JP5140553B2 - Information processing apparatus and image forming system including the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that copies setting information of a copy source to one or more image forming apparatuses via a network, and an image forming system including the information processing apparatus.

  When installing a new image forming device, it is necessary to set network settings, fax address, e-mail address, scan transmission address, etc. in order to use the copy, printer, scan, fax and other functions of the device. There is. When summing up the number of used sheets or limiting the number of used sheets for each department, it is also necessary to set department information, a limited number of sheets for each department, and the like.

Patent Document 1 below discloses a method of copying setting information between networks where an image forming apparatus is installed.
JP 2007-241582 A

  However, since the setting information set in the image forming apparatus is copied to another image forming apparatus as it is, it may be necessary to change the setting information in each of the plurality of copied image forming apparatuses after copying. This is cumbersome and requires a long time for setting.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such problems, an object of the present invention includes an information processing apparatus capable of shortening the required setting time by copying more appropriate copy source setting information to one or more image forming apparatuses, and the information processing apparatus. To provide an image forming system.

In a first aspect of the present invention comprises an input means and storage means, in an information processing device coupled to the plurality of image forming apparatus and monitor the network,
The copy source setting information stored in the storage means is edited according to the operation of the input means, and the copy destination image forming apparatus selected by the input means is requested to change the setting information with the edited contents. Setting information copy mediating means.

  In a second aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the first aspect, the setting information copy mediating means requests the copy source image forming apparatus selected by the input means to obtain setting information, and It is stored in the storage means as the copy source setting information.

  In a third aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the first aspect, the setting information copy mediating means requests the copy source image forming apparatus selected by the input means to obtain setting information, and The file is made according to the operation of the input means, and is stored in the storage means as the copy source setting information.

In a fourth aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the third aspect, the file includes setting information together with an identifier thereof.
When the copy source setting information is a file, the setting information copy mediating means stores only the edited portion as a file after editing and stores it in the storage means. Are overwritten with the setting information of the identifier corresponding to the contents of the other file selected in accordance with the operation of the input means.

In a fifth aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the setting information is divided into a plurality of groups.
The setting information copy mediating means selects a copy target group from the plurality of groups according to the operation of the input means,
The setting information acquired from the copy source image forming apparatus is the setting information of the selected group.

In a sixth aspect of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the setting information copy mediating means comprises:
According to the operation of the input means, one or more copy destination image forming apparatuses are selected,
According to the operation of the input means, a copy target is selected from the plurality of groups,
According to the operation of the input means, an image forming apparatus or a file is selected as a copy source.
Processing is performed in this order.

  According to the configuration of the first aspect, since the setting information is edited before the setting information is requested to be changed to the copy destination image forming apparatus, the setting information is changed in each image forming apparatus after the setting information is changed for a plurality of image forming apparatuses. There is no need to correct the setting, and the time required for setting can be shortened.

  According to the configuration of the second aspect, even when the setting information is copied from the image forming apparatus to another image forming apparatus, the editing can be performed and the effect can be obtained.

  According to the configuration of the third aspect, even when the setting information is acquired from the image forming apparatus, temporarily stored in a file, and then the content is copied to another image forming apparatus, the editing is performed. By performing storage in this file at an appropriate time, it is possible to reduce the number of objects to be edited and further reduce the required setting time.

  According to the configuration of the fourth aspect described above, only the edited portion is filed and can be combined with other files that are arbitrarily specified, so various files can be combined by combining small files with other files, As a result, it is possible to reduce the necessary storage area and to further shorten the required setting time.

  According to the configuration of the fifth aspect, since the setting information of the copy destination image forming apparatus is changed with the setting information of the group selected from the plurality of groups, the necessary setting information can be selectively copied. As a result, more copy destination image forming apparatuses can be selected, and the setting information can be efficiently copied.

  According to the configuration of the sixth aspect, since the copy destination image forming apparatus, the group of setting information, and the copy source are selected in this order, the diversity that the copy source may be not only the image forming apparatus but also the setting information file. Even if there is a variety, even if there is a variety that the copy source can be edited, the copy source will be selected after getting used to the processing, so the operability is good and the user feels complicated The effect is that it gives a sense of convenience due to diversity.

  Other objects, configurations and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In this system, the image forming apparatuses 201 to 204, the PCs 30 and 31, and the management apparatus 40 are coupled to the LAN 10, and the PCs 30 and 31 can selectively use any one of the image forming apparatuses 201 to 204, respectively. In addition, the management device 40 manages the users of the image forming apparatuses 201 to 204, the number of sheets used, the remaining amount of toner, and errors. Further, the management setting information is changed to each of the image forming apparatuses 201 to 204 so that the management can be performed locally in each of the image forming apparatuses 201 to 204 even if the management apparatus 40 fails temporarily.

  For example, by newly introducing the image forming apparatuses 202 to 204, among the various setting information set in the existing image forming apparatus 201, setting information can be copied by copying what can be copied to the image forming apparatuses 202 to 204. Simplify.

  In this case, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 204 can access the setting information using both SNMP and SOAP protocols, but any of the image forming apparatuses 201 to 203 can access the setting information using only SNMP.

  In the first embodiment, as will be described in detail below, the management apparatus 40 mediates a copy of the setting information, and an access protocol is selected according to the type of the image forming apparatus so that it can be accessed efficiently.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 204. In this image forming apparatus 204, the MPU 21 is coupled to the ROM 23, RAM 24, HDD 25, operation panel input device 26, scanner display device 27, printer network interface 28, network interface 29, and FAX 2A via the interface 22. In FIG. 10, a plurality of types of interfaces are represented by one block interface 22 for simplification.

  The ROM 23 is an EEPROM, for example, a flash memory, and includes an OS (Operating System), various drivers, an operation panel input device 26, a scanner display device 27, a printer network interface 28, and a FAX 2A. An image forming apparatus side setting information access program for reading out setting information from the image forming apparatus 204 via the LAN 10 or changing the setting information of the image forming apparatus 204 And are stored. The RAM 24 is for work area, and the HDD 25 is for image data storage. The operation panel input device 26 is for operating the scanner display device 27, the printer network interface 28, and the FAX 2A, and includes a plurality of operation keys and a display unit. The scanner display device 27 is used for image file creation and image input for the printer network interface 28 and the FAX 2A. The image forming apparatus 204 is coupled to the LAN 10 via the network interface 29.

  The other image forming apparatuses in FIG. 1 are configured in the same manner as the image forming apparatus 204.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the management apparatus 40. In the management device 40, the MPU 41 is coupled to the ROM 43, RAM 44, HDD 45, input device 46, display device 47, and network interface 48 via the interface 42.

  The HDD 45 stores a virtual storage system OS, various drivers, and applications. In this application, setting information is read from an arbitrary image forming apparatus via the LAN 10, and setting information of other image forming apparatuses is thereby read. A management apparatus side setting information access program for changing the password is included. The ROM 43 stores a bootstrap for loading the OS in the HDD 45 onto the RAM 44. The input device 46 includes, for example, a keyboard and a pointing device. The management device 40 is coupled to the LAN 10 via the network interface 48.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus side setting information access program.

  The MIB (management information base) 50 stores various setting information of the image forming apparatus 204. The SNMP agent 51 selectively accesses setting information in the MIB 50 by designating an OID (object identifier) to the MIB 50. In response to the get request or set request from the management device 40, the SNMP agent 51 reads out the requested setting information from the MIB 50 via the UDP / IP protocol processing unit of the communication unit 52 and returns it to the management device 40, or The setting information is overwritten (changed) in the MIB 50.

  Here, the image forming apparatus 204 is provided with a Web server 53 so that the image forming apparatus 204 can be operated from a Web browser installed in a computer coupled to the LAN 10. The HTTP protocol is used as a transport protocol for SOAP messages that are XML documents. Based on the request URL included in the header of the SOAP HTTP request message received from the TCP / IP processing unit of the communication unit 52, the Web server 53 converts the SOAP request message included in the body of this message into a serializer / deserializer (SOAP message interpretation). (Execution engine) 54

  The serializer / deserializer 54 interprets the XML document (SOAP request message) received from the Web server 53 and based on the result, that is, based on the object identifier, the method identifier in the object, and its parameters, in the MIB access object 55. The method is called to access the MIB 50, and the result is sent to the Web server 53 as an XML document (SOAP response message).

  FIG. 9 is a partial schematic explanatory diagram of the MIB 50 corresponding to both the SNMP and SOAP protocols.

  In the MIB 50, a plurality of objects are linked in a tree shape via fields in the objects. Struct0, Struct00, Struct000,... Are class objects (instances) each including only a field.

  For example, the object Struct00 includes fields Param0, Param1, Param2,..., Each of which stores a reference value and refers to an object on the lower side of the tree. The fields Param0, Param1, Param2,... Of the object Struct0 refer to the objects Struct00, Struct01, Struct02,... Corresponding to the root node of the subtree that is the setting information group, respectively. In the objects Struct00000, Struct00001, Struct00002,... Corresponding to the leaf nodes, integer, floating point number, or character string data is stored as setting information.

  In the SNMP agent 51, as shown in FIG. Param0, Struct00. Param0, Struct000. Param0, Struct000. Param2, Struct0002. Each of Param1 is associated with numerical values 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, and OID = 0.0.0.2.1 is set to Param1 of Struct0002, that is, Struct0. Param0. Struct00. Param0. Struct000. Param0. Struct000. Param2. Struct0002. Convert to Param1.

  Similar to the SNMP agent 51, the MIB access object 55 includes a get method for reading setting information from the MIB 50 and a set method for changing setting information in the MIB 50. The MIB access object 55 is different from the SNMP agent 51 in that the identifier of any object in the tree can be directly specified as a parameter to be passed to the method without tracing the tree, and a higher-level object identifier such as Struct00 can be specified. The entire object referred to by each field, that is, the entire subtree having the object Struct00 as a root node can be accessed in a lump. For example, all setting information of the group Struct00 can be read out by using the get method get (Struct00), that is, by passing the parameter Struct00 that is also the group ID to the get method get.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic functional block diagram of the management apparatus side setting information access program.

  When SNMP is selected as the setting information copy protocol, the setting information copy control unit 60 instructs the SNMP manager 61 of the URL of the SNMP agent 51 in the copy source or copy destination image forming apparatus, the method in the SNMP agent 51, and A setting information read request (get request) or change request (set request) is made by designating OID as a parameter to be transferred to this method.

  In response to this request from the setting information copy control unit 60, the SNMP manager 61 reads the setting information from the MIB 50 via the communication unit 62, the communication unit 52 of the designated image forming apparatus, and the SNMP agent 51, or the MIB 50 Change the setting information. The SNMP manager 61 receives the read setting information via the communication unit 62 and holds it in a variable (memory).

  When SOAP is selected as the setting information copy protocol, the setting information copy control unit 60 determines whether the MIB 50 exists locally via the get method or the set method set in the MIB access proxy object 631 of the SOAP proxy object 63. The remote MIB 50 is accessed as follows. The SOAP proxy object 63 is an instance of a proxy class generated using the WSDL file of the MIB access object 55 that is a Web service.

  As described above, the access target object identifier in the MIB 50 is passed to the get method or the set method set as a parameter. In response to the call to the get method or the set method, the call information is converted into an XML document (SOAP request message) by the serializer / deserializer 632 in the SOAP proxy object 63 and passed to the Web client 64. The Web client 64 uses this as an HTTP request body, adds an HTTP header thereto, and transmits it to the serializer / deserializer 54 via the TCP / IP processing unit of the communication unit 62. The above-described operation is performed by the serializer / deserializer 54 and the MIB 50 is accessed via the MIB access object 55. In the case of reading, the result is returned to the MIB access proxy object 631 via the components 54 to 52 and 62 to 632. Then, the object identified by the parameter (object identifier) of the get method is held in the memory as the return value of the method.

  In response to a file save instruction input from the input device 46, the setting information copy control unit 60 converts the tree structure object, which is the return value, into an XML file having a corresponding structure and stores it in the HDD 45. This file can be used as copy source setting information at the time of storage. That is, the setting information can be copied from the file to the image forming apparatus. When setting information is immediately copied between image forming apparatuses, the object held in the memory is transmitted as setting information to the copy destination image forming apparatus.

  According to the first embodiment, even if the SOAP protocol is used in addition to the SNMP protocol, the MIB 50 can be accessed in the same manner as a normal local object, so that the configuration of the setting information copy control unit 60 can be prevented from being complicated. .

  FIG. 4A shows whether the SNMP protocol can be used as the setting information copy protocol of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1 and whether the SOAP protocol can be used. The table is stored in the HDD 45 of the management apparatus 40 and used in the setting information copy control unit 60 of FIG. 10 as will be described later.

  FIG. 4B shows the apparatus ID, model and IP address of each image forming apparatus in FIG. 1 and the port numbers of SNMP and SOAP. This table is information of the management apparatus 40 as communication information with the image forming apparatus. It is stored in the HDD 45 and used in the setting information copy control unit 60 of FIG. 10 as will be described later.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 5A, the setting information is divided into the groups described in FIG. 9, and the object identifier in FIG. 9 is used as the group ID for each group. Whether or not the image forming apparatus is included in the image forming apparatus, that is, the presence or absence of a function corresponding to the group is represented by a flag. In FIG. 5A, for example, the setting information of the group Struct01 is included in the models LS-C8100DN and KM-C870, but is not included in the model LS-C5030N.

  FIG. 5B shows a list in which fields in leaf node objects included in each group ID are associated with OIDs. The data in FIGS. 5A and 5B are also stored in the HDD 45 in FIG. 11 and used in the setting information copy control unit 60 in FIG. 10 as described later.

  When the management apparatus 40 selects an item “copy setting information between image forming apparatuses” on a menu screen (not shown), a screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  On this screen, a copy source selection radio button and an arbitrary number of copy destination selection check boxes are displayed for each device ID, and the administrator checks them to select any one image forming device. To which one or more image forming apparatuses to copy the setting information. Also, on this screen, a copy content detail setting button is displayed for each device ID.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing of an event handler that is started by the occurrence of a button click event on the screen of FIG. In the following, the step identification codes in the figure are shown in parentheses.

  (S0) Processing branches depending on the event generation source. That is, if the “details” button is clicked, the process proceeds to step S1. If the “start” button is clicked, the process proceeds to step S4. If the “return” button is clicked, the process proceeds to step S5. Proceed to

  (S1) If the “details” button is clicked for the device ID selected as the copy source, the process proceeds to step S2, and if the “details” button is clicked for the device ID selected as the copy destination, Proceed to step S3.

  (S2) A copy source copy content detail setting screen as shown in FIG. 7A is displayed.

  In order to be able to copy only the selected one, the setting information is divided into groups in FIG. 5A, and a check box is displayed for each group. In the initial state, all check boxes of the setting information group possessed by the device are displayed. Is checked. The administrator unchecks the group that he / she does not want to copy by clicking the check box on the pointing device. Click the “Clear All” button to remove all the checks. Groups that cannot be selected because the image forming apparatus does not have that function are grayed out and are not checked.

  When the “Return” button is clicked, the screen of FIG. 6 is restored.

  (S3) A copy destination copy content detail setting screen as shown in FIG. 7B is displayed.

  In this screen, all of the groups of setting information that the copy destination has among all the groups selected on the copy source screen are checked. For each copy destination apparatus, the administrator can select a group that is not desired to be copied and remove the check. Groups that cannot be selected because the image forming apparatus does not have the function and groups that are not selected on the screen of FIG. 7A are grayed out and are not checked.

  Such a selection screen can prevent unnecessary setting information from being copied or necessary setting information can be rewritten, and even if there are a plurality of copy destination image forming apparatuses, each copy destination image forming apparatus can It is possible to easily and efficiently select which group of setting information is to be copied. These selections themselves are independent of the copy protocol described above.

  When the “return” button is clicked on the screen of FIG. 7B, the screen of FIG.

  (S4) The setting information copy process of FIG. 3 by the setting information copy control unit 60 is started.

  (S10) The table in FIG. 4B is searched using the copy source apparatus ID selected on the screen in FIG. 6 as a key, and the copy source communication information and model are acquired.

  (S11) The table in FIG. 4A is searched using this type as a key, and the copy source protocol is determined.

  (S12) If this protocol is SOAP, the process proceeds to step S13, and if it is SNMP, the process proceeds to step S14.

  (S13) Based on the model acquired in step S10, one of a plurality of proxy classes is selected, and the SOAP proxy object 63 that is an instance of this class is generated using the communication information acquired in step S10 as a parameter. The plurality of proxy classes are created in advance based on the WSDL file of the class from which the MIB access object 55 is generated.

  (S14) For the SNMP agent 51, the communication information acquired in step S10 is set as copy destination (set request destination) information.

  The following steps S15 to S19 are performed for each setting information group selected on the screen of FIG.

  (S15) The next setting information group ID is read from the information corresponding to FIG. In the case of FIG. 7A, initially, a device system setting group, for example, Struct00 in FIG. 5A is read as a parameter.

  (S16) If “next setting information group ID” exists in step S15, the process proceeds to step S17. Otherwise, the object generated in step S13 is set to NULL, and then the process proceeds to step S20.

  (S17) If the protocol determined in step S11 is SOAP, the process proceeds to step S18, and if it is SNMP, the process proceeds to step S19.

  (S18) The parameter read in step S15 is delivered to the get method in the MIB access proxy object 631 of the SOAP proxy object 63, and this method is called. Thereby, as described above, the get method in the MIB access object 55 in the copy source image forming apparatus corresponding to the MIB access proxy object 631 is similarly called with this parameter. As a result, the object identified by this parameter is returned from the MIB 50 to the get method in the MIB access object 55 as a return value, and is then returned to the get method in the MIB access proxy object 631. Next, the process returns to step S15.

  (S19) While sequentially reading OIDs from the list identified by the parameters in FIG. 5B, the SNMP manager 61 executes a get request to the SNMP agent 51 of the copy source image forming apparatus as described above. Let Thereby, the setting information identified by the OID is read from the MIB 50 and returned to the SNMP agent 51, and further returned to the SNMP manager 61 of the management device 40. Next, the process returns to step S15.

  Hereinafter, for each copy destination apparatus ID selected on the screen of FIG. 6, the corresponding setting information is changed with the setting information acquired by the above processing.

  (S20) The table of FIG. 4B is searched using the copy destination apparatus ID selected on the screen of FIG. 6 as a key, and the communication information and model of the next copy destination are acquired.

  (S21) If “next copy destination” exists in step S20, the process proceeds to step S22, and if not, the copy process in FIG. 3 is terminated.

  (S22) Using the model acquired in step S20 as a key, the table in FIG. 4A is searched to determine the copy destination protocol.

  (S23) If this protocol is SOAP, the process proceeds to step S24, and if it is SNMP, the process proceeds to step S25.

  (S24) Based on the model acquired in step S20, one of a plurality of proxy classes is selected, and the SOAP proxy object 63 that is an instance of this class is generated using the communication information acquired in step S20 as a parameter. Next, the process proceeds to step S26.

  (S25) For the SNMP agent 51, the communication information acquired in step S20 is set as copy destination (set request destination) information.

  The following steps S26 to S30 are performed for each setting information group selected on the screen of FIG.

  (S26) The next setting information group ID is read out as a parameter from the information corresponding to FIG.

  (S27) If “next setting information group ID” exists in step S26, the process proceeds to step S28, and if not, the process returns to step S20.

  (S28) If the protocol determined in step S22 is SOAP, the process proceeds to step S29, and if it is SNMP, the process proceeds to step S30.

  (S29) The parameter read in step S26 is delivered to the set method in the MIB access proxy object 631 of the SOAP proxy object 63, and this method is called. This parameter has a reference to the corresponding object acquired in step S18. By this call, as described above, the set method in the MIB access object 55 in the copy destination image forming apparatus corresponding to the MIB access proxy object 631 is similarly called with this parameter, and this in the MIB 50 The content of the object identified by the parameter is rewritten with the content of the acquired object. Next, the process returns to step S26.

  (S30) Executing the set request to the SNMP agent 51 of the copy destination image forming apparatus as described above to the SNMP manager 61 while sequentially reading out the OIDs from the list identified by the parameters in FIG. 5B. Let Thereby, the setting information identified by this OID in the MIB 50 is rewritten with the setting information identified by OID and acquired in step S19. Next, the process returns to step S26.

  Even if the setting information copy protocol is different for each type of image forming apparatus and the combination of the group of setting information to be changed for each copy destination image forming apparatus is different, the uniform algorithm as described above, That is, setting information can be efficiently copied between image forming apparatuses with a relatively simple software configuration.

  In the first embodiment, since the copy source is the image forming apparatus, the copy source setting information is limited to that currently set in the image forming apparatus. Generally, the setting information is changed for each image forming apparatus according to the use environment. For this reason, after setting information is copied from one image forming apparatus to a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the user may have to change a part for each copy destination, which is complicated.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, a setting information copy program for solving such a problem is stored in the management device 40. In the second embodiment, since there are a variety of selections of copy sources, there is a fear that the user may be confused when the copy source is first selected. In view of this, the copy source is selected after the process is advanced and used.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in this program.

  (S30) Let the user select one or more copy destination image forming apparatuses.

  As shown in FIG. 14A, a list of a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to the LAN 10 is displayed on the selection screen. This table is used for various types of management including consumable management. Each row corresponds to an image forming apparatus, and describes an apparatus ID, a remaining toner level, a network connection state, an IP address, and the like. . When a line is clicked, the background color and the character color of that line change and the selected state is entered. When a plurality of copy destination devices are selected, the selection is performed for each click by clicking with the control key on the keyboard pressed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 14A, point to the pop-up menu, point to "Extended Function", and then point to and click "Set multiple devices". Thereby, a dialog box as shown in FIG. 14B is displayed. FIG. 15A shows a case where three copy destination image forming apparatuses are selected. The panel of this dialog box displays the identification name of the selected image forming apparatus.

  If the image forming apparatus does not exist in the table of FIG. 5A, for example, an image forming apparatus of another manufacturer, an image forming apparatus that does not have an MIB, or the MIB data format is not a predetermined one, select it as a copy destination. Can not do it. Therefore, before this dialog box is displayed, it is determined whether or not it can be selected as a copy destination, and only those that can be selected are displayed in the dialog box. FIG. 15B shows that three image forming apparatuses are selected in the list, but only one of them is selected as the copy destination.

According to the second embodiment, the list display screen of FIG. 14A is used for management of consumables, etc., or for selecting a print target, and for selecting a setting information copy destination image forming apparatus. The display is displayed on a larger screen than the dialog box, and the actually selected copy destination image forming apparatus is displayed in the dialog box, so that it is easy to understand and has good operability.

  (S31) When the “Next” button arranged at the bottom of this dialog box is clicked, the process proceeds to step S32, and when the “Cancel” button is clicked, the processing of FIG. 13 is canceled and the process ends.

  (S32) The setting information group selection screen described in FIG. 7 is displayed in a dialog box as shown in FIG. Unlike the case of FIG. 7, each group is common to the copy source and the copy destination, and more copy destination image forming apparatuses can be selected, and in combination with the editing function described later, To avoid complication, only one group can be selected. Only the setting information group possessed by any of the image forming apparatuses selected in step 30 can be selected. This is determined with reference to the table in FIG. 5A, and the groups that cannot be selected are grayed out.

  (S33) When the “Next” button arranged at the bottom of this dialog box is clicked, the process proceeds to step S34. When the “Cancel” button is clicked, the processing of FIG. 13 is terminated, and when the “Back” button is clicked, The process returns to step S30.

  (S34) As shown in FIG. 16B, a setting information source selection screen is displayed in the dialog box. The user can select one of “create from device”, “create from file”, and “create new”. “Create from device” means that setting information read from the image forming apparatus is used for copying, as in the first embodiment. “Create from file” means a setting information file stored in the HDD 45 in advance. Is read out and used for copying. “New creation” means that a setting information file is newly created. As will be described later, since the setting information can be edited before copying to another image forming apparatus, “Select as template” is described in this dialog box.

  (S35) If the “Next” button arranged at the bottom of this dialog box is clicked, the process proceeds to step S36. If the “Cancel” button is clicked, the processing of FIG. 13 is terminated, and if the “Back” button is clicked, The process returns to step S32.

  (S36) If the setting information source selected in step S34 is an image forming apparatus, the process proceeds to step S37. If it is a file, the process proceeds to step S38. If it is a new measure, the process proceeds to step S39. .

  (S37) As shown in FIG. 17A, a copy source image forming apparatus selection screen is displayed in a dialog box. The main panel of this dialog box displays a list of image forming apparatuses that can be selected as copy sources, and each row corresponds to one image forming apparatus coupled to the LAN 10. When a line is clicked, the background color and character color of that line change as described above, and a selected state is entered. Next, the process proceeds to step S40.

  The image forming apparatus that can be selected as the copy source is an image forming apparatus that includes the setting information of the group selected in step S32, and is determined with reference to the table of FIG.

  (S38) As shown in FIG. 17B, a file selection screen is displayed in the dialog box. On the main panel, the file path is displayed by selecting the file after clicking the browse button to display the file list dialog. Is automatically entered in the text box. Before displaying the file in the file list dialog, it is determined whether or not the file includes the setting information of the group selected in step S32, and only the included file is displayed in the file list dialog.

  If two files are selected, both contents are combined in step S41.

Next, the process proceeds to step S40.

  (S39) A predetermined template file is read, and a display similar to an editing screen described later is performed. The user directly inputs information to be changed among the default setting information, or selects data from the selection list to make a change, create a new copy source file, and store it in the HDD 45. This file can be selected in step S38.

  (S40) When the “Next” button arranged at the bottom of this dialog box is clicked, the process proceeds to step S41. When the “Cancel” button is clicked, the processing of FIG. 13 is terminated, and when the “Back” button is clicked, The process returns to step S34.

  (S41) When the copy source is an image forming apparatus, the setting information is read and stored in the memory in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and when the copy source is a file, the content is read. And stored in memory. The contents of this memory are used as the clone creation source S in step S44. When two files are selected in step S38, the contents of the file with the lower file name are shown in FIG. 20B with respect to the contents of the upper file name in the dialog box of FIG. As shown, it is overwritten and synthesized on the memory and used as a clone creation source. This overwriting is performed element by element for elements having the same id attribute value in the XML file.

  (S42) A confirmation screen for the above setting (selection) as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed in the dialog box.

  (S43) If the “Edit Settings” button located at the bottom of this dialog box is clicked, the process proceeds to step S44. If the “Save File” button is clicked, the process proceeds to step S47. Proceeding to S48, if the “return” button is clicked, the process returns to step S36, and if the “cancel” button is clicked, the process returns to step S32.

  (S44) The clone creation source S is copied to generate a clone C, and a setting information editing screen as shown in FIG. 19A is displayed in a dialog box based on the contents of the clone. FIG. 19B shows a state in which the main panel is scrolled in this dialog box. Clicking on the triangle icon at the left end displays detailed setting information for that item between the next setting items using the accordion method. The user inputs the setting information to be changed directly or changes the data by selecting data from the selection list. The edited content is reflected in clone C.

  (S45) If a “determine” button (not shown) arranged at the bottom of this dialog box is clicked, the process proceeds to step S46, and if the “cancel” button is clicked, the process of FIG.

  (S46) The contents of clone C after editing and the contents of clone creation source M are compared, and the contents of only the changed part are saved as an XML file (edited part file). Prior to saving, the file name is assigned based on user input or automatically. FIG. 20A shows a specific example of the contents of this XML file. The id attribute in FIG. 20A matches that of the corresponding element stored in step S47. Next, the clone creation source M is replaced with clone C (M = C), and the process returns to step S42.

  This edited portion file is used as the lower file described in step S41.

  (S47) The contents of the clone creation source M are stored in the HDD 45 as an XML file. Prior to saving, the file name is assigned based on user input or automatically. Next, the process returns to step S42.

  (S48) With the contents of the clone creation source M, the setting information of the copy destination image forming apparatus is changed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the processing in FIG.

  The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the second embodiment, since a file can be selected as a copy source, the setting information is changed to a standard one before the setting information is changed according to the use environment or the setting information is changed according to the use environment. The setting information at that time can be saved in a file, and the contents can be copied to a newly introduced image forming apparatus. In addition, the setting information read from the image forming apparatus or the file can be edited before being copied to another image forming apparatus.

  With such a function, it is possible to avoid the complexity that the user changes a part of each copy destination after setting information is copied from one image forming apparatus to a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  In addition, since the copy source with a variety of selections is selected last, that is, the copy source is selected after getting used to the processing, it is easy to operate and convenient due to diversity without giving the user a sense of complexity. It gives a feeling. Since editing is for the copy source and has more diversity due to the addition of editing functions, the selection order as described above provides better operability and a sense of convenience due to diversity without giving the user a sense of complexity. The effect of giving is enhanced.

  Further, only the edited contents are stored in the file in step S46, and if this is selected in step S38, the standard file contents are combined with the memory in step S41, so that the increase in the file capacity as a whole can be suppressed. At the same time, it is possible to confirm what kind of changes are made to the standard setting information, and it is easy to use. In addition, the editing contents of the past can be reused in a little editing or a change in the standard setting information, and the operability in copying the setting information is improved, and one or more standard files and one or more standard files are improved. Diversity can be realized by combining with the editing part file.

  Note that the present invention includes various other modifications.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the setting information copy is mediated by the management apparatus 40 has been described, but it is needless to say that the configuration may be such that the setting information copy is mediated by each of the PCs 30 and 31.

  Alternatively, only one file may be selected in step 38, and only the file with the edited contents may be left (overwritten) in step S46 without leaving the partial edit file. Furthermore, although the case where “cancel” is all cancellations has been described with reference to FIG. 13, it is a matter of course that the configuration may include a previous cancellation.

  When the SOAP protocol is used, the MIB 50 may be accessed by directly passing Struct 00000, Struct 00001, Struct 00002,... Corresponding to the leaf nodes shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, instead of using SOAP, the configuration uses RPC (Remote Procedure Invocation) technology such as CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture), COM (Component Object Model) or Java (registered trademark) RMI (Remote Method Invocation). There may be.

  Moreover, the structure which produces | generates the proxy of the object which contains not only the MIB access object 55 but MIB50 on the management apparatus 40 side may be sufficient.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing of an event handler started when a click event of a button on the screen of FIG. 6 occurs. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure by a setting information copy control unit of the management apparatus in FIG. 1. (A) is an explanatory diagram of a table showing available setting information copy protocols for each type of image forming apparatus, and (B) is an explanatory diagram of a table showing the type and communication information for each apparatus ID. (A) is an explanatory diagram of a table indicating presence / absence of setting information for each type of image forming apparatus and for each setting information group ID, and (B) is an explanatory diagram of a list in which field names and OIDs are associated with each setting information group. is there. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a setting screen for a setting information copy function between image forming apparatuses. FIG. 6 is a screen displayed in response to clicking the “Detail” button on the screen of FIG. 6, (A) is a copy source copy content detailed setting screen explanatory diagram, and (B) is a copy destination copy content detailed setting screen description FIG. It is a schematic functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus side setting information access program. It is a partial schematic explanatory drawing of MIB corresponding to both the protocol of SNMP and SOAP. It is a general | schematic functional block diagram of the management apparatus side setting information remote access program. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the management apparatus in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence by the setting information copy control part of the management apparatus which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. 13 is a management apparatus display screen for explaining the processing of step S30 in FIG. 13, wherein (A) shows a list of a plurality of image forming apparatuses as management targets connected to the LAN and forms copy destination images. FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a state during device selection, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a dialog box displaying one image forming device selected as a copy destination and a button for transitioning to the next screen. FIG. 13A is a management apparatus display screen for explaining the processing in step S30 in FIG. 13, in which (A) displays three image forming apparatuses selected as copy destinations and buttons for transitioning to the next screen. FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a dialog box, and FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a case where only one of three image forming apparatus selection candidates is selected. (A) And (B) is a figure which shows the management apparatus display screen for demonstrating the process of FIG.13 S32 and S34, respectively. (A) And (B) is a figure which shows the management apparatus display screen for demonstrating the process of FIG.13 S37 and S38, respectively. It is a figure which shows the management apparatus display screen for demonstrating the process of step S42 of FIG. (A) And (B) is a figure which shows the management apparatus display screen for demonstrating the process of FIG.13 S44. (A) is a diagram showing the contents of the XML file saved in the process of step S46 in FIG. 13, and (B) is an explanatory diagram when this XML file is combined with another XML file in step S38.

Explanation of symbols

10 LAN
201-204 Image forming apparatus 21, 41 MPU
22, 42 Interface 23, 43 ROM
24, 44 RAM
25, 45 HDD
26 Input device 27 Display device 28, 49 Network interface 30, 31 PC
40 Management device 50 MIB
51 SNMP Agent 52, 62 Communication Unit 53 Web Server 54, 632 Serializer / Deserializer 55 MIB Access Object 60 Setting Information Copy Control Unit 61 SNMP Manager 63 SOAP Proxy Object 631 MIB Access Proxy Object 64 Web Client

Claims (4)

In an information processing apparatus that includes an input unit, a storage unit, and a setting information copy mediating unit, and a plurality of image forming apparatuses are coupled to a network, the setting information copy mediating unit includes:
(A) selecting one or more copy destination image forming apparatuses according to the operation of the input means;
(B) According to the operation of the input means, select a group to be copied from the setting information divided into a plurality of groups,
(C) According to the operation of the input unit, an image forming apparatus or a file is selected as a copy source,
(D) When an image forming apparatus is selected as the copy source, a request is made to the selected copy source image forming apparatus via the network to acquire the setting information;
(E) Edit part of the contents of the file in process (c) or part of the setting information acquired in process (d) according to the operation of the input means,
(F) Contents after the setting information of the group selected in the process (b) among the setting information requested from the copy destination image forming apparatus selected in the process (a) is edited in the process (e) Let me change
An information processing apparatus characterized by performing the processes in this order . The contents after editing in the process (e) in the process (f) are obtained by combining both files by overwriting the corresponding contents with the contents of the file including only the edited parts. Is a file,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. Both the unedited file and the file containing only the edited part are XML files.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. Image forming system characterized by the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a plurality of image forming apparatus is coupled to the network.