JP7200587B2 - Distribution control device, data distribution system and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device and system for controlling data distribution and a program for causing a computer to execute the control.

2. Description of the Related Art A multi-function device is known that has a function of reading a document and distributing data of the read document image to a mobile terminal or the like via a network.

However, when distributing image data from a multifunction machine, if the data volume is large, the network will be overloaded.

Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which a read document is decomposed into individual elements, only the position information of each element is distributed as metadata, and only the images in the range that the recipient wants to view are acquired from the document management server based on the metadata. (See Patent Document 1, for example).

However, with the above technology, when it becomes necessary to distribute large amounts of data, it is not possible to stop distribution or change the amount of data as appropriate. There is a problem that it becomes a detrimental effect on other processing.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems, and reduces the load on the network even when it becomes necessary to distribute data with a certain capacity or more, and enables other processing to be performed via the network. An object of the present invention is to provide a device, system and program that can reduce the impact on

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a device for controlling data distribution,
Acquisition means for acquiring the capacity of the data from a device that distributes the data;
detection means for detecting whether the volume of acquired data exceeds a threshold;
and requesting means for requesting a device to select a data delivery method when it is detected that the threshold is exceeded.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the network and reduce the impact on other processes performed via the network, even when it becomes necessary to distribute data with a capacity greater than a certain amount. becomes.

The figure which showed the structural example of a data delivery system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a multifunction machine; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the MFP; The figure which showed an example of the hardware constitutions of the delivery control apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a distribution control device; The figure which illustrated the screen which sets the intermediate process and the delivery process with the administrator terminal. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining data distribution control; 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of data distribution control;

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a data distribution system. The data distribution system includes, for example, a multi-function device 10 as a device for distributing data. The multifunction device 10 is a device having multiple functions such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, a facsimile function, and a communication function, and is connected to the network 11 . The multi-function device 10 reads a document and distributes an image of the read document as image data via the network 11 . Here, the device is described as the multifunction device 10, but the device is not limited to the multifunction device 10. FIG.

The data distribution system is connected to a network 11 and includes a distribution control device 12 that controls distribution of image data, and an administrator terminal 13 that is used by an administrator who manages the distribution control device 12 .

The distribution control device 12 can distribute image data and metadata in association with each other, and distribute to various locations such as intermediate processing such as image conversion and image correction, mail servers, external servers, and storage in a cloud environment. It is possible to execute the delivery process to Metadata is data that describes the attributes of image data and related information, and includes, for example, the data name of image data, creator, date and time of creation, date and time of last update, and access rights.

The administrator terminal 13 is a device that manages the distribution control device 12, selects the multifunction peripheral 10 that synchronizes with the distribution control device 12, and sets which intermediate processing and distribution processing are to be provided.

When the multifunction machine 10 and the distribution control device 12 operate synchronously, the image data is distributed from the multifunction machine 10 to the distribution destination device 14 via the distribution control device 12 . At that time, intermediate processing and distribution processing are executed as necessary.

In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the delivery destination device 14 is a tablet terminal, wirelessly communicates with an access point 15 that is a wireless communication relay device connected to the network 11 , and distributes data to the network 11 via the access point 15 . connected to.

The hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The multifunction device 10 includes a scanner 20, a plotter 21, an operation panel 22, a controller 23, and a communication I/F24.

The scanner 20 includes a light source such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and an imaging device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). is received by the imaging element, converted into an electrical signal, and output as image data.

The plotter 21 prints image data to generate printed matter. The printing method of the plotter 21 may be an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method. The operation panel 22 is a touch panel or the like that is a combination of a display device and an input device.

The controller 23 controls the entire multifunction machine 10, exchanges data and information among the scanner 20, the plotter 21, and the operation panel 22, connects to the network 11 via the communication I/F 24, and Distributes image data. The controller 23 uses additional programs called plug-ins held by the distribution control device 12 in order to implement various functions.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the functional configuration of the multifunction device 10 will be described. The MFP 10 includes a scanner 20, an operation panel 22, a controller 23, a communication I/F 24, and includes a reading unit 30, a measurement unit 31, a communication unit 32, a distribution control unit 33, an operation unit 34, a display control unit 35, A modification unit 36 is included.

The reading unit 30 reads a document such as an original and outputs image data. The measurement unit 31 measures the volume of image data output from the reading unit 30 . The distribution control unit 33 transmits the measured volume of image data to the distribution control device 12 via the communication unit 32 . The communication unit 32 communicates with the distribution control device 12 , the administrator terminal 13 and the distribution destination device 14 via the network 11 .

The distribution control unit 33 receives requests from the distribution control device 12 via the communication unit 32 . The request is a delivery method selection request or the like. The display control unit 35 displays a screen for inputting information in response to a request received by the distribution control unit 33, and controls to display the operation status of the multifunction device 10 and the like. The operation unit 34 receives input from the user. The information to be input includes the delivery method selected by the user and the like.

The distribution control unit 33 instructs the change unit 36 to change the capacity of the image data according to the information received by the operation unit 34, the information of the distribution method selected in advance, and the like. The changing unit 36 receives an instruction from the distribution control unit 33 and changes the capacity of the image data. Based on the information received by the operation unit 34 and the information on the distribution method selected in advance, the changing unit 36 compresses the image data and changes the data capacity.

The distribution control unit 33 notifies the distribution control device 12 of the selected distribution method via the communication unit 32, distributes the image data or the image data whose capacity has been changed by the change unit 36, and requests distribution processing. Further, the distribution control unit 33 requests the distribution control device 12 to perform intermediate processing as necessary.

The hardware configuration of the distribution control device 12 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the administrator terminal 13 and the delivery destination device 14 have the same hardware configuration as the delivery control device 12, so descriptions of these devices will be omitted.

The distribution control device 12 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 40 , ROM (Read Only Memory) 41 , RAM (Random Access Memory) 42 , HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 43 and communication I/F 44 . The distribution control device 12 can include an input/output I/F, a display device, an input device, an external storage I/F, an external storage device, etc., as required.

The ROM 41 stores a boot program for activating the distribution control device 12, firmware for controlling the HDD 43, and the like. The HDD 43 stores various programs and data. RAM 42 provides a work area for CPU 40 . The CPU 40 executes programs stored in the ROM 41 and HDD 43, controls the distribution control device 12, and executes distribution control. The communication I/F 44 connects to the network 11 and communicates with the multi-function device 10 , the administrator terminal 13 and the delivery destination device 14 via the network 11 .

The HDD 43 stores processing information set by the administrator terminal 13, programs for executing intermediate processing and distribution processing, and various plug-ins. As plug-ins, an image conversion plug-in, an image correction plug-in, an image capacity confirmation plug-in, a delivery cancellation plug-in, an image capacity change plug-in, a delivery destination change plug-in, etc. are stored. Since these plug-ins are examples, other plug-ins may be included.

The image conversion plug-in is used for intermediate processing and has the function of converting the image of the image data. File formats for image data include JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), PNG (Portable Network Graphics), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), and BMP (Microsoft Windows Bitmap Image). One example of conversion of is to convert between these file formats. The image correction plug-in is used for intermediate processing and has a function of correcting image density unevenness and the like.

The image size confirmation plug-in is used for distribution control, acquires the size of the image data measured by the MFP 10, detects whether the size exceeds the threshold, and selects the distribution method if the size exceeds the threshold. has the capability to request

The distribution cancellation plug-in has a function of prescribing one distribution method and stopping (cancelling) distribution of image data. The image size change plug-in defines one of the distribution methods, uses the change unit 36 provided in the multi-function device 10, and has a function of changing the size of image data. The distribution destination change plug-in has a function of specifying one distribution method and changing the distribution destination of image data according to the settings.

Next, a functional configuration of the distribution control device 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The distribution control device 12 includes a communication unit 50 , a setting unit 51 , a control unit 52 and a detection unit 53 , which are implemented by the communication I/F 44 and the CPU 40 reading and executing a program stored in the HDD 43 . When implementing these functional units, the above image capacity confirmation plug-in is used.

The communication unit 50 communicates with the MFP 10 , the administrator terminal 13 , and the delivery destination device 14 via the network 11 . The setting unit 51 holds a distribution flow, setting information in the distribution flow, a threshold for the amount of image data, and the like. The distribution flow describes the flow of distribution operations, for example, correcting the image, checking the data volume, and if it does not exceed the threshold, it will be distributed to a folder, and if it exceeds it, the distribution destination will be changed and mail will be distributed. is. The setting information in the distribution flow includes distribution method information such as capacity change, distribution cancellation, and distribution destination change, capacity after change, and distribution destination information.

The control unit 52 also functions as an acquisition unit and acquires the data volume measured by the multifunction device 10 . The control unit 52 may acquire the amount of data delivered from the MFP 10, or send an acquisition request to the MFP 10 and acquire the amount of data delivered by the MFP 10 in response to the acquisition request. You may

The detection unit 53 detects whether the data volume acquired by the control unit 52 exceeds the threshold set in the setting unit 51 . The control unit 52 receives the detection result, and if the detection result does not exceed the threshold value, the load on the network 11 is not so large as to greatly affect the communication via the network 11, so the image data is distributed as it is. .

On the other hand, if it exceeds, the network 11 will be overloaded, so the MFP 10 is requested to select a delivery method. Therefore, the control unit 52 also functions as a request unit that requests selection of a delivery method. The delivery method here is the above three methods, that is, delivery cancellation, capacity change, and delivery destination change, and the control unit 52 requests that one of these three be selected.

The control unit 52 receives a selection from the MFP 10 and executes processing based on the selected distribution method. When the cancellation of distribution is selected, the control unit 52 provides a distribution cancellation plug-in to the multi-function device 10 to cancel the distribution of the image data.

When the capacity change is selected, the control unit 52 provides the image capacity change plug-in to the multi-function device 10, and causes the change unit 36 to execute processing for changing the data capacity. At this time, the control unit 52 also provides information on the capacity set in the setting unit 51 to the MFP 10 as necessary. The change unit 36 of the multifunction device 10 performs image compression processing so as to reduce the data size to the size specified by the user along with the size change selection or the size provided from the control unit 52 .

When change of the delivery destination is selected, the control unit 52 provides a delivery destination change plug-in to the multi-function device 10 to change the delivery destination. At this time, the control unit 52 also provides information on the distribution destination set in the setting unit 51 to the MFP 10 as necessary. The distribution control unit 33 of the multi-function device 10 changes the distribution destination based on the information on the distribution destination specified by the user or the information on the distribution destination provided from the control unit 52 along with the selection of the change of the distribution destination.

In order to realize such a distribution flow, the system administrator can create a distribution flow using the administrator terminal 13 that he or she uses, and set it in the setting unit 51 provided in the distribution control device 12 . .

In this example, the control unit 52 is described as including functions as an acquisition unit and a request unit, but the acquisition unit and the request unit may be provided as functional units separately from the control unit 52 .

A method of creating a distribution flow and a method of setting setting information will be described with reference to FIG. The administrator can use the browser installed in the administrator terminal 13 to create a distribution flow by arranging plug-ins in order. Also, the administrator can change the distribution flow by deleting, adding, or arbitrarily rearranging plug-ins placed on the browser.

In FIG. 6A, a browser 60 has a service list display area 61, a plug-in list display area 62, and a distribution flow creation area 63. In the display area 61, a distribution route (distribution channel) "folder In the display area 62, plug-ins such as "OCR", "image conversion", "image correction", "image capacity confirmation", "image capacity change", and "distribution cancellation" are displayed. , and 'change delivery destination'.

The administrator can drag and drop plug-ins and delivery channels onto the delivery flow creation area 63 to place them in predetermined positions, and connect them with arrows from the "start" in the direction in which the flow proceeds. Create a delivery flow. The administrator terminal 13 has a mouse as an input device, and uses the mouse to move plug-ins and the like to predetermined positions and perform drag-and-drop operations to place them.

In the distribution flow, by inserting the above "image capacity confirmation" plug-in, the above data capacity is acquired, it is detected whether the capacity exceeds the threshold, and if it exceeds, the selection of the distribution method is requested. Processing can be performed.

Also, by placing the mouse pointer on "confirm image capacity" in the distribution flow shown in FIG. Actions and the like can be set. In FIG. 6B, "per scan" is selected as the capacity calculation method, and the upper limit of the capacity is set to "1000" MB. In addition, "select for each user" is selected as the operation when confirming the capacity.

In this setting, the threshold is set to "1000" MB, it is detected whether each image data exceeds "1000" MB, and the user selects the distribution method.

In addition to "each scan", there are "cumulative" capacity calculation methods, and it is possible to set the upper limit (MB) of the cumulative capacity and the accumulation period (days). In addition to "select by user", there are "fixed" operations when confirming the capacity. , so that its settings can be fixed.

The capacity calculation method setting (threshold setting) and operation setting can be set in the setting unit 51, but it is also possible to provide two setting units and set the threshold setting and operation setting in each setting unit. It is possible.

Data distribution control using the distribution control device 12 will be described with reference to FIG. A user places a document on the MFP 10 and scans the document. The MFP 10 measures the size of the image data of the scanned document image. The distribution control device 12 operating in synchronization with the MFP 10 acquires the capacity measured by the MFP 10 and detects whether the acquired capacity exceeds the threshold.

If the capacity exceeds the threshold, a request is made to select a distribution method, and in response, the multifunction device 10 displays a screen for selecting a distribution method on the operation panel 22 . The screen for selecting the distribution method is a screen for selecting one of "distribute as is", "change distribution destination", "change image capacity", and "cancel distribution".

Assume that the user selects "change image capacity" from among the items displayed on the operation panel 22 of the multifunction machine 10. FIG. Then, the operation panel 22 switches to a screen for selecting how much the capacity is to be compressed as the next screen. The user selects one of compression rates "1/2", "1/4", and "1/8" as the degree of compression in the switched screen.

The distribution control device 12 uses the changing unit 36 of the multi-function device 10 to compress the image data to the selected compression rate and reduce the data volume. Since the data volume is compressed by the changing unit 36 of the multifunction device 10, the multifunction device 10 sends the compressed image data and information on the distribution destination to the distribution control device 12, and requests distribution of the image data. , the distribution control device 12 distributes the image data to the distribution destination device 14 based on the distribution destination information.

The flow of this distribution control can be summarized as a flow chart shown in FIG. The process starts from step 800 when the user sets a document to be scanned on the MFP 10 and scans the document. The measurement unit 31 of the multi-function device 10 measures the size of the image data, and in step 801 the control unit 52 of the distribution control device 12 acquires the measured size.

At step 802, the detection unit 53 detects whether the acquired capacity exceeds the threshold. The threshold value may be compared with the capacity of each image data, or may be compared with the total capacity of one or more image data read within a predetermined period.

At step 803, it is checked whether the detection result exceeds the threshold value. The MFP 10 receives the request and selects a delivery method. The selection of the distribution method may be made by prompting the user to make a selection, or may be set in advance and the distribution method may be fixed.

At step 805 , the control unit 52 executes predetermined processing based on the distribution method selected by the multifunction device 10 . For example, when "distribution cancellation" is selected, the distribution of image data is stopped, and when "image capacity change" is selected, the capacity of image data is changed by compression or the like. Also, if change of delivery destination is selected, the delivery destination of the image data is changed. When distributing the image data, the control unit 52 distributes the image data with the changed capacity to the destination specified by the multifunction device 10, or distributes the image data to the changed destination. Then, at step 807, this process ends.

If the detection result does not exceed the threshold in step 803 , in step 806 , the control unit 52 distributes the image data to the distribution destination specified by the multifunction device 10 . Then, at step 807, this process ends.

As described above, the distribution control device 12 stops the distribution, changes the distribution destination, or changes the data capacity ( ), the load on the network 11 can be reduced. Also, the influence on other processes performed via the network 11 can be reduced. Furthermore, usability can be improved by enabling the user to select these.

Although the present invention has been described above as a distribution control device, a data distribution system, and a program, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Therefore, other embodiments, additions, changes, deletions, etc., can be modified within the range that a person skilled in the art can conceive. are included in the scope. Therefore, the present invention can also provide a recording medium on which the above program is recorded, and a server apparatus that provides the program via a network.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... MFP 11... Network 12... Distribution control apparatus 13... Administrator terminal 14... Distribution destination apparatus 20... Scanner 21... Plotter 22... Operation panel 23... Controller 24... Communication I/F
30...reading unit 31...measurement unit 32...communication unit 33...delivery control unit 34...operation unit 35...display control unit 36...change unit 40...CPU
41 ROM
42 RAM
43 HDD
44...Communication I/F
50... Communication unit 51... Setting unit 52... Control unit 53... Detection unit 60... Browsers 61, 62... Display area 63... Distribution flow creation area

JP 2007-312363 A

Claims (7)

A device for controlling the distribution of data,
Acquisition means for acquiring the capacity of the data from a device that distributes the data;
detection means for detecting whether the volume of the acquired data exceeds a threshold;
request means for requesting the device to select a delivery method for the data when detecting that the threshold is exceeded ;
a control means for executing a predetermined process related to distribution of the data according to the distribution method selected by the device;
A distribution control device, including: 3. When the distribution method selected by the device is to distribute the data by changing the volume of the data, the control means compresses the data and distributes it to a distribution destination specified by the device. 1. The distribution control device according to 1. 2. The distribution control device according to claim 1 , wherein said distribution method includes compression of said data before distribution, suspension of distribution, and distribution after changing a distribution destination. including threshold setting means for receiving input and setting the threshold;
The threshold setting means may set, as the threshold, a first threshold for comparison with the capacity of individual data, or a second threshold for comparison with the total capacity of one or more data read within a predetermined period. 4. The distribution control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , capable of setting a threshold value. 5. The distribution control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising operation setting means for setting whether said distribution method to be selected by receiving an input is fixed or selected by the user. A data distribution system comprising: a device for distributing data; and a distribution control device for controlling distribution of said data by said device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . A program for causing a computer to control data delivery,
a step of obtaining the capacity of the data from a device that distributes the data;
a step of detecting whether the volume of the acquired data exceeds a threshold;
requesting the device to select a delivery method for the data when detecting that the threshold is exceeded ;
a step of executing a predetermined process related to distribution of the data according to the distribution method selected by the device;
The program that causes the to run.

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