JP6528437B2 - MFP, network system, communication method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a network device that communicates with an external device connected via a network, a network system including the network device, the network device, and a communication method and program performed by the network system.

  In WWW (World Wide Web) used as standard on the Internet, a web page is used as a basic unit of information, and the web server manages such as storing, publishing, distributing, etc. the web page. Then, the web client requests the web server for the web page, and the requested web page is received from the web server and displayed.

  Conventionally, communication is performed a plurality of times between a web client and a web server, and a target web page is displayed by acquiring necessary data (for example, see Patent Document 1). The multiple communications include communications performed by the web server to know information held by a device on which the web client is installed. The information includes screen size, model name, authentication information, language, and the like.

  As in the prior art, when communication is performed multiple times between the Web client and the Web server until the target Web page is displayed, there is a problem that it takes a considerable amount of time to display the Web page.

  Therefore, it has been desired to provide an apparatus, a method, and the like that can reduce the time taken to display.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention is a network device that communicates with an external device connected via a network, and generates a notification that requests the external device to acquire display information for display on a display unit. External device, adding means for adding related information related to the display on the display means held by the network device to the notification generated by the generating means, and notification with the related information added by the adding means, the external device There is provided a network device including: transmitting means for transmitting to; and receiving means for receiving, from an external device, display information corresponding to a notification transmitted by the transmitting means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the time taken to display.

The figure which showed the structural example of the network system. The figure which illustrated the hardware constitutions of the network device with which a network system is provided. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a network device. The figure which showed an example of http data. The figure which showed an example of the http header. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing for requesting web content and acquiring the web content. The figure which illustrated the setting screen which sets up the related information added to the message which requires Web contents. The flowchart which showed the flow of the process which requests | requires web content and acquires the said web content.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a network system. The network system is configured to include a network device connected to a network 10 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and an external device connected to the Internet 11 connected to the network 10. Although FIG. 1 exemplifies a configuration including only two networks and two devices, the present invention is not limited to this, and there may be one or three or more networks, and three or more devices. It may be The network may be either a wired or wireless network.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the network device is an MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral) 12 and the external device is a Web application server 13. The MFP 12 has a copy function, a print function, a fax function, a scanner function, a communication function, and the like. The MFP 12 incorporates various applications for realizing these functions, and various engines that operate according to instructions from the applications.

  The MFP 12 implements a web browser for communicating with a web server, which is one of the software implemented in the web application server 13, as one of the above-mentioned applications. Communication between the web browser and the web server can be performed using a communication protocol such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). A message such as a notification exchanged by communication can be a document described in a markup language such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

  The user operates the MFP 12 to create a message as a notification requesting acquisition of display information to be displayed on the display unit of the MFP 12, and transmits the message to the Web application server 13. The web application server 13 sends display information corresponding to the message to the MFP 12 and causes the display unit of the MFP 12 to display the display information. As display information, web contents such as web pages can be mentioned.

  The hardware configuration for realizing this process will be described with reference to FIG. The hardware configuration of the Web application server 13 is the same as the hardware configuration of a general PC, so the description thereof is omitted here, and only the MFP 12 will be described. The MFP 12 is configured to include a controller 20, an operation panel 21, a scanner engine 22, and a print engine 23.

  The controller 20 is configured to include the CPU 30, ROM 31, RAM 32, NVRAM 33, HDD 34, network I / F 35, operation panel I / F 36, scanner engine I / F 37, and print engine I / F 38 to control the entire MFP 12 . The CPU 30 reads and executes a program stored in the ROM 31 or the HDD 34. The CPU 30 uses setting information and the like stored in the NVRAM 33 as needed when executing a program. At this time, the CPU 30 reads the data into the RAM 32 once, and executes the program read into the RAM 32 using the setting information read into the RAM 32 and the like. The program includes an OS, a boot program, firmware, each application for realizing each function, various drivers, and a program for executing processing for creating a message for requesting the display information.

  The RAM 32 provides a work space for the CPU 30 to execute a program, and is also used as a page memory when generating a print image for printing. The HDD 34 also stores image data of an image read by the scanner engine 22.

  The network I / F 35 connects to the network 10 shown in FIG. 1 and enables communication with the web application server 13 via the network 10 and the Internet 11. The MFP 12 can request display information from the web application server 13 via the network I / F 35, and can receive the display information from the web application server 13 via the network I / F 35.

  The operation panel I / F 36 connects the controller 20 to the operation panel 21, and receives information and instructions input to the operation panel 21. Further, the operation panel I / F 36 sends information to be displayed to the operation panel 21 and causes the information to be displayed. Examples of the information to be displayed include display information such as the above-mentioned Web page and information on job processing status and errors.

  The scanner engine I / F 37 sends a document reading instruction to the scanner engine 22, and receives input of information on a scan job and an image read by the scanner engine 22. The print engine I / F 38 sends a print request including a print image to the print engine 23, and receives print job information.

  The scanner engine 22 reads a document or the like, and the print engine 23 prints the read image or the like. The scanner engine 22 includes a light source for irradiating the document with light to read the document, and a photoelectric conversion element for receiving light reflected from the document or light transmitted through the document and converting it into an electric signal. The photoelectric conversion element may be a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. In addition, the scanner engine 22 may further include a plurality of reflecting mirrors, condensing lenses, an A / D converter, and the like.

  The print engine 23 may be an electrophotographic printer, an inkjet printer, or any other printer. Here, a hardware configuration of the electrophotographic printer will be briefly described. The print engine 23 includes a writing unit, a photosensitive drum, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a conveyance belt, a fixing unit, a sheet feeding unit, and a sheet discharging unit.

  The writing unit acquires a print image as image information, and based on the image information, the surface of the photosensitive drum is irradiated with light to form an image. The developing unit adheres toner to the image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum to form a toner image. The sheet feeding unit feeds the sheet onto the conveyance belt, and the transfer unit presses the sheet against the photosensitive drum to transfer the toner image onto the sheet. The fixing unit applies heat and pressure to the toner image transferred to the sheet to fix the toner on the sheet. The paper discharge unit discharges the sheet on which the toner is fixed.

  The operation panel 21 has functions as a display unit and an input unit, receives input and instruction of information from a user, and displays Web content, job processing status, errors and the like. The input of information is, for example, the input of the setting value of the print setting, the input of the fax number, etc., and the job processing status is what status each job such as scan job, print job, copy job is currently It is information to show. Specifically, it is information such as job execution, job termination, job termination, and the like.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the MFP 12. The MFP 12 causes the controller 20 described above to function as the following functional units. Therefore, the MFP 12 can be configured as an apparatus provided with the following plurality of functional means. As the functional means, generation means 40, addition means 41, transmission means 42, reception means 43, and display means 44 can be provided.

  The generation unit 40 generates a message for requesting the Web application server 13 to acquire display information to be displayed on the display unit 44 when the user operates the operation panel 21 and receives the input. The display information can be web content such as the above web page. The web content may be a web site where each web page can be referenced by following links from the top page.

  The message requesting acquisition of display information can be a message described in HTML, and can include a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or the like indicating the storage destination of the display information.

  The addition means 41 adds related information related to the display on the display means 44 held by the MFP 12 to the message generated by the generation means 40. The related information can include a screen size related to display, a model name, user information, a language, and the like. The user information can be included in the related information related to the display because the user information can be set to display or hide the display information according to the user. The user information can include a user name, a PIN (Personal Identification Number), and the like, and can also be used as authentication information. The adding means 41 adds the related information to the message by writing the related information in the message described in HTML. The related information is stored in storage means such as the NVRAM 33, and the addition means 41 can read out from the storage means and use it.

  The transmission unit 42 transmits the message to which the related information is added to the Web application server 13 via the network 10 and the Internet 11. Conventionally, the web application server 13 requests the MFP 12 to acquire related information, and transmits display information corresponding to the acquired related information. However, in this example, since the related information is already added to the message, it is possible to refer to the related information and transmit the display information according to the related information without exchanging with the MFP 12.

  For example, it is assumed that the resolution of the display unit 44 in the MFP 12 is a WVGA (Wide Video Graphics Array) of 800 pixels wide × 480 pixels high. Since the Web application server 13 obtains the information of WVGA in the above message, it can transmit the Web page of the resolution without inquiring to the MFP 12.

  The receiving unit 43 receives, from the Web application server 13, display information corresponding to the message transmitted by the transmitting unit 42. Then, the receiving means 43 causes the display means 44 to display the received display information.

  Thus, the Web application server 13 inquires for related information by adding the related information related to the display to the message requesting acquisition of the display information by the adding means 41 and transmitting it by the transmitting means 42. There is no need. Therefore, the number of times of communication between the MFP 12 and the Web application server 13 can be reduced, and the time taken to display the display information can be shortened.

  The http data as an example of the message described in HTML will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The http data consists of a status line, a header and a body. The body describes the data body, and the header describes information other than the data body. The status line describes processing results such as success and failure. In FIG. 4, the time of communication, server information, last update date of content as display information, content length, session holding period, keep-alive setting, content type and the like are described in the header.

  Here, the session is from the establishment of the connection between the MFP 12 and the web application server 13 to the disconnection. Also, keepalive is communication that is periodically transmitted between the MFP 12 and the web application server 13 to prevent disconnection.

  FIG. 4 exemplifies a message returned from the web application server 13, that is, an HTTP response. Next, a message that the MFP 12 transmits, that is, an HTTP request will be described with reference to FIG. Here, only the http header of the HTTP request will be described. FIG. 5 (a) shows an example of the http header before adding the related information, and FIG. 5 (b) shows an example of the http header after adding the related information.

  An http request consists of a request line, a header, and a body. Although the data body is described in the body, it may be empty in the case of a request. The header describes information other than the data body. The header includes, for example, host information, receivable data format, receivable compression format, receivable language, cache related information, user agent information and the like. The request line describes information indicating a request for the web application server 13. For example, a data acquisition destination URL or the like is described.

  Here, the host information is information for identifying the Web application server 13 and the network, and as the host information, a domain name can be mentioned as an example. Examples of the data format include html format, sgml (standard generalized markup language) format, text format and the like. As a compression format, gzip format and compress format can be mentioned. The cache related information is information related to the cache, for example, specifying a date and time, and if there is data update by that date, have that data sent, and if there is no update, the information of content that is not required to be sent can do. The user agent information is information of a web browser used by the user.

  In the conventional HTTP request, a request having an http header shown in FIG. 5A is transmitted. However, the MFP 12 adds the screen size “WVGA” and the user name “AAA” shown in bold in FIG. 5B as related information by the addition means 41, and transmits the request to which these are added. Although these two pieces of information are added in the example shown in FIG. 5B, other necessary pieces of information may be further added, or only one of the two pieces of information may be added as needed. May be

  A process of acquiring conventional display information and a process of acquiring display information in the present system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). Here, it is assumed that processing is performed between the web browser 50 mounted on the MFP 12 and the web server 51 mounted on the web application server 13.

  FIG. 6A is a sequence diagram showing the flow of the conventional processing. The user operates the operation panel 21 of the MFP 12 to create a message requesting acquisition of Web content as display information, and the Web browser 50 transmits it to the Web server 51. The message at this time is a message for requesting the top page of the Web content. The web server 51 returns the top page of the web content as a response to the message.

  The web browser 50 acquires information on the display unit 44 as one of related information related to the display on the display unit 44 held by the MFP 12. Then, the Web browser 50 requests acquisition of the corresponding page according to the information. Here, the screen size is mentioned as the information, and since it is set as WVGA, the WVGA screen is required. The Web server 51 returns the WVGA screen as the corresponding page as a response to the request.

  The web browser 50 also acquires user information of a user who is using the MFP 12 as the related information. Then, the Web browser 50 requests acquisition of the corresponding page according to the user information. Here, the copy screen is registered in association with the user information, the copy screen is provided as the corresponding page to the registered user, and the error screen is provided to the unregistered user. It has become so. The Web server 51 transmits a copy screen or an error screen as a response to the request. As described above, in the conventional processing, for example, three communications are performed to acquire a target page.

  FIG. 6 (b) is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing in this system. The web browser 50 transmits a message requesting acquisition of web content to the web server 51 as in the conventional processing, and the screen size and user information are added to the message as related information. Therefore, the Web server 51 transmits not the first page but the copy screen or the error screen. As described above, in the present system, since the information is added to the message and transmitted, the target page can be acquired in one communication.

  As a result, the number of times of communication between the web browser 50 and the web server 51 can be reduced, and the time taken to display the display information can be shortened. That is, the drawing speed of display information can be increased.

  Information to be added to a message requesting acquisition of Web content can be selected by the user, and the selected information can be added to the message. In order to realize this, it is possible to separately provide selection means for receiving the selection of the related information by the user. The selection means can display, for example, an operation screen as shown in FIG. 7 and can accept the selection when the user makes a selection. In the operation screen shown in FIG. 7, three settings of screen size, user information, and language can be set as the HTTP header setting. These are examples, and other information may be settable.

  For screen size and user information, you can add these information to the above message by selecting the setting "ON", and not add these information to the above message by selecting "OFF". Can be Since the screen size and the user information are stored in the storage unit such as the NVRAM 33, they can be read from the storage unit. The language can be selected by the user as a menu bar or the like.

  As a result, it is possible to acquire and display a web page of a designated language corresponding to user information with a screen size corresponding to the MFP 12.

  The flow of the overall processing performed by this system is summarized as shown in the flowchart of FIG. This process starts from step 800, and in step 810, the input of the URL of the top page of the Web content held by the Web application server 13 is accepted from the user. The input of the URL can be performed by the user touching or selecting a desired URL.

  In step 820, the generation unit 40 included in the MFP 12 generates a message for requesting the first page of the Web content by inputting necessary information using a template or the like prepared in advance. The message is as shown in FIG. 5 (a).

  In step 830, the addition unit 41 acquires related information held by the MFP 12, that is, the above screen size, user information, and the like. The related information may acquire information set in advance, or may acquire information selected by the user shown in FIG. Then, in step 840, the adding unit 41 adds the acquired related information to the message generated by the generating unit 40. Then, a message as shown in FIG. 5 (b) is obtained. The addition means 41 passes the message to which the related information has been added to the transmission means 42.

  In step 850, the transmission unit 42 transmits the message to which the related information is added to the Web server 51 provided in the Web application server 13. The Web server 51 responds by returning the corresponding page, which is display information corresponding to the received message, to the MFP 12. In step 860, the receiving unit 43 receives and acquires the corresponding page from the web server 51 and passes it to the display unit 44.

  At step 870, the display means 44 displays the corresponding page received from the receiving means 43, and the process ends at step 880.

  So far, it has been described that there is one Web application server 13 and the Web application server 13 holds the corresponding page. A plurality of servers may be connected to the network 10 or the Internet 11, and communication may be performed by connecting to any of the servers. Since not all servers hold the corresponding page corresponding to the related information, the MFP 12 may automatically determine whether to add the related information according to the server to be connected. it can.

  For example, it is possible to determine not to add to a server that does not hold a page according to related information, and to transmit a message similar to a conventional one. On the other hand, it is possible to reduce the number of times of communication by transmitting a message to which the related information is added by judging that the server holds the page, and adding the related information.

  In the above description, the determination is made based on whether or not the page corresponding to the related information is held. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the determination may be made based on whether or not user information is registered.

  The present invention has been described above with the embodiments described above as a network device, a network system, a communication method, and a program. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, etc. can be modified within the scope of those skilled in the art. . Moreover, as long as the effect | action and effect of this invention are show | played in any aspect, it is contained in the scope of the present invention.

  Therefore, a storage medium or the like in which the program is stored can be provided. Further, although the network apparatus according to the present invention has been described as the MFP 12 in the embodiment described in the present invention, the scope of application according to the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is applicable to any device as long as the device has the display means in the present invention. For example, the present invention is applicable to various devices such as a projector, a video conference system, an electronic blackboard, a digital camera, a tablet terminal, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 network 11 Internet 12 MFP 13 Web application server 20 controller 21 operation panel 22 scanner engine 23 print engine 30 CPU 31 ROM 32 RAM 33 ... NVRAM, 34 ... HDD, 35 ... Network I / F, 36 ... Operation panel I / F, 37 ... Scanner engine I / F, 38 ... Print engine I / F, 40 ... Generation means, 41 ... Addition means, 42 ... Transmission means, 43: Reception means, 44: Display means, 50: Web browser, 51: Web server

JP, 2011-1236677, A

Claims (11)

An MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral) that communicates with multiple Web servers connected via a network,
Generation means for generating a notification requesting acquisition of display information of the first page for displaying the first page of the Web content on a display means with respect to one of the plurality of Web servers;
Addition means for adding user information held by the MFP to the notification for requesting acquisition of display information of the first page generated by the generation means;
Transmission means for transmitting the notification to which the user information is added by the addition means to the one Web server;
In the case where the first Web server does not register the user information in response to the notification sent by the sending means, the display information of the first page of the Web content including the copy screen is displayed. In the case of the web server received from the one web server and the one web server registering the user information, a copy screen corresponding to the user information which is different from the first page in the web content And ( f) receiving means for receiving the display information from the one web server. The MFP has a copy function,
The reception means is a display screen according to the user information, not the head page, as the display information according to the notification for requesting acquisition of the display information of the head page transmitted by the transmission means . The MFP according to claim 1, received from a web server. The MFP has a web browser,
The MFP according to claim 1, wherein the web browser acquires user information of a user who is using the MFP, and acquires a page corresponding to the user information. Including selection means for receiving a selection of the user information to be added to the notification;
The MFP according to claim 1, wherein the adding unit adds the selected user information received by the selecting unit to the notification. The MFP can connect to a plurality of web servers via the network,
5. The MFP according to claim 1, wherein the adding unit determines whether to add the user information according to a Web server to be connected.   The transmission means transmits the notification using an HTTP communication protocol, and the reception means receives a corresponding page of the Web content as the display information using an HTTP communication protocol. MFP according to any one of the above. A network system, comprising: the MFP according to any one of claims 1 to 6; and a plurality of Web servers connected to the MFP via a network. A communication method executed by an MFP that communicates with a plurality of Web servers connected via a network,
Generating a notification requesting acquisition of display information of the first page for displaying the first page of the Web content on a display unit with respect to one of the plurality of Web servers;
Adding user information held by the MFP to the notification for requesting acquisition of display information of the generated first page;
Sending the notification to which the user information has been added to the one web server;
In the case where the first Web server does not register the user information according to the notification sent, the display information of the first page of the Web content of the Web content including the copy screen is the first Web. In the case of the web server received from the server and the one web server registering the user information, the display information of the copy screen corresponding to the user information, which is different from the top page, of the web contents And c. Receiving from the one web server. A communication method executed by a network system including an MFP and a plurality of Web servers connected to the MFP via a network,
The MFP generates a notification requesting acquisition of display information of the first page for displaying the first page of the Web content on a display unit to one of the plurality of Web servers. When,
Adding the user information held by the MFP to the notification for requesting acquisition of the generated display information of the first page;
The MFP transmitting the notification to which the user information is added to the one Web server;
In the case where the one Web server is a Web server in which the user information is not registered according to the notification to which the user information is added , one of the Web contents including the copy screen, The display information of the first page is transmitted to the MFP as a response to the notification, and in the case of the Web server in which the first Web server is registering the user information, the first Web page is different from the first Web content. and sending the indication information of the copy screen corresponding to the user information to the MFP,
The MFP receives the display information from the one web server. A program for causing an MFP to execute a communication method performed with a plurality of Web servers connected via a network,
Generating a notification requesting acquisition of display information of the first page for displaying the first page of the Web content on a display unit with respect to one of the plurality of Web servers;
Adding user information held by the MFP to the notification for requesting acquisition of display information of the generated first page;
Sending the notification to which the user information has been added to the one web server;
In the case where the first Web server does not register the user information according to the notification sent, the display information of the first page of the Web content of the Web content including the copy screen is the first Web. In the case of the web server received from the server and the one web server registering the user information, the display information of the copy screen corresponding to the user information, which is different from the top page, of the web contents A program for executing the steps of receiving from the one Web server. A program for causing a network system to execute a communication method performed between an MFP and a plurality of Web servers connected to the MFP via a network,
Generating a notification requesting acquisition of display information of the first page for displaying the first page of the Web content on a display unit with respect to one of the plurality of Web servers;
Adding user information held by the MFP to the notification for requesting acquisition of display information of the generated first page;
Sending the notification to which the user information has been added to the one web server;
In the case where the first Web server is a Web server that has not registered the user information in response to the notification to which the user information is added , display information of the first page of the Web content including a copy screen Is sent to the MFP as a response to the notification, and in the case of the Web server in which the one Web server is registering the user information, the Web content corresponding to the user information which is different from the top page. the method comprising the display information of the copy screen transmitted to the MFP,
Receiving the display information from the one web server.