JP6690196B2 - Information processing system, information processing apparatus, and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing device, and an information processing method.

  In recent years, a wide variety of external services have come to be provided by cloud computing and the like. For example, there is known an external service that stores electronic data designated by a user in an external storage.

  In addition, for example, a technique is known in which image data obtained by scanning an original with an image forming apparatus is stored in an external storage (see, for example, Patent Document 1). As described above, there is conventionally known a technique in which an image forming apparatus and an external service cooperate with each other to perform processing.

  However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is necessary to develop an application installed in the image forming apparatus in order to perform the processing in cooperation with the external service. Also, when a certain external service comes to provide a unique function (a function not provided by another external service), it is necessary to develop a module or plug-in to use this unique function. There is. Therefore, the number of man-hours required for development such as addition or modification of an application installed in the image forming apparatus may be large.

  An embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to support the development of an application for performing processing linked with an external service.

  In order to achieve the above object, one embodiment of the present invention is an information processing system including one or more information processing devices and having a plurality of programs that respectively execute predetermined processes, and A storage unit that stores, for each application that executes processing in cooperation with an external service, identification information that identifies the application and information regarding a series of processing for executing the series of processing in combination with the program in association with each other. And a reception unit that receives a request including the identification information and information about electronic data used for the series of processes from one of the one or more devices connected to the information processing system, and the reception unit. The series of processes using electronic data based on information about the electronic data included in the received request, Processing execution means for executing a combination of one or more programs of the plurality of programs based on information about the series of processing stored in the storage means in association with the identification information included in the request. It is characterized by

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to support the development of an application for performing processing linked with an external service.

It is a block diagram of an example of the information processing system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a hardware block diagram of an example of the service provision system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment. It is a processing block diagram of an example of the information processing system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of common I / F and peculiar I / F. It is a figure for explaining an example of data definition. It is a figure for explaining an example of layout information. It is a figure for explaining an example of processing contents. It is a sequence diagram of an example of the whole process of the scan delivery service which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of an application screen for using a scan delivery service. It is a processing block diagram of an example of a logic processing unit according to the first embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of a type conversion table. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of an example of processing from OCR to delivery execution according to the first embodiment. It is a sequence diagram of an example of the overall processing of the cloud print service according to the first embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of an application screen for using a cloud print service. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of an example of processing from file acquisition execution to print conversion according to the first embodiment. It is a processing block diagram of an example of the information processing system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram of an example of a display process of an application screen according to the second embodiment. It is a block diagram of an example of the information processing system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a processing block diagram of an example of the information processing system concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is a processing block diagram of an example of a logic processing part concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of a component management table. It is a processing block diagram of an example of the external component processing part concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of a type conversion table. It is a sequence diagram of an example of a process from OCR to delivery execution according to the third embodiment. It is a figure for explaining other examples of processing contents. It is a sequence diagram of an example of the external component processing concerning a 3rd embodiment. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram of an example of a process content creation process according to the third embodiment. It is a figure for explaining an example of creation of processing contents.

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

[First Embodiment]
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to the first embodiment. The information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a service providing environment E1, a user environment E2, and an external storage system 30, and is communicably connected via a wide area network N1 such as the Internet.

  The service providing environment E1 is a system environment that provides external services such as cloud services via a network. In the present embodiment, a cloud service will be described as a specific example of the external service. However, the present embodiment will be applied to a service provided via a network such as a service provided by an ASP (Application Service Provider) or a Web service. The form of may be applied.

  The service providing environment E1 has a service providing system 10 realized by one or more information processing devices. The service providing system 10 provides a predetermined service via the network. For example, the service providing system 10 performs a OCR (Optical Character Reader) process on an electronic file generated by scanning an original in the image forming apparatus 20 of the user environment E2, and saves it in the external storage system 30 (scan delivery). Service). Further, for example, the service providing system 10 provides a service (cloud print service) for printing an electronic file stored in the external storage system 30 with the image forming apparatus 20 in the user environment E2. In the present embodiment, the service providing system 10 will be described as providing such a scan delivery service and a cloud print service.

  However, the services provided by the service providing system 10 are not limited to these, and may be, for example, a service of projecting an electronic file stored in the external storage system 30 with a projector of the user environment E2. In addition, a service in which an electronic file generated by scanning a document in the image forming apparatus 20 is OCR processed, translated into a predetermined language (for example, translated from English into Japanese), and stored in the external storage system 30. And so on.

  All or part of the service providing system 10 may be installed in the user environment E2. That is, all or part of the information processing devices that form the service providing system 10 may be included in the user environment E2.

  The user environment E2 is, for example, a system environment in a company that is a user who uses the image forming apparatus 20. In the user environment E2, one or more image forming apparatuses 20 are connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus having a print function and a scan function. The image forming apparatus 20 may be a multi-function peripheral or the like having a copy function, a fax (FAX) communication function, and the like in addition to the print function and the scan function.

The external storage system 30 is a computer system that provides a cloud service called a storage service (or online storage) via a network. The storage service is a service for lending a storage area of the storage of the external storage system 30. In the present embodiment, in the scan distribution service, the electronic file subjected to the OCR processing is saved (uploaded) in the storage area lent out by the external storage system 30. Further, in the present embodiment, in the cloud print service, an electronic file to be printed is acquired (downloaded) from the storage area lent by the external storage system 30. Note that, hereinafter, when distinguishing each of the plurality of external storage systems 30, they are described using subscripts such as “external storage system 30 ₁ ” and “external storage system 30 ₂ ”. Further, the name of the service provided by the external storage system 30 ₁ is “storage service A”, the name of the service provided by the storage system 30 ₂ is “storage service B”, and the like.

  The external storage system 30 may be a system realized by a plurality of information processing devices. Further, the configuration of the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, as described above, the user environment E2 may include various devices such as a projector and an electronic blackboard in addition to or in place of the image forming apparatus 20.

<Hardware configuration>
≪Service provision system≫
The service providing system 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 2, for example. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of the service providing system according to the first embodiment. The service providing system 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes an input device 11, a display device 12, an external I / F 13, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 14. The service providing system 10 also includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 15, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 16, a communication I / F 17, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 18. The respective pieces of hardware are connected by a bus B.

  The input device 11 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc., and is used by the user to input each operation signal. The display device 12 includes a display and the like, and displays the processing result by the service providing system 10. The input device 11 and / or the display device 12 may be in a form of being connected to the service providing system 10 and used when necessary.

  The communication I / F 17 is an interface that connects the service providing system 10 to the network N1. Thereby, the service providing system 10 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 17.

  The HDD 18 is an example of a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data. The stored programs and data include an OS (Operating System) that is basic software that controls the entire service providing system 10 and application software that provides various functions on the OS. The service providing system 10 may use a drive device (for example, a solid state drive: SSD) that uses a flash memory as a storage medium instead of the HDD 18. Further, the HDD 18 manages stored programs and data by a predetermined file system and / or DB.

  The external I / F 13 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 13a and the like. Thereby, the service providing system 10 can read and / or write the recording medium 13a via the external I / F 13. The recording medium 13a includes a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, a USB memory and the like.

  The ROM 15 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain programs and data even when the power is turned off. The ROM 15 stores programs and data such as a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) executed when the service providing system 10 is activated, OS settings, and network settings. The RAM 14 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily holds programs and data.

  The CPU 16 is an arithmetic unit that realizes control and functions of the entire service providing system 10 by reading programs and data from a storage device such as the ROM 15 and the HDD 18 onto the RAM 14 and executing processing.

  The service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment can realize various processes described below by having the above hardware configuration.

≪Image forming device≫
The image forming apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 1 has a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 3, for example. FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. The image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a controller 21, an operation panel 22, an external I / F 23, a communication I / F 24, a printer 25, and a scanner 26. The controller 21 also has a CPU 211, a RAM 212, a ROM 213, an NVRAM 214, and an HDD 215. The ROM 213 stores various programs and data. The RAM 212 temporarily holds programs and data. The NVRAM 214 stores, for example, setting information and the like. Further, the HDD 215 stores various programs and data.

  The CPU 211 reads out programs, data, setting information, etc. from the ROM 213, NVRAM 214, HDD 215, etc. onto the RAM 212, and executes processing to realize the control and functions of the entire image forming apparatus 20.

  The operation panel 22 includes an input unit that receives an input from the user and a display unit that displays. The external I / F 23 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 23a and the like. Thereby, the image forming apparatus 20 can read and / or write the recording medium 23a via the external I / F 23. The recording medium 23a includes an IC card, a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, a USB memory and the like.

  The communication I / F 24 is an interface that connects the image forming apparatus 20 to the network N1. Thereby, the image forming apparatus 20 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 24. The printer 25 is a printing device for printing print data. The scanner 26 is a reading device for reading a document and generating an image file (electronic file).

  The image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment can realize various kinds of processing described below by having the above hardware configuration.

<Software configuration>
The information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment can be realized by processing blocks as shown in FIG. 4, for example. FIG. 4 is a processing block diagram of an example of the information processing system according to the first embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 20 has a browser 210 realized by, for example, the CPU 211. The user of the image forming apparatus 20 can use the service provided by the service providing system 10 via the browser 210. As described above, the image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment only needs to have the browser 210 installed, and does not need to develop a dedicated application for using the service.

  The service providing system 10 includes a service processing unit 110, a document service unit 150, and a storage service cooperation unit 160. Each of these units is realized by, for example, the CPU 16 or the like.

  The service providing system 10 also includes an application information storage unit 190. The application information storage unit 190 is realized by the HDD 18. The application information storage unit 190 may be realized by a storage device or the like connected to the service providing system 10 via a network.

  The service processing unit 110 includes an application management unit 120, a logic processing unit 130, and a data I / F unit 140.

  The application management unit 120 manages the application information 1000 stored in the application information storage unit 190. The application management unit 120 returns an application screen based on the screen definition included in the application information 1000 in response to a request from the browser 210. As a result, an application screen for using the service provided by the service providing system 10 is displayed on the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20. Here, although the details of the application information 1000 will be described later, information in which a screen definition for displaying the above-described application screen on the image forming apparatus 20 and the processing content of the service realized by the application information 1000 are described. Is.

  The application management unit 120 also returns the processing content included in the application information 1000 in response to a request from the logic processing unit 130. Although the details of the processing will be described later, a series of processing for realizing a scan delivery service, a cloud print service, etc. is described. The series of processes is also referred to as a “process flow” or a “flow”.

  The logic processing unit 130 acquires the processing content from the application management unit 120 in response to the request from the browser 210. Then, the logic processing unit 130 requests the document service unit 150 and / or the file processing unit 170 of the storage service cooperation unit 160 to execute the process according to the acquired processing content. As a result, various services provided by the service providing system 10 are provided to the image forming apparatus 20. Detailed processing blocks of the logic processing unit 130 will be described in <Details of processing> described later.

  In response to a request from the browser 210, the data I / F unit 140 requests the data processing unit 180 of the storage service cooperation unit 160 to obtain a folder list, for example.

  The document service unit 150 is a group of programs (modules) for realizing the services provided by the service providing system 10. The document service unit 150 includes, for example, an OCR process 151 that executes an OCR process on an electronic file, a print conversion process 152 that converts an electronic file into a data format (print data) printable by the image forming apparatus 20, and the like. Be done. In addition to these, the document service unit 150 executes various processes such as a program for compressing or decompressing an electronic file, a program for converting a data format of an electronic file (for example, a PDF format), and the like. The program to do may be included.

The storage service cooperation unit 160 requests the external storage system 30 to execute various processes in response to requests from the logic processing unit 130 and the data I / F unit 140. Here, the service providing system 10 has a storage service cooperation unit 160 for each external storage system 30. That is, the service providing system 10 includes the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ for requesting the external storage system 30 ₁ for processing and the storage service B cooperation unit 160 for requesting the external storage system 30 ₂ for processing. _{Has 2} etc. As described above, the service providing system 10 has the storage service cooperation unit 160 corresponding to each external storage system 30 that performs processing in cooperation with each other. Note that, hereinafter, when distinguishing each of the plurality of storage service cooperation units 160, the subscripts such as “storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ ” and “storage service B cooperation unit 160 ₂ ” are used as described above. To describe.

  As described above, the storage service cooperation unit 160 has the file processing unit 170 that receives a request from the logic processing unit 130 and the data processing unit 180 that receives a request from the data I / F unit 140.

  The file processing unit 170 has a common I / F 171 and a unique I / F 171 in which an API (Application Programming Interface) for performing an operation (for example, acquisition, storage, editing, etc.) on an electronic file stored in the external storage system 30 is defined. / F172. The common I / F 171 is an API that can be commonly used among a plurality of external storage systems 30, and for example, an API as shown in FIG. In other words, the common I / F 171 of the file processing unit 170 is an API group for using functions related to file operations that can be used by all external storage systems 30 (for example, file acquisition and storage). On the other hand, the unique I / F 172 is an API that can be used in a specific external storage system 30, and for example, an API as shown in FIG. In other words, the unique I / F 172 of the file processing unit 170 is an API group for using a function related to file operation (for example, editing a file) that can be used in a specific external storage system 30. Therefore, the common I / F 171 is defined similarly to all the storage service cooperation units 160, while the unique I / F 172 is the specific storage service cooperation in which the API defined by the specific I / F 172 can be used. Defined for section 160.

  On the other hand, the data processing unit 180 defines a common I / O that defines an API for acquiring metadata such as bibliographic information of electronic files stored in the external storage system 30 (eg, file list, folder list, etc.). It has an F181 and a unique I / F182. The common I / F 181 is an API that can be commonly used by a plurality of external storage systems 30, and for example, an API as shown in FIG. In other words, the common I / F 181 of the data processing unit 180 is an API group for using functions such as metadata acquisition that can be used by all the external storage systems 30. On the other hand, the unique I / F 182 is an API that can be used in a specific external storage system 30, and for example, an API as shown in FIG. In other words, the unique I / F 182 of the data processing unit 180 is an API group for using functions such as metadata acquisition (eg, acquisition of image file list) that can be used in a specific external storage system 30. . Therefore, the common I / F 181 is defined similarly for all the storage service cooperation units 160, while the unique I / F 182 is the specific storage service cooperation in which the API defined by the specific I / F 182 can be used. Defined for section 160.

  As described above, the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment has the storage service cooperation unit 160 for each external storage system 30 that performs processing in cooperation with each other. Therefore, when the external storage system 30 that is the cooperation destination is added, the corresponding storage service cooperation unit 160 may be added to the service providing system 10. Therefore, it is possible to localize the influence of the addition of the external storage system 30 as the cooperation destination. In other words, it does not affect other processing blocks (service processing unit 110, document service unit 150, etc.) (that is, it is not necessary to modify other processing blocks) and Additions can be made. This can reduce the number of man-hours required for development such as addition of the external storage system 30 of the cooperation destination. The storage service cooperation unit 160 can be added by using an SDK (Software Development Kit).

  Further, the storage service cooperation unit 160 defines the common I / F 171 and the unique I / F 172 by different modules or the like. The API defined by the common I / F 171 and the unique I / F 172 can be used by designating the "storage service name" (that is, the "storage service name" is a variable part). Therefore, when the external storage system 30 of the cooperation destination is added, the common I / F 171 defined in the other storage service cooperation unit 160 can be reused. In other words, when adding the external storage system 30 of the cooperation destination, only the unique I / F 172 of the external storage system 30 to be added needs to be developed. As a result, the number of man-hours required for development such as addition of the external storage system 30 of the cooperation destination can be further reduced. The same applies to the common I / F 181 and the unique I / F 182.

The application information storage unit 190 stores the application information 1000. The application information 1000 is information in which a screen definition for displaying an application screen on the image forming apparatus 20 and processing contents indicating a series of processing for realizing a service are described, and the application information 1000 is uniquely identified. It is stored in the application information storage unit 190 for each application ID. In the present embodiment, the application information for realizing the scan delivery service in cooperation with the cloud service A is “application information 1000 ₁ ”, and the application ID “app001” of this application information 1000 ₁ is used. Further, in this embodiment, the application information for realizing the cloud print service in cooperation with the cloud service A is “application information 1000 ₂ ”, and the application ID of this application information 1000 ₂ is “app002”.

Here, the data definition included in the screen definition of the application information 1000 ₁ and the data definition included in the screen definition of the application information 1000 ₂ are shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively. The data definition describes information for configuring an input field (input box), a selection field (selection box), etc. of the application screen displayed on the operation panel 22 or the like by the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20. For example, in the data definition unit 1101 in FIG. 6A, information for forming an input field for the user to input the file name of an electronic file generated by scanning is described. Further, in the data definition section 1102, information for forming a selection field for selecting a storage destination folder in the storage service A is described. The “data_source” of the data definition unit 1102 describes the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the acquisition destination of each selection element (here, the folder name and folder ID of the storage destination candidate) in the selection field.

Next, the layout information included in the screen definition of the application information 1000 ₁ and the layout information included in the screen definition of the application information 1000 ₂ are shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, respectively. The layout information describes information such as characters (display name of input field) displayed on the application screen displayed on the operation panel 22 or the like by the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20, display position of the input field or selection field, and the like. ing. For example, in the layout definition unit 1301 in FIG. 7A, information on the display position and display name of ““ data_id ”: 1” (that is, the data definition unit 1101) in the data definition is described. As a result, although a specific example will be shown later, an input field whose display name is “file name” is displayed at the first position on the application screen. In the layout definition section 1302, information on the display position and display name of ““ data_id ”: 2” (that is, the data definition section 1102) in the data definition is described. As a result, although a specific example will be shown later, a selection field having a display name of “select storage folder” is displayed at the second position on the application screen.

Next, the processing content of the application information 1000 _{1 and} the processing content of the application information 1000 ₂ are shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, respectively. The processing content describes a series of processing requested to the document service unit 150 and the storage service cooperation unit 160 in order to realize the service provided by the service providing system 10. For example, in the processing content shown in FIG. 8A, a series of processing for realizing the scan delivery service according to the present embodiment (that is, the storage service A is designated after the OCR processing of the scanned electronic file is performed). A series of processes for delivering to a folder) is described. Further, the processing content illustrated in FIG. 8B includes a series of processing for realizing the cloud print service according to the present embodiment (that is, after converting an electronic file acquired from the storage service A into print data, an image is displayed). A series of processes to be transmitted to the forming device 20) is described. Details of these processing contents will be described later.

  As described above, in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment, the application information 1000 in which the screen definition for displaying the application screen on the image forming apparatus 20 and the series of processing contents for realizing the service are described. Use to provide services. Therefore, when adding a service provided by the service providing system 10, the application information 1000 may be added to the application information storage unit 190. Further, in order to add the application information 1000, since it is sufficient to describe the screen definition and the processing content as described above, the application information 1000 can be easily developed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the development man-hours associated with the addition / modification of the service, etc., and to easily add / modify the service by, for example, a third vendor.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of the processing of the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

<< Overall processing of scan delivery service >>
First, the overall processing when the user of the image forming apparatus 20 uses the scan distribution service according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of an example of overall processing of the scan distribution service according to the first embodiment.

  First, the user of the image forming apparatus 20 uses the browser 210 to perform an operation for acquiring a list of services provided by the service providing system 10. Then, the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a service list acquisition request to the service processing unit 110 of the service providing system 10 (step S901). Then, when the application management unit 120 of the service processing unit 110 receives the acquisition request, the application management unit 120 transmits a list of services provided by the service providing system 10 to the image forming apparatus 20. As a result, the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20 displays a list of services provided by the service providing system 10 on the operation panel 22 of the image forming apparatus 20. The list of services includes the service name of the service provided by the service providing system 10 and the application ID of the application information 1000 for realizing this service.

The user selects a service he / she desires to use from the list of services displayed on the operation panel 22 of the image forming apparatus 20. Then, the browser 210 transmits the application ID of the application information 1000 for realizing the selected service to the application management unit 120 (step S902). Here, it is assumed that the user has selected to use the service name “scan delivery service”. Therefore, the browser 210 transmits the application ID “app001” of the application information 1000 ₁ to the application management unit 120.

Then, the application management unit 120 generates an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format application screen based on the screen definition included in the application information 1000 ₁ of the application ID “app001” received from the browser 210, and transmits it to the browser 210.

  Upon receiving the application screen from the application management unit 120, the browser 210 requests the data I / F unit 140 to acquire display information (step S903). Here, the display information is, for example, each selection element in the selection field of the application screen. That is, in the present embodiment, the browser 210 requests the data I / F unit 140 to obtain a list of folders of the storage service A that is the delivery destination (save destination) of scan delivery. Such a request is issued by the URL “http://sample.xxx.co.jp/service-a/data” defined in ““ data_source ”” described in the data definition unit 1102 of FIG. 6A. This can be done by sending an HTTP request to "/ folders". In the URL, the part “http://sample.xxx.co.jp” is the host name of the service providing system 10, and the part “/ service-a / data / folders” is the storage service cooperation unit 160. The API (that is, the API shown in FIG. 5) is designated.

Next, when the data I / F unit 140 receives a display information acquisition request from the browser 210, the data I / F unit 140 transmits the request to the corresponding data processing unit 180 of the storage service cooperation unit 160 (step S904). In the present embodiment, the data I / F unit 140 sends the request to the data processing unit 180 ₁ of the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ based on “service-a” (storage service name) included in the above URL. Send.

Upon receiving the request from the data I / F unit 140, the data processing unit 180 transmits a corresponding processing request to the external storage system 30 based on the URL included in the request (step S905). That is, the data processing unit 180 uses the API defined in the common I / F 181 or the unique I / F 182 based on the URL included in the request received from the data I / F unit 140, and the corresponding external storage system. 30 request processing. In the present embodiment, based on “/ service-a / data / folders” included in the above URL, the data processing unit 180 uses the API defined in the common I / F 181 to list folders in the storage service A. Request to get Then, the browser 210 receives the folder list via the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ . The folder list is information such as the folder name and folder ID of the storage service A that is a candidate for the storage destination of the electronic file in the scan distribution service of this embodiment.

  Next, the browser 210 displays the application screen 2000 as shown in FIG. 10A on the operation panel 22 based on the application screen and the folder list received from the application management unit 120 in step S902 (step S906). .

Here, the application screen 2000 for using the scan delivery service shown in FIG. 10A includes a file name input field 2001, a save destination folder selection field 2002, and a scan execution button 2003. Of these, the file name input field 2001 and the save destination folder selection field 2002 are described by HTML source codes 2101 and 2102, respectively, as shown in FIG. Such HTML source codes 2101 and 2102 are generated by the application management unit 120 based on the data definition units 1101 and 1102 shown in FIG. 6A and the layout definition units 1301 and 1302 shown in FIG. 7B. . However, the setting value of “option” specified in the HTML source code 2102 is set by the browser 210 based on the folder list acquired from the external storage system 30. In this way, the application screen 2000 is generated by setting the information of the folder list acquired from the external storage system 30 ₁ to the HTML generated by the application management unit 120 based on the screen definition of the application information 1000 _1. It

  Next, the user inputs a desired file name in the file name input field 2001 on the application screen 2000 of FIG. 10A and selects a desired save destination folder from the save destination folder selection field 2002. Then, the document is set on the scanner 26 of the image forming apparatus 20 and the scan execution button 2003 is pressed (step S907). Here, it is assumed that the user inputs the file name “test” in the file name input field 2001, selects “FolderB” from the save destination folder selection field 2002, and presses the scan execution button 2003. As a result, the document is read by the scanner 26 of the image forming apparatus 20 and an electronic file with the file name “test” is generated (step S908).

  Then, the browser 210 sends a request to execute the process of the scan delivery service to the logic processing unit 130 (step S909). Here, the execution request includes the application ID “app001”, the electronic file generated in step S908, and the folder ID “folder_id_b” of the selected save destination folder “FolderB”.

Then, when the logic processing unit 130 receives the process execution request, the logic processing unit 130 acquires the process content from the application information 1000 of the application ID included in the process execution request via the application management unit 120, and performs the process according to the process content. Is executed (step S910). That is, in the scan delivery service according to the present embodiment, after the OCR process is performed on the electronic file included in the execution request of the process, the electronic file after the OCR process is performed on the folder “FolderB” of the storage service A. Is delivered (uploaded). Details of the process of step S910 will be described later. Here, the logic processing unit 130 requests the file processing unit 170 ₁ of the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ to execute a delivery execution request including the electronic file after OCR processing and the folder ID “folder_id_b” of the folder “FolderB”. The explanation is continued assuming that it has been sent.

Upon receiving the distribution execution request from the logic processing unit 130, the file processing unit 170 uses the API defined in the common I / F 171 or the unique I / F 172 to request the external storage system 30 for processing. (Step S911). Specifically, in the present embodiment, by using the API "/ service-a / process / folder" to save the file in the storage service A that is defined in a common I / F171 ₁ file processing unit 170 ₁ , Distribute (upload) the electronic file to the folder "FolderB". Then, when the upload of the electronic file is completed, the processing result is displayed on the browser 210. This completes the scan distribution service according to the present embodiment.

≪Process from OCR to delivery execution≫
Next, details of the processing in step S910 in FIG. 9 will be described. This processing is mainly executed by the logic processing unit 130. Therefore, before describing the details of the processing in step S910 in FIG. 9, the detailed processing blocks of the logic processing unit 130 will be described. FIG. 11 is a processing block diagram of an example of the logic processing unit according to the first embodiment. The logic processing unit 130 includes a flow execution unit 131, a component management unit 132, a component group 133, a type conversion management unit 134, and a type conversion group 135. Further, the logic processing unit 130 uses the type conversion table 3000.

  When the flow execution unit 131 receives a request to execute the process of the scan distribution service from the browser 210, the flow execution unit 131 acquires the processing content from the application information 1000 via the application management unit 120. Then, the flow execution unit 131 requests the component to execute the process according to the acquired process content. Here, the component is a program (module) for executing various processes, and is defined by, for example, a class or a function.

  The component management unit 132 generates a component in response to a request from the flow execution unit 131. The generation of a component means, for example, expanding a component defined by a class on a memory (for example, the RAM 14).

  The component group 133 is a set of components. The component group 133 includes a distribution component 1331 for distributing an electronic file to the external storage system 30 and an acquisition component 1332 for acquiring an electronic file from the external storage system 30. Further, the component group 133 includes an OCR component 1333 for performing OCR processing on an electronic file and a print conversion component 1334 for converting an electronic file into print data.

  Further, each of these components has a component common I / F 1330. The component common I / F 1330 is an API commonly defined for each component, and includes an API for generating a component and an API for requesting the component to execute a process. In this way, by making each component have the component common I / F 1330, it is possible to localize the effect of adding a component or the like. In other words, components can be added without affecting the flow execution unit 131 and the component management unit 132. As a result, the number of man-hours required for development such as addition of components can be reduced.

  The type conversion management unit 134 manages the type conversion of data types. Here, each component has a predetermined data type that it can handle. Therefore, the type conversion management unit 134 generates the type conversion defined in the type conversion group 135 by referring to the type conversion table 3000 shown in FIG. 12 in response to a request from the component. Then, the type conversion management unit 134 requests the generated type conversion to execute the type conversion process. Here, the type conversion is a program (module) for executing the data type type conversion process, and is defined by, for example, a class or a function.

  The generation of the type conversion means, for example, expanding the type conversion defined by the class on the memory (for example, the RAM 14). The data type includes, for example, a data type “InputStream” indicating stream data, “LocalFilePath” indicating a path (address) of an electronic file stored in a storage device, “File” indicating the substance of the electronic file, and the like. Is mentioned.

  The type conversion group 135 is a set of type conversions. The type conversion group 135 includes a first type conversion 1351 for converting the data type “InputStream” into “LocalFilePath”, a second type conversion 1352 for converting “LocalFilePath” into “File”, and the like.

  Further, each of these type conversions has a type conversion common I / F 1350. The type conversion common I / F 1350 is an API commonly defined for each type conversion, and includes an API for generating a type conversion and an API for requesting execution of processing for the type conversion. Be done. As described above, by providing each type conversion with the type conversion common I / F 1350, it is possible to localize the influence caused by the addition of the type conversion. In other words, it is possible to add components without affecting the type conversion management unit 134. This can reduce the number of man-hours required for development such as addition of type conversion.

  Next, details of the processing in step S910 in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram of an example of processing from OCR to delivery execution according to the first embodiment.

  First, the flow execution unit 131 receives an execution request for processing of the scan delivery service from the browser 210 (step S1301). Here, the execution request includes the application ID “app001”, the electronic file generated in step S908 of FIG. 9, and the folder ID (save destination) of the selected save destination folder “FolderB”. Here, it is assumed that the electronic file is passed from the browser 210 as a data type “InputStream” (that is, stream data).

When receiving the execution request, the flow execution unit 131 requests the application management unit 120 to acquire the processing content (step S1302). Here, the process ID acquisition request includes the application ID “app001”. Then, the flow execution unit 131 acquires the processing content included in the application information 1000 ₁ corresponding to the application ID “app001” from the application management unit 120. That is, the flow execution unit 131 acquires the processing content shown in FIG.

  The flow execution unit 131 requests the component management unit 132 to acquire the component according to the acquired processing content (step S1303). More specifically, the flow execution unit 131 specifies ".to (" process: ocr ")" next to "From (" file: input ")" of the processing content shown in FIG. Based on the above, the component management unit 132 is requested to acquire the OCR component 1333.

  Upon receiving the acquisition request for the OCR component 1333, the component management unit 132 generates the OCR component 1333 (step S1304). The OCR component 1333 can be generated using the API for generating the component defined in the component common I / F 1330. Then, when the OCR component 1333 is generated, the component management unit 132 returns the OCR component 1333 to the flow execution unit 131. For example, the component management unit 132 returns to the flow execution unit 131 the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 14) in which the OCR component 1333 is expanded.

  The flow execution unit 131 requests the generated OCR component 1333 to execute the process by designating the data (step S1305). The data specified here is an electronic file passed from the browser 210 with a data type of “InputStream”. That is, the flow execution unit 131 passes the electronic file passed from the browser 210 as the data type “InputStream” to the OCR component 1333 as “data” (without being aware of the data type) and requests the execution of the process. . In FIG. 13, an electronic file or the like that is passed without being aware of the data type in this way is simply referred to as “data”.

  The OCR component 1333 requests the type conversion management unit 134 to perform type conversion (step S1306). Here, the type conversion request includes data and designation of “LocalFilePath” indicating a data type that can be handled by the OCR component 1333.

  The type conversion management unit 134 checks whether or not the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request matches the designated data type (step S1307). Here, since the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request is “InputStream”, and the specified data type is “LocalFilePath”, it is determined that they do not match.

  Then, the type conversion management unit 134 refers to the type conversion table 3000 to specify the type conversion for converting “InputStream” into “LocalFilePath” (here, the first type conversion 1351 is specified). ), The specified type conversion is generated (step S1308).

  Then, the type conversion management unit 134 requests the generated first type conversion 1351 to execute the type conversion process by designating the data (step S1309). Then, the first type conversion 1351 converts the data type of the designated data from “InputStream” to “LocalFilePath” (step S1310), and returns the converted data to the type conversion management unit 134. After that, the type conversion management unit 134 transmits the data after the type conversion to the OCR component 1333 (step S1311).

  The OCR component 1333, upon receiving the data after the type conversion, executes the process (step S1312). That is, the OCR process is executed on the electronic file indicated by the data (that is, the path or the address) of the data type “LocalFilePath”. Here, more specifically, the OCR component 1333 requests the OCR process 151 of the document service unit 150 to perform the process, and the OCR process 151 executes the process on the electronic file. Then, the OCR component 1333 returns the data to the flow execution unit 131. Here, the returned data is a path or address indicating the electronic file after the OCR processing (that is, the data type of the returned data is "LocalFilePath").

  Next, the flow execution unit 131 requests the component management unit 132 to acquire the component according to the acquired processing content (step S1313). More specifically, the flow execution unit 131 uses the ".to (" storage: send_to_folder? Type "specified after the" .to ("process: ocr") "of the processing content shown in FIG. = service-a ")", and requests the component management unit 132 to acquire the distribution component 1331. It should be noted that the portion of “? Type = service-a” in the designated processing content is an optional parameter, and the storage service of the data upload destination by the processing of the distribution component 1331 is “storage service A”. It is shown that. Further, here, the storage destination (folder ID of the storage destination folder) included in the execution request of step S1301 is added as an optional parameter to the specified processing content, and ".to (" storage: send_to_folder ? type = service-a & targetfolder = folder_id_b ")". Similarly, the file name may be further added as an optional parameter to be ".to (" storage: send_to_folder? Type = service-a & targetfolder = folder_id_b & filename = test.pdf ")".

  Upon receiving the acquisition request for the distribution component 1331, the component management unit 132 generates the distribution component 1331 (step S1314). The distribution component 1331 can be generated using the API for generating the component defined in the component common I / F 1330. Then, when the distribution component 1331 is generated, the component management unit 132 returns the distribution component 1331 to the flow execution unit 131. For example, the component management unit 132 returns the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 14) in which the distribution component 1331 is expanded to the flow execution unit 131.

  The flow execution unit 131 requests the generated distribution component 1331 to execute the process by specifying the data (step S1315). The data type of the data specified here is "LocalFilePath".

  The distribution component 1331 requests the type conversion management unit 134 to perform type conversion (step S1316). Here, the type conversion request includes data and designation of “LocalFilePath” indicating a data type that the distribution component 1331 can handle.

  The type conversion management unit 134 checks whether the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request matches the designated data type (step S1317). Here, since the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request is “LocalFilePath” and the designated data type is also “LocalFilePath”, it is determined that they match. Then, the type conversion management unit 134 directly transmits the data included in the type conversion request to the distribution component 1331 (step S1318). In this way, when the data type checks (the process of step S1317) match the two data types, the type conversion management unit 134 does not generate the type conversion.

Upon receiving the data from the type conversion management unit 134, the distribution component 1331 executes processing (step S1319). That is, in this embodiment, the distribution component 1331, the file processing unit 170 ₁ of the Storage Service A linkage unit 160 _1, using the API of the file storage that is defined as a common I / F171 _1, the distribution of the data Request execution. More specifically, the distribution component 1331 sends “service-a / process / folder” as an API to the file processing unit 170 ₁ of the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ as shown in FIG. 5A. Use to request delivery of data. As a result, the electronic file with the file name “test” (the electronic file obtained by performing the OCR process on the electronic file generated by the scan) is stored in the folder “FolderB” of the storage service A. Then, the processing result is transmitted to the browser 210 via the flow execution unit 131.

<< Overall processing of cloud print service >>
Next, an overall process when the user of the image forming apparatus 20 uses the cloud print service according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram of an example of overall processing of the cloud print service according to the first embodiment.

  First, the user of the image forming apparatus 20 uses the browser 210 to perform an operation for acquiring a list of services provided by the service providing system 10. Then, the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a service list acquisition request to the service processing unit 110 of the service providing system 10 (step S1401). Then, when the application management unit 120 of the service processing unit 110 receives the acquisition request, the application management unit 120 transmits a list of services provided by the service providing system 10 to the image forming apparatus 20.

The user selects a service he / she desires to use from the list of services displayed on the operation panel 22 of the image forming apparatus 20. Then, the browser 210 transmits the application ID of the application information 1000 for realizing the selected service to the application management unit 120 (step S1402). Here, it is assumed that the user has selected to use the service name “cloud print service”. Therefore, the browser 210 transmits the application ID of the application information 1000 ₂ "app002" to the application management unit 120.

The application management unit 120 generates the application screen in HTML format based on the screen definition included in the application information 1000 _{and second} application ID "app002" received from the browser 210, sends to the browser 210.

  Upon receiving the application screen from the application management unit 120, the browser 210 requests the data I / F unit 140 to acquire display information (step S1403). In the present embodiment, the browser 210 requests the data I / F unit 140 to obtain a list of electronic files of the storage service A that are candidates for printing using the cloud print service. Such a request is issued by the URL "http://sample.xxx.co.jp/service-a/data" defined in "" data_source "" described in the data definition section 1201 of FIG. 6B. This can be done by sending an HTTP request to "/ files".

  Next, when the data I / F unit 140 receives a display information acquisition request from the browser 210, the data I / F unit 140 transmits the request to the corresponding data processing unit 180 of the storage service cooperation unit 160 (step S1404).

Upon receiving the request from the data I / F unit 140, the data processing unit 180 sends a corresponding processing request to the external storage system 30 based on the URL included in the request (step S1405). In the present embodiment, the data processing unit 180 requests the storage service A to acquire a file list based on “/ service-a / data / files” included in the above URL. Then, the browser 210 receives the file list via the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ . The file list is information such as file names and file IDs of electronic files stored in the storage service A that is a print target candidate in the cloud print service of the present embodiment.

  Next, the browser 210 displays an application screen 4000 as shown in FIG. 15A on the operation panel 22 based on the application screen and file list received from the application management unit 120 in step S1402 (step S1406). .

  Here, the application screen 4000 for using the cloud print service shown in FIG. 15A includes a file selection field 4001 for selecting a file to be printed and a print execution button 4002. Of these, the file selection field 4001 is described by the HTML source code 4101 as shown in FIG. Such an HTML source code 4101 is generated by the application management unit 120 based on the data definition unit 1201 shown in FIG. 6B and the layout definition unit 1401 shown in FIG. 7B. However, the setting value of “option” specified in the HTML source code 4101 is set by the browser 210 based on the file list acquired from the external storage system 30.

  Next, the user selects a desired file from the file selection field 4001 on the application screen 4000 of FIG. 15A and presses the print execution button 4002 (step S1407). Here, it is assumed that the user selects “FileA” from the file selection field 4001 and presses the print execution button 4002.

  Then, the browser 210 transmits an execution request for the processing of the cloud print service to the logic processing unit 130 (step S1408). Here, the execution request includes the application ID “app002” and the file ID “file_id_a” of the file “FileA” selected from the file selection field 4001.

Then, when the logic processing unit 130 receives the process execution request, the logic processing unit 130 acquires the process content from the application information 1000 of the application ID included in the process execution request via the application management unit 120, and performs the process according to the process content. Is executed (step S1409). That is, in the cloud print service according to the present embodiment, after acquiring (downloading) the electronic file to be printed from the storage service A, the electronic file is converted into print data printable by the image forming apparatus 20 (print conversion). . Details of the process of step S1409 will be described later. Here, the description will be continued assuming that the logic processing unit 130 has transmitted a file acquisition execution request including the file ID “file_id_a” of the file “FileA” to the file processing unit 170 ₁ of the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ .

When the file processing unit 170 receives a file acquisition execution request from the logic processing unit 130, the file processing unit 170 uses the API defined in the common I / F 171 or the unique I / F 172 to request the external storage system 30 for processing. Yes (step S1410). Specifically, in the present embodiment, by using the API "/ service-a / process / file" for acquiring the file to the storage service A that is defined in a common I / F171 ₁ file processing unit 170 ₁ , Get (download) the file "FileA". Then, the logic processing unit 130 converts the acquired file “FileA” into print data that is a data format that can be printed by the image forming apparatus 20, and then transmits the print data to the image forming apparatus 20.

  Upon receiving the print data from the logic processing unit 130, the printer 25 of the image forming apparatus 20 prints the print data (step S1411). This completes the cloud print service according to the present embodiment.

≪Process from file acquisition execution to print conversion≫
Next, details of the processing in step S1409 in FIG. 14 will be described. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram of an example of processing from file acquisition to print conversion according to the first embodiment.

  First, the flow execution unit 131 receives an execution request for cloud print service processing from the browser 210 (step S1601). Here, the execution request includes the application ID “app002” and the file ID “file_id_a” of the selected file to be printed. Here, the file ID is passed from the browser 210 as a data type “InputStream” (that is, stream data).

When the flow execution unit 131 receives the execution request, the flow execution unit 131 requests the application management unit 120 to acquire the processing content (step S1602). Here, the process ID acquisition request includes the application ID “app002”. The flow execution unit 131 acquires the processing content included in the application information 1000 ₂ corresponding the application management unit 120 to the application ID "app002". That is, the flow execution unit 131 acquires the processing content illustrated in FIG.

  The flow execution unit 131 requests the component management unit 132 to acquire the component according to the acquired processing content (step S1603). More specifically, the flow execution unit 131 specifies ".to (" storage: receive_file? Type = "specified next to" From ("file: input") "in the processing content shown in FIG. 8B. Based on "service-a") ", the component management unit 132 is requested to acquire the acquisition component 1332. It should be noted that the portion of “? Type = service-a” of the designated processing content is an optional parameter, and the storage service of the electronic file acquisition (download) of the processing of the acquisition component 1332 is “storage service A. ". Further, here, the file ID of "FileA" which is the file to be printed included in the execution request of step S1601 is added to the specified processing content as an optional parameter to ".to (" storage : receive_file? type = service-a & targetfile = file_id_a ")".

  Upon receiving the acquisition request for the acquisition component 1332, the component management unit 132 generates the acquisition component 1332 (step S1604). The acquisition component 1332 can be generated using the API for generating the component defined in the component common I / F 1330. Then, when the acquisition component 1332 is generated, the component management unit 132 returns the acquisition component 1332 to the flow execution unit 131. For example, the component management unit 132 returns to the flow execution unit 131 the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 14) in which the OCR component 1333 is expanded.

  The flow execution unit 131 requests the generated acquisition component 1332 to execute the process by designating the data (step S1605). The data specified here is the file ID of the file to be printed, which is passed from the browser 210 as the data type “InputStream”. That is, the flow execution unit 131 passes the file ID passed as a data type “InputStream” from the browser 210 to the acquisition component 1332 as “data” (without being aware of the data type) and requests execution of the process. . In FIG. 16, the file ID, the electronic file, and the like that are thus passed without being aware of the data type are simply represented as “data”.

  The acquisition component 1332 requests the type conversion management unit 134 to perform type conversion (step S1606). Here, the type conversion request includes the data and the designation of “LocalFilePath” indicating the data type that the acquisition component 1332 can handle.

  The type conversion management unit 134 checks whether or not the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request matches the designated data type (step S1607). Here, since the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request is “InputStream”, and the specified data type is “LocalFilePath”, it is determined that they do not match.

  Then, the type conversion management unit 134 refers to the type conversion table 3000 to specify the type conversion for converting “InputStream” into “LocalFilePath” (here, the first type conversion 1351 is specified). ), The specified type conversion is generated (step S1608).

  Then, the type conversion management unit 134 requests the generated first type conversion 1351 to execute the type conversion process by specifying the data (step S1609). Then, the first type conversion 1351 converts the data type of the designated data from “InputStream” to “LocalFilePath” (step S1610), and returns the converted data to the type conversion management unit 134. After that, the type conversion management unit 134 transmits the data after the type conversion to the acquisition component 1332 (step S1611).

When the acquisition component 1332 receives the data after the type conversion, the acquisition component 1332 executes the process (step S1612). That is, in this embodiment, the acquisition component 1332, the file processing unit 170 ₁ of the Storage Service A linkage unit 160 _1, using the API of the file acquisition defined as a common I / F171 _1, file acquisition run To request. More specifically, the acquisition component 1332 sends “service-a / process / file” as an API to the file processing unit 170 ₁ of the storage service A cooperation unit 160 ₁ as shown in FIG. 5A. Use to request execution of file acquisition. As a result, the electronic file with the file ID “file_id_a” is acquired (downloaded) from the storage service A. The electronic file acquired by the acquisition component 1332 is transmitted to the flow execution unit 131 as data.

  Next, the flow execution unit 131 requests the component management unit 132 to acquire the component according to the acquired processing content (step S1613). More specifically, the flow execution unit 131 specifies the next ".to (" storage: receive_file? Type = service-a ")" of the processing content shown in FIG. 8B. Based on “process: conv”) ”, the component management unit 132 is requested to acquire the print conversion component 1334.

  Upon receiving the acquisition request for the print conversion component 1334, the component management unit 132 generates the print conversion component 1334 (step S1614). The print conversion component 1334 can be generated using the API for generating the component defined in the component common I / F 1330. Then, when the print conversion component 1334 is generated, the component management unit 132 returns the print conversion component 1334 to the flow execution unit 131. For example, the component management unit 132 returns to the flow execution unit 131 the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 14) in which the print conversion component 1334 is expanded.

  The flow execution unit 131 requests the generated print conversion component 1334 to execute processing by designating data (step S1615). The data type of the data specified here is "LocalFilePath".

  The print conversion component 1334 requests the type conversion management unit 134 to perform type conversion (step S1616). Here, the type conversion request includes the data and the designation of “File” indicating the data type that the print conversion component 1334 can handle.

  The type conversion management unit 134 checks whether the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request matches the designated data type (step S1617). Here, the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request is “LocalFilePath”, while the specified data type is “File”, so it is determined that they do not match.

  Then, the type conversion management unit 134 refers to the type conversion table 3000 to specify the type conversion for converting “LocalFilePath” into “File” (here, the second type conversion 1352 is specified). ), And the specified type conversion is generated (step S1618).

  Then, the type conversion management unit 134 requests the generated second type conversion 1352 to execute the type conversion process by specifying the data (step S1619). Then, the second type conversion 1352 converts the data type of the designated data from “LocalFilePath” to “File” (step S1620), and returns the converted data to the type conversion management unit 134. After that, the type conversion management unit 134 transmits the type-converted data to the print conversion component 1334 (step S1621).

  The print conversion component 1334, upon receiving the data after the type conversion, executes the process (step S1622). That is, a process of converting data of the data type “File” (that is, an electronic file) into print data that is a data format that the image forming apparatus 20 can print is executed. Here, more specifically, the print conversion component 1334 requests the print conversion processing 152 of the document service unit 150 to perform processing, and the print conversion processing 152 executes the processing on the data (electronic file). Then, the print conversion component 1334 returns the print data to the image forming apparatus 20 via the flow execution unit 131.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the information processing system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. The service providing system 10 included in the information processing system 1 according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it also receives a request from the image forming apparatus 20 in which the browser 210 is not installed. Note that, hereinafter, the portions having substantially the same functions and the portions performing the same processing as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

<Software configuration>
The information processing system 1 according to the second embodiment can be realized by a processing block as shown in FIG. 17, for example. FIG. 17 is a processing block diagram of an example of the information processing system according to the second embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 20 has a browser 210 or a client application 220 realized by, for example, the CPU 211. Here, it is assumed that the browser 210 can interpret HTML, but the client application 220 cannot interpret HTML. Therefore, the client application 220 according to the present embodiment generates and displays the application screen based on the data definition received from the service providing system 10.

  The service providing system 10 is different from that of the first embodiment in that the function of the application management unit 120A is different and that the request determination unit 121 is further included.

  The request determination unit 121 determines whether the transmission source is the browser 210 or the client application 220 based on the information received from the image forming apparatus 20.

  The application management unit 120A returns the application screen or the data definition to the image forming apparatus 20 according to the determination result of the request determination unit 121. That is, when the request determination unit 121 determines that the transmission source is the client application 220, the application management unit 120A returns the data definition to the image forming apparatus 20.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of the processing of the information processing system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, in the overall processing of the scan distribution service described with reference to FIG. 9 and the overall processing of the cloud print service described with reference to FIG. 14, the processing up to displaying the application screen on the image forming apparatus 20 is performed. different. Therefore, in the second embodiment, processing from acquisition of the service list to display of the application screen will be described. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram of an example of an application screen display process according to the second embodiment.

  First, the user of the image forming apparatus 20 uses the browser 210 or the client application 220 to perform an operation for acquiring a list of services provided by the service providing system 10 (step S1801). Then, the request determination unit 121 of the service processing unit 110 acquires a list of services provided by the service providing system 10 from the application management unit 120A (step S1802) and sends the list to the image forming apparatus 20. As a result, a list of services provided by the service providing system 10 is displayed on the operation panel 22 of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The user selects a service he / she desires to use from the list of services displayed on the operation panel 22 of the image forming apparatus 20. Then, the browser 210 or the client application 220 transmits the application ID of the application information 1000 for realizing the selected service to the request determination unit 121 (step S1803).

  Then, the request determination unit 121 determines whether the transmission source is the browser 210 or the client application 220 (step S1804). This can be determined by the request determination unit 121 based on, for example, User Agent. After that, when the request determination unit 121 determines that the transmission source is the browser 210, the process of step S1805 is executed, while when it is determined that the transmission source is the client application 220, steps S1806 and S1807 are performed. The process is executed.

  When the request determination unit 121 determines that the transmission source is the browser 210, the request determination unit 121 requests the application management unit 120A to acquire the HTML application screen (step S1805). The request includes the application ID of the application information 1000 for realizing the service selected in step S1803 described above. Then, the application management unit 121A generates an HTML-format application screen based on the screen definition included in the application information 1000 of the application ID included in the request, and transmits the HTML-format application screen to the browser 210 via the request determination unit 121.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the transmission source is the client application 220, the request determination unit 121 requests the application management unit 120A to acquire the data definition in a general-purpose data format such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. Yes (step S1806). The request includes the application ID of the application information 1000 for realizing the service selected in step S1803 described above. Then, the application management unit 121A transmits the data definition included in the application information 1000 of the application ID included in the request to the client application 220 in the JSON format via the request determination unit 121. As described above, when the image forming apparatus 20 includes the client application 220 that cannot interpret HTML, the service providing system 10 returns only the data definition included in the screen definition. Then, the client application 220 of the image forming apparatus 20 generates an application screen based on the received JSON format data definition (step S1807).

  Then, the image forming apparatus 20 displays the application screen on the operation panel 22 (step S1808). Here, when the browser 210 is installed in the image forming apparatus 20, the HTML format application screen received in step S1805 is displayed. On the other hand, when the client application 220 is installed in the image forming apparatus 20, the application screen generated in step S1807 is displayed. By doing so, the browser 210 does not necessarily have to be installed in the image forming apparatus 20. Therefore, the user can install the arbitrary client application 220 for using the service provided by the service providing system 10 in the image forming apparatus 20.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, the information processing system 1 according to the third embodiment will be described. The information processing system 1 according to the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it can provide a service realized by the processing content using a component developed by a third vendor or the like. Further, the information processing system 1 according to the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the user can create processing contents by using the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20.

  In the following, a component developed by a third vendor or the like will be referred to as an “external component”, and a component pre-installed in the service providing system 10 (that is, a component described in the first and second embodiments). The term "internal component" is used to distinguish them. Furthermore, when no distinction is made between internal components and external components, they are simply expressed as "components".

  Further, hereinafter, the portions having substantially the same functions and the portions performing the same processing as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

<System configuration>
FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram of an example of an information processing system according to the third embodiment. The service providing environment E1 of the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 19 includes an external component management device 40.

  The external component management device 40 is realized by one or more information processing devices and manages external components. As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the external component management device 40, which is a device different from the service providing system 10, manages external components. For this reason, for example, the influence when the external component has a serious bug can be localized in the external component management device 40.

Note that FIG. 19 shows an example in which the service providing environment E1 includes one external component management device 40, but the present invention is not limited to this. The service providing environment E1 may include a plurality of external component management devices 40. For example, the service providing environment E1 may include an external component management device 40 ₁ that manages external components developed by Company A, an external component management device 40 ₂ that manages external components developed by Company B, and the like. .

<Software configuration>
The information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment can be realized by processing blocks as shown in FIG. 20, for example. FIG. 20 is a processing block diagram of an example of the information processing system according to the third embodiment.

  The service processing unit 110 of the service providing system 10 includes an application management unit 120A, a logic processing unit 130A, and a processing content creation unit 122.

  The processing content creation unit 122 creates a screen for creating processing content (processing content creation screen) in response to a request from the browser 210.

  The application management unit 120A stores the processing content created on the processing content creation screen in the application information storage unit 190 in response to the request from the processing content creation unit 122. As a result, the service realized by the series of processes indicated by the process contents created by the user is added.

  If there is a process executed by an external component in the series of processes indicated by the process content acquired from the application management unit 120A, the logic processing unit 130A requests the external component processing unit 410 to execute the process. The detailed processing blocks of the logic processing unit 130A will be described later.

  The external component management device 40 has an external component processing unit 410. The external component processing unit 41 is realized by, for example, a CPU included in the external component management device 40.

  The external component processing unit 410 executes the external component in response to the request from the logic processing unit 130A. The detailed processing blocks of the external component processing unit 410 will be described later.

  Next, detailed processing blocks of the logic processing unit 130A according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 21 is a processing block diagram of an example of the logic processing unit according to the third embodiment.

  The logic processing unit 130A according to this embodiment includes a flow execution unit 131A and a component management unit 132A. Further, the component group 133 of the logic processing unit 130A according to the present embodiment includes an external component cooperation component 1335. Furthermore, the logic processing unit 130A according to the present embodiment uses the component management table 5000.

  The flow execution unit 131A requests the component management unit 132A to acquire a component according to the processing content acquired from the application management unit 120A. At this time, the flow execution unit 131A requests the acquisition of the component by designating the component name described below based on the processing content.

  The component management unit 132A refers to the component management table 5000 in response to the request from the flow execution unit 131A and determines whether the component related to the request is an internal component or an external component. Then, when the component related to the request is an external component, the component management unit 132A generates the external component cooperation component 1335.

  The external component cooperation component 1335 included in the component group 133 is a component for performing a process cooperation with the external component processing unit 410 of the external component management device 40. The external component cooperation component 1335 requests the external component processing unit 410 to execute the processing of the external component. The external component cooperation component 1335 has a component common I / F 1330.

  Here, the component management table 5000 has data items as shown in FIG. FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an example of the component management table.

  The component management table 5000 shown in FIG. 22 has a component ID, a component name, and a host name as data items. The component ID is identification information that uniquely identifies the component. The component name is the name of the component. In this embodiment, the component name is uniquely given to the component.

  The host name is information that identifies the device that manages the component. That is, for example, it is shown that the host name “localhost” is associated with the internal component and is managed by the service providing system 10. On the other hand, for example, the external component is associated with the host name “server2.com” and is shown to be managed by the external component management device 40 having the host name.

  As described above, in the component management table 5000, the host name of the device in which the component is managed is associated with each component. The processing content creation unit 122 creates a processing content creation screen by acquiring a list of components from the component management table 5000.

  Next, detailed processing blocks of the external component processing unit 410 will be described. FIG. 23 is a processing block diagram of an example of the external component processing unit according to the third embodiment.

  The external component processing unit 410 includes a request receiving unit 411, a component management unit 412, an external component group 413, a type conversion management unit 414, and a type conversion group 415. Further, the external component processing unit 410 uses the type conversion table 6000.

  Upon receiving the request from the logic processing unit 130A, the request receiving unit 411 requests the component management unit 412 to generate an external component. Then, when the external component is generated, the request receiving unit 411 requests the external component to execute the process.

  The component management unit 412 generates an external component in response to the request from the request reception unit 411.

  The external component group 413 is a set of external components. The external component group 413 includes various external components developed by a third vendor or the like. For example, the external component group 413 includes a distribution α component 4131 for distributing an electronic file to the external storage system 30 and a print conversion β component 4132 for converting an electronic file into print data.

  Further, each of these external components has a component common I / F 4130. The component common I / F 4130 is an API commonly defined for each external component, and includes an API for generating an external component and an API for requesting the external component to execute a process. .

  The type conversion management unit 414 manages the type conversion of data types. Here, the external component has a predetermined data type that it can handle. Therefore, the type conversion management unit 414 generates the type conversion defined in the type conversion group 415 by referring to the type conversion table 6000 as shown in FIG. 24 in response to a request from the external component. Then, the type conversion management unit 414 requests execution of the type conversion process for the generated type conversion.

  The type conversion group 415 is a set of type conversions. The type conversion group 415 includes a first type conversion 4151 for converting the data type “InputStream” into “LocalFilePath”, a second type conversion 4142 for converting “LocalFilePath” into “File”, and the like.

  Further, each of these type conversions has a type conversion common I / F 4150. The type conversion common I / F 4150 is an API commonly defined for each type conversion, and includes an API for generating a type conversion and an API for requesting execution of processing for the type conversion. Be done.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of the processing of the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a series of processes for realizing the scan delivery service include processes executed by an external component. That is, the scan delivery service according to the present embodiment is realized by a series of processes including a process executed by an internal component and a process executed by an external component.

≪Process from OCR to delivery execution≫
FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram of an example of processing from OCR to delivery execution according to the third embodiment. First, since the process of step S2501 is the same as the process of step S1301 described with reference to FIG. 13, the description thereof will be omitted.

  When the flow execution unit 131A receives the scan distribution service execution request from the browser 210, the flow execution unit 131A requests the application management unit 120A to acquire the processing content (step S2502). Here, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the flow execution unit 131A has acquired the processing content illustrated in FIG.

  The flow execution unit 131A requests the component management unit 132A to acquire the component according to the acquired processing content (step S2503). More specifically, the flow execution unit 131, based on ".to (" process: ocr ")" specified next to "From (" file: input ")" in the processing content shown in FIG. The component management unit 132A is requested to acquire the component whose component name is "ocr".

  Upon receiving the component acquisition request, the component management unit 132A refers to the component management table 5000 and determines whether the component related to the acquisition request is an internal component or an external component (step S2504).

  That is, the component management unit 132A determines whether the host name associated with the component name included in the acquisition request in the component management table 5000 is “localhost”. Then, the component management unit 132A determines that the component related to the acquisition request is an internal component when the host name is “localhost”. On the other hand, the component management unit 132A determines that the component related to the acquisition request is an external component when the host name is not "localhost".

  Here, in the component management table 5000, the host name associated with the component name “ocr” is “localhost”. Therefore, the component management unit 132A determines that the component related to the acquisition request is an internal component.

  When the component related to the component acquisition request is determined to be the internal component, the component management unit 132A generates an internal component corresponding to the component name included in the acquisition request (step S2505). That is, the component management unit 132A generates the OCR component 1333 corresponding to the component name “ocr” included in the acquisition request.

  Then, the component management unit 132A returns the generated OCR component 1333 to the flow execution unit 131A.

  The processes of subsequent steps S2506 to S2513 are similar to the processes of steps S1305 to S1312 described with reference to FIG. 13, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

  Next, the flow execution unit 131A requests the component management unit 132A to acquire the component according to the acquired processing content (step S2514). More specifically, the flow execution unit 131A determines that ".to (" storage: send_to_folderα? Type = service- "specified next to" .to ("process: ocr") "in the processing content shown in FIG. Based on "b") ", the component management unit 132A is requested to acquire the component whose component name is" send_to_folder α ". In addition, the part of "? Type = service-b" in the processing contents specified here is an optional parameter, and the upload destination of data by the processing of the component with the component name "send_to_folderα" is "Storage service B". It indicates that there is.

  Upon receiving the component acquisition request, the component management unit 132A refers to the component management table 5000 and determines whether the component related to the acquisition request is an internal component or an external component (step S2515).

  That is, the component management unit 132A determines whether the host name associated with the component name included in the acquisition request in the component management table 5000 is “localhost”. Then, the component management unit 132A determines that the component related to the acquisition request is an internal component when the host name is “localhost”. On the other hand, the component management unit 132A determines that the component related to the acquisition request is an external component when the host name is not "localhost".

  Here, in the component management table 5000, the host name associated with the component name “send_to_folder α” is “server2.com”. Therefore, the component management unit 132A determines that the component related to the acquisition request is an external component.

  When it is determined that the component related to the component acquisition request is the external component, the component management unit 132A generates the external component cooperation component 1335 (step S2516).

  In this way, the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment generates the external component cooperation component 1335 when the component related to the component acquisition request is the external component.

  The component management unit 132A then returns the generated external component cooperation component 1335 to the flow execution unit 131A.

  The flow execution unit 131A requests the generated external component cooperation component 1335 to execute the process by designating the data (step S2517). The data type of the data specified here is "LocalFilePath".

  The external component cooperation component 1335 requests the type conversion management unit 134 to perform the type conversion (step S2518). Here, the type conversion request includes data and designation of “LocalFilePath” indicating a data type that the external component cooperation component 1335 can handle.

  The type conversion management unit 134 checks whether the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request matches the designated data type (step S2519). Here, since the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request is “LocalFilePath” and the designated data type is also “LocalFilePath”, it is determined that they match. Then, the type conversion management unit 134 transmits the data included in the type conversion request as it is to the external component cooperation component 1335 (step S2520).

  Upon receiving the data from the type conversion management unit 134, the external component cooperation component 1335 executes processing (step S2521). That is, the external component cooperation component 1335 requests the external component processing unit 410 of the external component management device 40 indicated by the host name “server2.com” to execute the process including the component name “send_to_folderα” and the data. The execution request also includes the optional parameter “? Type = service-b” indicating the storage service of the upload destination described above.

  Next, when the external component processing unit 410 receives a process execution request from the external component cooperation component 1335, the external component processing unit 410 executes the external component process according to the execution request (step S2522). Then, the external component processing unit 410 returns data indicating the processing result.

  Here, details of the processing in step S2522 described above will be described. FIG. 27 is a sequence diagram of an example of external component processing according to the third embodiment.

  First, the request receiving unit 411 receives a process execution request from the logic processing unit 130A (more specifically, the external component cooperation component 1335) (step S2701). The execution request includes the component name “send_to_folderα” of the external component, the data, and the optional parameter “? Type = service-b”.

  If the optional parameter is not specified in the processing content, the optional parameter is not included in the process execution request. The data type of the data included in the execution request is passed as "InputStream".

  Upon receiving the process execution request, the request reception unit 411 requests the component management unit 412 to acquire the external component having the component name “send_to_folderα” included in the execution request (step S2702).

  Upon receiving the acquisition request for the external component, the component management unit 412 generates a delivery α component 4131 corresponding to the component name “send_to_folderα” included in the acquisition request (step S2703). The distribution α component 4131 can be generated using the API for generating the component defined in the component common I / F 4130.

  Then, the component management unit 412 returns the generated distribution α component 4131 to the request reception unit 411. For example, the component management unit 412 returns to the request reception unit 411 the address on the memory (for example, RAM) where the distribution α component 4131 is expanded.

  The request receiving unit 411 requests the generated distribution α component 4131 to execute the process by designating the data (step S2704).

  Upon receiving the process execution request, the distribution α component 4131 requests the type conversion management unit 414 to perform type conversion (step S2705). Here, the type conversion request includes data and designation of “LocalFilePath” indicating a data type that can be handled by the delivery α component 4131.

  The type conversion management unit 414 checks whether or not the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request matches the designated data type (step S2706). Since the data type of the data included in the received type conversion request is "InputStream" and the specified data type is "LocalFilePath", it is determined that they do not match.

  Then, the type conversion management unit 414 refers to the type conversion table 6000 to specify the type conversion for converting “InputStream” into “LocalFilePath” (here, the first type conversion 4151 is specified). ), And the specified type conversion is generated (step S2707).

  Then, the type conversion management unit 414 requests the generated first type conversion 4151 to execute the type conversion process by designating the data (step S2708). Then, the first type conversion 4151 converts the data type of the designated data from "InputStream" to "LocalFilePath" (step S2709), and returns the converted data to the type conversion management unit 414.

  After that, the type conversion management unit 414 transmits the type-converted data to the distribution α component 4131 (step S2710).

  Upon receiving the data from the type conversion management unit 414, the distribution α component 4131 executes the process (step S2711). That is, in this embodiment, the distribution α component 4131 executes data distribution to the storage service B.

Incidentally, the distribution α component 4131, not through the storage service B cooperation unit 160 _2, to deliver data to the storage service B. Thus, unlike the internal component, the external component does not use the storage service cooperation unit 160 or the document service unit 150, but executes various processes such as distribution process and OCR process. However, the invention is not limited to this, and the external component may execute various processes by making a processing request to the storage service cooperation unit 160 or the document service unit 150, similarly to the internal component.

  Then, the distribution α component 4131 returns data indicating the processing result. As a result, the scan distribution service according to this embodiment is provided.

  In this way, the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment requests the external component management device 40 that manages the external component to execute the process when the process content includes the process executed by the external component. Then, the external component is executed in the external component management device 40 which is a device different from the service providing system 10.

  Therefore, for example, even if there are serious bugs or defects in an external component developed by a third vendor or the like, the effects of the bugs or defects can be localized in the external component management device 40. In other words, the service providing system 10 can continue to provide the service without being affected by a bug or a defect of the external component.

  In the present embodiment, the external component is managed by the external component management device 40. However, for example, after the quality of the external component is secured, the service providing system 10 manages the external component. May be.

≪Process creation process≫
Next, for example, a process in which a user such as a developer of the application information 1000 creates the processing content included in the application information 1000 will be described. FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram of an example of a process content creation process according to the third embodiment.

  First, the user of the image forming apparatus 20 uses the browser 210 to perform an operation for displaying a process content creation screen. Then, the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20 requests the processing content creation unit 122 to acquire the processing content creation screen (step S2801).

  The processing content creation unit 122 acquires a component list (for example, a list of component names) from the component management table 5000 and creates a processing content creation screen 7000 as shown in FIG. 29A (step S2802). . Then, the processing content creation unit 122 returns the created processing content creation screen 7000 to the browser 210.

  Here, the process content creation screen 7000 shown in FIG. 29A includes an application ID display field 7010, a component display field 7020, and a process content creation field 7030.

  The application ID display field 7010 displays the application ID of the application information 1000 including the processing content to be created. This application ID may be designated by the user in step S2801 described above, for example.

  In the component display field 7020, a list of icons (display components) indicating the respective components is displayed. A list of icons indicating such components is created based on the component names acquired from the component management table 5000. The processing content creation field 7030 is an area for the user to create processing content, and the processing content can be created by dragging and dropping an icon indicating a component included in the component display field 7020, for example.

  Here, it is assumed that the user uses the browser 210 to drag and drop the acquisition component and the print conversion β component included in the component display field 7020 to the processing content creation field 7030 in this order. Then, as shown in FIG. 29B, a flow diagram 7120 schematically showing the processing content is created in the processing content creation field 7110 of the processing content creation screen 7100. The flowchart 7120 shows the processing contents of executing the print conversion β component, which is an external component, after executing the acquisition component, which is an internal component.

  As a result, the processing content is created by the user. Moreover, at this time, the user can create the processing content without being aware of whether the component that executes the series of processing included in the processing content is an internal component or an external component. Therefore, the user can easily create the processing content.

  When the user creates the processing content, the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20 receives the created processing content (step S2803). Then, the browser 210 of the image forming apparatus 20 requests the processing content creation unit 122 to save the created processing content (step S2804). The save request includes the application ID and the processing content created by the user.

  When the processing content creation unit 122 of the service processing unit 110 receives the processing content storage request, it transfers the storage request to the application management unit 120A (step S2805). Next, when the application management unit 120A receives the processing content storage request, the application management unit 120A stores the processing content included in the storage request in the application information storage unit 190 in association with the application ID (step S2806). Then, the application management unit 120A returns the storage result. As a result, the processing content created by the user is stored in the application information storage unit 190.

<Summary>
As described above, according to the information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment, the service providing system 10 can provide the image forming apparatus 20 with a service linked with an external service. Further, the service providing system 10 can easily add / change the external service of the cooperation destination. Further, the service providing system 10 can easily add / change the service provided to the image forming apparatus 20 (that is, add / change the application information 1000). As a result, the service providing system 10 according to the first embodiment can reduce the number of man-hours required for development / maintenance associated with addition / change of service.

  Furthermore, according to the information processing system 1 according to the second embodiment, the service providing system 10 can provide the service even to the image forming apparatus 20 in which the browser 210 is not installed. Therefore, according to the service providing system 10 according to the second embodiment, it is possible to provide a service to various electronic devices that are not generally equipped with a browser.

  Further, according to the information processing system 1 according to the third embodiment, an external component developed by a third vendor or the like can be managed and executed by the external component management device 40 which is a device different from the service providing system 10. it can. As a result, for example, even when the quality of the external component is not sufficient, such as when the external component has a bug or a defect, it is possible to localize the effect of the bug or the defect in the external component management device 40.

  Therefore, according to the information processing system 1 according to the third embodiment, for example, the processing capability of the service providing system 10 is reduced or the service providing system 10 is stopped due to a bug or a defect of an external component. Can be prevented.

  The application information storage unit 190 is an example of a storage unit. The application management unit 120 is an example of a first transmission unit. The logic processing unit 130 is an example of a process executing unit.

  The present invention is not limited to the above specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

1 information processing system 10 service providing system 20 image forming apparatus 30 external storage system 110 service processing unit 120 application management unit 130 logic processing unit 131 flow execution unit 132 component management unit 133 component group 134 type conversion management unit 135 type conversion group 140 data I / F section 150 Document service section 151 OCR processing 152 Print conversion processing 160 Storage service cooperation section 170 File processing section 180 Data processing section 190 Application information storage section 1000 Application information 3000 type conversion table

JP, 2014-032659, A

Claims (14)

An information processing system including a plurality of programs, each of which includes one or more information processing devices and executes a predetermined process,
For each application that executes a series of processes using electronic data in cooperation with an external service, identification information for identifying the application, and information regarding a series of processes for executing the series of processes by combining the programs. A storage means for storing in association with
When a first request including the identification information is received from one of the one or more devices connected to the information processing system, whether the source of the first request is a browser or a client application. Determination means for determining
When the determination unit determines that the transmission source of the first request is a browser, HTML-format screen information for the browser installed in the one device to display a screen corresponding to the identification information. To the one device, and when the determination unit determines that the transmission source of the first request is a client application, the client application installed in the one device corresponds to the identification information. Transmitting means for transmitting information for displaying a screen to the one device in a general-purpose format,
Receiving means for receiving a second request including the identification information and information about electronic data used for the series of processes from the one device in response to an operation on the screen displayed on the one device. ,
The series of processes using electronic data based on the information regarding the electronic data included in the second request received by the receiving unit is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information included in the second request. An information processing system, comprising: a processing execution unit that executes a combination of one or more programs of the plurality of programs based on the stored information about the series of processes. The processing execution means,
Furthermore, it has one or more type conversion means for converting the data type of the electronic data into a predetermined data type,
The series of processes using the electronic data is combined with the one or more programs and the type conversion unit based on information about the series of processes, and the data type of the electronic data is determined by the type conversion unit. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the program is executed by executing a process after the program is converted into a predetermined data type that can be processed. The plurality of programs includes a program that executes a process related to an external service,
The program that executes the process related to the external service is
The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising at least a program that executes a process of uploading electronic data to an external service and a program that executes a process of downloading electronic data from the external service. An external service cooperation unit including a common API commonly defined for each of the external services and a unique API uniquely defined for each external service,
The program that executes the process related to the external service is
The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the common API or the unique API is used to execute a process related to the external service. The common API is an API for using a function commonly provided by all of the plurality of external services,
The information processing system according to claim 4, wherein the unique API is an API for utilizing a function provided by any one of the plurality of external services. The program that executes the process related to the external service is
The process relating to the external service is executed for the external service corresponding to the specified identification information by specifying the identification information of the external service in the variable part of the common API or the unique API. Information processing system described. The information processing system is connected to an external system having a plurality of external programs that respectively execute predetermined processes,
The processing execution means,
Executing the series of processes using the electronic data based on information about the series of processes by combining the one or more programs and the external program ,
7. The program is a program installed in advance in the information processing system, and the external program is a program managed by an external device connected to the information processing system via a communication network. The information processing system according to any one of 1. The processing execution means,
A determination unit that determines whether or not one process included in the series of processes is a process executed by the external program,
The information processing system according to claim 7, wherein when the determination unit determines that the one process is a process executed by the external program, the external system is requested to perform the process by the external program.   The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits a result of the series of processes executed by the process execution unit to the one device.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the application includes at least an application that uploads electronic data transmitted from the one device to the external service.   The information processing system according to claim 9, wherein the application includes at least an application that downloads electronic data accumulated in the external service and transmits the electronic data to the one device.   The information processing system according to claim 11, wherein the transmitting unit transmits the electronic data downloaded from the external service to the one device as a result of the series of processes. An information processing apparatus having a plurality of programs that respectively execute predetermined processes,
For each application that executes a series of processes using electronic data in cooperation with an external service, identification information for identifying the application, and information regarding a series of processes for executing the series of processes by combining the programs. A storage means for storing in association with
When the first request including the identification information is received from one of the one or more devices connected to the information processing device, the sender of the first request is a browser or a client application. Determination means for determining
When the determination unit determines that the transmission source of the first request is a browser, HTML-format screen information for the browser installed in the one device to display a screen corresponding to the identification information. To the one device, and when the determination unit determines that the transmission source of the first request is a client application, the client application installed in the one device corresponds to the identification information. Transmitting means for transmitting information for displaying a screen to the one device in a general-purpose format,
Receiving means for receiving a second request including the identification information and information about electronic data used for the series of processes from the one device in response to an operation on the screen displayed on the one device. ,
The series of processes using electronic data based on the information regarding the electronic data included in the second request received by the receiving unit is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information included in the second request. An information processing apparatus comprising: a processing execution unit that executes one or more programs of the plurality of programs in combination based on the stored information about the series of processing. An information processing system including a plurality of programs each of which executes one or more information processing apparatuses, each of which executes a predetermined process, wherein a series of processes using electronic data is executed for each application to be executed in cooperation with an external service. In an information processing method used in an information processing system having a storage unit that stores identification information for identifying an application and information related to a series of processes for executing the series of processes by combining the programs,
When a first request including the identification information is received from one of the one or more devices connected to the information processing system, whether the source of the first request is a browser or a client application. A determination procedure for determining
If it is determined by the determination procedure that the transmission source of the first request is a browser, screen information in HTML format for the browser installed in the one device to display a screen corresponding to the identification information. Is transmitted to the one device, and when it is determined by the determination procedure that the transmission source of the first request is a client application, the client application installed in the one device corresponds to the identification information. A transmission procedure for transmitting information for displaying a screen to the one device in a general-purpose format,
An acceptance procedure for accepting a second request including the identification information and information about electronic data used for the series of processes from the one device in response to an operation on the screen displayed on the one device. ,
The series of processes using electronic data based on the information about the electronic data included in the second request received by the receiving procedure is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information included in the second request. An information processing method, comprising: a process execution procedure of executing one or more programs of the plurality of programs in combination based on the stored information about the series of processes.

Images