification destination for each event. There is. That is, a plurality of rules are required for one event.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and provides notification destinations required in real time for each event related to the state (change) of the image processing apparatus to a plurality of users having different required information such as users and administrators. In order to improve convenience and to prevent registration of an undetectable state (change) , the notification is made only to the user.

In order to solve the above-described problem, one aspect of the present invention is a state notification device that notifies an abnormality of an image processing device that operates while connected to a network, and is detected by a state detection unit included in the image processing device. and the information indicating the abnormality and state detection result acquisition unit that acquires via the network, based on the abnormality and the should notify the abnormality notification destination information and status notification destination information associated image processing apparatus, wherein Based on the acquired information indicating the abnormality, the detected abnormality in the acquired notification destination based on the state notification destination information acquisition unit that acquires the notification destination information to be notified of the abnormality detected by the state detection unit And a status notification destination information registration unit for registering the status notification destination information based on the input registration request. The registration request is detected by the image processing apparatus. The status notification destination information registration unit includes the status notification destination based on the registration request when the status detection unit can detect the abnormality specified in the registration request. It is characterized by registering information.

According to the present invention, a plurality of management methods are associated with a plurality of users having different required information, such as users and managers of the image processing apparatus, for each event related to the state (change) of the image processing apparatus, and information necessary in real time only together Ru can notify the notification destination, it is possible to eliminate registration of undetected state (changes), convenience is improved

It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the image processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the information processing terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of ES information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the hierarchical structure of the event which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement at the time of registering ES information in the image processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the information contained in the registration request of ES information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration request message of ES information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration request message of ES information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the user authority information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the authority information classified by event which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement at the time of detecting the event in the image processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a sequence showing an operation when a print job is received and print output is executed in the image processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the registration request | requirement of ES information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the image processing system which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the communication management apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the memory information of communication management information DB which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the memory information of ES information DB which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation at power-on of an image processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the communication management server which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the system which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an operation mode of the image processing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system according to the present embodiment includes an image processing device 1, a client device 2, a log server 3, and an administrator server 4 as information processing terminals. One of the gist of the image processing system according to the present embodiment is that the image processing device 1 detects the state or operation of the device itself as an event, and the client device 2, the log server 3, and the administrator according to the detected state or operation. The server 4 is notified of the latest state. That is, the image processing apparatus 1 functions as a state notification device or an operation notification device.

  The information processing terminal according to the present embodiment corresponds to the client device 2 configured as a PC (Personal Computer), the log server 3 configured as a server, and the administrator server 4. Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 1 also has an information processing function and corresponds to an information processing terminal. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the client apparatus 2 as an information processing terminal according to the present embodiment. Here, the client apparatus 2 will be described as an example, but the image processing apparatus 1, the log server 3, and the administrator server 4 are also the same as in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the client device 2 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as a general information processing terminal. That is, the client device 2 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30, an HDD 40, and an I / F 50 connected via a bus 80. Yes. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 and an operation unit 70 are connected to the I / F 50.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation means and controls the operation of the entire client device 2. The RAM 20 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 30 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD 40 is a non-volatile storage medium that can read and write information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like.

  The I / F 50 connects the bus 80 and various hardware, a network, and the like, and enables control by the CPU 10. The LCD 60 is a visual user interface for the user to check the state of the client device 2. The operation unit 70 is a user interface for the user to input information to the client device 2 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  In such a hardware configuration, a program stored in a storage medium such as the ROM 30, the HDD 40, or an optical disk (not shown) is read into the RAM 20, and the CPU 10 performs a control operation according to the program, thereby configuring a software control unit. A functional block that realizes the function of the client device 2 is configured by a combination of the software control unit configured as described above and hardware. As described above, the log server 3 and the administrator server 4 have substantially the same configuration as the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2, but the user interfaces such as the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 can be omitted.

Next, the functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 101, a scanner unit 102, a paper discharge tray 103, a display panel 104, and a display panel 105. A paper feed table 106, a print engine 107, a paper discharge tray 108, and an ESDB (Event Subscriber Data Base) 121 and a restriction information DB 122 that characterize this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as a multifunction machine having a scanner unit 102 and a print engine 107. In FIG. 3, the electrical connection is indicated by a solid arrow, and the flow of a sheet or a document bundle is indicated by a broken arrow.

  The controller 100 includes a main control unit 111, an engine control unit 112, an input / output control unit 113, an image processing unit 114, and an operation detection unit 115. Each unit including the controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. The operation detection unit 115 as a state detection unit characterizing the present embodiment detects, as an event, a plurality of types of states of the image processing apparatus 1 and / or progress states and operations of the processing process according to the control of the main control unit 111. To do. Further, when detecting an event, the operation detection unit 115 refers to the ESDB 121 and acquires a network address of a device that should notify the detected event. In addition to the functions as the detection unit and the notification destination information acquisition unit, the operation detection unit 115 functions as a notification destination information update unit and an update restriction unit in the present embodiment, as will be described later. The operation detection unit 115 is configured by a program loaded in the RAM 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 controlling each related unit according to the CPU 10.

  The network I / F 104 is an interface for the image forming apparatus 1 to communicate with other devices via the network, and uses an Ethernet (registered trademark) or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. The network I / F 104 is configured by the I / F 50 shown in FIG.

  The display panel 105 is an output interface that visually displays the state of the image forming apparatus 1 and is an input when the user directly operates the image forming apparatus 1 or inputs information to the image forming apparatus 1 as a touch panel. It is also an interface (operation unit). The display panel 105 includes the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 shown in FIG.

  The ESDB 121 stores an event that occurs in the image processing apparatus 1 and a network address of a subscriber (Subscriber) that is a device that receives a notification when the event occurs, as state notification destination information in association with each other. Part. The network address is generally an IP address used on the Internet, but may be an identifier such as a URI (Uniform Resource Indicator). The notation of URI is sip: 0123456789@example.com, im: 0123456789@example.com, and the like. In the case of URI, the URI and IP address are registered in the server by a protocol such as DNS (Domain Name System) or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), and the partner is identified by redirecting via that. In some cases, the server associates a URI to the connection from the client, such as XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), and specifies the partner by the IP address of the connection.

The image processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment notifies an event that has occurred to the outside based on information stored in the ESDB 121.
Here, an example of information (hereinafter referred to as ES information) stored in the ESDB 121 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the ESDB 121 stores an event and a subscriber who receives notification of the event in association with each other. For example, when “paper jam” occurs in the image processing apparatus 1, the image processing apparatus 1 notifies “admin1@example.com”, “admin2@example.com”, and “admin3@example.com”. Is shown. That is, the ESDB 121 stores one event and a plurality of notification destinations in association with each other. Thereby, it is possible to notify a plurality of devices of one event.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the events in the image processing apparatus 1 include “paper jam”, “out of paper” and the like indicating the state of the image processing apparatus 1 in addition to the operation of the image processing apparatus 1. In other words, the event of the image processing apparatus 1 is information indicating the operation (operation event) of the image processing apparatus 1 and the state (state event) of the apparatus itself. In the following, both are collectively referred to simply as a state. Accordingly, the ES information according to the present embodiment is state notification destination information in which each state relating to the image processing apparatus 1 is associated with information on a notification destination to which the state is to be notified. The ESDB 121 functions as a notification destination information storage unit.

  Events that occur in the image processing apparatus 1 form a hierarchical structure based on categories. FIG. 5 conceptually shows an example of a hierarchical structure of events. As shown in FIG. 5, the events of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment have categories of “job” and “maintenance”. The “job” category is divided into jobs such as “print”, “scan”, and “FAX” as subordinate concepts. Further, each job is divided into events such as “number of pages” and “completion notification” as subordinate concepts. Further, the categories below each job are divided into job IDs as subordinate concepts. On the other hand, the “maintenance” category is divided into events such as “paper jam”, “paper out”, and “counter” as subordinate concepts. The information of the hierarchical structure shown in FIG.

  By configuring a hierarchical structure of events as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to set so that all events belonging to a specific category or lower are notified. In the example of FIG. 4, since “job” is set as the event, all events belonging to “job” and lower in FIG. 5 are notified to “log1@example.com” and “admin1@example.com”. . All events belonging to “maintenance” and below are notified to “admin1@example.com”. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to set each event individually, and the capacity of the ESDB 121 can be saved. Such an effect is obtained when the motion detection unit 115 holds information having a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, when the user or administrator operates the client apparatus 2 or the administrator server 4, the operation detection unit 115 of the image processing apparatus 1 registers ES information in the ESDB 121.
At this time, the restriction information DB 122 is referred to, and it is determined whether or not the stored state notification destination information can be updated.
The restriction information DB 122 is a storage unit that stores information for determining whether or not the state notification destination information stored in the ESDB 121 can be updated. The update restriction information stored in the ESDB 121 and the restriction information DB 122 is information such as user authority information (see FIG. 8) and event-specific authority information (see FIG. 9), which will be described in detail later.

  The controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. Specifically, a control program such as firmware stored in a nonvolatile storage medium such as the ROM 30 and the nonvolatile memory and the HDD 30 and the optical disk is stored in a volatile memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). The controller 100 is configured by a software control unit that is loaded into a certain RAM 20 and configured (realized) by the CPU 10 controlling various related units according to this and hardware such as an integrated circuit. The controller 100 functions as a control unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus 1.

  The main control unit 111 plays a role of controlling each unit included in the controller 100, and gives a command to each unit of the controller 100. The engine control unit 112 serves as a driving unit that controls or drives the print engine 107, the scanner unit 102, and the like. The input / output control unit 113 inputs a signal or command input via the network I / F 104 to the main control unit 111. Further, the input / output control unit 113 accesses other devices via the network I / F 104 under the control of the main control unit 111. Further, the input / output control unit 113 displays information on the display panel 104 or notifies the main control unit 111 of information input via the display panel 104.

  The image processing unit 114 generates drawing information based on image information to be printed out under the control of the main control unit 111. The drawing information is information for drawing an image to be formed in the image forming operation by the print engine 106 as an image forming unit. The image processing unit 114 processes image data input from the scanner unit 102 and generates image data. This image data is information stored in the image forming apparatus 1 as a result of the scanner operation or transmitted to the client apparatus 2 via the network I / F 104.

  The operation detection unit 115 detects the state or operation of the image processing apparatus 1 as an event according to the control of the main control unit 111. Further, when detecting an event, the operation detection unit 115 refers to the ESDB 121 and acquires a network address of a device that should notify the detected event. As described above, the operation detection unit 115 is configured by a program loaded in the RAM 20 shown in FIG.

  The image processing apparatus 1 performs a known processing operation as a printer, a scanner, or a copying machine. As will be described later, the image processing apparatus 1 selectively notifies a set notification destination of a change in the state of the apparatus itself. To do. The operation as a printer, scanner, and copier will be outlined. When the image processing apparatus 1 performs a print processing operation as a printer in response to an external print request, first, the input / output control unit 113 receives a print job via the network I / F 104. The input / output control unit 113 transfers the received print job to the main control unit 111. When receiving the print job, the main control unit 111 controls the image processing unit 114 to generate drawing information based on document information or image information included in the print job. When the drawing information is generated by the image processing unit 114, the engine control unit 112 performs image formation on the paper conveyed from the paper feed table 106 based on the generated drawing information. As a specific aspect of the print engine 107, an image forming mechanism using an ink jet method, an image forming mechanism using an electrophotographic method, or the like can be used. A document on which image formation has been performed by the print engine 107 is discharged to a discharge tray 108.

  When the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a scanner, the input / output control unit 113 operates in response to a scan operation instruction input from the external client apparatus 2 or the like via the operation of the display panel 105 by the user or the network I / F 104. A scan execution signal is transferred to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 controls the engine control unit 112 based on the received scan execution signal.

  The engine control unit 112 drives the ADF 101 and conveys the document to be imaged set on the ADF 101 to the scanner unit 102. In addition, the engine control unit 112 drives the scanner unit 102 and images a document conveyed from the ADF 101. If no original is set on the ADF 101 and the original is directly set on the scanner unit 102, the scanner unit 102 images the set original under the control of the engine control unit 112. That is, the scanner unit 102 operates as an imaging unit.

In the imaging operation, an imaging element such as a CCD included in the scanner unit 102 optically scans the document, and imaging information generated based on the optical information is generated. The engine control unit 112 transfers the imaging information generated by the scanner unit 102 to the image processing unit 114.
The image processing unit 114 generates image information based on the imaging information received from the engine control unit 112 according to the control of the main control unit 111.

  Image information generated by the image processing unit 114 is stored in a storage medium attached to the image forming apparatus 1 such as an HDD. The image information generated by the image processing unit 114 is stored in the HDD or the like as it is according to a user instruction or transmitted to an external device via the input / output control unit 113 and the network I / F 104.

  Further, when the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a copying machine, the image processing unit 114 generates drawing information based on imaging information received by the engine control unit 112 from the scanner unit 102 or image information generated by the image processing unit 114. To do. Based on the drawing information, the engine control unit 112 drives the print engine 107 as in the case of the printer operation.

  Next, the state notification operation of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, first, a user or an administrator operates the client apparatus 2 or the administrator server 4 to transmit a registration request and register ES information in the ESDB 121 of the image processing apparatus 1. An example of information included in the registration request is shown in FIG. 7A. As shown in FIG. 7A, the ES information registration request includes user, event, and subscriber information. For example, when the client apparatus 2 generates a registration request for ES information as illustrated in FIG. 7A, the client apparatus 2 transmits a message as illustrated in FIG. 7B or 7C based on the generated registration request.

  The example of the above message is described in a structured format such as XML (eXtensible Markup Language). Other similar formats include JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language), and RDF (Resource Description Framework). This message example may be in an unstructured format such as a text format.

  An operation when registering ES information in the ESDB 121 of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when ES information is registered in the ESDB 121 in the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. 6A shows the state of the apparatus (maintenance), and FIG. 6B corresponds to a registration operation in the case of an operation request to be described later. In the image processing apparatus 1, first, the input / output control unit 113 receives a message including an ES information registration request (see FIG. 7A) via the network I / F 104 (S601).

  The user information shown in FIG. 7A is the user ID of the user who transmitted the ES information registration request. The event information is information for specifying an event to be detected in the image processing apparatus 1, and corresponds to the event of FIG. The subscriber information is information on a network address of a device to be notified when an event is detected, and corresponds to the subscriber in FIG.

  Upon receiving the ES information registration request shown in FIG. 7A, the input / output control unit 113 inputs the information to the main control unit 111. When the main control unit 111 acquires the information illustrated in FIG. 7A, the main control unit 111 inputs the information to the operation detection unit 115 and causes the operation detection unit 115 to execute ES information registration processing.

  When acquiring the ES information shown in FIG. 7A, the operation detection unit 115 first determines whether or not the user who requested registration is an authorized user according to the control of the main control unit 111 (S602). In step S <b> 602, the operation detection unit 115 refers to the restriction information DB 122 and determines the authority of the user. Of the update restriction information stored in the restriction information DB 122, information (hereinafter referred to as user authority information) referred to by the operation detection unit 115 in S602 is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the user authority information is information in which a user ID and information indicating whether or not the user has registration authority are associated with each other. For example, “user0001” is “accept”. This indicates that the user with ID “user0001” has the authority to register ES information. In S <b> 602, the operation detection unit 115 refers to the restriction information DB 122 based on the user information (requesting user ID) among the information included in the registration request, and acquires “registration authority” information. Then, based on “accept” / “reject” of the acquired “registration authority” information, the operation detection unit 115 determines whether the user who requested registration is an authorized user.

  When the registration request received in S601 is from an unauthorized user (S602 / NO), the operation detection unit 115 inputs a notification that registration is impossible to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113, notifies the ES information registration request source of an error (S606), and ends the process. This makes it possible to determine whether or not the ES information can be updated for each user.

  When the registration request received in S601 is from an authorized user (S602 / YES), the operation detection unit 115 then determines whether the event for which registration of ES information is requested is an event that can be notified. It is determined whether or not (S603). In step S603, the operation detection unit 115 determines whether the event specified in the registration request is a detectable event. For example, even if ES information for “out of paper” is registered, if the operation detection unit 115 does not have a function of detecting “out of paper”, notification cannot be made, and therefore registration is meaningless. Therefore, in S603, the operation detection unit 115 determines whether or not the event detection unit 115 can detect the event specified in the registration request.

  If the event specified in the registration request is an event that cannot be detected by the operation detection unit 115 (S603 / NO), an error notification (S606) is made in the same manner as described above, and the process is terminated. This makes it possible to eliminate registration of ES information that does not substantially function. On the other hand, if the event specified in the registration request can be notified (S603 / YES), the operation detection unit 115 then causes the user who requested registration of the ES information to obtain the ES information for the target event. It is determined whether or not the user has authority to register (S604).

  In S604, similarly to S602, the operation detection unit 115 refers to the restriction information DB 122 and determines the user's authority based on the event-specific authority information. Of the information stored in the restriction information DB 122, the information (event-specific authority information) referred to by the motion detection unit 115 in S604 is shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, event-specific authority information is information in which a user's network address, an event, and information indicating whether the user has registration authority for the event are associated with each other. Similarly to the case described with reference to FIG. 5, when the registration authority is specified for a higher-level category such as “job” and “event”, the same authority is assigned to all lower-level events. Is set.

  If the result of the determination in S604 is that the user is not authorized (S604 / NO), the operation detection unit 115 performs error notification (S606) in the same manner as described above, and ends the process. This makes it possible to determine whether or not the ES information can be updated in more detail for each event. On the other hand, as a result of the determination in S604, if the user has authority (S604 / YES), the operation detection unit 115 registers the event and subscriber specified in the received registration request in the ESDB 121, and the registration is completed. Is input to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113 to notify the registration request source of the ES information of registration completion (S605), and ends the process. As described above, the operation detection unit 115 functions as a notification destination information update unit.

With such processing, registration of ES information in the ESDB 121 is completed. In the present embodiment, by executing the processing of S602, S603, and S604 shown in FIG. 6, unauthorized registration and change of ES information by an unauthorized user can be prevented. That is, the operation detection unit 115 functions as an update restriction unit. Further, the restriction information DB 122 functions as an update restriction unit. In the above description, the case where ES information is registered in units of individual terminal devices has been described. However, when several client devices 2 (users) are grouped and given a group ID. Also, it is possible to perform batch setting in group units using group IDs. For this purpose, the image processing apparatus 1 stores an association table in which a group ID and each user ID of a user constituting the group are associated with each other, and can refer to this table, so that the ES using the group ID can be referred to. An information registration request may be accepted and update restriction may be performed.
As described above, by making it possible to update the ES information based on the determined authority, it is possible to obtain a notification of a state or operation from the image processing apparatus 1 according to the user's request.

  Next, as an operation of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, an operation when the operation detection unit 115 detects an event related to the state of the apparatus will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation when the operation detection unit 115 detects an event. First, the operation detection unit 115 detects an event (S1001). That is, the operation detection unit 115 functions as a state detection unit. The operation detection unit 115 refers to the ESDB 121 based on the detected event (S1002). Then, the operation detection unit 115 acquires the network address of the subscriber to be notified of the detected event. That is, the operation detection unit 115 functions as a notification destination information acquisition unit.

  When the subscriber to be notified of the event detected in S1001 is not registered in the ESDB 121 (S1003 / NO), the operation detection unit 115 ends the process as it is. On the other hand, when the subscriber to be notified of the event detected in S1001 is registered in the ESDB 121 (S1003 / YES), the operation detection unit 115 notifies the main control unit 111 of the acquired subscriber information.

  When the main control unit 111 acquires subscriber information from the operation detection unit 115, the main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113 to notify the acquired subscriber of the occurrence of an event (S1004), and ends the process. That is, the input / output control unit 113 functions as a state notification unit or an operation notification unit. Thereby, the notification of the event to the other apparatus by the image processing apparatus 1 is completed. For example, when the event detected in S1001 is “paper jam”, as shown in FIG. 4, the corresponding subscriber is “admin3@example.com”, and “admin2@example.com” set as the paper. com ”and“ admin1@example.com ”set as maintenance. Accordingly, the input / output control unit 113 notifies the occurrence of “paper jam” to “admin1@example.com”, “admin2@example.com”, and “admin3@example.com” in S1004.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can register the ES information in the ESDB 121 to notify the occurrence of the event to the destination corresponding to each event. As a result, each device connected to the network can receive notification of only an event that requires notification. As a result, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus that is easy to monitor and is highly convenient.

  Next, an operation when an event related to job execution of the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is detected will be described. When the user operates the client apparatus 2 to execute print output by the image processing apparatus 1, the client apparatus 2 receives a notification of the job status in the image processing apparatus 1, for example, the number of pages being output and printing completion. Thus, it is common practice to improve user convenience. Here, an example in which a print job is input from the client device 2 will be described as an example. The image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment enables notification of the job status to the user by registering ES information in the ESDB 121 in response to reception of a print job.

  FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation when the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment receives a print job from the client apparatus 2 and executes print output. First, when transmitting a print job to the image processing apparatus 1, the client apparatus 2 (for example, “client1@example.com”) according to the present embodiment first transmits a job ID issue request for the print job (S1101). . In the image processing apparatus 1, the input / output control unit 113 receives a job ID issue request via the network I / F 104. The input / output control unit 113 inputs the received job ID issue request to the main control unit 111.

  When receiving the job ID issue request, the main control unit 111 controls the engine control unit 112 to issue a job ID. When the job ID is issued by the engine control unit 112, the main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113 to transmit the job ID to the client apparatus 2 (S1102).

  Upon acquiring the job ID from the image processing apparatus 1, the client apparatus 2 generates an ES information registration request as shown in FIG. 12 using the acquired job ID (S1103). In S1103, a registration request for receiving notification of an event to be notified in response to execution of the print job is generated. That is, the “print” event is designated, and the job ID acquired in step S1102 is designated. As a result, among the “print” events, only the event of the print job to be transmitted is designated as an event to be notified. When generating a registration request for ES information as shown in FIG. 12, the client apparatus 2 transmits a message (not shown; similar to that shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C) and a print job based on the generated registration request (S1104). . That is, the client device 2 functions as an image processing execution command transmission unit and a notification destination information storage instruction unit.

  In the image processing apparatus 1, the input / output control unit 113 receives the registration request and the print job related to S1104 via the network I / F 104 (this corresponds to S6011 shown in FIG. 6B). The input / output control unit 113 inputs the received information to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 inputs the ES information registration request information to the operation detection unit 115 among the information received in S1104.

  When acquiring the ES information registration request, the operation detection unit 115 executes the processing of S602 to S605 shown in FIG. 6B, and updates the ESDB 121 according to the acquired registration request information (S1105). As a result, the information in the ESDB 121 is updated so as to notify the “client1@example.com” (client device 2) of the “print” event for the predetermined job ID.

  When the update of the ESDB 121 is completed, the main control unit 111 controls the engine control unit 112 and the image processing unit 114 to execute a print job (S1106). The image processing apparatus 1 executes a print job, and the operation detection unit 115 sequentially detects events according to the progress of the job (S1107).

  When detecting an event, the operation detection unit 115 refers to the ESDB 121 (S1108), and acquires information on a subscriber who should be notified of the detected event. Here, when a plurality of subscribers are notified, information on the plurality of subscribers is acquired. As a result of the processing in S1105, the ESDB 121 registers the client apparatus 2 that is the request source of the print job as a subscriber to be notified of the event of the job being executed in S1106. Therefore, the information of the client device 2 is acquired as a subscriber to be notified of the detected event by the process of S1108.

  When the operation detection unit 115 acquires the network address of the client device 2 as subscriber information, the input / output control unit 113 controlled by the main control unit 111 notifies the client device 2 of the occurrence of an event, as in S1004 of FIG. (S1109). Similarly, if there is information on other subscribers acquired by the processing of (S1108), the occurrence of the event is notified to the corresponding device. The processes in S1107 to S1109 are executed a plurality of times according to the progress of the job until the print job is completed (S1110 / NO).

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, “page count” and “completion notification” are included below the “print” category. Therefore, the operation detection unit 115 detects an event every time the print engine 107 completes image formation output for one page as an event of “number of pages”. The operation detection unit 115 detects the number of pages according to the notification from the engine control unit 112.
Further, the operation detection unit 115 detects an event of “completion notification” when the print engine 107 completes all image formation outputs of the job.

When the print job is completed (S1110 / YES), the operation detection unit 115 notifies the client device 2 and the like that the job is completed (S1111). Then, the ES information registered in S1106 is deleted (S1112), and the process ends. With such processing, it is possible to notify effective information by the user when executing a print job. Further, by deleting the ES information in S1112, it is possible to effectively use the capacity of the ESDB 121, leading to capacity saving.
Further, through the processing of S1107 to S1109, it is possible to notify the user of events related to the print job in real time.

  As described above, according to the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, it is necessary in real time for each event related to the state (change) of the image processing apparatus, to a plurality of users having different required information such as users and administrators. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus that is easy to monitor and is highly convenient for notifying only a specific notification destination.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the ESDB 121 is provided in the image processing apparatus 1 has been described. Thereby, acquisition of ES information by searching the ESDB 121 can be completed quickly. In addition, the ESDB 121 may be provided in an apparatus connected to the image processing apparatus 1 via a network. In this case, the image processing apparatus 1 can execute the same process as described above by acquiring ES information via the network. In this case, the image processing apparatus 1 may transmit the detected event information to the ESDB 121 via the network, and acquire only the corresponding subscriber information from the ESDB 121.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
The first embodiment has been described assuming that each device connected to the network performs direct communication. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which each device performs communication via a communication management server in accordance with SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), XMPP (extensible Messaging and Presentation Protocol), and the like. Also, the ES information is managed by the communication management server.

The reason for managing the ES information by the communication management server is mainly because setting of the log management server and the administrator becomes easy. When the log is stored on the image processing device side,
There is a problem that it is difficult to back up the data in the image processing apparatus that needs to access the data in the image processing apparatus in order to analyze the log that complicates the software on the device side.
Therefore, in this embodiment, a log storage module (generally called a logger) is freely set on the server side, and a plurality of different loggers can be easily set for each device.
Therefore, it is possible to dynamically set or switch loggers depending on the type of event during operation. You can also easily update logger software, such as changing the log format. Similarly, notification to the administrator of the apparatus can be set dynamically and freely.

  In the following description, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment denote the same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an operation mode of the image processing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the image processing system according to the present embodiment includes a communication management server 5 in addition to the aspect of the first embodiment. The communication management server 5 is a device that manages communication between the devices shown in FIG. 13 according to a predetermined protocol. Note that the communication management server 5 according to the present embodiment manages communication according to SIP. As a result, secure communication can be realized. The communication management server 5 has a configuration substantially similar to the hardware configuration described in FIG. As with the log server 3 and the administrator server 4, the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 can be omitted.

  Next, a functional configuration of the communication management server 5 which is a communication management apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the communication management server 5 includes a controller 500, a network I / F 501, a communication management unit 503, a communication management information DB 511, an ESDB 512, and a restriction information DB 513. The controller 500 has a main control unit 502 and a communication management unit 503, and functions as a control unit that controls the entire communication management server 5. The main control unit 502 controls each unit of the controller 500. Further, the communication management unit 503 is configured to realize the communication management function described in FIG. 16, and is configured to be able to refer to the communication management information DB 511. The controller 500 is configured by the CPU 10 performing a control operation according to a program loaded in the RAM 20.

  The network I / F 501 is an interface for the communication management server 5 to communicate with other devices via the network. The network I / F 501 is configured by the I / F 50 shown in FIG.

  The communication management information DB 511 is a storage unit that stores information for the communication management server 5 to manage communication of other devices. FIG. 15A shows an example of information stored in the communication management information DB 511. As shown in FIG. 15A, the communication management information DB 511 stores information on the name of the device that should manage communication, the network address that is the identification ID of the device on the network, and the IP address information of the device. The identification ID of the device on the network is an ID for the communication management server 5 to manage the communication of each device.

The communication management information DB 511 stores only information on devices that are connected to the network and operating. That is, even when connected to a network as shown in FIG. 13, if the power is not turned on, no information is stored in the communication management information DB 512.
In other words, even if information is registered in the communication management information DB 512, when the power of the device is turned off, each device first logs into the communication management server 5 when the power is turned on. As a result, information on each device is registered in the communication management information DB 512, and communication via the network becomes possible. For example, in the case of the image processing apparatus 1, the login is performed by the input / output control unit 113 according to the control of the main control unit 111. That is, the input / output control unit 113 functions as a communication start unit.

  The ESDB 512 is a storage unit for storing initial data of the ES information described with reference to FIG. The ESDB 512 of the communication management server 5 stores all initial data of ES information for each of a plurality of image processing apparatuses connected to the network (see FIG. 15B).

  The restriction information DB 513 is a storage unit that stores the restriction information described with reference to FIGS. The restriction information DB 513 also stores restriction information for a plurality of image processing apparatuses connected to the network, like the ESDB 512. This will be described in detail later.

  Next, in the image processing system according to the present embodiment, an example of an operation when devices start communication will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 16, an operation when the client apparatus 2 transmits a print job to the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. When transmitting a print job to the image forming apparatus 1, the client apparatus 2 transmits a session request to the communication management server 5 by specifying an identification ID on the network of the image forming apparatus 1 (S 1601). The identification ID on the network designated here is the identification ID on the network described in FIG. 15A and is a network address. That is, in S1601, an ID “printer1@callserver.***” is designated.

  When a session request is received from the client apparatus 2 via the network I / F 501, the controller 500 of the communication management server 5 refers to the communication management information DB 511 and acquires the IP address of the image forming apparatus 1 as a transfer destination of the session request. (S1602). Then, the communication management server 5 requests the image forming apparatus 1 for a session with the client apparatus 2 (S1603).

  When receiving a session request from the communication management server 5, the image forming apparatus 1 responds to the request (S1604). The response information in S1604 includes information such as a port number. The communication management server 5 transfers the response from the image forming apparatus 1 to the client apparatus 2 (S1605). As a result, a session is established between the client apparatus 2 and the image forming apparatus 1.

  When the session is established, using the session, the client apparatus 2 transmits the registration request and the print job described above to the image forming apparatus 1 (S1606). The image forming apparatus 1 executes the job in accordance with the print job received from the client apparatus 2, performs a necessary event detection notification process during this time, and ends the job. With such a communication mode, secure communication can be realized. In the example of FIG. 14, the communication management unit 503 and the communication management information DB 511 of the controller 500 function as a communication management unit.

  In such an image processing system, the present embodiment synchronizes the ESDB 121 of the image processing apparatus 1 with the ESDB 512 of the communication management server 5. The synchronous operation of the ESDB 121 by the image processing apparatus 1 is executed when the power is turned on. Further, the restriction information DB 122 of the image processing apparatus 1 is synchronized with the restriction information DB 513 of the communication management server 5. The operation when the image processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is turned on will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 17, when the power is turned on (S1701), first, the image processing apparatus 1
Log in to the communication management server 5 (S1702). As a result, as shown in FIG. 15A, the information of the image processing apparatus 1 is registered in the communication management information DB 511 of the communication management server 5. The process of S1702 is executed by the input / output control unit 113 operating according to the control of the main control unit 111.

  When the login to the communication management server 5 is completed, the image processing apparatus 1 downloads ES information for the own apparatus (image processing apparatus 1) among the ES information stored in the ESDB 512 of the communication management server 5 ( S1703). Then, the image processing apparatus 1 stores the downloaded ES information in its own ESDB 121 (S1704), and ends the process. Thereby, the synchronization between the ESDB 512 of the communication management server 5 and the ESDB 121 of the image processing apparatus 1 is completed.

  The subsequent registration processing of the ESDB 121 in the image processing apparatus 1 is exactly the same as in the previous embodiment, and the processing is executed in the same manner as the operation described in FIG. The controller 100 of the image processing apparatus 1 refers to the restriction information stored in the restriction information DB 122 and executes the process shown in FIG.

  The event detection and notification operations in the image processing system according to the present embodiment are executed in the same manner as in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the first embodiment. Here, communication between the devices is performed by mediation by the communication management unit 115 of the communication management server 5 described in FIG.

  As described above, in the image processing system according to the present embodiment, when communication is executed according to a protocol such as SIP or XMPP, the information can be kept up-to-date by synchronizing the ESDB 121 with the ESDB 512. It becomes possible.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the synchronization of the ESDB 121 is executed when the image processing apparatus 1 is powered on has been described. In addition, the synchronization of the ESDB 121 may be periodically executed during the operation of the image processing apparatus 1.

  Further, it is desirable to discard the contents of the information in the ESDB 121 when the image processing apparatus 1 is powered off. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the past ES information from remaining. Such an aspect can be easily realized by configuring the ESDB 121 with a volatile storage medium, for example.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the communication management server 5 has the communication management function and the ESDB 512 function illustrated in FIG. 17 has been described. However, the communication management function and the function of the ESDB 512 may be provided by different service providers. That is, the communication management function and the function of the ESDB 512 may be realized by separate servers. In addition, it is also possible to easily change the system configuration so that the ESDB update process is executed not on the communication management server 5 but on the ESDB 121 on the image processing apparatus 1 side.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
It is also possible to omit the ESDB 121 from the image processing apparatus 1 and to provide the communication management server 5 with an event notification function. FIG. 18 shows such an example as the third embodiment. FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the communication management server 5 having an event notification function. In the communication management server 5 illustrated in FIG. 18, the controller 500 includes a main control unit 502, a communication management unit 503, and an ES management unit 504.

  The main control unit 502 controls each unit of the controller 500. The communication management unit 503 is configured to realize the communication management function described with reference to FIG. 16, and configured to be able to refer to the communication management information DB 511. The ES management unit 504 is configured to realize an event notification function, and is configured to be able to refer to the ESDB 512 and the restriction information DB 513.

  According to the present embodiment, the ESDB update process is executed not on the image processing apparatus 1 but on the communication management server 5. Therefore, the processing load of the image processing apparatus 1 can be reduced. On the other hand, since the communication management server 5 manages communication of many network devices, the communication management server 5 is generally composed of hardware resources with high processing capability, and the update process does not become a heavy burden, and the hardware resources are effectively used. It becomes possible to do.

  When registering ES information in the communication management server 5, processing is executed in the same manner as the operation described in FIG. The controller 500 of the communication management server 5 refers to the restriction information stored in the restriction information DB 513 and executes the process shown in FIG. In order to execute the processing of S603 in FIG. 6, it is necessary to know events that can be detected by the operation detection unit 115 in the target image processing apparatus 1 for which ES information is set. Therefore, the restriction information DB 513 stores information on events that can be detected by the operation detection unit 115 of the image processing apparatus 1 connected to the network.

  In the present embodiment, since the update processing of the ESDB 512 is not executed by the image processing apparatus 1, the update function of the ESDB 121 (the function described in FIG. 6) among the functions of the restriction information DB 122 and the operation detection unit 115 of the image processing apparatus 1. ) Can be omitted.

  The notification operation of the image processing system by the communication management server 5 shown in FIG. 18 will be described with reference to FIG. The registration process for ES information and the like is substantially the same as in the previous embodiments, and a description thereof has been omitted. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation when notifying the log server 3 of an event detected in the image processing apparatus 1.

  As shown in FIG. 19, first, the operation detection unit 115 detects an event in the image processing apparatus 1 (S1901). The operation detection unit 115 inputs the detected event to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 controls the input / output control unit 113 to notify the communication management server 5 of the event input from the operation detection unit 115 (S1902).

The event notification input to the communication management server 5 is input to the ES management unit 504 by the main control unit 502 . The ES management unit 504 refers to the ESDB 512 and acquires subscriber information (identification ID on the network) in the same manner as the processing of S1002 and S1003 in FIG. 10 (S1903). The subscriber information acquired by the ES management unit 504 is input to the communication management unit 503 by the main control unit 502.

  The communication management unit 503 acquires the IP address of the subscriber from the communication management information DB 511 based on the input identification ID of the subscriber on the network (S1904). Here, when a plurality of subscribers are notified, a plurality of IP addresses are acquired. The communication management unit 503 inputs the acquired IP address information to the ES management unit 504.

  When the ES management unit 504 acquires the IP address of the subscriber, the ES management unit 504 generates event notification information by associating the event information to be notified with the IP address of the subscriber, and inputs the event notification information to the main control unit 502. The main control unit 502 notifies the event to the designated IP address based on the input event notification information (S1905). By such processing, the event notification processing according to the mode of FIG. 18 is completed.

  As described above, by notifying the event by the communication management server 5, it is possible to further reduce the processing to be executed by the image processing apparatus 1. In the case of the example in FIG. 18, the process that the image processing apparatus 1 should execute is only to transmit the detected event to the communication management server 5. Is possible.

  As shown in FIG. 19, the communication according to the mode of FIG. 18 is executed in a form mediated by the communication management server 5 without waiting for the session establishment as shown in FIG. This is because the amount of information exchanged in S1902 and S1905 is small, so that communication using a signaling channel for establishing a session is possible. As a result, the network load can be reduced.

1 image processing device,
2 client devices,
3 Log server,
4 administrator server,
5 Communication management server,
10 CPU,
20 RAM,
30 ROM,
40 HDD,
50 I / F,
60 LCD,
70 operation unit,
80 bus,
100 controller,
101 ADF,
102 scanner unit,
103 Output tray,
104 Network I / F,
105 display panel,
106 paper feed table,
107 print engine,
108 Output tray,
111 main control unit,
112 engine control unit,
113 Input / output control unit,
114 image processing unit,
115 motion detector,
121 ESDB,
122 Restriction information DB
500 controllers,
501 Network I / F,
502 main control unit,
503 Communication Manager,
504 ES management department,
511 communication management information DB;
512 ESDB,
513 Restriction information DB

JP 2006-295883 A

Claims (8)

A status notification device that notifies an abnormality of an image processing device that operates while connected to a network,
A state detection result acquisition unit that acquires information indicating an abnormality detected by the state detection unit included in the image processing apparatus via a network;
A state of acquiring information of a notification destination to be notified of the abnormality detected by the state detection unit based on state notification destination information in which the abnormality of the image processing apparatus and the information of the notification destination to which the abnormality is to be notified are associated A notification information acquisition unit;
Based on the acquired information indicating the abnormality, a status notification unit that notifies the acquired notification destination of the detected abnormality,
A status notification destination information registration unit that registers the status notification destination information based on the input registration request;
The registration request includes information specifying an abnormality to be detected by the image processing apparatus,
The state notification destination information registration unit registers the state notification destination information based on the registration request when an abnormality specified in the registration request can be detected by the state detection unit. Status notification device. A status notification device that selectively notifies a plurality of notification destinations of a plurality of types of abnormality of at least one image processing apparatus connected to a network according to the type of abnormality,
A state detection result acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a plurality of types of abnormalities detected by the state detection unit included in the image processing apparatus via a network;
With reference to state notification destination information in which each abnormality detected by the state detection unit is associated with one or more notification destination information to be notified of each abnormality, the type of abnormality detected by the state detection unit A status notification destination information acquisition unit for acquiring a notification destination to be notified of detection in response,
Based on the acquired information indicating the abnormality, a state notification unit for notifying all of the acquired notification destinations of the detected abnormality,
A status notification destination information registration unit that registers the status notification destination information based on the input registration request;
The registration request includes information specifying an abnormality to be detected by the image processing apparatus,
The status notification destination information registration unit registers the status notification destination information based on the input registration request when an abnormality specified in the registration request can be detected by the status detection unit. A feature notification device.   The state notification destination information registration unit is based on information indicating an abnormality of the image processing apparatus that can be detected by the state detection unit, and when the abnormality specified in the registration request can be detected by the state detection unit, The status notification device according to claim 1, wherein the status notification destination information is registered based on the input registration request. A status notification destination information storage unit storing the status notification destination information;
The status notification destination information acquisition unit acquires the notification destination information from the status notification destination information storage unit based on an abnormality of the image processing apparatus detected by the state detection unit. 4. The state notification device according to any one of items 3 to 3.   The notification destination information registration unit is configured so that a user who inputs the registration request is based on authority information in which a user who inputs the registration request and information indicating registration authority of the state notification destination information by the user are associated with each other. 5. The state notification device according to claim 1, wherein the state notification destination information is registered based on the input registration request when having registration authority. The authority information includes information associated with information specifying an abnormality detected by the image processing apparatus and information indicating registration authority by the user for each abnormality detected by the image processing apparatus,
The registration request includes user information relating to the input of the registration request and information specifying an abnormality of the image processing apparatus,
The notification destination information registration unit, when a user related to an input of the registration request has a registration authority for an abnormality of the image processing apparatus specified in the registration request, based on the input registration request The status notification device according to claim 5, wherein status notification destination information is registered. An image processing system including an image processing device that is connected to a network and a state notification device that detects and notifies an abnormality of the image processing device,
The state notification device includes:
A state detection result acquisition unit that acquires information indicating an abnormality detected by the state detection unit included in the image processing apparatus via a network;
A state notification destination information storage unit storing state notification destination information in which an abnormality of the image processing apparatus and information of a notification destination to which the abnormality is to be notified are associated;
A state notification destination information acquisition unit that acquires information of a notification destination to be notified of the abnormality detected by the state detection unit based on the state notification destination information;
A status notification unit that notifies the acquired notification destination of the detected abnormality;
A status notification destination information registration unit that registers the status notification destination information based on the input registration request;
The registration request includes information specifying an abnormality to be detected by the image processing apparatus,
The status notification destination information registration unit registers the status notification destination information based on the input registration request when an abnormality specified in the registration request can be detected by the status detection unit. A characteristic image processing system. A control program that causes an information processing apparatus to operate as a state notification apparatus that notifies a notification destination connected via a network of a state of an image processing apparatus that is connected to the network.
Obtaining information indicating an abnormality detected by a state detection unit included in the image processing apparatus via a network;
Acquiring notification destination information to be notified of the abnormality detected by the state detection unit, based on the state notification destination information in which the abnormality of the image processing apparatus and the notification destination information to which the abnormality should be notified are associated When,
Notifying the detected abnormality to the acquired notification destination based on the acquired information indicating the abnormality; and
When a registration request including information specifying an abnormality to be detected by the image processing apparatus is acquired and the abnormality specified in the registration request can be detected by the state detection unit, based on the input registration request And causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of registering the state notification destination information.