JP4168997B2 - Image processing system, image processing apparatus, server, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing system for performing processing relating to an image, an image processing apparatus and a server constituting the image processing system, and a program for realizing the processing of the server.

Conventionally, a system has been proposed in which a function not provided in a digital copying machine is provided in a host computer connected via a network (see Patent Document 1).
That is, in this system, bit data such as a control command code and image density data is transmitted from the digital copying machine to the host computer, and the host computer analyzes the content of the received control command code to generate an image. Image processing is performed by an image editing function designated for the data. The image data processed by the host computer is sent back to the digital copying machine and printed by the digital copying machine.

In this system, when a new function is added to the host computer, the contents of the new function are transmitted from the host computer to the digital copying machine, and the digital copying machine selects the new function to be registered in the digital copying machine to the user. Let That is, in this system, a new function that the user wants to use is registered in the digital copying machine, so that the function can be used.
JP-A-9-238215

However, the above-described system has a problem that it is not suitable for an environment in which services are randomly increased or decreased like a general server on the Internet.
That is, in the above system, when a new function is added to the host computer, it can be used by registering the function in the digital copying machine. For example, various services such as general servers on the Internet are available. In an environment where the number of times is frequently increased or decreased, work for frequently registering digital copiers occurs, and the amount of information to be registered becomes enormous.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system that can be adapted to an environment in which services are randomly increased and decreased like a general server on the Internet.

  The image processing system according to claim 1, which is made to achieve the above object, includes at least one of an image reading unit that reads an image and generates image data representing the image, and an image printing unit that prints an image represented by the image data. At least one of the image processing apparatus having one means and the image data generated by the image reading means and the image data representing the image printed by the image printing means in response to a request from the image processing apparatus Service providing means capable of executing a service related to the image processing apparatus, and information providing means for providing information about a service executable by the service providing means to the image processing apparatus.

  Examples of the “image processing apparatus” herein include an image printing apparatus (printer apparatus), an image reading apparatus (scanner apparatus), a facsimile apparatus, and a multifunction machine having these functions. Examples of the “service related to the image data generated by the image reading unit” include, for example, processing of the image represented by the image data (enlargement / reduction, black-and-white reversal, translation, etc.), and text included in the image represented by the image data. For example, a process for converting to sound, a process for storing image data in a storage unit (for example, a server) provided separately from the image processing apparatus, and the like can be given. Furthermore, examples of the “service related to the image data representing the image printed by the image printing means” include, for example, processing of the image represented by the image data (enlargement / reduction, black / white reversal, translation, etc.), text representing the sound And a process for converting information on the Internet that conforms to specified conditions into a print image. On the other hand, the “service providing means” can be configured as a server on a network, for example. In this case, the service providing unit may be configured by a single server or may be configured by a plurality of servers. Similarly, the “information providing unit” can be configured as a server on a network, for example. In this case, the information providing unit may be configured by a single server or may be configured by a plurality of servers.

In the image processing system, the information providing unit includes, as information about services that can be executed by the service providing unit, information for service selection in which a plurality of service items and URLs of each service are associated, and a plurality of items a service storage unit configured items and ID of each service selection information in the service selection information is stored in the upper selection information associated with the upper selection information stored in the service storage unit and transmitted to the image processing apparatus Service information transmitting means for transmitting service selection information to the image processing apparatus in response to a request from the image processing apparatus .

In the present image processing system, the image processing apparatus selects one item from among a plurality of service selection information items based on the upper selection information transmitted from the information providing means, and corresponds to the selected item. The information providing means is requested to transmit the service selection information with the assigned ID, and the service requested to the service providing means is determined from a plurality of service items based on the service selection information transmitted from the information providing means. Service requesting means for requesting the service to the service providing means using the URL associated with the service item determined by the service determining means as a request destination .

Further, in the image processing system, the service providing means includes service execution means for executing a service requested from the image processing apparatus.
In the image processing system configured as described above, the image processing apparatus is configured to provide service providing means based on information transmitted by the service information transmitting means included in the information providing means (information on services that can be executed by the service providing means). Determine the service you want to request.

For this reason, according to the present image processing system, it is possible to adapt to an environment where services are randomly increased or decreased like a general server on the Internet.
That is, in the environment where information about a new service is registered in the image processing apparatus as in the conventional configuration described above, in an environment where services increase or decrease day by day like a general server on the Internet, The following problems (1) to (3) occur.

(1): Since the service frequently increases and decreases, it is necessary to frequently perform registration work with the image processing apparatus, which increases the burden on the image processing apparatus and its users.
(2): Since it is considered that the types of services that can be used, such as contents on the Internet, can be enormous, it is necessary to provide a very large storage area in the image processing apparatus.

(3): It is conceivable that the registered service becomes unusable thereafter. In this case, unnecessary information remains registered in the image processing apparatus.
On the other hand, in the image processing system of the present invention, information about services that can be executed by the service providing means is provided by the information providing means, so there is no need to register information about services in the image processing apparatus. For this reason, even in an environment where services are frequently increased or decreased, the burden on the image processing apparatus and its users can be suppressed, and even if the number of types of services that can be used becomes enormous, the image processing apparatus is provided. The burden on the storage area can be reduced. Moreover, there is no problem that unnecessary information remains registered in the image processing apparatus.

Therefore, according to the image processing system of the present invention, it is possible to adapt to an environment in which services are randomly increased or decreased like a general server on the Internet.
By the way, when the present image processing system is constructed using, for example, the Internet, specifically, when the image processing apparatus and the information providing means are configured to be communicable via the Internet, the information providing means It is conceivable that the image processing apparatus cannot receive the data transmitted to the image processing apparatus. That is, in the configuration in which the image processing apparatus is connected to the Internet, in order to prevent unauthorized access to the image processing apparatus from the Internet side, it is common to restrict communication from the Internet side to the image processing apparatus side. The communication from the Internet side to the image processing apparatus is blocked except for the response to the request from the image processing apparatus side. For example, in a configuration in which the image processing apparatus and the Internet are connected via a broadband router, the limitation is made in this way by the firewall function of the broadband router.

Therefore, in the image processing system according to claim 2, in the image processing system according to claim 1, the image processing apparatus includes service information requesting means for requesting the information providing means to transmit the information for upper selection. , service information transmission means provided in the information providing unit, when the transmission of the higher-level selection information is requested from the image processing apparatus transmits the higher-level selection information to the image processing apparatus.

According to the image processing system configured as described above, transmission of information for upper selection from the information providing unit to the image processing apparatus can be transmitted as a response to the request from the image processing apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent the transmission of the upper selection information by the information providing means from being blocked.

On the other hand, it is preferable that transmission of the information for upper selection from the information providing means to the image processing apparatus is appropriately performed when necessary.
Accordingly, in the image processing system according to claim 3, in the image processing system according to claim 2, the image processing apparatus determines whether or not the service providing unit is in a state of requesting a service. The service information requesting unit included in the image processing apparatus includes a determination unit. When the service request determination unit determines that the service request should be made, the service information requesting unit transmits the information for upper selection to the information providing unit. Request.

That is, in this image processing system, when the image processing apparatus is in a state where a service request is to be made to the service providing means, the information for upper selection is transmitted from the information providing means to the image processing apparatus. Here, the state in which the service request should be made includes, for example, when the power is turned on or when the mode is changed to the operation mode for requesting the service.

  For this reason, according to the present image processing system, it is possible to prevent information about services that can be executed by the service providing unit from being transmitted to the image processing apparatus more than necessary. As a result, the burden on the image processing apparatus can be reduced.

In addition, the service determination unit included in the image processing apparatus is configured to automatically determine the service to be requested based on, for example, the upper selection information and the service selection information sent from the information providing unit. For example, it may be configured as in claim 4.

That is, in the image processing system according to claim 4, in the image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the service determination unit included in the image processing apparatus is the information for upper selection transmitted from the information providing unit. In addition, the content of the service selection information is notified, and an input for determining a service requested to the service providing unit is received, thereby determining a service requested to the service providing unit. Note that “notification” here means processing for causing the user of the image processing apparatus to recognize the contents of the upper selection information and the service selection information , and the user of the image processing apparatus Not only the visually recognizable notification (display) but also, for example, notification by voice is included. The “input” here is a process for recognizing the intention of service determination by the user of the image processing apparatus on the image processing apparatus side, and is not limited to a key operation or the like, and includes, for example, an input by voice. It is.

According to the image processing system having such a configuration, the user of the image processing apparatus can determine a desired service based on the information transmitted from the information providing unit.
On the other hand, in the image processing system of the present invention, in order for the information providing means to efficiently acquire information about the service that can be executed by the service providing means, for example, a configuration as in claim 5 is preferable.

  That is, in the image processing system according to claim 5, in the image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the service providing unit sends information about a service executable by the service providing unit to the information providing unit. A service notifying means for transmitting, and the information providing means is information about the service stored in the service storage means based on the information about the service executable by the service providing means transmitted from the service providing means. Service information updating means for updating the service information.

  Therefore, according to the present image processing system, the information providing unit does not need to perform processing such as investigating information about services that can be executed by the service providing unit, and can efficiently acquire information about services. it can.

  In particular, as in the image processing system according to claim 6, when the service notification unit included in the service providing unit changes the service executable by the service providing unit, information about the service is provided as the information providing unit. As long as the information is transmitted to the information providing unit, the latest information can always be stored. Note that “when the service is changed” includes a case where a new service is added, a content of an existing service is changed, a case where an existing service is deleted, and the like.

  By the way, when it is set as the structure which registers the information about a new service with an image processing apparatus like the conventional structure mentioned above, in the environment where services increase and decrease day by day like the general server on the Internet, it is new. Even if information about the service is registered in the image processing apparatus, it is possible that the specification of the parameters necessary for the execution of the service will be changed later. Update processing is required, increasing the burden on the image processing apparatus.

  Therefore, an image processing system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the image processing system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein parameter setting information, which is information for requesting the setting of a parameter necessary for executing a service, Parameter setting information transmitting means for transmitting to the image processing apparatus is provided. The “parameter setting information transmitting means” can be configured as a server on a network, for example. In this case, the parameter setting information transmission means may be constituted by a single server, may be constituted by a plurality of servers, or is constituted by a server common to the service providing means and the information providing means. Also good.

  The image processing apparatus includes parameter setting means for setting parameters based on the parameter setting information, and parameter transmission means for transmitting the parameters set by the parameter setting means to the service providing means. The service execution means included in the service providing means is configured to execute a service requested from the image processing apparatus based on the parameters transmitted by the parameter transmission means included in the image processing apparatus.

  In the image processing system configured as described above, the image processing apparatus sets parameters based on the parameter setting information transmitted by the parameter setting information transmitting unit, and the service providing unit sets the parameters based on the set parameters. The service is executed.

Therefore, according to the present image processing system, it is possible to reduce the burden on the image processing apparatus even in a situation where the specification of parameters necessary for executing the service is changed .

  By the way, when the present image processing system is constructed using, for example, the Internet, specifically, when the image processing apparatus and the parameter setting information transmitting means are configured to be communicable via the Internet, For this reason, it is considered that the parameter setting information transmitted from the parameter setting information transmitting unit to the image processing apparatus cannot be received by the image processing apparatus.

Accordingly, in the image processing system according to claim 8 , in the image processing system according to claim 7 , the image processing apparatus requests parameter setting information for requesting parameter setting information transmission means to transmit parameter setting information. The parameter setting information transmitting unit transmits the parameter setting information to the image processing device when the image processing device requests transmission of the parameter setting information.

  According to the image processing system configured as described above, transmission of parameter setting information from the parameter setting information transmitting unit to the image processing apparatus can be transmitted as a response to the request from the image processing apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent the parameter setting information transmission unit from blocking the transmission of parameter setting information.

On the other hand, transmission of parameter setting information from the parameter setting information transmitting unit to the image processing apparatus is preferably performed as necessary.
Therefore, in the image processing system according to claim 9 , in the image processing system according to claim 8 , the parameter setting information request unit included in the image processing apparatus is configured such that when a service request is made by the service request unit, Requests parameter setting information transmission means to transmit parameter setting information.

  That is, in this image processing system, when the image processing apparatus makes a service request to the service providing means, the parameter setting information is transmitted from the parameter setting information transmitting means to the image processing apparatus.

  Therefore, according to the present image processing system, it is possible to prevent parameter setting information from being transmitted to the image processing apparatus more than necessary. As a result, the burden on the image processing apparatus can be reduced.

The parameter setting means provided in the image processing apparatus can be configured to automatically set parameters according to the content of parameter setting information, the content of requested service, the status of the image processing apparatus, and the like. However, you may comprise like Claim 10 , for example.

That is, in the image processing system according to claim 10 , in the image processing system according to any one of claims 7 to 9 , the parameter setting means included in the image processing apparatus is transmitted from the parameter setting information transmitting means. The content of the parameter setting information is notified, and the parameter is set by receiving an input for setting the parameter. The interpretations of “notification” and “input” here are the same as those described in the description of claim 4 above.

  According to the image processing system having such a configuration, the user of the image processing apparatus can set a desired parameter based on the information transmitted from the parameter setting information transmitting unit.

On the other hand, as parameter setting information, for example, as described in claim 11 , information that requests setting of parameters relating to at least one of image reading means and image printing means included in the image processing apparatus can be cited. Examples of the parameters relating to the image reading unit include reading resolution and color / monochrome settings. Examples of the parameters relating to the image printing means include print resolution and color / monochrome settings.

In this case, for example, as set forth in claim 12 , the parameter that the parameter setting information requests to set may be a part of the parameter that can be set in the image processing apparatus. For example, it is conceivable that the parameters that can be selected from a plurality of types of items in the image processing apparatus are limited to some of the items (some items cannot be selected). In this way, it is possible to prevent a parameter that is not desirable to be set. In other words, even parameters that can be set in the image processing apparatus are parameters that are not preferable depending on the service (for example, parameters with a low image reading resolution when OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing is performed as a service) This is because there may be a parameter having a high image recording resolution when the pixel density is low.

Specifically, for example, as described in claim 13 , the parameter setting information makes it impossible to set some of the parameters that can be set in the image processing apparatus, the parameter value of which is low, As described in claim 14 , it is conceivable that the parameter setting information makes it impossible to set some of the parameters that can be set in the image processing apparatus, the parameters having a high parameter value.

On the other hand, as described in claim 15 , the image processing apparatus includes at least one of a sound input unit that inputs sound and a sound output unit that outputs sound, and the service providing unit includes the image processing apparatus. As long as a service relating to at least one of the sound input by the sound input means and the sound output by the sound output means can be executed in response to a request from the user, a wide variety of services can be realized. For example, the voice input by the sound input means is converted into a character, and the image representing the character is printed by the image printing means, or conversely, the character represented by the image read by the image reading means is converted into a voice. It is possible to provide a service for outputting audio by audio output means.

By the way, in the image processing system according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the information providing means and the service providing means may be configured by a common computer, for example, as described in claim 16 . In this way, the system can be configured at low cost.

An image processing system according to a seventeenth aspect is the image processing system according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, comprising a plurality of image processing apparatuses, and the information providing means has a plurality of configurations, all or a part of which is provided. Are incorporated in some image processing apparatuses. According to this image processing system, it is possible to eliminate (or reduce) the computer necessary for configuring the information providing means, and thus the system can be configured at low cost.

Further, an image processing system according to claim 18 is the image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising a plurality of image processing devices, and the information providing means and the service providing means are all or part of them. The configuration is a part of the plurality of image processing apparatuses and is built in the common image processing apparatus. According to this image processing system, the computer necessary for configuring the information providing unit and the service providing unit can be omitted (or reduced), and the system can be configured at low cost.

On the other hand, an image processing system according to a nineteenth aspect is the image processing system according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects, comprising a plurality of image processing apparatuses, and the service providing means has a plurality of all or a part of the configuration. Are incorporated in some image processing apparatuses. According to this image processing system, it is possible to eliminate (or reduce) the computer necessary for configuring the service providing unit, and thus it is possible to configure the system at low cost.

An image processing system according to a twentieth aspect is the image processing system according to any one of the seventh to fourteenth aspects, comprising a plurality of image processing apparatuses, and the parameter setting information transmitting means is configured in whole or in part. Are incorporated in some of the plurality of image processing apparatuses. According to this image processing system, it is possible to eliminate (or reduce) the computer necessary for configuring the parameter setting information transmitting unit, and thus it is possible to configure the system at low cost.

Next, an image processing apparatus according to a twenty-first aspect is an image processing apparatus constituting the image processing system according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects. For this reason, according to this image processing apparatus, the said image processing system can be constructed | assembled and the effect mentioned above can be acquired by this.

Next, an image processing apparatus according to claim 22 includes at least one of an image reading unit that reads an image and generates image data representing the image, and an image printing unit that prints an image represented by the image data. In response to a request from the image processing apparatus and the image processing apparatus, a service related to at least one of the image data generated by the image reading unit and the image data representing the image printed by the image printing unit can be executed. Service providing means, and information providing means for providing information about services executable by the service providing means to the image processing apparatus. The information providing means includes a plurality of information on services executable by the service providing means. Service selection information in which the service item and the URL of each service are associated with each other, and a plurality of services. Service storage means for storing upper selection information associated with the item of selection information and the ID of each service selection information, and upper selection information stored in the service storage means are transmitted to the image processing device, Service information transmitting means for transmitting service selection information to the image processing apparatus in response to a request from the image processing apparatus, and the service providing means for executing the service requested by the image processing apparatus. An image processing system including the above is configured. Here, “image processing apparatus”, “service relating to image data generated by image reading means” , “ service relating to image data representing an image printed by image printing means” , “ service providing means” and “information” Each interpretation of “providing means” is as described in the description of claim 1 above.

Then, the image processing apparatus selects one item from a plurality of service selection information items based on the upper selection information transmitted from the information providing unit, and the ID associated with the selected item is selected. Service determining means for requesting transmission of service selection information to the information providing means and determining a service requested to the service providing means from among a plurality of service items based on the service selection information transmitted from the information providing means; Service requesting means for requesting the service to the service providing means using the URL associated with the service item determined by the service determining means as a request destination .

  In the image processing apparatus configured as described above, a service requested to the service providing unit is determined based on information provided by the information providing unit (information on services that can be executed by the service providing unit).

For this reason, according to the present image processing apparatus, it is possible to adapt to an environment in which services are randomly increased or decreased like a general server on the Internet.
That is, if the configuration is such that information about a new service is registered in the image processing apparatus as in the conventional configuration described above, in an environment where services increase or decrease day by day like a general server on the Internet, for example, The problems (1) to (3) described in the description of the image processing system of claim 1 arise.

  On the other hand, in the image processing system configured by the image processing apparatus of the present invention, information about services that can be executed by the service providing means is provided by the information providing means. Therefore, information about services is registered in the image processing apparatus. There is no need to do. For this reason, even in an environment where services are frequently increased or decreased, the burden on the image processing apparatus and its users can be suppressed, and even if the number of types of services that can be used becomes enormous, the image processing apparatus is provided. The burden on the storage area can be reduced. Moreover, there is no problem that unnecessary information remains registered in the image processing apparatus.

Therefore, according to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to adapt to an environment where services are randomly increased or decreased like a general server on the Internet .

Next, an image processing apparatus according to a twenty- third aspect of the invention is the image processing apparatus according to the twenty-second aspect , wherein all or part of the configuration of the information providing means is incorporated. For this reason, if this image processing apparatus is used, the image processing system of the said Claim 17 can be constructed | assembled, for example. As a result, the computer necessary for configuring the information providing means can be eliminated (or reduced), and the system can be configured at low cost.

Next, an image processing apparatus according to a twenty-fourth aspect is characterized in that in the image processing apparatus according to the twenty-second aspect , all or part of the configuration of the information providing means and the service providing means is incorporated. is there. For this reason, if this image processing apparatus is used, the image processing system of the said Claim 18 can be constructed | assembled, for example. As a result, the computer necessary for configuring the information providing unit and the service providing unit can be omitted (or reduced), and the system can be configured at low cost.

Next, an image processing apparatus according to claim 25 is characterized in that in the image processing apparatus according to claim 22 , all or part of the configuration of the service providing means is incorporated. For this reason, if this image processing apparatus is used, the image processing system of the said Claim 19 can be constructed | assembled, for example. As a result, the computer necessary for configuring the service providing means can be eliminated (or reduced), and the system can be configured at low cost.

Next, a server according to a twenty-sixth aspect is characterized in that it functions as a service providing means constituting the image processing system according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects. For this reason, according to this server, the said image processing system can be constructed | assembled and the effect mentioned above can be acquired by this.

Next, a server according to a twenty-seventh aspect is characterized in that it functions as information providing means constituting the image processing system according to any one of the first to seventh aspects. For this reason, according to this server, the said image processing system can be constructed | assembled and the effect mentioned above can be acquired by this.

A program according to a twenty-eighth aspect is a program for causing a computer having a service storage unit to realize the functions as the service information transmitting unit and the service information updating unit in the image processing system according to the fifth aspect. . For this reason, according to this program, it is possible to give a computer having service storage means a function as information providing means in the image processing system. As a result, the image processing system can be constructed using this computer, and the above-described effects can be obtained.

A program according to a twenty- ninth aspect is a program for causing a computer to realize functions as a service execution unit and a service notification unit in the image processing system according to any one of the fifth to seventh aspects. Therefore, according to the present program, the computer can be provided with a function as service providing means in the image processing system. As a result, the image processing system can be constructed using this computer, and the above-described effects can be obtained.

  Each program includes a program stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory.

Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction machine 10, a directory server 20, and a function server 30, which are networks (in this embodiment, a wide area network (WAN: Wide Area) such as the Internet. Network)) 1 is connected to be capable of bidirectional communication. Specifically, the multifunction machine 10, the directory server 20, and the function server 30 are connected to the network 1 through routers 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Here, a known broadband router is used as the router 2 that relays between the multifunction machine 10 and the network 1. The broadband router 2 is in a state in which all ports are closed in a normal setting (default setting) state, and a connection request from the inside to the outside (from the multifunction machine 10 side to the network 1 side) is issued. Then, only packets with consistency are passed as a response to the request. That is, in the normal setting state, the broadband router 2 allows a response (response) to a request (request) from the inside to the outside of the data transmitted from the outside to the inside, and blocks the others. To do. As described above, the broadband router 2 functions as a firewall for preventing unauthorized access from the network 1 to the multifunction peripheral 10.

  The multifunction machine 10 has a telephone (voice communication) function, a scanner function, a printer function, a copy function, a facsimile function, and the like. In this image processing system, the multifunction machine 10 can use a plurality of types of services related to the above functions via the network 1. Specifically, the function server 30 provided on the network 1 is configured to be able to execute a plurality of types of services related to the functions of the multifunction device 10 in response to a request from the multifunction device 10. Further, in the present image processing system, the directory server 20 provided on the network 1 sends information about services (services executable by the function server 30) that the multifunction device 10 can use via the network 1 to the multifunction device. 10 can be provided.

Hereinafter, each configuration of the multifunction machine 10, the directory server 20, and the function server 30 will be described.
The multifunction machine 10 includes a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, a reading unit 13, a recording unit 14, a communication unit 15, a storage unit 16, a sound input unit 17, and a sound output unit 18.

  The control unit 11 includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown), and comprehensively controls each unit constituting the multifunction machine 10. The ROM stores a program for causing the CPU to execute various processes (FIGS. 12, 14 to 18) described later.

  The operation unit 12 receives an input operation by a user (user) of the multifunction machine 10 and displays information for the user via the operation panel 12a illustrated in FIG. Specifically, the operation panel 12a includes a copy key 41, a scanner key 42, a FAX key 43, a service key 44, a setting key 45, up / down / left / right direction keys 46, as a group of keys for accepting an input operation by a user. 47, 48, 49, an OK key 50, and a cancel key 51 are provided. Further, the operation panel 12a includes a display 52 as a display unit for displaying information to the user.

The reading unit (scanner) 13 reads an image recorded (for example, printed) on a sheet-like recording medium such as paper, and generates image data representing the image.
The recording unit (printer) 14 prints an image represented by image data on a sheet-like recording medium such as paper.

The communication unit 15 performs processing for transmitting and receiving data via the network 1.
The storage unit 16 includes a nonvolatile RAM (not shown), and stores data in the nonvolatile RAM.

The sound input unit 17 inputs sound from a microphone provided in a handset (receiver) (not shown) included in the multifunction machine 10 and generates sound data (PCM data) representing the sound.
The sound output unit 18 outputs the sound represented by the sound data (PCM data) from a speaker provided in a handset (not shown) or a speaker (not shown) provided in the multifunction device main body.

Next, the configuration of the directory server 20 will be described.
The directory server 20 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, and a storage unit 23.

  The control unit 21 includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown), and comprehensively controls each unit constituting the directory server 20. The ROM stores a program for causing the CPU to execute processing (FIG. 19) described later.

The communication unit 22 performs processing for transmitting and receiving data via the network 1.
The storage unit 23 includes a hard disk (not shown), and stores data in the hard disk. Specifically, the storage unit 23 is provided with a service definition information storage unit 24 for storing service definition information 25.

  The service definition information 25 is used to provide information (service type and request destination) about services that can be executed by the function server 30 to the MFP 10. Specifically, when the service definition information 25 is received by the multifunction device 10, a service selection screen (illustrated in FIG. 5) indicating the type of service is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12 a included in the multifunction device 10. To prompt the user of the multifunction machine 10 to select a service. The directory server 20 manages the services executable by the function server 30 by classifying them into three categories of “data storage service”, “print service”, and “copy application service”. First, the above three categories are presented to prompt the user to select one of the categories, and then the services included in the selected category are presented to prompt the user to select one of the services. In the service definition information storage unit 24, service definition information 25 (hereinafter referred to as “top service definition information 25”) corresponding to a service selection screen that prompts selection of a category, and selection of a service included in each category. A plurality of service definition information 25 corresponding to the service selection screen for prompting the user is stored.

Here, a specific example of the service definition information 25 will be described.
3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the data configuration of the service definition information 25. FIG. Specifically, FIG. 3 shows the data structure of the top service definition information 25, and FIG. 4 shows the service definition information 25 for “Copy Application Service” which is one of the above three categories. Represents the data structure. As shown in these figures, the service definition information 25 is described in XML (extensible Markup Language), and the definition of each tag used in FIGS. 3 and 4 is as shown in Table 1.

そして、トップのサービス定義情報２５（図３）が複合機１０で受信されると、複合機１０が備える操作パネル１２ａのディスプレイ５２には、図５（ａ）に示すサービス選択用画面が表示される。具体的には、表示用タイトル（Ｔｉｔｌｅ）として「ディレクトリサービス」の文字がディスプレイ５２における上部位置に表示され、その下には、選択可能なカテゴリを表す項目（Ｌｉｎｋ＿Ｔｉｔｌｅ）として、「データ保存サービス」、「印刷サービス」及び「コピー応用サービス」の文字が表示される。この状態で、操作パネル１２ａにおける上下方向の方向キー４６，４７が操作されることにより、項目を選択するためのカーソル（図５に示す破線の四角形）が上下に移動し、操作パネル１２ａのＯＫキー５０が押されることにより、その時点でカーソルによって指定されている項目の選択が確定される。ここで、各項目には、各カテゴリに対応するサービス定義情報２５のＩＤがそれぞれ対応づけられており（Ｌｉｎｋ＿Ｌｏｃａｔｉｏｎ）、項目の選択が確定されると、その項目に対応するＩＤのサービス定義情報２５が複合機１０で受信される。

When the top service definition information 25 (FIG. 3) is received by the multifunction device 10, the service selection screen shown in FIG. 5 (a) is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a included in the multifunction device 10. The Specifically, the characters “directory service” are displayed as the title for display (Title) at the upper position on the display 52, and below that, “data storage service” is displayed as an item (Link_Title) representing a selectable category. , “Print Service” and “Copy Application Service” are displayed. In this state, when the up and down direction keys 46 and 47 on the operation panel 12a are operated, the cursor (dashed rectangle shown in FIG. 5) for selecting an item moves up and down, and the operation panel 12a is OK. When the key 50 is pressed, the selection of the item designated by the cursor at that time is confirmed. Here, each item is associated with the ID of the service definition information 25 corresponding to each category (Link_Location), and when the selection of the item is confirmed, the service definition information 25 of the ID corresponding to the item is determined. Is received by the multifunction device 10.

  For example, when “copy application service” is selected on the service selection screen shown in FIG. 5A, the service definition information 25 shown in FIG. 4 is received by the multi-function peripheral 10, and the service selection information shown in FIG. A screen is displayed on the display 52. Specifically, the characters “Copy Application Service” are displayed in the upper position of the display 52 as a display title (Title), and below that, an item (Link_Title) representing a selectable service is displayed. Characters of “copy”, “translation copy”, “speech reading”, and “voice text conversion” are displayed.

  However, because of the size of the display 52, not all items can be displayed at one time. Therefore, in the multi-function device 10, if there are items that are not displayed on the display 52, the item display position on the display 52 is displayed. The up and down arrows (triangles) are displayed on the right side of, and when an item exists in the direction indicated by the arrow, the arrow is displayed in black, and when there is no item, the arrow is displayed in white. The user can judge whether or not there is a missing item. For example, in FIG. 5B, the downward arrow is black, indicating that there is another item under “Reading a document”. For this reason, when the cursor is moved downward by the downward direction key 47 on the operation panel 12a in the state of FIG. 5B, the items scroll as a whole, as shown in FIG. The text “Speech to text” is displayed under “Read Text”.

  In the service selection screens shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the item selection is confirmed by the above-described operation. Here, each item is associated with a URL for calling each service (Link_Location), and when the selection of the item is confirmed, the service of the URL corresponding to the item is called.

Next, the configuration of the function server 30 will be described.
The function server 30 includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, and a storage unit 33.
The control unit 31 includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown), and comprehensively controls each unit constituting the function server 30. The ROM stores programs for causing the CPU to execute various processes (FIGS. 20, 21, and 27 to 29) described later. Further, the control unit 31 has a much higher performance than the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10 and can perform processing that is difficult to execute by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

The communication unit 32 performs processing for transmitting and receiving data via the network 1.
The storage unit 33 includes a hard disk (not shown), and stores data in the hard disk. Specifically, in the storage unit 33, service I / F information storage unit 34 for storing service I / F information 36 (corresponding to parameter setting information), and service software for storing service software 37 A storage unit 35 is provided.

  The service software 37 is for executing a plurality of types of services. Specifically, a plurality of types of service software 37 are stored in the service software storage unit 35, and a different service is executed for each service software 37. Here, as the service, for example, a service relating to image data generated by the reading unit 13 of the multifunction device 10, a service relating to sound data generated by the sound input unit 17 of the multifunction device 10, and a recording unit 14 of the multifunction device 10. A service related to image data representing an image to be printed, a service related to sound data representing sound output by the sound output unit 18 of the multifunction machine 10, and the like. Note that processing (FIGS. 22 to 26) described later is executed based on the service software 37.

  Further, the service I / F information 36 is used to request the MFP 10 for parameters that need to be set in order to execute the service. Specifically, the service I / F information 36 is received by the multi-function device 10 to display a parameter input screen (examples shown in FIG. 9) indicating parameters to be set on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a included in the multi-function device 10. ) Is displayed to prompt the user of the multifunction machine 10 to set parameters. The service I / F information storage unit 34 stores a plurality of types of service I / F information 36 corresponding to each of a plurality of types of services that can be executed by the function server 30.

Here, a specific example of the service I / F information 36 will be described.
6 to 8 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the data configuration of the service I / F information 36. FIG. Specifically, the image read by the reading unit 13 of the multifunction machine 10 is subjected to OCR processing to recognize the text that is the content of the image, and generates image data that represents the image of the translated content. The data structure of the service I / F information 36 corresponding to a service (translation copy service) to be printed on the recording unit 14 of the multifunction machine 10 is shown. As shown in these drawings, the service I / F information 36 is described in the same markup language as the service definition information 25 described above, and the definition of each tag used in FIGS. As shown in The basic data in Table 2 is the same as the basic data (Table 1) of the service definition information 25 described above.

そして、図６〜図８に示すサービスＩ／Ｆ情報３６が複合機１０で受信されると、複合機１０が備える操作パネル１２ａのディスプレイ５２には、図９（ａ）に示すパラメータ入力用画面が表示される。具体的には、表示用タイトル（Ｔｉｔｌｅ）として「翻訳コピー」の文字がディスプレイ５２における上部位置に表示され、その下には、入力項目（Ｄｉｓｐ＿Ｎａｍｅ）として「言語選択」の文字が表示され、更にその下には、入力項目「言語選択」について選択可能なパラメータを表す項目（Ｄｉｓｐ＿Ｓｅｌｅｃｔ）として、「英語→日本語」及び「日本語→英語」の文字が表示される。この状態で、操作パネル１２ａにおける上下方向の方向キー４６，４７が操作されることにより、上述のサービス選択用画面と同様、項目を選択するためのカーソルが上下に移動する。

When the multifunction device 10 receives the service I / F information 36 shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the display 52 of the operation panel 12a included in the multifunction device 10 displays the parameter input screen shown in FIG. Is displayed. Specifically, the characters “translation copy” are displayed at the upper position on the display 52 as the display title (Title), and the characters “language selection” are displayed below the input item (Disp_Name). Below that, characters “English → Japanese” and “Japanese → English” are displayed as items (Disp_Select) representing selectable parameters for the input item “language selection”. In this state, when the up and down direction keys 46 and 47 on the operation panel 12a are operated, the cursor for selecting an item moves up and down like the above-described service selection screen.

  Here, input items (Disp_Name) relating to “translation copy” include “scanner setting”, “print setting”, and “comment” in addition to the “language selection” displayed above (FIGS. 7 and 8). For reference), all the input items cannot be displayed at once because of the size of the display 52. Therefore, when there are input items that are not displayed on the display 52, the multifunction device 10 displays left and right arrows (triangles) on the left and right sides of the input item display position on the display 52, and in the direction indicated by the arrows. If an input item exists, the arrow is displayed in black, and if the input item does not exist, the arrow is displayed in white so that the user can determine whether there is an input item that is not displayed. . For example, in FIG. 9A, the arrow pointing to the right is black, indicating that another input item exists on the right side of “language selection”. For this reason, when the right direction key 49 on the operation panel 12a is pressed in the state of FIG. 9A, the screen is switched to a parameter input screen having “scanner setting” as an input item, as shown in FIG. 9B. .

  In the parameter input screen shown in FIG. 9B, the character “scanner setting” is displayed as the input item (Disp_Name) below the character “translation copy” as the display title (Title). Are displayed as “normal characters” and “fine characters” as items (Disp_Select) representing selectable parameters for the input item “scanner setting”.

  Here, “ordinary characters” means that the resolution (reading resolution) that is a parameter of the scanner 13 is set to 300 × 300 dpi, and “fine characters” means that the resolution is set to 600 × 600 dpi. Means. In this example, the resolution that can be set by the “scanner setting” is limited to a part of the resolution that can be normally set by the multifunction machine 10. That is, when the MFP 10 performs an operation for reading an image printed on a sheet, as shown in FIG. 10A, the scanner is displayed on the setting screen displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a. The resolution of 13 can be selected from three types of 200 × 200 dpi, 300 × 300 dpi, and 600 × 600 dpi. On the other hand, in the translation copy service, 200 × 200 dpi, which is a low resolution parameter, cannot be set because the accuracy of the OCR process is lowered when the resolution of the image is coarse. In this example, in order to increase the accuracy of OCR, the reading is limited to monochrome reading.

  On the other hand, when the right direction key 49 on the operation panel 12a is pressed in the state of FIG. 9B, as shown in FIG. 9C, the screen is switched to a parameter input screen with “print setting” as an input item.

  In the parameter input screen shown in FIG. 9C, the character “Print Setting” is displayed as the input item (Disp_Name) under the character “Translation Copy” as the display title (Title), and further below that. Displays “Print speed priority”, “Normal” and “High definition” as items (Disp_Select) representing selectable parameters for the input item “print setting”.

  However, because of the size of the display 52, all items cannot be displayed at the same time, so the item display position on the display 52 is similar to the above-described service selection screen (FIGS. 5B and 5C). The up and down arrows (triangles) are displayed on the right side of, and when an item exists in the direction indicated by the arrow, the arrow is displayed in black, and when there is no item, the arrow is displayed in white. The user can judge whether or not there is a missing item. For example, when the cursor is moved downward by the downward direction key 47 on the operation panel 12a in the state of FIG. 9C, the items are scrolled as a whole, as shown in FIG. "High-definition" is displayed under "".

  Here, “print speed priority” means that the resolution (print resolution), which is a parameter of the printer 14, is set to 200 × 200 dpi, and “normal” means that the resolution is set to 300 × 300 dpi. This means “high definition” means that the resolution is set to 600 × 600 dpi. In this example, the resolution that can be set by “print setting” is limited to a part of the resolution that can be normally set by the multi-function peripheral 10. That is, when an operation for instructing the MFP 10 to print an image is normally performed on a personal computer (not shown), a setting screen displayed on the display of the personal computer as shown in FIG. The resolution of the printer 14 can be selected from four types of 200 × 200 dpi, 300 × 300 dpi, 600 × 600 dpi, and 1200 × 1200 dpi. On the other hand, in the translation copy service, it is impossible to set a high resolution parameter of 1200 × 1200 dpi because it is meaningless to set a print resolution higher than the reading resolution that can be set by the scanner 13. is there. The reason why the low resolution can be set is to meet the need to print quickly even if the resolution is lowered. In this example, since the scan image is limited to monochrome, it is limited to monochrome printing accordingly.

  On the other hand, when the right direction key 49 on the operation panel 12a is pressed in the state of FIG. 9C or FIG. 9D, parameter input with “comment” as an input item as shown in FIG. 9E. The screen is switched to.

  In the parameter input screen shown in FIG. 9E, the characters “comment” are displayed as the input item (Disp_Name) below the characters “translation copy” as the display title (Title), and further below that. , A comment input field is displayed. A black square in the input field represents a cursor for inputting characters. Further, the content input as a comment is used, for example, in the form of being described in a header or footer of a print image.

  As described above, in the parameter input screens (FIGS. 9A to 9E) of the translation copy service, parameters are selected for each input item of “language selection”, “scanner setting”, and “print setting”, and Enter a comment. When the OK key 50 on the operation panel 12a is pressed, the selection of the item specified by the cursor at that time (the item specified last for the input item not displayed on the display 52) is confirmed. In addition, the input of the comment is confirmed. These parameters are transmitted to the URL (Action) of the program that receives and processes the input data.

  In addition, based on the parameter selected about a certain input item, you may make it change the parameter which can be selected about another input item. For example, when “ordinary characters” is selected as a parameter for scanner settings, if “high definition” is disabled as a parameter for print settings, the reading resolution is set to 300 × 300 dpi. However, the printing resolution can be prevented from being set to 600 × 600 dpi.

Next, communication performed in the image processing system will be described.
In the present image processing system, HTTP 1.1 (HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol) is used as a communication protocol for the MFP 10, the directory server 20, and the function server 30 to transmit and receive data to and from each other, and HTTP requests and responses are used. Commands and responses to commands are sent to each other by accompanying messages.

  Here, the commands that communicate with each other include a command (server control command) for each of the servers 20 and 30 from the multifunction device 10 side and a command (multifunction device control command) for the multifunction device 10 from each server 20 and 30 side. However, in any communication, the multi-function device 10 is always a client of HTTP communication (the side that sends an HTTP request). Thereby, even if the broadband router 2 is used with the normal setting, it is possible to prevent the commands from the respective servers 20 and 30 from being cut off.

  Specifically, the multifunction device 10 transmits a command to the directory server 20 or the function server 30 by a message accompanying the POST command of the HTTP request. On the other hand, if there is a multifunction device control command in response to an inquiry of a multifunction device control command by a message accompanying the POST command of the HTTP request from the multifunction device 10, each server 20, 30 will send an HTTP response message for the inquiry. Sent with the MFP control command.

Here, an example of communication performed between the multifunction machine 10 and the function server 30 will be described with reference to a ladder chart of FIG.
The multifunction machine 10 and the function server 30 perform a series of communication processes (sessions) from service activation to service termination. In this session, first, the multifunction machine 10 requests the function server 30 to start a service. Then, the function server 30 transmits a session ID to the multifunction machine 10. Here, the session ID is an identifier for specifying a session in the function server 30. In the subsequent communication, the multifunction machine 10 transmits a session ID in response to the request, and the function server 30 performs a session based on the session ID. Is identified. Thereby, the function server 30 can process a plurality of sessions simultaneously.

  Upon receiving the session ID, the multi-function device 10 periodically makes a multi-function device command inquiry, which is a command inquiry to the multi-function device 10, and receives a command in the form of a response from the function server 30. If there is no command to be transmitted in response to the multifunction device command inquiry, the function server 30 transmits that there is no command (no multifunction device command).

  In this example, the function server 30 first transmits a UI (user interface) job activation command to the multifunction device 10. Here, the UI job activation command is a notification of the start of use of a UI device (operation panel 12a) provided in the multifunction machine 10. As a result, UI job communication processing is started between the MFP 10 and the function server 30. This UI job communication process is performed in parallel with the session. Further, in response to the UI job start command, the function server 30 transmits a job ID (identifier unique to the session) for specifying a job in the function server 30. In the UI job communication process, the multifunction machine 10 transmits a session ID and a job ID according to the request, and the function server 30 identifies the job based on the session ID and the job ID. Thereby, the function server 30 can process a plurality of jobs simultaneously. The contents of the UI job communication process will be described later.

  Subsequently, the function server 30 transmits an input job activation command to the multifunction machine 10 at a predetermined timing. Here, the input job activation command is a notification of the start of use of an input device (reading unit 13 or sound input unit 17) provided in the multifunction machine 10. As a result, communication processing of the input job is started between the multifunction machine 10 and the function server 30. Then, the communication process of this input job is also performed in parallel with the session, like the UI job. In addition, a job ID is transmitted from the function server 30 to the multi-function device 10 in response to an input job activation command. Then, in the input job communication process, the multifunction device 10 transmits a session ID and a job ID in response to the request, and the function server 30 identifies a job based on the session ID and the job ID. The contents of the input job communication process will be described later.

  Subsequently, the function server 30 transmits an output job start command to the multifunction device 10 at a predetermined timing. Here, the output job activation command is a notification of the start of use of an output device (recording unit 14 or sound output unit 18) provided in the multifunction machine 10. As a result, output job communication processing is started between the MFP 10 and the function server 30. The communication process of the output job is also performed in parallel with the session, like the UI job and the input job. In addition, a job ID is transmitted from the function server 30 to the multi-function device 10 in accordance with an output job start command. Then, in the output job communication process, the multifunction device 10 transmits a session ID and a job ID in response to the request, and the function server 30 identifies the job based on the session ID and the job ID. The contents of the output job communication process will be described later.

Subsequently, the function server 30 transmits an output job end instruction, which is a notification of the end of the output job, to the multi-function device 10 at a predetermined timing.
Subsequently, the function server 30 transmits an input job end command, which is a notification to end the input job, to the multi-function device 10 at a predetermined timing.

Subsequently, the function server 30 transmits a UI job end command, which is a notification to end the UI job, to the multi-function device 10 at a predetermined timing.
Subsequently, the function server 30 transmits a service end instruction, which is a notification of the end of the service, to the multi-function device 10 at a predetermined timing.

The above is the content of the session.
Next, UI job communication processing will be described.
In the UI job communication process, first, the multi-function device 10 makes a multi-function device job command inquiry to the function server 30 as a command inquiry to the multi-function device 10. Then, the function server 30 transmits a parameter request to the multifunction device 10. Here, the parameter request is for causing the user of the multifunction device 10 to set parameters necessary for executing the service, and service I / F information is sent from the function server 30 to the multifunction device 10 in accordance with the parameter request. 36 is transmitted.

  When receiving the parameter request from the function server 30, the multifunction machine 10 displays a parameter input screen based on the service I / F information 36 on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a (for example, FIG. 9). Then, the parameters set by the user are transmitted to the function server 30.

  When the function server 30 receives the parameter from the multifunction device 10, the function server 30 transmits a server reception status that is a notification indicating whether the function server 30 has successfully received the information from the multifunction device 10.

  Then, when the multifunction device 10 confirms that the function server 30 has received the parameters normally based on the server reception status received from the function server 30, the service state information that is a request for information regarding the service state is sent to the function server 30. Make a request.

When the function server 30 receives the service status information request from the multi-function device 10, the function server 30 transmits service status information, which is a notification of the status of the function server 30 and the service, to the multi-function device 10.
Thereafter, the service status information request and the transmission of the service status information corresponding thereto are repeated.

Next, input job communication processing will be described.
In the input job communication process, first, the multifunction machine 10 transmits to the function server 30 multifunction machine state information that is information relating to the state of the multifunction machine 10. Then, the function server 30 transmits the multifunction machine parameter to the multifunction machine 10. Here, the MFP parameter is an input device parameter set by the user of the MFP 10 in the UI job communication process.

  When the multifunction device 10 receives the multifunction device parameters from the function server 30, the multifunction device 10 transmits a multifunction device reception status that is a notification indicating whether the multifunction device 10 has successfully received the information from the function server 30.

  When the function server 30 confirms that the multifunction device 10 has received the information normally based on the reception status of the multifunction device from the multifunction device 10, the function server 30 requests the multifunction device 10 to input data corresponding to the job. Send a request. Here, if the input data corresponding to the job is a scan job (a job executed by a service relating to the image data generated by the reading unit 13), the image data generated by the reading unit 13, a voice input job (sound) PCM data if it is a job executed by a service related to sound data generated by the input unit 17.

  Upon receiving the input data request from the function server 30, the multifunction device 10 performs a display for prompting the user to perform an input operation (image reading operation or voice input operation), and transmits the input data generated as a result to the function server 30. To do.

When the function server 30 receives the input data from the multi-function device 10, the function server 30 transmits service status information that is a notification of the status of the function server 30 and the service to the multi-function device 10.
Next, output job communication processing will be described.

  In the output job communication process, first, the multifunction machine 10 transmits, to the function server 30, multifunction machine status information that is information relating to the state of the multifunction machine 10. Then, the function server 30 transmits the multifunction machine parameter to the multifunction machine 10. Here, the MFP parameter is an output device parameter set by the user of the MFP 10 in the UI job communication process.

  When the multifunction device 10 receives the multifunction device parameters from the function server 30, the multifunction device 10 transmits a multifunction device reception status that is a notification indicating whether the multifunction device 10 has successfully received the information from the function server 30.

  When the function server 30 confirms that the multifunction device 10 has received information normally based on the reception status of the multifunction device from the multifunction device 10, the function server 30 transmits output data to the multifunction device 10. Here, if the output data is a print job (a job executed by a service relating to image data representing an image to be printed by the recording unit 14), it represents image data, an audio output job (sound output by the sound output unit 18). PCM data is a job executed by a service related to PCM data.

  When the multifunction device 10 receives the output data from the function server 30, the multifunction device 10 performs an output process (printing an image or outputting sound) based on the output data. Then, the multifunction device 10 transmits multifunction device state information, which is information related to the state of the multifunction device 10, to the function server 30.

When the function server 30 receives the MFP status information from the MFP 10, the function server 30 transmits service status information, which is a notification of the status of the function server 30 and the service, to the MFP 10.
Next, processing performed by the control units 11, 21, 31 of the multifunction machine 10, the directory server 20, and the function server 30 will be described.

  First, MFP processing performed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that the MFP processing is started when the MFP 10 is turned on.

When this multifunction peripheral process is started, first, initialization processing of the multifunction peripheral 10 is performed in S101.
Subsequently, in S102, an input to the multifunction machine 10 is received. Here, the input to the multifunction device 10 is an input for causing the multifunction device 10 to start some processing. For example, a key input on the operation panel 12a, a command input from a personal computer (not shown), or the like. Can be mentioned.

  Subsequently, in S103, it is determined whether or not the input received in S102 is an input for shifting to a service mode that is an operation mode for requesting a service from the function server 30. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the input received in S102 is a pressing operation of the service key 44 on the operation panel 12a.

  If it is determined in S103 that the input is not for shifting to the service mode, the process proceeds to S104, and other mode processing (for example, image printing processing) corresponding to the input received in S102 is performed. Return to.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S103 that the input is for shifting to the service mode, the process shifts to S105 to determine whether or not to select the service requested from the function server 30 from the list. Specifically, as a method for displaying a selection screen shown in FIG. 13 on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a and determining a service requested from the function server 30, a method of selecting from a list and a request destination URL of a desired service are set. Either one of the methods of direct input is selected.

  If it is determined in S105 that the service requested to the function server 30 is selected from the list (when “Select from list” is selected), the process proceeds to S106, and the directory server 20 is requested to query the service list. . Specifically, the directory server 20 is requested to transmit the top service definition information 25 (FIG. 3). In this example, in the multifunction machine 10, a communication destination address (URL) for requesting the top service definition information 25 is stored in the storage unit 16 in advance.

In S107, the top service definition information 25 transmitted from the directory server 20 in response to the request in S106 is received.
In S108, a service selection screen based on the service definition information 25 received in S107 is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a (FIG. 5A), and the process proceeds to S110.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S105 that the service requested to the function server 30 is not selected from the list (when “direct input” is selected), the process proceeds to S109, and an address input screen for directly inputting the URL (Not shown) is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a, and the process proceeds to S110.

In S110, the operation panel 12a receives an input operation by a user for determining a service requested from the function server 30.
Subsequently, in S111, it is determined whether or not the input operation received in S110 is an operation for link selection. Specifically, when the selection operation is normally performed based on the information displayed in S108, or when the URL is normally input on the address input screen displayed in S109, the operation for link selection is performed. It is determined that

  If it is determined in S111 that the operation is not for link selection, the process proceeds to S112, and it is determined whether or not the input operation received in S110 is a stop operation for ending the service mode.

If it is determined in S112 that the operation is a stop operation for ending the service mode, the process returns to S102. That is, the processing as the service mode ends.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S112 that the operation is not a stop operation for ending the service mode, the process proceeds to S113, a refusal sound (buzzer sound or the like) is sounded, and then the process returns to S110. That is, when the input operation received in S110 is neither a link selection operation nor a stop operation, the user is notified by a rejection sound.

If it is determined in S111 that the operation is for selecting a link, the process proceeds to S114 to determine whether the selected URL is a service URL.
If it is determined in S114 that the URL is not a service URL (the URL of the service definition information 25), the process proceeds to S115, and information indicated by Link_Location (information indicated by the URL when the URL is directly input) On the basis of the request, a service inquiry is requested to the directory server 20 (transmission of the service definition information 25 is requested), and the requested service definition information 25 is received from the directory server 20. Thereafter, the process returns to S108. As a result, a new service selection screen is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S114 that the URL is a service URL, the process proceeds to S116, and a session process (FIG. 14) described later is performed, and then the process returns to S102.
Next, the session process executed in S116 in the MFP process (FIG. 12) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When this session processing is started, first, in S201, a service to be used is selected, and the service is activated based on the Link_Location (the URL when the URL is directly input) of the service definition information 25. That is, the service selected by the user is activated by transmitting a service activation command to the service URL.

  Subsequently, in S202, a session ID is received from the function server 30. The session ID is generated in the process of S805 in a later-described function server process (FIG. 20) executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30, and is transmitted in the process of S809.

  Subsequently, in S <b> 203, a “multifunction machine command inquiry”, which is a command inquiry to the multifunction machine, is transmitted to the function server 30. Note that the session ID received in the process of S202 is transmitted along with the MFP command inquiry.

Subsequently, in S204, a command returned in response to the “multifunction device command inquiry” transmitted in S203 is received.
Subsequently, in S205, it is determined whether or not the command received in S204 is a job activation command. Note that the job activation command is output in each process of S1003, S1007, and S1011 in a session process (FIG. 22) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30. Also, the job ID and job communication destination URL are transmitted in accordance with the job activation command.

  If it is determined in S205 that the command is a job activation command, the process proceeds to S206, resources necessary for job activation are secured, and the process proceeds to S207 to start the designated job activation process. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S208, waits for a predetermined interval, and then returns to S203.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S205 that the command is not a job start command, the process proceeds to S209, and it is determined whether or not the command received in S204 is a job end command. Note that the job end instruction is output in each process of S1019, S1021, and S1023 in a session process (FIG. 23) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30. A job ID corresponding to the job to be ended is transmitted along with the job end command.

  If it is determined in S209 that the command is a job end command, the process proceeds to S210, the job corresponding to the job ID is stopped, and the resource is released. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S208, waits for a predetermined interval, and then returns to S203.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S209 that the command is not a job end command, the process proceeds to S211 and it is determined whether or not the command received in S204 represents “no command”. That is, it is determined whether or not the reply to the “multifunction device command inquiry” transmitted in S203 is a transmission indicating that there is no command.

If it is determined in S211 that the command received in S204 indicates “no command”, the process proceeds to S208, waits for a predetermined interval, and then returns to S203.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S211 that the command received in S204 does not indicate “no command”, the process proceeds to S212, and it is determined whether or not the command received in S204 is a session end command. The session termination command is transmitted in the process of S1026 in a session process (FIG. 23) described later, which is executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

If it is determined in S212 that the command is an end command, this session processing is ended.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S212 that the command is not an end command, that is, the command received in S204 is one of a job start command, a job end command, “no command”, and a session end command. If not, the process proceeds to S213, and a command error process (for example, a process of displaying a message indicating an error on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a) is performed. Thereafter, the session process is terminated.

Next, the specified job activation process started by the process of S207 in the session process (FIG. 14) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the designated job activation process is started, first, in S301, it is determined whether or not the job designated by the job activation instruction is a UI job.

  If it is determined in S301 that the job specified by the job activation command is a UI job, the process proceeds to S302, the job ID and the communication destination URL of the job are passed, and the UI job is activated. Terminates job startup processing.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S301 that the job specified by the job activation command is not a UI job, the process proceeds to S303, and it is determined whether or not the job specified by the job activation command is a scan job (Scan job). judge.

  If it is determined in S303 that the job specified by the job activation command is not a scan job, the process proceeds to S304, and it is determined whether or not the job specified by the job activation command is a voice job (Voice job). To do.

If it is determined in S304 that the job specified by the job activation command is not a voice job, the process proceeds to S306.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S303 that the job specified by the job activation command is a scan job, or if it is determined in S304 that the job specified by the job activation command is a voice job, the process proceeds to S305. Then, after passing the job ID and job communication destination URL and starting the input job, the start processing of the designated job is terminated.

In S306, it is determined whether or not the job designated by the job activation command is a print job (Print job).
If it is determined in S306 that the job specified by the job activation command is not a print job, the process proceeds to S307, where it is determined whether or not the job specified by the job activation command is a speaker job (Speaker job). To do.

  If it is determined in step S307 that the job designated by the job activation command is not a speaker job, that is, the job designated by the job activation command is a UI job, scan job, voice job, print job, or speaker job. If it is determined that neither of these is true, the activation process of the designated job is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S306 that the job specified by the job activation command is a print job, or if it is determined in S307 that the job specified by the job activation command is a speaker job, the process proceeds to S308. Then, after passing the job ID and job communication destination URL and starting the output job, the start processing of the designated job is terminated.

  Next, the UI job that is activated so as to operate in parallel with the session process in S302 in the designated job activation process (FIG. 15) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When this UI job is started, first, in S400, a multifunction device job command inquiry which is a command inquiry to the multifunction device 10 is written in a predetermined area as transmission data. This transmission data is information used in the process of S406 described later, and the information written as this data is transmitted to the function server 30 together with the session ID and job ID. The transmission data storage area is provided in a predetermined area of a RAM (not shown) provided in the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

  Next, in S401, it is determined whether or not there is an end instruction from the session. Note that the end instruction from the session is output by the process of S210 in the session process (FIG. 14) executed by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

If it is determined in S401 that there has been an instruction to end from the session, the process proceeds to S402, and the UI job is ended after notifying the session of the end.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S401 that there is no termination instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S403, and it is determined whether or not the operation panel 12a is busy. Specifically, based on the busy flag Fu indicating whether or not the operation panel 12a is busy, the busy flag Fu is determined to be busy, and when the busy flag Fu is lowered, the busy flag Fu is busy. It is determined that it is not in a state.

  If it is determined in S403 that the operation panel 12a is busy, the process proceeds to S404, waits until the busy state of the operation panel 12a is released, and then returns to S403.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S403 that the current state is not busy, the process proceeds to S405 and the busy flag Fu is set.
Subsequently, in S406, the information written as the transmission data described above is transmitted to the function server 30 together with the session ID and job ID.

Subsequently, in S407, the MFP command that is returned in response to the information transmitted in S406 is received.
Subsequently, in S408, it is determined whether or not the MFP command received in S407 is a parameter request. The parameter request is transmitted in the process of S1102 in the UI job process (FIG. 24) described later, which is executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30. In addition, service I / F information 36 is transmitted along with the parameter request.

  If it is determined in S408 that the request is a parameter request, the process proceeds to S409, where a parameter input screen is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a based on the service I / F information 36, and an input for setting a parameter is performed. Prompt the user for operation. Then, the process proceeds to S410, and in order to transmit the input parameter to the function server 30, the parameter is written in the transmission data storage area as transmission data. Further, the process proceeds to S411, the busy flag Fu is lowered, and then the process returns to S401. If the parameter written as transmission data is not instructed to end from the session (S401: NO) and the operation panel is not busy (S403: NO), the function server 30 is processed in S406. Sent to.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S408 that the request is not a parameter request, the process proceeds to S412 to determine whether or not the MFP command received in S407 is service status information. Note that the service status information is transmitted in the process of S1113 in a UI job process (FIG. 24) described later, which is executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30. An error code and service I / F information 36 are transmitted along with the service status information.

  If it is determined in S412 that the service status information is obtained, the process proceeds to S413, and information based on the service status information is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a. Then, the process proceeds to S421, and in order to transmit a service status information request, which is a command for requesting the operating status information of the service operating on the function server 30, to the function server 30, the service status information request is transmitted as transmission data. Write to the credit data storage area. Then, the process proceeds to S411, and after the busy flag Fu is lowered, the process returns to S401. If the service status information request written as transmission data is not instructed to end by the session (S401: NO) and the operation panel is not busy (S403: NO), the process in S406 is performed. It is transmitted to the function server 30.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S412 that it is not service status information, the process proceeds to S414, and it is determined whether or not the MFP command received in S407 is a status information request.
If it is determined in S414 that the request is a status information request, the process proceeds to S415, and the MFP status information is transmitted to the function server 30 in order to transmit MFP status information that is information related to the status of the MFP 10. Write as transmission data to the transmission data storage area. Then, the process proceeds to S411, and after the busy flag Fu is lowered, the process returns to S401. If the MFP status information written as transmission data is not instructed to end from the session thereafter (S401: NO) and the operation panel is not busy (S403: NO), the processing in S406 is performed. It is transmitted to the function server 30.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S414 that the request is not a status information request, the process proceeds to S416, and the MFP command received in S407 indicates whether the function server 30 has successfully received information from the MFP 10. It is determined whether or not the server reception status is a notification indicating.

If it is determined in S416 that the server reception status is present, the process proceeds to S417, and it is determined whether or not the contents of the server reception status indicate abnormal reception (NG).
If it is determined in S417 that it represents an abnormal receipt (NG), the process proceeds to S418, and the information to be retransmitted is transmitted to the function server 30 in order to retransmit the previously transmitted information. Write as transmission data to the transmission data storage area. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S411, the busy flag Fu is lowered, and then the process returns to S401.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S417 that it does not represent an abnormal receipt (NG), in S422, in order to transmit a service status information request, which is a command for requesting information on the service operating status, to the function server 30, After writing the service status information request as transmission data to the transmission data storage area, the process proceeds to S411, the busy flag Fu is lowered, and then the process returns to S401.

  Note that the information to be retransmitted and the service status information request written as transmission data in S418 and S422 are not thereafter instructed to end from the session (S401: NO), and the operation panel is not busy (S403: NO). ) State, it is transmitted to the function server 30 in the process of S406.

  If it is determined in S416 that the server reception status is not established, the process proceeds to S419, and it is determined whether or not the MFP command received in S407 represents “no command”. That is, it is determined whether or not the reply to the “MFP job command inquiry” transmitted in S406 is a transmission indicating that there is no command.

  If it is determined in S419 that the multifunction device command received in S407 represents “no command”, a multifunction device job command inquiry, which is a command inquiry to the multifunction device 10, is sent to the function server 30 in S423. In order to transmit, the MFP job command inquiry is written as transmission data in the transmission data storage area, and then the process proceeds to S411, the busy flag Fu is lowered, and then the process returns to S401. Note that the MFP job command inquiry written as transmission data is not instructed to end from the session (S401: NO), and the operation panel is not busy (S403: NO), the process of S406 is performed. To the function server 30.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S419 that the MFP command received in S407 does not indicate “no command”, the process proceeds to S420, and a designation error is processed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S411, the busy flag Fu is lowered, and then the process returns to S401.

  Next, an input job that is activated in S305 in the designated job activation process (FIG. 15) so as to operate in parallel with the session process and the UI job process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When this input job is started, first, in step S501, the input device (the reading unit 13 is a service related to image data generated by the reading unit 13, and the sound is a service related to sound data generated by the sound input unit 17). It is determined whether the input unit 17) is busy. Specifically, based on the busy flag Fi indicating whether or not the input device is in a busy state, it is determined that the input device is busy when the busy flag Fi is set, and is busy when the busy flag Fi is down. It is determined that it is not.

If it is determined in S501 that the input device is busy, the process proceeds to S502, waits until the input device is released from the busy state, and then returns to S501.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S501 that the current state is not busy, the process proceeds to S503 and the busy flag Fi is set.

Subsequently, in S504, the MFP status information is transmitted to the function server 30. A session ID, a job ID, and an error code are transmitted along with the MFP status information.
Subsequently, in S505, the MFP parameters received in response to the “MFP status information” transmitted in S504 are received from the function server 30. The multi-function device parameters are transmitted by the process of S1203 in the scan job process (FIG. 25) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

  Subsequently, in S506, it is determined whether or not there is an end instruction from the session. Note that the end instruction from the session is output by the process of S210 in the session process (FIG. 14) executed by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

If it is determined in S506 that there is no termination instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S507, and it is determined in S505 whether the MFP parameters have been normally received.
If it is determined in S507 that the information could not be received normally, the process proceeds to S508, where the multifunction device 10 receives information indicating whether the multifunction device 10 has successfully received information from the function server 30. The function server 30 is notified of the abnormal receipt (NG), and the process returns to S505. A session ID and a job ID are transmitted along with the reception status of the multifunction device.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S507 that the reception has been successful, the process proceeds to S509, and the function server 30 is notified of the normal reception (OK) as the multi-function peripheral reception status.
Subsequently, in S510, an input data request is received from the function server 30. The input data request is transmitted in the process of S1209 in the scan job process (FIG. 25) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

Subsequently, in S511, as in S506, it is determined whether or not there is an end instruction from the session.
If it is determined in S511 that there is no termination instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S512, and it is determined whether or not the input data request has been normally received in S510.

If it is determined in S512 that the signal could not be received normally, the process proceeds to S513, the function server 30 is notified that it is abnormally received (NG), and the process returns to S510.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S512 that the signal has been received normally, the process proceeds to S514, the parameter is set, and an output that prompts the user to perform an input operation (for example, “Set the document and press the OK key”, A message such as “Please pick up the handset and input voice” is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a), and input data input thereby is sequentially transmitted to the function server 30. Examples of input data include input by reading image data stored in a semiconductor memory such as a memory card, and input of image data stored in the storage unit 16. A session ID and a job ID are transmitted along with the input data.

Subsequently, in S515, the parameters set in S514 are restored.
Subsequently, in S516, after receiving the service status information from the function server 30, the process proceeds to S517. The service status information is transmitted in each process of S1208 and S1212 in a scan job process (FIG. 25) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S506 or S511 that there is an end instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S517 as it is.
In S517, the busy flag Fi set in S503 is lowered.

In step S518, after the end is notified to the session, the input job is ended.
Next, an output job that is activated so as to operate in parallel with the session process, UI job process, and input job process in S308 in the designated job activation process (FIG. 15) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When this output job is started, first, in step S601, if the service is related to image data representing an image to be printed by the recording unit 14, the service is related to the sound data output from the recording unit 14 and the sound output unit 18. It is determined whether the sound output unit 18) is busy. Specifically, based on the busy flag Fo indicating whether or not the output device is in a busy state, it is determined that the output device is busy when the busy flag Fo is set, and is busy when the busy flag Fo is down. It is determined that it is not.

If it is determined in S601 that the output device is busy, the process proceeds to S602, waits until the output device is released from the busy state, and then returns to S601.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S601 that the current state is not busy, the process proceeds to S603 and the busy flag Fo is set.

Subsequently, in S604, the MFP status information is transmitted to the function server 30. A session ID, a job ID, and an error code are transmitted along with the MFP status information.
In step S <b> 605, the MFP parameter received in response to the “MFP status information” transmitted in step S <b> 604 is received from the function server 30. The MFP parameters are transmitted in the process of S1303 in a print job process (FIG. 26) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

  Subsequently, in S606, it is determined whether or not there is an end instruction from the session. Note that the end instruction from the session is output by the process of S210 in the session process (FIG. 14) executed by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

If it is determined in S606 that there is no termination instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S607, and it is determined whether or not the MFP parameters have been normally received in S605.
If it is determined in S607 that the information could not be received normally, the process proceeds to S608, where the multifunction device receiving status is a notification as to whether or not the multifunction device 10 has successfully received the information from the function server 30. The function server 30 is notified of the abnormal reception (NG), and the process returns to S605. A session ID and a job ID are transmitted along with the reception status of the multifunction device.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S607 that the signal has been received normally, the process proceeds to S609, and the function server 30 is notified of the normal reception (OK) as the multifunction device reception status.
Subsequently, in S610, output data (for example, image data and sound data) is received from the function server 30. The output data is transmitted in the process of S1309 in a print job process (FIG. 26) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

Subsequently, in S611, as in S606, it is determined whether or not there is an end instruction from the session.
If it is determined in S611 that there is no termination instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S612, and it is determined in S610 whether the output data has been normally received.

If it is determined in S612 that the signal has not been received normally, the process proceeds to S613, where the function server 30 is notified of abnormal reception (NG), and the process returns to S610.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S612 that the signal has been normally received, the process proceeds to S614, the parameter is set, and the output data is output (for example, printing of the image represented by the image data or the sound represented by the sound data). Output).

Subsequently, in S615, the parameters set in S614 are restored.
Subsequently, in S616, the MFP status information is transmitted to the function server 30. A session ID, a job ID, and an error code are transmitted along with the MFP status information.

  Subsequently, in S617, after receiving the service status information from the function server 30, the process proceeds to S618. The service status information is transmitted in each process of S1308 and S1312 in a print job process (FIG. 26) described later executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S606 or S611 that there is an end instruction from the session, the process proceeds to S618.
In S618, the busy flag Fo set in S603 is lowered.

In step S619, the output job is ended after notifying the session of the end.
Next, directory server processing performed by the control unit 21 of the directory server 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The directory server process is started when the directory server 20 receives an HTTP request.

When this directory server process is started, first, in S701, an HTTP request is received.
Subsequently, in S702, it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S701 is a service registration command. Note that the service registration command is transmitted in the process of S1406 in a service addition process (FIG. 27) described later, which is executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

  If it is determined in S702 that the command is a service registration command, the process proceeds to S703, where the contents of the service definition information 25 are received and the service is registered. Specifically, information about the new service is registered in the service definition information 25 stored in the service definition information storage unit 24 of the storage unit 23. Then, the process proceeds to S704, and after transmitting an HTTP response, the directory server process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S702 that the command is not a service registration command, the process proceeds to S705, and it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S701 is a command for service update (for example, change of service request destination URL). To do. Note that the service update command is transmitted in the process of S1503 in the service change process (FIG. 28) described later, which is executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

  If it is determined in S705 that the instruction is a service update, the process proceeds to S706, where the content of the service definition information 25 is received and the service is updated. Specifically, information on the corresponding service in the service definition information 25 stored in the service definition information storage unit 24 of the storage unit 23 is updated. Then, the process proceeds to S704, and after transmitting an HTTP response, the directory server process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S705 that the command is not a service update command, the process proceeds to S707, and it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S701 is a command for deleting a service. Note that the service deletion command is transmitted in the process of S1602 in a service deletion process (FIG. 29) described later, which is executed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30.

  If it is determined in S707 that the command is a service deletion command, the process proceeds to S708 and the specified service definition information 25 is deleted. Specifically, information about the corresponding service in the service definition information 25 stored in the service definition information storage unit 24 of the storage unit 23 is deleted. Then, the process proceeds to S704, and after transmitting an HTTP response, the directory server process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S707 that the command is not a service deletion command, the process proceeds to S709, and it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S701 is a service list query request. The request for service list inquiry is transmitted in the process of S106 in the above-described MFP process (FIG. 12) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10.

  If it is determined in S709 that the request is a service list query request, the process proceeds to S710, and the top service definition information 25 is read from the service definition information storage unit 24 of the storage unit 23. Then, the process proceeds to S704, and after transmitting an HTTP response including the read service definition information 25, the directory server process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S709 that the request is not a service list inquiry, the process proceeds to S711, and it is determined whether the HTTP request received in S701 is a service inquiry request. The service inquiry request is transmitted in the process of S115 in the above-described MFP process (FIG. 12) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10.

  If it is determined in S711 that the request is a service inquiry request, the process proceeds to S712, and the service definition information 25 specified by the ID or URL is read from the service definition information storage unit 24 of the storage unit 23. Then, the process proceeds to S704, and after transmitting an HTTP response including the read service definition information 25, the directory server process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S711 that the request is not a service inquiry request, the process proceeds to S713, where it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S701 is a server management command for managing the directory server 20. . Note that the processing for transmitting a server management command is not directly related to the present invention, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  If it is determined in S713 that the command is for server management, the process proceeds to S714 to activate the server management function. Then, the process proceeds to S704, and after transmitting an HTTP response, the directory server process is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S713 that the command is not a server management command, the process proceeds to S704 as it is, and after transmitting an HTTP response, the directory server process is terminated.
Next, function server processing performed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The function server process is started when the function server 30 receives an HTTP request.

When this function server process is started, first, in S801, an HTTP request is received.
Subsequently, in S802, it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S801 is a service activation command. The service activation command is transmitted in the process of S201 in the above-described session process (FIG. 14) executed by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

  If it is determined in S802 that the command is a service activation command, the process proceeds to S805, where a session ID is generated and transmission data is generated. Also, a process for executing the service is started (specifically, session processing (FIG. 22) described later is started). Then, the process proceeds to S809.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S802 that the command is not a service activation command, the process proceeds to S806, and it is determined whether or not the HTTP request received in S801 is a service termination command. Note that the service termination command is transmitted from the multifunction device 10 in response to an interruption process when the multifunction device 10 receives a stop command from the user (for example, pressing the cancel key 51 during service execution).

If it is determined in S806 that the command is a service termination command, the process proceeds to S807, the session ID and the secured resources are released, and the process proceeds to S809.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S806 that the command is not a service end command, the process proceeds to S808, and after executing service control information processing, the process proceeds to S809. The specific contents of the service control information processing will be described later (FIG. 21).

In step S809, transmission processing of an HTTP response including the generated information is performed.
Subsequently, in S810, it is determined whether or not the service control information processing of S808 has been performed.

  If it is determined in S810 that the service control information processing has been performed, the process proceeds to S811, and after setting “transmitted” to the memory address corresponding to the session ID or job ID, this function server process is terminated. .

On the other hand, if it is determined in S810 that the service control information processing has not been performed, this function server processing is terminated as it is.
Next, specific contents of the service control information processing executed in S808 in the function server process (FIG. 20) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When this service control information processing is started, first, in S901, it is determined whether there is information to be transmitted to the service. Specifically, it is determined whether the HTTP request received in S801 of the function server process (FIG. 20) includes information on the service (session or job).

  If it is determined in S901 that there is information to be transmitted to the service, the process proceeds to S902, and the process to be transmitted corresponding to the session ID or job ID is specified. That is, the process which becomes the transmission destination of the information included in the received HTTP request is specified.

In step S903, it is determined whether the process cannot be specified.
If it is determined in S903 that the process cannot be specified due to some abnormality, the process proceeds to S904, and after generating error notification information, the service control information processing is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S903 that the process can be specified, the process proceeds to S905, and after information is transmitted to the specified process, the process proceeds to S906.
If it is determined in S901 that there is no information to be transmitted to the service, the process proceeds to S906.

In S906, the memory for storing the return information corresponding to the session ID or job ID is specified.
In step S907, it is determined whether the storage memory cannot be specified.

If it is determined in S907 that the storage memory cannot be specified, the process proceeds to S904, error notification information is generated, and the service control information processing is terminated.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S907 that the storage memory can be specified, the process proceeds to S908, where it is determined whether there is information to be transmitted to the multifunction machine 10 or not.

  If it is determined in S908 that there is information to be transmitted to the multifunction device 10, the process proceeds to S909, and after generating a multifunction device control command based on the return information, the service control information processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S908 that there is no information to be transmitted to the multifunction device 10, the process proceeds to S910, and after generating information indicating no multifunction device command, this service control information processing is terminated.

  Next, session processing performed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. Since the content of the session process varies depending on the type of service, here, the session process for the translation copy service will be described as an example. Further, this session process is started so as to operate in parallel with the function server process by the process of S805 in the function server process (FIG. 20).

When this session processing is started, first, initialization processing is performed in S1001.
In step S1002, a service-side UI job is activated. The specific contents of the service-side UI job will be described later (FIG. 24).

  In step S1003, the UI job activation command is output as a multifunction device command. Specifically, a process for writing the MFP command to the memory for storing the reply information is performed, and then “transmitted” is set by the process of S811 in the function server process (FIG. 20). Check the output. The job ID and job communication destination URL are output in accordance with the UI job activation command.

  Subsequently, in S1004, it is determined whether or not parameter input has been completed. Whether or not the parameter input has been completed is determined by whether or not a parameter input has been notified by the processing of S1111 in the UI job processing (FIG. 24) described later.

  If it is determined in S1004 that the parameter input has not been completed, the process proceeds to S1005 to determine whether or not a stop is notified. Note that the stop notification is performed in the process of S1109 in the UI job process (FIG. 24) described later.

If it is determined in S1005 that the stop has not been notified, the process returns to S1004.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S1005 that the stop has been notified, the process proceeds to S1024 described later.

  If it is determined in S1004 that the input of parameters has been completed, the process proceeds to S1006, and a service-side scan job is activated. The specific contents of the service-side scan job will be described later (FIG. 25).

  In step S1007, a scan job (input job) start command is output as a multifunction device command. Along with this scan job activation command, a job ID and a job communication destination URL are output.

  In step S1008, it is determined whether the scanner preparation is completed. Whether or not the scanner preparation is completed is determined by receiving a notification in step S1213 in a scan job process (FIG. 25) described later.

  If it is determined in S1008 that the scanner has not been prepared, the process proceeds to S1009, and it is determined whether or not a stop is notified. Note that the stop notification is performed in the process of S1207 in the scan job process (FIG. 25) described later.

If it is determined in S1009 that the stop has not been notified, the process returns to S1008.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S1009 that the stop has been notified, the process proceeds to S1022 described later.

  If it is determined in S1008 that the scanner has been prepared, the process proceeds to S1010, and a service-side print job is activated. The specific contents of the service-side print job will be described later (FIG. 26).

  In step S1011, a print job (output job) start command is output as a multifunction device command. Along with this print job start command, a job ID and a job communication destination URL are output.

  In step S1012, it is determined whether preparation for printing is completed. Note that whether or not preparation for printing has been completed is determined by receiving a notification in step S1313 in a print job process (FIG. 26) described later.

  If it is determined in S1012 that the preparation for printing has not been completed, the process proceeds to S1013, and it is determined whether or not a stop is notified. Note that the stop notification is performed in the process of S1307 in a print job process (FIG. 26) described later.

If it is determined in S1013 that the stop has not been notified, the process returns to S1012.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S1013 that the stop has been notified, the process proceeds to S1020 described later.

If it is determined in S1012 that the preparation for printing has been completed, the process proceeds to S1014 to read input data (image data generated by the reading unit 13).
In step S1015, the image data read out in step S1014 is subjected to OCR processing to recognize text included in the image, perform translation processing on the recognized text, and set a print layout for the translated text. By doing so, image data for printing is generated.

In step S1016, the image data for printing generated in step S1015 is output.
In step S1017, it is determined whether all data has been input.
If it is determined in S1017 that the input has not been completed, the process returns to S1014.

On the other hand, when it is determined in S1017 that the input is completed, the process proceeds to S1018, and it is determined whether or not the output of all data is completed.
If it is determined in S1018 that the output has not been completed, the process returns to S1014.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S1018 that the output has been completed, the process proceeds to S1019, and a print job end command is output as a multifunction device command. A job ID corresponding to the print job to be ended is output in accordance with the print job end command.

In step S1020, the service-side print job is terminated.
In step S1021, a scan job end command is output as a multifunction device command. A job ID corresponding to the scan job to be ended is output in accordance with the scan job end command.

In step S1022, the service side scan job is terminated.
In step S1023, a UI job end command is output as a multifunction device command. A job ID corresponding to the UI job to be ended is output in accordance with the UI job end command.

In step S1024, the service-side UI job is terminated.
Subsequently, in S1025, end processing (memory release or the like) is performed. In S1026, the end of service is output as a multifunction device command, and then this session processing is ended.

  Next, UI job processing started so as to operate in parallel with the function server processing and session processing in the processing of S1002 in the session processing (FIG. 22) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When this UI job processing is started, first, in S1101, a multifunction device job command inquiry is received from the multifunction device 10. The MFP job command inquiry is set as transmission data in the process of S400 or S423 in the above-described UI job (FIG. 16) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10, and is transmitted in the process of S406.

  Subsequently, in S1102, a parameter request command for setting parameters necessary for executing the service is transmitted to the multifunction device 10 as a multifunction device command. The service I / F information 36 (in this example, the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the translation copy service) stored in the service I / F information storage unit 34 of the storage unit 33 in accordance with the parameter request. Sent.

Subsequently, in S1103, an error count is initialized.
Subsequently, in S 1104, parameters are received from the multifunction machine 10. The parameters are set as transmission data in the process of S410 in the above-described UI job (FIG. 16) executed by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10, and are transmitted in the process of S406.

Subsequently, in S1105, it is determined whether or not the parameter received in S1104 is normal.
If it is determined in S1105 that the parameter is not normal, the process proceeds to S1106, and it is determined whether or not the number of times that the parameter is determined to be normal is the second time. Specifically, the determination is made based on the error count initialized in S1103.

  If it is determined in S1106 that it is not the second time (the first time), the process proceeds to S1107, where it is a notification as to whether or not the function server 30 has successfully received the information from the multifunction machine 10. Server receipt NG (abnormal receipt) is output as the server receipt status. Further, the process proceeds to S1108, and after counting up the error count, the process returns to S1104.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1106 that it is the second time, the process proceeds to step S1109, and the UI job process is terminated after notifying the session of the stop.
If it is determined in S1105 that the parameters are normal, the process proceeds to S1110, and server reception OK (normal reception) is output as the server reception status.

Subsequently, in S1111, the parameter input completion is output to the session.
In step S <b> 1112, a service status information request is received from the multifunction machine 10. As described above, the service status information request is set as transmission data in the process of S421 or S422 in the UI job (FIG. 16), and is transmitted in the process of S406.

  In step S <b> 1113, the service state information is transmitted to the multifunction machine 10. Thereafter, the process returns to S1112. In other words, the process of receiving the MFP job command inquiry from the MFP 10 and returning the service status information is repeated until stopped by another process. An error code and service I / F information 36 are transmitted along with the service status information.

  Next, scan job processing that is started up in parallel with the function server processing, session processing, and UI job processing in the processing of S1006 in the session processing (FIG. 22) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the scan job process is started, first, in S1201, the MFP status information is received from the MFP 10. The MFP status information is transmitted in the process of S504 in the above-described input job (FIG. 17) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10.

Subsequently, in S1202, an error count is initialized.
In step S1203, based on the parameters received in step S1104 in the UI job processing (FIG. 24), the parameters of the scanner 13 are transmitted to the multifunction device 10 as multifunction device parameters.

  In step S1204, the MFP 10 determines whether the MFP parameters are normally received. Specifically, it is received normally when it is notified that the MFP reception status is normal reception by the processing of S509 in the above input job (FIG. 17) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10. When it is notified by the processing of S508 that the MFP has received an abnormal reception, it is determined that it has not been received normally.

  If it is determined in S1204 that the multifunction device parameter has not been normally received, the process proceeds to S1205, and it is determined whether or not the number of times it has been determined that the MFP has not been normally received is the second time. Specifically, the determination is made based on the error count initialized in S1202.

If it is determined in S1205 that it is not the second time (the first time), the process proceeds to S1206, and the error count is incremented, and then the process returns to S1203.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S1205 that it is the second time, the process proceeds to S1207 to notify the session of the stop. Further, the process proceeds to S1208, and after the abnormal end is transmitted as service status information to the multi-function peripheral 10, the main scan job process is ended.

  If it is determined in S1204 that the MFP parameters have been received normally, the process proceeds to S1213, the scanner preparation completion is notified to the session, and the process proceeds to S1209, where an input request for the data type corresponding to the job is made. Is sent to the multifunction device 10.

  In step S1210, input data from the multifunction machine 10 is received. The input data is transmitted in the process of S514 in the above-described input job (FIG. 17) executed by the control unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10.

Subsequently, in S1211, it is determined whether or not normal termination has occurred.
If it is determined in S1211 that the process has not ended normally, the process proceeds to S1208, and the abnormal end is transmitted as service status information to the multi-function peripheral 10, and then the scan job process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S1211 that the process is normally completed, the process proceeds to S1212, and the normal end is transmitted as service status information to the MFP 10, and then the scan job process is terminated.

  Next, print job processing that is activated so as to operate in parallel with the function server processing, session processing, UI job processing, and scan processing in the processing of S1010 in the session processing (FIG. 22) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. .

  When this print job process is started, first, in S1301, the MFP status information is received from the MFP 10. The MFP status information is transmitted in the process of S604 in the above-described output job (FIG. 18) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10.

In step S1302, the error count is initialized.
In step S1303, based on the parameters received in step S1104 in the UI job processing (FIG. 24), printing parameters are transmitted to the multifunction device 10 as multifunction device parameters.

  In step S1304, the MFP 10 determines whether the MFP parameter is normally received. Specifically, it is normally received when it is notified that the MFP reception status is normal reception by the processing of S609 in the output job (FIG. 18) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10. If it is determined in step S608 that the reception status of the MFP is abnormal reception, it is determined that it has not been received normally.

  If it is determined in S1304 that the MFP parameter has not been received normally, the process proceeds to S1305, and it is determined whether or not the number of times it has been determined that the MFP has not been received normally is the second time. Specifically, the determination is made based on the error count initialized in S1302.

If it is determined in S1305 that it is not the second time (the first time), the process proceeds to S1306, the error count is incremented, and the process returns to S1303.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S1305 that it is the second time, the process proceeds to S1307 to notify the session of the stop. Further, the process proceeds to S1308, and the abnormal end is transmitted as service status information to the multi-function peripheral 10, and then the print job process is ended.

  If it is determined in step S1304 that the MFP parameters have been received normally, the process advances to step S1313, the completion of print preparation is notified to the session, the process advances to step S1309, and the generated print data is sequentially added to the MFP. 10 to send.

  Subsequently, in S1310, the MFP status information from the MFP 10 is received. The MFP status information is transmitted in the process of S616 in the above-described output job (FIG. 18) executed by the control unit 11 of the MFP 10.

Subsequently, in S1311, it is determined whether or not normal termination has occurred.
If it is determined in S1311 that the job has not ended normally, the process proceeds to S1308, where the abnormal end is transmitted as service status information to the multi-function peripheral 10 and the print job processing is ended.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S1311 that the job has ended normally, the process proceeds to S1312, and the normal job is transmitted as service status information to the multi-function peripheral 10, and then this print job processing is ended.
Next, service addition processing performed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The service addition process is started when a predetermined operation is performed by the administrator of the function server 30.

  When the service addition process is started, first, in S1401, the administrator of the function server 30 performs an operation of copying the program (service software 37) of the service to be added to a predetermined directory.

Subsequently, in S1402, a process of converting the address of the program copied in S1401 into a URL is performed.
In step S1403, the administrator of the function server 30 inputs the added service title (service name).

  In step S <b> 1404, the administrator of the function server 30 inputs the added service category. Note that the category input here is one of the three categories “data storage service”, “print service”, and “copy application service” described above.

In step S1405, the title input in step S1403 and the category input in step S1404 are stored in association with the URL generated by converting the address in step S1402.
Subsequently, service registration is notified to the directory server 20 with the title, category, and URL stored in S1405. Thereafter, the service addition process is terminated.

  Next, service change processing performed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The service addition process is started when a predetermined operation is performed by the administrator of the function server 30.

When this service change process is started, first, in S1501, the administrator of the function server 30 is caused to perform an operation for changing attribute data related to the service.
In step S1502, the changed service title and category are stored in association with the URL.

In step S1503, a service change is notified to the directory server 20 with the title, category, and URL. Then, this service change process is complete | finished.
Next, service deletion processing performed by the control unit 31 of the function server 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The service addition process is started when a predetermined operation is performed by the administrator of the function server 30.

When the service deletion process is started, first, in S1601, the administrator of the function server 30 is instructed to delete by selecting attribute data.
In step S1602, the service is notified to the directory server 20 with the title, category, and URL.

In step S1603, the record is deleted from the attribute data.
In step S1604, the program corresponding to the URL (service software 37) is deleted. Thereafter, the service deletion process is terminated.

The correspondence relationship between the image processing system of the present embodiment and the image processing system of the present invention is as follows.
That is, the reading unit 13 corresponds to an image reading unit, the recording unit 14 corresponds to an image printing unit, the sound input unit 17 corresponds to a sound input unit, and the sound output unit 18 corresponds to a sound output unit. To do. Further, the processing of S103 in the multifunction peripheral processing (FIG. 12) corresponds to service request determination means, and the processing of S106 and S115 corresponds to service information requesting means, and the operation unit 12 and S108, S110 to S115. This process corresponds to service determining means. Further, the process of S201 in the session process (FIG. 14) corresponds to a service request unit. Further, the processing of S400 and S406 in the UI job (FIG. 16) corresponds to the parameter setting information requesting unit, and the operation unit 12 and the processing of S409 correspond to the parameter setting unit, and the processing of S410 and S406 is performed. The processing corresponds to parameter transmission means. The multi-function device 10 including these corresponds to an image processing apparatus.

  Further, the processing performed in accordance with the service software 37 corresponds to service execution means, and the processing of S1406 in the service addition processing (FIG. 27), the processing of S1503 in the service change processing (FIG. 28), and the service deletion processing (FIG. 29). ) Corresponds to a service notification means. And the function server 30 (part of the function server 30) provided with these corresponds to a service providing means.

  Further, the service definition information storage unit 24 of the storage unit 23 corresponds to service storage means, and the processing of S702, S703, S705 to S708 in the directory server processing (FIG. 19) corresponds to service information update means. Or the process of S704 performed after the process of S712 is equivalent to a service information transmission means. And the directory server 20 provided with these is equivalent to an information provision means.

In addition, the function server 30 (part of the function server 30) that performs the process of S1102 in the UI job process (FIG. 24) corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting unit.
As described above, the image processing system according to the present embodiment includes the multifunction device 10, the function server 30 that can execute a service in response to a request from the multifunction device 10, and information about the service that can be executed by the function server 30. And a directory server 20 that provides the function server 30 with the function server 30 based on the service definition information 25 transmitted from the directory server 20. Further, parameters necessary for executing the requested service are set based on the service I / F information 36 transmitted from the function server 30.

  For this reason, according to the present image processing system, it is possible to adapt to an environment where services are randomly increased or decreased like a general server on the Internet. That is, in the present image processing system, the type of service that can be executed by the function server 30 and the request destination can be grasped based on the service definition information 25 transmitted from the directory server 20, so the type of service and the request destination It is not necessary to register information about the information in the multifunction machine 10. For this reason, even in an environment where the number of services that can be executed by the function server 30 is frequently increased or decreased, the burden on the MFP 10 and its users can be suppressed, and the types of services that can be used are enormous. In addition, the burden of the storage area provided in the multifunction machine 10 can be suppressed. In addition, there is no problem that unnecessary information remains registered in the multifunction device 10. In addition, it is possible to reduce the burden on the multifunction machine 10 even in a situation where the specifications of parameters necessary for executing the service are changed.

  In the image processing system according to the present embodiment, the service definition information 25 and the service I / F information 36 are transmitted as a response to the request from the multifunction machine 10. Therefore, according to the present image processing system, the multifunction device 10 can receive the service definition information 25 and the service I / F information 36 without changing the setting of the broadband router 2.

  Further, in the image processing system according to the present embodiment, the service definition information 25 and the service I / F information 36 are transmitted only when a service request is made from the multifunction machine 10 to the function server 30. According to this image processing system, it is possible to prevent the service definition information 25 and the service I / F information 36 from being transmitted to the multifunction machine 10 more than necessary. As a result, the burden on the multifunction machine 10 can be reduced.

  On the other hand, in the image processing system of the present embodiment, information based on the service definition information 25 and the service I / F information 36 is displayed on the display 52 of the operation panel 12a included in the multi-function device 10 to select a service requested to the function server 30. In addition, the user of the MFP 10 is allowed to set parameters related to the service. Therefore, according to the present image processing system, it is possible to execute a service desired by the user of the multifunction machine 10.

  Further, in the image processing system of this embodiment, when a change occurs in a service executable by the function server 30, the contents are notified from the function server 30 to the directory server 20. For this reason, according to the present image processing system, it is not necessary to perform processing for examining the contents of services that can be executed by the function server 30 on the directory server 20 side, and effective information collection is possible. Can be provided to the multifunction machine 10. In particular, in a system in which services are scattered on a plurality of servers, it is difficult to investigate all services on the directory server 20 side, so that the effect of notifying from the function server 30 side is high.

  Furthermore, in the image processing system according to the present embodiment, the parameters that can be set by the service I / F information 36 are limited to a part of the parameters that can be set in the multi function device 10 according to the contents of the service. For this reason, according to this image processing system, it is possible to prevent a parameter that is not preferable to be set from being set. As a result, the service can be executed effectively.

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention can take a various form.
For example, in the image processing system of the above embodiment, the multi-function device 10 first receives the top service definition information 25 among the plurality of service definition information 25 stored in the service definition information storage unit 24 of the directory server 20. The category is selected, and then the service definition information 25 corresponding to the selected category is received and the service is selected. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, a plurality (for example, all) of service definition information 25 stored in the service definition information storage unit 24 of the directory server 20 may be received at a time.

  Further, the parameters that the service I / F information 36 requests to set are not limited to those exemplified in the above embodiment (resolution, etc.), and various parameters can be considered according to the contents of the service. For example, monochrome / color selection, toner density (print density), audio volume (volume), and the like can be given.

  Furthermore, the parameter that cannot be set by the service I / F information 36 is not limited to either a high parameter or a low parameter. For example, when the reading resolution can be set from 200 dpi, 300 dpi, and 600 dpi, 300 dpi may not be set, and 200 dpi and 600 dpi may be set.

  By the way, in the image processing system of the above-described embodiment, a configuration including one each of the multifunction machine 10, the directory server 20, and the function server 30 is illustrated. However, such a configuration is only for ease of explanation. It is only a configuration example, and the image processing system of the present invention can take various configurations other than this.

  That is, in the image processing system of the present invention, a plurality of multifunction peripherals 10 may be provided. Specifically, a plurality of MFPs 10 can receive service definition information 25 from a common directory server 20 and request a service from the common function server 30.

  In the image processing system of the present invention, a plurality of directory servers 20 may be provided. Specifically, for example, the directory server 20 that transmits the top service definition information 25 and the directory server 20 that transmits the service definition information 25 of each category may be configured as separate servers.

  Furthermore, in the image system of the present invention, a plurality of function servers 30 may be provided. Specifically, for example, the function server 30 that transmits the service I / F information 36 and the function server 30 that executes the service may be configured as separate servers. As for the function server 30 that executes the service, for example, the function server 30 that executes the session process and the function server 30 that executes the job process may be configured as separate servers. On the other hand, for a plurality of types of services, for example, a function server 30 that executes service A, a function server 30 that executes services B to D, a function server 30 that executes services E and F, and the like. Can also be configured to execute their own services. In this case, the service I / F information 36 may be such that, for example, the function server 30 that executes the service transmits the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the service. Another function server 30 may transmit.

Further, the directory server 20 and the function server 30 may be configured by a common computer.
Further, the directory server 20 and the function server 30 may be built in a part of the plurality of multifunction peripherals 10 constituting the image system.

Hereinafter, specific configuration examples 1 to 13 of the image processing system will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used for the following description, “R” indicates a router.
[Configuration example 1]
FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 1.

  As shown in the figure, the image processing system includes a multi-function peripheral A, a directory server A, a function server A, and a function server B. The multi-function device A is connected to a local area network (LAN), and the LAN is connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the directory server A, the function server A, and the function server B are each connected to the WAN via a router.

That is, this image processing system is characterized in that a plurality of function servers are provided.
In this image processing system, each of the function server A and the function server B is configured to be able to execute one or a plurality of services, and further configured to be able to transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to each service. Yes. Then, the directory server A transmits service definition information 25 about the services that can be executed by the function servers A and B to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A stores the function servers A and B according to the contents of the service desired to be requested. Request service from one. Further, the function servers A and B transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A transmits the input parameters to the function servers A and B.

Such an image processing system is effective, for example, when a plurality of service providers individually provide services.
In this image system, the multi-function device A corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server A corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A and the function server B are the services of the present invention. It corresponds to providing means and parameter setting information transmitting means.

[Configuration example 2]
FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 2.
As shown in the figure, the image processing system includes a multifunction peripheral A, a computer A having functions as a directory server A and a function server A, and a function server B. The multifunction device A is connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the computer A and the function server B are each connected to the WAN via a router.

  That is, this image processing system is characterized in that the directory server A and the function server B are constituted by a common computer A, and that a plurality of function servers are provided.

  In this image system, the function server A and the function server B are configured to be able to execute one or a plurality of services, respectively, as in the configuration example 1, and further, the service I / F information 36 corresponding to each service is stored. It is configured to be able to send. Then, the directory server A transmits service definition information 25 about the services that can be executed by the function servers A and B to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A stores the function servers A and B according to the contents of the service desired to be requested. Request service from one. Further, the function servers A and B transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A transmits the input parameters to the function servers A and B.

According to such an image processing system, since the directory server A and the function server A are configured by the common computer A, the system can be configured at low cost.
In this image system, the multi-function device A corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server A corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A and the function server B are the services of the present invention. It corresponds to providing means and parameter setting information transmitting means.

[Configuration example 3]
FIG. 32 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 3.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction device A, a multifunction device B incorporating a directory server B, a multifunction device C incorporating a function server C, a function server A, and a function server B. I have. The MFP A, the MFP B, and the MFP C are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function server A and the function server B are each connected to the WAN via a router.

  That is, this image processing system includes a plurality of multifunction peripherals, a directory server B built in the multifunction peripheral B, a function server C built in the multifunction peripheral C, and a function server. It is characterized by a plurality of points.

  In this image system, each of the function server A, the function server B, and the function server C is configured to be able to execute one or a plurality of services, and can transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to each service. It is configured. Then, the directory server B appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services that can be executed by the function servers A, B, and C to the multifunction devices A, B, and C, and the multifunction devices A, B, and C request the services that they want to request. Depending on the contents of the server, a service is requested from one of the function servers A, B, and C. Further, the function servers A, B, and C appropriately transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service to the multifunction devices A, B, and C, and the multifunction devices A, B, and C receive the input parameters. Is transmitted to the function servers A, B, and C.

  According to such an image processing system, a computer necessary for configuring the directory server B and the function server C can be eliminated, so that the system can be configured at low cost.

  In this image system, each of the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, and the directory server B corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention. The function server C corresponds to the service providing unit and the parameter setting information transmitting unit of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 4]
FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 4.
As shown in the figure, the image processing system includes a multifunction peripheral A, a multifunction peripheral F including a directory server F and a function server F, a function server A, and a function server B. The MFPs A and F are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function server A and the function server B are each connected to the WAN via a router.

  That is, this image processing system is characterized in that a plurality of multifunction devices are provided, a directory server F and a function server F are built in the multifunction device F, and a plurality of function servers are provided. Yes.

  In this image system, each of the function server A, the function server B, and the function server F is configured to be capable of executing one or a plurality of services, and can transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to each service. It is configured. Then, the directory server F appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services that can be executed by the function servers A, B, and F to the multifunction devices A and F, and the multifunction devices A and F respond to the contents of the service desired to be requested. To request a service from one of the function servers A, B, and F. Further, the function servers A, B, and F appropriately transmit service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service to the multifunction devices A and F, and the multifunction devices A and F transmit the input parameters to the function server A. , F.

  According to such an image processing system, the computer necessary for configuring the directory server F and the function server F can be eliminated, and the system can be configured at low cost.

  In the present image system, the multifunction peripherals A and F respectively correspond to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server F corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, the function server A, the function server B, and the function server. F corresponds to the service providing means and the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 5]
FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 5.
As shown in the figure, the image processing system includes a multifunction peripheral A, a directory server A, a function server A, and an I / F information server A. The multifunction device A is connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the directory server A, the function server A, and the I / F information server A are each connected to the WAN via a router. In the above configuration example, a server having a function of executing a service and a function of transmitting service I / F information 36 is referred to as a function server. However, in the following configuration example, a server executing a service is referred to as a function server. A server that transmits the service I / F information 36 is called an I / F information server.

That is, this image processing system is characterized in that a server for executing a service and a server for transmitting service I / F information 36 are provided separately.
In this image system, the directory server A transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function server A to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A stores the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Request transmission to the I / F information server A. Then, the I / F information server A transmits service I / F information 36 to the multi-function peripheral A, and the multi-function peripheral A transmits the input parameters to the function server A to request a service.

  In this image system, the multifunction device A corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server A corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A corresponds to the service providing means of the present invention. The I / F information server A corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 6]
FIG. 35 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 6.
As shown in the figure, the image processing system includes a multifunction peripheral A, a computer A incorporating a directory server A and a function server A, and an I / F information server A. The multifunction device A is connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the computer A and the I / F information server A are each connected to the WAN via a router.

  That is, in this image processing system, the server that executes the service and the server that transmits the service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and the directory server A and the function server A are shared by the computer A. It is characterized by being composed.

  In this image system, the directory server A transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function server A to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A stores the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Request transmission to the I / F information server A. Then, the I / F information server A transmits service I / F information 36 to the multi-function peripheral A, and the multi-function peripheral A transmits the input parameters to the function server A to request a service.

According to such an image processing system, since the directory server A and the function server A are configured by the common computer A, the system can be configured at low cost.
In this image system, the multifunction device A corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server A corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A corresponds to the service providing means of the present invention. The I / F information server A corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 7]
FIG. 36 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as the configuration example 7.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction peripheral A, a computer A incorporating a directory server A and an I / F information server A, and a function server A. The multifunction device A is connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the computer A and the function server A are each connected to the WAN via a router.

  That is, in this image processing system, the server that executes the service and the server that transmits the service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and the directory server A and the I / F information server A are common. It is characterized by being constituted by the computer A.

  In this image system, the directory server A transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function server A to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A stores the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Request transmission to the I / F information server A. Then, the I / F information server A transmits service I / F information 36 to the multi-function peripheral A, and the multi-function peripheral A transmits the input parameters to the function server A to request a service.

  According to such an image processing system, since the directory server A and the I / F information server A are configured by the common computer A, the system can be configured at low cost.

  In this image system, the multifunction device A corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server A corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A corresponds to the service providing means of the present invention. The I / F information server A corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 8]
FIG. 37 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 8.
As shown in the figure, the image processing system includes a multi-function peripheral A and a computer A incorporating a directory server A, an I / F information server A, and a function server A. The multifunction device A is connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the computer A is connected to the WAN via a router.

  That is, in this image processing system, a server that executes a service and a server that transmits service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and a directory server A, an I / F information server A, and a function server A And is constituted by a common computer A.

  In this image system, the directory server A transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function server A to the multifunction device A, and the multifunction device A stores the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Request transmission to the I / F information server A. Then, the I / F information server A transmits service I / F information 36 to the multi-function peripheral A, and the multi-function peripheral A transmits the input parameters to the function server A to request a service.

  According to such an image processing system, since the directory server A, the I / F information server A, and the function server A are configured by the common computer A, the system can be configured at low cost.

  In this image system, the multifunction device A corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server A corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A corresponds to the service providing means of the present invention. The I / F information server A corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 9]
FIG. 38 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 9.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction device A, a multifunction device B incorporating a directory server B, a multifunction device C incorporating a function server C, and a multifunction device incorporating an I / F information server D. Machine D, function server A, and function server B. The MFPs A, B, C, and D are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function servers A and B are each connected to the WAN via a router.

  In other words, this image processing system is provided with a plurality of multifunction peripherals, a server for executing services and a server for transmitting service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and a plurality of function servers are provided. The point that the directory server B is built in the multifunction device B, the function server C is built in the multifunction device C, and the I / F information server D is built in the multifunction device D. It is characterized by.

  In this image system, the directory server B appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function servers A, B, and C to the multifunction devices A, B, C, and D, and the multifunction devices A, B, and C. , D requests the I / F information server D to transmit the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Then, the I / F information server D appropriately transmits the service I / F information 36 to the multifunction peripherals A, B, C, and D. The multifunction peripherals A, B, C, and D are function servers corresponding to the requested service. The parameters input to A, B, and C are transmitted to request a service.

  According to such an image processing system, the computer necessary for configuring the directory server B, the function server C, and the I / F information server D can be eliminated, and the system can be configured at low cost. .

  In this image system, each of the multifunction peripherals A, B, C, and D corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, and the directory server B corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention. B and the function server C correspond to the service providing means of the present invention, and the I / F information server D corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 10]
FIG. 39 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as the configuration example 10.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction device A, a multifunction device B incorporating a directory server B and a function server B, a multifunction device C incorporating an I / F information server C, and a function server A. And a function server E. The MFPs A, B, and C are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function servers A and E are connected to the WAN via routers.

  In other words, this image processing system is provided with a plurality of multifunction peripherals, a server for executing services and a server for transmitting service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and a plurality of function servers are provided. The directory server B and the function server B are built in the multifunction device B, and the I / F information server C is built in the multifunction device C.

  In this image system, the directory server B appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function servers A, B, and E to the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C. The I / F information server C is requested to transmit the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Then, the I / F information server C transmits the service I / F information 36 to the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C as appropriate, and the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C respond to the requested services. Send the parameters entered to E and request a service.

  According to such an image processing system, a computer necessary for configuring the directory server B, the function server B, and the I / F information server C can be eliminated, so that the system can be configured at low cost. .

  In this image system, each of the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, and the directory server B corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention. The function server E corresponds to the service providing unit of the present invention, and the I / F information server C corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting unit of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 11]
FIG. 40 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as Configuration Example 11.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction peripheral A, a multifunction peripheral B incorporating a directory server B and an I / F information server B, a multifunction peripheral C incorporating a function server C, and a function server A. And a function server E. The MFPs A, B, and C are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function servers A and E are connected to the WAN via routers.

  In other words, this image processing system is provided with a plurality of multifunction peripherals, a server for executing services and a server for transmitting service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and a plurality of function servers are provided. The feature is that the directory server B and the I / F information server B are built in the multi-function device B, and the function server C is built in the multi-function device C.

  In this image system, the directory server B appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function servers A, C, and E to the multifunction devices A, B, and C, and the multifunction devices A, B, and C The I / F information server B is requested to transmit the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. The I / F information server B transmits the service I / F information 36 to the multi-function devices A, B, and C as appropriate, and the multi-function devices A, B, and C receive the function servers A, C, Send the parameters entered to E and request a service.

  According to such an image processing system, a computer necessary for configuring the directory server B, the I / F information server B, and the function server C can be eliminated, so that the system can be configured at low cost. .

  In this image system, each of the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, and the directory server B corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention. The function server E corresponds to the service providing unit of the present invention, and the I / F information server B corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting unit of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 12]
FIG. 41 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as the configuration example 12.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multifunction device A, a multifunction device B incorporating a directory server B, a multifunction device C incorporating a function server C and an I / F information server C, and a function server A. And a function server E. The MFPs A, B, and C are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function servers A and E are connected to the WAN via routers.

  In other words, this image processing system is provided with a plurality of multifunction peripherals, a server for executing services and a server for transmitting service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and a plurality of function servers are provided. The feature is that the directory server B is built in the multifunction device B, and the function server C and the I / F server C are built in the multifunction device C.

  In this image system, the directory server B appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services executable by the function servers A, C, and E to the multifunction devices A, B, and C, and the multifunction devices A, B, and C The I / F information server C is requested to transmit the service I / F information 36 corresponding to the requested service. Then, the I / F information server C transmits the service I / F information 36 to the multi-function peripherals A, B, and C as appropriate, and the multi-function peripherals A, B, and C receive the function servers A, C, and C corresponding to the requested service. Send the parameters entered to E and request a service.

  According to such an image processing system, a computer necessary for configuring the directory server B, the function server C, and the I / F information server C can be eliminated, so that the system can be configured at low cost. .

  In this image system, each of the multifunction peripherals A, B, and C corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, and the directory server B corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention. The function server E corresponds to the service providing unit of the present invention, and the I / F information server C corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting unit of the present invention.

[Configuration Example 13]
FIG. 42 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as the configuration example 13.
As shown in the figure, this image processing system includes a multi-function peripheral A, a multi-function peripheral B incorporating a directory server B, a function server B, and an I / F information server B, a function server A, and a function server E. I have. The MFPs A and B are each connected to a LAN, and the LAN is further connected to the WAN via a router (broadband router). On the other hand, the function servers A and E are connected to the WAN via routers.

  In other words, this image processing system is provided with a plurality of multifunction peripherals, a server for executing services and a server for transmitting service I / F information 36 are provided separately, and a plurality of function servers are provided. And the directory server B, the function server B, and the I / F server B are built in the multifunction device B.

  In this image system, the directory server B appropriately transmits service definition information 25 about services that can be executed by the function servers A, B, and E to the multifunction devices A and B. The I / F information server B is requested to transmit the corresponding service I / F information 36. Then, the I / F information server B appropriately transmits the service I / F information 36 to the multifunction devices A and B, and the multifunction devices A and B are input to the function servers A, B and E corresponding to the requested service. Send parameters and request services.

  According to such an image processing system, the computer necessary for configuring the directory server B, the function server B, and the I / F information server B can be eliminated, so that the system can be configured at low cost. .

  In this image system, each of the multifunction peripherals A and B corresponds to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the directory server B corresponds to the information providing means of the present invention, and the function server A, the function server B, and the function server. E corresponds to the service providing means of the present invention, and the I / F information server B corresponds to the parameter setting information transmitting means of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of an operation panel. It is explanatory drawing showing the data structure of the top service definition information. It is explanatory drawing showing the data structure of the service definition information of a copy application service. It is explanatory drawing of the screen for service selection. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) showing the data structure of the service I / F information corresponding to a translation copy service. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) showing the data structure of the service I / F information corresponding to a translation copy service. It is explanatory drawing (the 3) showing the data structure of the service I / F information corresponding to a translation copy service. It is explanatory drawing of the screen for parameter input. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining resolutions that can be normally set in a multifunction peripheral. 6 is a ladder chart for explaining a flow of communication performed between the multifunction peripheral and the function server. 6 is a flowchart of a multifunction machine process performed by a control unit of the multifunction machine. It is explanatory drawing of the selection screen of whether to select the service requested | required of a function server from a list. 6 is a flowchart of session processing performed by a control unit of the multifunction machine. 6 is a flowchart of a specified job activation process performed by the control unit of the multifunction peripheral. 5 is a flowchart of a UI job performed by a control unit of the multifunction machine. 6 is a flowchart of an input job performed by a control unit of the multifunction machine. 6 is a flowchart of an output job performed by a control unit of the multifunction machine. It is a flowchart of the directory server process which the control part of a directory server performs. It is a flowchart of the function server process which the control part of a function server performs. It is a flowchart of the service control information processing which the control part of a function server performs. It is the flowchart (the 1) of the session process which the control part of a function server performs. It is a flowchart (the 2) of the session process which the control part of a function server performs. It is a flowchart of UI job processing performed by the control unit of the function server. It is a flowchart of the scan job process which the control part of a function server performs. 6 is a flowchart of print job processing performed by a control unit of a function server. It is a flowchart of the service addition process which the control part of a function server performs. It is a flowchart of the service change process which the control part of a function server performs. It is a flowchart of the service deletion process which the control part of a function server performs. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 2. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 3. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 4. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 5. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 6. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 7. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 8. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 9. FIG. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as a configuration example 10. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as a configuration example 11. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of an image processing system as a configuration example 12; It is explanatory drawing of the image processing system as the structural example 13. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network, 2, 3, 4 ... Router, 10 ... Multifunction machine, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... Operation part, 12a ... Operation panel, 13 ... Reading part (scanner), 14 ... Recording part (printer), 15 ... Communication unit, 16 ... storage unit, 17 ... sound input unit, 18 ... sound output unit, 20 ... directory server, 21 ... control unit, 22 ... communication unit, 23 ... storage unit, 24 ... service definition information storage unit, 30 ... Function server 31 ... Control unit 32 ... Communication unit 33 ... Storage unit 34 ... Service I / F information storage unit 35 ... Service software storage unit

Claims (29)

An image processing apparatus comprising at least one of an image reading unit that reads an image and generates image data representing the image, and an image printing unit that prints an image represented by the image data;
Providing a service capable of executing a service related to at least one of image data generated by the image reading unit and image data representing an image printed by the image printing unit in response to a request from the image processing apparatus Means,
Information providing means for providing information about services executable by the service providing means to the image processing apparatus;
An image processing system comprising:
The information providing means includes
As information on services that can be executed by the service providing means , service selection information in which a plurality of service items and URLs of each service are associated, and a plurality of service selection information items and each service selection information Service storage means for storing upper selection information associated with the ID of
Service information transmitting means for transmitting the upper selection information stored in the service storage means to the image processing apparatus and transmitting the service selection information to the image processing apparatus in response to a request from the image processing apparatus. And,
The image processing apparatus includes:
Based on the higher-order selection information transmitted from the information providing means, one item is selected from a plurality of service selection information items, and transmission of service selection information with an ID associated with the selected item is transmitted. Service determining means for determining a service to be requested to the service providing means from a plurality of service items based on the service selection information transmitted from the information providing means ;
Service request means for requesting the service to the service provision means, with the URL associated with the service item determined by the service determination means as a request destination , and
The service providing means includes:
An image processing system comprising service execution means for executing a service requested by the image processing apparatus. The image processing system according to claim 1,
The image processing apparatus includes service information requesting means for requesting the information providing means to transmit the information for upper selection .
The service information transmitting unit included in the information providing unit transmits the upper selection information to the image processing apparatus when the image processing apparatus requests transmission of the upper selection information. Image processing system. The image processing system according to claim 2,
The image processing apparatus includes a service request determination unit that determines whether or not a service request is to be made to the service providing unit.
The service information requesting unit included in the image processing apparatus requests the information providing unit to transmit the information for upper selection when the service request determining unit determines that a service request is to be made. An image processing system characterized by that. The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The service determining means included in the image processing apparatus notifies the contents of the upper selection information and the service selection information transmitted from the information providing means, and determines a service requested to the service providing means. An image processing system, wherein a service requested to the service providing unit is determined by receiving an input of. The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The service providing means includes service notification means for transmitting information about services executable by the service providing means to the information providing means,
The information providing unit updates service information stored in the service storage unit based on information about a service executable by the service providing unit transmitted from the service providing unit. An image processing system comprising an updating means. The image processing system according to claim 5.
The service notification means included in the service providing means transmits information about the service to the information providing means when a change occurs in a service executable by the service providing means. . The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Comprising parameter setting information transmitting means for transmitting parameter setting information, which is information for requesting the setting of parameters necessary for execution of the service, to the image processing apparatus;
The image processing apparatus includes:
Parameter setting means for setting parameters based on the parameter setting information;
Parameter transmitting means for transmitting the parameter set by the parameter setting means to the service providing means, and
The service execution means included in the service providing means is configured to execute a service requested from the image processing apparatus based on parameters transmitted by the parameter transmission means included in the image processing apparatus. An image processing system. The image processing system according to claim 7,
The image processing apparatus includes a parameter setting information request unit that requests the parameter setting information transmission unit to transmit the parameter setting information,
The parameter processing information transmitting unit transmits the parameter setting information to the image processing device when the transmission of the parameter setting information is requested from the image processing device . The image processing system according to claim 8.
The parameter setting information request unit included in the image processing apparatus requests the parameter setting information transmission unit to transmit the parameter setting information when a service request is made by the service request unit. An image processing system. The image processing system according to any one of claims 7 to 9,
The parameter setting means included in the image processing apparatus sets the parameters by notifying the contents of the parameter setting information transmitted from the parameter setting information transmitting means and receiving an input for setting the parameters. An image processing system. The image processing system according to any one of claims 7 to 10,
The image processing system, wherein the parameter setting information requests setting of a parameter relating to at least one of the image reading unit and the image printing unit included in the image processing apparatus . The image processing system according to claim 11.
The image processing system, wherein the parameter for which setting is requested by the parameter setting information is a part of parameters that can be set in the image processing apparatus . The image processing system according to claim 12.
The parameter setting information is an image processing system characterized in that , of the parameters that can be set in the image processing apparatus, some parameters whose parameter values are low cannot be set . The image processing system according to claim 12 or 13,
The parameter setting information is an image processing system characterized in that , of the parameters that can be set in the image processing apparatus, some of the parameters having a high parameter value cannot be set . The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
The image processing apparatus includes at least one of a sound input unit that inputs sound and a sound output unit that outputs sound,
The service providing means can execute a service related to at least one of the sound input by the sound input means and the sound output by the sound output means in response to a request from the image processing apparatus. An image processing system. The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The image processing system, wherein the information providing unit and the service providing unit are configured by a common computer . The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A plurality of the image processing devices;
An image processing system characterized in that the information providing means is partially or entirely built in a part of the plurality of image processing apparatuses . The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A plurality of the image processing devices;
The information providing means and the service providing means are all or part of the configuration, being a part of the plurality of image processing apparatuses and being built in a common image processing apparatus. A featured image processing system. The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 15,
A plurality of the image processing devices;
An image processing system, wherein all or part of the service providing means is built in a part of the plurality of image processing apparatuses . The image processing system according to any one of claims 7 to 14,
A plurality of the image processing devices;
4. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein all or part of the parameter setting information transmitting means is built in a part of the plurality of image processing apparatuses . The image processing apparatus which comprises the image processing system of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 15. An image processing apparatus comprising at least one of an image reading unit that reads an image and generates image data representing the image, and an image printing unit that prints an image represented by the image data;
Providing a service capable of executing a service related to at least one of image data generated by the image reading unit and image data representing an image printed by the image printing unit in response to a request from the image processing apparatus Means,
Information providing means for providing information about services executable by the service providing means to the image processing apparatus;
With
The information providing means is
As information on services that can be executed by the service providing means, service selection information in which a plurality of service items and URLs of each service are associated, and a plurality of service selection information items and each service selection information Service storage means for storing upper selection information associated with the ID of
Service information transmitting means for transmitting the upper selection information stored in the service storage means to the image processing apparatus and transmitting the service selection information to the image processing apparatus in response to a request from the image processing apparatus. And,
The image processing apparatus constituting the image processing system, wherein the service providing means includes service execution means for executing a service requested from the image processing apparatus,
Based on the higher-order selection information transmitted from the information providing means, one item is selected from a plurality of service selection information items, and transmission of service selection information with an ID associated with the selected item is transmitted. Service determining means for determining a service to be requested to the service providing means from a plurality of service items based on the service selection information transmitted from the information providing means;
Service requesting means for requesting the service to the service providing means with the URL associated with the service item determined by the service determining means as a request destination;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus according to claim 22,
All or part of the information providing means is built in.
An image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus according to claim 22,
All or part of the information providing means and the service providing means are built in.
An image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus according to claim 22,
An image processing apparatus comprising a part or all of the service providing means . 16. A server that functions as a service providing unit that constitutes the image processing system according to claim 1. A server that functions as information providing means constituting the image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer including the service storage unit to realize the functions as the service information transmitting unit and the service information updating unit in the image processing system according to claim 5. The program for making a computer implement | achieve the function as the said service execution means in the image processing system of any one of Claim 5 thru | or 7, and the said service notification means.

Images