JPH11296467A - Method and device for network device control, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent overlapped management of a network device by plural managers by discriminating whether or not the network device is managed. SOLUTION: This device is equipped with a device search request step (S1101) to examine whether or not a network device exists, a manager information request step (S1103) to request a device that responds (S1102) to the search request to provide manager information, an acquisition manager information decision step (S1105) for judging whether or not the manager information is valid on the basis of the received manager information (S1104), a normal state display step (S1106) which displays an icon of the normal state when the manager information is invalid, and others managing state display step (S1107) which performs icon display for discriminating the state that the network device is being managed by others when the manager information is decided to be valid. Thus, it is possible to identify which network device is being managed at present.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer network, and more particularly, to a network printer control apparatus and method including network management software,
It relates to a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computers can be interconnected by a local area network (LAN). Local area networks can be interconnected for incorporation into larger systems spanning a building floor or entire building, a group of buildings (premises), an area, or even a larger area, up to a global system. Each LAN may have a variety of hardware interconnect technologies and a number of network protocols.

[0003] A simple LAN separated from the others can be managed by individual users. In other words, users can replace equipment, install software,
And diagnose problems.

On the other hand, large and complex LANs and large interconnected LAN groups require "management". "Management" means management by both a human network administrator and the software used by that administrator. In the present application, "management" means management by software for managing the entire system, and "user" means a person who uses network management software. This user is typically the system administrator. By using the network management software, the user can obtain management data on the network and change this data.

[0005] Large-scale network systems are usually dynamic systems that require constant addition and removal of equipment, software updates, and problem detection. Generally, there will be different systems owned by different people and supplied by different vendors.

Hereinafter, an example of a large-scale network requiring management will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a case where a network board (NEB) 101 for connecting a printer to a network is connected to a printer 102 having an open architecture. The NEB 101 connects to a local area network (LAN) 100, for example, an Ethernet interface 10Base-2 having a coaxial connector, or an RJ-
It is connected via a LAN interface such as 10Base-T having 45.

[0008] A plurality of personal computers (PCs) such as PC 103 and PC 104 are also connected to 100, and these PCs can communicate with NEB 101 under the control of a network operating system. One of the PCs, for example, the PC 103 can be designated to be used as the network management unit. P
A printer such as the printer 105 connected to the PC 104 may be connected to C.

A file server 10 is connected to the LAN 100.
6, which manages access to files stored on a large-capacity (for example, 10 billion bytes) network disk 107. Print server 108
Causes a printer such as the connected printers 109a and 109b or the printer 105 at a remote location to perform printing. Other peripheral devices (not shown)
It may be connected to 0.

[0010] More specifically, the network shown in FIG. 1 can use network software such as Novell or UNIX software to efficiently communicate between various network members. Although any network software can be used, for example, Novell NetWare (trademark of Novell, hereinafter abbreviated) software can be used. For a detailed description of this software package, please refer to the online documentation included with the NetWare package. It is available for purchase from Novell with the NetWare package.

Briefly, the file server 10
6 is for receiving data files between LAN members,
Perform storage, queuing, caching, and transmission;
Plays the role of file management unit. For example, PC1
03 and the PC 104 are sent to the file server 106. The file server 106 arranges these data files in order,
Then, according to the command from the print server 108, the arranged data files are transmitted to the printer 109a.

Each of the PC 103 and the PC 104 generates a data file and a LAN of the generated data file.
It is composed of a normal PC capable of transmitting data to the LAN 100, receiving a file from the LAN 100, and displaying and / or processing such a file. FIG.
Although personal computer equipment is shown in FIG. 1, other computer equipment may be included as appropriate to execute the network software. For example,
If using UNIX software, UNIX workstations may be included in the network, and these workstations may be used with the illustrated PC under appropriate circumstances.

Typically, a LAN such as LAN 100 provides services to a somewhat local user group, such as a user group on one floor or multiple consecutive floors in a building. For example, a wide area network (WAN) may be created as one user moves away from another user, such as when the user is in another building or another prefecture. A WAN is basically an aggregation formed by connecting several LANs with a high-speed digital line such as an integrated high-speed service digital network (ISDN) telephone line. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
, LAN 110 and LAN 120 are modulated / demodulated (MO
DEM) / transponder 130 and backbone 14
0 to form a WAN. These connections are simple electrical connections with several buses. Each LAN includes a dedicated PC and, although not necessarily, usually includes a file server and a print server.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Are the PC 111, the PC 112, and the file server 1
13, a network disk 114, a print server 115, a printer 116 and a printer 117
And In contrast, the LAN 120 has a PC 121 and a PC
122 only. LAN 100, LAN 110,
Devices connected to the LAN 120 can access functions of other LAN devices via the WAN connection.

As a method for managing the devices on the network constituting the large-scale network system as described above, several attempts have been made by many standard organizations so far. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has established OpenSystem Interconnection,
OSI) provided a universal reference framework called the model. The OSI model of the network management protocol is
Common Management Information Format
ion Protocol, CMIP). CMIP is a common European network management protocol.

In the United States, a simple network management protocol (Simple Network Management Protocol, SNM)
There is a variant protocol related to CMIP called P). (Marshall T. Rose, The Simple Book, Prenti
ce-Hall, 1991).

According to the SNMP network management technology,
A network management system includes at least one network management station (NMS), a number of managed nodes, each including an agent, and a network management protocol used by the management stations and agents to exchange management information. The user can obtain data on the network and change the data by communicating with the agent software on the managed node using the network management software on the NMS.

An agent is software that runs as a background process for each target device. When a user requests management data from a device on the network, the management software sends the object identification information in a management packet or frame to the target agent. The agent interprets the object identification information, extracts data corresponding to the object identification information, puts the data in a packet, and sends it back to the user. Occasionally, a corresponding process is called to retrieve the data.

The agent holds data relating to its own state in the form of a database. This database is referred to as MIB (Management Information Bass).
Call it e). FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the MIB. As shown in FIG. 4, the MIB has a tree-structured data structure, and all nodes are uniquely numbered.
In FIG. 4, the number written in parentheses is the identifier of the node.

For example, in FIG. 4, the identifier of the node 401 is 1. The identifier of the node 402 is
Since it is 3 below, it is written as 1.3. Similarly, the identifier of the node 403 is described as 1.3.6.6.2.

This node identifier is called an object identifier (OBJECT IDENTIFIER). This MIB has a management information structure (SMI: Structure of Managem).
entInformation) and RFC1155 Structure and Id
entification of Management Information for TCP / IP-
based Internets.

As an example of mounting an agent, it is conceivable to mount the agent on a network board for connecting a printer to a network. Thus, the printer can be managed by the network management software. The user can obtain the information of the printer to be controlled using the network management software and change the status. More specifically, for example, a character string displayed on a liquid crystal display of a printer can be obtained, or a default paper cassette can be changed.

An embodiment in which a network board (NEB) on which an agent is mounted is connected to a printer will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, NEB1 is preferably used.
01 is built in the internal expansion I / O slot of the printer 102, and the NEB 101 is an "embedded" network node having the processing and data storage functions described below.

The configuration of the NEB 101 provides an advantage of having a characteristic auxiliary function for controlling and managing a large multi-area WAN network. These auxiliary functions include, for example, printer control and status monitoring from a remote location on the network (such as the network administrator's office), and a printer to provide a guaranteed initial environment for the next user after each print job. Includes printer logs or usage statistics that can be accessed through a network to automatically manage configuration and characterize printer load or schedule toner cartridge replacement.

An important factor in the NEB design is that the NEB 10 is controlled via a bidirectional interface such as a shared memory.
This is a function for accessing the printer control status from the printer 1.
In addition to the shared memory, an interface such as a SCSI interface can be used. As a result, the printer operation information can be sent to the NEB 101 or the external network node so that many useful auxiliary function programs can be created. The block of print image data and control information is configured by a microprocessor on the NEB 101, described in a shared memory, and read by the printer 102. Similarly, printer status information is sent from printer 102 to shared memory, where it is read by the NEB processor.

FIG. 2 shows that the NEB 101 is connected to the printer 102.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the device is installed in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the NEB 101 is a printed circuit board 101 on which a face plate 101b for network connection is installed.
a, and is connected to the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170.
The printer interface card 150 directly controls the printer engine of the printer 102. The print data and the printer status command are input from the NEB 101 to the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170, and the printer status information is also obtained from the printer interface card 150 via the connector 170. The NEB 101 communicates this information on the LAN 100 via the network connector of the face plate 101b. At the same time, the printer 102 can also receive print data from the conventional serial port 102a and parallel port 102b.

FIG. 3 shows the NEB 101 and the printer 102.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection between the LAN and a LAN. The NEB 101 is directly connected to the LAN 100 via a LAN interface and to the printer 102 via a printer interface card 150. The microprocessor 151 accesses data with the NEB 101 via the shared memory 200 installed in the NEB 101. Microprocessor 15
1 is a printer engine 16 that actually operates the printing mechanism.
Also communicates with 0.

On the other hand, the PC on which the network management software operates will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a PC on which network management software can operate.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 500 denotes a PC on which network management software operates, and 1 in FIG.
Equivalent to 03. The PC 500 executes a network management program stored in the ROM 502 or the hard disk (HD) 511 or supplied from the floppy disk drive (FD) 512.
01, and comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 504.

Reference numeral 503 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 501. Reference numeral 505 denotes a keyboard controller (KBC).
9 and an instruction input from a pointing device (not shown) or the like. 506 is a CRT controller (CRTC)
Controls the display on the CRT display (CRT) 510. A disk controller (DKC) 507 controls access to a hard disk (HD) 511 storing a boot program, various applications, editing files, user files, a network management program, and the like, and a floppy disk controller (FD) 512. A network interface card (NIC) 508 exchanges data with an agent or a network device via the LAN 100 in two directions.

The hard disk (HD) 511 stores a program of the network management software according to the present invention as described in a flowchart described later. In the flowcharts described below, the main body of execution is the CPU 501 on hardware. On the other hand, the subject of control on software is network management software stored in a hard disk (HD) 511. In the present embodiment, the OS is assumed to be, for example, Windows 95 (manufactured by Microsoft), but is not limited thereto.

Next, the configuration of the network management software of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6 is a module configuration diagram of the network management software according to the present invention. The network management software according to the present invention is stored in the hard disk 511 in FIG. At that time, the CPU 501 uses the RAM 503 as a work area.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes a module called a device list, which displays a list of devices connected to the network. Reference numeral 602 denotes overall control, which controls other modules based on instructions from the device list. Reference numeral 603 denotes a module called a configurator, which performs a special process related to the network setting of the agent. A module 604 is called a search module and searches for a device connected to the network. Devices searched by this module are displayed as a list in a device list 601. 605 indicates the status of the print job by NetWare API
This module is obtained from the network server using 616. (For NetWare API, for example, N
"NetWare Programmer's Gui published by ovell
de for C "and the like. This book can be purchased from Novell, Inc.) 606 and 607 are modules for displaying a device detail window showing detailed information of the managed device. A module exists for each target model to be displayed.
Is a control module, which is responsible for control specific to the target model for acquiring detailed information. These modules also exist for each target model for displaying detailed information. The modules 608 and 609 acquire MIB data from the management target device using the MIB module 610 and pass the acquired MIB data to the module 606 or 607 for displaying a device detail window.

The MIB module 610 is a module that converts between an object identifier and an object key. Here, the object key is a 32-bit integer corresponding to the object identifier on a one-to-one basis. Since the object identifier is a variable-length identifier and is cumbersome to implement in network management software, the network management software according to the present application internally uses a fixed-length identifier that has a one-to-one correspondence with the object identifier. . MIB module 610
The higher-level module handles MIB information using this object key. This facilitates implementation of network management software.

Reference numeral 611 denotes an SNMP module.
It transmits and receives NMP packets.

Reference numeral 612 denotes a common transport module, which absorbs the difference between lower protocols for carrying SNMP data. In practice, depending on the protocol selected by the user during operation, either the IPX handler 613 or the UDP handler 614 plays a role in transferring data. The UDP handler uses WinSock 617 as an implementation. (WinSo
For ck, refer to the specification of Windows Socket API v1.1, for example. This document is available from multiple sources, but is included with, for example, Visual C ++, a Microsoft compiler. The current protocol 615 used by the configurator 603 indicates either the IPX protocol or the UDP protocol selected by the user during operation.

In the following description, the network management software according to the present application may be referred to as NetSpot.

Next, in a large-scale network system having a configuration as shown in FIG. 1, the case where the NetSpot running on the PC 500 manages a printer to be managed (for example, the printer 102) will be described in more detail.

FIG. 7 shows that a conventional NetSpot manages a printer to be managed (in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing an operation from discovery on the device list 0 to display on the device list 601.

In this flowchart, NetSpo
First, at step S701, t issues a device search request to check whether or not a printer to be managed exists on the LAN 100.

Next, in step S702, the LAN
If each managed printer on the network 100 can respond to the device search request in step S701, it returns a response to the device search request to NetSpot. In this flowchart, only the device 1 returns a response.

Finally, in step S703, the printers to be managed that have responded to the device search request in step S701 are listed in the device list 601 as shown in FIG.
And the flowchart ends.

Note that reference numeral 801 denotes an example of a managed printer that has responded to the device search request in step S701.

Now, in order for the user to display the information of the printer to be managed displayed in the device list 601 by the above flowchart in detail using NetSpot, the user double-clicks the icon 801 or the like.
You must display the device details window.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing processing performed between NetSpot and the printer to be managed when the device detail window is opened.

In this sequence diagram, in step S901, NetSpot issues a registration request for administrator information to the managed printer in order to declare that it manages a managed printer (eg, printer 102). .

Here, the administrator information registered in the managed printer will be described.

The administrator information is represented in a format as shown in FIG. 10, and is a data format expressing which administrator manages a certain printer to be managed.

The administrator information is composed of the following four items. (1) Physical address Computer running NetSpot (for example, P
C500). (2) SNMP community name S used between NetSpot and managed device
Holds the community name of the NMP protocol. (3) Protocol Used The communication protocol used between NetSpot and the device to be managed is held. TCP / IP, NetWar
e, AppleTalk, etc. can be used. (4) Network address The network address of the computer executing NetSpot is held.

Specifically, when TCP / IP is specified in the above-mentioned protocol, the IP address is held, and when NetWare is specified,
Holds a combination of an IPX network address and an IPX node address. If AppleTalk is specified, the DDP network number and DDP
Holds combinations of node IDs.

Returning to FIG. 9, description of the sequence diagram will be continued.

If the administrator registration is successful, step S
As a response to 901, the managed printer returns manager registration success in step S 902. If the administrator registration has failed, the device details window is not opened and this sequence ends.

If the administrator registration is successful, NetSpot
Issues a device detailed information request in step S903 to display the detailed information of the device in the device details window.

Step S904 is the response.

Thus, the present sequence ends, and a device detail window is displayed.

[0059]

As described above, in the conventional NetSpot, a device (user 1) manages a device 1 by registering administrator information for a printer (device 1) to be managed. However, there is no means for informing other users that the user 1 is managing the device 1. for that reason,
There is a disadvantage that the same managed printer is managed by a plurality of users at the same time.

[0060]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitution.

In other words, the network device control method includes a device search requesting step for checking whether a network device exists on a local area network, and a management target printer responding to the device search request in the device search requesting step. An administrator information requesting step for requesting administrator information; and an acquisition administrator information determining step for determining whether the administrator information is valid based on a response of the administrator information received from the network device. When the acquired administrator information determining step determines that the administrator information is invalid, a normal state display step for displaying a normal state icon, and that the acquired administrator information is valid If it is determined, an icon for identifying that the status is being managed by another party And a others Managed status display step for displaying.

Further, the other person managing state displaying step is a step of acquiring a unique host name on the network using the administrator information, and acquiring and displaying an administrator host name for displaying the host name. Further provision.

The manager information is characterized by comprising a physical address, an SNMP community name, a protocol used, and a network address.

When the correct data is stored in all the items of the manager information, the obtaining manager information determining step determines that the manager information is valid.

Further, the network device control device is as follows:
Device search request means for checking whether a network device exists on the local area network;
An administrator information requesting unit for requesting administrator information for a printer to be managed in response to the device search request in the device search request step; and the administrator information based on a response of the administrator information received from the network device. An acquisition manager information discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the information is valid, and, when the acquisition manager information discrimination step determines that the manager information is invalid, an icon for displaying a normal state icon. A normal state display means, and if the acquired administrator information is determined to be valid, another person management state display means for displaying an icon for identifying that the other person is being managed; Is provided.

The other person managing status display means obtains a unique host name on the network using the manager information, and the manager host name obtaining / display means for displaying the host name. Further provision.

When all the items of the manager information contain correct data, the obtained manager information determining means determines that the manager information is valid.

Further, the recording medium manages a device search requesting step for checking whether a network device exists on the local area network, and a management target printer responding to the device search request in the device search requesting step. An administrator information requesting step for requesting administrator information; an acquisition manager information determining step for determining whether the administrator information is valid based on a response of the administrator information received from the network device; When the administrator information determination step determines that the administrator information is invalid, a normal state display step for displaying a normal state icon and the acquired administrator information are determined to be valid In the case, the other person who displays the icon to identify that it is in the state of other person management And characterized by recording a program for executing a status display step in sense, to the computer.

Further, the recording medium is characterized by recording a program for causing a computer to further execute an administrator host name acquisition / display step for displaying a host name.

Further, the network device is a printer.

[0071]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart which is started when the user starts the network management software (NetSpot).

Ne executed according to this flowchart
The tSpot program is a hard disk (HD) 5
11 is stored. The subject of execution of the NetSpot program is the CPU 501 on hardware. on the other hand,
The subject of control on software is a hard disk (H
D) NetSpot stored in 511. In the present embodiment, the OS is assumed to be, for example, Windows 95 (manufactured by Microsoft), but is not limited thereto.

When the user starts the network management software (NetSpot), the NetSpot program executes step S1101.

Steps S1101 and S11
02 corresponds to steps S701 and S70 in FIG.
Same as 2.

Next, in step S1103, Ne
tSpot issues an administrator information request to the device to be managed (device 1 in the example of this flowchart).

In step S1104, NetSp
ot receives a response to the administrator information request from the device 1.

Upon receiving the administrator information of the device 1 in step S1104, NetSpot determines in step S1105 whether the administrator information is valid. Here, "the manager information is valid" means that correct data is stored in all items of the manager information.

If valid administrator information cannot be obtained in step S 1105, it means that there is no user managing the device 1.
At 06, the device 1 is displayed on the device list as in the conventional case.

At this time, the display result is as shown in FIG.

If valid administrator information can be obtained in step S 1105, it means that there is a user managing the device 1.
107 changes the display method of the device displayed on the device list.

In this embodiment, as shown by reference numeral 802 in FIG. 8B, an icon representing a printer to be managed is checked to indicate that the printer is under the management of another administrator. To enable identification.

The display method for identification is not only to put a check mark on the printer to be managed as described above, but also, for example, a method of blinking an icon or replacing the icon itself with a different one. Conceivable. This is the end of the description of the flowchart.

In NetSpot, the latest status of the managed printer can be always displayed on the device list by executing the above-mentioned flowchart at regular time intervals. [Embodiment 2] Hereinafter, a second embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, step S11 in FIG.
A display method different from the display method for the device list shown in FIG.

For example, in a TCP / IP environment, as shown in FIG.
In addition to the computer PC 104 and the printer 102, there may be a server 1201 called a DNS (Domein Name Service) server for associating an IP address with a host name (the name of a computer uniquely assigned in the LAN 100 environment). is there.

Alternatively, instead of the server 1201,
Each computer may hold a file for associating the P address with the host name.

In the above environment, the host name can be obtained from the IP address.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the host name is acquired from the IP address, and the device list 6 of NetSpot is acquired.
01 shows a method for displaying.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an exchange between a printer to be managed (in the figure, referred to as a device), NetSpot, and a DNS server.

In this flowchart, step S
At 1301, NetSpot acquires administrator information from the device. This step corresponds to step S11 in FIG.
It is equivalent to 04.

If the administrator information acquired in step S1301 is valid, N
etSpot extracts a network address from the administrator information and passes the network address to the DNS server.

If the protocol used between the device and NetSpot is the TCP / IP protocol, the IP address is used as the network address.

Next, in step S1303, DN
The S server converts the IP address passed from NetSpot into a host name and returns it to NetSpot.

Finally, Ne is determined in step S1304.
tSpot indicates the acquired host name in the device list 601.
To be displayed.

Here, there are several possible display methods for the device list 601 in step S1304.

One of them is the device list 601 in FIG.
This is a method to display the host name by popping up when the mouse is put on the printer icon.

Second, “device name”, “product name”,
A method of creating an item called “management host name” by arranging “network interface board name”, “network address”, and “MAC address” is conceivable.

There is also a method of creating an item such as “list of managed devices” in a menu. This is the end of the description of the flowchart.

In the above flowchart, NetSpot
Converted the IP address and host name by using a DNS server.

However, as described above, the computer that executes NetSpot (for example, PC 103 in FIG. 12) may internally hold a file that associates an IP address with a host name. In this case, the conversion between the IP address and the host name is performed by processing steps S1302 and S1303 in FIG. 13 inside the computer. After that, the host name can be displayed on the device list 601 by step S1304.

[0102]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowcharts. Each module shown will be stored in a storage medium. That is, at least “device search request module 1401”, “manager information request module 1402”, “acquisition manager information determination module 1403”, and “normal state display module 1”.
404 "," Other person managing status display module 1405 "
May be stored in a storage medium.

[0109]

As described above, according to the present invention, a user can identify which network device to be managed is currently being managed. Thus, the disadvantage that a plurality of users simultaneously manage the same network device to be managed has been solved.

[0110]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a case where a network board for connecting a printer to a network is connected to a printer having an open architecture.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment in which a network board on which an agent is mounted is connected to a printer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical connection between a network board, a printer, and a LAN.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of an MIB.

FIG. 5 shows a P on which network management software can operate.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of C.

FIG. 6 is a module configuration diagram of network management software.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a conventional method for displaying a managed printer on a device list.

FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional device list, and FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating an example of a device list according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram from opening of a device list to opening of a device detail window.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data format of administrator information.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a LAN environment in which a DNS server exists.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a memory map of a recording medium.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 local area network 101 network board 102 printer with open architecture 102 a serial port 102 b parallel port 103 personal computer (PC) 104 personal computer (PC) 105 printer 106 file server 107 network disk 108 print server 109 a connected printer 109 b printer 110 Local Area Network 111 Personal Computer (PC) 112 Personal Computer (PC) 113 File Server 114 Network Disk 115 Print Server 116 Printer 117 Printer 120 Local Area Network 121 Personal Computer (PC) 122 Personal Computer (PC) 130 modulation / demodulation (MODEM) / transponder 140 Backbone 0.99 P which printer interface card 151 microprocessor 160 printer engine 170 connector 200 shared memory 500 network management software running
C 501 CPU for executing a network management program supplied from FD 512 502 ROM 503 RAM 504 System bus 505 Keyboard controller (KBC) 506 CRT controller (CRTC) 507 Disk controller (DKC) 508 Network interface card (NI)
C) 509 Keyboard (KB) 510 CRT display (CRT) 511 Hard disk (HD) 512 Floppy disk drive (FD) 601 Device list module 602 Overall control module 603 Configurator 604 Search module 605 NetWare job module 606 UI module A 607 UI module B 608 Control Module A 609 Control Module B 610 MIB Module 611 SNMP Module 612 Common Transport Module 613 IPX Handler 614 UDP Handler 615 Current Protocol Used by Configurator 603 616 NetWare API 617 WinSock

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A network device control method, comprising: a device search request step for checking whether a network device exists on a local area network; and a management target network responding to the device search request by the device search request step. For the device,
An administrator information requesting step for requesting administrator information, and an acquisition administrator information determining step for determining whether the administrator information is valid based on a response of the administrator information received from the network device; When the acquired administrator information is determined to be invalid by the acquired administrator information determining step, a normal state display step for displaying a normal state icon is determined, and the acquired administrator information is determined to be valid. A status display step for displaying an icon for identifying that the status is under the management of another party in the event that the status is under the management of another party. 2. A host name that is unique on a network is acquired by a status display step for managing another person using the administrator information, and an administrator host name acquisition / display step for displaying the host name is performed. The network device control method according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The administrator information includes a physical address, an S address,
2. The network device control method according to claim 1, comprising an NMP community name, a used protocol, and a network address. 4. The acquisition manager information determining step determines that the manager information is valid when correct data is stored in all items of the manager information. Network device control method. 5. A network device control apparatus, comprising: a device search request unit for checking whether a network device exists on a local area network; and a management target device responding to the device search request in the device search request step. For network devices,
Manager information requesting means for requesting manager information; acquisition manager information determining means for determining whether the manager information is valid based on a response of the manager information received from the network device; When the acquired manager information is determined to be invalid by the acquired manager information determining step, a normal state display unit for displaying a normal state icon is determined, and the obtained manager information is determined to be valid. A status display means for displaying an icon for identifying that the status is a status under the management of another person. 6. A host name that is unique on a network is acquired by another party management status display means using the administrator information, and an administrator host name acquisition / display means for displaying the host name is provided. The network device control device according to claim 5, further comprising: 7. The manager information includes a physical address, an S address,
6. The network device control apparatus according to claim 5, comprising an NMP community name, a used protocol, and a network address. 8. The acquisition manager information discriminating means judges that the manager information is valid when correct data is stored in all items of the manager information. Network device controller. 9. A device search requesting step for checking whether a network device exists on the local area network; and a management target network device responding to the device search request in the device search requesting step.
An administrator information requesting step for requesting administrator information, and an acquisition administrator information determining step for determining whether the administrator information is valid based on a response of the administrator information received from the network device; When it is determined by the acquisition manager information determining step that the manager information is invalid, a normal state displaying step for displaying a normal state icon is determined, and the obtained manager information is determined to be valid. A recording medium characterized by recording a program for causing a computer to execute a third party status display step for displaying an icon for identifying that the third party is in a third party status. . 10. The storage medium according to claim 9, wherein a program for causing a computer to further execute an administrator host name acquisition / display step for displaying a host name is recorded. 11. The network device control device according to claim 5, wherein said network device is a printer.