JP5736021B2 - Image processing system, image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program .

  A technique is known in which an information processing apparatus such as a PC is connected to a Web server on a network, and an operation screen provided by the Web server is displayed on a Web browser provided in the information processing apparatus. In this case, an HTML file for causing the Web browser of the information processing apparatus to request an operation screen from the Web server and causing the Web application on the Web server to display the operation screen on the Web browser in response to a request from the information processing apparatus. Is transmitted to the information processing apparatus. The Web browser of the information processing apparatus analyzes the received HTML file and displays an operation screen based on the description of the received HTML file. Further, when the user inputs an instruction via the operation screen displayed on the Web browser, the Web browser notifies the Web server of the input instruction. Upon receiving the instruction notification, the Web application on the Web server executes processing according to the input instruction.

  Incidentally, recently, some MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) equipped with a scanner and a printer are equipped with a Web browser as described above. Such an MFP displays an operation screen provided by the Web server on the Web browser of the MFP using the above-described procedure, and accepts various instructions from the user. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique in which a Web server provides an operation screen for inputting an instruction for using each function included in an MFP. Specifically, the MFP user inputs an instruction for the MFP via an operation screen displayed on the Web browser. In the MFP described in Patent Document 1, the input instruction is notified to the Web server by the Web browser of the MFP. Upon receiving the notification, the Web server requests the MFP to execute various processes in accordance with the instruction content input from the user. Upon receiving this request, the MFP executes the requested processing. Thus, it is not necessary to store all menu data for operating the MFP in the MFP, and the menu data can be easily changed on the Web server.

JP 2007-230244 A

  However, the above prior art has the following problems. The information processing apparatus according to the prior art generally has many functions. Therefore, not all operation screens are realized by an operation screen (hereinafter referred to as a Web screen) displayed on the Web browser, but an operation screen in which a part of the operation screen is held in advance by the information processing apparatus. A configuration realized by (hereinafter referred to as a native screen) is considered. With such a configuration, a Web application can be efficiently realized. In order to realize such a configuration, it is necessary for the Web application to transition the screen displayed on the UI of the information processing apparatus from the Web screen to another screen (native screen). In order to realize this, a system is considered in which an information processing apparatus provides a Web service that controls a UI screen, and a Web application uses the service to perform screen transition.

  However, in such a system, other operations for displaying other screens by the user during the transition to the native screen based on the user operations on the Web screen (device status display screen or job history screen display instruction) May be performed. In such a case, although the user intentionally performs another operation, the native screen based on the previously operated content is displayed, which greatly reduces the operability.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. When a user operation received via a Web screen provided from a Web server indicates a display of a native screen held in advance, the present invention can be used depending on the situation. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that determines whether or not to display the native screen.

The present invention is an image processing system including , for example, a Web server and an image processing device, and the image processing device includes a display unit for displaying an operation screen provided by the Web server on a display unit, and a display unit Notification means for notifying the Web server of an operation performed on the displayed operation screen, and the Web server operates when the notification is received from the notification means. Whether the operation screen is displayed when the image processing apparatus further receives the instruction transmitted by the transmission means. If the operation screen is displayed as a result of the determination by the determination unit, the operation according to the received instruction is executed, and the operation screen is displayed. An image processing system comprising: a control unit that does not execute an operation according to the received instruction unless it is in the indicated state.

  In the present invention, for example, when a user operation received via a Web screen provided from a Web server indicates a display of a native screen held in advance, whether or not to display the native screen according to the situation is determined. An information processing apparatus for determination can be provided.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system using an image forming apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functional configurations of an image forming apparatus 100 and a Web server 200 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating screen control of the image forming apparatus 100 and the Web server 200 according to the first embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu screen 500 displayed on the web browser 310 which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the Web application 313 at the time of performing the screen transition which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 100 when performing screen transition according to the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 100 when performing screen transition according to the second embodiment.

  An embodiment of the present invention is shown below. The individual embodiments described below will help to understand various concepts, such as superordinate concepts, intermediate concepts and subordinate concepts of the present invention. Further, the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.

<First Embodiment>
<Configuration of image forming apparatus>
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, as shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 such as an MFP will be described as an example of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  The CPU 101 executes software programs stored in the ROM 102 and the HDD 104 to control the entire apparatus. A ROM 102 is a read-only memory, and stores a boot program of the apparatus, fixed parameters, and the like. A RAM 103 is a random access memory, and is used for temporary data storage when the CPU 101 controls the apparatus. The HDD 104 is a hard disk drive and is used for storing various data such as print data. The printer I / F control unit 105 is a device that controls the printer 111. The NVRAM 106 is a non-volatile memory and stores various setting values of the image forming apparatus 100. The panel control unit 107 controls the operation panel 110 having a display unit and an operation unit, and controls display of various information and instruction input from the user. The network I / F control unit 108 controls data transmission / reception with the LAN network 112. A CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, HDD 104, printer I / F control unit 105, NVRAM 106, panel control unit 107, and network I / F control unit 108 are connected to the bus 109. A bus 109 is a system bus through which control signals from the CPU 101 and data signals between the devices are transmitted and received.

<Configuration of printing system>
Next, the configuration of the printing system 10 using the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In a printing system 10 that is an example of an information processing system, an image forming apparatus 100 having a Web browser function and a Web server 200 having a Web server function are connected via a LAN network 112. The image forming apparatus 100 and the Web server 200 are connected to the LAN network 112 and can communicate with each other. The web application operates on the web server 200. The web browser runs on the image forming apparatus 100 and executes a web application on the web server 200. According to the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 acquires an operation screen for executing the function of the image forming apparatus 100 from the Web application of the Web server 200 and displays it on the Web browser. Hereinafter, a screen displayed on the Web browser is referred to as a Web screen. The image forming apparatus 100 can also display a screen that is held in advance. Hereinafter, the screen that is held in advance is referred to as a native screen.

<Functional configuration>
Next, functional configurations of the image forming apparatus 100 and the Web server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, only the functional configuration that is mainly important for carrying out the present invention will be described. Therefore, the image forming apparatus and the information processing apparatus according to the present invention may be realized including other functional configurations.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a screen information management unit 301, a screen transition determination unit 302, a screen transition unit 303, a screen transition Web service 309, a Web browser 310, and an operation panel input management unit 314. The screen transition web service 309 includes a communication unit 304 and an analysis unit 305. The web browser 310 includes a communication unit 306, an analysis unit 307, and a screen display unit 308. The screen transition Web service 309 includes a communication unit 304 and an analysis unit 305. The web server 200 includes a web application 313. The web application 313 includes a logic unit 311 and a presentation unit 312.

  The communication unit 306 of the Web browser 310 receives the HTML content provided by the presentation unit 312. The analysis unit 307 analyzes the received HTML content and generates screen data to be displayed on the operation panel 110. The screen display unit 308 functions as a display control unit, and actually displays the screen data generated by the analysis unit 307 on the operation panel 110. According to the present embodiment, the screen display unit 308 is generated based on a Web screen generated based on screen information provided from the Web server 200, or screen information stored in advance in the ROM 102, the HDD 104, or the like. Display the native screen.

  The operation panel input management unit 314 manages input processing when the user performs a panel operation. For example, when the user operates the Web browser 310, the operation panel input management unit 314 notifies the analysis content to the analysis unit 307. The analysis unit 307 analyzes the input content and transmits an HTTP request to the presentation unit 312 via the communication unit 306.

  The presentation unit 312 passes the received HTTP request to the logic unit 311. The logic unit 311 analyzes the passed HTTP request. As a result of analyzing the transmitted HTTP request, when the screen transition to other than the Web screen is necessary, the logic unit 311 transmits an HTTP request for instructing the screen transition to the communication unit 304 of the screen transition Web service 309. The communication unit 304 passes the received HTTP request to the analysis unit 305 and analyzes the processing.

  Based on the analysis result by the analysis unit 305, the screen transition determination unit 302 determines whether or not to cause the screen transition unit 303 to perform screen transition processing. The screen transition determination unit 302 determines whether screen transition is possible based on the current screen information managed by the screen information management unit 301 and the information of the screen transition request source notified from the screen transition unit 303. . The screen transition unit 303 functions as a screen switching unit and a response unit, executes screen transition processing according to the determination of the screen transition determination unit 302, and notifies the screen transition Web service 309 as a response of whether or not the screen transition has been performed. To do. In addition, when the operation panel input management unit 314 detects a user operation to transition to a screen other than the Web screen, the operation panel input management unit 314 instructs the screen transition unit 303 to perform screen transition.

<Screen control>
Next, a screen control processing procedure in the image forming apparatus 100 and the Web server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, screen control when a copy function, which is one of the functions provided by the Web application 313, is executed using an operation screen (native screen) held in advance by the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. The numbers following S described below indicate step numbers in the sequence diagram or flowchart.

  First, in S400, the Web browser 310 requests a menu screen from the Web application 313. In step S <b> 401, the web application 313 returns a menu screen to the web browser 310. In S402, the Web browser 310 accepts selection of a function by a user operation from the displayed menu screen. Here, it is assumed that the user has selected a copy function implemented using a native screen. In step S403, the web browser 310 requests the copy function screen from the web application 313 according to the function selected by the user operation.

  In step S <b> 404, since the copy function is realized using the operation screen of the image forming apparatus 100, the web application 313 notifies the screen transition web service 309 of a copy screen display instruction. In step S <b> 405, when the screen transition Web service 309 receives a display instruction, the screen transition Web service 309 notifies the screen transition unit 303 of a copy screen transition instruction.

  In step S <b> 406, the screen transition unit 303 inquires of the screen transition determination unit 302 whether the copy screen can be transitioned. In step S <b> 407, the screen transition determination unit 302 determines whether or not the copy screen can be transitioned. Subsequently, in S409, the screen transition unit 303 executes screen transition if the determination result can be transitioned. Further, in S410, the screen transition unit 303 notifies the screen transition Web service 309 of the transition result. In step S <b> 411, the screen transition web service 309 notifies the execution result for the copy screen display instruction to the web application 313.

<Menu screen>
Next, an example of the menu screen 500 displayed on the Web browser 310 in S401 will be described with reference to FIG. Menu screen 500 includes selection buttons 501, 502, 503, and 504 for selecting which function of image forming apparatus 100 is to be used. When the selection button 501 is pressed, the scan function is selected. When the selection button 502 is pressed, the copy function is selected. When the selection button 503 is pressed, the FAX function is selected. When the selection button 504 is pressed, the printing function is selected.

  When any of the selection buttons 501 to 504 is pressed by a user operation, the Web browser 310 determines which function is used in S402 of FIG. When a function to be executed is selected by the user, the Web browser 310 requests a function screen corresponding to the pressed button to the Web application 313 in S403.

<Processing procedure for screen transition>
Next, a processing procedure of the Web application 313 when performing screen transition will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S <b> 601, the web application 313 receives an HTTP request from the web browser 310. In step S602, the Web application 313 determines whether the transition destination screen is a native screen. If the transition destination screen is not a native screen, the process advances to step S606, and the web application 313 transmits the HTML content (screen information of the web screen) that is the transition destination screen to the web browser 310 and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the transition destination screen is a native screen, the process advances to step S <b> 603, and the web application 313 transmits a screen transition instruction, that is, a native screen display instruction to the screen transition web service 309. Subsequently, in S604, the Web application 313 determines whether the screen transition is successful. This determination is made based on a result notified as a response from the screen transition Web service 309. If the screen transition is successful, the process ends. If the screen transition fails, the process proceeds to S605. In step S <b> 605, the web application 313 functions as a repeat unit and determines whether the number of failures has reached a predetermined number N times. If N times has been reached, the process is terminated. If the number of failures has not reached N times, the process returns to S603, and the screen transition instruction is transmitted again.

  Next, a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 100 when performing screen transition will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S <b> 701, the screen transition web service 309 receives a screen transition instruction from the web application 313. In step S <b> 702, the screen transition Web service 309 determines whether the current display screen is a Web screen by the screen transition determination unit 302. If it is a Web screen, the process proceeds to S703. In step S <b> 703, the screen transition web service 309 determines that the user is operating the web application 313 via the web browser 310, executes the screen transition by the screen transition unit 303, and notifies the web application 313 of the screen transition success. . On the other hand, if the current display screen is not a Web screen, the process proceeds to S704. In step S <b> 704, the screen transition web service 309 determines that the user is operating an application other than the web application, maintains the current display screen, and notifies the web application 313 of screen transition failure.

  As described above, when the user operation performed via the Web screen indicates the display of the native screen, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment presents the current screen when instructed to display the native screen. It is determined whether or not the display is a Web screen. Further, when the current display is a Web screen, the information processing apparatus switches the current display to the instructed native screen, and when the current display is not a Web screen, the information processing apparatus maintains the current display. To do. Thereby, this information processing apparatus is based on the user operation via the Web screen of the Web application, even when a user operation related to another application is performed during the transition from the Web screen to the native screen, The screen can be suitably switched. Specifically, when the current display is a screen other than the Web screen at the time of transition to the native screen, the information processing apparatus determines that the user has intentionally performed another operation, and the native screen The transition to is not performed. Thus, the information processing apparatus can provide a user-friendly operation system.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the screen transition is not performed in S704 in the above embodiment, the screen transition failure is notified to the Web application 313 and the process is terminated. However, in this embodiment, when the screen transition is not performed, the display screen is confirmed again after waiting for a predetermined time. FIG. 8 shows a modification of the flowchart of FIG. Note that the processing in S801, S802, and S803 is the same as the processing in S701, S702, and S703 in FIG.

  If it is determined in S802 that the native screen is displayed on the display screen, the screen transition Web service 309 waits for 1 second in S804. Subsequently, in step S805, the screen transition web service 309 determines whether the number of waits has reached N times. If it has reached, the process advances to step S806, and the screen transition web service 309 responds to the web application 313 with a screen transition failure. That is, if the screen transition Web service 309 according to the present embodiment determines that the native screen is displayed on the display screen, the determination in S802 is repeated periodically, and the display screen remains the native screen for a predetermined time. If there is, the failure of screen transition is notified as a response. On the other hand, if the number of waits has not reached N, the process returns to S802 and the display screen is confirmed again.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (13)

An image processing system including a Web server and an image processing device,
  The image processing apparatus includes:
  Display means for displaying an operation screen provided by the Web server on a display unit;
  Notification means for notifying the web server of operations performed on the operation screen displayed on the display unit,
  The web server
  A transmission unit that transmits an instruction related to the operation of the image processing apparatus to the image processing apparatus when receiving a notification by the notification unit;
  The image processing apparatus further includes:
  A determination unit that determines whether or not the operation screen is displayed when the instruction transmitted by the transmission unit is received;
  If the result of determination by the determination means is that the operation screen is displayed, the operation corresponding to the received instruction is executed, and if the operation screen is not displayed, the operation corresponding to the received instruction is performed. Control means not to execute,
  An image processing system comprising: The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus receives an instruction transmitted by the transmission unit using a Web service. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the operation screen is a screen for selecting a function related to image processing. The image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the function related to the image processing includes at least one of scanning, copying, FAX, and printing. The image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the notification unit performs the notification when a specific function is selected on the operation screen. An image processing apparatus capable of communicating with a Web server,
  Display means for displaying an operation screen provided by the Web server on a display unit;
  Notification means for notifying the web server of operations performed on the operation screen displayed on the display unit;
  A determination unit that determines whether or not the operation screen is displayed when an instruction regarding the operation of the image processing apparatus is received from the Web server that has received the notification by the notification unit;
  If the result of determination by the determination means is that the operation screen is displayed, the operation corresponding to the received instruction is executed, and if the operation screen is not displayed, the operation corresponding to the received instruction is performed. Control means not to execute,
  An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a request from the Web server is received using a Web service. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the operation screen is a screen for selecting a function related to image processing. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the function related to the image processing includes at least one of scanning, copying, FAX, and printing. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the notification unit performs the notification when a specific function is selected on the operation screen. An operation control method in an image processing system including a Web server and an image processing device,
  A display step of displaying an operation screen provided by the Web server on a display unit in the image processing apparatus;
  A notification step of notifying the Web server of an operation performed on the operation screen displayed on the display unit in the image processing apparatus;
  A transmission step of transmitting, to the image processing device, an instruction regarding the operation of the image processing device when the Web server receives the notification in the notification step;
  In the image processing device, when receiving the instruction transmitted in the transmission step, a determination step of determining whether or not the operation screen is displayed;
  In the image processing apparatus, if the operation screen is displayed as a result of the determination in the determination step, an operation corresponding to the received instruction is executed. If the operation screen is not displayed, the reception is performed. A control process that does not execute the operation according to the designated instruction;
  An operation control method comprising: An image processing apparatus control method capable of communicating with a Web server,
  A display step of displaying an operation screen provided by the Web server on a display unit;
  A notification step of notifying the Web server of an operation performed on the operation screen displayed on the display unit;
  A determination step of determining whether or not the operation screen is displayed when an instruction regarding the operation of the image processing apparatus is received from the Web server that has received the notification in the notification step;
  If the result of determination in the determination step is that the operation screen is displayed, the operation corresponding to the received instruction is executed, and if the operation screen is not displayed, the operation corresponding to the received instruction is performed. A control process that does not execute
  A control method comprising: The program for functioning a computer as each means of the image processing apparatus of any one of Claims 6 thru | or 10.

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