JP7119487B2 - Information processing device and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to activation of an application program (hereinafter abbreviated as application) installed in an information processing apparatus.

When installing and using an application in an information processing device, in many cases, it is necessary to enter and activate an issued license key in order to enable the application to be installed.

Also, when installing a large number of applications, it may be necessary to consider dependencies between the applications (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

JP 2015-228230 A

When entering a license key to activate an application, inputting the license key is troublesome when there are many applications to be installed or when the applications need to be installed on many information processing devices.

In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method that can activate an installed application without inputting a license key.

To achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention records a parent application and a child application linked by a parent-child relationship, and the activation states of the parent application and the child application installed in the own apparatus. a storage unit that stores an activation table for activating a parent application; a parent application activation unit that activates a parent application installed on the device; A parent-child relationship check unit that checks using an activation table, and a child application activation unit that activates a child application installed in the device itself. When activating a child application, the parent-child relationship checking unit confirms the parent application for the child application to be activated, confirms the activation state of the confirmed parent application in the activation table, and confirms the confirmed parent application. When an app is activated, activate the corresponding child app.

Therefore, you can activate installed apps without entering a license key.

In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the parent application activation unit may be configured to receive input of a license key and activate the parent application.

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention may be configured such that when the parent application activation unit activates the parent application, the child application activation unit activates the corresponding child application. .

In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the child application activation unit causes the parent-child relationship check unit to activate the child application installed in the own apparatus. confirming the parent application for the child application to be activated, confirming the activation state of the confirmed parent application in the activation table, and limiting the function to the corresponding child application when the confirmed parent application is not activated. The configuration may be such that limited activation is performed.

In order to achieve the above object, in an information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention, a storage unit stores a parent application and a child application linked by a parent-child relationship, and the parent application and the child application installed in the own device. A parent application activation unit activates the parent application installed on the device, and a parent-child relationship check unit activates the parent application installed on the device. and the child application are checked using the activation table, the child application activation unit activates the child application installed in the own device, and the child application activation unit activates the child application in the own device. When activating an installed child application, the parent application for the child application to be activated is confirmed by the parent-child relationship checking unit, the activation state of the confirmed parent application is confirmed in the activation table, and the confirmation is performed. Activate the corresponding child app when the corresponding parent app is activated.

As described above, according to the present invention, an installed application can be activated without entering a license key.

2 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus 20; FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a parent application 29a; FIG. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a child application 29b; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of an activation table 29c; FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when installing and activating a parent application 29a. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when installing a child application 29b; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when installing a child application in a configuration in which limited activation is performed; FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing at the time of installation and activation of the parent application 29a in a configuration in which limited activation is performed;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, an image forming apparatus (MFP, Multifunction Peripheral) will be described as a specific example of the information processing apparatus.

[Overview]
First, an overview will be given.

The present invention introduces the concept of a parent application and a child application that are linked by a parent-child relationship. The parent application is an application that requires a license key when activated. A child app does not require a license key, but will not be activated unless the parent app is activated. It is assumed that the child application knows the ID of the parent application.

If only the child application is installed on the image forming apparatus, the functions of the child application cannot be used. This means that the child app alone will not work (unless the parent app is activated). Therefore, even if the child application alone is obtained, it will not be used without paying the fee.

When the parent application is activated, the child application acquires the activation status of the parent application through the image forming device and releases the functional restrictions. It is assumed that multiple child applications will be installed on the image forming device, but this will only require one license key input and activation for the parent application, and will be an activation operation for multiple applications including child applications. is.

By using such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the labor involved in the activation operation.

In the following description, the terms "parent application" and "child application" are used, but they do not need to have common or related functions. It only matters if the parent app is activated. For this reason, there is no problem even if the parent application does not have any substantive functions and is used only for activation.

The outline has been described above.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20. As shown in FIG.

The image forming apparatus 20 includes a control section 21 . The control unit 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 20 .

The control unit 21 is connected to the document reading unit 22, the image processing unit 23, the image memory 24, the image forming unit 25, the operation unit 26, the display unit 26a, the facsimile communication unit 27, the communication unit 28, the storage unit 29, and the like. . The control unit 21 controls the operation of the above-mentioned connected units and transmits/receives signals or data to/from each unit.

The control unit 21 operates each function such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, and a facsimile transmission/reception function in accordance with a job execution instruction input by a user through an operation unit 26 or a PC (Personal Computer) connected to a network. It controls the driving and processing of the mechanisms necessary to perform the operation control of

The control unit 21 also has a parent application activation unit 21a, a parent-child relationship check unit 21b, and a child application activation unit 21c. The parent application activator 21a, the parent-child relationship checker 21b, and the child application activator 21c are functional blocks implemented by the CPU executing a program loaded from the ROM or the like to the RAM.

The parent application activation unit 21a accepts a license key issued to the parent application installed in the image forming apparatus 20 and activates the parent application.

The parent-child relationship check unit 21b checks the parent-child relationship of the applications installed in the image forming apparatus 20 using an activation table 29c (described later). For example, it checks what kind of child applications are installed for one parent application, and what the parent application is for one child application.

The child application activation unit 21 c activates child applications installed in the image forming apparatus 20 . At the time of activation, the activation state of its own parent application is checked via the parent-child relationship check unit 21b. If the parent application is activated, it will be activated, but if the parent application is not activated, it will not be activated either.

The document reading section 22 reads an image from a document.

The image processing section 23 performs image processing on the image data of the image read by the document reading section 22 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 23 performs image processing such as shading correction in order to improve the quality of the image read by the document reading unit 22 after image formation.

The image memory 24 is an area for temporarily storing document image data obtained by reading by the document reading section 22 and temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming section 25 .

The image forming section 25 forms an image such as image data read by the document reading section 22 .

The operation unit 26 includes a touch panel unit and an operation key unit for receiving instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 20 . The touch panel section includes a display section 26a such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided with a touch panel.

The facsimile communication section 27 includes an encoding/decoding section, a modulation/demodulation section, and an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown), and performs facsimile transmission using the public telephone line network.

The communication unit 28 is composed of a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits/receives various data to/from a device such as a PC via a LAN or the like connected to the communication unit 28 .

The storage unit 29 stores the document image read by the document reading unit 22 and the like. The storage unit 29 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD. The storage unit 29 stores the installed parent application 29a, child application 29b, and activation table 29c (described later). In the state shown in the drawing, one parent application 29a and two child applications 29b are stored in the storage unit 29. FIG.

The configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

[Parent App Configuration]
Next, the configuration of the parent application 29a will be described. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the parent application 29a.

The parent application 29a contains a parent application ID (Identification) 29d for uniquely identifying itself, a child application ID 29e for uniquely identifying its child application, and a program code for operating itself. and are included.

In addition, although there is one child application ID 29e in the drawing, in reality, a plurality of child application IDs 29e may be included according to the number of child applications having a parent-child relationship.

Thus, the parent application 29a knows all the IDs of its own child applications.

The configuration of the parent application 29a has been described above.

[Child application configuration]
Next, the configuration of the child application 29b will be described. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the child application 29b.

The child application 29b includes a child application ID 29f for uniquely identifying itself, an ID (parent application ID 29g) of the parent application 29a that becomes the parent of the child application 29b, and a program code for operating the child application 29b. .

Since the child application 29b has the parent application ID 29g, it can know what its own parent is.

The configuration of the child application 29b has been described above.

[About the activation table]
Next, the activation table 29c described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the activation table 29c.

The activation table 29 c is a table that records activation states of parent applications and child applications installed in the image forming apparatus 20 .

The activation table 29c has items such as "parent application ID", "child application ID", and "activation status".

For example, the first line of the entry indicates that the activation state of the parent application 29a whose parent application ID is "001" is "activated".

Also, for example, the second line of the entry indicates that the activation state of the child application 29b (child application ID "002") whose parent application ID is "001" is "activated".

Further, for example, the fourth line of the entry indicates that the activation state of the parent application 29a whose parent application ID is "004" is "unactivated" and that the parent application 29a is installed but not yet activated. It can be seen that there is no

Further, for example, in the fifth line of the entry, the activation state of the child application 29b having the parent application ID of "004" and the child application ID of "005" is "unactivated". Although it is installed in the image forming apparatus 20, the parent application has not been activated, so it is also in a non-activated state.

Activation table 29c is used by parent application activation unit 21a and child application activation unit 21c.

The activation table 29c has been described above.

[Process flow (when activating the parent application)]
Next, the flow of processing when installing and activating the parent application 29a will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when installing and activating the parent application 29a.

First, a user (or a service person, etc.) installs the parent application 29a in the image forming apparatus 20 (step S1).

Next, the user inputs the license key (step S2).

Next, the user instructs the parent application activation unit 21a, and the parent application activation unit 21a activates the parent application 29a (step S3). The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

Next, the parent-child relationship check unit 21b extracts the child application 29b, which is the child of the parent application 29a activated this time, among the child applications 29b installed in the image forming apparatus 20 (step S4).

Next, the child application activation unit 21c activates the child application 29b extracted in the previous step (step S5). The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

The flow of processing at the time of installation and activation of the parent application 29a has been described above.

[Process flow (when installing a child app)]
Next, the flow of processing when installing the child application 29b will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when installing the child application 29b.

First, the user installs the child application 29b in the image forming apparatus 20 (step S10).

Next, the child application activation unit 21c checks the activation state of the parent application 29a of the child application 29b installed in the previous step in the activation table 29c (step S11).

Next, the child application activation unit 21c determines whether or not the parent application 29a is activated (step S12).

If the parent application 29a has been activated (Y in step S12), the child application activation unit 21c activates the installed child application 29b (step S13). The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

If the parent application 29a has not been activated (N of step S12), the child application activating unit 21c does not activate the child application 29b (does no processing). The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

The flow of processing when installing the child application 29b has been described above.

<Modification>
In the above description, the child application 29b is not activated unless the parent application 29a is activated, and cannot be used. However, the configuration is not limited to this configuration. For example, even if the parent application 29a is not activated, only some of the functions of the installed child application 29b can be used as a trial version. It's okay.

Here, the flow of processing when installing a child application in a configuration in which limited activation is performed will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing when installing a child application in a configuration in which limited activation is performed.

First, the user installs the child application 29b in the image forming apparatus 20 (step S20).

Next, the child application activation unit 21c checks the activation state of the parent application 29a of the child application 29b installed in the previous step in the activation table 29c (step S21).

Next, the child application activation unit 21c determines whether or not the parent application 29a is activated (step S22).

If the parent application 29a has been activated (Y in step S22), the child application activation unit 21c activates the installed child application 29b (step S23). The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

If the parent application 29a has not been activated (N of step S22), the child application activation unit 21c performs limited activation of the child application 29b. The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

The above is the flow of processing when a child application is installed in a configuration in which limited activation is performed.

In addition, the flow of processing at the time of installation and activation of the parent application 29a in a configuration in which limited activation is performed is as follows. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing at the time of installation and activation of parent application 29a in a configuration in which limited activation is performed.

First, the user installs the parent application 29a in the image forming apparatus 20 (step S30).

Next, the user inputs a license key (step S31).

Next, the user instructs the parent application activation unit 21a, and the parent application activation unit 21a activates the parent application 29a (step S32). The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

Next, the parent-child relationship check unit 21b extracts the child application 29b, which is the child of the parent application 29a activated this time, among the child applications 29b installed in the image forming apparatus 20 (step S33).

Next, the child application activation unit 21c performs full activation of the limited-activated child application 29b extracted in the previous step (step S34). Note that full activation means changing from a limited activation state in which only some functions can be used to a state in which all functions can be used. The processing result is written in the activation table 29c.

The flow of processing at the time of installation and activation of the parent application 29a in the configuration in which limited activation is performed has been described above.

Modifications have been described above.

[Supplementary information]
As described above, the image forming apparatus 20 according to the present invention checks the activation states of the parent application 29a and the child application 29b that are linked by the parent-child relationship, and the parent application 29a and the child application 29b that are installed in the self-apparatus 20. A storage unit 29 storing an activation table 29c to be recorded, a parent application activating unit 21a that activates a parent application 29a installed in its own device 20, and a parent application 29a installed in its own device 20. A parent-child relationship checking unit 21b that checks the parent-child relationship of the child application 29b using the activation table 29c, and a child application activation unit 21c that activates the child application 29b installed in the device 20. , the child application activating unit 21c, when activating the child application 29b installed in the own device 20, confirms the parent application 29a for the child application 29b to be activated by the parent-child relation checking unit 21b, and confirms the confirmation. The activation state of the parent application 29a is confirmed in the activation table 29c, and when the confirmed parent application 29a is activated, the corresponding child application 29b is activated.

Therefore, you can activate installed apps without entering a license key.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

20... Image forming apparatus 21... Control unit 21a... Parent application activation unit 21b... Parent-child relationship check unit 21c... Child application activation unit 22... Document reading unit 23... Image processing unit 24... Image memory 25... Image forming unit 26... Operation unit 26a Display unit 27 Facsimile communication unit 28 Communication unit 29 Storage unit 29a Parent application 29b Child application 29c Activation table

Claims (2)

a storage unit storing a parent application and a child application that are linked by a parent-child relationship and an activation table that records the activation states of the parent application and the child application installed in the device;
a parent application activating unit that accepts input of a license key and activates the parent application installed on the device;
a parent-child relationship checking unit that checks the parent-child relationship between the parent application and the child application installed in the device using the activation table;
a child application activating unit that, when the parent application activating unit activates the parent application, activates the child application corresponding to the parent application, which is installed in the own device without requiring a license key. ,
The child application activation unit
When activating a child application installed in its own device, the parent application for the child application to be activated is confirmed by the parent-child relation checking unit, and the activation state of the confirmed parent application is confirmed in the activation table. ,
when the confirmed parent application is activated, activating the corresponding child application to remove functional restrictions without requiring a license key ;
When the confirmed parent application is not activated, perform limited activation with limited functions for the corresponding child application.
Information processing equipment. A storage unit stores a parent application and a child application that are linked by a parent-child relationship, and an activation table that records activation states of the parent application and the child application installed in the device,
A parent application activation unit receives an input of a license key and activates the parent application installed on the own device,
A parent-child relation checking unit checks the parent-child relation between the parent application and the child application installed in the device using the activation table,
a child application activating unit, when the parent application activating unit activates the parent application, activates a child application corresponding to the parent application installed in the own device without requiring a license key ;
When the child application activating unit activates a child application installed in its own device, the parent-child relation checking unit confirms the parent application for the child application to be activated, and checks the activation state of the confirmed parent application. Check with the activation table ,
when the confirmed parent application is activated, activating the corresponding child application to remove functional restrictions without requiring a license key ;
When the confirmed parent application is not activated, perform limited activation with limited functions for the corresponding child application.
Information processing methods.

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