JP7127535B2 - Information processing system, information processing device, information processing method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, services and the like that provide functions combining a plurality of functions (for example, scanning, printing, mail delivery, etc.) have become known. For example, there is a service that performs predetermined processing on an electronic file (image file) generated by scanning and then distributes it by e-mail. Such services are realized by executing one or more processes for realizing each function as a series of processes.

A technique for providing a tool for creating an application that executes such a series of processes without requiring specialized knowledge such as programming has been disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

Further, in such services, when a cloud service or the like that provides the service is stopped for some reason, there is a demand for a mechanism for detecting the stopped state and notifying the user of the stopped state. As a technology to detect the suspension of such cloud services, the operation status of cloud services is periodically determined in order to promptly notify users of suspension and improve convenience when cloud services are suspended. A configuration of a client device that notifies a user of the status is disclosed (see Patent Literature 2).

However, with the technology described in Patent Document 1, even if the cloud service used by the application is stopped, it cannot be detected when the application is started. There is a problem that it is necessary to try to use (scan or print, etc.) Further, with the technology described in Patent Document 2, although the operation to detect the suspension of the cloud service is performed, only the communication with the cloud service used by the application can be confirmed. In reality, it is necessary to check whether the API (Application Program Interface) of the cloud service works as expected, and as a result, the authentication information (cloud service account, access token, etc.) The problem is that you have to hardcode it internally. Furthermore, since authentication information generally expires after a certain period of time, there is also the problem that the component must be recreated each time authentication information is issued.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and when an external service used by an application is stopped, the stopped state of the external service is notified when the application is started without using the application. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that can

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention uses authentication information for using an external service to execute stop detection processing for detecting whether the external service is stopped. an acquisition unit that acquires the latest detection result of the outage detection processing when an application that uses the external service is started; and the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit is the external If the service is stopped, the application execution unit that stops executing the application, and if the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service is stopped, and a notification unit configured to transmit notification information indicating that the external service has stopped to the electronic device for displaying the application on the electronic device.

According to the present invention, when an external service used by an application is stopped, the stopped state of the external service can be notified when the application is started without using the application.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a service providing system and a PC terminal according to the embodiment; 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a device according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the information processing system according to the embodiment; 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a logic processing unit according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of operations possessed by components. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a type conversion information table. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of processing flow information. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of application registration processing. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the portal top screen. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an application registration screen (1/5). FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an application registration screen (2/5). FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an application registration screen (3/5). FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an application registration screen (4/5). FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an application registration screen (5/5). FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of application setting information. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of authentication information registration processing of the information processing system according to the embodiment. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing of the input/output service processing unit according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of overall processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is not stopped in the information processing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of an application screen of the scan translation application. FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram showing an example of execution processing of a processing flow for realizing a scan translation service. FIG. 22 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is stopped in the information processing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a service stop display screen indicating that the external service is stopped. FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of registration processing of a notification destination user of the information processing system according to Modification 1 of the embodiment. 25 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing of the input/output service processing unit according to the first modification of the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of notification to the notification destination user. FIG. 27 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing of an input/output service processing unit according to Modification 2 of the embodiment; FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of overall processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is not stopped in the information processing system according to Modification 3 of the embodiment. FIG. 29 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is stopped in the information processing system according to Modification 3 of the embodiment. FIG. 30 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing by the input/output service processing unit according to Modification 4 of the embodiment. FIG. 31 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is stopped in the information processing system according to Modification 4 of the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the present invention is not limited by the following embodiments, and the constituent elements in the following embodiments can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art, substantially the same, and so-called equivalent ranges. is included. Furthermore, various omissions, replacements, changes and combinations of components can be made without departing from the gist of the following embodiments.

(Configuration of information processing system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. A system configuration of an information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a service providing system 10, a device 20 (an example of an electronic device), and a PC terminal 30, which are communicably connected via a wide-area network N1 such as the Internet. there is

The service providing system 10 is implemented by one or more information processing devices, and is implemented by a series of processes that combine one or more of a plurality of processes that implement various functions via a network N1. We provide various services.

Here, the functions are functions related to electronic data such as document files and image files. The functions include, for example, printing, scanning, facsimile transmission, data format conversion, mail distribution, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing, processing, compression/decompression, storage in a repository, and the like.

Specific examples of services provided by the service providing system 10 according to this embodiment will be described later. In addition, henceforth, a series of processes are also represented as a "process flow."

The devices 20 are various electronic devices used by users. That is, the device 20 is, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a PJ (Projector), an IWB (Interactive White Board: a whiteboard having an electronic blackboard function capable of mutual communication), a digital signage, or the like. output device, HUD (Head Up Display) device, industrial machinery, imaging device, sound collecting device, medical equipment, network home appliance, notebook PC (Personal Computer), mobile phone, smartphone, tablet terminal, game machine, PDA (Personal Digital assistant), digital camera, wearable PC or desktop PC. A user can use the device 20 to use various services provided by the service providing system 10 .

In addition, hereinafter, a plurality of devices 20 will be described using subscripts such as “device 20_1” and “device 20_2” when distinguishing between them.

The PC terminal 30 is, for example, a notebook PC, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, a PDA, a wearable PC, a desktop PC, or the like. A user can use the PC terminal 30 to use various services provided by the service providing system 10 .

In addition, hereinafter, when distinguishing between a plurality of PC terminals 30, they are described using subscripts such as "PC terminal 30_1" and "PC terminal 30_2".

Also, the configuration of the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and other configurations may be used. For example, the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes various devices that perform at least one of input and output of electronic data, and even if these devices use various services provided by the service providing system 10, good.

(Hardware configuration of service providing system and PC terminal)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a service providing system and a PC terminal according to the embodiment; Hardware configurations of the service providing system 10 and the PC terminal 30 included in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Since the service providing system 10 and the PC terminal 30 have similar hardware configurations, the hardware configuration of the service providing system 10 will be mainly described below.

The service providing system 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13, an auxiliary storage device 14, an input device 15, and a display device. 16, an external I/F 17, and a communication I/F 18. Each of these pieces of hardware are connected by a bus B, respectively.

The CPU 11 is an arithmetic device that implements the overall control and functions of the service providing system 10 by reading programs and data from a storage device such as the ROM 13 or the auxiliary storage device 14 onto the RAM 12 and executing processing.

The RAM 12 is a volatile semiconductor memory that temporarily holds programs and data. The ROM 13 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory that can retain programs and data even when the power is turned off. The ROM 13 stores programs and data such as BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), OS settings, and network settings that are executed when the service providing system 10 is started.

Auxiliary storage device 14 is a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data. The auxiliary storage device 14 is a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like. The programs and data stored in the auxiliary storage device 14 include an OS (Operating System), which is basic software that controls the entire service providing system 10, and application software that provides various functions on the OS. In addition, the auxiliary storage device 14 and stored programs and data are managed by a predetermined file system, database, and the like.

The input device 15 includes a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, or the like, and is used by the user to input various operation signals. The display device 16 includes a display and the like, and displays the processing result by the service providing system 10 . The display device 16 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, or the like. At least one of the input device 15 and the display device 16 may be used by connecting to the service providing system 10 when necessary.

The external I/F 17 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 17a and the like. As a result, the service providing system 10 can read and write data on the recording medium 17a via the external I/F 17. FIG. The recording medium 17a includes a flexible disk, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), an SD (Secure Digital) memory card, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, and the like.

Communication I/F 18 is an interface that connects service providing system 10 to network N1. The communication I/F 18 is, for example, an interface compatible with Ethernet (registered trademark) and capable of communication conforming to TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)/IP (Internet Protocol) or the like. Thereby, the service providing system 10 can communicate via the communication I/F 18 .

The service providing system 10 may use a drive device (for example, solid state drive: SSD) using flash memory as a storage medium instead of the auxiliary storage device 14 .

The service providing system 10 and the PC terminal 30 according to the present embodiment have the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2, so that various processes described later can be realized.

(Equipment hardware configuration)
3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a device according to the embodiment; FIG. A hardware configuration when the device 20 included in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

The equipment 20 shown in FIG. 3 has a controller 21 , an operation panel 22 , an external I/F 23 , a communication I/F 24 , a printer 25 and a scanner 26 . The controller 21 also has a CPU 31 , a RAM 32 , a ROM 33 , an NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM) 34 and an auxiliary storage device 35 .

The CPU 31 is an arithmetic device that reads programs, data, setting information, and the like from the ROM 33, the NVRAM 34, the auxiliary storage device 35, and the like onto the RAM 32 and executes processing, thereby realizing overall control and functions of the device 20.

The RAM 32 is a volatile semiconductor memory that temporarily holds programs and data. The ROM 33 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory that stores various programs and data. The NVRAM 34 stores, for example, setting information. The auxiliary storage device 35 is a nonvolatile storage device that stores various programs and data. The auxiliary storage device 35 is an HDD, SSD, or the like.

The operation panel 22 includes an input section for receiving input from the user and a display section for displaying. The operation panel 22 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display device (LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)) equipped with a touch panel function. Note that the operation panel 22 is not limited to a liquid crystal display device, and may be configured by, for example, an organic EL display device equipped with a touch panel function. In addition to or instead of the touch panel function, the operation panel 22 may be provided with an operation section such as hardware keys or a display section such as a lamp.

The external I/F 23 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 23a and the like. As a result, the device 20 can read from and write to the recording medium 23a via the external I/F 23. FIG. Note that the recording medium 23a includes, for example, an IC card, a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, a USB memory, and the like.

Communication I/F 24 is an interface that connects device 20 to a network. The communication I/F 24 is, for example, an interface compatible with Ethernet and capable of communication conforming to TCP/IP or the like. Thereby, the device 20 can communicate via the communication I/F 24 .

The printer 25 is a printing device that prints print data. The scanner 26 is a reading device that reads an original and generates an electronic file (image file).

The device 20 according to the present embodiment has the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 3, and thus can implement various types of processing described later.

(Services provided by the service providing system)
Here, services provided by the service providing system 10 according to this embodiment will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that the device 20 is an MFP.

In this embodiment, after performing OCR processing on an electronic file (image file) generated by scanning a document in the device 20, the service is translated into a predetermined language and delivered by e-mail. called. In this embodiment, a case where the service providing system 10 provides a scan translation service will be described as an example.

Here, in order for the service providing system 10 to provide the scan translation service, it is necessary to register in the service providing system 10 an application (application information 1000 to be described later) for the device 20 to use the scan translation service.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the case where the PC terminal 30 registers an application for using the scan translation service and the case where the device 20 uses the scan translation service using the application will be described.

Note that the services provided by the service providing system 10 are not limited to these. For example, the service providing system 10 may provide a service of encrypting an electronic file generated by scanning a document on the device 20 and then delivering the encrypted file by e-mail. Further, the service providing system 10 may provide a service of adding predetermined information to an electronic file generated by scanning a document in the device 20 and then sending the electronic file by FAX.

(Functional configuration of information processing system)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the information processing system according to the embodiment; A functional configuration of the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4 .

The PC terminal 30 shown in FIG. 4 has a browser 310 executed by the CPU 11 or the like, for example. A user of the PC terminal 30 can use the browser 310 to register an application for using various services such as a “scan translation service” in the service providing system 10 .

The device 20 shown in FIG. 4 has a browser 210 executed by the CPU 31 or the like, for example. A user of the device 20 can use various services such as a “scan translation service” using the browser 210 . That is, the device 20 only needs to have the browser 210, and does not need to have a dedicated application program or the like for using various services provided by the service providing system 10, for example.

The service providing system 10 shown in FIG. 4 has an input/output service processing unit 110 (stop detection processing unit), a web service processing unit 120, a document service unit 130, and a portal service unit 140. FIG. Each of these functional units is realized by processing that one or more programs installed in the service providing system 10 cause the CPU 11 to execute.

The service providing system 10 also has an application information storage unit 150 , an application screen information storage unit 160 , a portal screen information storage unit 170 , an authentication information storage unit 180 , and a stop detection result storage unit 190 . Each of these storage units can be implemented using the auxiliary storage device 14 . At least one of these storage units may be implemented using a storage device or the like connected to the service providing system 10 via a network.

The input/output service processing unit 110 performs processing related to services provided by the service providing system 10 . Here, the input/output service processing unit 110 includes an application management unit 111, a logic processing unit 112, an authentication information management unit 113 (first registration unit), and a stop detection operation execution unit 114 (an example of an acquisition unit, a second register).

Application management unit 111 manages application information 1000 stored in application information storage unit 150 . Note that the application information 1000 is information of an application for using a service realized by a series of processes. In other words, various services provided by the service providing system 10 are provided by the application information 1000 .

Also, the application management unit 111 returns processing flow information 1100 included in the application information 1000 in response to a request from the logic processing unit 112 . Note that the processing flow information 1100 is information defining a series of processes for realizing services provided by the application information 1000 .

Further, application management unit 111 causes application information storage unit 150 to store application information 1000 in response to a request from portal service unit 140 . As a result, the application information 1000 (application) that provides the service is registered in the service providing system 10 .

The logic processing unit 112 acquires the processing flow information 1100 included in the application information 1000 from the application management unit 111 in response to a request from the web service processing unit 120 . Based on the processing flow information 1100 acquired from the application management unit 111 , the logic processing unit 112 executes a series of processes (processing flow) for realizing the service provided by the application information 1000 . As a result, the service providing system according to this embodiment can provide various services such as a "scan translation service".

Also, the logic processing unit 112 executes a stop detection operation in response to a request from the stop detection operation execution unit 114 . Here, the outage detection operation refers to whether or not an external service such as a cloud service is functioning, whether or not communication is possible, and whether or not the API of the service operates as expected. It indicates the process (operation) detected by using a service account, access token, etc.). Details of the logic processing unit 112 will be described later.

The authentication information management unit 113 manages authentication information for using external services such as cloud services. The authentication information management unit 113 stores the authentication information in the authentication information storage unit 180 based on the authentication information registration request from the user via the browser 310 .

The stop detection operation execution unit 114 requests the logic processing unit 112 to execute the stop detection operation based on the authentication information. For example, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 requests execution of the stop detection operation at regular time intervals (for example, every 5 minutes). The stop detection operation execution unit 114 accumulates the execution result (stop detection result) of the stop detection operation executed by the logic processing unit 112 in the stop detection result storage unit 190 .

The web service processing unit 120 performs processing for the user to use various services using the browser 210 of the device 20 . In other words, the web service processing unit 120 functions as an application server that provides web applications (application information 1000) to the browser 210. FIG. Here, the web service processing unit 120 has a screen configuration unit 121 (an example of an acquisition unit, a notification unit) and an application execution unit 122 .

In response to a request from the browser 210 , the screen configuration unit 121 displays application screen information 2000 stored in the application screen information storage unit 160 and application settings included in the application information 1000 stored in the application information storage unit 150 . Information 1200 is returned.

The application screen information 2000 is information in which a template of a screen (application screen) for using the service provided by the application information 1000 is defined. The application screen information 2000 is information in which an application screen template is defined, for example, in HTML (HyperText Markup Language), XHTML (Extensible HyperText Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), JavaScript (registered trademark), or the like.

Also, the application setting information 1200 is information in which various settings of the application (application information 1000) are defined. For example, the application setting information 1200 defines parameter information that is input by the user, parameter information that is set by default, and the like, among the parameter information that is used to execute a series of processes. Further, for example, the application setting information 1200 defines input items for the user to input parameter information on the application screen, display information (for example, application name) on the application screen, and the like. The application setting information 1200 is, for example, information in which various settings of an application are defined in JSON (Javascript Object Notation) or the like.

As a result, an application screen for using the service provided by the service providing system 10 is displayed on the device 20 by the browser 210 .

The application execution unit 122 transmits an application (application information 1000 ) execution request to the input/output service processing unit 110 in response to a request from the browser 210 .

The document service unit 130 executes predetermined processes included in a series of processes (process flow) based on the process flow information 1100 . Here, the document service section 130 has an OCR processing section 131 and a mail distribution section 132 .

The OCR processing unit 131 performs OCR processing on electronic files. The mail distribution unit 132 creates an e-mail attached with an electronic file and distributes the e-mail to a designated e-mail address.

In addition to these, the document service unit 130 has various functions such as a compression/decompression processing unit for compressing or decompressing electronic files, a data format conversion unit for converting the data format of electronic files, and the like. part may be included.

The portal service unit 140 performs processing for the user to register an application using the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 . Here, the portal service unit 140 has a UI (User Interface) providing unit 141 and an application registration unit 142 .

The UI providing unit 141 returns portal screen information 3000 stored in the portal screen information storage unit 170 in response to a request from the browser 310 . Here, a portal is a website that allows application registration and the like using the browser 310 .

The portal screen information 3000 is information defining various screens such as a portal top screen (portal top screen) and an application registration screen. The portal screen information 3000 is, for example, information in which various screens are defined by the browser 210 such as HTML, XML (Extensible Markup Language), CSS, and JavaScript.

As a result, the portal top screen, the application registration screen, and the like are displayed on the PC terminal 30 by the browser 310 . Therefore, the user of the PC terminal 30 can register the application (application information 1000) on the application registration screen.

In response to the request from the UI providing unit 141, the application registration unit 142 requests the application management unit 111 to register the application (application information 1000). That is, when an application registration operation is performed on the application registration screen, the application registration unit 142 requests the application management unit 111 to register the application.

Application information storage unit 150 stores application information 1000 . The application information 1000 is stored in the application information storage unit 150 in association with an application ID that identifies the application information 1000 . Note that the application ID is, for example, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the application information 1000 or identification information included in the URL of the application information 1000 .

Here, the application information 1000 includes process flow information 1100 and application setting information 1200 . For example, application information 1000 that provides a scan translation service includes process flow information 1100 that defines a series of processes for realizing the service, and application setting information 1200 that defines various settings for the application information 1000 . Hereinafter, the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service is also referred to as "scan translation application".

Note that the application information 1000 may include two or more pieces of process flow information 1100 and two or more pieces of application setting information 1200 .

As described above, the processing flow information 1100 is information defining a series of processing (processing flow) for realizing services provided by the application information 1000 . Details of the processing flow information 1100 will be described later.

Further, the application setting information 1200 is information defining various settings of the application (application information 1000), as described above. Details of the application setting information 1200 will be described later.

Application screen information storage unit 160 stores application screen information 2000 . The application screen information 2000 is stored in the application screen information storage unit 160 in association with the application ID.

Portal screen information storage unit 170 stores portal screen information 3000 . The portal screen information 3000 is stored in the portal screen information storage unit 170 in association with the URLs of portal top screens, application registration screens, and the like.

The authentication information storage unit 180 stores authentication information for using external services such as cloud services.

The stop detection result storage unit 190 accumulates execution results (stop detection results) of stop detection operations executed by the logic processing unit 112 in accordance with requests from the stop detection operation execution unit 114 . For example, the stop detection result storage unit 190 stores the stop detection result in association with the date and time when the stop detection operation was performed. This makes it possible to confirm at what timing the stop detection result stored in the stop detection result storage unit 190 is the execution result of the stop detection operation.

Note that the input/output service processing unit 110, the web service processing unit 120, the document service unit 130, the portal service unit 140, and the like may be implemented by different information processing apparatuses.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a logic processing unit according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of operations possessed by components. The detailed functional configuration of the logic processing unit 112 and the functions of the components will be described with reference to FIG.

Logic processing unit 112 shown in FIG. 5 includes flow execution unit 301 , component management unit 302 , component group 303 , type conversion management unit 304 , and type conversion group 305 . Also, the logic processing unit 112 has a type conversion information table 4000 .

Upon receiving an application execution request from the application execution unit 122 , the flow execution unit 301 acquires the processing flow information 1100 corresponding to the execution request from the application management unit 111 . The flow executing unit 301 then executes a series of processes (processing flow) based on the processing flow information 1100 acquired from the application managing unit 111 .

Here, a series of processes based on the process flow information 1100 are executed by combining components for executing each process included in the series of processes. A component is implemented by a program, a module, or the like for executing processing that implements a predetermined function, and is defined by, for example, a class or a function.

The component management unit 302 manages components. The component management unit 302 generates components in response to requests from the flow execution unit 301 and returns the generated components to the flow execution unit 301 . It should be noted that the creation of a component means, for example, developing a component defined by a class or function on a memory (for example, the RAM 12).

A component group 303 is a collection of components. The component group 303 includes, for example, an OCR component 1310, a translation component 1320, and a mail delivery component 1330.

The OCR component 1310 is a component for OCR processing electronic files (image files). The OCR component 1310 performs OCR processing on the electronic file by requesting the OCR processing section 131 of the document service section 130 to perform the OCR processing.

The translation component 1320 is a component for translating a document written in a predetermined language in an electronic file such as a text file into another language.

The mail distribution component 1330 is a component for mail distribution to designated mail addresses. The mail distribution component 1330 distributes the mail to the designated mail address by requesting the mail distribution processing of the mail distribution section 132 of the document service section 130 as well.

In this way, each component executes processing for realizing a predetermined function. In addition to the components described above, the component group 303 includes various components such as an encryption/decryption component for encrypting and decrypting electronic files and a compression component for compressing electronic files. be

For example, FIG. 6 shows an example of a component and the functionality of that component. Here, the function of the component is also called "operation". FIG. 6(b) shows a mail distribution component 1330 included in the component group 303, and FIG. 6(a) shows a file input/output component 1340 as an example of another component.

There are two types of component operations: unique operations and common operations. An independent operation is a function that is independent of the component and is not used autonomously by the input/output service. In other words, an input/output service uses its functions only when an end-user operation causes a flow that uses that operation to be executed. When an application developer determines that a unique operation function is required, the function can be used by defining a flow that uses it.

A common operation is a function shared by multiple components. The input/output service executes common operation functions periodically or triggered by some event in order to realize the functions provided by itself. Also, when a flow that uses a common operation is executed by an end user's operation, the input/output service uses the function of the common operation. Application developers can also take advantage of common operations as well as unique operations.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the mail delivery component 1330 has a mail transmission function as a unique operation and a stop detection function as a common operation. As shown in FIG. 6A, the file input/output component 1340 has a file upload function and a file download function as unique operations, and has a folder information acquisition function and a file and folder search function as common operations. function and a stop detection function.

Also, each component included in the component group 303 has a component common I/F 1300 . The component common I/F 1300 is an API (Application Programming Interface) commonly defined for each component, and includes an API for generating components and an API for executing component processing.

In this way, each component has the component common I/F 1300, so that it is possible to localize the influence caused by the addition of a component or the like. That is, for example, components can be added without affecting the flow execution unit 301, the component management unit 302, and the like. As a result, in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce development man-hours associated with adding a predetermined function (that is, adding a component for executing processing for realizing the function).

The type conversion management unit 304 manages type conversion of data types. Here, each component has a predetermined data type that it can handle. Therefore, the type conversion management unit 304 generates type conversions included in the type conversion group 305 by referring to, for example, the type conversion information table 4000 shown in FIG. 7 in response to a request from a component.

Then, the type conversion management unit 304 requests the generated type conversion to execute type conversion processing. Note that the type conversion is implemented by a program, module, or the like that executes data type conversion processing, and is defined by, for example, a class or a function. Also, generation of type conversion is to develop type conversion defined by classes, functions, etc., in a memory (for example, on the RAM 12).

Note that the data types include, for example, a data type "InputStream" indicating stream data, a "LocalFilePath" indicating the path (address) of an electronic file stored in a storage device or the like, and a "File" indicating the substance of an electronic file. etc.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a type conversion information table. The type conversion information table 4000 will be described with reference to FIG.

The type conversion information table 4000 shown in FIG. 7 has, as data items, a data type before conversion, a data type after conversion, and a type conversion to be generated. That is, the type conversion information stored in the type conversion information table 4000 is for each of the data type before conversion and the data type after conversion. Information associated with type conversion.

A type conversion group 305 is a set of type conversions. Type conversion group 305 includes a first type conversion 1410 for converting data type "InputStream" to "LocalFilePath". Note that the type conversion group 305 also includes, for example, a second type conversion for converting the data type "LocalFilePath" to "File".

Each type conversion included in the type conversion group 305 has a type conversion common I/F 1400 . The type conversion common I/F 1400 is an API commonly defined for each type conversion, and includes an API for generating type conversion and an API for executing type conversion processing for type conversion.

In this way, since each type conversion has the type conversion common I/F 1400, it is possible to localize the influence accompanying the addition of type conversion. That is, for example, addition of type conversion can be performed without affecting the type conversion management unit 304 or the like. As a result, in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce development man-hours associated with addition of type conversion and the like.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of processing flow information. Processing flow information 1100 included in application information 1000 that provides a scan translation service will be described with reference to FIG.

Processing flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 8 is information defining a series of processing (processing flow) for realizing a scan translation service.

The processing flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 8 includes a flow name 1101 that identifies the processing flow information 1100, and flow details 1102 that define the processing content of each processing included in the processing flow.

The flow details 1102 include a detailed process definition 1110, a detailed process definition 1120, and a detailed process definition 1130 that define each process included in the process flow. The detailed process definitions 1110 to 1130 include ""detailName"" indicating the detailed process name for identifying the detailed process definition, ""component"" indicating the component name of the component for executing the process, and parameter information for the component. are defined.

Specifically, ““detail0”” is defined in ““detailName”” of the detailed process definition 1110 . Further, the component name ““ocr”” of the OCR component 1310 is defined in ““component”” of the detailed processing definition 1110 . Furthermore, parameter information of the parameter name ““language”” and the like are defined in ““parameters”” of the detailed process definition 1110 .

The parameter information with the parameter name ““language”” is parameter information for setting the language of OCR processing (for example, “Japanese”, “English”, etc.) as a parameter value.

Similarly, "detail1" is defined in "detailName" of the detailed process definition 1120 . Further, the component name “translation” of the translation component 1320 is defined in the ““component”” of the detailed processing definition 1120 . Further, in ""parameters"" of the detailed process definition 1110, parameter information with the parameter name ""from"", parameter information with the parameter name ""to"", and the like are defined.

The parameter information with the parameter name ““from”” is parameter information in which the translation source language (for example, ““English””) is set as the parameter value. The parameter information with the parameter name ““to”” is parameter information for setting the translation destination language (for example, ““Japanese””) as the parameter value.

Similarly, "detail21" is defined in "detailName" of the detailed process definition 1130. FIG. Further, the component name ““mail”” of the mail delivery component 1330 is defined in ““component”” of the detailed process definition 1130 . Furthermore, parameter information of the parameter name "address" and the like are defined in "parameters" of the detailed process definition 1130 .

The parameter information with the parameter name ““address”” is parameter information for setting the e-mail address of the e-mail destination as the parameter value.

Also, the execution order of the processes defined in each detailed process definition is defined in order from the top in the flow details 1102 . That is, in the series of processes (process flow) based on the process flow information 1100 shown in FIG. are executed in order. Note that the process flow information 1100 is not limited to this, and may define, for example, information indicating the execution order of processes defined in each detailed process definition.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, parameter values are not set for each piece of parameter information, but the present invention is not limited to this, and default parameter values may be set.

(Application registration process)
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of application registration processing. An application registration process of the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 9 . Specifically, processing for the user of the PC terminal 30 to register the scan translation application in the service providing system 10 will be described.

First, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 receives an operation for displaying the portal top screen (portal top screen display operation) (step S801). The user of the PC terminal 30 can display the portal top screen by inputting the URL of the portal top screen into the address bar of the browser 310, for example.

Upon receiving the portal top screen display operation, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 transmits a portal top screen display request to the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 (step S802).

Upon receiving the portal top screen acquisition request, the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 acquires the portal screen information of the portal top screen from the portal screen information storage unit 170 (step S803). The UI providing unit 141 then returns the portal screen information acquired from the portal screen information storage unit 170 to the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the portal screen information of the portal top screen, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 displays, for example, the portal top screen G100 shown in FIG. 10 based on the portal screen information (step S804).

A portal top screen G100 shown in FIG. 10 is a portal top screen and includes an "Application" button G110 for registering an application. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user has performed an operation of selecting the "Application" button G110 (application registration selection operation) on the portal top screen G100 shown in FIG.

The portal top screen G100 shown in FIG. 10 also includes a "Flow" button G120 for creating the processing flow information 1100 and the like, and a "Component" button G130 for registering components and the like. In this way, on the portal top screen G100, it is possible to create/execute processing flows, register/update components, etc., in addition to registering applications.

The browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 accepts the application registration selection operation performed by the user (step S805).

The browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 receives the application registration selection operation, and transmits an application registration screen display request to the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 (step S806).

Upon receiving the application registration screen display request, the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 acquires the portal screen information of the application registration screen from the portal screen information storage unit 170 (step S807). The UI providing unit 141 then returns the portal screen information acquired from the portal screen information storage unit 170 to the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the portal screen information of the application registration screen, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 displays, for example, the application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. 11 based on the portal screen information (step S808).

Hereinafter, a case where the user performs an application registration operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15. FIG.

First, the application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. 11 is a screen for selecting the type of application to be registered by the user.

The application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. 11 includes a "print" button G210 for registering a print-type application and a "scan" button G220 for registering a scan-type application. Note that the application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. 11 includes, for example, a "FAX" button for registering a FAX-type application, a "mail reception" button for registering a mail reception-type application, and the like. good too.

The application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. 11 also includes a "next" button G240 and the like for transitioning to the next screen.

On the application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. 11, when the user selects either the "print" button G210 or the "scan" button G220, the description of the print type or the description of the scan type is displayed in the description column G230.

Note that the print type is a type of application that causes an image forming apparatus or the like to print an electronic file showing execution results of a series of processes. On the other hand, a scan type application is a type of application that executes a series of processes with an input of an electronic file generated by scanning in an image forming apparatus or the like.

Further, for example, a FAX type application is a type of application that causes an image forming apparatus or the like to FAX an electronic file indicating the execution result of a series of processes. Furthermore, the mail reception type is a type of application that executes a series of processes by inputting an electronic file attached to a mail received by an image forming apparatus or the like.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user has selected the "scan" button G220 and then pressed the "next" button G240 on the application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. Then, the browser 310 accepts the operation and displays an application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12, for example. The application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12 is a screen for the user to set the basic information of the application.

The application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12 includes an "application name" input setting field G310 for setting the name of the application, and a "design template" selection field G320 for selecting the screen format of the application screen. Further, the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12 includes an "authentication" selection field G330 for selecting authentication when using the application, and a "display language" selection field G340 for selecting the display language of the application screen. ,including. Furthermore, the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12 includes a "next" button G350 and the like for transitioning to the next screen.

In the "design template" selection field G320, for example, it is possible to select a "single screen format" in which the application screen is displayed in one screen, a "wizard format" in which the application screen is displayed in an interactive format, or the like. In the "authentication" selection field G330, "none" indicating that authentication is not used, "user authentication" indicating that authentication is used, and the like can be selected.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user has entered an application name or made various selections as in the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12, and then pressed the "next" button G350. Then, the browser 310 accepts the operation and displays an application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. 13, for example.

The application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. 13 is a screen for the user to set a series of processes (processing flow) for an application to be registered as detailed information of the application.

The application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. 13 includes a search field G410 for searching the flow name of the processing flow information 1100 stored in the application information storage unit 150, a flow selection field G420 for selecting the flow name, including. The user can select the desired flow name from the flow selection field G420 after inputting the name of the desired flow in the search field G410.

Also, the application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. 13 includes a summary display field G430 for displaying a summary of a series of processes based on the process flow information 1100 of the flow name selected in the flow selection field G420, and a screen transition to the next screen. "Next" button G440 of.

Furthermore, the application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. 13 includes an "update" button G421 for editing and updating the processing flow information 1100 of the flow name selected in the flow selection field G420, and a new processing flow information 1100 creation. and a "New" button G422 for By pressing the "update" button G421, the user can edit and update the processing flow information 1100 of the flow name selected in the flow selection field G420. Further, the user can create the processing flow information 1100 by pressing the "New" button G422, and then select the flow name of the created processing flow information 1100 in the flow selection field G420.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user has selected the flow name "translate-mail" in the flow selection field G420 and then pressed the "next" button G440. Then, the browser 310 accepts the operation and displays an application registration screen G500 shown in FIG. 14, for example.

The application registration screen G500 shown in FIG. 14 is a screen for the user to set parameter information of a series of processes (processing flow) set on the application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. 13 as detailed information of the application.

The application registration screen G500 shown in FIG. 14 includes a "component" selection field G510 for selecting a component that executes each process included in the series of processes. The application registration screen G500 shown in FIG. 14 includes a "parameter information" setting field G520 for setting parameter information of the component selected in the "component" selection field G510, and a "next to" button G530.

After selecting a desired component from the "component" selection field G510, the user can perform various settings of parameter information in the "parameter information" setting field G520. For example, when the user selects the translation component 1320 from the "component" selection field G510, various settings of parameter information used by the translation component 1320 can be made in the "parameter information" setting field G520.

Specifically, the various settings of the parameter information include setting items such as "select", "displayname", "name", "type", "default", and "input type". A parameter name of the parameter information is set in the setting item “name”. A data format that can be set as a parameter value is set in the setting item “type”. A parameter value set as a default is set in the setting item “default”.

In the setting item "select", it is set whether or not the user (user of the service) is allowed to input the parameter value of the parameter information. A user (user of the service) can input parameter values on the application screen for the parameter information with the setting item "select" checked. On the other hand, for parameter information for which the setting item "select" is not checked, the user cannot input the parameter value on the application screen, and the parameter value set in the setting item "default" is used.

In the setting item "input type", the input method on the application screen is set for the parameter information for which the setting item "select" is checked. In the setting item "input type", for example, an input method "list-radio-button" for selecting a desired parameter value from a list of parameter values, an input method "text" for directly inputting a parameter value, etc. can be set. . In addition to these, the setting item "input type" may be able to select, for example, an input method for inputting coordinates on the screen, an input method for selecting a desired folder or file, and the like. .

Furthermore, the display name of an input item (item for inputting a parameter value) displayed on the application screen is set in the setting item “displayname”. In the setting item "displayname", the display name of the language selected in the "display language" selection field G340 of the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. 12 can be set. That is, for example, when "Japanese" and "English" are selected in the "display language" selection field G340, the setting item "displayname" includes, for example, the Japanese display name "translation source" and the English display name "Source Language" can be set.

Thereby, the user can set whether or not to allow the user of the service to input the parameter value of the parameter information used by each component, the input method, and the like.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user has set the parameter information used by each component and then pressed the "next" button G530. Then, the browser 310 accepts the operation and displays an application registration screen G600 shown in FIG. 15, for example.

The application registration screen G600 shown in FIG. 15 is a screen for the user to confirm various information (application setting information) set in FIGS.

The application registration screen G600 shown in FIG. 15 includes an "application setting information" display field G610 and a "register" button G620. The user can check various information set in FIGS. 11 to 14 in the “application setting information” display field G610.

Here, it is assumed that the user has confirmed the application setting information in the "application setting information" display field G610 and then performed an operation of pressing the "Register" button G620 (application registration operation). The browser 310 then accepts the application registration operation (step S809).

Upon receiving the application registration operation, the browser 310 creates, for example, the application setting information 1200 shown in FIG. 16 (step S810).

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of application setting information. The application setting information 1200 will be described with reference to FIG. 16 .

Application setting information 1200 shown in FIG. 16 includes application type 1201 , application name 1202 , application display name 1203 , authentication type 1204 , and flow name 1205 . The application setting information 1200 shown in FIG. 16 also includes a design template type 1206, default parameters 1207, user input parameters 1208, and the like.

The application type 1201 is the type of application selected on the application registration screen G200 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 16, ““app_type”:“scan”” is defined to indicate that the application type is the scan type.

The application name 1202 is the application name entered in the "application name" input setting field G310 of the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 16, ““appName”:“scan translation application”” is defined to indicate that the application name is “scan translation application”.

The application display name 1203 is the application name (title) displayed on the application screen. In the example shown in FIG. 16, it is defined that "Scan Translation" is displayed in Japanese and "Translation App" is displayed in English.

The authentication type 1204 is the authentication selected in the "authentication" selection field G330 of the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 16, ““loginType”:“none”” is defined to indicate no authentication.

The flow name 1205 is the flow name selected in the flow selection field G420 of the application registration screen G400 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 16, ""flowName":"translate-mail"" indicating that the flow name is "translate-mail" is defined.

The design template type 1206 is the display format selected in the "design template" selection field G320 of the application registration screen G300 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 16 , “viewTemplate”: “single screen format”, which indicates that the application screen is to be displayed in one screen format, is defined.

The default parameter 1207 defines parameter information for which the user does not enter a parameter value on the application screen. That is, the default parameter 1207 defines parameter information in which the setting item "select" is not checked in the "parameter information" setting field G520 of the application registration screen G500 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the parameter information of the parameter name "language" defined in the detailed process name "detail0" (that is, the detailed process definition 1110 in FIG. 8) is set to "English" as the default parameter value. " is defined to be set.

In this way, the default parameter 1207 defines parameter information for which parameter values are set by default. In other words, the default parameters 1207 define parameter information for which the user does not set parameter values.

The user input parameter 1208 defines parameter information for which the user inputs a parameter value on the application screen. That is, in the user input parameter 1208, parameter information in which the setting item "select" is checked in the "parameter information" setting field G520 of the application registration screen G500 shown in FIG. 14 is defined.

In the example shown in FIG. 16, the input definition 1218 indicates that the user inputs the parameter value of the parameter name "from" defined in the detailed process name "detail1" (that is, the detailed process definition 1120 in FIG. 8). is defined. Similarly, an input definition 1228 is defined that indicates that the parameter value of the parameter name "to" defined in the detailed process name "detail1" (that is, the detailed process definition 1120 in FIG. 8) is input by the user. there is Similarly, an input definition 1238 is defined that indicates that the parameter value of the parameter name "address" defined in the detailed process name "detail2" (that is, the detailed process definition 1130 in FIG. 8) is input by the user. It is

In this way, the user input parameter 1208 defines parameter information for the user to input parameter values on the application screen.

As described above, the application setting information 1200 includes display information displayed on the application screen (for example, the title), input items on the application screen (items for inputting or selecting parameter values), input methods for the input items, and the like. is defined. The application setting information 1200 also defines parameter information for which parameter values are set by default (that is, parameter information for which parameter values are not input or selected on the application screen), and the like.

After creating the application setting information 1200, the browser 310 transmits an application registration request to the application registration unit 142 of the portal service unit 140 (step S811). Note that the application registration request includes the application setting information 1200 created in step S810.

Upon receiving the application registration request, the application registration unit 142 of the portal service unit 140 transmits the registration request to the application management unit 111 of the input/output service processing unit 110 (step S812).

Upon receiving the application registration request, the application management unit 111 of the input/output service processing unit 110 registers the application (step S813). The application management unit 111 then returns the registration result to the browser 310 .

That is, the application management unit 111 stores the application setting information 1200 included in the application registration request in the application information storage unit 150 in association with the application ID. As a result, the application information 1000 including the application setting information 1200 and the processing flow information 1100 with the flow name defined in the flow name 1205 of the application setting information 1200 is registered in the service providing system 10 .

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the user can use the PC terminal 30 to register an application in the service providing system 10 . Moreover, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the user can easily register an application (application information 1000) by setting, for example, a flow name and parameter information of each component using the PC terminal 30. be able to.

Therefore, according to the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, even a user (for example, a person in charge of planning, etc.) who does not have specialized knowledge or experience in a programming language or the like can use an application that provides various services. (Application information 1000) can be registered.

(Authentication information registration process)
FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of authentication information registration processing of the information processing system according to the embodiment. The authentication information registration process of the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 17 .

First, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 receives an operation for displaying an authorization screen for an external service (an authorization screen display operation). Note that the user of the PC terminal 30 can display the authorization screen by, for example, inputting the URL of the authorization screen of the external service into the address bar of the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the authorization screen display operation, browser 310 of PC terminal 30 transmits an authorization screen display request to UI providing section 141 of portal service section 140 . Upon receiving the authorization screen acquisition request, the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 acquires the portal screen information of the authorization screen from the portal screen information storage unit 170 . The UI providing unit 141 then returns the portal screen information acquired from the portal screen information storage unit 170 to the browser 310 . When the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 receives the portal screen information of the authorization screen, it displays the authorization screen based on the portal screen information. The browser 310 acquires authentication information for using an external service such as a cloud service via an authorization screen used by a user such as a developer (step S901).

The browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 transmits the acquired authentication information registration request to the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 (step S902). Note that the authentication information registration request includes the authentication information acquired in step S901.

Upon receiving the authentication information registration request, the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 sends the registration request to the authentication information management unit 113 of the input/output service processing unit 110 (step S903).

Upon receiving the registration request for the authentication information, the authentication information management unit 113 of the input/output service processing unit 110 registers the authentication information included in the registration request by storing it in the authentication information storage unit 180 (step S904). The authentication information management unit 113 then returns the registration result to the browser 310 .

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the user can use the PC terminal 30 to register authentication information for using an external service in the service providing system 10 . As a result, the input/output service processing unit 110 can use the registered authentication information to execute the stop detection operation in the stop detection process for the external service. Note that when the authentication information becomes invalid, the user such as the developer may re-register new authentication information by performing the authentication information registration process described above.

(Outage detection processing for external services)
18 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing of the input/output service processing unit according to the embodiment; FIG. Stop detection processing for an external service by the input/output service processing unit 110 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 18 .

The stop detection operation executing unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 sends to the authentication information management unit 113 an acquisition request for authentication information used for executing the stop detection operation (step S1001).

Upon receiving the authentication information acquisition request, the authentication information management unit 113 acquires authentication information for using an external service registered in the authentication information storage unit 180 (step S1002). The authentication information management unit 113 then returns the authentication information acquired from the authentication information storage unit 180 to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 .

Upon receiving the authentication information, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 sends a request to execute the stop detection operation to the logic processing unit 112 (step S1003). Note that the execution request for the stop detection operation includes the authentication information acquired in step S1002.

When the logic processing unit 112 receives the execution request for the stop detection operation, it uses the authentication information included in the execution request to determine whether an external service such as a cloud service is functioning, whether communication is possible, And a stop detection operation for detecting whether or not the API of the service operates as expected is executed (step S1004). Then, the logic processing unit 112 returns the execution result of the stop detection operation (stop detection result) to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 .

Upon receiving the stop detection result of the stop detection operation, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 accumulates the stop detection result in the stop detection result storage unit 190 for use when starting the application thereafter (step S1005).

The stop detection process by the input/output service processing unit 110 described above is executed, for example, at regular intervals (for example, every 5 minutes) (an example of the prescribed timing). It should be noted that the entire processing of steps S1001 to S1005 may be executed at regular intervals, or only steps S1003 to S1005 may be executed at regular intervals by reusing the once acquired authentication information. may be Further, the stop detection process is not limited to being executed at regular time intervals, and may be executed at timing according to a predetermined schedule (an example of predetermined timing), for example. As a result, the latest state of the external service is stored as the stop detection result in the stop detection result storage unit 190, so when an application that uses the external service is started, the stop detection result is referenced to start the application. You can decide whether to stop or not.

(Processing when using the application)
FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of overall processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is not stopped in the information processing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of an application screen of the scan translation application. First, with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20, the process of executing an application when it is confirmed that the external service has not stopped before executing the application will be described.

First, the browser 210 of the device 20 receives an operation (display operation) for displaying the application screen of the scan translation service (step S1601). The user of the device 20 can display the application screen by, for example, inputting the URL of the application screen of the scan translation service into the address bar of the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the scan translation service application screen display operation, the browser 210 of the device 20 transmits a scan translation service application screen display request to the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 (step S1602). The application screen display request for the scan translation service includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service.

When the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 receives the application screen display request of the scan translation service, it inputs/outputs a stop detection result request for acquiring the status of the external service before acquiring the application settings. It is transmitted to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the service processing unit 110 (step S1603).

When the stop detection operation executing unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the stop detection result request, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the external service stop detection results accumulated in the stop detection result storage unit 190 detects the last (that is, the latest) stop. A detection result is obtained (step S1604). Here, it is assumed that the last stoppage detection result indicates that the external service is "not stopped", that is, it is operating normally. The stop detection operation executing unit 114 then returns the last stop detection result acquired from the stop detection result storage unit 190 to the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 .

When receiving the last stop detection result, the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 confirms that the stop detection result indicates that the stop detection result is “not stopped”, and sends an application setting acquisition request to the input/output service. It is transmitted to the application management unit 111 of the processing unit 110 (step S1605). The application setting acquisition request includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service. In this way, by acquiring the stop detection result, it is possible to determine whether the external service is stopped. If so, you can transition to running the application.

Upon receiving the application setting acquisition request, the application management unit 111 of the input/output service processing unit 110 acquires the application setting information 1200 stored in association with the application ID included in the acquisition request from the application information storage unit 150. (Step S1606). The application management unit 111 then returns the application setting information 1200 acquired from the application information storage unit 150 to the screen configuration unit 121 .

Next, the screen construction unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 acquires the application screen information 2000 stored in association with the application ID of the application information 1000 providing the scan translation service from the application screen information storage unit 160 (step S1607). Then, the screen configuration unit 121 returns the application screen information 2000 acquired from the application screen information storage unit 160 and the application setting information 1200 returned in step S1606 to the browser 210 .

The browser 210 of the device 20 displays, for example, the application screen G700 shown in FIG. 20 based on the application screen information 2000 and the application setting information 1200 received from the screen configuration unit 121 (step S1608). Here, the application screen G700 shown in FIG. 20 is a screen for the user of the device 20 to use the scan translation service.

The application screen G700 shown in FIG. 20 includes an application name G710, a parameter input area G720, and a "start" button G730. The parameter input area G720 also includes a translation source language input field G721, a translation destination language input field G722, and an e-mail destination input field G723.

The application name G710 is displayed based on the application display name 1203 of the application setting information 1200 shown in FIG. Also, when application names (titles) in multiple languages are defined in the application display name 1203, the application name in the language corresponding to the language setting of the browser 210 is displayed in the application name G710.

Also, the translation source language input field G721, the translation target language input field G722, and the mail transmission destination input field G723 are displayed based on the user input parameter 1208 of the application setting information 1200 shown in FIG.

That is, the translation source language input field G721 is displayed based on the input definition 1218 of the user input parameter 1208. FIG. Similarly, the translation destination language input field G722 is displayed based on the input definition 1228 of the user input parameter 1208. FIG. Similarly, the mail destination input field G723 is displayed based on the input definition 1238 of the user input parameter 1208. FIG.

Thus, the application name and parameter input area are displayed on the application screen for the user of the device 20 to use the service based on the information defined in the application setting information 1200 .

Here, on the application screen G700 shown in FIG. 20, the user enters "English" in the translation source language input field G721, "Japanese" in the translation target language input field G722, and "abc@abc." in the mail destination input field G723. co.jp" is entered. Then, on the application screen G700 shown in FIG. 20, it is assumed that the user has performed an operation (execution operation) of pressing the "start" button G730.

The browser 210 of the device 20 then accepts the execution operation (step S1609). The browser 210 of the device 20 then controls the scanner 26 to read the document, thereby generating an electronic file (image file) (step S1610).

When the electronic file (image file) is generated, the browser 210 of the device 20 transmits an application execution request to the application execution unit 122 of the web service processing unit 120 (step S1611). The application execution request includes the flow name "translate-mail" defined in the flow name 1205 of the application setting information 1200, the electronic file generated in step S1610, and parameter setting information.

Here, the parameter setting information is parameter information defined in the default parameter 1207 of the application setting information 1200 and parameter information whose parameter values are set by the user on the application screen G700.

Specifically, the parameter information defined in the default parameter 1207 is "language": "English". Further, the parameter information for which the parameter values are set by the user on the application screen G700 are "from": "English", "to": "Japanese", and "address": "abc@abc. co. jp"".

Upon receiving the application execution request, the application execution unit 122 of the web service processing unit 120 transmits the execution request to the logic processing unit 112 of the input/output service processing unit 110 (step S1612).

Next, upon receiving the application execution request, the logic processing unit 112 of the input/output service processing unit 110 executes the processing flow (step S1613). That is, the logic processing unit 112 executes a series of processes based on the process flow information 1100 of the flow name included in the request. The details of the execution processing of the processing flow will be described later.

The logic processing unit 112 then returns the processing result of the processing flow execution processing to the browser 210 via the web service processing unit 120 . As a result, the service providing system 10 according to this embodiment can provide a scan translation service.

FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram showing an example of execution processing of a processing flow for realizing a scan translation service. Details of the execution processing of the processing flow (the processing of step S1613 in FIG. 19) will be described with reference to FIG.

First, upon receiving an application execution request from the application execution unit 122, the flow execution unit 301 transmits a process flow acquisition request to the application management unit 111 (step S1801). The acquisition request includes the flow name “translate-mail”.

Upon receiving the processing flow acquisition request, the application management unit 111 acquires the processing flow information 1100 with the flow name “translate-mail” included in the acquisition request from the application information storage unit 150 (step S1802). The application management unit 111 then returns the processing flow information 1100 acquired from the application information storage unit 150 to the flow execution unit 301 .

In the following description, it is assumed that the application management unit 111 returns the processing flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 8 to the flow execution unit 301. FIG.

Next, the flow execution unit 301 transmits a component acquisition request based on the processing flow information 1100 to the component management unit 302 (step S1803).

That is, the flow execution unit 301 sends a component acquisition request with the component name ""ocr"" defined in ""component"" included in the detailed process definition 1110 of the process flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 302.

Upon receiving the component acquisition request, the component management unit 302 generates a component with the component name ““ocr”” (that is, the OCR component 1310) (step S1804). Note that the OCR component 1310 can be generated using an API for generating a component defined in the component common I/F 1300. FIG.

The component management unit 302 then returns the generated OCR component 1310 to the flow execution unit 301 . That is, the component management unit 302 sends back to the flow execution unit 301, for example, the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 12) where the OCR component 1310 is developed.

Next, the flow execution unit 301 sends a component execution request to the OCR component 1310 (step S1805). The execution request includes data and parameter information.

Here, the data is an electronic file received from the browser 210 as a data type "InputStream". That is, the flow execution unit 301 simply passes the electronic file received from the browser 210 as "data" (without being aware of the data type) to the OCR component 1310 and requests execution of processing. In the present embodiment, various types of information such as electronic files whose data type is not conscious are simply referred to as "data".

Also, the parameter information is obtained by setting each parameter value of the parameter setting information to the parameter value of each parameter information defined in "parameters" included in the detailed process definition 1110 of the process flow information 1100 shown in FIG. It is. That is, the parameter information is "language":"English".

Upon receiving the component execution request, the OCR component 1310 transmits a type conversion request to the type conversion management unit 304 (step S1806). The type conversion request includes data and specification of "Local File Path" indicating a data type that can be handled by the OCR component 1310 .

Upon receiving the type conversion request, the type conversion management unit 304 checks whether the data type of the data included in the type conversion request matches the specified data type (step S1807).

Here, the data type of the data included in the type conversion request is "InputStream", while the specified data type is "LocalFilePath". Therefore, the type conversion management unit 304 determines that the data type of the data included in the type conversion request does not match the specified data type.

Then, the type conversion management unit 304 refers to the type conversion information table 4000 to specify the type conversion for converting the data type "InputStream" to "LocalFilePath" (here, the first type conversion 1410 is specified). will be done.). Then, the type conversion management unit 304 generates the specified first type conversion 1410 (step S1808). Generation of the first type conversion 1410 can be performed using the type conversion common I/F 1400 .

Next, the type conversion management unit 304 transmits a type conversion processing execution request to the first type conversion 1410 (step S1809). The execution request includes data.

Upon receiving the type conversion execution request, the first type conversion 1410 performs type conversion processing for converting the data type of data included in the execution request from "InputStream" to "LocalFilePath" (step S1810). The first type conversion 1410 then returns the data whose data type has been converted to the type conversion management unit 304 .

Upon receiving the data from the first type conversion 1410, the type conversion management unit 304 transmits the data to the OCR component 1310 (step S1811).

When the OCR component 1310 receives the data from the type conversion manager 304, it uses the parameter information to process the data (step S1812).

That is, the OCR component 1310 uses the parameter information ““language”:“English”” by the OCR processing unit 131 to perform OCR processing in English on the electronic file indicated by the data.

The OCR component 1310 then returns data indicating the electronic file (that is, text file) after OCR processing to the flow execution unit 301 .

Next, the flow execution unit 301 transmits a component acquisition request based on the processing flow information 1100 to the component management unit 302 (step S1813).

That is, the flow execution unit 301 sends a component acquisition request with the component name “translation” defined in “component” included in the detailed process definition 1120 of the process flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 302.

Upon receiving the component acquisition request, the component management unit 302 generates a component with the component name “translation” (that is, the translation component 1320) (step S1814). Generation of the translation component 1320 can be performed using an API for generating a component defined in the component common I/F 1300 .

The component management unit 302 then returns the generated translation component 1320 to the flow execution unit 301 . That is, the component management unit 302 sends back to the flow execution unit 301, for example, the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 12) where the translation component 1320 is expanded.

Next, the flow execution unit 301 transmits a component execution request to the translation component 1320 (step S1815). The execution request includes data and parameter information.

Here, the data is the data returned from the OCR component 1310 (that is, the path indicating the electronic file after OCR processing).

In addition, the parameter information sets each parameter value of the parameter setting information to the parameter value of each parameter information defined in "parameters" included in the detailed processing definition 1120 of the processing flow information 1100 shown in FIG. It is. That is, the parameter information is "from": "English", "to": "Japanese", and the like.

Upon receiving the component execution request, the translation component 1320 transmits a type conversion request to the type conversion management unit 304 (step S1816). The type conversion request includes data and a specification of “LocalFilePath” indicating a data type that can be handled by the translation component 1320 .

Upon receiving the type conversion request, the type conversion management unit 304 checks whether the data type of the data included in the type conversion request matches the specified data type (step S1817).

Here, the data type of the data included in the type conversion request is "LocalFilePath", and the specified data type is also "LocalFilePath". Therefore, the type conversion management unit 304 determines that the data type of the data included in the type conversion request matches the specified data type.

The type conversion manager 304 then sends the data included in the type conversion request to the translation component 1320 (step S1818). As described above, in the data type check (process of step S1817), when it is determined that the data type of the data matches the specified data type, the type conversion management unit 304 generates a type conversion. Not performed.

When the translation component 1320 receives the data from the type conversion management unit 304, it uses the parameter information to process the data (step S1819). That is, the translation component 1320 uses the parameter information ““from”: “English”” and ““to”: “Japanese”” to translate the electronic file indicated by the data from English to Japanese.

The translation component 1320 then returns data indicating the electronic file after translation processing to the flow execution unit 301 .

Note that the translation component 1320 may translate the electronic file by, for example, requesting translation processing to a translation server or the like connected to the service providing system 10 via a network.

Next, the flow execution unit 301 transmits a component acquisition request based on the processing flow information 1100 to the component management unit 302 (step S1820).

That is, the flow execution unit 301 sends a component acquisition request with the component name "mail" defined in "component" included in the detailed process definition 1130 of the process flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 302.

Upon receiving the component acquisition request, the component management unit 302 generates a component with the component name ““mail”” (that is, the mail distribution component 1330) (step S1821). Note that the mail delivery component 1330 can be generated using an API for generating components defined in the component common I/F 1300 .

The component management unit 302 then returns the generated mail delivery component 1330 to the flow execution unit 301 . That is, the component management unit 302 sends back to the flow execution unit 301, for example, the address on the memory (for example, the RAM 12) where the mail delivery component 1330 is developed.

Next, the flow execution unit 301 transmits a component execution request to the mail distribution component 1330 (step S1822). The execution request includes data and parameter information.

Here, the data is the data returned from the translation component 1320 (that is, the path indicating the electronic file after translation).

In addition, the parameter information is obtained by setting each parameter value of the parameter setting information to the parameter value of each parameter information defined in "parameters" included in the detailed process definition 1130 of the process flow information 1100 shown in FIG. It is a thing. That is, the parameter information is ""address":"abc@abc. co. jp"" and the like.

Upon receiving the component execution request, the mail distribution component 1330 transmits a type conversion request to the type conversion management unit 304 (step S1823). The type conversion request includes data and a specification of "LocalFilePath" indicating a data type that can be handled by the mail delivery component 1330. FIG.

Upon receiving the type conversion request, the type conversion management unit 304 checks whether the data type of the data included in the type conversion request matches the specified data type (step S1824).

Here, the data type of the data included in the type conversion request is "LocalFilePath", and the specified data type is also "LocalFilePath". Therefore, the type conversion management unit 304 determines that the data type of the data included in the type conversion request matches the specified data type.

The type conversion management unit 304 then transmits the data included in the type conversion request to the mail distribution component 1330 (step S1825). As described above, in the data type check (process of step S1824), when it is determined that the data type of the data matches the designated data type, the type conversion management unit 304 generates a type conversion. Not performed.

Upon receiving the data from the type conversion management unit 304, the mail delivery component 1330 uses the parameter information to process the data (step S1826).

In other words, the mail distribution component 1330 uses the mail distribution unit 132 to create a mail attached with the electronic file indicated by the data. Next, the mail delivery component 1330 sends the parameter information ““address”: “abc@abc. co. jp"", the mail delivery unit 132 sends the mail to "abc@abc.co.jp".

The mail distribution component 1330 then returns data indicating the mail transmission result to the flow execution unit 301 .

As described above, execution of a series of processes (processing flow) based on the processing flow information 1100 shown in FIG. 8 is completed. Thereby, the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment can provide the device 20 with the scan translation service.

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the user can use the PC terminal 30 to register the application information 1000 for providing various services in the service providing system 10 . Moreover, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the user can easily register the application information 1000 by selecting a flow name using the PC terminal 30 and setting necessary parameter information. can be done. Therefore, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, even a user who does not have specialized knowledge and experience in programming languages can easily create and register an application (application information 1000). can. Further, in the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment, the user can use the device 20 to use various services provided by applications registered in the service providing system 10 .

FIG. 22 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is stopped in the information processing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a service stop display screen indicating that the external service is stopped. Next, with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23, the operation of stopping the execution of the application when it is confirmed that the external service has stopped before executing the application will be described.

First, the browser 210 of the device 20 receives an operation (display operation) for displaying the application screen of the scan translation service (step S1701). The user of the device 20 can display the application screen by, for example, inputting the URL of the application screen of the scan translation service into the address bar of the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the scan translation service application screen display operation, the browser 210 of the device 20 transmits a scan translation service application screen display request to the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 (step S1702). The application screen display request for the scan translation service includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service.

When the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 receives the application screen display request of the scan translation service, it inputs/outputs a stop detection result request for acquiring the status of the external service before acquiring the application settings. It is transmitted to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the service processing unit 110 (step S1703).

When the stop detection operation executing unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the stop detection result request, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the external service stop detection results accumulated in the stop detection result storage unit 190 detects the last (that is, the latest) stop. A detection result is obtained (step S1704). Here, it is assumed that the last stop detection result indicates that the external service is "stopped", that is, does not operate normally. The stop detection operation executing unit 114 then returns the last stop detection result acquired from the stop detection result storage unit 190 to the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 . When receiving the last (latest) stop detection result, the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 confirms that the stop detection result indicates that the stop detection result is 20 browsers 210. In this way, by acquiring the outage detection result, it is possible to determine whether the external service has stopped. If it indicates that there is no application execution, it is possible to shift to an application execution stop operation (that is, the application execution unit 122 does not output the application execution request to the logic processing unit 112).

When the browser 210 of the device 20 receives the stop detection result indicating that the external service is "stopped", it displays a service stop display screen indicating that the external service to be used is stopped, as shown in FIG. 23, for example. By displaying G800, it is notified that the external service is stopped (step S1705). This allows the user (end user) to understand that the application cannot be executed because the external service is stopped.

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the state of the external service is accumulated as the stop detection result by executing the stop detection operation. It is assumed that the stop detection result is acquired. Then, when the stop detection result indicates that the external service is stopped, the stop state of the external service can be notified when the application is activated without using the application. In particular, in outage detection operations for external services, by performing outage detection operations using authentication information for using the relevant external services, it is possible to determine whether external services such as cloud services are functioning and whether communication is possible. and whether or not the API of the service operates as expected, can be acquired as the outage detection result.

(Modification 1)
An information processing system 1 according to Modification 1 of the present embodiment will be described, focusing on points that are different from the information processing system 1 according to the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, when the external service is stopped, the end user who uses the application using the external service is notified that the external service is stopped. In this modified example, an operation of notifying pre-registered users such as application developers and component developers that an external service is stopped will be described.

The hardware configuration and functional configuration of the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 included in the information processing system 1 according to this modification are the same as those in the above-described embodiment.

<Registration processing of notification destination user>
FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of registration processing of a notification destination user of the information processing system according to Modification 1 of the embodiment. A notification destination user registration process of the information processing system 1 according to the present modification will be described with reference to FIG. 24 .

First, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 accepts an operation to display a registration screen for registering a user to be notified that the external service has stopped. The user of the PC terminal 30 can display the registration screen by inputting the URL of the external service authorization screen into the address bar of the browser 310, for example.

Upon receiving the registration screen display operation, browser 310 of PC terminal 30 transmits a registration screen display request to UI providing section 141 of portal service section 140 . Upon receiving the registration screen acquisition request, the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 acquires the portal screen information of the registration screen from the portal screen information storage unit 170 . The UI providing unit 141 then returns the portal screen information acquired from the portal screen information storage unit 170 to the browser 310 . Upon receiving the portal screen information of the registration screen, the browser 310 of the PC terminal 30 displays the registration screen based on the portal screen information. The browser 310 receives the user's operation, and transmits a user registration request to the UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140 to notify that the external service desired by the user is stopped (step S1101). ). The authentication information registration request includes user information (user ID, e-mail address, etc.) designated as a notification destination.

The UI providing unit 141 of the portal service unit 140, upon receiving the registration request of the user to be notified, sends the registration request to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 (step S1102).

When the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives a registration request for a user to be notified, the user information included in the registration request is stored in a storage unit (authentication information storage unit 180 or the like). is registered (step S1103). The stop detection operation executing unit 114 then returns the registration result to the browser 310 . Note that the storage unit for storing the user information may be the authentication information storage unit 180 or the stop detection result storage unit 190, or may be another storage unit.

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present modification, the user can use the PC terminal 30 to register a user to be notified that the external service has stopped. As a result, the input/output service processing unit 110 can notify the registered user that the external service is stopped in the stop detection process for the external service. That is, without waiting for a failure report from the actual end user to be displayed on the device 20, the developer or the like (registered user) who received the notification of the stoppage detection process can start responding, thereby shortening the downtime. can.

<Stop detection processing for external services>
25 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing of the input/output service processing unit according to the first modification of the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of notification to the notification destination user. Stop detection processing for an external service by the input/output service processing unit 110 of the present modification will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26. FIG. Note that the processing of steps S1201 to S1204 in the stop detection processing of this modified example is the same as the processing of steps S1001 to S1004 shown in FIG. 18 described above. Processing after step S1205 will be described below.

When the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the stop detection result of the stop detection operation from the logic processing unit 112, it determines whether the stop detection result indicates that the external service is stopped. If the stop detection result indicates "stopped", the stop detection operation executing unit 114 refers to the user information of the notification destination registered in step S1103, and notifies the user indicated by the user information of the stop detection result. The included information is notified (step S1205). For example, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 notifies by sending the document shown in FIG. 26 including the stop detection result to the e-mail address included in the user information. The example document shown in FIG. 26 indicates that the folder search API does not operate as expected for the component "AAA Drive".

Further, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 accumulates the stop detection result of the stop detection operation in the stop detection result storage unit 190 for use when starting the application thereafter (step S1206).

The above stop detection processing by the input/output service processing unit 110 is executed, for example, at regular time intervals (for example, every 5 minutes). It should be noted that the entire processing of steps S1201 to S1206 may be executed at regular intervals, or only steps S1203 to S1206 may be executed at regular intervals by reusing the once acquired authentication information. may be Further, the stop detection process is not limited to being executed at regular time intervals, and may be executed at timing according to a predetermined schedule, for example.

As a result, the latest state of the external service is stored as the stop detection result in the stop detection result storage unit 190, and when the external service is stopped, the stop detection is performed even if the application is not started. When the process is executed, users such as pre-registered application developers and component developers can be notified of the stop detection result. Therefore, users such as application developers and component developers can quickly take measures against the suspension of the external service based on the content of the notification of the suspension detection result.

(Modification 2)
An information processing system 1 according to Modification 2 of the present embodiment will be described with a focus on points that are different from the information processing system 1 according to Modification 1 described above. In Modified Example 1 described above, when the external service is stopped, the fact that the external service is stopped is notified to the pre-registered user each time the stop detection process is executed. In this modified example, an operation of notifying a pre-registered user that the external service is stopped in the stop detection process that is executed for the first time after the external service is stopped will be described.

The hardware configuration and functional configuration of the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 included in the information processing system 1 according to this modification are the same as in the above-described embodiment.

<Stop detection processing for external services>
FIG. 27 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing of an input/output service processing unit according to Modification 2 of the embodiment; Stop detection processing for an external service by the input/output service processing unit 110 of this modification will be described with reference to FIG. 27 . Note that the processing of steps S1301 to S1304 in the stop detection processing of this modified example is the same as the processing of steps S1201 to S1204 shown in FIG. 25 described above (that is, the processing of steps S1001 to S1004 shown in FIG. 18). . Processing after step S1305 will be described below.

When the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the stop detection result of the stop detection operation from the logic processing unit 112, it determines whether the stop detection result indicates that the external service is stopped. When the stop detection result indicates "stopped", the stop detection operation executing unit 114 selects the last (that is, latest) stop detection result among the stop detection results accumulated in the stop detection result storage unit 190. get. When the stop detection result received from the logic processing unit 112 indicates "stopped" and the last acquired stop detection result indicates "not stopped", the stop detection operation execution unit 114 If so, the user information of the notification destination registered in step S1103 shown in FIG. 24 is referenced, and information including the stop detection result is notified to the user indicated by the user information (step S1305). For example, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 notifies by sending the document shown in FIG. 26 including the stop detection result to the e-mail address included in the user information.

Furthermore, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 accumulates the stop detection result of the stop detection operation received from the logic processing unit 112 in the stop detection result storage unit 190 for use when starting the application thereafter (step S1306).

The above stop detection processing by the input/output service processing unit 110 is executed, for example, at regular time intervals (for example, every 5 minutes). It should be noted that the entire process of steps S1301 to S1306 may be executed at regular intervals, or only steps S1303 to S1306 may be executed at regular intervals by reusing the once acquired authentication information. may be Further, the stop detection process is not limited to being executed at regular time intervals, and may be executed at timing according to a predetermined schedule, for example.

Accordingly, it is possible to notify the pre-registered user that the external service is stopped only in the stop detection process that is executed for the first time after the external service is stopped. Therefore, unnecessary notifications to pre-registered users can be reduced.

(Modification 3)
An information processing system 1 according to Modification 3 of the present embodiment will be described, centering on points that are different from the information processing system 1 according to the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the input/output service processing unit 110 executes stop detection processing at regular time intervals, accumulates stop detection results, acquires the stop detection results when starting an application, and determines whether or not to run the application. shall be judged. In this modification, when starting an application, the input/output service processing unit 110 performs stop detection processing, and based on the stop detection result of the stop detection processing, it is determined whether or not to execute the application. explain.

<Processing when using an application>
FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of overall processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is not stopped in the information processing system according to Modification 3 of the embodiment. First, with reference to FIG. 28, the process of executing an application when it is confirmed that the external service has not stopped before executing the application will be described.

First, the browser 210 of the device 20 receives an operation (display operation) for displaying the application screen of the scan translation service (step S1901). The user of the device 20 can display the application screen by, for example, inputting the URL of the application screen of the scan translation service into the address bar of the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the scan translation service application screen display operation, the browser 210 of the device 20 transmits a scan translation service application screen display request to the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 (step S1902). Here, for example, it is assumed that the browser 210 has acquired user authentication information. Therefore, the display request for the application screen of the scan translation service includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service as well as the authentication information.

When the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 receives the application screen display request of the scan translation service, it inputs/outputs a stop detection result request for acquiring the status of the external service before acquiring the application settings. It is transmitted to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the service processing unit 110 (step S1903). Note that the stop detection result request includes authentication information.

Upon receiving the stop detection result request, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 sends a stop detection operation execution request to the logic processing unit 112 (step S1904). Note that the execution request for the stop detection operation includes authentication information.

When the logic processing unit 112 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the execution request for the stop detection operation, it uses the authentication information included in the execution request to determine whether the external service such as the cloud service is functioning. A stop detection operation is executed to detect whether communication is possible and whether the service API operates as expected (step S1905). The logic processing unit 112 returns the execution result of the stop detection operation (stop detection result) to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 . That is, the outage detection operation executing unit 114 directly acquires outage detection results (latest outage detection results) indicating the latest state of the external service. Here, it is assumed that the stop detection result indicates that the external service is "not stopped", that is, it is operating normally. The stop detection operation executing unit 114 then returns the received stop detection result to the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 . That is, the screen configuration unit 121 directly acquires the outage detection result (latest outage detection result) indicating the latest state of the external service.

Upon receiving the stop detection result, the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 confirms that the stop detection result indicates that the stop detection result indicates that the application setting acquisition request is sent to the input/output service processing unit 120. 110 to the application management unit 111 (step S1906). The application setting acquisition request includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service. In this way, by acquiring the stop detection result, it is possible to determine whether the external service is stopped. If so, you can transition to running the application.

Upon receiving the application setting acquisition request, the application management unit 111 of the input/output service processing unit 110 acquires the application setting information 1200 stored in association with the application ID included in the acquisition request from the application information storage unit 150. (Step S1907). The application management unit 111 then returns the application setting information 1200 acquired from the application information storage unit 150 to the screen configuration unit 121 .

Next, the screen construction unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 acquires the application screen information 2000 stored in association with the application ID of the application information 1000 providing the scan translation service from the application screen information storage unit 160 (step S1908). Then, the screen configuration unit 121 sends back to the browser 210 the application screen information 2000 acquired from the application screen information storage unit 160 and the application setting information 1200 sent back in step S1907.

The browser 210 of the device 20 displays, for example, the application screen G700 shown in FIG. 20 based on the application screen information 2000 and the application setting information 1200 received from the screen configuration unit 121 (step S1909).

Subsequent processing is the same as the processing of steps S1609 to S1613 in FIG. 19 described above. Although the browser 210 has been described as acquiring user authentication information, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 may acquire authentication information from the authentication information management unit 113 before the process of step S1904. good.

FIG. 29 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is stopped in the information processing system according to Modification 3 of the embodiment. Next, referring to FIG. 29, the operation of stopping the execution of the application when it is confirmed that the external service has stopped before executing the application will be described.

First, the browser 210 of the device 20 receives an operation (display operation) for displaying the application screen of the scan translation service (step S2001). The user of the device 20 can display the application screen by, for example, inputting the URL of the application screen of the scan translation service into the address bar of the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the scan translation service application screen display operation, the browser 210 of the device 20 transmits a scan translation service application screen display request to the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 (step S2002). Here, for example, it is assumed that the browser 210 has acquired authentication information in advance from the authentication information management unit 113 or the like. Therefore, the display request for the application screen of the scan translation service includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service as well as the authentication information.

When the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 receives the application screen display request of the scan translation service, it inputs/outputs a stop detection result request for acquiring the status of the external service before acquiring the application settings. It is transmitted to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the service processing unit 110 (step S2003). Note that the stop detection result request includes authentication information.

Upon receiving the stop detection result request, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 sends a stop detection operation execution request to the logic processing unit 112 (step S2004). Note that the execution request for the stop detection operation includes authentication information.

When the logic processing unit 112 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the execution request for the stop detection operation, it uses the authentication information included in the execution request to determine whether the external service such as the cloud service is functioning. A stop detection operation is executed to detect whether communication is possible and whether the service API operates as expected (step S2005). The logic processing unit 112 returns the execution result of the stop detection operation (stop detection result) to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 . Here, it is assumed that the stop detection result indicates that the external service is "stopped", that is, does not operate normally. The stop detection operation executing unit 114 then returns the received stop detection result to the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 . Upon receiving the stop detection result, the screen construction unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 confirms that the stop detection result indicates that the stop detection result is “stopped”, and sends the stop detection result to the browser 210 of the device 20. Reply. In this way, by acquiring the outage detection result, it is possible to determine whether the external service has stopped. If it indicates that there is no application, it is possible to shift to an operation to stop the execution of the application.

When the browser 210 of the device 20 receives the stop detection result indicating that the external service is "stopped," for example, as shown in FIG. By displaying the display screen G800, it is notified that the external service is stopped (step S2006). This allows the user (end user) to understand that the application cannot be executed because the external service is stopped.

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present modification, the stop detection process is performed by the input/output service processing unit 110 with the activation of the application as a trigger, and based on the stop detection result of the stop detection process, It determines whether or not to run the application. Therefore, since stop detection is executed when the application is started, the user's authentication information can be used, and more accurate stop detection processing can be executed in real time, which is useful for critical solutions such as financial systems. Then, when the stop detection result indicates that the external service is stopped, the stop state of the external service can be notified when the application is activated without using the application. In particular, in outage detection operations for external services, by performing outage detection operations using authentication information for using the relevant external services, it is possible to determine whether external services such as cloud services are functioning and whether communication is possible. and whether or not the API of the service operates as expected, can be acquired as the outage detection result.

(Modification 4)
An information processing system 1 according to Modification 4 of the present embodiment will be described with a focus on points that are different from the information processing system 1 according to Modification 1 described above. In the first modification described above, if the external service is stopped when the stop detection process is performed in the input/output service processing unit 110, the pre-registered user is notified that the external service is stopped. I am assuming. In this modified example, the operation of notifying pre-registered users only when necessary when the external service is stopped will be described.

<Stop detection processing for external services>
FIG. 30 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of stop detection processing by the input/output service processing unit according to Modification 4 of the embodiment. Stop detection processing for an external service by the input/output service processing unit 110 of this modification will be described with reference to FIG. 30 . Note that the processing of steps S1401 to S1403 in the stop detection processing of this modified example is the same as the processing of steps S1201 to S1203 shown in FIG. 25 (that is, the processing of steps S1001 to S1003 shown in FIG. 18). . Processing after step S1404 will be described below.

When the logic processing unit 112 receives the execution request for the stop detection operation, it uses the authentication information included in the execution request to determine whether an external service such as a cloud service is functioning, whether communication is possible, And a stop detection operation is executed to detect whether the API of the service operates as expected (step S1404). Then, the logic processing unit 112 acquires the execution result of the stop detection operation (stop detection result), acquires information as to whether or not notification is necessary, and a message for the end user, and uses these as the execution results for the stop detection operation. It replies to execution unit 114 .

When the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the stop detection result of the stop detection operation from the logic processing unit 112, information as to whether or not notification is necessary, and a message for the end user, It is determined whether the stop detection result indicates that the external service is stopped and whether notification is necessary. When the stop detection result indicates “stopped” and the information indicating whether or not notification is required indicates that notification is required, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 The user information of the notification destination registered in step S1103 of 24 is referred to, and information including the stop detection result is notified to the user indicated by the user information (step S1405). For example, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 notifies the e-mail address included in the user information by sending the document shown in FIG. 26 including the stop detection result.

Furthermore, the stop detection operation executing unit 114 accumulates the stop detection result of the stop detection operation and a message for the end user in the stop detection result storage unit 190 for use when starting the application thereafter (step S1406).

<Processing when using an application>
FIG. 31 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the stop detection result indicates that the application is stopped in the information processing system according to Modification 4 of the embodiment. With reference to FIG. 31, the operation of stopping the execution of the application when it is confirmed that the external service has stopped before executing the application will be described.

First, the browser 210 of the device 20 receives an operation (display operation) for displaying the application screen of the scan translation service (step S2101). The user of the device 20 can display the application screen by, for example, inputting the URL of the application screen of the scan translation service into the address bar of the browser 310 .

Upon receiving the scan translation service application screen display operation, the browser 210 of the device 20 transmits a scan translation service application screen display request to the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 (step S2102). The application screen display request for the scan translation service includes the application ID of the application information 1000 that provides the scan translation service.

When the screen configuration unit 121 of the web service processing unit 120 receives the application screen display request of the scan translation service, it inputs/outputs a stop detection result request for acquiring the status of the external service before acquiring the application settings. It is transmitted to the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the service processing unit 110 (step S2103).

When the stop detection operation executing unit 114 of the input/output service processing unit 110 receives the stop detection result request, the stop detection operation execution unit 114 of the external service stop detection results accumulated in the stop detection result storage unit 190 detects the last (that is, the latest) stop. A detection result and a message for the end user are obtained (step S2104). Here, it is assumed that the last stop detection result indicates that the external service is "stopped", that is, does not operate normally. The stop detection operation executing unit 114 then returns the last stop detection result acquired from the stop detection result storage unit 190 and the message for the end user to the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 . When the screen configuration unit 121 of the Web service processing unit 120 receives the last stop detection result and the message for the end user, it confirms that the stop detection result indicates "stopped", and performs the stop detection. Results and messages for the end user are returned to browser 210 of device 20 . In this way, by acquiring the outage detection result, it is possible to determine whether the external service has stopped. If it indicates that there is no application, it is possible to shift to an operation to stop the execution of the application.

When the browser 210 of the device 20 receives the stop detection result indicating that the external service is "stopped" and the message for the end user, it displays the received message for the end user on the service stop display screen. to notify that the external service is stopped (step S2105). This allows the user (end user) to understand that the application cannot be executed because the external service is stopped.

As described above, in the information processing system 1 according to the present modification, in addition to the stop detection result by the stop detection operation, information as to whether or not notification is necessary for pre-registered users, and information for end users I am trying to get a message. As a result, when the external service is stopped in the stop detection process, the pre-registered user can be notified only when the information indicating whether or not the notification is necessary indicates that the notification is necessary. For example, when there is no need to notify component developers, such as planned regular maintenance of external services, unnecessary notifications can be avoided. In addition, if the outage detection result indicates that the external service is down, a message created for the end user can be displayed, and the external service is activated when the application is started, without having to use the application. can be notified of the stop status of In addition, as a message for the end user, for example, if the stop of the external service is due to regular maintenance, by including the scheduled end time of the maintenance, etc., the end user's convenience can be improved.

It should be noted that each function of the above-described embodiments and modifications can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the "processing circuit" means a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Integrated Circuit) designed to execute each function described above. Circuit), DSP (Digital Signal Processor), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), SOC (System on a Chip), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), conventional circuit modules and other devices.

Further, in the above-described embodiments and modifications, when at least one of the functional units of the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 is realized by executing a program, the program is stored in a ROM or the like in advance. Provided integrated. In addition, the programs executed by the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 according to the above-described embodiments and modifications can be stored as files in an installable or executable format on a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), flexible disk (FD), CD-R (Compact Disk-Recordable), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a computer-readable recording medium such as an SD card. good too. Further, the programs executed by the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 according to the above-described embodiments and modifications are stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet, and downloaded via the network. It may be configured to provide by Further, the programs executed by the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 according to the above embodiments and modifications may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the programs executed by the service providing system 10, the device 20, and the PC terminal 30 according to the above-described embodiments and modifications have a module configuration including at least one of the above-described functional units, As actual hardware, the CPU reads out and executes a program from the above-described storage device, thereby loading each of the above-described functional units onto the main storage device and generating them.

1 Information Processing System 10 Service Providing System 11 CPU
12 RAMs
13 ROMs
14 Auxiliary Storage Device 15 Input Device 16 Display Device 17 External I/F
17a recording medium 18 communication I/F
20, 20_1, 20_2 equipment 21 controller 22 operation panel 23 external I/F
23a recording medium 24 communication I/F
25 printer 26 scanner 30, 30_1, 30_2 PC terminal 31 CPU
32 RAMs
33 ROMs
34 NVRAM
35 auxiliary storage device 110 input/output service processing unit 111 application management unit 112 logic processing unit 113 authentication information management unit 114 stop detection operation execution unit 120 web service processing unit 121 screen configuration unit 122 application execution unit 130 document service unit 131 OCR processing unit 132 mail delivery unit 140 portal service unit 141 UI providing unit 142 application registration unit 150 application information storage unit 160 application screen information storage unit 170 portable screen information storage unit 180 authentication information storage unit 190 stop detection result storage unit 210 browser 301 flow execution unit 302 Component management unit 303 Component group 304 Type conversion management unit 305 Type conversion group 310 Browser 1000 Application information 1100 Processing flow information 1101 Flow name 1102 Flow details 1110, 1120, 1130 Detailed processing definition 1200 Application setting information 1201 Application type 1202 Application name 1203 Application display name 1204 Authentication type 1205 Flow name 1206 Design template type 1207 Default parameter 1208 User input parameter 1218, 1228, 1238 Input definition 1300 Component common I/F
1310 OCR component 1320 translation component 1330 mail delivery component 1340 file input/output component 1400 type conversion common I/F
1410 First type conversion 2000 Application screen information 3000 Portable screen information 4000 Type conversion information table B Bus N1 Network

JP 2018-014079 A JP 2016-177447 A

Claims (11)

a stop detection processing unit that executes stop detection processing for detecting whether the external service is stopped using authentication information for using the external service;
an acquisition unit that acquires the latest detection result of the stop detection process when the application that uses the external service is started;
an application execution unit that suspends execution of the application when the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service has stopped;
When the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service has stopped, the notification information indicating that the external service has stopped is sent to an electronic device intended for use by the application. a notification unit for transmitting to the electronic device for display on the device;
An information processing system having 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein said application execution unit requests execution of said application when said latest detection result indicates that said external service is not stopped. further comprising a first registration unit for pre-registering the authentication information for using the external service;
The stop detection processing unit acquires the authentication information registered in the first registration unit, executes the stop detection process at a predetermined timing using the authentication information, and accumulates the detection result in the storage unit. death,
The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the latest detection result from the storage unit. further comprising a second registration unit for registering user information indicating a notification destination that the external service has been stopped;
When the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service has stopped, the stop detection processing unit notifies the second registration unit that the external service has stopped. 4. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the notification destination indicated by the user information registered in is notified. The stop detection processing unit acquires the latest detection result from the storage unit when the detection result of the executed stop detection process indicates that the external service is stopped, and the latest detection result is obtained from the storage unit. 5. The information processing according to claim 4, wherein when indicating that the external service is not stopped, the notice destination indicated by the user information registered in the second registration unit is notified that the external service is stopped. system. The stop detection processing unit acquires information indicating whether or not notification to the notification destination indicated by the user information registered by the second registration unit is necessary, together with the detection result of the stop detection process. If the result indicates that the external service has been suspended, and if the information indicating whether or not the notification is necessary indicates that the notification is necessary, the fact that the external service has been suspended. 5. The information processing system according to claim 4, wherein the notification destination indicated by the user information registered in the second registration unit is notified. The stop detection processing unit acquires a notification message together with the detection result of the stop detection process,
5. The information according to claim 4, wherein the notification unit transmits the notification message to the electronic device when the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service has stopped. processing system. The outage detection processing unit uses user-specific authentication information for using the external service to execute the outage detection process for detecting whether the external service has stopped,
The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the acquisition unit directly acquires the detection result of the stop detection process executed by the stop detection processing unit as the latest detection result. a stop detection processing unit that executes stop detection processing for detecting whether the external service is stopped using authentication information for using the external service;
an acquisition unit that acquires the latest detection result of the stop detection process when the application that uses the external service is started;
an application execution unit that suspends execution of the application when the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service has stopped;
When the latest detection result acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the external service has stopped, the notification information indicating that the external service has stopped is sent to an electronic device intended for use by the application. a notification unit for transmitting to the electronic device for display on the device;
Information processing device with A stop detection processing step of executing stop detection processing for detecting whether the external service is stopped using authentication information for using the external service;
an acquisition step of acquiring the latest detection result of the outage detection process when the application that uses the external service is started;
a suspending step of suspending execution of the application when the acquired latest detection result indicates that the external service has stopped;
To display notification information indicating that the external service is stopped on the electronic device that uses the application when the latest detection result obtained indicates that the external service is stopped. a notification step of sending to the electronic device at
An information processing method comprising: to the computer,
A stop detection processing step of executing stop detection processing for detecting whether the external service is stopped using authentication information for using the external service;
an acquisition step of acquiring the latest detection result of the outage detection process when the application that uses the external service is started;
a suspending step of suspending execution of the application when the acquired latest detection result indicates that the external service has stopped;
To display notification information indicating that the external service is stopped on the electronic device that uses the application when the latest detection result obtained indicates that the external service is stopped. a notification step of sending to the electronic device at
program to run the

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