CN114290828A

CN114290828A - Control method and device of image forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN114290828A
Application number: CN202111666377.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵晶
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-31
Filing date: 2021-12-31
Publication date: 2022-04-08
Anticipated expiration: 2041-12-31
Also published as: CN114290828B

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a control method and a device of image forming equipment, wherein the control method comprises the steps of detecting whether the image forming equipment has faults in the operation process; and if the fault occurs, generating a function number of each first function in operation, generating an error code, and writing the function number and the error code into a log file for storage. The control device comprises a detection module and a control module which are mutually connected in a communication way. By the scheme provided by the embodiment, some bugs (bugs) which are difficult to reproduce can be solved; and simultaneously numbering some important first functions, defining error codes, writing the function numbers and the error codes corresponding to the first functions with errors into a log file for recording faults and storing the log file, thereby not only improving the safety of codes and reducing the size of the log file, but also avoiding the leakage of user information because only the function numbers and the error codes are recorded.

Description

Control method and device of image forming apparatus

[ technical field ] A method for producing a semiconductor device

The present disclosure relates to the field of image forming technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for controlling an image forming device.

[ background of the invention ]

When a user crashes due to some special reasons while using an image forming apparatus (such as a printer), the current solution is to perform maintenance on the door by a technician, to reproduce the previous printer failure situation based on the knowledge of the basic situation that occurred, and to report the Log (Log file, such as failure Log) and the reproduction procedure and decide whether to return to the factory according to the reproduction situation.

However, this solution is only directed to some problems that the occurrence probability is not low and the problem can be reproduced, that is, the problem can be solved by reproducing the fault and then checking the fault Log through a special interface or a serial port. For mass-produced image forming apparatuses, the image forming apparatuses do not have such a special interface/serial port, so that the fault Log cannot be checked, and the reproduction may be very difficult for the problem of extremely low reproduction probability. Thus, when such an error occurs in the image forming apparatus, it is very difficult for a technician to solve the trouble problem.

[ application contents ]

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for controlling an image forming apparatus, so as to solve the technical problems in the prior art that a user may crash due to some special reasons when using the image forming apparatus, and the fault cannot be reproduced during maintenance, and the Log when the fault occurs cannot be obtained, which makes it difficult to solve the fault.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method of controlling an image forming apparatus, including:

detecting whether the image forming device fails in the operation process;

and if the fault occurs, generating a function number of each first function in operation, generating an error code, and writing the function number and the error code into a log file for storage.

In a possible embodiment, if a failure occurs, generating a function number of a first function in operation and generating an error code, and writing the function number and the error code into a log file and storing the log file, the method includes:

if the first function fails, acquiring a memory address corresponding to the first function which fails;

according to the stored mapping relation between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number, acquiring the function number corresponding to the memory address corresponding to the first function with a fault, and writing the function number into the log file for storage; and acquiring the number of the coding lines with faults as error codes according to the operation parameters of the first function with faults, and writing the error codes into a log file for storage.

In one possible embodiment, the image forming apparatus performs one or more processes during operation; executing one or more threads while executing each of the processes; executing one or more functional functions while executing each of the threads; the function comprises at least one first function; the function number includes at least one of a process number, a thread number, and a function number.

In a possible embodiment, after generating a function number of each first function in operation and generating an error code if a fault occurs, and writing and storing the function number and the error code in a log file, the method further includes:

acquiring the log file from the image forming apparatus;

in acquiring the log file from the image forming apparatus, the method includes: connecting the image forming apparatus to a processing apparatus, and causing the image forming apparatus to enter a startup mode;

issuing an instruction to the image forming apparatus by the processing apparatus;

the image forming device analyzes the received instruction;

when the image forming device successfully analyzes the instruction, the image forming device transmits the log file to the processing device;

and when the image forming equipment fails to analyze the instruction, the image forming equipment generates error information of analysis failure and transmits the error information to the processing equipment.

In one possible embodiment, in detecting whether the image forming apparatus malfunctions during operation, the method includes:

detecting response information of each first function, and judging the receiving condition of the response information;

if the receiving condition is that the image forming device is not normally received or the receiving is incorrect, judging that the image forming device has a fault in the operation process;

and if the receiving condition is normal receiving or correct receiving, judging that the image forming equipment is in a normal working state.

In one possible embodiment, before detecting whether the image forming apparatus malfunctions during operation, the control method further includes:

receiving a task;

running the image forming device, executing one or more processes according to the task, then executing one or more threads under each process, and then running one or more function functions under each thread;

the functional functions comprise at least one first function, the first function is operated, a memory address corresponding to the first function is obtained, a specific function is called to number the memory address corresponding to the first function, and a mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the number is generated and stored; and the first function is operated and finished, and response information is returned.

Through the scheme provided by the embodiment, each first function is coded according to different types of faults, so that different faults have respective corresponding error codes, technicians can reproduce the types of the faults according to the error codes during maintenance, the faults with extremely low reproduction probability can be analyzed according to the error codes, the reproduction difficulty of the technicians is greatly reduced, and the efficiency and the success rate of fault repair are improved.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a control device of an image forming apparatus, including a detection module and a control module communicatively connected to each other;

the detection module is used for detecting whether the image forming equipment has faults in the operation process;

and the control module is used for generating a function number of each first function in operation and generating an error code if a fault occurs, and writing the function number and the error code into a log file and storing the log file.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, which includes a stored computer program, wherein when the program runs, an apparatus in which the storage medium is located is controlled to execute the method for controlling the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides an electronic device, including a memory for storing information including program instructions and a processor for controlling execution of the program instructions, wherein the program instructions are loaded and executed by the processor to implement the steps of the control method of the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect.

Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme at least has the following beneficial effects:

the control method and the control device for the image forming equipment, disclosed by the embodiment of the application, can solve some bugs (bugs) which are difficult to reproduce; and simultaneously numbering some important first functions, defining error codes, writing the function numbers and the error codes corresponding to the first functions with errors into a log file for recording faults and storing the log file, thereby not only improving the safety of codes and reducing the size of the log file, but also avoiding the leakage of user information because only the function numbers and the error codes are recorded.

[ description of the drawings ]

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a connection relationship between an image forming apparatus and a processing apparatus in a control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 3 is another flowchart of the control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 4 is another flowchart of the control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 5 is a specific flowchart of S300 in the control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 6 is a specific flowchart of S400 in the control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 7 is another flowchart of the control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 8 is a specific flowchart of S500 in the control method provided in embodiment 1 of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a control device provided in embodiment 2 of the present application;

fig. 10 is another schematic structural diagram of a control device provided in embodiment 2 of the present application;

fig. 11 is another schematic structural diagram of a control device provided in embodiment 2 of the present application;

fig. 12 is another schematic structural diagram of a control device provided in embodiment 2 of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided in embodiment 4 of the present application.

[ detailed description ] embodiments

For better understanding of the technical solutions of the present application, the following detailed descriptions of the embodiments of the present application are provided with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the embodiments described are only a few embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

In the following embodiments of the present application, the image forming apparatus is used to perform image forming jobs such as generating, printing, receiving, and transmitting image data, and examples of the image forming apparatus include: an inkjet printer, a laser printer, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) printer, a copier, a facsimile, a scanner, or a multifunction Peripheral (MFP) that performs the above functions in a single device. The image forming apparatus includes an image formation control module for controlling the entire image forming apparatus, and an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet conveyed under the control of the image formation control module based on image data.

The image forming control module may be an SoC (System on Chip), where the SoC is a micro device, is composed of components of multiple devices, and is configured to control an image forming processing operation of the image forming device, such as processing of linear correction, noise reduction, dead pixel removal, detail enhancement, and the like on image data, so as to improve the quality of image output, and the image forming control module is further configured to perform processing operations related to data transceiving, command transceiving, and engine control of printing images, such as transceiving data, print engine control commands, status, and the like through an interface unit (including but not limited to a USB port, a wired network port, a wireless network port, or other interfaces).

Example 1

The embodiment 1 of the application discloses a control method of an image forming device, wherein running Log information (Log) generated when the image forming device runs is stored in a fixed Log File (Log File) of the image forming device and used for recording the daily flow of the image forming device; when the image forming equipment has faults, function numbering is carried out on some important functions, and error codes are defined according to the faults, so that the function numbers and the error codes with the faults are stored in a log file; so that the technician can copy the log file of the log information out through the processing device by using the USB connection in a boot mode. The method aims to solve the technical problems that a technician cannot reproduce a fault when maintaining the image forming equipment, cannot acquire a log file when the fault occurs, and is very difficult to solve the fault.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 and the processing apparatus 20 are connected through a communication module 30. When performing maintenance on the image forming apparatus 10, a technician connects a processing apparatus 20 (e.g., a personal computer, PC) and the image forming apparatus 10 together via a communication module 30 (e.g., a Universal Serial Bus (USB)) provided on the processing apparatus 20 or connected to the processing apparatus 20. The processing device 20 is used to issue instructions to the image forming device 10 and to control the operation of the image forming device 10. The image forming apparatus 10 has a function of saving operation log information in which a failure occurs during operation, and the operation log information can be copied from the image forming apparatus 10 to the processing apparatus 20 by receiving an instruction issued by the processing apparatus 20 through the communication module 30.

As shown in fig. 2, the control method of the present embodiment 1 includes:

s400: detecting whether the image forming apparatus 10 malfunctions during operation;

s500: and if the fault occurs, generating a function number of each first function in operation, generating an error code, and writing the function number and the error code into a log file for storage.

Specifically, in the control method of embodiment 1, the first function is included in all the operation functions, and the operation functions refer to the function functions used during the operation of the image forming apparatus 10, and include the first function for performing important tasks and other function functions for performing non-important tasks, preferably, the first function may be a part of the important functions, and the control method of embodiment 1 performs fault detection only on the first function. When the image forming apparatus 10 runs the first function, the memory address corresponding to the first function is obtained, the first function is subjected to function numbering by calling a specific function (such as a log function), a numbering mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number is generated, and the numbering mapping table is stored.

As shown in fig. 3, the control method of embodiment 1, before S400, further includes:

s100: a task is received. The image forming apparatus 10 receives a job after being turned on.

In S100, the image forming apparatus 10 has a function capable of executing various tasks, for example, the image forming apparatus 10 has a function capable of executing printing, copying, scanning facsimile, and indicating network or power connection.

S200: the image forming apparatus 10 is operated to execute one or more processes according to the task, then execute one or more threads under the respective processes, and then operate one or more function functions under the respective threads.

In S200, the image forming apparatus 10 starts to execute a task, which requires starting one or more processes each including one or more threads, each having one or more function functions thereunder, which forms a function capable of executing various types of tasks, such as 9 processes executable for printing, 9 threads executable thereunder, 10 processes executable for copying, 10 threads executable thereunder, and so on. The independent setting of these function functions can conveniently carry out fault detection, also can be favorable to locking the trouble source when discovering the trouble, makes things convenient for technical staff to reproduce the trouble and maintain. The functional functions comprise at least one first function, the first function is operated, the memory address corresponding to the first function is obtained, a specific function (such as a log function) is called to number the memory address corresponding to the first function, and a mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the number is generated and stored. The method comprises the steps that function numbers comprise at least one of process numbers, thread numbers and function numbers, the process numbers are generated according to processes, the thread numbers are generated according to threads under the processes, the function numbers are generated according to first functions corresponding to functions under the threads, the process numbers, the thread numbers and the function numbers are combined into a mapping relation respectively or randomly, and when the first functions have faults, the process numbers, the thread numbers and the function numbers of the first functions with the faults can be written into log files and stored as the function numbers respectively or jointly according to the mapping relation.

The function number may be a first case, and in operation, the function number may obtain memory addresses corresponding to the process, the thread, and the first function, call a specific function to number the memory addresses corresponding to the process, the thread, and the first function, generate a mapping table of the memory addresses corresponding to the process, the thread, and the function and the number, and store the mapping table.

The function numbering may also be the second case, where only the memory address of a certain first function under a certain thread under a certain process is numbered, and a mapping table including only the memory address and the number of the first function is obtained.

The processes, the threads and the first functions are numbered in the first case, and it can be directly known which first function under which thread is in error under which process according to the numbers. In the second case, only the first functions are numbered, and after knowing which first function is faulty, the first function called by which thread needs to be traced back according to the function call relationship, and the thread called by which process needs to be further traced back, so that the first function which is faulty belongs to which thread or even which process, and the process is complicated. However, if the first-case call function is used to number all the memory addresses of a process, a thread, and a first function, the device may run in an overload state, which is a complicated process.

S300: and the first function is operated and finished, and response information is returned.

In S300, after the first function under each process and each thread is executed, a corresponding function return value is returned as response information, so that after the first function is executed, a function return value of a response is also returned as response information, where a function return value of 0 indicates that the response information is normal, and a function return value of 0 indicates that the response information is not normal. In addition, when the function return value is normally returned, it is indicated that the response information is not normal.

As shown in fig. 4, in the control method of embodiment 1, if no failure occurs, S500' is executed: and generating a function number of the first function, and writing the function number into a log file for storage. In S500', when it is detected that the image forming apparatus 10 is operating normally (no failure occurs), and when the first functions are completed in operation, the memory addresses corresponding to the first functions are obtained, the number mapping table stored in advance is accessed, the corresponding function numbers are obtained according to the mapping relationship, and the function numbers are written into the log file and stored in the flash memory. Although it is not necessary to record error codes when the image forming apparatus 10 is not malfunctioning, it is still necessary to generate a log file recording the function number of the first function in normal operation, so that when the image forming apparatus 10 is malfunctioning, a technician can know when the image forming apparatus 10 is malfunctioning, and what the first function in malfunctioning is changed from the first functions in other normal operations, and can facilitate the technician to reproduce the malfunction and repair the apparatus.

As shown in fig. 5, in the control method of the present embodiment 1, in S400, the method includes:

s401: detecting response information of each first function, and judging the receiving condition of the response information;

s402: if the receiving condition is that the image forming device 10 is not normally received or the receiving is incorrect, judging that the image forming device 10 has a fault in the operation process;

s403: if the reception condition is normal reception or correct reception, it is determined that the image forming apparatus 10 is in a normal operation state.

Specifically, in S400 of the control method of embodiment 1, if the determination result of executing S401 is S402, the following step S500 is executed; if the determination result of executing S401 is S403, the following step S500' is executed. For example, assuming that the normal response information, i.e., the function return value, is 0 and the abnormal response information, i.e., the function return value, is not 0, when the response information acquired by the image forming apparatus 10 in the current operation process is not 0, it is determined that a failure occurs in the operation process of the image forming apparatus 10; if the acquired response information is 0, it is determined that the operation process of the image forming apparatus 10 is normal. Whether the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 is failed or not is judged by returning a corresponding function return value as response information to each first function at the time of operation, and the judgment logic is simple and the calculation process is quick.

As shown in fig. 6, in the control method of this embodiment 1, in S500, the method specifically includes:

s501: if the first function fails, acquiring a memory address corresponding to the first function which fails;

s502: according to the stored mapping relation between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number, acquiring the function number corresponding to the memory address corresponding to the first function with a fault, writing the function number into a log file and storing the function number;

s503: and acquiring the number of the coding lines with faults as error codes according to the operation parameters of the first function with faults, and writing the error codes into a log file for storage.

Specifically, in the control method of embodiment 1, for error coding, the operation parameter may be a system parameter or a function return value.

The system parameters are: after the first function is operated, if an error occurs, the corresponding system parameter (line number) is displayed in the system parameter display area to indicate which line the operated first function has the error, and the continuous operation of the first function is not hindered. Such as: when the first function 1 is running, and an error is made at the 6 th line, the system parameters will show: "error: XXXX, 6 … … "and the like indicate that the first function 1 has an error in line 6, and of course, for the first function that operates normally, the system parameters will show relevant information about normal operation, so that other normal operation states in the first function 1 show normal information, and even if the first function 1 operates incorrectly, the subsequent part of the first function or the subsequent first function 2 will continue to operate after the operation is completed.

The function return value means: when the first function runs, the corresponding function return value is returned; for example, if there is an error in line 6 of the first function, then a function return value other than 0 (e.g., -1, -2, etc.) may be returned at the location corresponding to line 6, or no function return value may be returned. Whether the line is in operation with an error can be determined according to whether the corresponding position (which line) returns the function return value normally or whether the function return value is the normal return value.

In contrast, the first function returns a function return value when running, and when a certain line of the first function has an error, the first function does not continue to run after the wrong function return value is returned or the function return value is not normally returned; and the first function displays the system parameters corresponding to the running of the first function during running, and even if a certain line of the first function goes wrong, the first function can still continue to run the subsequent functions.

With respect to the control method of this embodiment 1, in another implementable embodiment, as exemplified below in connection with a numbering map and an error coding map, table 1 is a numbering map representing numbering rules, and table 2 is an error coding map representing coding rules of possible failures of the image forming apparatus 10.

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

After the image forming apparatus 10 is turned on, the S100 reception task is executed; then, S200 is executed, in different usage scenarios, the image forming apparatus 10 may not all execute the threads under each process, and table 1 lists the case where the image forming apparatus 10 executes the N first functions under each process after executing the process; executing S300, receiving response information returned by the first function, wherein the response information is usually a function return value; judging whether the function return value is 0 or whether the function return value can be normally received by executing S400, and judging whether the first function has a fault; if the function return value is 0, indicating that the image forming apparatus 10 is operating normally and has no malfunction, S500' is executed; if the function return value is not 0 or the function return value is not received at all, S500 is performed. In the process 500, since the first functions respectively execute functions such as printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, the functions corresponding to the first functions are numbered with numbers to generate function numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, for example, the printing number is '1', the copying number is '2', the scanning number is '3', and the faxing number is '4'; numbering each corresponding process to generate process numbers 1 and 2 … … N, wherein if the first process is numbered as '1', the second process is numbered as '2', … …, and the Nth process is numbered as 'N'; the function numbers consisting of the function number and the process number are 11, 12 … … 1n, 21, 22 … … 2n, 31, 32 … … 3n, 41, 42 … … 4 n. For example, if the image forming apparatus 10 fails when executing the second process to perform printing, and the function return value corresponding to the failed first function cannot be received or a non-0 return value is received, the process number of the second process corresponding to printing is called, written into the log file, and saved in the storage module; that is, as shown in table 1, '11' indicates a first process of printing, '22' indicates a second process of copying, '43' indicates a third process of faxing, '3 n' indicates an nth process of scanning.

Furthermore, if the image forming apparatus 10 executes a plurality of threads under each process and then executes the first function, each thread is also numbered, and thread numbers 1 and 2 … … n are generated, where the number '1' is the first thread, the number '2' is the second thread, … …, the number 'n' is the nth thread, and the final function number includes the process number, the thread number, and the number, and when the image forming apparatus 10 fails to execute the third thread of the second process for printing, it cannot receive the corresponding function return value or receives a non-0 return value, that is, the corresponding number '123' of the third thread under the second process for printing is retrieved, written into a log file, and stored in the storage module.

In table 2, errors that may occur during the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 are encoded, such as "paper out" encoding as "1", "paper jam" encoding as "2", "dead halt due to removal of a reticle during WSD scanning as" 5 ", etc., which correspond to the number of encoding lines in the first function one by one, that is," paper out "encoding as" 1 "corresponds to the 1 st encoding in the first function, and" paper jam "encoding as" 2 "corresponds to the 2 nd encoding in the first function, and so on. Note that, common failures of all the image forming apparatuses 10 are not illustrated here, and only an illustration is given as an illustration. In particular, the function number and the error code may be in the form of numbers, characters, wildcards, or any combination thereof. The control method comprises the steps of carrying out fault detection on various first functions in operation, obtaining detection results which comprise the first functions in normal operation, the first functions with faults and task information corresponding to the first functions, processing and analyzing the detection results, obtaining a memory address corresponding to the first functions with faults when the first functions with faults are obtained through analysis, accessing a pre-stored number mapping table, obtaining corresponding function numbers according to the mapping relation, writing the function numbers into a log file, and storing the log file into a flash memory. And error coding is carried out on the first function with faults according to the fault type with faults. The error code not only has task information corresponding to the first function with faults, but also comprises fault types, and the fault types can be common faults or uncommon faults. Function numbers and error codes carried out on the first functions when a fault occurs are written into a log file and stored, so that the fault can be conveniently reproduced when a technician carries out maintenance, and the maintenance efficiency and the maintenance effect of the image forming device 10 can be improved.

When the image forming apparatus 10 is currently executing printing in the second process, a fault that is hard to reproduce, namely a dead halt caused by pulling out a network cable in a scanning process of a WSD (WSD is a communication protocol, and is generally used for a scanner and a printer; a one-way communication protocol), occurs, then the function return value of the first function corresponding to printing in the second process received in the control method of embodiment 1 is not 0, or only the function return value corresponding to a certain first function in the first process is received as 0, but the function return value of the first function corresponding to printing in the second process is not received; at this time, the control method generates corresponding function numbers (process numbers and function numbers) and fault codes, i.e., corresponding function numbers '12' and fault codes '5', according to the pre-stored number mapping table (table 1) and error code mapping table (table 2), and knows that the image forming apparatus 10 has a fault that is difficult to reproduce when executing the second process for printing according to the function numbers '12' and the fault codes '5', i.e., that a network cable is pulled out during the WSD scanning process to cause a crash, which is obviously beneficial for technicians to analyze the source of the fault, reproduce the fault, and maintain the image forming apparatus when maintaining. And then, a new character string '125' consisting of the function number '12' and the fault code '5' is written into a log file and is saved in a storage module.

In the control method of embodiment 1, the error-coding mapping table may be set in advance and stored in the image forming apparatus 10, or may be each of the failures written during the successive repairs during use according to the failures encountered in the history. When generating error codes, judging whether faults exist in a prestored fault corresponding relation or not; if so, calling an error code corresponding to the functional module with the fault and writing the error code into a log file; and if the error codes do not exist, adding the error codes into the fault corresponding relation and writing the error codes into a log file. The fault correspondence is an example in which faults that may occur during the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 are encoded, and the fault correspondence is formed after each fault is in one-to-one correspondence with the code, as shown in table 2 above.

After performing all the above steps of S500, when the technician needs to recover the fault when performing maintenance on the faulty image forming apparatus 10, at this time, the content in the log file in the image forming apparatus 10 needs to be acquired, so as shown in fig. 7, on the basis of the flow of the control method shown in fig. 2 to 4, the control method of this embodiment 1 further includes:

s600: the log file is acquired from the image forming apparatus 10.

Executing S600 can acquire a log file after a failure occurs in the operation process of the image forming apparatus 10, and solve the problem that it is difficult for a technician to reproduce the failure when the failure occurs at an extremely low probability and cannot be reproduced, where the "failure that occurs at an extremely low probability and cannot be reproduced" is, for example, a dead halt caused by pulling out a network cable in the WSD scanning process.

As shown in fig. 8, in the control method of this embodiment 1, S600 specifically includes:

s601: connecting the image forming apparatus 10 to the processing apparatus 20, causing the image forming apparatus 10 to enter a startup mode;

s602: issuing an instruction to the image forming apparatus 10 through the processing apparatus 20;

s603: the image forming apparatus 10 parses the received instruction;

s604: when the image forming apparatus 10 succeeds in parsing the instruction, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits the log file to the processing apparatus 20;

s605: when the image forming apparatus 10 fails to parse the instruction, the image forming apparatus 10 generates error information of the parsing failure and transmits to the processing apparatus 20.

Specifically, when S601 is executed, the technician connects the image forming apparatus 10 and the processing apparatus 20 (typically, a personal computer, PC) via the communication module 30 (typically, a universal serial bus, USB), and causes the image forming apparatus 10 to enter a boot mode. It should be noted here that when the type of failure in which the image forming apparatus 10 fails is "low in occurrence probability and cannot be reproduced", it is necessary to enter the boot mode and issue an instruction via USB to copy the failed log file onto the PC of the technician. When the type of failure in which the image forming apparatus 10 fails is a common failure, it is not necessary to enter the boot mode to acquire a log file of the failure. Specifically, the technician operates to enter the start-up mode by disassembling the image forming apparatus 10 and shorting two pins on a hardware circuit board therein. S602 is executed, and after the connection is made via the USB, the PC is operated to issue a copy instruction instructing to copy the log file stored in the storage module (typically, a flash memory) in the image forming apparatus 10 to the PC. S603 is executed, and the image forming apparatus 10 receives the copy command from the PC and parses the command. After the image forming apparatus 10 successfully parses the instruction, S604 is performed, and the image forming apparatus 10 transmits the log file stored in the storage module to the PC. When the image forming apparatus 10 fails to resolve the instruction, S605 is executed to transmit corresponding error information to the PC.

In the control method of this embodiment 1, when all the steps described above are executed, the log file is stored in the storage module when the log file needs to be stored.

In summary, the control method of the image forming apparatus 10 of embodiment 1 writes the function number and the error code of the first function that has failed into the log file and saves them to the storage module by detecting that the image forming apparatus 10 has failed; finally, the image forming apparatus 10 is controlled to enter a boot mode, and the communication module 30(USB) receives the transmitted instruction copy log file in a USB connection manner. Finally, the technician can acquire a log file through the USB connection, and by this log file, the trouble is reproduced, completing the work of repairing the image forming apparatus 10. The function number comprises a process number, a thread number and a function number, a rule for numbering the functions executed by the running first function is to map a corresponding certain function by using characters or numbers, and a rule for numbering the processes executed by the running first function or the threads is to map a certain process or thread by using characters or numbers. The control method of the image forming apparatus 10 of embodiment 1 may also write the failure error coding into the log file only when the special failure is detected.

Example 2

Embodiment 2 of the present application discloses a control device of an image forming apparatus 10, which is used for executing the control method of the image forming apparatus 10 disclosed in embodiment 1 of the present application, so that when an unusual failure occurs in the image forming apparatus 10, a technician can analyze the reason of the failure of the image forming apparatus 10 by reproducing the failure, thereby facilitating the technician to maintain the image forming apparatus 10.

As shown in fig. 9, the control device of the present embodiment 2 includes a detection module 40 and a control module 50 communicatively connected to each other. The detection module 40 has a function of detecting the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 through an internal sensor, and is mainly used for detecting whether the image forming apparatus 10 malfunctions during operation; the control module 50 has a function of encoding various situations occurring during the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 by an internal encoder, and is configured to generate a function number of each first function in operation and generate an error code if a failure occurs, write the function number and the error code in a log file, and store them.

Specifically, in the control device of this embodiment 2, the first function is included in all the operation functions, and the operation functions refer to the function functions used during the operation of the image forming apparatus 10, and include the first function for performing important tasks and other function functions for performing non-important tasks, preferably, the first function may be a part of the important functions, and the detection module 40 of the control device of this embodiment 2 performs fault detection only on the first function. When the image forming apparatus 10 runs the first function, the memory address corresponding to the first function is obtained, the first function is subjected to function numbering by calling a specific function (such as a log function), a numbering mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number is generated, and the numbering mapping table is stored.

As shown in fig. 10, the control device of the present embodiment 2 further includes a receiving module 60, an operating module 70 and a compiling module 80 communicatively connected to the detecting module 40 and the control module 50; the receiving module 60 is used for receiving tasks; the running module 70 is used for the image forming apparatus 10 to execute one or more processes according to the task, then execute one or more threads under each process, and then run one or more function functions under each thread; the compiling module 80 is configured to, when the running module 70 runs the first function, obtain a memory address corresponding to the first function, call a specific function to number the memory address corresponding to the first function, generate a mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the number, and store the mapping table.

In the present embodiment 2, the image forming apparatus 10 has a function capable of executing various tasks received by the receiving module 60, for example, the image forming apparatus 10 has a function capable of executing printing, copying, scanning facsimile, and indicating network or power connection. The execution module 70 starts one or more processes, each process comprising one or more threads, each thread having one or more functional functions under it, which form functional functions capable of performing various types of tasks, such as 9 processes executable for printing, 9 threads executable under each process, 10 processes executable for copying, 10 threads executable under each process, and so on. The independent setting of these function functions can conveniently carry out fault detection, also can be favorable to locking the trouble source when discovering the trouble, makes things convenient for technical staff to reproduce the trouble and maintain. The function has at least one first function, the running module 70 runs the first function, the writing module 80 obtains a memory address corresponding to the first function, calls a specific function (such as a log function) to number the memory address corresponding to the first function, generates a mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the number, and stores the mapping table. The function number includes at least one of a process number, a thread number, and a function number, the compiling module 80 generates a process number according to each process, generates a thread number according to each thread under each process, generates a function number according to a first function corresponding to each function under each thread, and combines the process number, the thread number, and the function number into a mapping relationship, respectively or arbitrarily, and when the first function fails, the compiling module 80 can write the process number, the thread number, and the function number of the failed first function into a log file and store the log file as the function number according to the mapping relationship.

The writing module 80 numbers both the process threads and the first functions in the first case, and can directly know which first function under which thread is faulty under which process according to the numbers. The writing module 80 only numbers the first function in the second situation, and after knowing which first function is faulty, it is necessary to trace back the first function called by which thread and further trace back the process called by which process according to the function calling relationship, so as to know which thread or even which process the faulty first function belongs to, which process is tedious. However, if the writing module 80 calls the function to number the memory addresses of a process, a thread, and a first function in the first case, the device may run in an overload state, which is a complicated process.

After the first function under each process and thread is executed, a corresponding function return value is returned as response information, so that after the execution of the first function is completed, the execution module 70 also returns a function return value as response information, when the function return value is 0, it indicates that the response information is normal, and when the function return value is not 0, it indicates that the response information is abnormal. In addition, when the function return value is normally returned, it is indicated that the response information is not normal.

In the control device according to embodiment 2, when the detection module 40 detects that no failure has occurred, the authoring module 80 generates a function number of the first function, writes the function number in a log file, and stores the function number. When the detection module 40 detects that the image forming apparatus 10 is operating normally (without failure), and when the operation module 70 completes the operation of the first function, the writing module 80 obtains the memory addresses corresponding to the first functions, accesses the number mapping table stored in advance, obtains the corresponding function numbers according to the mapping relationship, writes the function numbers into the log file, and stores the function numbers into the flash memory. Although it is not necessary to record error codes when the image forming apparatus 10 is not malfunctioning, the authoring module 80 still needs to generate a log file that records the function number of the first function that is normally operating, so that when the image forming apparatus 10 is malfunctioning, a technician can know when the image forming apparatus 10 is malfunctioning, and how the first function that is malfunctioning is changed from the first functions that are otherwise normally operating, and can facilitate the technician to reproduce the malfunction and repair the apparatus.

In the control device of embodiment 2, the detecting module 40 is specifically configured to: detecting response information of each first function, and judging the receiving condition of the response information; if the receiving condition is that the image forming device 10 is not normally received or the receiving is incorrect, judging that the image forming device 10 has a fault in the operation process; if the reception condition is normal reception or correct reception, it is determined that the image forming apparatus 10 is in a normal operation state.

Specifically, in the control device of this embodiment 2, when the detection module 40 does not normally receive the response information or receives the incorrect response information, it may be determined that the current operation process of the image forming apparatus 10 has a fault, so that the compiling module 80 performs function numbering on the functional module and the next process thereof and performs error coding on the fault; if the detection module 40 receives the response message normally or receives a correct response message, it may determine that the image forming apparatus 10 is currently in a normal operating state, so that the writing module 80 performs function numbering on the functional module which normally operates and the process thereunder. For example, assuming that the normal response information, i.e., the function return value, is 0 and the abnormal response information, i.e., the function return value, is not 0, when the response information acquired by the detection module 40 in the current operation process of the image forming apparatus 10 is not 0, it is determined that a failure occurs in the operation process of the image forming apparatus 10; if the response information acquired by the detection module 40 is 0, the operation process of the image forming apparatus 10 is determined to be normal. Whether the operation of the image forming device 10 is failed or not is judged by returning a corresponding function return value as response information to each first function during the operation through the detection module 40, and the judgment logic is simple and the calculation process is quick.

In the control apparatus of this embodiment 2, the writing module 80 is specifically configured to: if the first function fails, acquiring a memory address corresponding to the first function which fails; according to the stored mapping relation between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number, acquiring the function number corresponding to the memory address corresponding to the first function with a fault, writing the function number into a log file and storing the function number; and acquiring the number of the coding lines with faults as error codes according to the operation parameters of the first function with faults, and writing the error codes into a log file for storage. Wherein, there is a mapping relationship between the memory address and the function number, and the mapping relationship is referred to table 1 above.

Specifically, in the control device of embodiment 2, the operation parameter may be a system parameter or a function return value for error coding.

In the control device of embodiment 2, the error-coding map may be set in advance and stored in the image forming apparatus 10, or may be each of the failures written during the successive repairs during use according to the failures encountered in the history. The control module 50 is therefore further configured to: when the programming module 80 generates an error code, it is determined whether a fault exists in a pre-stored fault correspondence; if so, calling an error code corresponding to the functional module with the fault and writing the error code into a log file; and if the error codes do not exist, adding the error codes into the fault corresponding relation and writing the error codes into a log file. The corresponding relationship of the faults is shown in table 2 in this embodiment 1.

As shown in fig. 11, the control device of the present embodiment 2 further includes a communication module 30 communicatively connected to the control module 50, and the communication module 30 is configured to acquire a log file from the image forming apparatus 10. The communication module 30 may be a USB interface I/F, and is mainly used to connect the image forming apparatus 10 and the processing apparatus 20, so that the processing apparatus 20 may issue a command to copy and acquire a stored log file containing an important function number and an error code when the image forming apparatus 10 enters a boot mode.

The technician can acquire the log file after the fault occurs in the operation process of the image forming device 10 through the communication module 30, and the problem that the technician is difficult to reproduce the fault when the fault which has an extremely low probability and cannot be reproduced occurs is solved, wherein the fault which has the extremely low probability and cannot be reproduced is dead halt caused by pulling out a network cable in the WSD scanning process.

In the control device of embodiment 2, the communication module 30 is specifically configured to: connecting the image forming apparatus 10 to the processing apparatus 20, causing the image forming apparatus 10 to enter a startup mode; issuing an instruction to the image forming apparatus 10 through the processing apparatus 20; the image forming apparatus 10 parses the received instruction; after the image forming apparatus 10 successfully parses the instruction, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits the log file to the processing apparatus 20; when the image forming apparatus 10 fails to parse the instruction, the image forming apparatus 10 generates error information of the parsing failure and transmits to the processing apparatus 20.

Specifically, the technician connects the image forming apparatus 10 and the processing apparatus 20 (typically, a personal computer, PC) via the communication module 30 (typically, a universal serial bus, USB), and operates to cause the image forming apparatus 10 to enter a boot mode. It should be noted here that when the type of failure in which the image forming apparatus 10 fails is "low in occurrence probability and cannot be reproduced", it is necessary to enter the boot mode and issue an instruction via USB to copy the failed log file onto the PC of the technician. When the type of failure in which the image forming apparatus 10 fails is a common failure, it is not necessary to enter the boot mode to acquire a log file of the failure. Specifically, the technician operates to enter the start-up mode by disassembling the image forming apparatus 10 and shorting two pins on a hardware circuit board therein. After connection through the communication module 30(USB), the operation processing apparatus 20(PC) issues a copy instruction instructing to copy the log file stored in the image forming apparatus 10 to the processing apparatus 20. The image forming apparatus 10 receives a copy command of the processing apparatus 20 through the communication module 30, and parses the command. After the image forming apparatus 10 successfully parses the instruction, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits the stored log file to the processing apparatus 20 through the communication module 30. When the image forming apparatus 10 fails to parse the instruction, corresponding error information is transmitted to the processing apparatus 20 through the communication module 30.

As shown in fig. 12, the control device of this embodiment 2 further includes a storage module 90, the storage module 90 is connected to the communication module 30 and the authoring module 80 in a communication manner, and the log file is stored in the storage module 90. The storage module 90 is mainly used for saving the function number of the important function and the error code of the fault, and the storage module 90 may be a Flash memory (Flash memory) so that the data loss of the log file can be avoided even when the image forming apparatus 10 is abnormally powered off.

In summary, the control device of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment 2 writes the function number and the error code of the first function that has failed into the log file and saves them to the storage block 90 through the control block 50 when the detection block 40 detects that the image forming apparatus 10 has failed; finally, the communication module 30(USB) controls the image forming apparatus 10 to enter a boot mode by connecting the image forming apparatus 10 to the processing apparatus 20, and receives the issued command copy log file through the communication module 30 in a USB connection manner. Finally, the technician can acquire a log file through the USB connection, and by this log file, the trouble is reproduced, completing the work of repairing the image forming apparatus 10. The function number includes a process number, a thread number, and a function number, the rule of the writing module 80 performing the function number on the function executed by the running first function is to map a corresponding certain function by using characters or numbers, and the rule of the process number of the process executed by the running first function or the thread number of the thread is to map a certain process or thread by using characters or numbers. The control means of the image forming apparatus 10 of embodiment 2 may also call the authoring module 80 to write the failure-making error code into the log file only when the detection module 40 detects a special failure.

Example 3

Embodiment 3 of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium containing a program or instructions that when executed on a computer, performs a control method of an image forming apparatus as in embodiment 1 of the present application.

Example 4

As shown in fig. 13, embodiment 4 of the present application provides an electronic device 700, which includes a memory 720 and a processor 710, where the memory 720 is used for storing information including program instructions, and the processor 710 is used for controlling execution of the program instructions, and the program instructions are loaded by the processor and executed to implement the steps of the control method of the image forming apparatus. To avoid repetition, it is not repeated herein. Alternatively, the computer program is executed by the processor 710 to implement the functions of the models/units applied to the image forming control apparatus in the embodiments, which are not repeated herein to avoid redundancy.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that fig. 13 is merely an example of an electronic device 700 and is not intended to limit the computer device 700 and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components may be combined, or different components, e.g., the electronic device 700 may also include input-output devices, network access devices, buses, etc.

The Processor 710 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, a discrete Gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The storage 720 may be an internal storage unit of the electronic device 700, such as a hard disk or a memory of the electronic device 700.

The memory 720 may also be an external storage device of the electronic device 700, such as a plug-in hard disk, a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) Card, a Flash memory Card (Flash Card), etc. provided on the electronic device 700. Or a memory on a server, in which the computer program 730 stored may be transferred by a network to other memory modules inside the electronic device, so that the processor 710 can load and run the computer program 730. Further, the memory 720 may also include both internal storage units and external storage devices of the electronic device 700. The memory 720 is used to store computer programs and other programs and data required by the electronic device 700. The memory 720 may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The control method and the control device for the image forming equipment, disclosed by the embodiment of the application, can solve some bugs (bugs) which are difficult to reproduce; and simultaneously, some important functions are numbered, error codes are defined, the error function numbers and the error codes are written into a log file for recording faults and are stored in a storage module, so that the code safety is improved, the size of the log file is reduced, and the leakage of user information is avoided because only the function numbers and the error codes are recorded.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the components and steps of the examples have been described in a functional general in the foregoing description for the purpose of illustrating clearly the interchangeability of hardware and software. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

The present invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments shown and described, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features herein disclosed.

Claims

1. A control method of an image forming apparatus, characterized by comprising:

detecting whether the image forming device fails in the operation process;

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein, in the event of a failure, generating a function number of a first function in operation and generating an error code, and writing the function number and the error code in a log file and storing them, the method comprises:

according to the stored mapping relation between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number, acquiring the function number corresponding to the memory address corresponding to the first function with a fault, and writing the function number into the log file for storage;

and acquiring the number of the coding lines with faults as error codes according to the operation parameters of the first function with faults, and writing the error codes into a log file for storage.

3. The control method according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus executes one or more processes during operation; executing one or more threads while executing each of the processes; executing one or more functional functions while executing each of the threads; the function comprises at least one first function;

the function number includes at least one of a process number, a thread number, and a function number.

4. The control method according to claim 1, wherein, after generating a function number of each first function in operation and generating an error code if a failure occurs, and writing the function number and the error code in a log file and storing them, the method further comprises:

acquiring the log file from the image forming apparatus;

in acquiring the log file from the image forming apparatus, the method includes:

connecting the image forming apparatus to a processing apparatus, and causing the image forming apparatus to enter a startup mode;

the image forming device analyzes the received instruction;

5. The control method according to claim 1, in detecting whether the image forming apparatus malfunctions during operation, comprising:

6. The control method according to claim 1, wherein before detecting whether the image forming apparatus malfunctions during operation, the control method further comprises:

receiving a task;

the functional functions comprise at least one first function, the first function is operated, a memory address corresponding to the first function is obtained, a specific function is called to number the memory address corresponding to the first function, and a mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the number is generated and stored;

and the first function is operated and finished, and response information is returned.

7. A control device of an image forming apparatus includes a detection module and a control module communicatively connected to each other;

8. The control device of claim 7, wherein the control module is specifically configured to:

according to the stored mapping relation between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the function number, acquiring the function number corresponding to the memory address corresponding to the first function with a fault, and writing the function number into the log file and storing the function number;

and acquiring the number of the coding lines with faults as error codes according to the operation parameters of the first function with faults, and writing the error codes into a log file and storing the log file.

9. The control device according to claim 8, wherein the image forming apparatus executes one or more processes during operation; executing one or more threads while executing each of the processes; executing one or more functional functions while executing each of the threads; the function comprises at least one first function;

10. The control device according to claim 7, further comprising a communication module communicatively connected to the control module, the communication module configured to acquire the log file from the image forming apparatus;

the communication module is specifically used for connecting the image forming device to a processing device and enabling the image forming device to enter a starting mode;

the image forming device analyzes the received instruction;

11. The control device according to claim 7, wherein the detection module is specifically configured to:

12. The control device of claim 7, further comprising a receiving module, an operating module, and a compiling module communicatively coupled to the detection module and the control module;

the receiving module is used for receiving tasks;

the operation module is used for operating the image forming equipment, executing one or more processes according to the task, then executing one or more threads under each process, and then operating one or more function functions under each thread;

the function has at least one first function, and the first function returns response information after the execution is finished;

the compiling module is used for acquiring the memory address corresponding to the first function when the running module runs the first function, calling a specific function to number the memory address corresponding to the first function, generating and storing a mapping table between the memory address corresponding to the first function and the number.

13. A computer-readable storage medium including a stored computer program, characterized in that the program, when executed, controls an apparatus in which the storage medium is located to execute the method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

14. An electronic device comprising a memory for storing information including program instructions and a processor for controlling execution of the program instructions, characterized in that: the program instructions are loaded by a processor and executed to implement the steps of a method of controlling an image forming apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.