JPH09282154A - Device operation control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce man-hour for preparing a program by simulating the operation manipulation of a user on a computer system regardlessly of structure or APT inside a device, converting this operation to a program and preparing the program of remote control. SOLUTION: The operation similar to a desired operation to be performed on facsimile equipment 2 is performed on a display part 14 on a computer system 1. In such a case, a real button existent on the facsimile 2 is not pushed but since a picture is displayed on the computer system 1, the operation is performed by a dummy method such as a click on a displayed button while using a mouse or the like. Then, at an operation program generating part 16, information concerning a panel operation is extracted from the interface of an operation simulation part 15 and the display part 14 and converted to the program executable on the facsimile equipment 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for enabling an operation of a device to be performed by another device, and more particularly, transmitting information simulating the operation of the device from another device. Thus, the present invention relates to a device operation control system that allows the device to be operated remotely.

It is sometimes necessary to operate a certain device from a remote place or to carry out an automated operation. In such a case, by sending the operation information of the operation unit as a program when the operation of the operation unit of the device is simulated by another device, the operation based on the transmitted program in the device. , It is required to be able to perform the same operations simulated by other devices.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to operate a device at a remote place, a program for operating the device is transmitted to the device, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-227566. By exchanging and executing this, remote operation was realized.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the prior art, and shows a configuration for operating a conventional device at a remote place in the case of the above-mentioned known example. In FIG. 4, a case is shown in which the facsimile device 2 is operated from the computer device 1.

In FIG. 4, the facsimile apparatus 2 includes a modulation / demodulation unit 21 for modulating transmission data and demodulation of reception data, a communication control unit 22 for controlling communication with the outside, and communication data. A data storage unit 23 for storing the data, a program storage unit 24 for storing a program for controlling the facsimile apparatus 2, and a main control unit for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus 2 by the stored program. 25, an operation panel 26 for inputting an operation to the facsimile device 2, and an operation panel 26.
And an operation panel control unit 27 for controlling the operation and transmitting operation information to the main control unit 25.

Further, the facsimile apparatus 2 has a scanner for reading an image and taking it into the apparatus, a printer for printing the image, and image data from the scanner unit which are compressed or received for communication. An image data conversion unit and the like that expands the compressed image data for printing are provided.

On the other hand, the computer apparatus 1 includes a storage section 10 for storing a program, an input / output section 11 for inputting the program, a communication control section 13 for transmitting the program to the facsimile apparatus 2, and the whole of these. And a control unit 12 for controlling the.

Next, the operation of the system shown in FIG. 4 will be described. In the computer device 1, a program for remotely operating the facsimile device 2 is input from the input / output unit 11. The input program is temporarily stored in the storage unit 10. Next, this program stored in the storage unit 10 is transmitted to the facsimile apparatus via the communication control unit 13. These processes are controlled by the control unit 12.

In the facsimile apparatus 2, the communication control section 22
When the data communication of the program transmitted from the computer device 1 is received via the
Input to 1 and demodulate. Then, the demodulated received data is temporarily stored in the data storage unit 23. Then, after confirming that the received data is the same as the data of the program transmitted from the computer device 1, the program from the data storage unit 23 is rewritten by the data from the data storage unit 23. Then, the process ends.

After that, the main control section 25 for controlling each section
Restarts by calling and executing this program stored in the program storage unit 24.

[0011]

The first problem in the prior art shown in FIG. 4 is that it takes a lot of time to create a program for remote operation.

The reason is that, in general, the program of the device is complicated and its scale tends to be large, and the program cannot be created without knowledge of the internal structure of the device. . Especially for software, it is necessary to have knowledge of the application interface (hereinafter abbreviated as API) of the device, and it takes man-hours to understand it.

As described above, since it takes a lot of time to create a program, it is difficult to newly create or modify the program, and the range of operations that can be performed by remote operation on a remote device is limited. Will be.

The second problem is that when a remote-controlled program is updated, if the program does not operate as intended due to an error in the program to be updated or an exceptional state of the device, the device will not operate. This means a fatal state, and in the worst case, the system may go down.

The reason for this is that when an error occurs, such as changing the program that operates the control device that directly operates the device, a fatal state occurs, and in the worst case, the system is likely to go down. This is because the program is updated by remote control even for the part.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve such a problem of the prior art, and an object thereof is to allow a user to perform an operation operation on a computer device regardless of the internal structure and API of the device. By simulating and converting this operation into a program,
A remote control program is created so that the number of man-hours for creating the program can be reduced.

Another object of the present invention is that even if there is an error in the operation program, it falls within the error range of the operation, so that it is possible to reduce the influence on the device which may lead to the system down, and the remote control. It is to improve reliability when operating the operation program.

Still another object of the present invention is that the program for controlling the direct operation does not require a special module for controlling the program for remote control, and therefore the scale of the program for remote control can be reduced. It is to be able to keep the program memory small.

[0019]

According to the computer device of the present invention, the operation of an operation desired to be performed on a device at a remote place is controlled by the computer on the display section of the operation panel of the device and the operation panel. The operation of the operation is realized by the simulation using the device simulation section, the information of the operation is extracted from these, and this is converted into an executable program by the operation program generation section.

In the remote device, the operation program conversion unit converts this program into operation information, and the operation panel control unit executes this operation in the same manner as the operation of the operation panel by this operation information.

According to the present invention, an operation performed on a device at a remote place is realized by a simulation on a computer device and converted into a program. Therefore, it is not necessary to program the program to be run on this device, and the program can be easily created and edited.

Further, on this apparatus, the operation program is converted into operation information and the operation is executed. Therefore, the program received from the outside is not the program that actually operates each part of the device but the program that operates the operation panel control unit for controlling the operation panel. It is possible to avoid the occurrence of a situation where it becomes impossible, and reliability is improved.

Further, since only the control of the operation panel is performed, a special module for controlling a program for remote operation is not required, and the scale of the program memory can be made smaller than before.

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention. Hereinafter, specific means for solving the problems of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) A first device 1 for remote operation and a second device 2 remotely operated by the first device 1 are provided. Moreover, the first device 1 stores the operation information input means 3 for inputting the operation information for the second device 2 and the operation information input by the operation information input means 3 into the second information.
In addition to the program conversion means 4 for converting into a program that realizes the operation function of the device 2 and the transmission means 5 for transferring the program generated by the program conversion means 4 to the second device 2, The device 2 receives the program transferred from the transmitting means 5 by the receiving means 6
An operation information converting means 7 for converting the received program into operation information for the own device, and an operation function executing means 8 for executing an operation function for the own device according to the operation information.
It is equipped with and.

(2) In the case of (1), the first device 1
A device for simulating the operation in the second device 2 by instructing the display unit 14 that displays an image corresponding to the operation panel 26 in the device 2 and the operation site on the display unit 14, and extracting the operation information. Simulation part 1
5, an operation program generator 16 for converting the operation information into an operation program, and the operation program for the second device 2
A communication device for transmitting the operation program transferred from the computer device 1, wherein the second device 2 receives the operation program transferred from the computer device 1.
A facsimile device is provided with an operation program conversion unit 28 that converts the received operation program into operation information, and an operation panel control unit 27 that executes an operation function for the own device according to the operation information. .

(3) In the case of (1), the first device is the facsimile device 3, the operation panel 36 is equivalent to the operation panel of the second device, and the operation extracted from the operation on the operation panel 36. An operation program conversion unit 38 for converting information into an operation program and a communication control unit 32 for transferring the operation program to the second device are provided, and the second
Of the facsimile apparatus 2, the communication control unit 22 that receives the transferred operation program, the operation program conversion unit 28 that converts the received operation program into operation information, and the operation function for the own apparatus by this operation information. And an operation panel control unit 27 for executing the operation.

[0028]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, a facsimile machine will be described as an example of the operated device in a remote place.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates an example of operating the facsimile apparatus 2 from the computer apparatus 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, there is a facsimile device 2 capable of transmitting / receiving data such as a program to / from a computer device 1 capable of simulating the operation of the facsimile device and executing this program. It is assumed that the computer device 1 and the facsimile device 2 can send and receive a program through a communication line such as a telephone line or a local area network.

The computer device 1 has a control unit 12 and a communication control unit 13 similar to the case of FIG. 5, and a display unit 14 for displaying an operation panel simulating the operation of the facsimile apparatus 2, and this display. A device simulation unit 15 that controls the operation panel of the unit 14 to actually simulate the operation of the facsimile device 2; an operation program generation unit 16 that converts the operation information captured from the device simulation unit 15 into an operation program; The storage unit 17 stores the operation program.

The facsimile apparatus 2 is similar to that shown in FIG. 5, including a modulation / demodulation unit 21, a communication control unit 22, a data storage unit 23, a program storage unit 24, a main control unit 25, an operation panel 26, and An operation program control unit 27 having an operation panel control unit 27, which analyzes a remote operation program transmitted from the computer apparatus 1 and converts it into operation information of the facsimile apparatus 2, and stores an operation program, It has an operation program storage unit 29 for temporarily storing the converted operation information.

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, in order to realize the operation of the facsimile device 2 by simulation, the computer device 1 artificially creates an operating environment similar to that of the operation panel 26 of the facsimile device 2. For example, if the operation panel of the facsimile apparatus 2 is a touch panel, a touch panel similar to this operation panel is displayed on the screen. Then, the same operation as the operation desired to be performed on the facsimile apparatus 2 is similarly performed on the display unit 14 on the computer apparatus 1. In this case, the screen is displayed on the computer device 1 instead of pressing the actual button as on the facsimile device 2. Therefore, the mouse is used to click on the displayed button. Operate in a pseudo method such as.

By controlling this operation by the device simulation section 15, if the button is pressed,
When the button such as a number is pressed, the operation of displaying the pressed number is performed.
In other words, it manages the current state of the operation panel. The operation program generation unit 16 takes out information about the panel operation from the interface between the device simulation unit 15 and the display unit 14 and converts it into a program that can be executed by the facsimile apparatus 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates the mechanism of operation information conversion according to the present invention. FIG. 3 exemplifies a case where the display unit 14 and the device simulation unit 15 are interfaced using a message format.

FIG. 3 illustrates the information interface when the button A is pressed. As the actual display on the display unit 14 shown in FIG. 2, the button'A 'b1, the button'B' b2, and the button'C 'b.
3. There is b4 to display the character.

In state a1, a message indicating that b1 is pressed is sent from the display section 14 to the device simulation section 15 in state a2, and a message indicating that b1 is released. In response to this, in the state a3,
A message indicating that "A" is displayed is transmitted from the device simulation section 15 to the display section 14, and "A" is displayed at b4.

In the exchange of these three messages,
In the operation program generation unit 16, the operation information, the message in the state a1 and the message in the state a2,
It is converted into an operation program called "press A button".

The operation program converted and created by the device simulation section 15 is stored in the storage section 17. Then, after the communication controller 13 connects the line to the facsimile device 2, the program is transferred to the facsimile device 2.

In the facsimile device 2, the communication control unit 22
The received operation program is transferred to the operation program storage unit 29 via. At the same time as this transfer is performed, the operation input from the operation panel 26 is prohibited. This is to prevent the operation information from the operation program conversion unit 28 and the operation information from the operation panel 26 from being mixed.

The operation program conversion unit 28 sequentially converts the programs stored in the operation program storage unit 29 into operation information and outputs it to the operation panel control unit 27 instead of the operation information from the operation panel 26. . This is almost the reverse of what was described with reference to FIG. This operation information is indistinguishable from the information from the operation panel 26 to the operation panel control unit 27, and the operation panel control unit 27 processes the operation information as the information from the operation panel 26. , Perform the operation.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Instead of the computer device 1 shown in FIG. 2, a facsimile device 3 having a program creating function is provided.
Shows the case of using.

In FIG. 4, the facsimile apparatus 3 has the same configuration as the facsimile apparatus 2, and the modulation / demodulation units 21 and 3 are provided.
1, communication control units 22, 32, data storage units 23, 33,
The program storage units 24 and 34, the main control units 25 and 35, the operation panels 26 and 36, the operation panel control units 27 and 37, the operation program conversion units 28 and 38, and the operation program storage units 29 and 39 have the same functions, respectively. It is assumed that

As shown in FIG. 4, in the facsimile apparatus 3, similarly to the computer apparatus 1 in the case of FIG. 2, the operation program converting section 38 takes in the operation information from the operation panel 36 and writes it in the operation program. The operation program is converted and stored in the operation program storage unit 39. The stored operation program is transferred to the facsimile apparatus 2 via the communication control unit 32. The operation of the facsimile device 2 is similar to that in the case of FIG.

As a result, the simulation control of the facsimile machine, which is performed by the computer apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2, can be performed by the actual operation on the facsimile machine 3. As an effect of this, since it is performed on the actual device, it is not necessary to simulate the operation of the facsimile device by the computer device 1, and since the program is created on the actual device, the program having higher reliability can be obtained. You will be able to create.

[0047]

As a first effect of the present invention, it is possible to simulate the operation operation of a user on a computer device and to perform the operation without requiring detailed knowledge about the internal structure of the device to be remotely controlled. Since the program is converted into the operation program, the number of man-hours for creating the program can be reduced. Furthermore, compared with the case of executing by a program inside the device as in the past,
Since the operation is simple, it is easy to edit and create a program.

As a second effect of the present invention, even if the remote control program has some trouble, the operation is stopped and the risk of the apparatus being stopped is reduced. . This is this program
This is because, unlike a program that operates each part of the device inside the device that is the target of remote control, only the operation on the operation panel of this device is performed.

As a third effect of the present invention, since the operation operation of this device is utilized, a special module for controlling a program for remote operation is not required, and the scale of the program is small. Can be kept small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism for converting operation information according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st apparatus 2 2nd apparatus 3 Operation information input means 4 Program conversion means 5 Transmission means 6 Receiving means 7 Operation information conversion means 8 Operation function execution means 12 Control part 13 22, 32 Communication control part 14 Display part 15 Device Simulation unit 16 Operation program generation unit 17 Storage unit 21, 31 Modulation / demodulation unit 22,32 Communication control unit 23, 33 Data storage unit 24, 34 Program storage unit 25, 35 Main storage unit 26, 36 Operation panel 27, 37 Operation panel control Parts 28, 38 Operation program conversion unit 29, 39 Operation program storage unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first device for remote control and the first device.
In a device operation control system including a second device that is remotely operated by the device described above, the first device includes operation information input means for inputting operation information for the second device, and the operation information input means. A program conversion unit that converts the input operation information into a program that realizes an operation function in the second device, and a transmission unit that transfers the program generated by the program conversion unit to the second device. At the same time, the second device receives the program transferred from the transmitting means, and operation information conversion means for converting the received program into operation information for the own device.
An apparatus operation control system comprising: an operation function executing means for executing an operation function for the apparatus itself according to the operation information. 2. The operation of the second device by instructing the display unit for displaying an image corresponding to the operation panel of the second device and the operation site on the display unit by the first device. And a communication control unit for transferring the operation program to a second device, and a device simulation unit for simulating the operation information to extract the operation information, an operation program generation unit for converting the operation information into an operation program, and a communication control unit for transferring the operation program to a second device. The second device includes a communication control unit that receives an operation program transferred from the computer device, an operation program conversion unit that converts the received operation program into operation information, and an own device based on the operation information. 2. The apparatus operation system according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile apparatus is provided with an operation panel control unit that executes an operation function for the. System. 3. The first device comprises a first facsimile device, an operation panel equivalent to the operation panel of the second device, and operation information extracted from an operation on the operation panel is converted into an operation program. And a communication control unit for transferring the operation program to the second device, wherein the second device is a second facsimile device and communication control for receiving the transferred operation program. 2. A unit, an operation program conversion unit for converting the received operation program into operation information, and an operation panel control unit for executing an operation function for the own device according to the operation information. Equipment operation control system.