JPH0823431A - Facsimile equipment having file transfer function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inform a fault to a transmission station by allowing a reception station to inform identification information to specify a failed file such as a file name to a transmission station through the use of a file diagnostic message when a communication fault takes place during file transfer. CONSTITUTION:A transmission station calls a reception station and when the reception station detects the arrival of a call, a called station identification signal is sent, a digital identification signal command is generated and sent to the transmission station. When the transmission station detects the called station identification signal, the end of connection is discriminated, the digital identification signal is analyzed and a command is generated based on the analysis result. A facsimile control field of the digital identification signal differs from each command, then the information representing a frame to be the digital identification signal is set to a control signal. Thus, after the transfer of a file 1 is successful, when a reception fault takes place during the transfer of a file 2, the re-transmission processing is started from the file 2 having the fault.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function, and more particularly to a file for transferring file data using any one of standardized file transfer modes (BTM, DTM, BFT, EDI). The present invention relates to a facsimile device having a transfer function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in JP-A-2-134974 and JP-A-3-49463, there is a technique of transferring file data instead of image information by using a procedure for transmitting image information of a facsimile apparatus. It is disclosed.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, since various settings are made by using the unique (non-standard) mode in the communication protocol, there is a problem that transfer cannot be performed between the other companies. Therefore, in February 1992, ITU-T Recommendation T. A new item related to file transfer has been added to 30, and multiple file transfer modes (BT
(M, DTM, BFT, etc.) have been standardized, and by using these file transfer modes, it has become possible to transfer files between other companies' machines.

The standardized file transfer modes include, for example, BTM, DTM, BFT, etc., which are defined as follows. BTM (Basic File Transfer Mode; Basic Transfer M)
ode) is an arbitrary file (binary file, word processor original format document, bitmap, etc.)
To provide a transparent exchange. DTM (Document File Transfer; Document Transfer Mod)
e) provides a means for exchanging a plurality of types of files including a file descriptor described in a visualized character code. BFT (Binary File Transf)
er) is an abstract syntax notation. A method of exchanging a plurality of types of files including a file descriptor described in 1 (ANS.1) is provided.

A file descriptor is structured information about a file, which is transmitted prior to the file body and linked with the file body.

In the file transfer mode described above, it is possible to transfer a plurality of files in the same call.
FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a protocol sequence executed between the transmitting station and the receiving station in the file transfer mode.

At the transmitting station (calling station), a TCF (training check) is sent out in a procedure substantially similar to the case of transmitting image information, and a CFR (reception preparation confirmation) is returned from the receiving station (called station). Then, the transfer of the file 1 is started. 1
When transfer of one file data is completed, PPS-NUL
When L (partial page boundary signal) is transmitted and MCF (message confirmation) is returned from the receiving station in response to this, transmission of the next file 2 is started.

In the same manner, when a plurality of file transfers are repeated in the same call and the transfer of the last file n is completed, PPS-EO is replaced with PPS-EO instead of PPS-NULL.
P (partial page-procedure end) is sent to end the file transfer.

On the other hand, especially in the BFT mode, use of FDM (file diagnostic message) is permitted in the protocol. The FDM is an optional post message response sent from the receiving station to the transmitting station and provides the transmitting station with diagnostic information regarding the current transfer status.

The frame structure of the FDM command is similar to other commands such as DIS and DCS which will be described later with reference to FIG. 2, a preamble PA, a flag pattern F, an address field A, a control field C, a facsimile control field FCF and a facsimile information. The field FIF, the frame check sequence FCS, and the like are included. Information indicating that the frame is an FDM command is stored in the FCF, and diagnostic information (Diagnostic) is registered in the FIF.

The diagnostic information includes an error type (Diagnostic-type
) And various kinds of information including an error-identifier are registered. In addition, the error type is "Notification (in
formative) ”,“ transient ”, and“ permanent ”.
There are "no reason", "response side error", "system stop", etc. The error type “notification” indicates that the error does not require recovery and the transfer is not affected. A "temporary error" indicates that a repeat transfer does not reoccur, but a transfer in progress is a failure.
"Permanent error" indicates that at least the transfer in progress is unsuccessful and will not succeed with repeated attempts.

[0012]

In the receiving station, if file reception fails in the file transfer, the MC
Instead of F, an FDM command is sent back to instruct the transmitting station to retransmit. However, even if the transmitting station returns the FDM command, it cannot determine which file has a failure, so that there is a problem that all the files must be transferred again from the first file (file 1). It was That is, even if only the transfer of the last file n fails, the transfer must be repeated from the first file 1.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and when a communication failure occurs during file transfer,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function in which the resending process is started from the file in which the failure has occurred.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a facsimile machine having a file transfer function for transmitting and receiving file data using a standardized file transfer mode as follows. It is characterized in that it took measures. (1) The receiving station includes means for detecting identification information about a received file, means for storing the identification information, means for detecting a communication failure during file reception, and a file for detecting the communication failure when the communication failure is detected. And a means for transmitting the FDM command to the transmitting station. (2) The transmitting station has means for detecting the reception of the FDM command, means for detecting the file identification information registered in the FDM command, and means for starting the resending process from the file specified by the identification information. . (3) The transmitting station detects the reception of the FDM command, the means for detecting the error type registered in the FDM command, and the transmission stop, the retransmission, and the continuation of the transmission depending on the type of the error type. And a means for selecting.

[0015]

According to the above configuration (1), if a communication failure occurs during file transfer, the receiving station notifies the transmitting station of the identification information of the file in which the failure has occurred by using the FDM command. It becomes possible to notify the file that the error occurred.

According to the above configuration (2), the transmitting station that has received the FDM command transmitted from the receiving station has the FDM
Resending is performed from the file in which the failure has been notified by the command, so that only the file after the failure can be selectively retransmitted.

According to the above-mentioned configuration (3), the transmitting station can selectively execute an appropriate process according to the failure situation, so that unnecessary retransmissions with no prospect of success are repeated or success occurs. There is no chance that prospective retransmission will not be performed.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

The CPU 1 carries out control processing of the entire facsimile apparatus and facsimile transmission control procedure processing according to a program stored in the system control section 8. RAM2
Is a memory used as a work area for the control program. The operation display device 3 has an operation unit including a keyboard including a ten-key pad and a display unit of a liquid crystal panel (may be a CRT screen), and gives an instruction for the operation of the facsimile apparatus and displays the instruction and the operation state. The reading device 4 reads a transmission document using, for example, a CCD image sensor and converts it into image information of an electric signal. The image information read by the reading device 4 and the received image information are stored in the image storage device 7. The printer 5 prints received image data and the like. The image processing device 6 performs encoding and decoding (compression, decompression) between the image signal and the transmission code.

The system controller 8 comprises a ROM in which a program for controlling the entire facsimile is stored. The communication control unit 9 includes a G3 facsimile communication control program and an interface circuit with the modem 10 and the network control device 11. The modem 10 is a modulator / demodulator having a low-speed modem (V21) for transmission procedure signals and a high-speed modem (V27ter, V29, V33, V17, etc.) for transmitting and receiving image information. The network control device 11 is an interface circuit with a public telephone line and has an automatic call originating / receiving function.

The host computer 14 such as a workstation or personal computer is a host I / O.
It is connected to the facsimile machine through the F control device 13. Each of the circuits 1 to 9 and 13 in the device is a system bus 1.
Data is mutually transmitted and received via the two.

The operation of each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the flowcharts. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the operation of the transmitting side facsimile apparatus and the receiving side facsimile apparatus, respectively, which are the first embodiment of the present invention. For example, each CPU 1 is a program stored in the system control unit 8. It is a process executed according to. Further, FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a protocol sequence executed between the transmitting station and the receiving station.

The transmitting station calls the receiving station in step S101 in FIG. 3, and the receiving station calls in step S2 in FIG.
When an incoming call is detected at 01, a CED (callee identification) signal is sent to the transmitting station. In step S202, DIS
(Digital identification signal) Create a command and send it to the transmitting station. At the transmitting station, the CE is executed in step S102.
When D is detected, it is determined that the connection is completed, and when the DIS is detected in step S103, the DIS is analyzed in step S104, and a DCS command is created based on the analysis result in step S105.

FIG. 2 shows the DIS command and DCS.
The frame structure example of the command is shown, and a preamble PA, a flag pattern F, an address field A, a control field C, and a facsimile control field F are shown.
It is composed of a CF, a facsimile information field FIF, a frame check sequence FCS and the like. The FCF in this is different depending on the command. The DIS command stores information indicating that the frame is a DIS command, and the DCS command stores information indicating that the frame is a DCS command. .

The capability for file transfer is provided by the FIF in both the DIS command and the DCS command.
The 7th byte and the 8th byte are defined as shown in the figure. That is, in the FIF Bit 53, the presence or absence of the BFT capability, in the Bit 54, the presence or absence of the DTM capability, and the Bit
In 57, presence / absence of BTM capability is defined by its bit state. Therefore, if the receiving station is BFT, DT
If it has both M and BTM transfer modes, the DIS command in which all of the Bits 53, 54, and 57 of the FIF are set to "1" is sent to the transmitting station.

Here, in the transmitting station which has received the DIS command, for example, when BFT is selected, in the step S105, the DCS command in which the Bit 53 of the FIF is set to "1" is returned, and the training process (step When S106) is completed, step S107
File transfer is started at.

At the receiving station, in step S204, D
As a result of analyzing the CS command, FIF Bit53, 5
If both 4 and 57 are "0", step S20
In step 5, the normal image information transmission mode is determined, and the process proceeds to step S206 to store the received image information in the image storage device 7. If only one of the Bits 54 and 57 of the FIF is set to “1”, the file transfer mode other than the BFT is determined and normal file reception is performed, and only the Bit 53 of the FIF is set to “1”. If so, the file is received in step S207, and in step S208, the file name registered in the file descriptor transferred prior to the file is searched and stored.

In step S209, it is constantly monitored whether or not a failure such that communication cannot be continued occurs during the reception, and the failure is detected or step S210.
In step S207, the processing of steps S207 to S210 is repeated until the end of transfer of the file is detected.
When the transfer of the file is completed, the presence / absence of the next file is determined in step S213, and if the file to be transferred remains, the processes of steps S207 to S213 are repeated.

On the other hand, when the communication failure is detected in the step S209, the file name stored in the step S208 is changed to the FDM F-number in the step S211.
Register in the IF and send to the transmitting station. When the transmitting station detects the FDM command in step S108,
In step S111, it is determined whether or not a file name is registered in the FIF of the FDM command. If registered, the file name is stored in step S113 as a retransmission start file, and if not registered, step S113 is executed. In S112, the name of the first transferred file is stored as the retransmission start file. In step S114, the planned communication stop procedure is executed to disconnect the line.

In step S115, the receiving station is recalled, and if it is determined in step S116 that it is not possible to resend, a message indicating that communication is abnormal is displayed on the display device in step S117, the processing is terminated, and re-sending is possible. If so, in step S118, the retransmission is started from the file stored as the retransmission start file.

According to the present embodiment, when a communication failure occurs during file transfer, the receiving station notifies the transmitting station of the file in which the failure has occurred by using the FDM command, and the transmitting station which receives the file notifies the file. Since retransmission is performed from the frame in which a failure has occurred, it is possible to prevent waste of retransmitting even a file in which no failure has occurred, as in the conventional case.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the transmitting station according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same or equivalent processing is executed in the steps designated by the same reference numerals as those described above. Is omitted.

In this embodiment, when the reception of the FDM command is detected in step S108, step S13 is performed.
At 0, the error type (erro) registered in the FIF of the FDM
r-type) is referred to, and this is “permanent error (permanent
) ”Is determined. If it is“ permanent error ”, the process proceeds to step S133 to execute the scheduled communication stop procedure. In step S134, the communication abnormality is displayed on the scan display device 3. The process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S130 that it is not a "permanent error", it is determined in step S131 whether it is a "transient error". Then, if it is a "temporary error", retransmission is started in step S132, and if it is not a "temporary error", that is, "notification (informative)", the process returns to step S107 and the transfer of the next file is started. To do.

According to this embodiment, when the FDM is received at the transmitting station, the error type is further referred to, and if the communication failure is fatal and is unlikely to be recovered, the transfer is stopped and the recovery is expected. If so, it will retransmit, and if it is a trivial failure that is not fatal, it will continue to transfer, so that the most suitable process is selected according to the error type. It is possible to prevent such a situation that a retransmission is performed or a retransmission that is expected to succeed is not performed.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved. (1) According to claim 1, when a communication failure occurs during file transfer, the receiving station uses the FDM command to provide identification information (for example, file name) for identifying the file in which the failure has occurred to the transmitting station. Since the notification is made, it becomes possible to notify the transmitting station of the file in which the failure has occurred. (2) According to claim 2, since the transmitting station that has received the FDM command specifies the faulty file based on the notified identification information and retransmits from the file,
As in the conventional case, it is possible to prevent waste of retransmitting even a file in which no failure has occurred. (3) According to claim 3, in the transmitting station, according to the type of error type registered in the FDM command transmitted from the receiving station,
Since any one of transmission stop, retransmission, and continuation of transmission is selected, it is possible to selectively execute appropriate processing according to the failure status. Therefore, there is no possibility that unnecessary retransmissions with no chance of success are repeated, and retransmissions with no chance of success are not performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a frame structure of a DIS (DCS) signal.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the transmitting side facsimile apparatus which is the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the receiving side facsimile apparatus which is the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a protocol sequence of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional protocol sequence between transmitting and receiving stations.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... Operation display device, 4 ... Reading device, 5 ... Printing device, 6 ... Image processing device, 7 ... Image storage device, 8 ... System control unit, 9 ... Communication control unit, 10 ... Modem, 11 ... Network control device, 12 ... System bus, 13 ...
Host I / F control device, 14 ... Host computer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function for transmitting and receiving file data using any one of a plurality of standardized file transfer modes, a unit for detecting identification information about a received file, and storing the identification information. Means, a means for detecting a communication failure during file reception, and an FD in which the identification information is registered when the communication failure is detected.
A facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function, comprising: means for creating an M command and means for sending the FDM command to a transmitting station. 2. A facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function for transmitting and receiving file data using any one of a plurality of standardized file transfer modes, and means for detecting reception of an FDM command, and the detected FDM command. A facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function, comprising: a unit for detecting the file identification information registered in the file; and a unit for starting a resending process from the file identified by the identification information. 3. A facsimile apparatus having a file transfer function for transmitting and receiving file data using any one of a plurality of standardized file transfer modes, a unit for detecting reception of an FDM command, and the detected FDM command. A file comprising a means for detecting an error type registered in, and a means for selecting one of transmission stop, re-transmission, and transmission continuation according to the type of the detected error type. A facsimile machine having a transfer function.