JPH05258027A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To specify an application to be permited to make interruption, and further, to permit only the application of higher priority than processing in the course of execution to make the interruption in the case that plural applications execute a job coorperatively in a client server system to handle a picture. CONSTITUTION:In the processor consisting of plural applications 22a, ... to request the processing of the picture, and picture processing servers 21a, ...connected to these applications 22a, ... directly or through a communication line 2 and to control plural picture input/output machines and execute the processing of the picture in response to a request from the application 22a, ...by using these machines, it is checked whether the request is permitted to make the interruption or not, or the priorities of the jobs are compared with each other, and if the priority of the job of a requesting source is higher, an interruption job is executed in the case of the interruption for the job.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus in which a plurality of applications jointly use an image processing server to perform image processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, many systems utilize a server / client method to perform processing. The server-client system is a system in which a server and a client connected via one computer or via a communication line such as a LAN exchange information and proceed with processing. For example, engineering workstation EW
It is used by S.

A system in which such a server-client system is adopted and a plurality of clients use one server is often used. The client is an application program or application. The work is not done only by the application, but by asking the server for a small and commonly used work called a job. In other words, the application configures some of its tasks with jobs,
Perform jobs by requesting jobs from the server.

An example of this is JP-A-2-231626.
The server / client method is shown in the issue. This server controls a bitmap display which is a display device. Then, the client is shown to receive the information from the server to perform the work.

When such a client / server system is adopted and a plurality of applications cooperate to perform business, there are cases where it is desired to specify an application that allows interrupts.

For example, when an application of a group performing a certain collaborative work is permitted to be interrupted but interruption from another group is not permitted, interruption from a specific node or user is not permitted. is there. In such a case, the conventional method cannot cope.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, the present invention eliminates the drawback that it is not possible to specify an application that allows interrupts when a plurality of applications work in cooperation. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that can specify an interrupt-allowed application when the applications cooperate with each other, and can only allow the interrupt to an application having a higher priority than the processing being executed. And

[0008]

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of control units for requesting image processing, and is connected to these control units as they are or via a communication line. An image processing unit that controls an output device and uses these devices to process an image in response to a request from the control unit.
An output unit for outputting the priority of the image processing together with the request for the image processing is provided, and the image processing unit stores the priority of the image processing being executed and the output of the control unit. The receiving means for receiving the image processing request and the priority from the means, the comparing means for comparing the priority received by the receiving means with the image processing priority stored in the storage means, and the comparing means. As a result of the comparison, when the priority of the image processing received by the receiving means is higher than the priority of the image processing being executed, the executing image processing is stopped and the image processing received by the receiving means is executed. And are provided.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention controls a plurality of image input / output devices by connecting a plurality of control units for requesting image processing with these control units as they are or via a communication line. An image processing unit that uses these devices to process an image in response to a request from the control unit. In the control unit, a device in which the control unit exists as well as an image processing request, A permission condition for an identifier for identifying a device in which the control unit exists, an organization in which the control unit exists, a group to be used and a user to be executed is provided by providing an output unit for outputting an identifier for identifying a group to be used and a user to be executed. Storing means, a receiving means for receiving the image processing request and the identifier from the output means of the control section, and the storing means for the identifier received by the receiving means. Determining means for determining whether or not the image processing request accepted by the accepting means is permitted according to the permission condition read from the accepting means, and the accepting means when the image processing is permitted by the determining means. And an execution unit that executes image processing in response to a request for processing the received image.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention controls a plurality of image input / output devices by connecting a plurality of control units requesting image processing with these control units as they are or via a communication line. An image processing unit that uses these devices to process an image in response to a request from the control unit. In the control unit, a device in which the control unit exists as well as an image processing request, An apparatus in which an identifier for identifying a group to be used or a user to be executed and an output unit for outputting the priority of image processing are provided, and the image processing unit has the priority of the image processing being executed and the control unit. Storage means for storing permission conditions for an identifier for identifying a group to be used or a user to be executed, and a receiving means for receiving a request for image processing, a priority and an identifier from the output means of the control unit. Comparing means for comparing the priority received by the receiving means with the priority of the image processing stored in the storage means, and a permitting condition read from the storage means for the identifier received by the receiving means. According to the judgment means for judging whether or not the request for the image processing accepted by the acceptance means is permitted, and the result of the comparison by the comparison means, the acceptance means accepts the priority of the image processing being executed. If the image processing is permitted by the determination means,
There is provided an executing means for stopping the image processing being executed and executing the image processing accepted by the accepting means.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention controls a plurality of image input / output devices by connecting a plurality of control units requesting image processing with these control units as they are or via a communication line. An image processing unit that uses these devices to process an image in response to a request from the control unit. In the control unit, a device in which the control unit exists as well as an image processing request, An apparatus in which an identifier for identifying a group to be used or a user to be executed and an output unit for outputting the priority of image processing are provided, and the image processing unit has the priority of the image processing being executed and the control unit. Storage means for storing permission conditions for an identifier for identifying a group to be used or a user to be executed, and a receiving means for receiving a request for image processing, a priority and an identifier from the output means of the control unit. Comparing means for comparing the priority received by the receiving means with the priority of the image processing stored in the storage means, and a permitting condition read from the storage means for the identifier received by the receiving means. According to the judgment means for judging whether or not the request for the image processing accepted by the acceptance means is permitted, and the result of the comparison by the comparison means, the acceptance means accepts the priority of the image processing being executed. When the priority for image processing is high,
Alternatively, when the image processing is permitted by the judging means, the executing image processing is stopped, and the executing means executes the image processing received by the receiving means.

[0012]

According to the present invention, in the above-described structure, a plurality of control units requesting image processing are connected to these control units as they are or via a communication line. An image processing unit that controls and uses these devices to process an image in response to a request from the control unit, wherein the control unit includes the image processing request and the control unit. The identifier for identifying the device to be used, the group to be used or the user to be executed, and the priority of the image processing are output, and the image processing unit has a priority of the image processing being executed and the device or the use in which the control unit exists. The storage unit stores the permission condition for the identifier for identifying the group to be executed and the user who executes the program, accepts the image processing request, the priority and the identifier from the control unit, and accepts the accepted priority and the storage unit. The comparison means compares the stored priority of image processing with the request of the image processing accepted by the accepting means in accordance with the permission condition read from the storage means for the identifier accepted by the accepting means. Is judged by the judgment means, and as a result of the comparison by the comparison means, the priority of the received image processing is higher than the priority of the image processing being executed, and further, the judgment means performs the image processing. When the above is permitted, or when either one of them is satisfied, the image processing being executed is stopped and the received image processing is executed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an image processing system according to the present invention. A plurality of image processing devices (nodes) 1 are provided.
, a, 1b, 1c, ... Are connected via a communication line 2 such as a LAN. The image processing devices 1a, ... Are devices that process and store images and other information therein.

The image processing apparatus 1a has a central control processing unit (CPU) therein, as shown in FIG. The CPU 3 controls the entire image processing apparatus 1a. In this image processing apparatus 1a, the CPU 3 is connected with a first interface 4, a main memory 5, a page memory 6, a display memory 7, an image processing unit 8, a second interface 9 and a communication interface 10 via a system bus 11. ing.

The system bus 11 transfers information between the above-mentioned devices and the CPU 3. A keyboard 12, a mouse 13, and a magnetic disk device 14 are connected to the first interface 4. The first interface 4 mainly controls the input / output of devices related to the man-machine interface. The first interface 4 sends information input from the keyboard 12, mouse 13 and magnetic disk device 14 to the system bus 11.

The information sent from the system bus 11 is sent to each keyboard 12, mouse 13 and magnetic disk device 14. Further, the main memory 5 stores programs and data for controlling the image processing apparatus 1, data used temporarily, and the like. Page memory 6
The data such as the image handled by the image processing apparatus 1 is temporarily stored in. A display device 15 such as a CRT is connected to the display memory 7, and data to be displayed on the display device 15 is stored therein.

The image processing section 8 is a section for performing image processing such as encoding, decoding, linear density conversion, enlargement and reduction of image data handled by the page memory 6 and the display memory 7. An optical disk driver 17, a scanner 18, and a printer 19 that drive the optical disk 16 are connected to the second interface 9. The second interface 9 mainly controls input / output of image information.

The communication interface 10 also controls the transmission and reception of communication signals to and from the communication line 2. The main memory 5, page memory 6, display memory 7, image processing unit 8, second interface 9, and communication interface 10 that handle images are connected via an image bus 20. The image bus 20 transmits the image information for each layer replacement. Since the image information is usually enormous, the transmission and reception on the system bus 11 causes the system bus 11 to become crowded. Therefore, the image bus 20 is provided in order to efficiently transmit the image information. The image bus 20 has a bit width wider than that of the system bus 11 for strengthening. Further, the other image processing apparatuses 1b, ... Have the same configuration as the image processing apparatus 1a.

Thereafter, "a" is added to each part of the image processing apparatus 1a such as an optical disk 16a, and "b" is added to each part of the image processing apparatus 1b such as an optical disk 16b. Optical disk 16c in each part
As such, "c" is added for the description.

The image processing apparatuses 1a, ... As an example, U is a multi-user, multi-task OS (operating system) as an operating system.
NIX (AT & T trademark) is used. Ethernet (trademark of Xerox Co., Ltd.) is used for the communication line 2,
It uses the TCP / IP protocol.

In the image processing apparatuses 1a, ..., The program is used in the server-client method. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram (a schematic configuration diagram of software) of a program in the server client system of the image processing apparatuses 1a, ....

That is, the image processing apparatuses 1a, 1b, 1
Since c, ... Use a multi-user, multi-task OS, a plurality of programs are used at the same time. In the image processing apparatuses 1a, ..., Image processing servers 21a, 21b, 21c, ..., Application clients (applications) 22a, 22b, 22c ,.
, And the programs of the communication means 23a, 23b, 23c, ... Are operating. The application 22a,
22b, 22c, ... Respectively are the respective image processing apparatuses 1a,
Multiple may be used for each.

The image processing servers 21a, ... And the applications 22a, ... Send and receive signal information to and from the communication means 23a ,. In addition, the image processing server 21a,
... and applications 22a, ... send and receive signals to and from each other via communication means 23a ,.

The image processing server 21a (21b, ...)
This program specializes in image processing. This image processing server 21a (21b, ...)
Processing is performed by requesting image processing from 2a, 22b, .... The operation of this image processing server 21a is as follows.
The image bus 20 in the image processing apparatus 1a shown in FIG.
The activities involved in are central. The image processing server 21a,
.. have job execution units 29a, ... Which respectively execute actual jobs.

As an operation example of the image processing server 21a, an image is read by the scanner 18a and this image information is sent to the page memory 6a. Another operation is to read the image information stored in the optical disc 16a and send it to the printer 19a.

As another example, the image information stored in the page memory 6a is sent to the printer 19a, and as another example, the image is read by the scanner 18a and the image information is sent to the optical disk 16a.

As another example, the image information stored in the page memory 6a is sent to the optical disc 16a. As another example, the image information stored in the optical disk 16a is read and sent to the page memory 6a.

The above is an example of the operation of the image processing server 21a. A plurality of applications 22a may operate. An example of this application 22a is to receive input from the keyboard 12a and mouse 13a, read a specific image stored in the optical disc 16a to the image processing server 21a, and output it to the printer 19a.

Further, the communication means 23a communicates with the communication means 23b, 23c, ... Of the other image processing apparatuses 1b, 1c, ... Connected on the communication line 2 via the communication line 2. The communication unit 23a communicates information with the image processing server 21a and the application 22a in the image processing apparatus 1a, and between the image processing apparatus 1a and other image processing apparatuses 1b, 1c ,. It also communicates information.

Further, the application 22a sends the image information stored in the optical disk 16b to the printer 19.
When the image processing server 21a is requested to output to c, the image processing server 21a recognizes that the optical disk 16b and the printer 19c are in the other image processing apparatuses 1b and 1c.

As a result, the image processing server 21a sends an image output request to the image processing server 21b and the image processing server 21c. As a result, the image information stored in the optical disc 16b is sent to the image processing server 21c via the image processing server 21b, the communication means 23b, the communication line 2 and the communication means 23c. Then, the image processing server 21
It is output from the printer 19c by c.

Next, the application 22a shown in FIG.
An example of (22b, ...) Is shown. This application 2
Reference numeral 2a (22b, ...) Is a program for performing image processing, and requests the image processing server 21a (21b, ...) For an operation (job) required for specific image input processing and the like. A flow chart of an example of the operation of the application 22a (22b, ...) Is shown in FIG.

In the example of this program, the scanner 18a
This is an example in which the image read in 1 and the image read from the optical disc 16a are combined and the combined image is output from the printer 19a. The application 22a is activated by the operator operating the keyboard 12 and the mouse 13.

For the application 22a, the operator selects data as a source of image input. Here, the operator selects the data of the scanner 18a and the image data of one page having the specific file in the optical disc 16a (ST1).

Next, the application 22a needs two jobs, a job which is an image input operation from the scanner 18a to the page memory 6a and a job which is an image input operation from the optical disc 16a to the page memory 6a. Here, the application 22a requests the two jobs to the image processing server 21a, which is a program that specializes in image processing.

First, the application 22a requests the scanner 18a to send an image to the page memory 6a (ST2). At the same time, the application 22a
Requests to send the image from the optical disk 16a to the page memory 6a (ST3). Here, the OS of the image processing apparatus 1 is a multi-user multi-task OS,
Since the hardware can perform parallel processing, the scanner 18
The job of reading an image from page a to the page memory 6a and the job of reading an image from the optical disk 16a to the page memory 6a are performed in parallel.

Therefore, step 2 and step 3 are illustrated in parallel in the flowchart of FIG. In this job, the image is read at different addresses in the page memory 6a.

Next, the application 22a knows from the image processing server 21a that the reading of the image is completed by both the scanner 18a and the optical disk 16a. Then, the application 22a synthesizes the read image next. In this image composition, an area for storing the image after the image composition is taken in the page memory 6a.

Then, the image read by the scanner 18a and the image read by the optical disc 16a are combined,
A new image is created on the page memory 6a. The operation of this application 22a is step 4.

Next, the application 22a outputs the combined image to the printer 19a. In this processing, the application 22a is a job and the image processing server 2
Ask 1a. The output from the printer 19a is processed by the image processing server 21a as a job (ST
5). After the image is output from the printer 19a, the end is confirmed (ST6), and when the process is required again, the process returns to step 1.

Thus, in the image processing apparatus 1a,
When the necessary application 22a is activated, the image processing server 21a is activated in the application 22a.
Is used. As in this example, three jobs are requested to the image processing server 21a in one application 22a.

As described above, in the server client system,
The applications 22a (22a, ...) And the image processing server 21a exist on a plurality of image processing apparatuses (nodes) 1a, ... Connected to each other by a communication line 2 such as a LAN.
Therefore, when information is transmitted and received via the communication means 23a, both the information transmission side and the information reception side
First, it is necessary to specify the target image processing apparatuses 1b, ....

A node I for identifying a specific node from a plurality of nodes 1a, ...
D (identification number) node-id is defined. If the node ID is given, the node is uniquely specified. For example, in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatuses 1a and 1b connected by the communication line 2,
1c, ... Are node IDs (1
00, 200, 300, ...).

Further, user ID (identification number) user-id
(10, 20, 30, ...), Group ID (identification number)
The group-id (1000, 2000, 3000, ...) Is given to a user (operator) who uses the image forming apparatus (1a, ...). When the user uses the image forming apparatus (1a, ...), the image forming apparatus (1a, ...)
To the user ID and group ID.

The user IDs and group IDs of the applications (22a, ...) Are not predetermined when designing the application, but the user IDs and group IDs of the users who have executed the application are the user IDs of the application, It becomes the group ID.

For example, users "a", "b", and "b" are assigned to two groups "A" and "B", respectively.
It is assumed that there are three users, “c” and users “x”, “y”, and “z”. (A: a, b, c,
B: x, y, z)

When the user “a” executes the search application and the user “b” executes the editing application, the search application displays the user ID of the user “a” and the group “A”. User I who has ID and editing application is user "b"
It has a group ID of D and a group "A".

As described above, these two applications having the same group ID are set at the time of executing the applications so that they can work together. That is, the permissions are set so that the users can work together. Further, permissions are set for other group IDs so that they do not cooperate.

Further, the priorities of the applications 22a, ... Are defined for each job when a job is requested.
The user decides this priority when executing the application.

[0051]

[Table 1] In Table 1, the applications 22a, ... Are image processing servers 2
1A, ... Is an example of a command issued when requesting processing.

Commands relating to start and end of use of the image processing service, commands relating to image transfer request,
There are commands related to image input / output requests, commands related to job execution status inquiry, commands related to job control, and commands related to job completion notification control. Each command has job-control information parameter job-para and job return parameter job- as common parameters.
needs resp.

The job control information parameter is a node ID node-id as request source information for specifying the request source,
Group ID group-id, user ID user-id, application ID (identification number) apl-id, job ID job-id for identifying a job, job control flag job-cn
It is a structured parameter group that includes tl, priority, and other information.

The job return parameter is the job ID
(Identification number) job-id, job status job-status, substatus sub-status, page memory ID (identification number) pm-key, number of input images, number of output images, and other structured information It is a parameter group.

The job status includes job acceptance completion, source device reservation completion, destination device reservation completion, page memory reservation completion, page memory release completion, input completion, output completion, job completion, and the like. The sub statuses are: request to another node, waiting, executing, waiting for interruption, interrupting, interrupting (error), waiting for cancellation,
There are suspensions, waiting for resumption, etc. The applications 22a, ... Which are going to use the image processing service issue a usage start request command Cmd-Start to the image processing servers 21a ,.

At this time, the applications 22a, ...
Image processing server 21 trying to receive image processing service
A node I that identifies its own node 1a, ...
D, a group ID for specifying a group of applications 22a, ... Which perform processing in cooperation when performing cooperative processing, and a user ID for specifying the type of work are given as job control information parameters.

The applications 22a, ... Set these parameters on the main memory 5a, ... And issue a usage start request command to the image processing servers 21a ,. Upon receiving the use start request command, the image processing servers 21a, ... Receive the above parameters from the main memory 5a ,.

The image processing servers 21a, ... Respond to the application ID as a response to the use start request command.
(Identification number) apl-id, job return parameter, and status are returned to the applications 22a, ....

The applications 22a, ... Which are going to end the use of the image processing service issue a use end request command Cmd-End to the image processing servers 21a ,. The use end request command has a job control information parameter and a job return parameter as parameters.

The applications 22a, ... Are node I
D, group ID, user ID and image processing server 2
Designate the application ID obtained as a response to the use start request command from 1a, .... All associated resources are released.

In principle, commands relating to image input / output requests are job control information parameters and source (input side)
Information, destination (output side) information, and job return parameters.

Scanner mode setting command Cmd-Scn-Mode
Has a job control information parameter, a scanner parameter scn-para, and a job return parameter as parameters. The scanner parameter is a structured parameter group relating to the scanners 18a, ...
Device node ID (identification information) of a, ... dev-node-id
, Device type dev-type, device ID dev-id, device name dev-name, scanner mode scn-mode, and the like.

The scanner mode is a set of an identifier of a mode to be set and a value to be set, and the resolution, the gray value, and the document size are selected as the mode and the respective values are designated. How many kinds of modes are specified depends on the number of settings
Specify with.

The scanner input command Cmd-ScnPm has a job control information parameter, a scanner parameter, a page memory parameter pm-para, and a job return parameter as parameters.

The scanner parameter has the same meaning as the scanner mode setting. The page memory parameter is a structured parameter group for the page memory 6a, ..., The page memory ID pm-key, the image size pm-wid.
Specify th, pm-height, etc.

Printer mode setting command Cmd-PrnMode
Has a job control information parameter, a printer parameter prn-para, and a job return parameter as parameters.

The printer parameter prn-para is a structured parameter group relating to the printers 19a, ..., And the device node ID, device type, device ID, device name, printer mode of the printers 19a ,.
Includes prn-mode etc.

The printer mode is a set of the identifier of the mode to be set and the value to be set, and the paper size and the number of copies are selected as the mode and the respective values are designated. How many kinds of modes are specified is specified by the set count.

The printer output command Cmd-Pm-Prn has job control information parameters, page memory parameters, printer parameters, and job return parameters as parameters.

The page memory parameter is a structured parameter group relating to the page memories 6a, ...
Page memory I containing the image to be printed out
D, image size, etc. are designated. The page memory parameter has the same meaning as the printer mode setting.

The optical disk search command Cmd-Odd-Pm is used to retrieve the images searched from the optical disks 16a ,.
Store in a, ... It has a job control information parameter, an optical disc parameter odd-para, a page memory parameter, and a job return parameter as parameters.

The optical disc parameter odd-para is a structured parameter group relating to the optical discs 16a, ..., The device node IDs of the optical discs 16a, .., the number of cabinet information cabinet-count, the number of search records record-count, Search record number including record-no etc. The page memory parameter is the optical disc 16
The page memories 6a, ... For storing the images obtained as a result of the search for a ,.

The optical disk registration command Cmd-Pm-Odd registers the image on the page memories 6a, ... In the optical disks 16a ,. Job control information parameter, page memory parameter, optical disc parameter,
It has a job return parameter.

Page memory copy transfer command Cmd-Pm-Pm
Transfers the designated partial image of the image on the page memory 6a, ... Specified by the job control information parameter to the separately designated page memory 6a ,. As a parameter, a job control information parameter, two types of first,
It has a second page memory parameter pm-para1, pm-para2 and a job return parameter. The first page memory parameter specifies the page memory ID and the image size for the copy source page memories 6a, .... The second page memory parameter specifies the page memory ID and the image size for the copy destination page memory 6a, .... The partial image can be enlarged or reduced depending on the relationship between the image sizes of the two.

Job status inquiry command Cmd-Job-Status
Is the image processing server 21.
This is a command for inquiring the execution status of the requested job for a, .... It has a job control information parameter and a job status parameter as parameters. The specified job ID, job status, sub status, etc. are returned in the job status parameter.

As for the execution status, the job status includes job acceptance completion, source device reservation completion in progress, destination device reservation completion, page memory reservation completion, input completion,
There are output completion and job completion, and the sub statuses are running, waiting, interrupted, error interrupted, interrupt wait, abort wait, restart wait, and end.

Job number inquiry command Cmd-Job-Number
Is an application 22a, ... Is the image processing server 21
This is a command for inquiring a list of requested job numbers for a, .... It has a job control information parameter and a job number job-number as parameters.

For the job number, the application 22a, which issued this command, ... Is the image processing server 21a,
The job number (Job I)
D) A list is returned. Commands related to job control are
It has a job control information parameter and a job return parameter as common parameters.

Job suspension request command Cmd-Job-Suspend
Is a command that requests the image processing servers 21a, ... To suspend the job of the specified job ID. Job ID to be interrupted by the job control information parameter
Is specified. The status of the processing result of the job suspension request command is returned to the job return parameter.

Job cancellation request command Cmd-Job-Cancel
Is a command that requests the image processing servers 21a, ... To cancel the job with the specified job ID. Job ID that should be canceled with the job control information parameter
Is specified. The status of the processing result of the job cancellation request command is returned to the job return parameter.

Job restart request command Cmd-Job-Restart
Is a command that requests the image processing server 21a, ... To restart the job of the specified job ID. Job ID that should be restarted with the job control information parameter
Is specified. The status of the processing result of the job restart request command is returned to the job return parameter. The procedure by which the application 22a (22b, ...) Performs image transfer is as follows. 1 Register the application in the image processing server 21a. 2 Request image transfer to the image processing server 21a. The requested content is held in the image processing server 21a as a job. 3 When the image transfer performed by the application 22a is completed, the application 22a requests the registered image processing server 21a to delete the registration. FIG. 4 shows a main memory 5 for managing registered applications.
are application management tables 24a, ...

Application management table 24a (2
4b, ...) is a storage area 30 in which an application ID is stored, a storage area 31 in which a requester ID is stored,
It is composed of a storage area 32 in which a permission as a read / write permission condition of another application 22a, ... With respect to the secured page memory 5a is stored.

The storage area 31 comprises a storage area 33 in which a node ID is stored, a storage area 34 in which a group ID is stored, and a storage area 35 in which a user ID is stored.

The storage area 32 is for storing application interrupts for node IDs, group IDs, user IDs, and read / write permission conditions (permissions) for the page memory. As shown in FIG. A storage area 32a that stores a mode indicating whether it is a non-permission mode, a storage area 32b that stores a node ID, or a storage area 32 that stores a group ID.
c, a storage area 32d in which the user ID is stored, and a storage area 32e in which the selected contents of read / write for the interrupt and page memory are stored.
In the storage areas 32b to 32d, "*" is an arbitrary ID
Is a wild card that represents (identification number),

In the storage area 32e, for example, if the i bit is on, it indicates permission or non-permission of interruption (stopping or resuming the job), and if the r bit is on, it indicates permission or non-permission of read, and w When the bit is on, it indicates that writing is permitted or not permitted. This permission or non-permission depends on whether the mode of the storage area 32a is the permission mode or the non-permission mode.

Further, the permissions stored in the storage area 32 are the upper P in the order in which the image processing server 21a receives the permission message from the application 22a.
It is written in order from a, Pb, Pc, Pd, ....

For example, in Pa, the node ID is "10".
0 ", group ID" 1000 ", user ID" 4 "
The permission of interruption and the permission of reading of the page memory 6a for the application of "0" are represented, and in Pb,
Permitting interrupts for all applications with group ID "2000" and reading the page memory 6a
Write permission is shown, Pc shows that the application with the node ID of "300" is not permitted to interrupt and read / write of the page memory 6a is not permitted, and Pd is that the group ID is "1000." The permission of interruption and the permission of reading of the page memory 6a for all applications are shown.

As shown in FIG. 6, the permission message from the application 22a is composed of the number of permissions and each permission, and each permission is a mode indicating the permit mode or the disallow mode, a node ID, a group ID, a user. It is composed of ID, interrupt, and read / write selection contents for the page memory. Figure 7
Is the application management table 24a (24b, ...)
3 is a flowchart showing registration of data in the.

That is, the application 22a sends an application registration command to the image processing server 21a. At this time, the node ID, group ID, and user ID of the user are stored in the job control information parameter as arguments of the command.

Registration of the application in the image processing server 21a starts by receiving this use start request command (ST11). The arguments of the usage start request command are the job control information parameter and the job return parameter. After reception, an application ID as a new identifier is generated (ST12).

The application ID is the request source ID
(Node ID, group ID, user ID) obtained by calculation, those obtained by adding time from a timer (not shown) to them, or those given in the order of registration The point is that only one application 22a and the image processing server 21a need to know the application ID.

The generated application ID is stored in the storage area 30 of the application management table 24a on the main memory 5a, and the node ID, the group ID, and the user ID as request source IDs are stored in the storage areas 33 and 3, respectively.
4 and 35, and similarly, the permission of the job control information parameter is registered in the storage area 32 (ST1
3). Thereafter, the image processing server 21a returns the application ID to the application 22a (ST1
4).

Further, in FIG. 8, contrary to the registration, when the application 22a terminates, the termination request command is transmitted to the image processing server 21a, and the application management table 2
4 is a flow of deleting the information of the own application 22a from 4a.

The deletion of the application in the image processing server 21a starts upon receiving this end request command (ST15). The argument of the end request command is a job control information parameter in which the requester ID of the own application and the application ID obtained by registration are stored. The image processing server 21a confirms that the request source ID and the application ID obtained from the application exist in the application management table 24a (ST16).

If it exists, the image processing server 21a
Deletes the application request source ID and each permission from the application management table 24a (S
T17). If it does not exist, the image processing server 21a
Returns an error to the requesting application 22a (ST18).

Further, the application 22a registers a job in the image processing server 21a by an input / output request,
Do business. For example, when the image is read by the scanner 18a and transferred to the page memory 6a, the job is registered in the image processing server 21a by transmitting the scanner input command to the image processing server 21a, and the job is registered as an identifier for identifying the job. A job ID is issued. FIG. 9 shows a main memory 5 for managing jobs.
a, ... A job management table 2 provided for each of the above
5a ...

Job management table 25a (25b, ...)
Is a storage area 40 in which a job ID is stored, a storage area 41 in which an application ID is stored, a request source ID
, A storage area 43 in which the status is stored, a storage area 44 in which a node ID indicating the execution of a job in another node and a job ID are stored, and a storage area 45 in which a source parameter is stored, Storage area 46 for storing destination parameters, storage area 47 for storing permissions, completion notification source no
Storage area 48 where tice-from is stored, completion notification destination no
It is composed of a storage area 49 for storing the tice-to and a storage area for storing the priority. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for registering a job of the image processing server 21a, ... Having received a job execution request.

The applications 22a, ... Set the request source ID, application ID, and priority in the job control information parameter for requesting a job. Requester ID,
The priority is when the application is registered, and the application ID is obtained by the registration. In the registration process of the image processing servers 21a, ..., A job execution request is received from the applications 22a ,.
1) Start by

The received application 22a, ...
It is checked whether or not the request source ID from the application and the application ID are registered in the same row of the application management table 24a, ... (Step 22). If the application 22a is not registered, the error that the application 22a is unregistered in step 23,
Return to ...

The registered application 22a,
If it is a request from ..., it is judged whether or not the job is possible within its own node 1a, ... (step 25), and another node 1b,
If it is a job to be executed by ..., the job is requested to the image processing server 21b, ... of the appropriate node 1b, ..., and the job ID issued by the image processing server 21b, ... is obtained (S
T26).

Whether or not the job can be executed within the own node 1a, ... Is determined by the second argument of the input / output command (source device (for example, page memory 6a, ... Optical disk 16a, ... Image data such as scanner 18a, ... Transfer source) designation parameter) and a third argument (destination device (for example, page memory 6a, ... Optical disc 16a, ... Image data transfer destination such as printer 19a, ...) Designation parameter). The determination rule is in order of priority: 1) The job is executed by the node 1a, ... Having the designated device. 2) Input / output device (scanner 18a, ... Printer 1)
9a, ...) with a node 1a ,. 3) If both are input / output devices, or both are page memories 6a, ..., Destination node 1
Execute with a ... It is a thing.

For example, the page memory 6 of another node 1b
When outputting the image of b to the printer 19c of the own node 1c, the image processing server 21b of the node 1b having the page memory 6b is requested to execute the job. The argument of the command at this time is the same as the received content.

However, the application ID of the job control information parameter is deleted, and the permission is a copy of the permission of the application management table 24a, ... And the image of the request source as shown in FIG. 11 as the fifth argument is the job management information. The node ID and job ID of the processing server 21a are stored and notified to the requested image processing server 21b. FIG. 12 shows the image processing server 21a.
6 is a flowchart of a process when a job request is received from another image processing server 21b.

That is, in step 31, the requester ID, the permission, the priority of the application 22a, ..., Which has requested the job from the job control information parameter of the first argument, the source device designation parameter of the second argument, and the destination of the third argument. The node ID of the request source and the job ID of the job management table 25a, ... Are obtained from the designated parameter and the job management information of the fifth argument (ST31).

Next, it is judged from the source device designation parameter and the destination device designation parameter whether the job can be executed within the own node 1a (ST32).
When the device cannot be found because the device cannot be found, an error is returned to the requesting image processing server 21b, ... (S
T33).

The image processing server 21 that received this error
.. returns an error to the applications 22b.
If the job can be executed, a new job ID is issued (ST34), the job management table 25b, ... Is registered, and the job execution unit 29b ,.
T35). Finally, the job ID is returned to the requesting image processing server 21a (ST36). FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of the job execution unit 29a which receives the instruction. For the sake of explanation in this flowchart, the accepted job is called job A.

That is, the job execution section 29a receives the execution instruction of the job A (ST131). The job execution unit 29a having received the execution command checks whether another job competing with the received job A is being executed (ST132),
When another conflicting job is not being executed, job A is started (ST133).

If there is another job (job B) competing in step 132, the job executing section 29a stores the jobs in the storage areas 50, 50 corresponding to job B and job A in the job management table 25a. The priority levels are compared (ST134).

If the priority of the job A is higher than that of the job B, the job executing section 29a sets the status of the job B to interrupt and stops the job B (ST13).
5) The job A is executed (ST133).

When the priority of the job A is lower than that of the job B, the job executing unit 29a determines that the request source I of the job A is I.
Storage area 4 corresponding to job B in job management table 25a indicates whether D is allowed to interrupt job B.
The determination is made by referring to the permissions stored in No. 7 (ST136).

As a result of this judgment, if the interruption of the job A to the job B is permitted, the job execution section 29a sets the status of the job B to interruption, stops the job B (ST135), and terminates the job A. Execute (ST13
3). When the interruption of the job A by the job B is not permitted in the above step 136, the job execution unit 29a adds the job A to the end of the queue of execution (ST137).

For the job being executed, the progress status is used as the job status, job acceptance completion, source device reservation completion, destination device reservation completion, page memory reservation completion,
Set page memory release completion, input completion, output completion, or job completion.

The applications 22a, ... Can request a job by immediate return. Therefore, the application 22a, ... Does not know the status such as the end of the job unless inquiring about the current status of the own job. In order to inquire about the job status and use commands for controlling the job, the job management table 25a,
It is necessary to obtain the job ID of ... A job to be controlled is designated by this job ID.

In the above example, the job in which either the priority or the permission is permitted is executed, but the job in which both the permission and the priority are permitted may be executed.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for the application 22a, ... To obtain the job ID. The application 22a, ... Is sent to the image processing server 21a ,.
Inquire about the job ID of the job requested by a, ....
The image processing servers 21a, ... Acquire the request source ID and application ID stored in the job status inquiry command received from the request destination (ST41).

The image processing servers 21a, ... Check whether the received request source ID and application ID are registered in the same row of the application management table 24a ,. If not registered, an error is returned to the applications 22a, .... If registered, job management table 2 with application ID
5a, ... Are searched to obtain the job ID. This job ID is enumerated and stored in the job number, and the application 22a,
Return to ...

It is possible to make an inquiry to the image processing server about the status of the job identified by the job ID obtained in this way, which allows the job to be accepted, source device secured, destination device secured,
It can be seen that the status is any of page memory reservation completion, input completion, output completion, and job completion. The applications 22a, ... Set their own request source ID, application ID, and job ID in the job control information parameters, and send a job status inquiry command to the image processing servers 21a ,. Application 22a, ...
Is the status of the job being executed from the job status of the job return parameter of the second argument of the command, the status of the job from the sub status (request of other node, waiting, executing, waiting for interruption, interruption, error interruption, waiting for cancellation) , Wait for restart, end) can be known. 15 and 16 are flowcharts in which the image processing servers 21a, ... Receive the job status inquiry command and return the status to the applications 22a ,.

That is, the image processing servers 21a, ... Obtain the request source ID, application ID, and job ID of the requested application 22a, ... From the job return parameter of the command argument (ST51). It is checked whether the request source ID and the application ID exist in the same row of the application management table 24a, ... (S
T52). If it does not exist, an error is returned to the applications 22a, ... (ST53).

If it exists, it is checked whether the application ID retrieved from the job management table 25a, ... With the received job ID is equal to the received application ID (ST54). If they are not equal, an error is returned to the applications 22a, ... (ST55). If they are equal, the status obtained by searching the job management table 25a, ... With the job ID is checked (ST56), and the other node 1
If a job is requested to b, ..., Other node 1b,
The image processing server 21b, ... Is inquired about the situation (ST57).

In the inquiry to the other nodes, a job status inquiry command is transmitted to the image processing servers of the nodes 1a, ... Designated by the node ID in the storage area 44. As the first argument of this command, step 51
By deleting the application ID from the job control information parameter obtained in step (1) and giving the job control information parameter in which the job ID obtained from the storage area 44 is set to the job ID, the job status of the other nodes 1a, ... Is stored.

The job status thus obtained is stored in the job return parameter obtained at step 51, and the status is returned to the application 22a, ... Which has requested the status. If it is a job in its own node 1a, ..., The status of the job management table 25a ,.

Image processing server 21 of other nodes 1a, ...
When a job status inquiry is received from a ... (ST
61), the job IDs of the received image processing servers 21a, ... Of the request source are searched from the job management tables 25a, ... Within the own node 1a, .., and it is confirmed that the node ID of the request source is correct (ST62). The status is returned to the requesting image processing server 21a, ... (ST63). When the node ID of the request source is incorrect, an error is returned to the application 22a, ... Of the request source (ST64).

The page memory 6a secured by the application 22a, ... Requesting the image processing server 21a ,.
... have page memory management tables 26a, ... As shown in FIG. 17, in which permissions as read / write permission conditions for other applications 22a ,.

Page memory management table 26a (26
b, ...) is a storage area 51 in which a page memory ID is stored, a storage area 52 in which an address is stored, a node I
The storage area 53 stores D, the storage area 54 stores a job ID, the storage area 55 stores a requester ID, and the storage area 56 stores a permission.

The storage area 55 is, as shown in FIG.
Storage areas 55a and 55b for respectively storing a node ID, a group ID, and a user ID as request source IDs,
It is composed of 55c. In the storage area 56, FIG.
The permission indicated by is stored.

The image data is the page memory 6a (6b,
...) is not used, but one portion of the page memory 6a is divided so that a plurality of image data can be handled. The applications 22a, ... Acquire and use the required size of memory from the page memory 6a. Label the memory when you acquire it. The page memory ID is
It is registered in the page memory management table 26a, ... Corresponding to the address of the page memory 6a actually acquired. The page memory 6a secured with a specific page memory ID can be specified by the page memory ID instead of its address by other applications 22a, ....

When the job secures the page memory 6a, the permissions of the job management table 25a are copied to the page memory management table 26a. Thereafter, access to the page memory 6a is managed by the page memory management table 26a. The stage specified by the page memory ID of this page memory management table 26a is
It is deleted by releasing the page memory 6a regardless of whether the job is completed. Next, a job control command will be described. Job suspension request command:

When the application 22a, ... Suspends the job with the job ID obtained by the job number inquiry command, the application 22a, ...
The image processing server 21a ... With the job control information parameter storing the application ID of a ...
Ask to suspend the job. 19 and 20 are flowcharts in which the image processing servers 21a, ... Stop the job.

That is, the job suspension request command is received from the applications 22a, ... Within the own node 1a, .. and the request source ID, application ID, and job ID are obtained from the job control information parameters of the command (ST
71). It is checked whether the received application IDs of the applications 22a, ... And the requester ID are in the same row of the application management tables 24a ,.
2) If it does not exist, an error is returned to the requested application 22a, ... (ST73).

If it exists, it is checked whether the received job ID exists in the job management table 25a, ... (ST7
4) If not present, request application 22
An error is returned to a, ... (ST75). If the job ID exists, it is determined whether the job of the job ID is a job requested to another node 1a, ...
If the status is "request to another node", the process proceeds to step 77 to request the node 1a, which is recorded in the node ID, to suspend the job. If the status is not "request to another node", step 7
Go to 8.

When it is determined in step 76 that the image processing server 21b of the other node 1b, ... Is requested, the application ID is blanked from the job control information parameter obtained in step 71 as an argument of the command, and the job is further processed. A job control information parameter in which the job ID at the request destination from the storage area 44 is stored in the ID is prepared and the request is transmitted (ST77). Other node 1 in step 76
If the request is not for a, ..., Job management table 2
The statuses of the received job IDs of 5a, ... Are put in a waiting state for interruption, and an interruption instruction is transmitted to the job executing sections 29a ,.

Image processing server 21 of other nodes 1a, ...
The image processing servers 21b, ..., Which have received the request from a, ... (ST81), search the job management table 25b ,. If it is equal to ..., The interruption command is transmitted to the job execution unit 29b, ... Waiting for interruption (ST83). If they are not equal, the error is sent back to the requested application 22a, ... (ST8).
4). Job cancellation request command:

The applications 22a, ... When the job having the job ID obtained by the job number inquiry command is canceled, the application 22a, ...
The image processing server 21a ... With the job control information parameter storing the application ID of a ...
Ask to suspend the job. 21 and 22 are flowcharts in which the image processing servers 21a, ... Stop the job.

That is, a job cancel request command is received from the application 22a, ... Within the own node 1a, .. (ST91), and from the job control information of that command,
Obtain the requester ID, application ID, and job ID. It is checked whether the received application IDs of the applications 22a, ... And the requester IDs exist in the same row of the application management tables 24a ,.
2) If it does not exist, an error is returned to the requested application 22a, ... (ST93).

If it exists, it is checked whether the received job ID exists in the job management table 25a, ... (ST9
4) If not present, request application 22
An error is returned to a, ... (ST95). If the job ID exists, it is determined whether the job with the job ID is a job requested to another node 1b, ....
If the status is "request to another node", the node 1 recorded in the node ID is checked (ST96).
Request a to cancel the job (ST97).

That is, when it is determined that the image processing server 21b of the other node 1b, ... Is requested, the application ID is blanked from the job control information parameter obtained in step 91 as an argument of the command, and the job ID is further set. Job ID at the request destination from storage area 44
Prepare a job control information parameter that stores the and send the request. When it is not requested to another node in step 96, the status of the received job ID in the job management table 25a, ...
A cancel instruction is transmitted to a, ... (ST98).

Image processing server 21 of other nodes 1a, ...
The image processing servers 21b, ..., Which have received the request from a, ... (ST101), search the job management table 25b ,.
If D is equal to the requesting image processing server 21a, ...
A wait command is sent to the job execution units 29b, ... Waiting for the status to be stopped (ST103). If they are not equal, an error is returned to the application 22a, ... Of the request destination (ST104) Job restart request command:

The applications 22a, ... Respond to this command when restarting the job of the job ID obtained by the job number inquiry command.
The image processing server 21a ... With the job control information parameter storing the application ID of a ...
Ask to restart the job. 23 and 24 are flowcharts in which the image processing servers 21a, ... Restart the job.

That is, the job restart request command is received from the applications 22a, ... Within the own node 1a, .. (ST111), and the request source ID, application ID, and job ID are obtained from the job control information job control information parameter of the command. .. Application received 2
It is checked whether the application IDs 2a, ... And the requester IDs exist in the same row of the application management tables 24a, .. (ST112), and if they do not exist, an error is returned to the requested application 22a ,.

If it exists, it is checked whether the received job ID exists in the job management table 25a, ... (ST1
14) If it does not exist, the application 22 is sent to the request destination
An error is returned to a, ... (ST115). If the job ID exists, it is determined whether the job of the job ID is a job requested to another node 1a, ...
If the status is "request to another node", the node 1 recorded in the node ID is checked (ST116).
.. is requested to restart the job (ST117).

That is, when it is determined that the image processing server 21b of the other node 1b, ... Is requested, the application ID is blanked from the job control information parameter obtained in step 111 as an argument of the command, and the job ID is further set. Job I at the request destination from storage area 44
Prepare the job control information parameter storing D and send the request. If it is not requested by another node in step 116, the status of the received job ID in the job management table 25a, ... Is put in a waiting state for resuming, and a resuming instruction is transmitted to the job executing units 29a ,.

Image processing server 21 of other nodes 1a, ...
a, ... The image processing server 21b, ...
121), the job management table 2 with the received job ID
5b, ... Are searched (ST122), and if the node ID is equal to the requesting image processing server 21a, ..., A restart instruction is transmitted to the job execution units 29b ,. If they are not equal, the error is returned to the application 22a, ... Of the request destination (ST1).
24). Next, a specific example will be described with reference to the configuration diagram shown in FIG.

That is, the application 22a1 is an application for transferring from the optical disk 16a of the node 1a to the display memory 7a for displaying on the display device 15a. First, the application 22a1 is registered in the image processing server 21a. In registration, the identifier and priority of the application 22a1 are stored in the job control information parameter and transmitted to the image processing server 21a. The image processing server 21a performs application registration processing (see FIG. 7).

Accordingly, the request source ID of the application 22a1 is node ID = 100, group ID = 10.
00 and user ID = 40, the application management table 24a stores "100", "1000", "4" in the storage areas 33, 34, and 35 as shown in FIG.
"0" is stored.

Next, the image processing server 21a searches for permission conditions for each ID of the application 22a1 using each permission stored in the storage area 32.

In the permission in this example, as shown in FIG. 5, in Pa, the node ID is "100" and the group I is
The permission of interruption and the permission of read / write of the page memory 6a are shown for the application of which D is "1000" and the user ID is "40". In Pb, the page memory for all applications of which the group ID is "2000" 6a read permission is shown, and P
In c, the non-permission of interrupt for the application having the node ID "300" and the non-permission of read / write of the page memory 6a are represented, and in Pd, the group ID
Represents the permission of interruption and the permission of reading of the page memory 6a for all the applications having "1000".

Therefore, the above-mentioned application 22a
An interrupt (i), a read (r) from the page memory 6a, and a write (w) to the page memory 6a are given to 1. At this time, the inspection is performed on the table (storage area 3
The node ID is "300" because it is performed from the upper level of 2).
All applications are not allowed.

The image processing server 21a generates an application ID "11" in its own node 1a and sends the request source I
It is registered in the storage area 30 in the application management table 24a in association with D. This application I
Return D to application 22a1.

Registered application 22a1
Outputs an image of the optical disc 16a to the printer 19a by using the optical disc search command to the image processing server 21a. At this time, the application 22a1 stores the application ID in the job control information parameter of the first argument of the command, turns on the monitoring mode, sets the priority to "2", and sets the source device designation parameter of the second argument in the local node 1a. The optical disc 16a is designated, the destination device designation parameter of the third argument is designated as 19a, and transmission is performed.

The image processing server 21a which has received the optical disc search command, the application management table 24a.
And confirm that the application ID, node ID, group ID, and user ID are in the same row. In this example, since the confirmation is successful, a job ID as a job identifier is issued in the node 1a. The job ID of the image transfer job from the optical disc 16a to the printer 196a in this example is "10".

After that, by examining the second argument and the third argument of the command, it can be understood that this job is a job that can be performed in the own node 1a because both are devices of the own node 1a. If the job can be executed within the own node 1a, it is registered in the job management table 25a. At this time, the permission from the storage area 32 of the application management table 24a is copied to the permission of the job management table 25a, and the application ID, request source ID, source parameter, and destination parameter are copied from the argument data of the command. Waiting is set in the status. When the registration in the job management table 25a is completed, the job execution unit 29a executes the job.
, And returns the job ID to the application 22a.

The job execution unit 29a secures the printer 19a, transfers the image from the optical disc 16a, and prints the image.
At this time, since the monitoring mode is on, the job transfers the image being transferred to the display memory 7a and displays it on the display device 15a.

The application 22a2 is an application for displaying on the display device 15a from the optical disk 16a and outputting the image displayed at the request of the user to the printer 19a. First, the application 22a2 is registered in the image processing server 21a. In registration, the application 22a2 is added to the job control information parameter.
Is stored and transmitted to the image processing server 21a. The image processing server 21a performs application registration processing (see FIG. 7).

Accordingly, the request source ID of the application 22a2 is node ID = 100, group ID = 10.
00 and user ID = 50, the application management table 24a stores "100", "1000", "5" in the storage areas 33, 34, 35 as shown in FIG.
"0" is stored.

Next, the image processing server 21a searches for permission conditions for each ID of the application 22a2 using each permission stored in the storage area 32. Therefore, the application 22a2 is given permission for interruption (i) and reading (r) from the page memory 6a.

Therefore, the user of the application 22a2 can see the display of the application 22a1 while
An instruction is given to print the image determined to be necessary with priority "3".

The image processing server 21a, which has been requested to print the application 22a2, instructs the job executing unit 29a to print. Since the job execution unit 29a has already executed another job (the print job of the application 22a1), the priorities are compared and it is checked that the job priority 3 of the application 22a2 is higher than the priority 2 of the application 22a1. Then, it is determined whether a new job can be interrupted by checking the storage area 4
By referring to the permissions stored in No. 7, it is confirmed that the interrupt of the job of the group “1000” is permitted.

The status of the job management table 25a of the job currently being executed is set to "interrupted", and the job being executed is stopped. The stopped job is resumed by the job execution unit 29a after the interruption is completed. As described above, in the client-server system that handles images, another job that may interrupt the job is designated.

That is, when a job that requires the use of the input / output device being used is requested, whether the current job is stopped and a new job is executed is determined by the priority of the job and the identifier of the application requesting the job. The interrupt is executed when the job is judged to have a high priority and is a job by an application for which interruption is permitted, or in the case of either one of the jobs.

Further, the application is given a node ID for identifying a device, a group ID for identifying a group using the application, and a user ID for identifying a user who executes the application. Prepare a permission that indicates from which application the job can be interrupted when the job is requested. The application sets the job priority. The image processing server executes a job in which both permission and priority are permitted for job interruption, or a job in which one of them is permitted.

As a result, when a plurality of applications request jobs to a common image processing server to perform jobs, jobs that can be interrupted and jobs that cannot be interrupted can be specified. When performing business in collaboration with other applications, you can specify the applications that allow interrupts by group.

Further, since a high priority job is interrupted and executed, an urgent job or a job which does not require time such as printing of one sheet can be set to have a high priority so that the job can be promptly executed. Can be done and the slew stop of the whole system can be increased.

That is, a job requested by a certain application can be interrupted by a job of an application permitted by this application or a job with a high priority. When proceeding in cooperation with another application, it becomes possible to interrupt the job from that application and perform the job.

For example, when a plurality of applications (which may be on different devices connected by a network) jointly output one document to the printer, an application which jointly outputs the document is designated as a certain group ID.
In this case, the application of this group ID is not restricted in the printer output by registering in step 1 and giving the interrupt permission only to those having this group ID. Further, an urgent job or a job that does not require time such as printing of one sheet can be performed quickly by setting a high priority. That is, in the case of interruption for a job, if this permission is given or the priority of the job is compared, the interruption job is performed when the priority of the requesting job is high.

The image processing server holds the permission together with the application ID, copies it to the job management table when a new job is created, and also copies this permission to the page memory management table when a new page memory is secured. And save it. Job management table, regardless of application termination
Keep holding permissions until page memory is freed.

[0166]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
When multiple applications work together, you can specify the applications that allow interrupts,
Further, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus capable of permitting interruption only to an application having a higher priority than the processing being executed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a software configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image processing system according to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an example of the application of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an application management table in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an application management table in FIG.

6 is a diagram for explaining a permission message from the application of FIG. 1. FIG.

7 is a flowchart showing registration of data in the application management table of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing deletion of data from the application management table of FIG.

9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a job management table in FIG.

10 is a flowchart showing registration of data in the job management table of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining job management information.

12 is a flowchart showing registration of data in the job management table of FIG.

13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the job execution unit in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining a job ID inquiry operation of FIG. 1;

15 is a flowchart for explaining a job status inquiry operation from the application in FIG.

16 is a flowchart for explaining a job status inquiry operation from the image processing server of FIG.

17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a page memory management table in FIG.

18 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a request source ID in the page memory management table of FIG.

19 is a flowchart for explaining a job interruption operation in the image processing server of FIG.

20 is a flowchart for explaining a job interruption operation in the image processing server of FIG.

21 is a flow chart for explaining a job interruption operation in the image processing server of FIG.

22 is a flow chart for explaining a job interruption operation in the image processing server of FIG.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining a job restart operation in the image processing server of FIG.

24 is a flowchart for explaining a job restart operation in the image processing server of FIG.

25 is a diagram showing a specific software configuration example of the image processing apparatus in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b, 1c, ... Image processing devices (nodes), 2 ...
Communication lines 5a, 5b, 5c, ... Main memory, 6
a, 6b, 6c, ... Page memory, 7a, 7b, 7
c ... Display memory, 8a, 8b, 8c, ... Image processing unit, 16a, 16b, 16c, ... Optical disk, 18
a, 18b, 18c, ... Scanners, 19a, 19b,
19c, ... Printers, 21a, 21b, 21c ,.
Image processing server, 22a, 22b, 22c, ... Application.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── (72) Inventor Takeshi Ogaki Takeshi Ogaki 70 Yanagi-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Toshiba Yanagimachi Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shiro Takagi 70, Yanagi-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Toshiba Yanagimachi, Co., Ltd. Within

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of control units that request image processing, and are connected to these control units as they are or via a communication line to control a plurality of image input / output devices and use these devices. And an image processing unit configured to perform an image processing in response to a request from the control unit, the output unit outputting the image processing request and the image processing priority to the control unit. The image processing unit is provided with a storage unit that stores the priority of the image processing being executed, a receiving unit that receives the image processing request and the priority from the output unit of the control unit, and the receiving unit. Comparing means for comparing the priority received by the above with the priority of the image processing stored in the storage means, and the result of the comparison by the comparing means, the priority of the image processing being executed is received by the receiving means. If a higher priority for the image processing, the image processing apparatus, characterized in that stops image processing being executed, provided and execution means for executing an image processing accepted by the accepting means, it was. 2. A plurality of control units that request image processing, and are connected to these control units as they are or via a communication line to control a plurality of image input / output devices and use these devices. And an image processing unit that performs image processing in response to a request from the control unit. Output means is provided for outputting an identifier for identifying the user to be executed, and the image processing unit stores the permission condition for the device including the control unit, the group to be used, and the identifier for identifying the user to be executed. Storing means, receiving means for receiving the image processing request and the identifier from the output means of the control section, and the identifier received by the receiving means is read from the storing means. Judgment means for judging whether or not the image processing request accepted by the acceptance means is permitted according to the permission condition, and an image accepted by the acceptance means when the image processing is permitted by the determination means. The image processing apparatus is provided with an executing unit that executes image processing according to the processing request of the above. 3. A plurality of control units that request image processing, and are connected to these control units as they are or through a communication line to control a plurality of image input / output devices and use these devices. And an image processing unit that performs image processing in response to a request from the control unit. An output unit for outputting an identifier for identifying a user to be executed and a priority of image processing is provided, and the image processing unit has a priority of image processing being executed and a device in which the control unit exists or a group to be used. And storage means storing permission conditions for an identifier for identifying a user to be executed, acceptance means for accepting a request for image processing, priority and identifier from the output means of the control section, and this acceptance means. Comparing means for comparing the priority received by the tier with the priority of the image processing stored in the storage means, according to the permission condition read from the storage means for the identifier received by the reception means. A determination means for determining whether or not the image processing request accepted by the acceptance means is permitted; and a result of the comparison by the comparison means, the image processing accepted by the acceptance means according to the priority of the image processing being executed. And the execution means for stopping the image processing being executed and executing the image processing accepted by the accepting means when the image processing is permitted by the judging means. Characteristic image processing device. 4. A plurality of control units that request image processing, and are connected to these control units as they are or via a communication line to control a plurality of image input / output devices and use these devices. And an image processing unit that performs image processing in response to a request from the control unit. An output unit for outputting an identifier for identifying a user to be executed and a priority of image processing is provided, and the image processing unit has a priority of image processing being executed and a device in which the control unit exists or a group to be used. And storage means storing permission conditions for an identifier for identifying a user to be executed, acceptance means for accepting a request for image processing, priority and identifier from the output means of the control section, and this acceptance means. Comparing means for comparing the priority received by the tier with the priority of the image processing stored in the storage means, according to the permission condition read from the storage means for the identifier received by the reception means. A determination means for determining whether or not the image processing request accepted by the acceptance means is permitted; and a result of the comparison by the comparison means, the image processing accepted by the acceptance means according to the priority of the image processing being executed. When the priority of the image processing is high, or when the image processing is permitted by the determining means, the image processing being executed is stopped, and an executing means for executing the image processing received by the receiving means is provided. Characteristic image processing device.