JP7201049B2 - Information processing device and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and program.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of smartphones, there has been proposed a configuration in which the functions of an operation screen of an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine are iconized like those of a smartphone so that users can arbitrarily customize them. Specifically, functions such as fax transmission and scan-to-email transmission are provided as application icons, and transmission conditions, destination information, etc. are stored in association with the application for each application of the application icon, so that users can use A configuration has been proposed in which the system is arbitrarily customized according to the application, such as for each user.

Regarding the transmission history, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200300 discloses that a client application can easily and appropriately resend a transmission job including a plurality of destinations (such as a FAX transmission job) from the transmission history. Displays the transmission history, and when the transmission history of the displayed transmission job that includes multiple destinations is selected and an instruction to resend is entered, it is determined whether the multiple destinations include an error destination. , if it is determined that an error destination is included, the error destination is selected as a retransmission target, and the non-error destination is controlled not to be selected as a retransmission target. A technique for resending transmission data of a transmission job to a destination selected as a target is described.

JP 2015-061185 A

In the case of customizing the operation screen arbitrarily, when the same user creates an application icon for each transmission condition, the application icon is selected according to the transmission condition and the application is started. When transmitting first, sharing the transmission history between applications saves the trouble of operations such as address input, etc., compared to the case where the transmission history is not shared.

On the other hand, when an application icon is created for each user, it may contain information that the user does not want other users to know, depending on the user's convenience or destination. Security problems such as information leakage may arise in a configuration in which transmission histories are shared.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of reducing the trouble of operation when setting information of an application is used only by the application and ensuring the security of the setting information.

The invention according to claim 1 comprises: a holding unit that holds information about whether or not setting information of an application can be referred to by other applications in the same group in association with the setting information;
Using the information held in the holding unit, when two application icons, a first application icon and a second application icon, are grouped into the same group by operating the application icon displayed on the operation unit , the first An information processing apparatus including a control unit that controls display of setting information associated with at least one of an application and a second application and setting information of the other.

In the invention according to claim 2, the control unit does not visibly display the other setting information as the setting information for the setting information for which the information on whether or not to refer to the setting information cannot be referred to. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 .

The invention according to claim 3 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the non-visible display includes converting the other setting information into other information and displaying it. .

In the invention according to claim 4, the information on whether or not to refer is information on the user of the application, and the control unit allows the setting information on the same user to be referred to, and the setting information on the different users. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information cannot be referred to.

In the invention according to claim 5, the information on whether or not to refer is information on a transmission destination, and the control unit allows reference to setting information related to destinations within the same company, and setting information related to destinations outside the company. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the information cannot be referred to.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the control unit may apply at least the same characters, graphics, symbols, and colors to a first operator corresponding to the first application and a second operator corresponding to the second application. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein either one is given and displayed.

The invention according to claim 7 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit displays the first operator and the second operator within an icon functioning as the same folder.

According to an eighth aspect of the invention, the control unit displays at least one of the same characters, figures, symbols, and colors at the timing of operating the first operator or the second operator. 3. The information processing apparatus according to .

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, the control unit does not visibly display the setting information of the other application in response to an operation for canceling the association between the first application and the second application. is an information processing device.

The invention according to claim 10 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the non-visible display includes converting the other setting information into other information and displaying it. .

The invention according to claim 11 is characterized in that the control unit maintains the display of the setting information of the other without an operation of canceling the association between the first application and the second application. It is an information processing apparatus described.

According to a twelfth aspect of the invention, when the other setting information is used, the control unit maintains the display of the other setting information regardless of the canceling operation. Item 12. An information processing apparatus according to Item 11.

A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the ninth aspect, wherein the releasing operation is an operation of releasing a first operator corresponding to the first application and a second operator corresponding to the second application. is an information processing device.

The invention according to claim 14 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs display control so as to display both the one of the setting information and the other of the setting information.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the control unit performs display control so as to preferentially display setting information of an application that has been activated, out of the first application and the second application. is an information processing device.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the invention, the control unit displays both the one of the setting information and the other of the setting information in a list format, and displays the setting information of the activated application in the form of a list. 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein display control is performed so as to display at a higher level.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the invention, the control unit displays both the one of the setting information and the other of the setting information in a tab format, and displays the setting information of the activated application in the foreground. 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein display control is performed so as to display in tabs.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the invention, both the first application and the second application are e-mail transmission applications or both facsimile transmission applications, and the setting information is destination information for e-mail transmission or facsimile transmission. 3. The information processing apparatus according to .

The invention according to claim 19, wherein the first application is a mail transmission application, the second application is a fax transmission application, the setting information for one of the above is mail transmission destination information, 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said one of the other setting information is mail transmission destination information relating to a fax transmission destination.

The invention according to claim 20, wherein the first application is a mail transmission application, the second application is a fax transmission application, and the setting information for either one is fax transmission destination information, 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said one of the other setting information is facsimile transmission destination information relating to a mail transmission destination.

The invention according to claim 21, wherein both the first application and the second application are authentication applications for accessing an external server, and the setting information is at least one of an ID and a password required for authentication. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the invention, a computer stores in a memory information about whether or not application setting information can be referred to by other applications in the same group in association with the setting information. Using the information, when two application icons of the first application icon and the second application icon are grouped into the same group by operating the application icon displayed on the operation unit, at least the first application icon and the second application icon are grouped. A program for causing setting information associated with one of them to execute a step of displaying setting information of the other on a display unit.

According to the inventions described in claims 1 and 22, it is possible to reduce the trouble of operation when setting information of an application is used only by the application, and to ensure the security of the setting information.

According to the second and third aspects of the invention, it is possible to further prevent unnecessary leakage of setting information.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, it is possible to further reduce the trouble of operation by the same user and prevent the leakage of setting information between different users.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, it is possible to further reduce the trouble of operations within the same company and to prevent setting information from being leaked outside the company.

According to the sixth, seventh, and eighth aspects of the invention, the user can easily visually recognize the association between applications.

According to the ninth and tenth aspects of the invention, it is possible to further limit the use of the setting information of the other by the cancellation operation.

According to the eleventh and twelfth aspects of the invention, even if there is a cancellation operation, either one of the setting information can be used.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the invention, it is possible to release the association between applications with a simple operation.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the invention, the user can reduce the trouble of operation by using not only one of the setting information but also the other of the setting information.

According to the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to preferentially use the setting information of the activated application.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the invention, it is possible to further reduce operation labor and ensure security of setting information by associating e-mail transmission applications or facsimile transmission applications.

According to the nineteenth and twentieth aspects of the present invention, furthermore, by associating different types of applications such as a mail transmission application and a facsimile transmission application, it is possible to reduce the trouble of operation and ensure the security of setting information.

According to the twenty-first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the trouble of operation and ensure the security of the setting information by associating authentication applications.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a display explanatory diagram of application icons and history data; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of holding history data of applications related to the same user; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of holding history data of applications related to different users; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a grouping operation; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of development of grouped icons; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of history data before grouping; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of history data sharing after grouping applications of the same type; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of history data sharing after grouping applications of the same type; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a grouping operation of heterogeneous applications; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of history data sharing after grouping heterogeneous applications; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an ungrouping operation; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of history data after grouping is canceled; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of application deletion; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of history data after application deletion; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a grouping operation of authentication applications; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of history data sharing after grouping of authentication applications; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an authentication screen;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking an image forming apparatus as an example of an information processing apparatus.

<Overall system configuration>
FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus according to this embodiment.

The image forming system includes a terminal device 10 and an image forming device 12 . The terminal device 10 and the image forming device 12 are connected via a communication line 14, and the communication line 14 is a data communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The communication line 14 may be wired or wireless.

The terminal device 10 is a PC, a smart phone, or the like, and transmits a print job or the like including a document print command according to a user's instruction.

The image forming apparatus 12 includes a ROM 16 , a RAM 18 , an HDD 20 , a control section 22 composed of one or more CPUs, an input/output interface I/F 24 , an operation section 26 and an image forming section 28 .

A control unit 22 comprising one or more CPUs receives print job commands and the like from the terminal device 10 via the input/output I/F 24 according to processing programs stored in the ROM 16 and HDD 20, and interprets PDL data. Intermediate data is generated, and drawing data (raster data) is further generated from the generated intermediate data. The control unit 22 also executes commands of various applications such as Copy, Scan, Fax, and Mail received from the operation unit 26 .

The image forming section 28 includes a print module, a scanner module, a fax module, a mail module, a paper feed module, a document feed module, and an image processing accelerator.

A print module is a module having a function of outputting an image on paper. For example, it has a configuration of a known inkjet system, and prints drawing data on paper. Recording is performed on paper, film, or the like by ejecting liquid or molten solid ink from a nozzle or the like. The method of ejecting ink includes the drop-on-demand method (pressure pulse method), which ejects ink using electrostatic attraction, and the method of ejecting ink using pressure generated by forming and growing bubbles with high heat. There is a thermal inkjet system and the like. The recording head includes, for example, a head that ejects cyan ink, a head that ejects magenta ink, a head that ejects yellow ink, and a head that ejects black ink, and each head has a line width at least equal to the width of the paper. A head is used. A recording head ejects ink droplets of each color onto an intermediate transfer member for recording, and then transfers the ink droplets to a sheet for printing.

The scanner module is a module that reads an image from paper and converts it into electronic data.

A fax module is a module that includes a modem and a fax image processing module and performs a fax function.

A mail module is a module that performs e-mail functions.

The paper feed module is a module that transports paper from the paper tray to the print module.

The document feed module is a module that transports sheets from the document tray to the fax module.

The image processing accelerator is a module that performs compression/decompression processing in conjunction with a scanner module or the like. This image processing accelerator is optional and may be an additional module.

The operation unit 26 includes a touch panel, and displays application icons corresponding to various functions (copy, scan, fax, mail, etc.) of the image forming apparatus 12 according to control commands from the control unit 22 . For example, a copy icon corresponding to a copy function, a fax icon corresponding to fax, a scan to mail icon corresponding to a function of scanning a document and sending it by mail, and the like. A user can set specific setting information for each application by performing a touch operation on the operation unit 26 . For example, in the case of a mail transmission function such as scan to mail, it is the transmission condition, destination information, etc., and in the case of the facsimile transmission function, it is the destination information and the like. When setting different setting information in an application, the user can arbitrarily create an application icon for each different setting information. For example, in the scan-to-mail transmission function, an icon (color icon) is created when conditions for transmitting a color document are set, and an icon (monochrome icon) is created when conditions for transmitting a monochrome document are set. An icon (PDF icon) when a condition for transmitting a PDF document is set, an icon (TIFF icon) when a condition for transmitting a TIFF document is set, and the like. The control unit 22 displays these icons on the operation unit 26 according to the creation operation of the user.

In addition, the user can operate application icons displayed on the operation unit 26 to perform operations such as activation and association (so-called grouping) of each application, ungrouping of each application, deletion of an application, and the like. The control unit 22 detects an icon operation by the user, and controls activation of an application, grouping, ungrouping, deletion of an application, etc. according to the operation. Activation of an application, grouping, ungrouping, deletion of an application, etc. by operating an icon are also known in smartphones and the like.

In addition to these, the image forming apparatus 12 includes a finisher that punches and sorts sheets, a USB, an IC card reader, and the like, and includes an authentication unit that authenticates users, a billing unit, a motion sensor, and a face camera. etc. may be provided. Further, the image forming apparatus 12 may be connected to the Internet and an external server (network server) via a communication line 14, and may be equipped with Ethernet (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark). An authentication process is required when connecting to an external server via the Internet, and the image forming apparatus 12 may have an application for executing the authentication process.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen of the operation unit 26. As shown in FIG. This is the home screen that is first displayed by the display control command from the control unit 22 when the image forming apparatus 12 is started.

As shown in FIG. 2(a), as application icons, a Copy icon corresponding to the copy function, a Fax icon corresponding to the fax function, a ScantoNetwork icon corresponding to the function of scanning and sending to a network server, and an ID card copy function. In addition to the corresponding IDcardCopy icon, a Colormail icon 26a and a BWmail icon 26b whose functions are arbitrarily customized by the user are displayed. The Colormail icon 26a is an icon corresponding to the function of sending the scanned document as a color document by mail, and the BWmail icon 26b is an icon corresponding to the function of sending the scanned document as a monochrome (black and white) document by mail. Setting information set by the user is stored in association with the Colormail icon 26a, and the setting information includes history data 27 when the user used this icon to send mail in the past. The control unit 22 stores the history data in the HDD 20 or the like in association with the Colormail icon 26a. Similarly, the BWmail icon 26b is also associated with setting information set by the user, and the setting information includes history data 27 when the user used this icon to send mail in the past. .

In FIG. 2A, when the user touches the Colormail icon 26a, the control unit 22 detects this touch operation, activates the mail transmission function application corresponding to this Colormail icon 26a, and displays the startup screen on the operation unit 26. to display.

FIG. 2B shows an example of the startup screen. An input field 26c for inputting a mail transmission destination is displayed, and a history button 26d for displaying history data is displayed in the vicinity thereof.

In FIG. 2(b), the user may enter a desired destination in the input field 26c, but when retransmitting to a previously transmitted destination, the user operates the history button 26d. When the control unit 22 detects that the user has operated the history button 26d, the control unit 22 reads the history data 27 stored in the HDD 20 in association with the Colormail icon 26a and displays it on the operation unit 26. FIG.

FIG. 2(c) shows an example of a display screen of the history data 27. As shown in FIG. A list of destinations to which mail has been sent in the past is displayed using the Colormail icon 26a. For example, "aaa@xxx.com" in list form
"bbb@xxx.com"
"ccc@xxx.com"
"ddd@xxx.com"
etc.

By selecting a desired destination from the history data 27 displayed as a list, the user can save the trouble of inputting to the input field 26c each time.

As described above, similar to the Colormail icon 26a, the BWmail icon 26b is associated with history data and stored by the control unit 22. When the user touches the BWmail icon 26b, the history button is displayed on the startup screen. 26d is operated to display history data 27, and it is possible to easily input a desired address from those displayed in a list. The user may wish to change the conditions and operate the Colormail icon 26a to send an e-mail. In such a case, the history data 27 stored in association with the Colormail icon 26a and the history data 27 stored in association with the BWmail icon 26b are shared, and the history data of the Coloemail icon 26a is combined with the history data of the BWmail icon 26b. If is displayed and accessible, the user can save the trouble of operation.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a configuration for sharing the history data 27 between the Colormail icon 26a and the BWmail icon 26b. The history data 27 of each icon 26a, 26b are integrated as one history data 27, and when the user operates the history button 26d when the Colormail icon 26a is operated, only the unique history data 27 in the Colormail icon 26a is displayed. First, the history data of other BWmail icons 26b can also be accessed and selected as a desired destination. First, history data of other Colormail icons 26a can be accessed and selected as desired destinations.

On the other hand, FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen of the operation unit 26 when different users arbitrarily create application icons. A user A icon 26e created by user A (user A in the figure) and a user B icon 26f created by another user B (user B in the figure) are displayed. The user A icon 26e is stored in association with its history data 27a, and similarly, the user B icon 26f is stored in association with its history data 27b.

In such a case, it is conceivable to share the history data 27a and 27b with each other as shown in FIG. Conversely, there may be history data that user A does not want to share with other user B. Therefore, it is difficult to ensure security in a configuration in which setting information is uniformly shared with each other.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, compared to the case of using only setting information unique to an application, the user's operation time and effort are saved, and in addition, security is improved when unique setting information is uniformly shared among a plurality of applications. In order to solve the problem, setting information is provided with data indicating whether or not it is permissible to share, and is stored in association with the setting information. Control.

Specifically, when the control unit 22 detects a user's operation for associating (grouping) the application icons, the control unit 22 shares setting information specific to the application icon by this operation, and enables or disables sharing data. The setting information is shared, and the setting information whose sharing availability data is not allowed is not shared.

The control unit 22 implements the above functions by reading and executing the processing program stored in the ROM 16 or the HDD 20. Specifically, the processing steps in the control unit 22 are as follows.
(1) Controlling the display of application icons on the operation unit 26 (2) Storing application setting information (3) Holding data on whether or not to share application setting information in association with the setting information (4) Grouping application icons (5) Sharing of setting information by detecting grouping of application icons

Here, in more detail, the sharing processing step of (5) is as follows.
(5.1) Referencing the stored sharing permission/prohibition data (5.2) If the sharing permission/prohibition data is “Yes”, the setting information of the grouped applications is shared, and according to the history button operation Display the shared setting information (5.3) If the sharing permission/prohibition data is "impossible", do not share the setting information of the grouped applications and do not display it even if the history button is operated. include.

These processes will be described in detail below.

<Grouping>
5 and 6 schematically show how application icons are grouped.

FIG. 5A shows an example of the home screen of the operation unit 26, in which a plurality of icons are grouped into a ScantoNetwork icon corresponding to the function of scanning by the user and transmitting to the network server. The user first performs a specific operation, such as a long press operation, on the ScantoNetwork icon to be grouped.

The control unit 22 detects this operation and displays a pop-up menu 26g near the ScantoNetwork icon as shown in FIG. 5(b). The pop-up menu 26g includes, for example, a "group addition" menu, and the user selects and operates this menu to instruct grouping. The control unit 22 creates a group A icon 26 h as a grouping icon in response to this operation and displays it on the operation unit 26 . This group A icon is an icon that functions as a folder that collectively accommodates a plurality of icons.

The user then selects the icons to be grouped and performs a specific operation, such as a drag-and-drop operation. FIG. 5(c) is an example in which the user A icon 26e is dragged and dropped onto the group A icon 26h. Upon detecting this operation, the control unit 22 groups the user A icon 26e, deletes the original user A icon 26e from the operation unit 26, and shrinks the new user A icon 26e in the group A icon 26h. (or as thumbnails). Similarly, when grouping the user B icon 26f, the user B icon 26f is dragged and dropped onto the group A icon 26h. Upon detecting this operation, the control unit 22 groups the user B icon 26f, deletes the original user B icon 26f from the operation unit 26, and shrinks the new user B icon 26f in the group A icon 26h. (or as thumbnails). FIG. 5D shows a screen example of the operation unit 26 when the ScantoNetwork icon, the user A icon 26e, and the user B icon 26f are collectively grouped. The control unit 22 holds flags that associate these grouped icons with each other.

FIG. 6 shows a screen example of the operation unit 26 when the user touches the grouping icon 26h. As shown in FIG. 6A, when the user performs a touch operation on the grouping icon 26h, the control unit 22 detects this operation, expands each icon grouped in the grouping icon 26h, and operates the grouping icon 26h. Displayed in section 26 .

FIG. 6B shows a state in which grouped icons are expanded. The control unit 22 expands and displays the ScantoNetwork icon, the user A icon, and the user B icon.

As described above, the user can group a plurality of desired application icons, but such grouping is an expression of the user's desire to handle these applications in a unified manner. Therefore, the control unit 22 executes a process of sharing the setting information stored in association with each of the grouped application icons through such a grouping operation. However, as described above, a uniform sharing configuration may cause a security problem especially in applications between different users, so sharing is performed using sharing availability data. The sharability data is stored in the HDD 20 in association with the setting information as attribute data or metadata of the setting information. The sharability data may be stored in a table format for each piece of setting information. For example, if the setting information is the destination history of email transmission,
Destination a: Possible Destination b: Impossible Destination c: Possible Destination d: Impossible and the like.

Data indicating whether sharing is possible is stored in the HDD 20 or the like, but may be stored and held in a memory separate from the setting information. Data on whether or not sharing is possible is set by the user of the application related to the setting information, but may be set by an administrator who manages the entire system.

<Sharing among applications of the same type>
7 and 8 schematically show processing for sharing history data as setting information by a grouping operation. FIG. 7A shows a grouping operation by the user, showing how the TIFFmail icon is dragged and dropped onto the group A icon 26h. Also, FIG. 7(b) shows the history data associated with the TIFFmail icon before grouping and the mail icon (Mailof GroupA) already existing in the group A icon 26h. The history data 27c is history data associated with a TIFFmail icon, and is a destination to which the user has sent by activating the TIFFmail application associated with the TIFFmail icon in the past. As shown in the figure, this historical data is for example two destinations "111@xxx.com"
"222@xxx.com"
consists of At the end of each destination, data indicating whether or not sharing is possible is provided, and in this example, all destinations are provided with data of "possible", indicating that sharing is possible. For example, when sending an email to the destination or afterward, the control unit 22 displays a message asking whether or not to share the destination on the operation unit 26, and the user responds to the message. Can be set by answering. for example,
"Do you want to share this destination?"
is displayed on the operation unit 26, and if the user selects "YES", the sharing permission/prohibition data is set to "permitted", and if the user selects "NO", the sharing permission/prohibition data is set to "impossible". set to The control unit 22 stores the set availability data in the HDD 20 or the like in association with the setting information. Note that the control unit 22 may allow sharing in the default state, or conversely may set sharing in the default state as "impossible." Similarly, the history data 27d is history data associated with the MailofGroupA icon, and is destinations to which the user has activated the application and sent in the past. As shown in the figure, this historical data is, for example, two destinations "aaa@xxx.com"
"bbb@xxx.com"
consists of At the end of each destination, data indicating whether or not sharing is possible is provided, and in this example, all destinations are provided with data indicating "possible", indicating that sharing is possible.

FIG. 8 schematically shows history data after grouping. As shown in FIG. 8(a), the TIFFmail icon is reduced or displayed as a thumbnail within the group A icon 26h to indicate that it is grouped. In addition, the control unit 22 refers to the sharing permission/prohibition data for the history data associated with the TIFFmail icon and the Mailof GroupA icon by the grouping operation, and sets the sharing permission/prohibition data to “permitted”. If it is, it will be shared.

FIG. 8B schematically shows sharing processing. The history data 27c associated with the TIFFmail icon is added to the history data of the MailofGroupA icon as history data 27c' and shared, and the history data 27d associated with the MailofGroupA icon is added to the history data of the TIFFmail icon. 27d' and shared. Specifically, the history data 27c associated with the TIFFmail icon is copied and added as history data 27c' to the history data of the MailofGroupA icon and stored in the HDD 20, and the history data 27d associated with the MailofGroupA icon is copied. is added to the history data of the TIFFmail icon as history data 27c' and stored in the HDD 20. FIG. In the figure, shared history data is indicated by hatching.

When the TIFFmail icon is operated and the history button 26d is operated on the startup screen, the control unit 22 reads out the history data 27 from the HDD 20 and displays it on the operation unit 26. Only the unique history data 27c is displayed. Instead, the history data 27d' of the Mailof GroupA icon is also displayed as history data. This allows the user to refer to the history data 27d associated with the MailofGroupA icon. Also, when the MailofGroupA icon is operated and activated and the history button 26d is operated on the startup screen, not only the unique history data 27d but also the history data 27c' of the TIFFmail icon are displayed. This allows the user to refer to the history data 27c associated with the TIFFmail icon.

When displaying the history data in response to the operation of the history button 26d, the control unit 22 may display the history data specific to the icon and the shared history data so that they can be visually distinguished. This will allow the user to identify which is unique history data and which is shared history data from other applications, which may be useful for referencing. For example, the shared history data is displayed in a different color, highlighted, or the like. The original application name of the shared history data may be displayed.

FIG. 9 schematically shows the processing when all of the sharing availability data of the history data 27c associated with the TIFFmail icons are "impossible" when grouping the TIFFmail icons. FIG. 9(a) shows whether or not the history data 27c and the history data 27d can be shared. The history data 27c of the TIFFmail icon is set to "impossible". On the other hand, the history data 27d of the MailofGroupA icon has all permission/prohibition data set to "possible".

The control unit 22 refers to the permission/prohibition data for sharing the history data 27c, and does not share the history data 27c because it is set to "impossible". On the other hand, the data on whether sharing of the history data 27d is possible is referred to, and since it is set to "permitted", the history data 27d is shared. That is, the history data 27d is copied and added to the history data 27c.

FIG. 9B shows history data after the sharing process. Compared with FIG. 9A, the history data 27c associated with the TIFFmail icon has history data 27d' added to the unique history data, but the history data 27d associated with the MailofGroupA icon has unique history data 27d'. Only historical data exists. When the user operates the TIFFmail icon to activate the application and operates the history button 26d, history data 27d' is also displayed in addition to the unique history data 27c.

The above is the sharing processing when the applications are of the same type (e-mail transmission), but the sharing processing can be similarly performed when the applications are of different types (e-mail transmission, fax transmission, etc.). However, since the types of applications are different, it is necessary to change the type of setting information accordingly when sharing.

<Sharing between heterogeneous applications>
FIG. 10(a) shows a case of grouping an icon corresponding to a mail transmission application and an icon corresponding to a facsimile transmission application. It is assumed that the mail icon already exists in the group A icon 26h, and the user drags and drops the FAXCstm icon, which is the fax transmission icon, to the group A icon 26h to group them.

FIG. 10(b) shows address book data for the control unit 22 to manage destinations for mail transmission and fax transmission in relation to the mail transmission application and the fax transmission application. Fax numbers and mail destinations are managed for each entry. Furthermore, data on whether or not sharing is possible is given to each entry. Data on whether or not sharing is possible is set each time a user adds an entry to the address book. The control unit 22 creates such an address book and stores it in the HDD 20 .

FIG. 11(a) shows historical data associated with the FaxCstmail icon and the MailofGroupA icon before grouping. In the FaxCstm icon, the fax number "111" with the entry "○○ Company" and the fax number "222" with the entry "XX Trading" are associated and stored as history data 27e. On the other hand, the MailofGroupA icon is associated with the mail address "aaa@xxx.com" with the entry "△△ department" and the mail address "bbb@xxx.com" with the entry "□□ department" as history data 27d. .

FIG. 11(b) shows historical data associated with the FaxCstmail and MailofGroupA icons for each grouping. The control unit 22 starts the sharing processing by the grouping operation, and determines whether or not each entry can be shared by referring to the sharing permission/prohibition data set in the table of FIG. 10(b). In the case of FIG. 10(b), since the sharability data for all entries is "yes", the control unit 22 sharable both the history data 27e and the history data 27d. That is, for the history data 27e associated with the FaxCstm icon, the mail address in that entry is read from the table and added to the history data 27d for the MailGroupA icon, and for the history data 27d associated with the MailofGroupA icon, the fax The number is read out from the table and added to the history data 27e of the FaxCstm icon. For example, for the fax number "111", the mail address of the entry corresponding to this fax number is "111@xxx.com", so this mail address is added to the history data 27d of the MailofGroupA icon for sharing. As for the mail address "aaa@xxx.com", since the fax number of the entry corresponding to this mail address is "9876", this fax number is added to the history data 27e of the FaxCstm icon for sharing. Note that the type of setting information is changed according to the type of application to be shared before sharing.

When the user operates the FaxCstm icon to start the fax transmission application and operates the history button 26d, the control unit 22 not only retrieves the unique history data 27e but also the fax number of the entry existing in the history data of the MailofGroupA icon. indicate.

Depending on the entry, only the fax number or only the e-mail address may be registered in the table, but if only the fax number is registered, the e-mail address is not shared and only the e-mail address is registered. If so, do not share the fax number. Also in the table shown in FIG. 10(b), only the mail address is registered for the entry "□□ department", so only "9876" is shared for the FaxCstm icon as shown in FIG. 11(b). .

After grouping, when the application is activated by operating the icon in the group to send a fax or an e-mail, the control unit 22 updates the history data and appropriately updates the shared data.

<Ungroup>
Next, cancellation of history data sharing triggered by a grouping cancellation operation will be described. The control unit 22 shares the history data stored in association with the application icons by the grouping operation of the application icons based on the sharing availability data. If so, cancel the shared history data.

FIG. 12 shows the ungrouping operation. As shown in FIG. 12(a), the user drags and drops a desired icon within the group A icon 26h outside the group A icon 26h. For example, the TIFFmail icon grouped in the group A icon 26h is dragged and dropped outside the group A icon 26h. FIG. 12(b) shows TIFFmail icons ungrouped by a drag-and-drop operation.

FIG. 13 schematically shows the sharing cancellation process. FIG. 13A shows history data before grouping is canceled. Unique history data 27c is stored in association with the TIFFmail icon, and shared history data 27d' is stored. Further, unique history data 27d is stored in association with the MailofGroupA icon, and shared history data 27c' is stored. On the other hand, FIG. 13(b) is the history data after grouping is canceled. Upon detecting an operation to ungroup the TIFFmail icon, the control unit 22 leaves the unique history data 27c and deletes the shared history data 27d' among the history data associated with the TIFFmail icon. Similarly, the control unit 22 leaves the unique history data 27d and deletes the shared history data 27c' among the history data associated with the MailofGroupA icon.

When the TIFFmail icon is operated and the history button 26d is operated on the startup screen, the control unit 22 displays only the unique history data 27c and does not display the history data 27d'. Similarly, when the MailofGroupA icon is operated and the history button 26d is operated on the startup screen, only the unique history data 27d is displayed and the history data 27c' is not displayed.

Note that the control unit 22 displays the unique history data of each icon that has been updated after sharing remains as it is. For example, in FIG. 13(a), when the TIFFmail icon is operated after sharing and an email is sent to the destination "333@xxx.com", the control unit 22 sets "333@xxx.com" as the unique history data of the TIFFmail icon. com" is added, but this destination remains and is displayed as unique historical data even after ungrouping.

<Delete Application>
Next, cancellation of sharing of history data by application deletion operation will be described.

FIG. 14 schematically shows an application release operation. The user operates and deletes a desired icon among the grouped application icons. For example, a desired icon is long-pressed, and deletion is selected from a pop-up menu to instruct deletion. Upon detecting the deletion operation, the control unit 22 deletes the application and deletes the icon. When the user performs an operation to delete the TIFFmail icon, the control unit 22 deletes the application and deletes the icon from the group A icon 26h. In addition, along with the application deletion process, the control unit 22 deletes the history data associated with the application icon, and also deletes the history data from other grouped application icons in which the history data is shared.

FIG. 15 schematically shows history data processing associated with application deletion. FIG. 15A shows history data before deletion. Similar to FIG. 13(a), unique history data 27c is stored in association with the TIFFmail icon, and shared history data 27d' is stored. Further, unique history data 27d is stored in association with the MailofGroupA icon, and shared history data 27c' is stored. On the other hand, FIG. 15B shows history data after deletion. When the control unit 22 detects the deletion operation of the TIFFmail icon, it deletes the history data associated with the TIFFmail icon. Similarly, the control unit 22 leaves the unique history data 27d among the history data associated with the MailofGroupA icon and deletes the shared history data 27c' of the TIFFmail icon.

<Group authentication applications>
Applications of the image forming apparatus 12 include, in addition to e-mail transmission applications and fax transmission applications, authentication applications that execute authentication processing when using an external server connected to the Internet, and such authentication applications can also be grouped.

Also, in the authentication application, it is possible to store the history like an e-mail transmission application, etc., and use it in the next authentication.

Therefore, when the authentication application is grouped, the control unit 22 shares the history data stored in association with the authentication application by the grouping operation.

FIG. 16 schematically shows a grouping operation of authentication applications. As authentication applications, there are an authentication application for accessing external server A and an authentication application for accessing external server B, which are displayed as ServerA icons and ServerB icons, respectively. Assume they are grouped. As shown in FIG. 16(a), the user drags and drops the ServerB icon to the group A icon to group the ServerB icons.

FIG. 16B shows setting information (including history data) associated with each icon before grouping. Default authentication information and past authentication data are stored as history data in association with the ServerB icon. Specifically, "none" is stored as the default authentication information 27f, and user B's ID and password and user C's ID and password are stored as past authentication data 27g. Here, in the figure, "UserB" means User B's ID, and "PasswdB" means User B's password. Also, default authentication information and past authentication data are stored as history data in association with the ServerA icon in the group A icon, that is, the ServerAofGroupA icon. Specifically, the ID and password of user A are stored as default authentication information 27h, and the ID and password of user X are stored as past authentication data 27i.

Although not shown in the figure, data indicating whether or not sharing is possible is given as an attribute or metadata of the default authentication information and past authentication data, as in FIG. 7B and the like. In the following description, it is assumed that sharing of all default authentication information and past authentication data is set to "enabled".

FIG. 17 schematically shows processing for sharing default authentication information and past authentication data accompanying grouping. FIG. 17A is an example of the screen after the ServerB icons are grouped. In addition to the ServerA icons, the ServerB icons are displayed in reduced size or thumbnails in the group A icon 26h. Upon detecting the grouping operation, the control unit 22 starts sharing processing of the default authentication information and past authentication data based on the sharing permission/prohibition data.

FIG. 17B shows sharing processing by the control unit 22 . The control unit 22 associates with the ServerB icon and stores "none" as default authentication information before grouping, but after grouping, it associates with the ServerA icon and stores the ID of user A as default authentication information 27h. and passwords are shared and stored. Also, as past authentication data, in addition to the unique user B and user C IDs and passwords, user X's ID and password are shared. Similarly, after grouping, in addition to the unique user X ID and password as past authentication data, the IDs and passwords of users B and C are shared in association with the ServerAofGroupA icon.

Note that the default authentication information associated with the ServerAofGroupA icon is the user A's ID and password, which have already been determined as default information, so the default authentication information ("none") for ServerB is not shared. In other words, null data is not shared.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a startup screen of an authentication application after sharing default authentication information and past authentication data.

FIG. 18(a) shows a screen example in which the group A icon 26h is expanded. The user operates the ServerB icon to activate the corresponding authentication application, that is, the authentication application for accessing the external server B.

FIG. 18(b) shows the activation screen of the authentication application. This is a screen example when the default authentication information is "none". As information required for authentication, a user ID input field 26h and a user password input field 26i are displayed. A history button 26d is also displayed. Normally, the user inputs an ID and password in these input fields 26h and 26i, or operates the history button 26d to refer to past authentication data and uses this for input.

On the other hand, as a result of sharing the default authentication information and past authentication data, as shown in FIG. 17B, the ID and password of user A are shared as default authentication information in association with the ServerB icon. Based on this shared default authentication information, the control unit 22 displays a screen in which the ID and password of user A have already been entered as defaults, as shown in FIG. 17(c). If the authentication information is correct, the user can complete the authentication procedure simply by operating the "Login" button without separately entering an ID and password.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible. These modifications will be described below.

<Modification 1>
In the embodiment, although "possible" and "impossible" are exemplified as sharability data, the present invention is not limited to this, and flags are attached to setting information that can be shared. Setting information that has not been set may be prohibited from being shared.

Further, in a simple manner, sharing may be enabled between applications of the same user, and sharing may be disabled uniformly between applications of different users. The control unit 22 identifies the user from the properties of the grouped application icons, the icon name, etc., shares setting information for the same user, and does not share setting information for different users. In this case, it can be said that the user or icon name associated with the application icon corresponds to the sharability data.

In addition, regardless of whether it is the same user or a different user, if the destination of the email transmission is a related person within the company, sharing is possible, and if it is a related person outside the company, sharing is uniformly prohibited. good too. Whether the destination is inside the company or outside the company can be determined by the domain name of the mail address or the like. In this case, it can be said that the domain name of the e-mail address corresponds to the sharability data.

<Modification 2>
In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8(b), when the TIFFmail icons are newly grouped into the group A icon 26h, the history data 27d' shared with the unique history data 27c associated with the TIFFmail icon is shared. is added, and shared history data 27c' is added to the unique history data 27d associated with the MailofGroupA icon, and displayed on the operation unit 26 in response to the operation of the history button 26d. The history data 27d' may be added and displayed only for the grouped TIFFmail icons, or conversely, the history data 27c' may be added and displayed only for the MailofGroupA icons. In other words, when two application icons, the first application icon and the second application icon, are grouped, setting information associated with at least one of the application icons may display setting information of the other. good.

<Modification 3>
In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8B, unique setting information associated with an application icon is preferentially displayed at the top of the list, and shared setting information is added and displayed at the bottom of the list. However, the shared setting information may be preferentially displayed at the top of the list. At this time, it is desirable to display the unique setting information and the shared setting information so that the user can identify them, but the present invention is not limited to this. The frequency of use of each setting information may be counted and stored, and a list may be displayed in descending order of frequency of use. It is also possible to display setting information in tab format instead of list format. may

<Modification 4>
In the embodiment, the shared setting information is deleted when the grouping is canceled, but the shared setting information may remain as it is even after the grouping is canceled. Also, when an application is released from grouping, the shared setting information for that application is deleted, but the shared setting information for other grouped applications may remain as it is. Referring to FIG. 13, when the TIFFmail icon is released from grouping, the shared history data 27d' is deleted, but the shared history data 27c' may remain. Alternatively, when the TIFFmail icon is released from grouping, the shared history data 27d' remains, but the shared history data 27d' may be deleted. Similarly, in the embodiment, the shared setting information is deleted when the application is deleted, but the shared setting information may remain as it is even if the application is deleted. A user or system administrator can set whether shared setting information remains or is deleted when the grouping is canceled or the application is deleted.

Further, of the shared history data, the history data actually used by the user may remain as it is without performing the grouping release operation or the application deletion operation. Referring to FIG. 13, in the shared history data 27d', if the user is "aaa@xxx.com"
is used, the above destination becomes new history data due to this usage history, so even if the grouping is canceled by dragging and dropping the TIFFmail icon, it remains as it is.

<Modification 5>
In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17B, default authentication information and past authentication data are shared, but only default authentication information or only past authentication data may be shared. When past authentication data is shared, only the ID or only the password may be shared when the authentication information consists of a user's ID and password.

<Modification 6>
In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18(c), when the default authentication information is shared, the control unit 22 indicates that the shared default authentication information has already been entered, and displays an authentication screen. Although only the login operation is performed by operating the "Login" button, the control unit 22 may omit the login operation and immediately allow access to the external server B.

<Modification 7>
In the embodiment, in order to share the setting information among the grouped applications, the control unit 22 copies the setting information associated with one application and additionally stores the setting information in the setting information of other applications. , the control unit 22 may read the grouped setting information of another application from the HDD 20 and additionally display it as the setting information of a certain application. That is, in the sharing process in the control unit 22, at the timing of the grouping operation, the setting information associated with a certain application is copied and additionally stored in the setting information of other applications, and in response to the operation of the history button 26d In addition to reading out and displaying the stored setting information, when the history button 26d is operated, setting information of other grouped applications is read out as setting information of a certain application, and these setting information are displayed. is also included. In other words, in response to the operation of the history button 26d of the application to be activated, in addition to the setting information specific to the application to be activated, if the setting information of the applications in the same group that are not to be activated is also displayed, the setting information can be shared. can be

In addition, in the embodiment, setting information for which sharing permission/prohibition data is set to “impossible” is not shared by not additionally storing setting information associated with a certain application. may be converted to other characters such as "****" and displayed in an invisible manner so as not to be shared. In other words, when the sharing permission/prohibition data is "impossible", the setting information may not be displayed, and the setting information may be displayed in a manner invisible to the user. The same applies when the grouping is canceled or when the application is deleted. In addition to not displaying the shared setting information, the setting information is converted to other characters such as "****" is displayed in a manner that is invisible to the user.

Furthermore, sharing setting information means that setting information of a certain application can be referred to by other applications grouped in the same group. This can be said to be information about whether or not the setting information can be referred to by other applications grouped in the same group.

<Modification 8>
In the embodiment, a group A icon 26h is displayed as shown in FIG. 5 for grouping a plurality of applications. This is an example, and grouping may be indicated by displaying at least one of the same characters, graphics, symbols, and colors in a plurality of applications. By visually recognizing these characters, figures, symbols, and colors, the user can recognize that they are grouped and that the setting information is shared.

In addition, characters, symbols, figures, and colors that indicate grouping can be displayed at any time. good.

<Modification 9>
In the embodiment, the drag-and-drop of the application icons was exemplified as the grouping (associating) operation, but other than this, any operation of associating a plurality of application icons with each other may be included. Specifically, an operation of superimposing the first application icon on the second application icon, an operation of selecting the second application icon following the selection of the first application icon, an operation of selecting the first application icon and the second application icon on a specific icon, and , and so on.

Similarly, with regard to the grouping cancellation operation, an operation of separating the first application icon from the second application icon, an operation of selecting cancellation from the pop-up menu, and an operation of separating the first application icon and the second application icon from a specific icon. etc.

<Modification 10>
In the embodiment, a plurality of applications are grouped by operating an application icon (drag and drop operation), but the application icon is an example, and a plurality of applications can be grouped by operating an arbitrary operator. Then, the control unit 22 can share the setting information associated with the application with the grouping operation by the operation of the manipulator as a trigger. Here, the "manipulator" is defined as an object or content to be processed, which is represented by a picture, diagram, symbol, character, or a combination thereof of a certain size. Either one icon can be defined as a first operator, and the other icon as a second operator.

In addition, in the embodiment, the mail transmission destination, the fax transmission destination, the default authentication information, and the authentication data are shown as application setting information, but these are also examples, and other data or data required when executing the application Conditions such as scan conditions and print conditions are also included.

<Modification 11>
In the embodiment, data on whether or not sharing is possible, that is, information on whether or not reference is possible is stored and held in the HDD 20, but may be stored and held in a non-volatile memory including a semiconductor memory such as an EPROM.

<Modification 12>
In the embodiment, one or a plurality of CPUs constituting the control unit 22 execute the processing program to realize the setting information sharing processing by grouping and the setting information sharing cancellation processing by ungrouping or deleting the application. However, part of these processes may be realized by hardware processing instead of software processing by executing a program. Hardware processing may be performed using circuits such as ASIC and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

10 terminal device, 12 image forming device, 14 communication line, 16 ROM, 18 RAM, 20 HDD (hard disk drive), 22 control unit, 24 interface (I/F), 26 operation unit, 27 history data, 28 image forming unit .

Claims (22)

a holding unit that holds information about whether or not setting information of an application can be referenced from other applications in the same group in association with the setting information;
Using the information held in the holding unit, when two application icons, a first application icon and a second application icon, are grouped into the same group by operating the application icon displayed on the operation unit , the first a control unit that controls display of setting information associated with at least one of the application and the second application with setting information associated with the other;
Information processing device. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit does not visibly display the other setting information as the one of the setting information for the setting information for which the information about the referability cannot be referred to. . The non-visible display includes converting the other setting information into other information and displaying it,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The information on whether or not the reference is possible is information on the user of the application,
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit permits reference to setting information pertaining to the same user, and disables reference to setting information pertaining to a different user. The information on the referability is information on a transmission destination,
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit permits reference to setting information related to destinations within the same company, and disables reference to setting information related to destinations outside the company. The control unit displays the first operator corresponding to the first application and the second operator corresponding to the second application with at least one of the same characters, figures, symbols, and colors. Item 1. The information processing apparatus according to item 1. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control unit displays said first operator and said second operator within an icon functioning as the same folder. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit displays at least one of the same character, figure, symbol, and color at the timing of operating the first operator or the second operator. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit does not visibly display the setting information of the other of the first application and the second application in response to an operation for canceling the association between the first application and the second application. The non-visible display includes converting the other setting information into other information and displaying it,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit maintains the display of the setting information of the other of the first application and the second application regardless of an operation to release the association between the first application and the second application. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when the other setting information is used, the control unit maintains the display of the other setting information regardless of the canceling operation. The releasing operation is an operation of releasing a first operator corresponding to the first application and a second operator corresponding to the second application.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs display control so as to display both the one of the setting information and the other of the setting information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the control unit performs display control so as to preferentially display the setting information of an application that has been activated, out of the first application and the second application. The control unit displays both the one of the setting information and the other of the setting information in a list format, and performs display control so that the setting information of the activated application is displayed at the top of the list. The information processing device according to claim 15 . The control unit displays both the one setting information and the other setting information in a tab format, and performs display control so that the setting information of the activated application is displayed in the front tab. The information processing device according to claim 15 . both the first application and the second application are mail transmission applications or both fax transmission applications;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting information is destination information for e-mail transmission or facsimile transmission. The first application is an email transmission application,
the second application is a fax transmission application;
Any one of the setting information is address information for sending an email,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one of the setting information is mail transmission destination information related to a fax transmission destination. The first application is an email transmission application,
the second application is a fax transmission application;
any one of the setting information is destination information for fax transmission;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one of the setting information is facsimile transmission destination information related to a mail transmission destination. both the first application and the second application are authentication applications for accessing an external server;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting information is at least one of an ID and a password required for authentication. to the computer,
a step of storing, in a memory, information regarding whether or not setting information of an application can be referred to by other applications of the same group in association with the setting information;
Using the information held in the memory, when two application icons, a first application icon and a second application icon, are grouped into the same group by operating the application icon displayed on the operation unit , the first application and a step of displaying the setting information associated with at least one of the second application and the setting information of the other on the display unit;
program to run.

Images