JP5656716B2 - Image forming apparatus and data processing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a data processing program capable of downloading a file, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus and a data processing program for efficiently downloading a file in a multi-access environment.

In recent years, in an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an MFP) having functions of a printer, a copy, and a facsimile, a document file (such as a pdf file) is created and downloaded to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC). By doing so, there is something that itself functions as a server. That is, according to such an MFP, it is possible to download a document file in response to a request from a browser (hereinafter referred to as a client as appropriate) incorporated in a PC. Note that the exchange between the client and the server is generally performed based on the HTTP protocol (HyperText Transfer Protocol) (see Patent Document 1).
Specifically, when the server (MFP) receives a download request for a document file via an HTTP request from a client, the server (MFP) starts creating the document file, and then sends the completed document file to the HTTP response. The process is executed as a series of sessions until it is downloaded to the PC.

JP 2003-256259 A

However, according to such a request-response type protocol, once an HTTP request is received, until the corresponding HTTP response is returned, the relationship between the server and the client is maintained by the session, and other clients are The server could not be accessed until the preceding document file was downloaded.
For this reason, when there are duplicate download requests to the MFP, it is necessary to wait for the completion of processing of the preceding document file, resulting in a problem that data processing is delayed.
In particular, when the amount of data and the number of data of the document file are large, such a problem tends to appear prominently, and it has been pointed out that processing utilizing the multi-access environment has not been performed appropriately.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and proceeds with file creation processing in parallel while responding immediately to a request from a client, and further performs response processing according to the file creation status. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a data processing program that can avoid occupying a session for a long time.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that enables image forming processing based on a request from a terminal device that is communicably connected, and downloads an arbitrary file from the terminal device. Download request receiving means for receiving a request, file creation means for starting file creation processing for a file related to the download request in response to the download request, and the creation status of the file related to the download request or the requested download file A file creation status notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the creation status of the file in response to an inquiry request, and a response means for downloading the file to the terminal device in response to a file acquisition request. Requests and file acquisition requests The HTTP request transmitted from the terminal device is executed, the notification of the file creation status to the terminal device and the file download are responded by the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, and the file creation means responds to the HTTP request related to the download request. Regardless of the response by the corresponding HTTP response, the file creation processing for the file related to the download request is started, and the file creation status notifying means indicates that the file is being created after receiving the download request by the download request receiving means. from notifying the terminal apparatus that has performed, when an inquiry request for documentation status file image forming apparatus receives, check the documentation status file according to the file, if the file has been confirmed to be creating An HTTP response describing that an inquiry request polling transmission request should be sent from the terminal device is transmitted to the terminal device, and if the check confirms that the file creation has been completed, a file acquisition request is issued from the terminal device. An HTTP response describing what to do is transmitted to the terminal device .

In order to achieve the above object, a data processing program according to the present invention provides a download request for an arbitrary file from a terminal device to a computer of an image forming device that enables image forming processing based on a request of a terminal device connected to be communicable. Download request receiving means for receiving a file, file creation means for starting a file creation process for a file related to the download request in response to the download request, a download request, or an inquiry about a file creation status relating to a file requested for download In response to the request, it functions as a file creation status notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the creation status of the file and a response means for downloading the file to the terminal device in response to the file acquisition request. And The file acquisition request is executed by the HTTP request transmitted from the terminal device, the notification of the file creation status to the terminal device and the file download are responded by the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, and the download request is sent to the file creating means. Regardless of the response by the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, the file creation process for the file related to the download request is started, and after the download request is received by the download request receiving unit, the file from the terminal apparatus that has performed the notification is being created, the query request for creating the status of file is received by the image forming apparatus, by checking the documentation status file according to the file, the file is being created If it is confirmed that the terminal device transmits an HTTP response describing that the terminal device should perform an inquiry request polling transmission request to the terminal device, and the check confirms that the file creation is completed The terminal device is made to transmit an HTTP response describing that a file acquisition request should be made from the terminal device .

  According to the image forming apparatus and the data processing program of the present invention, it is possible to perform an efficient download process utilizing a multi-access environment.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including an image forming apparatus (MFP) and a PC according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of a control part. It is a table block diagram which showed the structure of the file creation condition management table. It is a flowchart which shows the first process from file request to completion of download. It is a flowchart which shows the intermediate | middle process from a file request to completion of download. It is a flowchart which shows the last process from file request to completion of download.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including an image forming apparatus (MFP) according to an embodiment of the present invention and a PC according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment is connected to a plurality of PCs 20 via a communication line 40 such as a LAN or a WAN.
A web browser is installed in the PC 20 in advance, and can send an HTTP request to the MFP 10 while interpreting an HTTP response received from the MFP 10. In other words, the MFP 10 and the PC 20 in the present embodiment have a relationship between a server and a client, and are connected to be communicable based on the HTTP protocol.

The MFP 10 includes a control unit 100 on which a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) (not shown) are mounted.
The ROM stores a data processing program for causing the CPU to create a document file and to download the document file. In other words, the MFP 10 can function as a file server by executing this data processing program.
In addition, the ROM stores programs for causing the CPU to execute copying, printer, and facsimile processes. By executing these programs, the MFP can function as a copying apparatus, a printer apparatus, and a facsimile apparatus. .
The RAM is used as a working memory when the CPU executes these programs.

Here, a configuration for the MFP 10 to function as a file server will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control unit.
As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 100 includes a download request receiving unit 101, a file creation unit 102, a file creation status acquisition unit 103, a storage unit 104, a file creation status notification unit 105, and a response unit 106. .

The download request receiving unit 101 receives a download request regarding an arbitrary document file from the PC 20.
The “document file” is, for example, pdf (Portable Document
Format).
The “download request” is a request for obtaining such a document file, and corresponds to an HTTP request received from the PC 20 as a client. An “HTTP request” is a request in which various requests from a client are described in the HTML language based on a specific format.

In response to such a download request from the PC 20, the file creation unit 102 starts a file creation process for the document file related to the download request. For example, when there is a request for downloading a pdf file of target image data, a process of converting the image data into a pdf file by a known pdf conversion program or the like is started, and the pdf file for which the conversion process has been completed is started. A process of saving in a storage device such as an HDD is performed.
Here, the file creation processing is performed in parallel with a thread different from the thread that responds to the download request from the PC 20. That is, regardless of the response by the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request related to the download request, the file creation process is performed asynchronously with the session. The “HTTP response” is a response to the HTTP request, and the content of the response is an HTML file.
In this way, it is possible to prevent the session from being occupied for the creation of one file, and it is possible to prevent a delay in processing that has occurred when downloading a plurality of files.

The file creation status acquisition unit 103 acquires the creation status of the document file.
Specifically, the creation status of the document file stored in the file creation status management table t stored in the storage unit 104 such as a RAM is acquired.
FIG. 3 is a table configuration diagram showing the configuration of the file creation status management table.
As shown in FIG. 3, the file creation status management table t stores data corresponding to each column of “ID”, “creation status” (of document file), “progress”, and “file name”. I am doing so.
“ID” is a column for storing a unique identification number (for example, *** 1, *** 2, etc.) assigned to each target document file (or session).
“Creation status” is a column for storing the creation status of the document file (for example, “Creating”, “Completed”, etc.).
“Progress” is a column for storing the progress (eg, “50%”) of document file creation.
“File name” is a column for storing an identification name (eg, “aaa”) of the completed document file.
Information to be stored in each column is extracted at the same time as the creation of the document file, is stored in the storage unit 104 as the file creation status management table t, and regularly or irregularly until the creation of the document file is completed. Extracted and updated.
The file creation status acquisition unit 103 refers to the file creation status management table t when receiving a download request from the PC 20 as a client or when receiving a request for an inquiry regarding the creation status of a document file from the PC 20. To obtain the creation status of the target document file.

The file creation status notifying unit 105 requests the creation status in response to a request for downloading a document file or a request for an inquiry about the file creation status (a request from the PC 20 that has notified that a document file is being created). Notify the original PC 20. Specifically, when receiving an HTTP request describing the request for downloading the document file or the request for inquiring about the creation status of the document file from the PC 20, the file is sent via the file creation status acquisition unit 103. The creation status of the corresponding document file is acquired from the creation status management table t. Then, the acquired document file creation status (HTML file) is transmitted to the PC 20 as an HTTP response.
That is, the MFP 10 returns the creation status of the document file together with a response to the request from the PC 20.
Therefore, the PC 20 can also grasp the file creation status and make a request suitable for the progress of file creation to the MFP 10.

In addition, the PC 20 includes the “ID” included in the file creation status in the next request (creation status inquiry request) to the MFP 10, so that the MFP 10 only refers to the file creation status management table t and relates to the client. It is possible to obtain the file creation status. For this reason, it is possible to facilitate the tracking of the file creation status for each client. In addition, the user's convenience can be improved by displaying a progress bar or the like corresponding to the “progress degree” on the display screen of the PC 20.
In this way, by notifying the file creation status along with the response to the download request, the session can be released in a short time and the next behavior of the PC 20 can be controlled. Various data processing can be facilitated.

The response means 106 downloads the document file in response to a file acquisition request (a request from the PC 20 that has notified that the creation of the document file has been completed).
Specifically, when the response unit 106 receives an HTTP request for requesting acquisition of a document file from the PC 20 that has notified that the creation of the document file has been completed, the response unit 106 designates “ Based on the “file name”, the corresponding document file is taken out from the HDD and transmitted (downloaded) to the requesting PC 20 by an HTTP response.
In this way, since the acquisition request can be made from the PC 20 at the timing when the creation of the file is completed, the download can be carried out smoothly.

Next, a procedure from receiving a document file download request to completing the download will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a first step among steps from a document file download request to its completion.
As shown in FIG. 4, downloading of a document file starts when the MFP 10 receives an HTTP request as a document file download request from a certain PC 20 (S1). Specifically, an HTTP request including a description requesting download of a document file is transmitted from the PC 20, and the control unit 100 (download request receiving unit 101) of the MFP 10 receives the request.

Next, the control unit 100 of the MFP 10 checks the transmission job (file) execution restriction (S2). More specifically, the permission / prohibition of job transmission is determined by confirming whether or not the document file is permitted to be downloaded to the PC 20 and various restrictions such as the data amount and number of target files.
As a result, when execution of job transmission is permitted (S3: execution permission), the control unit 100 reflects option settings such as color / monochrome selection, file division (format for downloading one page as one file), and the like. (S4) A service program necessary for creating a document file is activated (S5). Specifically, the control unit 100 activates a thread related to job transmission and individually activates a thread for creating a document file.

Subsequently, in the control unit 100, the file creation unit 102 starts creating the document file in one thread (S6), and the file creation status notifying unit 105 uses the other thread to create the document file “Now creating”. Is sent to the requesting PC 20 (S7). That is, the document file creation process in S6 and the HTTP response in S7 are performed in parallel in separate threads. The file creation means 102 stores the document file created in the thread in S6 (thread for starting creation of the document file) in a storage device such as an HDD.
If execution of job transmission is not permitted in S3 (S3: execution prohibited), the process proceeds to S7, and an HTTP response including a description to that effect is transmitted to the requesting PC 20.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an intermediate step among the steps from a document file download request to its completion. This step corresponds to a subsequent step of S7 in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the MFP 10 starts from receiving an HTTP request as a document file creation status inquiry request from the PC 20 (S11).
In response to this, the control unit 100 (file creation status acquisition unit 103) of the MFP 10 checks the creation status of the document file (S12).
When it is confirmed that a document file is being created (S13: creating), the control unit 100 notifies the CPU that a polling transmission request should be made from the PC 20 (S14), and notifies the file creation status. The means 105 transmits an HTTP response with a description based on the contents of the notification to the requesting PC 20 (S15).
By performing such notification, the PC 20 can recognize that the file is still being created. Therefore, when receiving this notification, the PC 20 continues to send an HTTP request, which is a request for inquiring about the creation status of the document file, to the MFP 20 at a specific timing (for example, several seconds after receiving the notification). ing.

In S13, when it is confirmed that the creation of the document file is completed (S13: creation completed), the control unit 100 notifies the CPU that the document file acquisition request should be made from the PC 20 (S16). Then, the file creation status notifying means 105 transmits an HTTP response with a description based on the content of the notification to the requesting PC 20 (S17).
In S13, when it is confirmed that the creation of the document file is to be canceled due to reasons such as exceeding the time (S13: Creation is canceled), the control unit 100 notifies the CPU that the download of the document file is to be stopped. (S18), an HTTP response with a description based on the content of the notification is transmitted to the requesting PC 20 (S19).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the last of the steps from the request for downloading the document file to the completion thereof. This step corresponds to a subsequent step of S17 in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, here, the MFP 10 starts from receiving an HTTP request as a document file acquisition request from the PC 20 (S31).
In response to this, the control unit 100 (response means 106) of the MFP 10 acquires the document file that has been created from the HDD (S32), and transmits this document file based on the HTTP response (S33).

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus (MFP 10) according to the embodiment of the present invention, the file creation process proceeds in parallel while immediately responding to the request from the PC 20 as the client. Response processing is performed according to the creation status.
Therefore, it is possible to control the next behavior of the client while avoiding the occupation of the session for a long time.
Therefore, the download process for multi-access from a plurality of PCs 20 can be performed smoothly and efficiently.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. However, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that is possible.
For example, the object of the present invention can be achieved by applying another image forming apparatus (copy machine, printer apparatus, facsimile apparatus) installed with a browser in place of the MFP 10 of the present embodiment. There is an effect.

  The present invention can be suitably used for an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having these functions.

10 MFP (image forming apparatus)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Control part 101 Download request receiving means 102 File creation means 103 File creation status acquisition means 104 Storage means 105 File creation status notification means 106 Response means t File creation status management table 20 PC

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus that enables image forming processing based on a request from a terminal device that is communicably connected,
Download request receiving means for receiving a download request for an arbitrary file from the terminal device;
In response to the download request, file creation means for starting a file creation process for the file related to the download request;
A file creation status notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the creation status of the file in response to the download request or a request for an inquiry about the creation status of a file relating to the file requested to be downloaded;
Responding means for downloading the file to the terminal device in response to a file acquisition request,
The download request, the inquiry request, and the file acquisition request are implemented by an HTTP request transmitted from the terminal device,
The notification of the creation status of the file to the terminal device and the download of the file are responded by an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request,
The file creation means is
Regardless of the response by the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request related to the download request, a file creation process for the file related to the download request is started.
The file creation status notifying means
After the download request is received by the download request receiving unit, when the image forming apparatus receives an inquiry request regarding the creation status of the file from the terminal device that has notified that the file is being created, When the creation status of the file according to the above is checked and it is confirmed that the file is being created, an HTTP response describing that the terminal device should make a polling transmission request for the inquiry request is sent to the terminal. When the check confirms that the creation of the file is completed by the check, an HTTP response describing that a file acquisition request should be sent from the terminal device is sent to the terminal device. An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file creation status notifying unit notifies that the file is being created in the file creation processing as the file creation status. The file creation status notification unit, a creation status of the file, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein notifying that in the file creation processing to create the file is complete. The file creation status notifying unit, from the terminal device creating a makes a notification of completion of the file, upon receiving the file acquisition request, an image according to claim 3, wherein for downloading of the file to the terminal device Forming equipment. A computer of an image forming apparatus that enables image forming processing based on a request of a terminal device that is communicably connected,
Download request receiving means for receiving a download request for an arbitrary file from the terminal device;
In response to the download request, file creation means for starting a file creation process for the file related to the download request,
A file creation status notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the creation status of the file in response to a request for an inquiry about the creation status of the file relating to the download request or the file requested to be downloaded; and
In response to a file acquisition request, the terminal device functions as response means for downloading the file,
The download request, the inquiry request, and the file acquisition request are implemented by an HTTP request transmitted from the terminal device,
The notification of the creation status of the file to the terminal device and the download of the file are responded by an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request,
In the file creation means,
Regardless of the response by the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request related to the download request, the file creation processing for the file related to the download request is started,
In the file creation status notification means,
After receiving the download request by the download request receiving means , an inquiry request regarding the creation status of the file is received by the image forming apparatus from the terminal device that has notified that the file is being created. When the creation status of the file related to the file is checked and it is confirmed that the file is being created, an HTTP response describing that a polling transmission request for the inquiry request should be performed from the terminal device is sent. To transmit to the terminal device, and when the check confirms that the creation of the file has been completed, the terminal device transmits an HTTP response describing that a file acquisition request should be made from the terminal device. Data processing program.

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