JP2021090102A - Image processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable dynamic selection of image processing and to enable execution of a workflow.SOLUTION: A workflow task related to a user who has logged into an image processing device is acquired from an external workflow system. If the acquired workflow tasks include tasks that use the image processing device, and if the tasks have not been initially configured, an object to perform image processing that the user can select is displayed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an information processing method and a program.

A workflow system that freely links various types of Web services such as e-mail, storage, and SNS to improve work efficiency and automation is attracting attention. This workflow system is provided with a dedicated connector for linking with each Web service, and the user can easily build a workflow by logging in to each Web service via the connector and making settings. ..

Consider a case where a workflow in which this workflow system is linked with a reading device such as an imaging scanner or a multifunction device and an image processing device that processes and manages scanned images is used. For example, in the receipt settlement business, after the user makes an application on the Web, the receipt is scanned by a reading device. The scanned image is sent to the image processing device, information such as the date and amount included in the receipt is automatically extracted, and the extracted information is automatically registered in the settlement system, eliminating the trouble of manual input. It is a thing.

In this case, the work of "the user scans the receipt" is defined in cooperation with the Web service related to scanning. In a workflow system, processing is generally executed automatically according to predetermined procedures and settings. Therefore, when creating a workflow, it is necessary to set in advance what kind of settings should be used for scanning, where to output the scanned data and extracted information, and the like. However, when a plurality of users use the workflow, if the settings are made in advance, the settings for each user cannot be reflected.

Patent Document 1 is mentioned as a method for solving this problem. In Patent Document 1, the end user updates scan setting information such as resolution and color mode via the setting screen based on the workflow information created by the administrator and the setting information according to the instruction from the end user. , The technology to execute the workflow is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-109996

However, in Patent Document 1, since the setting information for each user is updated at the time of creating the workflow, it is not possible to reflect the setting to be determined at the time of executing the workflow. For example, the process of scanning a paper document is started by the user setting a physical paper document in a reading device, so that which reading device is scanned is determined when the workflow is executed. However, if the reading device or image processing device to be used is set before the workflow is executed, the reading device to be used during the scanning operation cannot be dynamically selected.

Further, as described above, this case is assumed to be operated in cooperation with a reading device and an image processing device as one of a plurality of Web services that can be linked with a workflow system. Therefore, depending on the content of the workflow, there are cases where the desired workflow cannot be executed, such as the executable image processing and other Web services do not match, but Patent Document 1 does not consider this case.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to execute a workflow by dynamically selecting image processing.

The present invention is an image processing device, and the image processing is performed on an acquisition means for acquiring a workflow task related to a user who has logged in to the image processing device from an external workflow system, and a workflow task acquired by the acquisition means. It is characterized by having a display control means for displaying an object for executing image processing selectable by the user when a task using the device is included and the task is not initially set. ..

According to the present invention, image processing can be dynamically selected to enable workflow execution.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration of an information processing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the image processing apparatus hardware configuration. It is a figure about the workflow of the workflow system. It is a figure about the data structure in an image processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the basic processing which an image processing apparatus performs at the time of workflow execution. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the image processing information display processing performed by the image processing management unit. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the workflow system and the image forming apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the image processing information display processing performed by the image processing management unit. It is a figure which shows the state of a workflow and an example of a screen displayed on an image forming apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the image processing information display processing performed by the image processing management unit. It is a figure which shows an example of the image processing selection screen displayed on an image forming apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of an information processing system. The information processing system is roughly classified into a workflow system 101, an image processing device 102, and an image forming device 103, and these three devices are connected via a network 104 such as a LAN or WAN.

The workflow system 101 is a system that manages and executes a workflow defined by a user. The workflow system 101 is connected to the image processing device 102 via the network 104, and is also configured to be able to connect to a plurality of Web services. The workflow system 101 includes a user interface 1010, a workflow management unit 1011, a workflow execution unit 1012, a user authentication unit 1013, and a workflow information 1014 as functional configurations. User interface 1010 is a graphical interface that allows users to create and execute workflows. An example of the user interface at the time of creating the workflow will be described with reference to FIG. The workflow management unit 1011 has a function of managing information related to the workflow created by the user. The workflow execution unit 1012 has a function of receiving a workflow execution instruction created by a user, connecting to each Web service, and instructing each service to execute a designated process. The user authentication unit 1013 manages the user registered in the workflow system 101 and authenticates the login request from the user and other Web services, systems, devices, and the like.

The image processing device 102 is a device that receives an image generated by the image forming device 103 and performs a designated image processing. The image processing referred to here includes, for example, character recognition preprocessing such as skew correction and noise removal, character recognition processing such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and saving and output of the result. Further, the image processing device 102 connects to the workflow system 101 under specific conditions and operates in cooperation with the workflow system 101. The image processing device 102 includes a user interface 1020, a workflow system connection unit 1021, an image processing management unit 1022, an image processing execution unit 1023, an image forming device communication unit 1024, and a user authentication unit 1025 as functional configurations.

The user interface 1020 is a graphical interface for registering a user who can use the image processing device 102 and registering an image process that can be executed by the user, and is assumed to be operated by an administrator. .. The workflow system connection unit 1021 connects to the workflow system 101, acquires information from the workflow system 101, receives an image processing execution instruction, and the like. The image processing management unit 1022 has a function of managing information related to image processing that can be executed by the image processing device 102. The image processing execution unit 1023 is a module that receives an image processing execution instruction and performs a desired process. The image forming apparatus communication unit 1024 is a module that communicates with the image forming apparatus 103, and mainly receives the scanned image generated by the image forming apparatus 1031 and notifies the user interface 1032 of the image processing information. The user authentication unit 1025 manages the user registered in the image processing device 102 and authenticates the user and other Web services, systems, devices, and the like. The user information 1026 is data for managing the user authentication information, and is used by the user authentication unit 1025. The image processing information 1027 stores information related to image processing that can be executed by the image processing device 102. The detailed data structures of the user information 1026 and the image processing information 1027 will be described with reference to FIG.

The image forming apparatus 103 is an apparatus that reads a paper original or a form and generates electronic data in an image format, and the generated image is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 102 according to a user's instruction. The image forming apparatus 103 includes a document reading unit 1030, an image forming unit 1031, a user interface 1032, and a user authentication unit 1033 as functional configurations. The document reading unit 1030 has a function of reading a paper document. The image forming unit 1031 has a function of generating an image from a document read by the document reading unit 1030. The user interface 1032 is a graphical interface that enables the user to preview the scanned image after scanning the original and select the scanning workflow to be executed. Here, in the following embodiments, a multifunction device is assumed as the image forming apparatus 103, and the description will be made on the premise that the form is scanned from the platen of the multifunction device, but the description is not limited to this. Further, a plurality of image forming devices 103 may exist. In that case, it is assumed that a plurality of image forming devices 103 are managed by the image processing device 102.
Although the image processing device 102 and the image forming device 103 have been described here as separate devices, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the function of the image processing device 102 may be mounted in the image forming device 103.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the image processing device 102. Unless otherwise specified, as long as the functions shown in the following embodiments are executed, whether it is a single device or a system consisting of a plurality of devices, the network 104 such as LAN or WAN is used. It may be a system in which a connection is made and processing is performed. Further, although the hardware configuration of the image processing device 102 will be described here, it is assumed that the workflow system 101 and the image forming device 103 also have the same configuration.

The image processing device 102 includes a CPU 201 that executes processing based on a program ROM of the ROM 205 or a program stored in the hard disk 203. Further, the CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus. Further, the program ROM or the hard disk 203 of the ROM 205 stores an OS or the like which is a control program of the CPU 201. Further, the CPU 201 opens various registered windows based on a command instructed by a mouse cursor or the like on the display, and executes various data processing. The RAM 202 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 201. The hard disk 203 stores boot programs, various applications, user files, image files, and the like. The program according to this embodiment is also stored in the hard disk 203. The display controller 204 controls the display of the display. The external storage drive 206 controls access to media 207 such as CDs and DVDs. The keyboard controller 208 controls key input from the keyboard and pointing device.

When the CPU 201 executes the process based on the program stored in the hard disk 203 or the ROM 205, the functional configuration of the image processing device 102 of FIG. 1 and the process of the flowcharts of FIGS. 5, 6, 8 and 10 described later are realized. To.

FIG. 3 is a diagram relating to the workflow of the workflow system 101. First, FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the user interface 1010 included in the workflow system 101. The user interface 1010 is composed of two screens, a connection destination list screen 301 and a workflow definition screen 302. The connection destination list screen 301 is a screen in which Web services and systems that can be connected by the workflow system 101 are listed. The user selects a connection destination based on the content to be executed from this screen and moves it to the workflow definition screen 302 to create a workflow. The workflow definition screen 302 is a screen for defining a workflow by combining the connection destinations selected on the connection destination list screen 301. Here, "Web application", "receipt scan", and "approval" are combined based on the content to be executed. Hereinafter, the execution content at each connection destination will be referred to as task 303. This screen also includes a save button and an execute button. The user confirms the workflow by selecting the save button when the workflow definition is completed. Once confirmed, the workflow definition is stored in workflow information 1014. The user can also execute the defined workflow by selecting the execute button. In FIG. 3A, each task 303 is set to connect to a different connection destination, but a plurality of tasks 303 may be set to connect to the same connection destination. In the example of the figure, the connection destinations of the tasks of "Web application" and "Approval" are "Web service A" and "Web service B", respectively, but they may be the same connection destination.

Next, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the workflow information generated in FIG. 3A. The workflow data 304 is data in which the contents and order of the functions in the workflow are defined. In the example, it is explained as XML format, but this case is not limited to this format. First, the part surrounded by the Flow tag indicates one workflow. FIG. 3 shows a workflow named “receipt settlement”. And a plurality of Function tags can be included in the Flow tag. The part surrounded by the Function tag represents one function. In FIG. 3, three functions of "Web application", "receipt scanning", and "approval" are defined. The order of each function is defined by the index attribute. In this case, the definition is that the functions are executed in the order of "Web application", "receipt scan", and "approval". Further, setting parameters (setting) are defined in the workflow data 304. This is set based on the content set in each task on the workflow definition screen 302. The workflow information 1014 described above is generated when the user confirms the workflow. Further, when the workflow is executed, the workflow information 1014 is interpreted by the workflow execution unit 1012, and the execution instruction of each function is given.

FIG. 4 is a diagram relating to a data structure in the image processing device 102. Introduction FIG. 4A shows the data structure of the user information 1026. The user information 1026 includes information used when authenticating a user who has logged in to the image processing device 102 and information used when logging in to the workflow system 101, and is referred to by the user authentication unit 1025. Will be done. Further, the user information 1026 holds a plurality of data structures as information for the image processing device 102 and the workflow system 101, and is composed of a management ID 401, a user ID 402, and a password 403, respectively. The management ID 401 represents an identifier for uniquely identifying each user information managed in the image processing device 102, and centrally manages a plurality of data structures. The user ID 402 and the password 403 are identifiers and passwords that are actually used when logging in to the image processing device 102 and the workflow.

In the example shown in FIG. 4A, there are three data structures of an image processing device and workflow systems A and B, and information of two users, a user whose management ID 401 is 001 and a user whose management ID 401 is 002, is managed. .. A user whose management ID 401 is 001 has user information for both workflow systems A and B, and is authenticated by the same user ID 402 and password 403 as when logging in to the image processing device 102 as in workflow system A. There is. On the other hand, there is a case where authentication is performed with a user ID 402 and a password 403 different from those when logging in to the image processing device 102 as in the workflow system B. Further, the user whose management ID 401 is 002 can connect only to the workflow system A because the user ID 402 and the password 403 of the workflow system B do not exist.

Next, FIG. 4B shows the data structure of the image processing information 1027. The image processing information 1027 is composed of an image processing ID 404, a name 405, and a processing 406. The image processing ID 404 represents an identifier for uniquely identifying the image processing content defined in the image processing device 102, and the name 405 represents the name of each image processing. The process 406 is defined as the process to be actually performed, and a plurality of processes may exist as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Further, the user information 1026 regarding the image processing device 102 includes an item of the image processing ID 404. This indicates which image processing can be executed by the user represented by the management ID 401. For example, since the values of the image processing ID 404 of the user whose management ID 401 is 001 are "imaging_001" and "imaging_002", any of the image processing defined in the image processing information 1027 can be executed. On the other hand, the user whose management ID 401 is 002 can only execute the process of "storing the scan data in the storage A" because the value of the image processing ID 404 is "imaging_001".

<Embodiment 1>
The processing performed by the image processing device 102 will be described below in three embodiments. As a use case described in the embodiment, the receipt settlement work described in the background technology will be taken as an example. That is, it is assumed that the workflow as shown in FIG. 3A is constructed and executed by the workflow system 101.
First, in the first embodiment, an example of the basic processing performed by the image processing apparatus 102 at the time of executing the workflow will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the above-mentioned workflow has already started execution, the "Web application" task has been completed, and the "receipt scanning" task is being executed. That is, the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 shows the processing when the task of "receipt scanning" is executed, and is started when the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 103 with an IC card or the like. Further, it is assumed that the user information 1026 and the image processing information 1027 in the image processing device 102 have been set by the administrator when the system is introduced. The various programs related to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 are stored in the hard disk 203 of the computer, read into the RAM 202, and executed by the CPU 201.

When the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 103, in step S1, the user authentication unit 1025 receives the authentication information (user ID and password) at the timing when the user logs in. At this time, the authentication information is transmitted from the user authentication unit 1033 of the image forming apparatus 103 via the image forming apparatus communication unit 1024. Then, authentication is performed by comparing with the user information 1026.

Next, in step S2, the user authentication unit 1025 connects to the workflow system 101. As described with reference to FIG. 3A, the authentication information of the image processing device 102 and the authentication information of the workflow system 101 are managed as the user information 1026 in association with each other by the management ID 401. Therefore, the user authentication unit 1025 attempts to connect to the workflow system 101 using the authentication information of the workflow system 101 corresponding to the authentication information received in step S1. For example, when the user ID 402 receives the AAA information, the corresponding management ID 401 is 001, so the user authentication unit 1025 authenticates both the workflow systems A and B including the user ID and the password.

When the connection with the workflow system 101 is successful, in step S3, the image processing management unit 1022 determines the feasible image processing information and transmits the image processing information to the image forming apparatus 103. The image forming apparatus 103 displays the image processing information on the user interface 1032, so that the user can select the desired image processing. The details of the process in step S3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

Then, the user selects the image processing to be executed and executes the work such as scanning the form using the image forming apparatus 103, so that the image processing execution unit 1023 executes the image processing in step S4.
In step S5, the image processing execution unit 1023 waits until the execution of the image processing is completed.
When the execution of the image processing is completed, in step S6, the image processing execution unit 1023 notifies the workflow system 101 that the task has been completed, and ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. When the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 is completed, the task of "receipt scanning" is completed, and the workflow proceeds to the "approval" task. This workflow is completed when the approver confirms the contents of the receipt and approves it.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a flowchart showing an example of image processing information display processing performed by the image processing management unit 1022 in the first embodiment will be described. This process corresponds to step S3 in FIG.
First, in step S11, the image processing management unit 1022 acquires a list of workflows from the workflow system 101. Among them, the image processing management unit 1022 determines whether or not there is a task 303 that connects to the image processing device 102 and performs image processing. If it does not exist, the image processing management unit 1022 ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 because there is no image processing to be executed in cooperation with the workflow system 101. If present, the image processing management unit 1022 proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, the image processing management unit 1022 determines whether the task of connecting to the image processing device 102 and performing image processing is initially set. When the task is initially set, the image processing management unit 1022 proceeds to step S13 because the content is explicitly set by the user when the workflow is created.
In step S13, the image processing management unit 1022 displays to the image forming apparatus 103 a button capable of executing image processing with the content thereof.

If the task is not initially set, the user omits the image processing settings when creating the workflow, and the user needs to select the settings. Therefore, the image processing management unit 1022 proceeds to step S14.
In step S14, the image processing management unit 1022 acquires a list of image processing that can be selected by the user from the image processing information 1027.
Then, in step S15, the image processing management unit 1022 causes the image forming apparatus 103 to display the image processing execution button. The image processing execution button is an example of an object for executing image processing that can be selected by the user. The process of step S15 is an example of a display control process for displaying an object for executing image processing that can be selected by the user.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the workflow system 101 and the image forming apparatus 103 in the first embodiment. First, FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen 701 of a task related to image processing performed by the image processing device 102 displayed on the user interface 1010 of the workflow system 101. This setting screen corresponds to the "receipt scanning" task in FIG. In the conventional workflow system, when the workflow is constructed, the connection destination to the scan service is input to log in to the scan service, and then detailed settings are made. However, in this case, a check box called "Set at device login" is provided. By checking this check box at the time of workflow construction, the user can omit the setting at the time of workflow construction. Further, when this check box is checked, it is determined that the initial setting has not been performed for the task using the image processing device (step S12).

7 (b) and 7 (c) are diagrams showing an example of the image processing selection screen 702 displayed on the image forming apparatus 103. Here, it is assumed that two types of image processing information 1027, "save scan data in storage A" and "save scan data in storage B", as shown in FIG. 3 (b), are registered. Then, this screen is a screen in which a list of image processing that can be selected by the user is acquired from the image processing information 1027 in step S14 of FIG. 6 and displayed in step S15. Here, a display example when each of the two users shown in FIG. 4A executes a workflow will be described.

FIG. 7B is a screen displayed when a user whose management ID 401 is 001 logs in. FIG. 7C is a screen displayed when a user with management ID 401 002 logs in. In FIG. 7B, since both workflow systems A and B are connected, two items, "execute in cooperation with workflow system A" and "execute in cooperation with workflow system B", are displayed on the screen. Exists on. Further, any of the image processing registered in the image processing device 102 can be executed by the value of the image processing ID 404 of the user information 1026. Therefore, the buttons of "save scan data in storage A" and "save scan data in storage B" are displayed for each item. On the other hand, since FIG. 7C is connected only to the workflow system A, only the item "execute in cooperation with the workflow system A" exists. Further, due to the value of the image processing ID 404 of the user information 1026, the image processing ID 404 cannot execute the image processing storm of imaging_001, so only the "Save scan data in storage A" button is displayed.

As described above, in the first embodiment, an example of the basic processing performed by the image processing device 102 at the time of executing the workflow has been described by taking the receipt settlement workflow as an example. Since the user can omit the settings related to scanning when constructing the workflow, it is possible to reduce the time and effort required for initial settings and setting changes. Further, the user can cooperate with the workflow system 101 associated with the own user simply by selecting the image forming device 103 to be used at the time of executing the scan and logging in. Further, by simply selecting the executable image processing displayed based on the workflow information, the processing linked with the workflow system 101 can be performed dynamically and easily.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, the basic processing performed by the image processing apparatus 102 has been described. Among them, the image processing device 102 is executed by the logged-in user by determining whether the workflow system 101 has a task that uses the image processing device 102 or whether the task is initially set when the workflow related to scanning is executed. Possible image processing information was presented. However, if the workflow does not reach the task that uses the image processing device 102, or if there is image processing in which the input / output between tasks is inconsistent, the workflow cannot be normally executed by the method described in the first embodiment. The case will come out. Therefore, in the second embodiment, a processing method of the image processing device 102 for dealing with this case and a method of displaying image processing information that can be executed by the user will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of image processing information display processing performed by the image processing management unit 1022 in the second embodiment. Here, the different processes will be described in detail as compared with the flowchart of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. Similar to the first embodiment, the flow chart processing is started after the connection is made to the workflow system 101 triggered by the user logging in to the image forming apparatus 103 with an IC card or the like.

When the processing is started, in steps S11 and S12, the existence of the task that uses the image processing device 102 and the presence / absence of the initial setting are determined. Then, in step S14, a list of image processing information that can be selected by the user is acquired. After that, in step S21, the image processing management unit 1022 acquires the task after the task using the image processing device 102 via the workflow system connection unit 1021. In this case, the image processing management unit 1022 acquires the setting information of the "approval" task, which is a task after the "receipt scanning" task. In particular, in order to make the input / output between tasks consistent and execute the workflow normally, the image processing management unit 1022 acquires the content of the execution trigger of the subsequent task.

After that, in step S22, the image processing management unit 1022 determines whether the image processing information 1027 that can be executed by the user fits the workflow. The condition of conformity is whether there is consistency in input / output between tasks. If it is determined that the image processing does not match, the image processing cannot be executed in cooperation with the workflow of the workflow system 101, so that the image processing management unit 1022 ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. If it is determined that the image conforms, the image processing management unit 1022 proceeds to step S23.
In step S23, the image processing management unit 1022 acquires the workflow status. The status means which task is currently being executed, and in this step, it is used as an index for determining whether or not the "receipt scanning" task can be executed.

Then, in step S24, the image processing management unit 1022 determines whether or not the task using the image processing device 102 cannot be executed. If it cannot be executed, the image processing management unit 1022 proceeds to step S25. In step S25, the image processing management unit 1022 displays the image processing information that can be selected by the user, but displays it as a non-executable button. If feasible, the image processing management unit 1022 proceeds to step S26.
In step S26, the image processing management unit 1022 displays the image processing information that can be selected by the user, and ends the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a workflow state in the second embodiment and a screen displayed on the image forming apparatus 103. Here, as in FIG. 4A, the workflow system A and the workflow system B are registered, and it is assumed that the workflow as shown in FIG. 9A is executed in each system. There are two major differences between the two workflows. In workflow system A, the "approval" task is set to be started by acquiring the scanned image of storage A, whereas in workflow system B, the scanned image of storage B is acquired. Starts with. Further, the workflow system A is executing the task of "receipt scanning", while the workflow system B is executing the task of "Web application".

In the workflow settings and states as described above, the image processing selection screen 901 displayed when the user with the management ID 401 shown in FIG. 4A logs in to the image forming apparatus 103 is shown in FIG. 9B. Will be. First, as an item to be executed in cooperation with the workflow system A, the "Save scan data in storage A" button is displayed, and compared with FIG. 7B, the "Save scan data in storage B" button is displayed. Not. This is because in the acquisition process of step S21, the trigger for executing the next task of "receipt scan" is the output to the storage A. If the image processing of "save scan data in storage B" is executed here, the scanned image is output to storage B. However, since the next "approval" task is triggered by the output of the scanned image to the storage A, this task will never be executed or will be executed at an unexpected timing. For the above reason, it is determined in the determination process of step S22 that "save scan data in storage B" does not match the workflow, and it is not displayed on the image processing selection screen 901.

In addition, the item to be executed in cooperation with the workflow system B has a "save scan data in storage B" button displayed, and a "save scan data in storage A" button is displayed as compared with FIG. 7 (b). Not. This is the acquisition process in step S21, and the trigger for executing the next task of "receipt scan" is the output to storage B, and in the determination process in step S22, "save scan data in storage A" is This is because it was determined that it does not match the workflow.

In this item, the "Save scan data in storage B" button is grayed out so that image processing cannot be executed even if the button is pressed. This is because it is acquired from the workflow system B that the "Web application" task is being executed in step S23, and it is determined in the determination process of step S24 that the "receipt scanning" task is in an unexecutable state. Is. Therefore, the graying out of this button is canceled and the image processing cannot be executed unless the "Web application" task is completed and the "receipt scanning" task is being executed.

In the second embodiment, a method of displaying the image processing information that can be executed to the user has been described in consideration of the execution state of the workflow and the consistency between tasks. As a result, while maintaining the effect of the first embodiment, the user can be made to execute only the image processing that can be executed at present, and it is possible to prevent the case where the workflow cannot be executed normally.

<Embodiment 3>
In the first and second embodiments, the registered workflow system is connected and the image processing selection screen according to the content of the task and the state of the workflow is displayed. In the third embodiment, the image processing selection screen display in the case where the registered workflow system 101 does not exist or is operated without cooperation will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of image processing information display processing performed by the image processing management unit 1022 in the third embodiment. The part different from the flow of the second embodiment is step S31. In step S31, before the end of this flow, the image processing management unit 1022 displays a button for executing image processing without coordinating with the workflow system 101. This step is executed regardless of the contents of the task and workflow.

A detailed description of the flow of FIG. 10 will be given with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the image processing selection screen 1101 displayed on the image forming apparatus 103 in the third embodiment. It is assumed that the workflow system, the user, and the image processing information registered in the image processing device are the same as those in the second embodiment. Compared with the image processing selection screen 901 of the second embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9B, the item of "execution without cooperation with the workflow system" is added in the third embodiment. The buttons displayed in this item are not executed in conjunction with the workflow system. Further, when there is an item to be executed in cooperation with the workflow system, a plurality of buttons for executing the same image processing are displayed. These are the same in the content of the image processing to be executed, but the button of the item to be executed in cooperation with the workflow system is for performing processing such as notifying the workflow system 101 of the completion when the execution of the image processing is completed. It's a button.

As described above, in the third embodiment, the processing method for performing image processing without cooperation even if the workflow system is registered and the display method for the user have been described. This allows the user to select whether to cooperate with the workflow system 101 according to the use case at that time.

<Other Embodiments>
The present invention supplies a system or device with a program that realizes one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiment via a network or a storage medium. It can also be realized by a process in which one or more processors in the computer of the system or apparatus reads and executes a program. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment.

As described above, according to each of the above-described embodiments, the reading device or image processing to be used can be dynamically selected so that the workflow can be executed.

101 Workflow system 102 Image processing device 103 Image forming device 201 CPU

Claims (7)

It is an image processing device
An acquisition means for acquiring a workflow task related to a user who has logged in to the image processing device from an external workflow system, and
An object for executing image processing that can be selected by the user when the task of the workflow acquired by the acquisition means includes a task of using the image processing device and the task is not initially set. Display control means to display
An image processing device characterized by having. When the task of the workflow acquired by the acquisition means includes a task of using the image processing device and the task is initially set, the display control means is the image initially set for the task. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an object for executing processing is displayed. 1. The display control means does not display the object when it is determined that the image processing selectable by the user cannot be executed based on the next task of the task using the image processing device. Or the image processing apparatus according to 2. Claims 1 to 1, wherein when it is determined that the image processing selectable by the user cannot be executed based on the status of the workflow, the display control means displays the object as non-executable. The image processing apparatus according to any one of 3. Claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the display control means displays an object that executes image processing in cooperation with the workflow system and an object that executes image processing in cooperation with the workflow system. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above items. It is an information processing method executed by an image processing device.
An acquisition process for acquiring workflow tasks related to a user who has logged in to the image processing device from an external workflow system, and
An object for executing image processing that can be selected by the user when the task of the workflow acquired by the acquisition step includes a task of using the image processing device and the task is not initially set. Display control process to display
An information processing method characterized by including. A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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