JP4899684B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program.

  In recent years, in addition to printers, copiers, facsimiles, and the like, many multifunction peripherals that perform these functions with a single device have become widespread. There are various types of multifunction peripherals, from those having a copy function and a facsimile function to those having a print function and a scan function. Also, such multifunction devices are required to acquire job information.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 sets job information desired to be acquired from a multifunction peripheral as a job attribute, and sets job attribute values that can be taken by the job attribute. A method has been proposed in which a job attribute value is returned as a response according to the setting when an acquisition request is received. According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, various types of jobs processed by the multifunction peripheral can be managed in a unified manner, and job information can be obtained even when a new function is added to the multifunction peripheral. Can be easily obtained.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-140843

  Incidentally, in recent years, it has been desired to realize a composite job function that variously combines a print function, a scan function, a facsimile function, and the like. Specifically, for example, a function called “direct facsimile function” is a function that is sent to a multifunction peripheral as a print job and is automatically transmitted to a destination telephone number set by the user. When the facsimile is transmitted to a plurality of destinations by this direct facsimile function, the data first reaches the multi-function peripheral. The multi-function peripheral generates a direct facsimile job, and a facsimile transmission job for each destination is generated from the direct facsimile job. Detailed job information including status information such as success / failure is generated for each facsimile transmission job.

In such a case, in the conventional multi-function peripheral, the job information of each facsimile transmission job derived from the direct facsimile job is known, but since the relationship between the jobs is not known, it is possible to determine which destination in one direct facsimile job. It was impossible to grasp information such as which destination facsimile transmission job failed due to success in the facsimile transmission job.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows a user to easily grasp the relationship between jobs.

An image forming apparatus according to a preferred aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit, a job execution unit that executes transmission processing as a job, and job identification information that identifies the job for a job executed by the job execution unit. A job identification information issuing means for assigning a job, a job derivation means for deriving one or more jobs from the job, and when the job execution means fails to execute the job, a predetermined number of retries is set as an upper limit, and the retry Whether to retry the job based on the number of times, and if the number of derivations of the job has not reached the number of retries, a re-execution unit for newly deriving the job, and the job execution unit Group identification information for assigning group identification information for identifying a group to which the job belongs to a job executed by A group identification information issuing unit for assigning the same group identification information as the job of the derivation to the derived job when one or more jobs are derived from the job by the job derivation unit; The job identification information assigned by the job identification information issuing means includes the status representing the job processing result of the job identification information, the group identification information of the job of the job identification information, and the job identification information by the job derivation means. Storage control means for storing job information associated with job identification information of a child job derived from a job and job identification information of a parent job derived from the job with the job identification information by the job derivation means in the storage means Job information stored in the storage means, wherein the group identification information is And output means for outputting in association with the job information is one.

According to the first and second aspects of the invention, there is an effect that the user can easily grasp the relationship between jobs as compared with the case where the configuration according to the first aspect is not provided. .

<A: Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system is configured by connecting an image forming apparatus 1 and a client apparatus 2 via a network 3 such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus having a scanning function and a facsimile function. The client apparatus 2 has a function of acquiring various information stored in the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 3.

  The control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the image forming apparatus 1 according to a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 12. Control. The storage unit 12 is a storage unit such as a hard disk, and stores various programs such as a program related to control of the image forming apparatus 1 and facsimile transmission / reception.

  The operation display unit 13 includes a liquid crystal display that functions as a touch panel, and the user of the image forming apparatus 1 can perform various operations by touching the liquid crystal display. The image reading unit 14 includes an optical system member (not shown) configured by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like, and optically reads and reads an image of a document placed on a platen glass (not shown). Image data representing an image is generated. The image forming unit 16 generates a toner image based on the image data supplied from the control unit 11, and forms an image on the sheet by transferring and fixing the toner image on the sheet. The “sheet” in the present embodiment is not limited to so-called paper, and includes a plastic such as an OHP sheet and a sheet made of other materials. The communication unit 15 is a network interface that manages data exchange with other devices.

The image forming apparatus 1 executes various processes such as a facsimile transmission process, a scan process, and a print process as a “job”. The image forming apparatus 1 also has a function of executing a job in which a plurality of jobs are combined (hereinafter, “composite job”). For example, a “direct facsimile job”, which is one of composite jobs, is a process of performing facsimile transmission to a plurality of destinations. When performing this direct facsimile job, the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 divides the direct facsimile job into “facsimile transmission jobs” for transmitting a facsimile to each destination, and each “facsimile transmission job”. Are executed in order.
The image forming apparatus 1 also has a function of performing a retry when job execution fails. When the job execution fails, the image forming apparatus 1 newly generates a job for executing the same processing as the job that failed execution.
The image forming apparatus 1 also has a function of executing a plurality of jobs at once. Specifically, the user of the image forming apparatus 1 can collectively instruct the execution of a plurality of jobs such as a scan job, a print job, and a mail transmission job by operating the operation display unit 13. The image forming apparatus 1 treats a collection of a plurality of jobs specified in a batch as a “composite job”.

In the following explanation, for convenience of explanation, dividing a composite job into a plurality of jobs, or generating a job with the same processing as the job when the job retry fails, “Deriving a job” " In the following description, the derived job is referred to as a “child job” for the original job, and conversely, the original job is referred to as a “parent job” for the derived job.
Further, for a certain job, a collection of the job and jobs derived from the job is referred to as a “job group”.

The storage unit 12 includes a job management table storage area 12a. The job management table storage area 12a stores a job management table for managing job information.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the job management table. Each of the job information stored in this table has items of “job ID”, “job type”, “job group identifier”, “parent job identifier”, “child job identifier”, and “status”. ing. Among these items, the “job ID” item stores identification information assigned to the job. In the “job type” item, information indicating a job type (type) such as “direct FAX” or “FAX” is stored. In the “job group identifier” item, identification information for identifying a job group is stored. The item “parent job identifier” stores the job ID of a job (parent job) derived from the job indicated by the job ID. If there is no parent job, “0” is stored in this item. The item “child job identifier” stores the job ID of a job (child job) derived from the job indicated by the job ID. If there is no child job, “0” is stored in this item. In the “status” item, information indicating the job processing status and processing result such as “abnormal end” and “normal end” is stored.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, a job with job IDs “2” to “6” is derived from a job with job ID “1”. As shown in the figure, “0” is stored in the “parent job identifier” of the job information with the job ID “1”, and “2, 3, 4, 5, 6” is stored in the “child job identifier” item. Remembered. On the other hand, “1” is stored in each “parent job identifier” of job information with job IDs “2” to “6”, and “0” is stored in the item “child job identifier”. Thus, in this embodiment, the parent-child relationship in which jobs are derived one after another is expressed by the parent job identifier and child job identifier.

<B: Operation>
<B-1: Job execution operation>
Next, processing performed by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When a job execution is instructed, the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 first determines whether or not a job ID is assigned (step S1). If it is determined that the job ID is not assigned (step S1; NO), the control unit 11 assigns a job ID and a group ID to the job, and assigns the assigned job ID and group ID. The stored job information is stored in the job management table of the job management table storage area 12a. (Step S2). Next, the job type of the job is determined to determine whether or not to derive a child job (step S3). If it is determined that a child job is to be derived (step S3; YES), the control unit 11 generates a child job, assigns a job ID to each of the derived child jobs, and assigns the assigned job ID. The generated job information is generated and stored in the job management table (step S4). Further, the control unit 11 sets the same group ID as the group ID assigned to the parent job in step S2 in the item of “group ID” of each child job. Next, the control unit 11 sets the job ID of each parent job and the job ID of the child job in the “parent job identifier” and “child job identifier” items of the job information of each of the parent job and the child job. (Step S5).

  On the other hand, when the child job is not derived in step S3 (step S3; NO), the control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S6 without performing the processes of steps S4 and S5. In step S1, if a job ID has already been assigned to the designated job (step S1; YES), the control unit 11 does not perform the processes in steps S2 to S5, but performs the process in step S6. Proceed to

  Next, the control unit 11 executes the job (step S6). At this time, if the job itself is a job that does not need to execute facsimile transmission processing or scanning processing, such as a “direct facsimile job”, it is not necessary to execute processing in step S6.

  When the process of step S6 is completed, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the job process has been normally completed (step S7). When the job process is normally completed (step S7; OK), the control unit 11 ends the process as it is. Note that if the job itself is a job that does not need to be executed, such as a “direct facsimile job”, the control unit 11 regards the job as having ended normally in step S7 and continues the processing. On the other hand, when the job process is abnormally terminated (step S7; NG), the control unit 11 determines whether to retry (step S8). In this determination, for example, the control unit 11 counts the number of failures, and performs a retry when the number of failures is less than two, and conversely when the number of failures is two or more. It may not be performed. When it is determined that the retry is to be performed (step S8; YES), the control unit 11 returns to the process of step S4 and performs job execution processing on the child job derived from the child job (step S4). , Step S5).

<B-2: Job execution operation example 1>
Next, an example of a specific operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.
In this operation example, an operation example in which the user of the image forming apparatus 1 performs direct facsimile transmission to three destinations “A”, “B”, and “C” will be described. In the direct facsimile transmission, when the user instructs the multifunction device to print a document, the multifunction device automatically transmits the document by facsimile toward a designated destination.

  Further, in the following operation example, an operation when the facsimile transmission job of the destination “A” fails once and the facsimile transmission job of the destination “C” fails twice will be described. Further, in this operation example, the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 ends the process when the retry fails two or more times.

  A user operates an operation unit of a computer device such as a personal computer to set a destination telephone number and instruct direct facsimile transmission. The operation unit of the computer device outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation to the control unit 11, and the control unit 11 transmits instruction information for performing direct facsimile according to the signal output from the operation display unit 13 to the network. 3 to the image forming apparatus 1.

  The control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 executes steps S1 → S2 → S3 in the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step S1, the control unit 11 generates a direct facsimile job and assigns “1” as the job ID. Next, the control unit 11 performs direct facsimile processing of the process of step S4, that is, the three jobs of the facsimile transmission job having the destination “A”, the facsimile transmission job having the destination “B”, and the facsimile transmission job having the destination “C”. A job ID is assigned to each job, and job information having each job ID is registered in the job management table. At that time, the control unit 11 sets the job ID of each parent job and the job ID of the child job in the item of the parent job identifier and the item of the child job identifier.

Next, the control unit 11 executes the process shown in FIG. 3 for each of the three child jobs.
First, the control unit 11 executes a job for transmitting a facsimile to the destination “A” (hereinafter referred to as “job J2”). The control unit 11 executes the processes of steps S1 → S6 → S7 in FIG. 3 for the job J2. If execution of job J2 fails in step S6, the determination result in step S7 is “NG”, and the control unit 11 proceeds to step S8. At this stage, the number of failures of job J2 is 1. Therefore, the determination result in step S8 is “YES”, and the process returns to step S4 to derive a child job.
Thus, by performing the processing shown in FIG. 3 for each processing, job information is generated in the job management table for each job. As a result, the values of the fields of the job information are as illustrated in FIG.

<B-3: Job execution operation example 2>
Next, an example of another specific operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.
In this operation example, the user of the image forming apparatus 1 operates the operation display unit 13 to scan a document and print out the document, and to set an e-mail in which image data generated by the scan is set. An operation for sending an e-mail to an address will be described.
When the user operates the operation display unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 1 to instruct the execution of a scan job, print job, and mail transmission job all at once, the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 performs step S1 in FIG. The processing of S2->S3->S4-> S5 is performed, and the instructed job is divided into "scan job", "print job", and "mail transmission job" to derive child jobs.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the job management table in this operation example. As shown in the figure, the same group ID is set in the item “job group identifier”.

  As described above, since the control unit 11 assigns the same group ID to a plurality of jobs processed in a batch, the job state as a series of processes can be managed as a group of jobs. .

<B-4: Job information output operation>
Next, job information output operation will be described. The user operates the operation unit of the client apparatus 2 to instruct to acquire job information from the image forming apparatus 1. The client apparatus 2 transmits information indicating that job information is acquired (hereinafter referred to as “GET request”) to the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 3 in accordance with the operated content. At this time, the client device 2 can also acquire tray information and information indicating a failure state in addition to the job information according to the operated content.

When the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 detects that a GET request has been received via the communication unit 15, response information including job information corresponding to the content of the GET request (hereinafter referred to as “GET response”) is sent to the client. Transmit to device 2.
Note that the job information output (transmitted) at this time may be a part or all of the job information stored in the job management table. The control unit 11 may output all or part of the job information according to the content of the GET request.
Specifically, for example, when receiving a GET request to acquire job information with a group ID “1”, the control unit 11 reads job information with a group ID “1” from the job management table. The job information having the same group ID is associated and transmitted as a GET response to the client apparatus 2. The client device 2 outputs the received job information by displaying the received job information on a display device such as a liquid crystal display or printing an image representing the content of the job information.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output mode of job information. In the example shown in FIG. 4, an example is shown in which the client device 2 displays the content indicating job information on a display device such as a liquid crystal display. Thus, the user can confirm the job information with the group ID “1” by operating the client device 2 and confirming the job information included in the received GET response.

<C: Modification>
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, It can implement with another various form. An example is shown below.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, job information having items of “job ID”, “job type”, “job group identifier”, “parent job identifier”, “child job identifier”, and “status” is used. . Items included in the job information are not limited to these. For example, the job name, the number of transmitted sheets (or the number of printed sheets), and the like may be included, and various information related to the job can be included. is there. In addition, the item “job group identifier” may not be included. In short, job information including items “job ID”, “parent job identifier”, and “child job identifier” may be used.

  In the embodiment described above, a parent job identifier, a child job identifier, and a group identifier are used as information indicating the relationship between jobs. Other than this, any attribute can be used as long as the relationship is known.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 outputs the job information by transmitting the job information to the client apparatus 2 via the network 3. The output mode of the job information is not limited to this. For example, the content indicated by the job information may be displayed on the operation display unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 1 or the content of the job information may be printed out.
In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 receives an input of an output instruction by receiving an output instruction of job information from the client apparatus 2 via the network 3. The input instruction input mode is not limited to this. For example, an output instruction input from the operation unit of the image forming apparatus 1 may be received.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the direct facsimile transmission process, the facsimile transmission process, the scan process, and the print process are listed as jobs. The job is not limited to this, and may be, for example, so-called Internet facsimile processing that transmits data via the Internet. Moreover, the process which attaches and transmits image data to an email may be sufficient. The job is preferably a process including at least one of a facsimile transmission process, a scan process, and a print process.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, the “child job identifier” item of the job information stored in the job management table includes the job IDs of all child jobs derived from the job. Instead of this, as shown in FIG. 6, only the job ID of the child job derived last may be set in the item “child job identifier”.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, only the job ID of the child job immediately below the job (the job directly derived from the job) may be set in the item “child job identifier”.
As described above, there are various modes in which the job ID is stored in association with the parent job identifier and the child job identifier, and which method is employed can be changed according to the design or the like.

(5) Programs executed by the control unit 11 of the image forming apparatus 1 in the above-described embodiment are a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, a CD (Compact Disk) -ROM, and a DVD. (Digital Versatile Disk) and a storage medium such as a RAM can also be provided. It is also possible to download the image forming apparatus 1 via a network such as the Internet.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a system. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of a job management table. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of job execution processing performed by the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of a job management table. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a client apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of a job management table. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of a job management table.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Client apparatus, 3 ... Network, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... Memory | storage part, 13 ... Operation display part, 14 ... Image reading part, 15 ... Communication part, 16 ... Image forming part.

Claims (2)

Storage means;
Job execution means for executing transmission processing as a job;
Job identification information issuing means for assigning job identification information for identifying the job to a job executed by the job execution means;
Job derivation means for deriving one or more jobs from the job;
When the job execution unit fails to execute the job, the upper limit is a predetermined number of retries, and it is determined whether to retry the job based on the number of retries. If the number of retries has not been reached, re-execution means for newly deriving the job,
Group identification information issuing means for assigning group identification information for identifying a group to which the job belongs to a job executed by the job execution means, wherein one or more jobs are derived from the job by the job derivation means A group identification information issuing means for assigning the same group identification information to the derived job to the derived job,
The job identification information assigned by the job identification information issuing unit includes a status indicating a job processing result of the job identification information, a job group identification information of the job identification information, and the job identification information by the job derivation unit. Storage control for storing in the storage means job information associated with the job identification information of the child job derived from the job and the job identification information of the parent job derived from the job with the job identification information by the job derivation means Means,
An image forming apparatus comprising: output means for associating and outputting job information stored in the storage means and having the same group identification information. In the computer provided in the image forming apparatus ,
A job execution function that executes transmission processing as a job;
A job identification information issuing function for assigning job identification information for identifying the job to a job executed by the job execution function;
A job derivation function for deriving one or more jobs from the job;
When the job execution function fails to execute the job, a predetermined number of retries is set as an upper limit, and it is determined whether to retry the job based on the number of retries. When the number of retries has not been reached, a re-execution function that newly derives the job,
A group identification information issuing function for assigning group identification information for identifying a group to which the job belongs to a job executed by the job execution function, wherein one or more jobs are derived from the job by the job derivation function A group identification information issuing function for assigning the same group identification information to the derived job to the derived job,
The job identification information assigned by the job identification information issuing function includes the status indicating the job processing result of the job identification information, the job group identification information of the job identification information, and the job identification information by the job derivation function. Storage control function for storing job information associated with the job identification information of a child job derived from the job and the job identification information of the parent job derived from the job with the job identification information by the job derivation function in a storage unit When,
A program for realizing an output function for associating and outputting job information stored in the storage means and having the same group identification information.

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