JP7491004B2 - Information processing device, determination method, and program - Google Patents

Description

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

Patent document 1 discloses a technology in which, when switching between devices that use an external storage device, an application launched from an operation unit controls the switching of the external storage device, thereby switching the device that uses the external storage device at the timing of the application.

However, the technology for controlling the switching of external storage devices from an application allows the application to operate an API (Application Programming Interface) that controls the switching of external storage devices. This creates a problem in that when the currently displayed application is actually accessing the external storage device, it is possible for an unspecified application to switch the source of use.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide an information processing device, a determination method, and a program that enable safe use of an external storage device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the present invention comprises a connection unit to which an external storage device is connected, a display unit for displaying a screen, a detection unit for detecting that the screen displayed by the display unit has been switched, and a determination unit for determining, when the detection unit detects that the screen has been switched, that a device identified by the screen after the switch is a device that uses the external storage device, and the determination unit determines the device that uses the external storage device based on setting information in which a device that uses the external storage device is set for each screen .

The present invention has the effect of allowing external storage devices to be used safely.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an MFP according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the MFP. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the MFP. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the external storage device utilization destination information. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an operation procedure of the MFP of the present embodiment.

Below, an embodiment of the information processing device, decision method, and program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an MFP 1 according to an embodiment. The MFP 1 is an information processing device that includes an operation unit 940 that accepts various operations, and a main body unit 900 that executes processing corresponding to the operations accepted by the operation unit 940. The operation unit 940 and the main body unit 900 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via wire or wirelessly.

The MFP (Multifunction Peripheral/Product/Printer) 1 is an image forming device that has at least two of the following functions: copy function, printer function, scanner function, and facsimile function. Note that in this embodiment, an example is described in which the information processing device is applied to an image forming device that has at least two functions, but it may also be applied to image forming devices such as copiers, printers, scanner devices, and facsimile devices.

The operation unit 940 of the MFP 1 has an interface to which the external storage device 2 is connected. The external storage device 2 is a removable storage device such as a Secure Digital (SD) memory card or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory. The external storage device 2 is used by the operation unit 940 or the main body unit 900 depending on the state. Note that the interface is not limited to the operation unit 940, and may be provided by the main body unit 900.

The operation unit 940 uses the external storage device 2 in the following cases, for example.
When an image edited by the operation unit 940 is saved in the external storage device 2 When an application of the operation unit 940 is updated from the external storage device 2 When an email received by the operation unit 940 is saved in the external storage device 2 When the operation unit 940 displays an image file in the external storage device 2 When a log of the operation unit 940 is saved in the external storage device 2

The main body 900 uses the external storage device 2 in the following cases, for example.
When printing out a file in the external storage device 2 When saving a scanned image in the external storage device 2 When saving the self-diagnosis results of the main unit 900 in the external storage device 2 When updating an application of the main unit 900 from the external storage device 2

In this way, the external storage device 2 is used as a user source for the operation unit 940, main body unit 900, etc. Furthermore, an application that uses the external storage device 2 can switch the user source by an API (Application Programming Interface). Therefore, when an application of the operation unit 940 is using the external storage device 2, there is a possibility that an unspecified application may illegally switch the user source of the external storage device 2. Therefore, there is a demand for technology that allows the external storage device 2 to be used safely.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the MFP 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 1 includes a main body controller 910, a short-range communication circuit 920, an engine control unit 930, an operation unit 940, and a network I/F 950.

Of these, the main body controller 910 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 901, which is the main part of the computer, a MEM-P (system memory) 902, a NB (North Bridge) 903, a SB (South Bridge) 904, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 906, a MEM-C (local memory) 907, which is a memory unit, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) controller 908, and a HD (Hard Disk) 909, which is also a memory unit, and is configured such that the NB 903 and the ASIC 906 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 921.

Of these, the CPU 901 is a control unit that performs overall control of the main body 900. The NB 903 is a bridge that connects the CPU 901 with the MEM-P 902, the SB 904, and the AGP bus 921, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 902, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) master, and an AGP target.

The MEM-P 902 is made up of a ROM (Read Only Memory) 902a, which is memory for storing programs and data that realize the various functions of the main body controller 910, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 902b, which is used for expanding programs and data, and as a drawing memory during memory printing. The programs stored in the ROM 902a may be provided by recording them in an installable or executable format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, or DVD.

The SB904 is a bridge for connecting the NB903 to PCI devices and peripheral devices. The ASIC906 is an integrated circuit (IC) for image processing applications that has hardware elements for image processing, and serves as a bridge connecting the AGP bus 921, the PCI bus 922, the HDD controller 908, and the MEM-C907. The ASIC906 is made up of a PCI target and an AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that is the core of the ASIC906, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C907, a number of DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) that rotate image data using hardware logic, and a PCI unit that transfers data between the scanner unit 931 and the printer unit 932 via the PCI bus 922. The ASIC906 may be connected to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface or an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394 (IEEE1394) interface.

MEM-C907 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and a code buffer. HD909 is a storage for storing image data, font data used during printing, and forms. HD909 controls the reading and writing of data from and to HD909 under the control of CPU901. AGP bus921 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed to speed up graphic processing, and by directly accessing MEM-P902 with high throughput, the graphics accelerator card can be made faster.

The short-range communication circuit 920 also includes an antenna 920a. The short-range communication circuit 920 is a communication circuit such as NFC or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

Furthermore, the engine control unit 930 is composed of a scanner unit 931 and a printer unit 932.

The operation unit 940 includes a CPU 941, a RAM 942, a ROM 943, a storage unit 944, and a connection unit 945. The CPU 941 controls the entire operation unit 940. The ROM 943 is a memory for storing programs and data that realize the various functions of the CPU 941. The RAM 942 is used for expanding programs and data, and as a drawing memory during memory printing. The storage unit 944 is a storage such as a flash memory that stores programs and other data. The connection unit 945 is an interface to which the external storage device 2 is connected.

The operation unit 940 also includes a panel display unit 940a such as a touch panel that displays current settings and a selection screen and receives input from the operator, and an operation panel 940b consisting of a numeric keypad that receives settings for image formation conditions such as density settings and a start key that receives a copy start command. The main body controller 910 controls the entire MFP1, and controls, for example, drawing, communication, and input from the operation unit 940. The scanner unit 931 or printer unit 932 includes an image processing unit that performs error diffusion, gamma conversion, and the like.

The MFP1 can sequentially switch between the document box function, copy function, printer function, and facsimile function using the application switching key on the operation unit 940. When the document box function is selected, the MFP1 enters document box mode, when the copy function is selected, the MFP1 enters copy mode, when the printer function is selected, the MFP1 enters printer mode, and when the facsimile mode is selected, the MFP1 enters facsimile mode.

The network I/F 950 is an interface for data communication using the communication network 100. The short-range communication circuit 920 and the network I/F 950 are electrically connected to the ASIC 906 via the PCI bus 922.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of MFP1.

The operation unit 940 includes an operation unit controller 9400 that controls the operation unit 940. The operation unit controller 9400 includes an OS 9401, a display application 9402, a communication control unit 9403, a screen display control unit 9404, an external storage device switching unit 9405, and an external storage device control unit 9406.

The OS 9401 is basic software for providing basic functions for controlling the hardware of the operation unit 940. For example, the OS 9401 is Android (registered trademark).

The display application 9402 displays a screen on the panel display unit 940a. The display application 9402 is an Android (registered trademark) application that displays and executes image files stored in the external storage device 2. The display application 9402 has external storage device usage destination information 9402a.

Here, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the external storage device destination information 9402a. The external storage device destination information 9402a is setting information in which a device that uses the external storage device 2 is set for each screen of the display application 9402. For example, the external storage device destination information 9402a is an Android (registered trademark) Manifest file. In the external storage device destination information 9402a, destination information indicating a destination device that uses the external storage device 2 is set for each screen. Also, if a destination is not set in the external storage device destination information 9402a, the destination that uses the external storage device 2 is the operation unit 940.

Returning to FIG. 3, the CPU 941 of the operation unit 940 executes a program stored in the memory unit 944 to realize a communication control unit 9403, a screen display control unit 9404, an external storage device switching unit 9405, and an external storage device control unit 9406. Note that the communication control unit 9403, the screen display control unit 9404, the external storage device switching unit 9405, and the external storage device control unit 9406 may be realized in hardware by a dedicated processor provided in the operation unit 940.

The communication control unit 9403 controls the exchange of operation data between the operation unit 940 and the main body unit 900. The communication control unit 9403 executes data communication via a communication device such as a USB, serial, wired, or wireless LAN.

The screen display control unit 9404 detects that the screen displayed by the panel display unit 940a has been switched. When the screen display control unit 9404 detects that the screen has been switched, the screen display control unit 9404 determines that the device specified by the switched screen is the device that uses the external storage device 2. More specifically, the screen display control unit 9404 determines the device that uses the external storage device 2 based on the external storage device usage information 9402a, in which the device that uses the external storage device 2 for each screen is set. In other words, the screen display control unit 9404 determines for each screen whether the operation unit 940 or the main body unit 900 will use the external storage device 2.

Furthermore, if a device that uses the external storage device 2 for the switched screen is not set in the external storage device usage information 9402a, the screen display control unit 9404 determines a previously set device as the device that uses the external storage device 2. Specifically, if a device that uses the external storage device 2 is not set in the external storage device usage information 9402a, the screen display control unit 9404 determines the operation unit 940 as the device that uses the external storage device 2. Note that the screen display control unit 9404 may determine the main unit 900 as the device that uses the external storage device 2, not limited to the operation unit 940.

The external storage device switching unit 9405 switches the use of the external storage device 2 based on the decision of the screen display control unit 9404. That is, when the external storage device 2 is currently being used by the operation unit 940, the external storage device switching unit 9405 switches the use of the external storage device 2 to the main unit 900. Also, when the external storage device 2 is currently being used by the main unit 900, the external storage device switching unit 9405 switches the use of the external storage device 2 to the operation unit 940.

The external storage device control unit 9406 controls the connection unit 945 to connect the external storage device 2 so that the external storage device 2 can communicate with the external storage device 2. More specifically, the external storage device control unit 9406 detects the insertion (attachment)/removal of the external storage device 2, and executes reading and writing of data from and to the external storage device 2.

The main body unit 900 includes a main body controller 910 that controls the main body unit 900. The main body controller 910 includes an OS 9101, a communication control unit 9102, and a print control unit 9103.

The OS 9101 is basic software for providing basic functions that control the hardware of the main body unit 900. For example, the OS 9101 is Linux (registered trademark). In this way, the main body unit 900 has a different type of OS 9101 from that of the operation unit 940.

The CPU 901 of the main body 900 executes a program stored in the HD 909 to realize a communication control unit 9102 and a print control unit 9103. The communication control unit 9102 and the print control unit 9103 may be realized in hardware by a dedicated processor provided in the main body 900.

The communication control unit 9102 controls the exchange of operation data between the operation unit 940 and the main body unit 900. The communication control unit 9102 executes data communication via a communication device such as a USB, serial, wired, or wireless LAN.

The print control unit 9103 controls the printer unit 932 to print various images.

Next, we will explain the processing performed by MFP1.

Figure 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation procedure of the MFP1 of this embodiment.

The display application 9402 switches the screen to be displayed on the panel display unit 940a (step S1). The display application 9402 notifies the user that the screen has been switched (step S2).

The screen display control unit 9404 detects that the screen has been switched (step S3).

The screen display control unit 9404 provides screen information indicating the screen after switching to the external storage device usage information 9402a (step S4).

The screen display control unit 9404 obtains the usage information associated with the screen information from the external storage device usage information 9402a (step S5).

The screen display control unit 9404 compares the current destination of use with the destination of use indicated by the acquired destination of use information (step S6). As a result, the screen display control unit 9404 determines whether the destinations of use being compared are the same.

If the current destination of use differs from the destination of use indicated by the acquired destination of use information, the screen display control unit 9404 requests a change of destination of use (step S7).

The external storage device switching unit 9405 switches the destination of use of the external storage device 2 (step S8). That is, the external storage device switching unit 9405 switches the destination of use of the external storage device 2.

This completes the process on MFP1.

As described above, in the MFP 1 according to this embodiment, the external storage device usage information 9402a specifies which of the main unit 900 and the operation unit 940 will use the external storage device 2. When the screen displayed on the panel display unit 940a is switched, the MFP 1 determines the device specified by the switched screen as the device that will use the external storage device 2. In this way, the MFP 1 determines the usage destination of the external storage device 2 according to the displayed screen. This reduces the possibility that the usage source of the external storage device 2 will be illegally switched by an unspecified application. This allows the MFP 1 to use the external storage device 2 safely. Furthermore, if the usage destination of the external storage device 2 is defined for each screen, the MFP 1 automatically switches the usage destination, making it easier to process applications.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and the components can be modified and embodied in the implementation stage without departing from the gist of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be created by appropriate combinations of the multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments.

The programs executed by each device of the MFP1 of this embodiment are provided in the form of installable or executable files recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, or DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

The programs executed by each device of the MFP1 of this embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by downloading them via the network. The programs executed by each device of this embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

The programs executed by the MFP1 of this embodiment may also be configured to be provided pre-installed in a ROM or the like.

1. MFP
2 External storage device 900 Main unit 910 Main unit controller 940 Operation unit 945 Connection unit 9400 Operation unit controller 9401 OS
9402 Display application 9402a External storage device usage destination information 9403 Communication control unit 9404 Screen display control unit 9405 External storage device switching unit 9406 External storage device control unit 9101 OS
9102 Communication control unit 9103 Print control unit

JP 2014-155138 A

Claims (4)

a connection section to which an external storage device is connected;
A display unit that displays a screen;
A detection unit that detects when a screen displayed by the display unit is changed;
a determination unit that, when the detection unit detects the switching of the screen, determines that a device identified by the switched screen is a device that uses the external storage device;
Equipped with
the determination unit determines a device that uses the external storage device based on setting information in which a device that uses the external storage device is set for each screen.
Information processing device. when a device that uses the external storage device for the screen after switching is not set in the setting information, the determination unit determines a previously set device as the device that uses the external storage device.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . A method for determining a device that uses an external storage device in an information processing device that includes a connection unit to which an external storage device is connected and a display unit that displays a screen, comprising:
a detection step of detecting that a screen displayed by the display unit has been changed;
a determination step of determining, when the switching of the screen is detected by the detection step, a device identified by the switched screen as a device that uses the external storage device;
having
In the determination step, a device that uses the external storage device is determined based on setting information in which a device that uses the external storage device is set for each screen.
How to decide. Computer,
a connection section to which an external storage device is connected;
A display unit that displays a screen;
A detection unit that detects when a screen displayed by the display unit is changed;
a determination unit that, when the detection unit detects the switching of the screen, determines that a device identified by the switched screen is a device that uses the external storage device;
and make it work .
the determination unit determines a device that uses the external storage device based on setting information in which a device that uses the external storage device is set for each screen.
program.

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