JP6099957B2 - Image forming apparatus, data editing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an address book indicating a destination list, a data editing method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a function of digitizing a document scanned by an image forming apparatus such as a digital multifunction peripheral and transmitting it to an arbitrary destination by e-mail, or a function of transmitting a file by SMB transmission or the like is known. For the purpose of improving operability, a database in which destination information is registered in advance, so-called address book, is often prepared in the image forming apparatus. In such a case, the user can input the destination simply by selecting the destination information from the address book. Further, the image forming apparatus may be shared and used by a plurality of users, and the operability is further improved by preparing a personal address book for each user (Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-81652 A

  However, conventionally, when a user registers destination information in his / her address book, even if the destination information has already been registered in the address book of another user, the address book of the user who performed the main registration operation It was also registered in duplicate. That is, while the same destination information can be used by a plurality of users, a large amount of resources (storage areas) are required for recording duplicate destination information.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a data editing method, and a program that improve the efficiency of a storage area for storing destination information.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a list of destination information registered from a plurality of users and reference information that refers to the destination information in the list, and corresponds to each of the plurality of users. storage means for storing the address book, and when receiving the instruction to edit the destination information of the list from the user, and the destination information of the list, and editing means for editing, and reference information of the address book, the edit instruction Destination determination means for determining whether the destination information associated with the destination information is registered in the list, and the editing means determines that the destination determination means is registered in the list. , copy the contents of the item of the editing instructions destination information to said associated destination information, edits the editing instructions destination information, and wherein a call.

  According to the present invention, the efficiency of a storage area for storing destination information can be improved.

It is a figure which shows a system configuration. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a software configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of user information. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of a shared address book. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of a personal address book. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the registration process of destination information. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration process result of destination information. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the deletion process of destination information. It is a figure which shows an example of the deletion process result of destination information. It is a figure which shows the procedure of a change process of destination information. It is an example of the change process result of destination information.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. . The same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration in the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) in which a plurality of functions such as document scanning, printing, copying, and fax transmission / reception are integrated. The mail server 101 is a mail server for the image forming apparatus 100 to execute an e-mail transmission function. The file server 102 stores files that can be obtained by the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100, the mail server 101, and the file server 102 are connected to be communicable with each other via the LAN 104. Further, the image forming apparatus 100 performs fax transmission / reception with a destination via the telephone line 105 and the public telephone network 103.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. A control unit 200 including a CPU 201 controls the entire image forming apparatus 100. The CPU 201 reads a control program stored in the ROM 202 and performs image acquisition control from the file server 102 and data transmission / reception control such as e-mail and fax. Here, the control program is a program for executing processing of various flowcharts described later. The RAM 203 is used as a main memory or work area for the CPU 201. The HDD 204 is a storage unit such as a hard disk, and stores image data and various programs to be transmitted to an external destination, or various databases described later.

  An operation unit interface (I / F) 205 functions as an interface between the operation unit 210 and the control unit 200. The operation unit 210 includes a button, a display, and the like for receiving an address book editing instruction from the user. The printer I / F 206 functions as an interface between the printer 211 and the control unit 200. Image data to be printed by the printer 211 is transferred from the control unit 200 via the printer I / F 206, and is printed on a recording medium such as printing paper by the printer 211. The scanner I / F 207 functions as an interface between the scanner 212 and the control unit 200. The scanner 212 optically reads an image on a document to generate image data, and inputs the image data to the control unit 200 via the scanner I / F 207. The fax I / F 208 functions as an interface for connecting the control unit 200 to the telephone line 105. Transmission / reception of the fax data to / from the destination is performed via the fax I / F 208 via the public telephone network 103 connected to the telephone line 105. The network I / F 209 functions as an interface between the LAN 104 and the control unit 200. Transmission / reception of various data to / from the file server 102 on the LAN 104 is performed via the network I / F 209.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. The function processing unit 310 is configured as a control program stored in the ROM 202, and executes various functions such as data transmission of the image forming apparatus 100. There may be a plurality of function processing units 310, and one function processing unit 310 corresponds to one function of the image forming apparatus 100. The login processing unit 320 is configured as a control program stored in the ROM 202, and controls user login processing. The login process is a process for allowing a user to input authentication information such as a user name and a password via the operation unit 210 and permitting the user to use the image forming apparatus 100 when the authentication information is correct. Say. The login UI control unit 321 displays a login screen on the display of the operation unit 210 and accepts input of authentication information from the user.

  Whether the authentication information is correct is determined by checking the authentication information acquired by the authentication processing unit 322 via the login UI control unit 321 with the user information registered in the user database 330 stored in the HDD 204. Is done. The authentication processing unit 322 writes the logged-in user information (user name and authority information such as whether or not the user is an administrator) in the logged-in user information 340 stored in the RAM 203. When the user logs out by the logout operation, the authentication processing unit 322 deletes the user information from the login user information 340. With such a configuration, the image forming apparatus 100 can recognize who is currently logged in to the image forming apparatus 100 when a user who has input correct authentication information logs in.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of user information registered in the user database 330. As shown in FIG. 4, the user information is stored as information of one record per user. Each record has a user name and password for identifying the user, and a flag indicating whether or not the user is an administrator. For example, if the flag is “1”, it indicates that it is an administrator, and if it is “0”, it indicates that it is not an administrator. Other data depending on the user is stored as an item of additional attributes.

  The address book processing unit 350 is configured as a control program stored in the ROM 202 and provides an address book function to the user. The address book function is a function that uses destination information registered in advance by the user as a transmission destination in each function such as mail transmission and fax transmission provided by the function processing unit 310. The address book processing unit 350 can provide an address book editing function to the user, for example. Here, the address book editing function refers to a function of deleting a desired destination from a list of destinations that can be transmitted described in the address book, and adding or changing a destination.

  Registration of new destination information is performed when the address book UI control unit 351 acquires new destination information from the user via the operation unit 210, and the destination information processing unit 353 acquires the new destination information in the address book database 360 stored in the HDD 204. This is done by writing destination information. Deletion and change of the already registered destination information is also performed by a deletion and change operation for the address book database 360. When the user edits the destination information, first, the function processing unit 310 notifies the destination information processing unit 353 to that effect, and the destination information processing unit 353 extracts the destination information instructed to edit from the address book database 360. To do. In response to an instruction from the destination information processing unit 353, the user information acquisition unit 352 acquires the logged-in user information 340 and transmits the acquired user information 340 to the destination information processing unit 353. With such a configuration, the destination information processing unit 353 can extract the destination information of the personal address book 362 corresponding to the logged-in user from the address book database 360. The destination information processing unit 353 displays the extracted destination information on the display of the operation unit 210. The user can edit the destination information displayed on the display.

  The address book database 360 stores two types of address books, a shared address book 361 and a personal address book 362. The shared address book 361 stores a list of destination information to which the image forming apparatus 100 can transmit various data. On the other hand, the personal address book 362 stores reference destination information for referring to destination information stored in the shared address book 361. The personal address book 362 is prepared for each user. With the configuration of the shared address book 361 and the personal address book 362, each user can have an individual address book while improving the use efficiency of the storage area for storing the address book database 360. The reference destination information saved in the personal address book 362 has a smaller data size than the destination information saved in the shared address book 361. Therefore, when a plurality of users need to share the same destination information, the configuration of this embodiment requires a smaller storage area than the configuration in which the destination information is stored in each user's address book. can do.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the shared address book 361. As shown in FIG. 5, the destination information is stored as one record of information for each destination information. FIG. 5 shows that the information is stored in a table format. However, as long as each destination information can be distinguished, the table format is not particularly required. Each record has a name and a destination item, and when referring to another record, the record ID of the reference destination is designated. For example, the record of ID2 refers to the record of ID1. In this case, the blank item among the items of the destination information of the reference source record means the same content as the corresponding item of the reference destination record. For example, the contents of the ID2 destination and additional attribute items are the same as the contents of the ID1 destination and additional attribute items. Other data depending on the destination is stored as an item of additional attributes.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the personal address book 362. As shown in FIG. 6, the reference destination information is stored as one record of information for each reference destination information. Each record has a record ID of destination information in the shared address book 361 as a reference destination.

  The address book data editing process in this embodiment will be described below. 7, 9, and 11 is performed by the CPU 201 executing a control program that is realized as the destination information processing unit 353, for example.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of destination information registration processing. The process shown in FIG. 7 is performed when the user intends to newly register destination information in the user's own address book on the address book edit screen displayed on the display of the operation unit 210.

  First, in step S <b> 701, it is determined whether the destination information that the user intends to newly register already exists in the shared address book 361. If it is determined that it does not exist, the new destination information is registered in the shared address book 361 in S702. In step S703, reference destination information for referring to the destination information registered in the shared address book 361 in step S702 is registered in the personal address book 362 corresponding to the user who performed the registration operation.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S701 that the address already exists in the shared address book 361, in S704, each item of the destination information is completely matched, or only a part of the items are duplicated and other items are duplicated. Duplicate judgment is made as to whether the items in the parts are different. Here, if it is determined that the addresses completely match, it is not necessary to newly register the destination information in the shared address book 361, and the process directly proceeds to S703. If it is determined that only some of the items are duplicated, in S705, a new record is first created in the shared address book 361, which is different from some of the duplicated items, that is, already existing destination information. Register only for items. In the reference destination item, the record ID of the existing destination information is registered and associated with the reference destination record. In other words, since only the items different from the already existing destination information are registered in the newly created record in S705, it is possible to prevent the storage area from being consumed unnecessarily due to duplicate information. . After the process of S705, the process proceeds to S703.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the destination information registration processing result performed in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 registers new destination information “name = name2-2, destination=abc@def.com” for the shared address book 361 shown in FIG. 5 and the personal address book 362 shown in FIG. The result is shown. In the case of FIG. 8, the processing is performed in the order of S701, S704, S705, and S703. As shown in FIG. 8A, a new record is created as ID4 in the shared address book 361, and “ID = 3” is registered as a reference destination. That is, the destination information of ID = 4 is different from the destination information of ID3 with respect to the name, but the destination and additional attributes are the same as the destination information of ID3. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, a new record is created as ID2 in the personal address book 362, and "ID4" is registered as a reference destination.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the destination information is shared among a plurality of users, it is possible to prevent the duplicated destination information from being saved, and as a result, the use efficiency of the storage area can be improved.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of destination information deletion processing. The process shown in FIG. 8 is performed when the user intends to delete desired destination information from the user's own address book on the address book edit screen displayed on the display of the operation unit 210.

  First, in S901 and S902, it is determined whether or not the user who intends to execute the deletion process is an administrator. If it is determined that the user is an administrator, the destination information is deleted by the following process even if there is another user who references the destination information of the record to be deleted. Therefore, in S903, reference destination information for referring to destination information to be deleted is first deleted from the personal address book 362 of all users. In step S904, it is determined whether there is a record in the shared address book 361 that refers to destination information to be deleted (an example of first destination determination).

  If it is determined that there is a blank item in the record that refers to the deletion target destination information, the deletion target destination information is referred to the deletion target destination information in step S905. Copy to existing record. Then, the reference destination item of the record that references the destination information to be deleted is left blank. After the processing in S905, or when it is determined in S904 that there is no record that references the destination information to be deleted, the destination information to be deleted is deleted from the shared address book 361 in S906.

  If it is determined in step S902 that the user is not an administrator, only the user who has issued the deletion instruction cannot use the destination information. This is because the deletion and change of the shared destination information must be prevented from affecting anyone other than the user who executed the operation. Therefore, in S907, reference destination information is first deleted from the personal address book 362 of the user who performed the deletion operation. In step S908, it is determined whether the destination information to be deleted is also referred to from the personal address book 362 of another user (an example of first reference determination). Here, if it is determined that it is not referenced, the process proceeds to S904. On the other hand, if it is determined that it is referenced, the destination information in the shared address book 361 is not deleted, and the processing in FIG. 9 ends.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the destination information deletion processing result performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the results when the address information “name = name1” is deleted from the shared address book 361 shown in FIG. 5 and the personal address book 362 shown in FIG. In the case of FIG. 10, the processing is performed in the order of S901, S902, S907, S908, S904, S905, and S906. As shown in FIG. 10A, the destination information of ID1 is deleted from the shared address book 361, and the destination and reference destination of ID2 are changed along with the deletion. That is, “12345567890” registered in the destination item of ID1 is copied to the destination item of ID2. Further, “1” registered in the reference destination item of ID2 is deleted. Further, as shown in FIG. 10B, the record of ID1 is deleted from the personal address book 362.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of destination information change processing. The process shown in FIG. 11 is performed when the user intends to change the address information of the user's own address book on the address book editing screen displayed on the display of the operation unit 210.

  First, in S1101 and S1102, it is determined whether or not the user who intends to execute the change process is an administrator. If it is determined that the user is an administrator, the destination information is changed by the following process even if there is a user who references the destination information to be changed. Therefore, in S1103, it is first determined whether or not there is a record in the shared address book 361 that refers to the destination information to be changed (an example of second destination determination).

  If it is determined that there is a blank item in the record referring to the destination information to be changed, the destination information to be changed is referred to from the destination information to be changed in S1104. Copy to existing record. After the processing of S1104, or when it is determined in S1103 that there is no record referring to the destination information to be changed, the destination information to be changed in the shared address book 361 is changed in S1105.

  If it is determined in S1102 that the user is not an administrator, the destination information is changed only for the user who has given the change instruction. This is because the deletion and change of the shared destination information must be prevented from affecting anyone other than the user who executed the operation. Therefore, in S1106, it is first determined whether or not the destination information to be changed is referenced from another user's personal address book 362 (an example of second reference determination). Here, if it is determined that it is not referenced, the processing proceeds to S1103. On the other hand, if it is determined that it is referenced, a new record having the changed content is registered in the shared address book 361 in S1107. Then, the reference destination is stored in the reference destination item so that the new record refers to the destination information to be changed. At that time, the item having the same value as the reference information of the reference destination is left blank, and the contents to be changed are registered for the other items. In S1108, the reference destination that refers to the destination information to be changed in the personal address book 362 of the user who made the change instruction is rewritten to the record ID registered as a new record in S1107.

  FIG. 12 is an example of the destination information change processing result performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 12 shows the results when the address information item “name = name1” is changed from atr1 to atr2 for the shared address book 361 shown in FIG. 5 and the personal address book 362 shown in FIG. FIG. In the case of FIG. 12, processing is performed in the order of S1101, S1102, S1106, S1107, and S1108. As shown in FIG. 12A, destination information is newly added to the shared address book 361 as ID4, ID4 refers to ID1, and the item of additional attribute is set to atr2. Also, as shown in FIG. 12B, in the personal address book 362, the reference destination of ID1 is changed from 1 to 4.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the destination information is shared among a plurality of users, it is possible to prevent the duplicated destination information from being saved, and as a result, the use efficiency of the storage area can be improved. Furthermore, even when the destination information already registered is deleted or changed, editing processing can be performed so as not to affect other users.

  The present invention is also 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 (9)

A list of the destination information registered by a plurality of users, storage means for storing, and the address book corresponding to the plurality of users consists of a reference information referring to the destination information of said list,
When receiving an instruction to edit the destination information of the list from the user, editing means for editing the destination information of the list and the reference information of the address book;
Destination determination means for determining whether the destination information associated with the destination information instructed to be edited is registered in the list,
When the editing unit determines that the destination determination unit is registered in the list, the editing unit copies the contents of the item of the destination information instructed to be edited to the associated destination information, and then edits the editing instruction. Edited destination information,
An image forming apparatus comprising and this. The image according to claim 1 , wherein the editing unit adds new destination information to the list, and adds reference information that refers to the added new destination information to the address book. Forming equipment. Duplicate determination means for determining whether the contents of some items of the plurality of items of the new destination information overlap with the destination information already registered in the list,
The editing means adds the contents of items other than the partial items of the plurality of items as the new destination information when the duplication judgment means judges that the duplication is made, and the new destination Associating information with the already registered destination information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 . 2. The image according to claim 1 , wherein the editing unit deletes destination information instructed to be deleted from the list, and deletes reference information referring to the destination information instructed to be deleted from the address book. Forming equipment. Destination determination unit address information associated with the deletion instruction destination information you determine whether it is registered in the list, further comprising a
Said editing means, when a pre-Kiate destination determining means is determined to be registered in the list, copy the contents of the item of the deletion instruction destination information to said associated destination information, wherein Delete destination information instructed to be deleted from the list;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 . A first reference determination unit that determines whether the destination information instructed to be deleted is referenced from the address book corresponding to a user different from the user instructed to delete;
The editing means deletes the deletion-instructed destination information from the list when the first reference determination means determines that the reference is not made;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that. A second reference determination unit that determines whether the destination information instructed to edit is referred from the address book corresponding to a user different from the user instructed to edit;
When the editing means determines that the second reference determination means is not referred to, the editing means edits the destination information instructed to edit,
Reference information for adding the edited content to the list as new destination information and referring to the added new destination information when the second reference determination unit determines that the reference is made To the address book,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 . In an image forming apparatus comprising: storage means for storing a list of destination information registered by a plurality of users and an address book configured by reference information for referring to the destination information in the list and corresponding to each of the plurality of users A data editing method to be executed,
Editing means of said image forming apparatus, when a user accepts an edit instruction address information of the list, an editing step of editing the destination information of the list, and the reference information of the address book, and
A destination determination unit that determines whether destination information associated with destination information instructed to be edited is registered in the list;
In the editing step, when it is determined in the destination determination step that the information is registered in the list, the content of the item of the destination information instructed to be edited is copied to the associated destination information, and then the editing is performed. Edit the indicated destination information,
Data editing method, wherein a call. The program which makes a computer run as each process of the data editing method of Claim 8 .

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