JPH1188647A - Facsimile equipment control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide for a facsimile equipment control method by which a user properly obtains a communication management report. SOLUTION: When the value of communication management information stored in a communication management table reaches a prescribed value and the automatic output mode is not set (that is, when the manual output mode is set), since the content of the management table is transferred to a personal computer PC, even when the content of the communication management table is revised after that, the user references the content of the communication management table after the revision to properly obtain a communication history of a group 3 facsimile equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data by connecting to a personal computer apparatus and having a communication management table for storing communication management information indicating a communication result. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a function of exchanging data by connecting to a personal computer has been provided, a communication management table for storing communication management information indicating a communication result has been provided, and an automatic output mode of a communication management report has been designated. If a predetermined number of pieces of communication management information are stored in the communication management table, a communication management report is displayed which shows a list of the communication management information stored in the communication management table. Facsimile machines that record and output reports have been put into practical use.

[0003] A manual output mode is also provided in which the output of the communication management report can be manually specified. When the manual output mode is set, the communication management report is output unless the output of the communication management report is manually specified. Is not output.

[0004]

However, such a conventional apparatus has the following inconveniences.

That is, since the upper limit is set for the number of pieces of communication management information stored in the communication management table, the communication management information is stored up to the upper limit number in the communication management table, and the communication management information is further stored. Occurred, the oldest one of the communication management information stored in the communication management table was overwritten with the newly stored communication management information, so the output of the communication management report was set to the manual output mode. In this case, if the user forgets to output the communication management report, a problem arises in that necessary communication management information cannot be obtained.

When the automatic output mode of the communication management table is set, an attempt is made to record and output a communication management report. However, if a recording system failure (for example, paper shortage or paper jam) has occurred. The communication management report is not recorded and output, and when the communication management information is saved thereafter, the oldest one of the communication management information stored in the communication management table is newly stored in the communication management The information is overwritten with the information, and also in this case, a problem occurs in that necessary communication management information cannot be obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a method of controlling a facsimile apparatus which enables a user to appropriately obtain a communication management report.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control of a facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data by connecting to a personal computer apparatus and having a communication management table for storing communication management information indicating a communication result. In the method, when a predetermined number of pieces of communication management information are stored in the communication management table, a communication management report representing a list display of the communication management information stored in the communication management table is created, and automatic recording of the communication management report is performed. When the communication management report is set, the communication management report is recorded and output. When the automatic recording of the communication management report is not set, the communication management report is transferred to the personal computer.

Further, in the control method of a facsimile apparatus having a function of connecting to a personal computer and exchanging data and having a communication management table for storing communication management information indicating a communication result, the communication management table may be When a predetermined number of communication management information is saved, a communication management report representing a list display of the communication management information stored in the communication management table is created, and automatic recording of the communication management report is set, and When the state of the image recording system is good, the communication management report is recorded and output, while the automatic recording of the communication management report is not set, or the automatic recording of the communication management report is set. In this case, and the status of the image recording system is poor, the communication management report is In which it was to be transferred to.

[0010] The communication management report may include only the communication management information stored in the communication management table that includes a preset item. Also, the preset item may be an item whose communication result is an error end, an item whose communication mode is a transmission operation, an item whose communication mode is a reception operation, or any combination thereof. You should be able to do it.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a group 3 facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 performs a control process of each unit of the facsimile apparatus and a facsimile transmission control procedure process. A system memory 2 stores a control process program executed by the system control unit 1. , And various data required when executing the processing program, and constitutes a work area of the system control unit 1. The parameter memory 3 stores various information unique to the group 3 facsimile apparatus. The clock circuit 4 is for outputting current time information.

The scanner 5 is for reading an original image at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 6 is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display unit 7 is a facsimile apparatus. To operate,
It consists of various operation keys and various indicators.

The encoding / decoding section 8 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal.
This is for storing a large number of image information in a coded and compressed state.

The group 3 facsimile modem 10 implements a group 3 facsimile modem function, and exchanges transmission procedure signals (a low-speed modem function (V.21 modem)) and mainly exchanges image information. High-speed modem function (V.17 modem,
V. 34 modem, V.34. 29 modem, V.29. 27ter modem etc.).

The network control device 11 is for connecting the facsimile machine to a public telephone line network and has an automatic transmission / reception function.

The personal computer interface circuit 12 comprises, for example, a serial data interface circuit, and is connected to an external personal computer PC.
To exchange various data according to a predetermined data transmission procedure.

These are a system control unit 1, a system memory 2, a parameter memory 3, a clock circuit 4, a scanner 5, a plotter 6, an operation display unit 7, an encoding / decoding unit 8, an image storage device 9, a group 3 facsimile modem. The network controller 10, network controller 11, and personal computer interface circuit 12 are connected to an internal bus 13. Data is exchanged between these components mainly through the internal bus 13.

Data exchange between the network controller 11 and the group 3 facsimile modem 10 is directly performed.

A personal computer PC
Is a personal computer interface circuit 12
A command signal corresponding to a predetermined group 3 facsimile transmission procedure is exchanged with the group 3 facsimile apparatus via the PC, thereby realizing the group 3 facsimile transmission procedure and transmitting / receiving facsimile image information and the like. I have.

The system controller 1 also has a function of exchanging command signals with the personal computer PC via the personal computer interface circuit 12 and exchanging various data.

The group 3 facsimile apparatus has a facsimile transmission function (acting as an externally connected facsimile modem), a printer function (acting as a plotter 6 as a printer), and an image reading function (scanner 5) for a personal computer PC. (Transfer of image data read by the printer).

The system control unit 1 creates communication management information as shown in FIG. 2 for each transmission / reception operation each time the transmission / reception operation is performed, and creates a communication management table (not shown) in the system memory 2. To save. The communication management table can store a predetermined number of pieces of communication management information.

The communication management information includes an ID for distinguishing each piece of communication management information, a communication date and time of a transmission / reception operation, a destination name thereof, a communication mode (including transmission / reception, a transmission mode, etc.), and transmission / reception operations. Communication time, the number of documents exchanged during communication, the communication result, and the file number.

When the automatic output mode of the communication management report is set and the savable number of pieces of communication management information are stored in the communication management table, a communication management report as shown in FIG. 3 is created. Is recorded and output from the plotter 6 of the terminal.

When the communication management report is automatically output, the contents of the communication management table are deleted, so that the communication management information generated thereafter can be appropriately stored in the communication management table.

The group 3 facsimile apparatus also has a manual output mode in which the output of the communication management report can be manually specified. When this manual mode is set, the output of the communication management report is manually performed. Unless specified, a communication management report is not output and the contents of the communication management table are not deleted.

With the above configuration, the system control unit 1 executes the processing shown in FIG. 4 with respect to the output of the communication management report. This process is executed after one transmission / reception operation is completed and new communication management information is stored in the communication management table.

First, the number of pieces of communication management information stored in the communication management report is checked (step 101), and the number is determined to be a predetermined number of automatic outputs (usually, an upper limit for storing communication management information in the communication management table). A check is made to determine whether or not it is set (step 102). If the result of this determination 102 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

If the result of the determination 102 is YES, the above-described communication management report is created based on the contents of the communication management table at that time (step 10).
3). Then, it is checked whether or not the automatic output mode is set (decision 104). When the result of the decision 104 is YES when the automatic output mode is set,
The recording data of the communication management report is created, transferred to the plotter 6, and the document of the communication management report is recorded and output (process 105).

When the automatic output mode is not set and the result of determination 104 is NO, the communication management report data is transmitted to the personal computer P via the personal computer interface circuit 12.
Transfer to C (process 106).

Thus, in the personal computer PC, the communication management report data received from the group 3 facsimile apparatus is stored, and statistical information or the like based on the stored communication management report data is written by a predetermined communication management report management application. And display it to the user, or
Create a database.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the value of the communication management information stored in the communication management table reaches a predetermined value, the automatic output mode is not set (that is, the manual output mode is set). ), The contents of the communication management table are stored in the personal computer P
C, the user can refer to the contents of the communication management table before the change even if the contents of the communication management table are changed thereafter, and appropriately obtain the communication history of the group 3 facsimile apparatus. be able to.

FIG. 5 shows another example of the communication management report output process executed by the system control unit 1. In addition,
This process is executed after one transmission / reception operation is completed and new communication management information is stored in the communication management table.

First, the number of pieces of communication management information stored in the communication management report is checked (step 201), and the number is determined to be a predetermined number of automatic outputs (usually, an upper limit for storing communication management information in the communication management table). It is checked whether or not it is set (step 202). When the result of this determination 202 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

When the result of the determination 202 is YES, the above-described communication management report is created based on the contents of the communication management table at that time (step 20).
3). Then, it is checked whether or not the automatic output mode is set (decision 204). When the result of the decision 204 is YES when the automatic output mode is set,
It is checked whether the operation of the recording system such as the plotter 6 can be performed properly (decision 205).

When the result of the determination 205 is YES, the recording data of the communication management report is created, transferred to the plotter 6, and the original of the communication management report is recorded and output (process 206).

When the result of the judgment 204 is NO when the automatic output mode is not set, or
When an event such as a paper jam or running out of paper occurs in the plotter 6 and the operation of the recording system cannot be performed properly, and the result of the determination 205 is NO, the communication management report data is transmitted via the personal computer interface circuit 12. The data is transferred to the personal computer PC (process 207).

Thus, in the personal computer PC, the communication management report data received from the group 3 facsimile apparatus is stored, and statistical information or the like based on the stored communication management report data is written by a predetermined communication management report management application. And display it to the user, or
Create a database.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the value of the communication management information stored in the communication management table reaches a predetermined value, the automatic output mode is not set (that is, the manual output mode is set). ), The contents of the communication management table are stored in the personal computer PC.
Therefore, even if the contents of the communication management table are changed thereafter, the user can refer to the contents of the communication management table before the change, and appropriately obtain the communication history of the group 3 facsimile apparatus. Can be.

Even if the automatic output mode is set, but the plotter 6 has failed and cannot perform the recording operation, the contents of the communication management table are transferred to the personal computer PC. Even if a failure has occurred, the user can refer to the contents of the communication management table, and can appropriately obtain the communication history of the group 3 facsimile apparatus.

In the above-described embodiment, the communication management report is created based on all the communication management information stored in the communication management table. Only operation, only reception operation, or communication error,
There is also a request to create a communication management report in an arbitrary combination of a transmission operation and a reception operation.

To apply to such a request, for example, FIG.
As shown in, to create a setting item table in which the setting items and the setting values for it are registered, and to create a communication management report, search the communication management information based on the contents of the setting item table, and It is preferable to create a communication management table based on a search result.

It is preferable that the user can arbitrarily register a set value in each set item of the set item table.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a process applied to create a communication management report in this case. This processing is performed by the processing 103 in FIG. 4 and the processing 20 in FIG.
3 respectively.

First, the contents of the setting item table are read (process 301), and it is checked whether the setting value of the setting item “communication error” is “on” (decision 302).
When the result of determination 302 is YES, “communication error” is added to the registration item (process 303).

Next, it is checked whether or not the set value of the setting item "transmission operation" is "on" (decision 304).
When the result of the determination 304 is YES, “transmission operation” is added to the registration item (process 305).

Next, it is checked whether the set value of the setting item "reception operation" is "ON" (decision 306),
When the result of determination 306 is YES, “receiving operation” is added to the registration item (process 307).

Then, from the communication management table, the communication management information corresponding to the contents set in the registration item at that time is searched and extracted (process 308), and based on the extracted contents, the communication management information having the format as described above is obtained. Edit the contents of the communication management report and create a communication management report (Process 3
09).

Thus, in this case, a communication management report in a mode desired by the user can be obtained, and the operation of the group 3 facsimile apparatus using the communication management report can be performed smoothly.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the value of the communication management information stored in the communication management table reaches a predetermined value, the automatic output mode is not set (that is, the manual output mode is set)
Since the contents of the communication management table are transferred to the personal computer PC, the user can refer to the contents of the communication management table before the change even if the contents of the communication management table are changed thereafter. , The communication history of the group 3 facsimile apparatus can be appropriately obtained.

Further, even when the automatic output mode is set but the recording operation cannot be performed due to the failure of the plotter 6, the contents of the communication management table are transferred to the personal computer PC. Even if a failure has occurred, the user can refer to the contents of the communication management table, and the effect is obtained that the communication history of the group 3 facsimile apparatus can be appropriately obtained.

Further, a communication management report in a mode desired by the user can be obtained, and the operation of the group 3 facsimile apparatus using the communication management report can be smoothly performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a group 3 facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of communication management information.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a communication management report.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a communication management report output process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another example of a communication management report output process.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a setting item table.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for creating a communication management report based on the contents of a setting item table.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method for controlling a facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data by connecting to a personal computer apparatus and having a communication management table for storing communication management information indicating a communication result. When a predetermined number of communication management information is saved, a communication management report representing a list display of the communication management information stored in the communication management table is created, and when automatic recording of the communication management report is set,
A method of controlling a facsimile apparatus, wherein the communication management report is transferred to a personal computer device when the communication management report is recorded and output, but the automatic recording of the communication management report is not set. 2. A method for controlling a facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data by connecting to a personal computer device and having a communication management table for storing communication management information representing a communication result. When a predetermined number of communication management information is saved, a communication management report representing a list display of the communication management information stored in the communication management table is created, and automatic recording of the communication management report is set, and When the state of the image recording system is good, the communication management report is recorded and output, while the automatic recording of the communication management report is not set, or the automatic recording of the communication management report is set. In this case, and the status of the image recording system is poor, the communication management report is sent to the personal computer. Control method for a facsimile apparatus, characterized in that the feed. 3. The communication management report according to claim 1, wherein the communication management report includes only the communication management information stored in the communication management table, the communication management information including only a preset item. Facsimile machine control method. 4. The control method for a facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the preset item is a communication result indicating an error end. 5. The control method for a facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the preset item is a communication result transmission operation. 6. The control method for a facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined item is a communication result receiving operation. 7. The control method for a facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the preset item is a communication result indicating an error end, a transmission operation, a reception operation, or any combination thereof.