JP7171685B2 - Information processing device, information processing method and program - Google Patents

Description

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

A method has been proposed for backing up data of a multifunction device to another multifunction device on a network and executing backup and recovery without using a storage such as a server (see Patent Document 1).
A method has been proposed for determining whether to continue recovery processing based on a flag indicating whether or not data recovery is in progress (see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-230617 JP 2015-156075 A

While the administrator of the multifunction device is executing data recovery processing from data replicated to another multifunction device on the network, another user momentarily interrupts the network or power of the multifunction device during data recovery. In this case, the recovery process ends while it is in progress. It is common to carry out automatic recovery processing using a flag indicating whether or not data recovery is in progress at the time of restart. However, if the process was only halfway through receiving data from another multifunction device when the power was turned off last time, and the recovery data is received after the restart, the network resources and processing resources of the multifunction device will be affected. consumes As a result, there is a possibility that the user's use of the MFP will be affected. Therefore, it is desirable to re-receive the recovery data when the user is not using the MFP.
On the other hand, if an error occurs while registering the received recovery data in the database of the device itself after receiving the recovery data, the content of the database of the device itself will be out of sync. There is a possibility that If the device is used in such a state, the device may operate with setting values unintended by the user, or the device may malfunction. Therefore, in such a case, it is desirable to be able to start using the device after completing the registration of the recovery data in the database.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a receiving process for receiving restoration data for restoring setting data managed by the information processing apparatus through a network, and a process managed by the information processing apparatus based on the received restoration data. The information processing apparatus performs a recovery process including at least a reflection process of reflecting the setting data in the received recovery data, and the recovery process is interrupted during the reception process of the recovery data. and when performing automatic recovery from a state in which the power has been cut off during recovery, deletion means for deleting the recovery data held in the holding means, and reflection processing of the recovery data after receiving the recovery data. If the recovery process is interrupted at this time and automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the power is cut off during recovery, the information processing device is operated based on the recovery data held in the holding means without performing the reception process. and a control means for re-executing a reflection process to reflect the setting data under management.

According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately restore synchronization of data without affecting the user.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration|structure of a data synchronization system. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of functional structures, such as a data management application. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting screen. It is a figure which shows an example of functional structures, such as a replication application. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting screen. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of recovery processing; 5 is a flowchart showing an example of restart processing according to the first embodiment; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of restart processing according to the second embodiment; FIG. 7 is a flowchart (part 1) showing an example of display processing; FIG. 11 is a diagram (part 1) showing an example of an error message; 10 is a flowchart (part 2) showing an example of display processing; FIG. 2 is a diagram (2) showing an example of an error message;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a data synchronization system. A plurality of MFPs 110 are connected to the network 100 and can communicate with each other. One of the multifunction machines 110 is equipped with a server function 120 (in the example of FIG. 1, it is installed in the multifunction machine 110a), and can communicate with the multifunction machine 110 including its own device via the network 100. is. The server function 120 of the MFP 110 a manages various setting data of the MFP 110 . The MFP 110a replicates various setting data managed by the server function 120 to one or both of the MFPs 110b and 110c. Replication is to create a duplicate (replica) of exactly the same content as certain data on another device and synchronize the content.
The MFP 110 participates in the data synchronization system by registering the MFP 110 in the server function 120 . In the data synchronization system, when a change occurs in data due to user operation or execution of processing such as copy/facsimile, the multifunction device 110 transmits the content of the change to the server function 120 and requests data update. In addition, the multi-function device 110 inquires whether or not the data managed by the server function 120 is updated, periodically or as needed, acquires updated data if any, and stores it in the multi-function device 110 .
Although the server function operates on the MFP 110a, the server function may operate on another device such as a PC. Also, the client may be a device other than the MFP 110, such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a PC, station service equipment, and the like. Also, some setting data in the MFP 110 are described as examples of data to be managed, but the type of setting data is not limited to this. The MFP 110 is an example of an information processing device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 110. As shown in FIG. The MFP 110 includes a controller unit 200 , an operation section 220 , a scanner 230 and a printer 240 . The controller unit 200 is connected to an operation section 220, a scanner 230 as an image input device, and a printer 240 as an image output device.
More specifically, the controller unit 200 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 202 . The CPU 202 activates an OS (Operating System) program by means of a boot program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 206 and implements the functions of the OS. The controller unit 200 executes an application program stored in a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 205 on this OS and implements the functions of the application. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 203 is used as a work area for the CPU 202 . The HDD 205 stores application programs and various data.
An operation unit I/F 201 , a device I/F 204 , a network 207 , and an image processing 208 are connected to the CPU 202 via a system bus 210 along with a ROM 206 and a RAM 203 .
An operation unit I/F 201 is an interface with an operation unit 220 having a touch panel. The operation unit I/F 201 transmits information such as various data to be displayed on the operation unit 220 and information input by the user to the CPU 202 . A scanner 230 and a printer 240 are connected to the device I/F 204 to input/output data and control signals. The network 207 is connected to the network 100 and inputs and outputs information to and from each device on the network 100 via the network 100 . Image processing 208 performs processing such as input image processing from a scanner, output image processing to a multifunction machine, image rotation, image compression, resolution conversion, color space conversion, and gradation conversion.
The functions of the data management server application 300 and data management unit 310 shown in FIG. . Further, the CPU 202 of the multi-function device 110a executes processing based on the application programs and the like stored in the HDD 205, thereby realizing processing of flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 described later. The data management server application is hereinafter simply referred to as the data management application.
The CPUs 202 of the MFPs 110b and 110c execute processing based on application programs and the like stored in the respective HDDs 205, thereby realizing client-side functions shown in FIG. 3 and functions shown in FIG. That is, the functions of the data synchronization client 320, the replication server application 500, and the data management unit 510 are implemented. The CPUs 202 of the MFPs 110b and 110c execute processing based on application programs and the like stored in the respective HDDs 205, thereby realizing the processing of the flow chart of FIG. 12, which will be described later. The replication server application is hereinafter simply referred to as the replication application.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the data management application 300 and the like.
The data management application 300 includes a transmission/reception section 301 , a control section 302 , an analysis section 303 , a data processing section 304 and a display control section 305 . A transmission/reception unit 301 receives a processing request from the MFP 110 via the network 207 and transmits a result. The control unit 302 controls the entire data management application 300 . The analysis unit 303 analyzes the request received by the transmission/reception unit 301 . The data processing unit 304 exchanges with the data management unit 310 according to the processing request received by the transmission/reception unit 301 to create/update/delete/reference data. The display control unit 305 executes control related to screen display based on the control of the control unit 302 . For example, the display control unit 305 generates a screen shown in FIG. 4, which will be described later, and displays information in response to a request from an information processing device such as a PC connected to the multifunction machine 110a having a server function via a network. Execute processing for displaying on the web browser of the processing device. The data management unit 310 manages setting data and the like of the MFP 110 . Data managed by the data management unit 310 is stored in the HDD 205, the RAM 203, or the like. An information processing device such as a PC connected via a network to the multifunction machine 110a having a server function is an example of another information processing device.
The data synchronization client 320 transmits and receives data to and from the data management application 300 that implements the server function 120 via the network 207 .
The data management application 300 manages “device basic data”, “device setting data”, and “personalized data” among the setting data of the MFP 110 . "Device basic data" is data relating to information as a device such as the device identification number and version of the multifunction machine 110 registered in the data synchronization system. “Device setting data” is data related to device settings such as network settings of the MFP 110 and settings related to the operation of the MFP. “Personalized data” is data such as a display language and shortcut buttons registered as personal data by the user using the multifunction device 110 . The data management application 300 stores these setting data in the database (DB) of the data management unit 310, and replicates the DB of the data management unit 310 to one of the MFPs 110b and 110c.
In the following description, it is assumed that the data management application 300 is operating as the server function 120 of the MFP 110a. Further, the replication application 500 can be operated regardless of whether the data synchronization client 320 is operating on the MFPs 110b and 110c.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for replicating the DB of the data management application 300 to another MFP 110. As shown in FIG. The setting screen shown in FIG. 4 is generated by the display control unit 305 of the data management application 300 and displayed on the web browser of the information processing apparatus such as a PC connected via the network to the multifunction machine 110a having the server function. . Instructions, information, and the like set through the setting screen are received by the control unit 302 through the display control unit 305 or the transmission/reception unit 301 .
In the input field of the replication destination setting 401, the address of the MFP 110 to be the replication destination, the access user name and password for authentication when replicating to the MFP 110, and the time interval for executing replication are set. Upon receiving information indicating that the replication start button 402 has been selected, the control unit 302 instructs execution of replication.
Upon receiving the replication instruction, the data processing unit 304 acquires initial data for replication of data managed by the data management unit 310 . Then, the control unit 302 transmits the initial data for replication from the transmission/reception unit 301 to the replication application 500 . After that, the data management unit 310 starts managing the change difference of the data to be managed, and makes it possible to identify the change difference data after the initial data. The data management unit 310 receives an acquisition request for replication difference data from the data processing unit 304 triggered by the passage of a certain period of time or a certain number of data updates, and generates replication difference data from the change difference data. The initial data for replication and the differential data for replication may be files such as DB files, or may be data in a dedicated log format.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the replication application 500 and the like. The replication application 500 includes a transmission/reception unit 501 , a control unit 502 , an analysis unit 503 , a data processing unit 504 and a display control unit 505 . The transmitting/receiving unit 501 receives processing from the MFP 110 on which the data management application 300 operates, and transmits results via the network 207 . A control unit 502 controls the entire replication application 500 . Analysis unit 503 analyzes the request received by transmission/reception unit 501 . The data processing unit 504 exchanges with the data management unit 510 according to the processing request received by the transmission/reception unit 501 to create/update/delete/reference data. The display control unit 505 displays a screen on the operation unit 220 of the MFP 110 under the control of the control unit 502 and passes information input through the screen to the control unit 502 . Data managed by the data management unit 510 is saved in the HDD 205, the RAM 203, or the like.
The replication application 500 receives replication data from the data management application 300 via the transmission/reception unit 501 . Then, the control unit 502 instructs the analysis unit 503 to analyze the received replication data. If the received replication data is replication initial data based on the analysis result of the analysis unit 503, the control unit 502 commands the data processing unit 504 to perform initial data reflection processing. Further, when the analysis result of the analysis unit 503 indicates replication difference data, the control unit 502 instructs the data processing unit 504 to perform difference data reflection processing. By the data processing unit 504 executing the initial data reflection processing and the difference data reflection processing, the data managed by the data management unit 510 becomes the same as that of the data management application 300 .

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for performing replication recovery processing from the replication DB of another multifunction device 110 to the DB of the data management application 300. As shown in FIG. The setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is generated by the display control unit 305 of the data management application 300 and displayed on a web browser of an information processing device such as a PC connected via a network to the multifunction machine 110a having a server function. . Instructions, information, and the like set through the setting screen are received by the control unit 302 through the display control unit 305 or the transmission/reception unit 301 .
In the input field of the replication destination setting 601, the address of the MFP 110 to be the replication destination, and the access user name and password for authentication when requesting replication restoration data to the MFP 110 are set. Upon receiving information indicating that the replication recovery button 602 has been selected, the control unit 302 instructs execution of replication recovery processing.

Processing executed by the data management application 300 when restoration of replication is instructed from the setting screen shown in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Description will be made assuming that the address of the multifunction device 110b is input as the address of the replication destination setting 601, but this may be the address of the multifunction device 110c.
In S701, the control unit 302 stops data synchronization processing in order to prevent access to the data management unit 310 from others, and shifts the processing to S702. By this process, the server stops synchronizing with the data synchronization client 320 .
In S702, the control unit 302 confirms connection to the MFP 110b via the transmission/reception unit 301. FIG.
In S703, the control unit 302 determines whether or not the response has been received. If the response has been received (YES in S703), the control unit 302 proceeds to S704, and if the response has not been received (NO in S703), the processing proceeds to S707.
In S<b>704 , the control unit 302 generates authentication information using the access user name and password entered in the input fields of the replication destination setting 601 . Then, the control unit 302 transmits the authentication information to the MFP 110b via the transmission/reception unit 301, and requests verification of the authentication information.

In S705, the control unit 302 determines whether the verification is successful based on the verification result from the MFP 110b. If the verification is successful (YES in S705), the control unit 302 shifts the process to S706, and if the verification fails (NO in S705), shifts the process to S707.
In S707, the control unit 302 notifies that replication cannot be restored.
In S706, the control unit 302 requests recovery data from the MFP 110b. In the replication application 500 running on the MFP 110b, when the transmission/reception unit 501 receives the request, the control unit 502 processes the replication data stored in the data management unit 510 to generate restoration data. More specifically, the control unit 502 saves data that has undergone compression processing and encryption processing to reduce the file size as recovery data. After that, the control unit 502 transmits the recovery data to the transmission/reception unit 301 of the data management application 300 on the multifunction peripheral 110a via the transmission/reception unit 501 and the network 100. FIG. The control unit 302 receives replication restoration data via the transmission/reception unit 301 and stores it as a restoration data file.
In S708, the control unit 302 processes the received temporary file of the recovery data to generate internal data. More specifically, since the received recovery data file is an encrypted file, the recovery data file is decrypted, and the decrypted file is generated as internal data.
In S<b>709 , the control unit 302 performs processing for reflecting the internal data in the DB saved in the HDD 205 . More specifically, since the internal data decoded in S708 is compressed data, the control unit 302 decompresses the internal data and overwrites the DB stored in the HDD 205 .
In S710, the control unit 302 performs a process of deleting the temporary data (restoration data file and internal data) for which the process has ended.
In S711, the control unit 302 resumes the data synchronization processing with the data synchronization client 320 stopped in S701, and after the data synchronization processing ends, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 ends.

If power to the MFP 110a is turned off during execution of the replication process shown in FIG. 7, the replication process is interrupted during the process of the flowchart. For example, in S706, if the process is interrupted by power failure of the MFP 110a, the recovery data file is partially saved in the HDD 205 of the MFP 110a. Then, the DB data saved in the HDD 205 is in the state before execution of replication restoration. Further, for example, if the power supply of the MFP 110a is interrupted during the processing of S708 and S709, all of the recovery data files are saved in the HDD 205 of the MFP 110a, and the internal data is partially saved. . Further, for example, if the process is interrupted in S709, the DB data saved in the HDD 205 of the MFP 110a may be corrupted, or only part of the data may be stored, resulting in an inconsistent state. put away. Therefore, there is a possibility that the data in the data synchronization client 320 will also be overwritten in a state in which inconsistency has occurred.

The process of automatically recovering from a state in which the power is cut off during recovery as described above in the data management application 300 of the MFP 110a will be described below with reference to FIG. The processing in FIG. 8 is executed by the CPU 202 of the MFP 110a when the data management application 300 of the MFP 110a is started.
In S801, the control unit 302 determines whether or not the replication restoration process was interrupted during reception (during the process of S706). If the replication recovery process is interrupted during reception (YES in S801), the control unit 302 shifts the process to S802, and if the replication recovery process is not interrupted during reception (NO in S801), S803 to process. More specifically, the control unit 302 determines whether or not the processing was interrupted during reception because the recovery data file was saved in the HDD 205 and the internal data was not saved.
In S802, the control unit 302 deletes the recovery data file saved in the HDD 205, and ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. The processing of S802 is an example of deletion processing for deleting the received recovery data when the recovery processing is interrupted while the recovery data is being received.
In S803, the control unit 302 determines whether or not replication recovery processing was interrupted during data reflection (during the processing of S708 and S709). The control unit 302 shifts the process to S804 if interrupted during data reflection (YES in S803), and ends the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 if it was not interrupted during data reflection (NO in S803). do. More specifically, the control unit 302 determines whether or not replication recovery processing was interrupted during data reflection because both the recovery data file and the internal data are saved in the HDD 205 .
In S804, the control unit 302 stops data synchronization processing in order to prevent access to the data management unit 310 from others, and shifts the processing to S805.
In S805, the control unit 302 executes recovery processing from processing for generating internal data from the saved recovery data file. The processing contents of S805 are the same as the processing of S709, S710, and S711 in FIG. The processing of S805 is an example of control processing for executing recovery processing based on the received recovery data when the recovery processing is interrupted while the recovery data is being reflected after receiving the recovery data.

According to the processing of the first embodiment, if the power of the MFP 110a is cut off during communication of recovery data during replication recovery processing, the recovery processing is not executed again at the next startup. As a result, it is possible to start data synchronization in the state before execution of recovery without degrading the performance of basic functions such as the print function when the multifunction machine 110a is started.

<Embodiment 2>
In the second embodiment, the process of displaying a message to the user when the replication recovery process is interrupted while the recovery data is being received in the data management application 300 of the MFP 110a will be described.
In the second embodiment, when the data management application 300 of the MFP 110a is activated, the process of automatically recovering from the power-off state during recovery will be described with reference to FIG.
In S<b>901 , the control unit 302 determines whether or not replication recovery processing has been interrupted during reception (during processing in S<b>706 ). If the replication recovery process is interrupted during reception (YES in S901), the control unit 302 shifts the process to S902, and if the replication recovery process is not interrupted during reception (NO in S901), S803 to process. More specifically, the control unit 302 determines whether the processing was interrupted during reception because the recovery data file was saved in the HDD 205 and the internal data was not saved.
In S902, the control unit 302 turns ON a flag for displaying an error screen at the time of recovery. More specifically, the control unit 302 creates a file indicating a flag for displaying an error screen in the HDD 205 of the multifunction peripheral 110a. The processing of S902 is an example of storage processing for storing setting information for displaying an error screen. Also, the file indicating the flag is an example of setting information for displaying an error screen.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of the process executed when displaying the setting screen for the replication recovery process of the data management application 300 of the MFP 110a.
In S1001, the control unit 302 determines whether the error screen display flag is ON. If the control unit 302 is OFF (NO in S1001), it ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, and if it is ON (YES in S1001), the processing proceeds to S1002.
In S1002, the display control unit 305 generates a screen displaying an error message prompting the user to re-execute the recovery process. Then, the display control unit 305 executes processing for displaying a screen on a web browser of an information processing apparatus such as a PC connected via a network to the MFP 110a having a server function. A dialog 1101 in FIG. 11 is an example of a message displayed in S1002. The processing of S1002 is an example of display control processing for generating an error screen.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of screen display processing that is executed when recovery processing of the replication application 500 of the MFP 110b is interrupted during transmission.
In S1201, the control unit 502 determines whether or not the recovery process was interrupted during transmission. If the recovery process was interrupted during transmission (YES in S1201), control unit 502 proceeds to S1202, and if the recovery process was not interrupted during transmission (NO in S1201), the flow chart shown in FIG. end the processing of
In S1202, the display control unit 505 causes the operation unit 220 of the MFP 110b to display a screen containing a message indicating that replication recovery could not be performed correctly during recovery. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the screen of the operation unit 220 of the MFP 110b.

According to the processing of the second embodiment, it is possible to display a message to the user when the replication recovery processing is interrupted while the recovery data is being received or transmitted.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium. It can also be realized by a process in which one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail above, the invention is not limited to such specific embodiments.
Although replication has been described as an example in the first and second embodiments, the same applies to backup processing. Also, the replication processing is described assuming replication by periodically reflecting difference data, but other methods may be used.

As described above, according to the processing of each embodiment described above, the automatic recovery of replication can prevent the resources of the multifunction peripheral from being greatly consumed at a timing unintended by the administrator user. Also, even if an error occurs during recovery processing, it is possible to prevent the database of the apparatus from remaining inconsistent.
Therefore, the data synchronization can be appropriately restored without affecting the user.

110 MFP 202 CPU
220 operation part

Claims (8)

Reception processing for receiving restoration data for restoring setting data managed by an information processing device via a network, and reflecting the received restoration data in the setting data managed by the information processing device The information processing device that performs recovery processing including at least reflection processing,
holding means for holding the received recovery data;
a deletion means for deleting the recovery data held in the holding means when the recovery process is interrupted during the reception process of the recovery data and automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the power is cut off during the recovery ;
After receiving the recovery data, when the recovery process is interrupted during the reflection process of the recovery data and automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the power supply was interrupted during recovery, the holding means does not perform the reception process. a control means for re-executing a reflection process for reflecting the restoration data held in the information processing device to the setting data managed by the information processing device;
An information processing device comprising: further comprising a first determination means for determining, when the information processing apparatus is started, whether or not recovery processing was interrupted during reception of recovery data at the time of the previous power failure;
2. The deleting means deletes the received recovery data when the first determination means determines that the recovery process was interrupted during the reception of the recovery data at the time of the previous power failure. The information processing device according to . a second determination means for determining, at startup of the information processing apparatus, whether recovery data has been received at the time of the previous power failure and recovery processing has been interrupted during reflection of the recovery data; ,
When it is determined by the second determination means that the recovery data has been received at the time of the previous power failure and that the recovery process has been interrupted while the recovery data is being reflected, the control means determines that the received recovery data 3. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recovery process based on is executed. 4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said recovery data is data relating to settings of said information processing apparatus. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising reading means for reading an image or image forming means for forming an image. A system including a first information processing device and a second information processing device for synchronizing data,
The first information processing device receives, from the second information processing device via a network, restoration data for restoring setting data managed by the first information processing device; An information processing device that performs recovery processing including at least a reflection process of reflecting the received recovery data to setting data managed by the first information processing device,
holding means for holding the received recovery data;
a deletion means for deleting the recovery data held in the holding means when the recovery process is interrupted during the reception process of the recovery data and automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the power is cut off during the recovery ;
After receiving the recovery data, when the recovery process is interrupted during the reflection process of the recovery data and automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the power supply was interrupted during recovery, the holding means does not perform the reception process. a control means for re-executing a reflection process for reflecting the restoration data held in the information processing device to the setting data managed by the information processing device;
A system characterized by comprising: Reception processing for receiving restoration data for restoring setting data managed by an information processing device via a network, and reflecting the received restoration data in the setting data managed by the information processing device An information processing method executed by the information processing device that performs recovery processing including at least reflection processing,
a holding step of holding the received recovery data;
a deletion step of deleting the recovery data held in the holding step when automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the recovery process is interrupted during the recovery data reception process and the power is cut off during recovery ;
After receiving the recovery data, when the recovery process is interrupted during the reflection process of the recovery data and automatic recovery is performed from a state in which the power supply was cut off during recovery, the holding step is performed without performing the reception process. a control step of re-executing a reflection process to reflect the setting data managed by the information processing device based on the restoration data held in;
An information processing method characterized by having A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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