JP5880035B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program.

  Image forming apparatuses such as multifunction peripherals that have various processes such as copy function, FAX function, scan function, and print function are equipped with various applications as standard, but the desired functions can be realized only with the standard installed applications. It may not be possible. Therefore, in order to cope with such a case, there are not a few image forming apparatuses that provide a system environment in which an application that realizes a desired function can be incorporated in an image forming apparatus in a plug-in format.

  In addition, when it is desired to execute desired processing on the image forming apparatus, there is a method of instructing by describing the content of the processing in an instruction sheet (for example, Patent Document 1). That is, the image forming apparatus inputs instruction data and executes processing in accordance with the description content of the instruction.

Japanese Patent No. 4039191 JP 2009-189047 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide processing instructions using data describing instruction contents for an additional application added to the image forming apparatus in addition to the functions that the image forming apparatus has as standard.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image forming processing system having software as a base of operation, and a standard application executing unit that operates in cooperation with the image forming processing system and executes a standard application provided as a standard. An additional application executing means for executing an additional application that is provided and added to the standard application in order to add a function to the standard application, and that realizes a function that cannot be realized by the function of the standard application, the image forming processing system includes processing to be executed in accordance with the description contents of the instruction data the content of processing is described is if accompanied by execution of additional applications, the parameters used in the execution of the additional application to the instruction data of instruction information Upon recognition of standing, the instruction information has a first instruction means for instructing the execution of the additional applications by sending to the standard application executing means, the standard application execution means, an instruction from said first instruction means When the information is sent, it has a second instruction means for extracting the parameter from the instruction information and passing it to the additional application execution means to execute the additional application.

  The standard application execution unit executes a transfer application that performs data transfer with an external server in accordance with a communication protocol provided in advance in the image forming apparatus as a standard application, and the additional application execution unit includes: As an additional application, a plug-in application that performs data transfer with an external server according to a communication protocol that is different from the communication protocol that is provided in advance in the image forming apparatus is executed, and the transfer application is linked to the plug-in application. It is characterized in that a framework that operates as described above is provided.

Program according to the present invention, a computer mounted in the image forming apparatus, the image forming processing system having a software underlying the operation and work with the image forming processing system, a standard application that comes standard standard application executing means for executing an additional application execution means for executing an additional application to realize not be realized feature is a function of the standard applications be an additional application to be added is provided with the standard application to add functionality to the standard application the the image forming processing system, if accompanied by execution of processing additional application to be executed according to the description contents of the instruction data the content of processing is described, Pa used to execute the additional application to the instruction data Recognizing the existence of the instruction information including the meter, first instruction means for instructing the execution of the additional applications by sending the instruction information to the standard application executing means, on the standard application executing means, the first instruction When the instruction information is sent from the means, the parameter is extracted from the instruction information and passed to the additional application execution means to function as a second instruction means for executing the additional application.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in addition to the functions that the image forming apparatus has as a standard feature, processing instructions are also given to additional applications added to the image forming apparatus using data describing the contents of the instruction. be able to.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the instruction contents are transferred to the external application according to a communication function different from the communication function provided in advance in the image forming apparatus using the description data as the additional application. Can be made.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the functions that the image forming apparatus has as a standard function, the additional application added to the image forming apparatus is instructed to process using the data describing the instruction contents. be able to.

1 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating Embodiment 1 of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 2 is a diagram showing a software configuration of an image forming apparatus and a functional block configuration of each software in Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of description contents of instruction data handled in the first embodiment. 5 is a diagram showing a description example of instruction data handled in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a software configuration of an image forming apparatus and a functional block configuration of each software in Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an outline of description contents of instruction data handled in the second embodiment. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on the operation panel in the second embodiment. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a customization screen displayed on the operation panel in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a customization screen that is displayed on an operation panel and allows an item to be specified to be selected in the second embodiment. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a standby screen displayed on the operation panel in the second embodiment. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an execution result display screen displayed on the operation panel in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a customization screen displayed on the operation panel in the second embodiment.

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

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram showing Embodiment 1 of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus 10 is a multifunction machine having various functions such as a copy function, a scanner function, and a FAX transmission function, and is a device having a built-in computer. In FIG. 1, a CPU 11 is a program stored in a storage unit such as a ROM 15, a RAM 16 or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 17, or various units mounted on the apparatus such as a scanner 13 or a printer engine 14 according to a program loaded on the RAM 16. Control the operation. The address data bus 9 is connected to various means to be controlled by the CPU 11 to perform data communication. The operation panel 12 receives an instruction from the user and displays information through a standard or customized display screen. The scanner 13 in the present embodiment reads a document set by a user and accumulates it in the HDD 17 or the like as electronic data. The HDD 17 stores an electronic document read using the scanner 13, electronic data received by the FAX engine 19, electronic data transmitted via the network 2, and the like. The confidential box used in the present embodiment is provided in the HDD 17. The printer engine 14 in the present embodiment prints an image on output paper in accordance with an instruction from a control program executed by the CPU 11. The network interface (I / F) 18 is connected to the network 2 and performs data communication directly or indirectly with the external service server 4. The FAX engine 19 transmits / receives facsimile data to / from other FAX apparatuses. The RAM 16 is used as a work memory during program execution and a communication buffer during electronic data transmission / reception. The ROM 15 stores various programs relating to control of the apparatus, encryption of electronic data, and transmission / reception of electronic data.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 and a functional block configuration of each software in the present embodiment. Each software 20, 30, and 40 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the ROM 15 or the HDD 17, loaded into the RAM 16, and executed by the CPU 11. The system control unit 20 is software that operates as a platform of the image forming apparatus 10. Note that the platform refers to hardware, operating system (OS), middleware, or the like that serves as a basis for operating certain software or hardware. The system control unit 20 in the present embodiment includes this platform. Among these, a basic part of software such as an OS and middleware, and a part of software that realizes basic functions of the image forming apparatus 10 are included. As means for realizing this basic function, FIG. 2 shows a FAX reception unit 21, an instruction data generation unit 22, an association unit 23, an instruction data interpretation unit 24, a PDF file conversion processing unit 25, an e-mail processing unit 26, and A processing control unit 27 is shown. The PDF filing process and the e-mail process provided by the PDF file conversion processing unit 25 and the e-mail processing unit 26, respectively, are functions provided by the image forming apparatus 10 as in the transfer process in the transfer processing unit 30 described later. Since it is a process, in FIG. 2, for convenience, it is illustrated outside the system control unit 20 so as to be aligned with the transfer processing unit 30.

  The FAX receiving unit 21 realizes a function by cooperating with the FAX engine 19, receives document data transmitted from the outside by facsimile, and writes it in the received file storage unit 51. Since the received file storage unit 51 in the present embodiment assumes a confidential box, the FAX receiving unit 21 refers to the destination information of the data included in the facsimile transmission and receives the document data received in the corresponding confidential box. Register. The instruction sheet data generation unit 22 generates instruction sheet data in which the contents of a series of processes for document data are described, and registers the instruction sheet data in the instruction sheet data storage unit 52. The instruction data is described in a general-purpose description language such as XML (Extensible Markup Language). The associating unit 23 sets and registers the identification information for identifying the confidential box and the instruction sheet data associated with each other according to the operation instruction from the user in association with each other. The instruction sheet data interpretation unit 24 interprets the description contents of the instruction sheet data. The PDF file conversion processing unit 25 is an application having a function of converting document data of a predetermined file type and generating document data in the PDF file format. In the case of the present embodiment, a PDF file is generated from FAX received document data saved in the received file storage unit 51 and registered in the PDF file storage unit 53. The email processing unit 26 implements an email processing function. The process control unit 27 performs execution control of the entire process in the system control unit 20 in cooperation with the components 21 to 26. The processing control unit 27 in the present embodiment includes a function for realizing the first instruction means, and a process to be executed in accordance with the description content of the process described in the instruction data is a plug-in application (hereinafter referred to as a plug-in application). In the case of simply executing “plug-in”) 40, instruction information including parameters used for executing the plug-in 40 is sent to the transfer processing unit 30 to instruct execution of the plug-in 40.

  Each of the components 21 to 27 included in the system control unit 20 functions by a cooperative operation with a computer equipped in the image forming apparatus 10. Further, it is assumed that the storage units 51 to 54 shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be realized by the RAM 16.

  The transfer processing unit 30 is a control unit related to the transfer function of the image forming apparatus 10 and is executed in cooperation with the system control unit 20. The transfer processing unit 30 includes, as standard functions, an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) transfer application, an SMB (Server Message Block) transfer application, and the like as transfer applications, and a standard communication protocol (hereinafter referred to as “standard communication protocol”). Data communication with an external device is possible.

  Further, the transfer processing unit 30 in the present embodiment is provided with a framework 32 for operating in cooperation with various plug-ins 40. Note that the framework is a collection of general-purpose functions that are frequently required when developing application programs, and the software that functions as the foundation of the application (the “plug-in” in this embodiment). That is. The framework 32 in the present embodiment includes a processing control unit 34 that controls execution of the plug-in 40. The processing control unit 34 in the present embodiment includes a function for realizing the second instruction means, and when the instruction information is sent from the processing control unit 27 of the system control unit 20, the plug-in In this case, the parameter described to be passed to the plug-in included in the instruction information is extracted and passed to the plug-in 40. In addition, the framework 32 has a function of acquiring information of a result executed by the plug-in 40 and passing it to the processing control unit 27. For example, the framework 32 acquires data input to the plug-in 40 or acquires execution process result information of the plug-in 40.

  The plug-in 40 in the present embodiment is an application program for adding a function to the transfer processing unit 30. That is, the plug-in 40 is an application program corresponding to an additional application that realizes a function that cannot be realized by the function of the application program provided as a standard function as the basic function of the transfer processing unit 30 by operating in cooperation with the framework 32. In other words, data communication is performed with the service server 4 in accordance with a function that communicates with a communication protocol other than the standard communication protocol corresponding to the service server 4 or a so-called API (Application Programming Interface) that is an input / output mode of various data. It is an application program.

  The service server 4 is a server computer that provides a service in response to a request from the computer, the image forming apparatus 10 built in the computer, or the like. It may be a server computer included in cloud computing. In the present embodiment, as a service provided by the service server 4, for example, a web service called Evernote (registered trademark), an online storage service called Dropbox (registered trademark), and the like are assumed. The service server 4 is connected to the image forming apparatus 10 via the transfer processing unit 30 according to a communication protocol other than a standard communication protocol such as FTP or SMB, or according to a data input / output mode required by the service server 4. Transfer data to and from.

  The standard application execution unit in the present embodiment is realized by a cooperative operation between a computer mounted on the image forming apparatus 10 and a transfer processing unit 30 that operates on the CPU 11 mounted on the computer. Further, the additional application execution means in the present embodiment is realized by a cooperative operation of the computer mounted on the image forming apparatus 10 and the plug-in 40 operating on the CPU 11 mounted on the computer.

  Further, the program used in this embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The program provided from the communication means or the recording medium is installed in the computer, and various processes are realized by the CPU of the computer sequentially executing the program.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, by adding a plug-in application to the image forming apparatus 10, a series of processing for converting received data into a PDF file and transferring the file to the service server 4 according to a communication protocol other than the standard communication protocol is executed. A case where the function to be implemented is realized will be described as an example.

  When the FAX receiving unit 21 receives facsimile data sent from the outside (step 101), the document data included in the facsimile data received by the FAX receiving unit 21 is stored in a confidential box corresponding to the received file storage unit 51. (Step 102). When the storage in the confidential box is detected, the processing control unit 27 uses the storage as a trigger to identify the confidential box in which the document data is stored (hereinafter referred to as “confidential box ID”) and, if necessary, the document data. Identification information (hereinafter referred to as “file ID”) is acquired, and the instruction data registered in association with the confidential box ID is specified (step 103). The specified instruction data is passed to the instruction data interpretation unit 24. Then, the instruction data interpretation unit 24 interprets the contents described in the instruction data (step 104).

  In the present embodiment, before the process is executed, the instruction sheet data generation unit 22 may generate instruction sheet data in advance and register it in the instruction sheet data storage unit 52. Instruction sheet data is created and input to the image forming apparatus 10 by an external device such as a personal computer different from the image forming apparatus 10, and the instruction box data is stored by associating the confidential box ID of the image forming apparatus 10 with the instruction sheet data. It may be configured to be registered in the unit 52. Further, regarding the association between the confidential box and the instruction sheet data, the confidential box ID and the identification information (for example, document ID) for identifying the instruction sheet data are associated by being associated with each other by the association unit 23 and stored in the correspondence table 54. .

  The process control unit 27 performs execution control so that the processes are sequentially executed in accordance with the description contents of the instruction data interpreted by the instruction data interpretation unit 24 (step 105). FIG. 4 shows an outline of the description contents of the instruction data handled in this process. FIG. 5 shows an example of the format of instruction data described in XML. The process control unit 27 performs execution control according to the description content of the instruction data as illustrated in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, in the instruction data, a process for converting the electronic document data received by FAX into a PDF file is first described. Next, a process is described in which the PDF file converted and generated in the previous process is transferred to the service server 4 using the plug-in 40 specified by the plug-in ID. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the part surrounded by a broken line corresponds to a description part related to processing in the plug-in 40. A series of processes for notifying the result of the process by e-mail is described. Therefore, the process control unit 27 sequentially executes a series of processes described in the instruction data. When the plug-in 40 executes processing, the instruction data includes a plug-in ID that identifies the plug-in, processing details for the plug-in 40, and parameters to be passed to the plug-in 40. The order of this series of processing can be arbitrarily determined by the creator of the instruction data, and for example, the processing in the plug-in 40 may be incorporated first or last.

  First, the processing control unit 27 calls the PDF file processing unit 25 according to the description content of the instruction sheet data, using the confidential box ID of the confidential box in which the FAX reception data is stored as a parameter. This PDF file conversion process is a basic function of the system provided by the system control unit 20 (N in Step 107). In response to this, the PDF file processing unit 25 reads the FAX reception data to be processed from the confidential box, converts it into a PDF file, and registers it in the PDF file storage unit 53 (step 108). When a plurality of files are stored in the confidential box, the file ID of the FAX reception data to be processed may be used as a parameter together with the confidential box ID. The transfer process in the transfer processing unit 30 that does not use the plug-in 40 corresponds to the process in step 108.

  When the process control unit 27 recognizes the end of the PDF file generation process, the process control unit 27 subsequently instructs execution of the process in the plug-in 40 according to the description content of the instruction data (Y in step 107). At this time, the process control unit 27 extracts at least a description part related to the process in the plug-in 40 surrounded by the broken line shown in FIG. 4 or 5 from the instruction data and sends it to the framework 32 of the transfer processing unit 30. To instruct execution of the plug-in 40 (step 109). The instruction data interpretation unit 24 and the processing control unit 27 recognize that there is a description part related to the plug-in 40, and pass it to the framework 32. It is not necessary to interpret and execute the description itself. . In other words, the description part regarding the plug-in 40 may be described in an arbitrary description method that can be interpreted only by the plug-in created by the creator of the plug-in 40.

  Since the plug-in 40 causes the PDF file to be transferred, the processing control unit 27 notifies the framework 32 together with information specifying the storage location of the PDF file. When a plurality of plug-ins 40 are provided in the framework 32, for example, a plug-in ID that is a plug-in identification code is described in the instruction data, and the plug-in 40 to be specified is uniquely specified. The framework 32 may pass the processing contents and parameters described in the instruction to the plug-in specified from the plurality of plug-ins.

  In response to this instruction, the processing control unit 34 in the framework 32 calls the plug-in 40 to instruct execution. At this time, the processing control unit 34 relates to the processing to be performed by the plug-in 40 out of the sent instruction data. The parameters included in the description part are extracted and passed to the plug-in 40 (step 110). As a result, the plug-in 40 performs login processing to the Web service according to the passed parameters. When the login is successful, the plug-in 40 reads the PDF file to be transferred from the PDF file storage unit 53 and executes file transfer. For example, when the plug-in 40 is an application for using a Web service that stores and manages information such as Evernote (registered trademark), the parameters include an account name and password for logging in to the Web service, and a PDF file. Name, storage location, classification information, file name when storing, and the like.

When the process control unit 27 recognizes the end of the process in the plug-in 40 by receiving the process completion information generated by the plug-in 40 via the framework 32, the process control unit 27 subsequently receives the instruction data. The electronic mail processing unit 26 is called according to the description content. This electronic mail processing is a basic function of the system provided by the system control unit 20 (N in step 107). In response to this, the e-mail processing unit 26 executes a process of transmitting an e-mail notifying that the process described in the instruction data has been completed to the requester of the process (step 108). The client may be the owner of the confidential box. As described above, the processing control unit 27, Ru terminates the series of processing by performing the execution control of the process in accordance with the description contents of the instruction data (Y in step 106).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a description for causing the plug-in 40 to perform processing and information relating to the plug-in 40 such as parameters to be passed to the plug-in 40 are described in the instruction data, and the system control unit 20 is The system controller 20 is configured to recognize that information related to the plug-in 40 is described, and causes the system control unit 20 to send a description portion related to the plug-in 40 to the framework 32. Further, when the information regarding the plug-in 40 is included in the instruction data sent from the system control unit 20, the framework 32 extracts parameters from the description part regarding the plug-in 40 and extracts the plug-in 40. It is made to make the plug-in 40 perform a process by passing to.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the image forming apparatus and a functional block configuration of each software in the present embodiment. The same constituent elements as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. Further, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 in the present embodiment may be the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the first embodiment, the PDF file to be processed by the plug-in 40 is generated by converting the document data received by FAX and stored in the confidential box. However, in this embodiment, the PDF file is generated from the document data obtained by scanning. I did it. In the first embodiment, the instruction data is generated in advance, but in the present embodiment, the instruction data is generated in response to an input from the user. For this reason, the FAX receiving unit 21, the received file storage unit 51, and the correspondence table 54 used in the first embodiment are not necessary. On the other hand, a customized user interface (UI) unit 28, a scanning unit 29, and a scanned document storage unit 55 that stores a scanned document are newly added to the system control unit 20.

  The customized user interface unit 28 is a user interface means that can be customized by a function realized by a cooperative operation with the operation panel 12. 9 to 14 show display screens generated using the customization function in the customization user interface unit 28. FIG. These drawings will be described together with the description of the operation. The customized user interface unit 28 includes an instruction data receiving unit 281 that receives information necessary for generating the instruction data via a customization screen, and a series of processes for converting the scanned document into a PDF file and sending it to the service server 4. An execution start instruction receiving unit 282 that receives an execution start instruction is included. The scanning unit 29 has a function realized by a cooperative operation with the scanner 13, reads a document to be transmitted to the service server 4, and registers the scanned data in the scanned document storage unit 55. The scanned document storage unit 55 stores scanned documents. The scan document storage unit 55 is assumed to be realized by the HDD 17, but may be realized by the RAM 16. Note that the configurations of the transfer processing unit 30 and the plug-in 40 may be the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, a series of processes for converting document data obtained by scanning into a PDF file and transferring the file to the service server 4 in accordance with an API provided by the service server 4 or a communication protocol other than the standard communication protocol corresponding to the service server 4 A description will be given taking the case of executing as an example. In FIG. 7, the same processes as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the instruction data is generated through the customized user interface screen, and the start of the scanning process is instructed. 9 to 14 are user interface screens used for this purpose, these may be generated and prepared in advance, and are necessary when executing processing from the plug-in 40 to the plug-in 40. The parameter information to be acquired may be acquired, and screen information for inputting the parameter may be generated.

  In response to a predetermined operation by the user, the customization user interface unit 28 displays the basic menu screen shown in FIG. 9 on the operation panel 12. On this basic menu screen, a function selection button 61 is displayed. When the user selects the selection button 61a for sending the data read by the scanner 13 from the basic menu screen to the external service server 4, the customization user interface unit 28 operates the customization screen for the selected function shown in FIG. Display on the panel 12. From the customization screen corresponding to the selected function, the user is required to input information necessary for specifying the contents to be described in the instruction data. In FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, information necessary for instructing the plug-in 40 to perform processing, that is, data serving as a parameter to be passed to the plug-in 40 is input. FIG. 10 shows the user ID necessary for accessing (logging in) the plug-in 40 (“destination user name”) and identification information (“notebook name”) specifying the classification to be given at the time of storage. )) And the file name (“note name”) for storing the PDF file are specified by the user. Note that FIG. 11 shows a list of notebook names and the like that can be selected in the service server 4 to allow the user to select them.

  When the user specifies necessary information, sets a document to be transmitted to the service server 4 on the document table of the scanner 13, and selects the start button 62, the execution start instruction receiving unit 282 in the customized user interface unit 28 Execution is accepted for processing based on the input information (step 201). At the same time, the instruction data receiving unit 281 receives input information. When recognizing this selection operation, the process control unit 27 calls the instruction data generation unit 22 to generate instruction data based on the information received by the instruction data receiving unit 281 (step 202). FIG. 8 shows an outline of the description contents of the instruction data handled in this process. As shown in FIG. 8, the instruction data includes a PDF file generated by scanning a document with the scanner 13, converting document data obtained by the scanning process into a PDF file, and converting the document data using the plug-in 40. Is transferred to the service server 4 and a result of the processing is displayed on the operation panel 12. Therefore, the process control unit 27 sequentially executes a series of processes described in the instruction data. In addition, when the plug-in 40 executes processing, the instruction form data also describes parameters to be passed to the plug-in 40. The instruction sheet data dynamically generated by the instruction sheet data generation unit 22 in this way is registered in the instruction sheet data storage unit 52.

  When it is detected that the instruction data has been generated as described above, the process control unit 27 calls the instruction data interpretation unit 24. The instruction data interpretation unit 24 interprets the description content of the instruction data generated accordingly (step 203). Then, the process control unit 27 performs execution control so that the processes are sequentially executed in accordance with the description contents of the instruction data interpreted by the instruction data interpretation unit 24 (step 105). In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the processing control unit 27 first calls the scanning unit 29 to scan the document set on the document table. Document data obtained by reading by the scanning unit 29 is stored in the scanned document storage unit 55.

  By the way, after the user selects the start button 62, the user waits for the above-described processing to be performed in the image forming apparatus 10 or the end of processing described later. An example of a screen during execution of a series of processes displayed on the operation panel 12 while the user is waiting is shown in FIG. 12, but the image forming processing system 10 can display the screen during execution possessed by the basic function. Good. The transfer process of the PDF file to the service server 4 is processed by the plug-in 40, and the plug-in 40 manages the processing status information of the transfer process such as transfer in progress, transfer completion, and transfer failure. The in 40 is transferred to the processing control unit 27 via the framework 32 and the transfer processing unit 30. The processing control unit 27 receives the processing status of the transfer process received from the plug-in 40 in the same manner as receiving the status information of the transfer process from the transfer application that is a basic function of the standard equipment such as FTP and SMP, and has a basic function. Information based on the transfer status information to the service server 4 managed by the plug-in 40 is displayed on the execution screen.

  Since the subsequent processing is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted, but the processing control unit 27 performs a series of processing according to the description content of the instruction data interpreted by the instruction data interpretation unit 24. The execution control of each process is performed so that the process ends (steps 105 to 108).

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the user inputs items necessary for generating instruction data from the customization interface screen, and the plug-in 40 executes processing according to the description content of the generated instruction data. Let

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an execution result display screen that displays a result of executing the above-described processing in the present embodiment. In FIG. 13, the execution result of the above-described process is displayed in a record whose type is “file transfer”. As in this display example, the execution result in the plug-in 40 is processed through the transfer processing unit 30. By passing the data to the unit 27, the same results are displayed without distinction from the execution results of the basic functions of the system control unit 20 as in the case of FAX transmission, SMB transmission, and the like.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating another example of the customization screen illustrated in FIG. In FIG. 10, only the service server 4 that does not use the standard communication protocol is designated as the destination of the PDF file, but in the example shown in FIG. 14, designation is also made for the service server 4 that performs transfer according to the standard communication protocol. I was able to do it. In this way, the basic function and the additional function using the plug-in 40 may be used together by customizing the screen using the customization interface function included in the basic function of the system control unit 20.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the transfer processing unit 30 that performs data transfer with an external server according to a communication protocol provided in advance in the image forming apparatus 10 has been described as an example of a standard application. Without being limited thereto, an application having other functions as a standard may be used as the standard application. Moreover, you may implement combining the component shown in said each Embodiment 1,2.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the transfer program to the service server 4 is described as an example of the plug-in. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a function that the image forming apparatus 10 does not have as a standard is realized. Various application programs can be used as application programs. As a plug-in program, a file format conversion function of document data, an image processing function for image data as document data, or a document that is transferred by the service server 4 when the document data is transferred to the service server 4 You may comprise so that the function which provides the attribute information for making it link in connection with data may be provided. Each plug-in operates as an additional function to the image forming apparatus 10 if it is created as a program according to an API that is a format of data input / output with the framework 32.

  2 network, 4 service server, 9 address data bus, 10 image forming apparatus, 11 CPU, 12 operation panel, 13 scanner, 14 printer engine, 15 ROM, 16 RAM, 17 HDD, 18 network IF, 19 FAX engine, 20 system Control unit, 21 FAX reception unit, 22 Instruction data generation unit, 23 Association unit, 24 Instruction data interpretation unit, 25 File processing unit, 26 E-mail processing unit, 27, 34 Processing control unit, 28 Customized user interface ( UI) section, 29 scanning section, 30 transfer processing section, 32 framework, 40 plug-in, 51 received file storage section, 52 instruction data storage section, 53 PDF file storage section, 54 correspondence table, 55 scanned document storage section.

Claims (3)

An image forming processing system having software as a base of operation;
Standard application execution means that operates in cooperation with the image forming processing system and executes a standard application that is provided as a standard;
An additional application executing means for executing an additional application that is provided and added to the standard application in order to add a function to the standard application and that realizes a function that cannot be realized by the function of the standard application;
Have
The image forming processing system includes processing to be executed in accordance with the description contents of the instruction data the content of processing is described is if accompanied by execution of additional applications, the parameters used in the execution of the additional application to the instruction data Recognizing the presence of the instruction information , the first instruction means for instructing the execution of the additional application by sending the instruction information to the standard application execution means,
When the instruction information is sent from the first instruction means, the standard application execution means extracts the parameter from the instruction information, passes it to the additional application execution means, and executes a second application. An image forming apparatus having an instruction unit. The standard application execution unit executes a transfer application that performs data transfer with an external server according to a communication protocol provided in advance in the image forming apparatus as a standard application.
The additional application execution unit executes, as an additional application, a plug-in application that performs data transfer with an external server according to a communication protocol different from a communication protocol provided in advance in the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer application is provided with a framework that operates in cooperation with the plug-in application. A computer installed in the image forming apparatus
An image forming processing system having software as a base of operation ;
A standard application execution unit that operates in cooperation with the image forming processing system and executes a standard application that is provided as a standard ;
An additional application executing means for executing an additional application that is provided in the standard application and added to add the function to the standard application and that realizes a function that cannot be realized by the function of the standard application ;
Including the image forming processing system, if accompanied by execution of processing additional application to be executed according to the description contents of the instruction data the content of processing is written, the parameters used in the execution of the additional application to the instruction data Recognizing the presence of the instruction information , first instruction means for instructing execution of the additional application by sending the instruction information to the standard application execution means;
When the instruction information is sent from the first instruction means to the standard application execution means, the parameter is extracted from the instruction information, passed to the additional application execution means, and a second application is executed. Instruction means,
Program to function as.

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