JP4501723B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program suitable for use in a document processing network system and the like for sharing paper documents and electronic information.

  Conventionally, there has been proposed a multi-function machine in which a facsimile, a scanner, and a printer function are integrated into a copier. As a result, paper-based office processing using a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and the like, and processing of an electronic document on a personal computer can be linked. For example, a paper document can be scanned and transferred to a personal computer, or a document received by facsimile can be sent to the personal computer as image data without printing.

  In order to automate a lot of procedures and processes after paper documents and facsimile received documents are digitized, a job template in which desired settings for items to be set in the multifunction peripheral have been prepared in advance. A technique has been proposed in which the job template is designated and the setting value is changed as necessary to perform processing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  However, the linkage procedure for linking processes and the data used for the process need to be set in advance, and the behavior is fixed.

In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed an apparatus that allows individual users to perform link processing of each input / output function or program suitable for an arbitrary usage method on a device connected to a network (for example, And Patent Document 3).
JP-A-10-83263 (page 5-7, FIG. 2, FIG. 5) JP 2000-270148 A JP 2001-306534 A

  However, it may not be possible to cope with individual users simply by enabling cooperation between input / output functions and programs of devices connected to the network. For example, although data of individual users is different for an arbitrary plurality of users, when a cooperation procedure for linking the same processing is desired, it is necessary to correspond to each user with a general instruction. That is, a series of processes as a whole by cooperation is the same for each user. However, when the data used in each process is different for each user, the user must individually set again, and the burden on the user is reduced. To increase.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program capable of performing processing flexibly without being limited to the apparatus configuration and processing contents. And

  In order to achieve the above object, the image processing apparatus according to the present invention has a description content as an instruction describing a series of processing procedures and processing contents in the service in order to execute a service for performing predetermined processing on the document data on the network. Input means for inputting individual data to be specified individually for each user as predetermined standard data, input means for inputting identification data for identifying the user, the identification data, and the individual data Storage means for storing user data including the correspondence relationship for each user, and standard data included in the input instruction based on the user data of the table corresponding to the input identification data, Generating means for generating individual instructions by converting into individual data corresponding to standard data; And a, and execution means for executing the processing according to the instructions.

  The image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus included in a service processing system that performs, for example, cooperative processing, which executes a service for performing predetermined processing on document data on a network. Here, the document data may be information related to the document, and is not particularly limited to character information such as text data or image information obtained by reading a paper document.

  The input means is for inputting a series of processing procedures and instructions describing each processing content in the service. This instruction sheet describes individual data to be specified for each user among the description contents as predetermined standard data. At the same time, the input means inputs identification data for identifying the user. A table representing the user data including the correspondence between the identification data and the individual data for each user is stored in the storage means. The generating unit converts the standard data included in the input instruction sheet into individual data corresponding to the standard data based on the user data in the table corresponding to the input identification data, and generates a user-specific instruction sheet. . The execution unit executes the process according to the user-specific instruction generated by the generation unit. In this way, by describing the standard data in the instruction sheet and storing user data including the correspondence between the identification data and the individual data, the image processing apparatus can generate an individual instruction sheet, Appropriate processing for each user, that is, the corresponding service can be executed.

  The individual data includes position data representing a position of document data owned by the user on a network and address data representing a destination to which the document data is provided.

  When a service that performs predetermined processing such as submitting document data is executed on a network, the document data is stored by the user, but the submission destination is often a device other than the user. Therefore, when the document data itself is stored in any device on the network, the document data can be specified by including position data representing the position of the document data on the network in the individual data. In addition, by including address data indicating a document data providing destination in the individual data, it is possible to designate a document data submission destination.

  The input means includes authentication means for authenticating a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data.

  When executing the service, it is preferable to identify the user separately from a third party. Therefore, it is possible to identify a user from the apparatus side by including an authentication unit that authenticates a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data.

  The function of the image processing apparatus is realized by the following image processing method. More specifically, it is an image processing method executed in an image processing apparatus included in a service processing system that performs processing on a network in cooperation with a service that performs predetermined processing on document data, and the service is executed on the network. In order to input a series of processing procedures in the service and an instruction describing each processing content, an instruction describing individual data to be individually specified among the description contents as predetermined standard data and identifying the user A table representing user data including correspondence between the identification data and the individual data is stored in advance, and the user data of the table corresponding to the input identification data is input. On the basis of the standard data included in the inputted instruction, And converts the data to generate user-specific instruction, and executes processing in accordance with the user-specific instruction.

  In the image processing method, the individual data includes position data indicating a position of document data owned by the user on a network and address data indicating a destination to which the document data is provided.

  The image processing method further includes a process of authenticating a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data.

  The function of the image processing apparatus can be realized by executing the following program. Specifically, an image processing program executed in an image processing apparatus included in a service processing system that performs processing on a network in cooperation with a service that performs predetermined processing on document data, a series of processing procedures in the service, and Input step for inputting instruction data describing individual data to be specified individually for each user among the description contents as instruction data describing each processing content, and inputting identification data for identifying the user. And from the storage means that stores in advance a table representing user data including correspondence between the identification data and the individual data for each user, the user data of the table corresponding to the input identification data is read, Based on the read user data, the standard data included in the input instruction is input. The data, characterized by comprising a generation step of generating a user-specific instruction is converted into individual data corresponding to the standard data, an execution step of executing a process in accordance with the user-specific instruction, the.

  In the image processing program, the individual data includes position data indicating a position of document data owned by the user on a network and address data indicating a destination to which the document data is provided.

  In the image processing program, the input step includes an authentication step of authenticating a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data.

  According to the present invention, by storing user data including a correspondence relationship between identification data and individual data, a user-specific instruction is generated using an instruction in which standard data is described. It is possible to execute the service to be executed.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, the concept of the system on which the present invention is based will be described.

(System configuration)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a document processing system 1 related to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The document processing system 1 is a conceptual diagram in which a functional unit that executes a service or an application is configured by one or a plurality of devices as a system for performing a user's desired processing in cooperation with a plurality of services. In other words, the document processing system 1 is a system in which devices that execute various services and applications are connected via the network 5. Here, a service refers to a function that can be used for a document in response to an external request. The services include, for example, copying, printing, scanning, facsimile transmission / reception, mail delivery, storage in the repository, reading from the repository, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing, noise removal processing, and the like, and are not particularly limited. .

  Specifically, the document processing system 1 includes a client terminal 10 provided with a user interface that instructs a user's desired processing in cooperation with a plurality of services, a service search server 20 that searches for a user's desired service, An instruction form generation server 30 that creates an instruction form from information related to service cooperation instructed by the client terminal 10, an instruction form management server 40 that manages the instruction form, and a cooperation processing server that executes cooperation processing of each service according to the instruction form 50.

  Further, the document processing system 1 includes an image processing device 61 that performs image processing such as noise removal processing, image rotation processing, OCR processing, and image binding of an image document, a document management server 62 that manages documents, and a document. A document distribution server 63 for distribution, a first service processing device 64 that performs first service processing, and a second service processing device 65 that performs second service processing are provided.

  The document processing system 1 has a configuration in which a plurality of servers that perform predetermined service processing are connected via the network 5, but is particularly limited as long as a plurality of services are connected via the network 5. It is not something.

  Here, the instruction sheet refers to information representing the relationship between each function, interface (I / F) information for calling each function, and a series of processes when the series of processes is decomposed into a plurality of functional processes. And data for configuring a graphical user interface (GUI) related to processing.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the mutual relationship between the service processing apparatuses constituting the document processing system 1. Each service processing apparatus stores I / F information representing the content of the service provided by itself.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the I / F information. The I / F information includes <Service Class>, <Service Name>, <Service Icon>, <Service Location Information>, <Input. >, <Output>, <Parameter Restriction Rules>, <Service Location>, <Method Name>, <Invocation Scheme>, <Implicit Element (Inclusive Elements)>.

  <Service type> is a type of service provided by the service processing apparatus. As the <service type>, those defined in advance are used, and examples include scan, print, repository, and flow. <Service name> is the name of a service provided by the service processing apparatus. <Service icon> is position information of an icon displayed on the GUI of the client terminal 10.

  <Service location information> is a URL used by the instruction sheet generation server 30 to acquire I / F information. <Input> is an input to the service. <Output> is an output to the service. <Parameter restriction rule> is a restriction rule applied to <input> and <output>. <Service location> is location information when the service is actually used. <Method name> is a service processing providing method.

  The <startup method> is a method for calling and starting a service process. For example, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) or SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), which are message exchange protocols, can be used as the <startup method>. <Implicit element> is data that is not explicitly passed to the subsequent process as an output, but can be referred to in the subsequent process.

  The client terminal 10 has a graphical user interface (GUI) function for displaying a screen and performing a predetermined operation in order to instruct creation of an instruction and select an instruction to be activated.

  The service search server 20 searches for a service corresponding to the search condition from among a plurality of services connected to the network 5. The service search server 20 is one of I / F information of various service processing devices such as the image processing device 61, the document management server 62, the document distribution server 63, the first service processing device 64, and the second service processing device 65. Part (hereinafter referred to as “partial I / F information”) is stored in advance. Here, the partial I / F information refers to <service type>, <service name>, <service location information>, <input>, and <output> in the elements of the I / F information.

  When a search condition is transmitted from the instruction form generation server 30 or the cooperation processing server 50, the service search server 20 searches for a service using the partial I / F information of each service processing device. For example, when searching for a service similar to a predetermined service, the service search server 20 searches for a service that matches <service type>, searches for a service that matches <input> and <output>, Find a service that matches all of these.

  The instruction form generation server 30 acquires I / F information from each service processing apparatus when generating the instruction form, and generates an instruction form for linking services provided by the service processing apparatuses. Specifically, the instruction book generation server 30 executes the following processing in order to create an instruction book.

  Based on <service location information>, the instruction form generation server 30 requests to transmit I / F information regarding each service from a predetermined service processing device distributed on the network 5. When there is no predetermined service processing device, the instruction form generation server 30 instructs the service search server 20 to search for another service processing device that performs the same service as the predetermined service processing device. put out. Then, the instruction sheet generation server 30 may acquire <service location information> of another service processing device from the service search server 20.

  The instruction form generation server 30 manages search results from the service search server 20 and I / F information received from each service processing device. The instruction form generation server 30 generates an HTML file serving as a GUI screen for defining a job flow, based on the I / F information acquired from each service processing apparatus. Then, when there is a service browsing request from the client terminal 10, the instruction form generation server 30 transmits an HTML file serving as a GUI screen to the client terminal 10.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an instruction creation screen 100 that is a GUI screen for defining a job flow. The instruction form creation screen 100 includes a service window 101, a flow window 102, a logic window 103, and a property window 104.

  The service window 101 displays various service processing devices that can be used. The logic window 103 displays a job flow indicating a pattern of cooperation between services. The property window 104 displays detailed setting parameters for each icon displayed in the service window 101 and the logic window 103.

  The user can define a job flow in the flow window 102 by dragging and dropping the icon of the service window 101 and the icon of the logic window 103 to the flow window 102. The user can further set the service and logic in detail by editing the contents displayed in the property window 104.

  The client terminal 10 transmits the job flow information defined by the user's operation to the instruction form generation server 30 according to the CGI (Common Gateway Interface) format.

  The instruction form generation server 30 is configured to request each service based on the job flow information related to the service cooperation instruction from the user and the I / F information of each service, input parameters, and how to link each service. (Job Flow), and an instruction sheet defining information for specifying a document to be processed such as a document name and storage location information. The instruction sheet is composed of an XML format file.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an instruction sheet configured in the XML format. Since the linkage processing itself of a plurality of services is also regarded as one service, the instruction form has a configuration in which <Flow> is added to the I / F information shown in FIG.

  <Flow> is an element that describes the cooperation between services, and specifies elements such as <Invoke>, control structure, logical operation, <if> for calculating operation, and a document to be processed. Contains information for.

  <Activation> represents a specific method of the service processing apparatus, and executes a service call. As elements of <startup>, a <map> indicating position information of parameters and a method name <method> to be called are included. <If>, <and>, <eq>, and <gt> indicating a control structure, logical operation, and the like perform conditional branching during coordination processing and adjust parameters passed between services.

  In the instruction sheet, all information related to the control of the service cooperation process is described in the <flow> element. Thereby, the cooperation processing itself represented by the instruction sheet is also regarded as one service. Note that the instruction sheet is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, and it is sufficient that the services can be linked.

  The instruction book generation server 30 transmits the XML format instruction book as described above to the instruction book management server 40. In addition, the instruction form generation server 30 may directly transmit the instruction form to the cooperation processing server 50 when the execution of the service cooperation processing is instructed by the user.

  The instruction sheet management server 40 holds the instruction sheet transmitted from the instruction sheet generating server 30 and transmits the instruction sheet to the cooperation processing server 50 in response to a request from the client terminal 10.

  The cooperation processing server 50 is a server that interprets and executes a specified instruction. When the instruction is transmitted, the cooperation processing server 50 interprets the instruction, and the image processing device 61, the document management server 62, the document distribution server 63, and the like according to the order and usage described in the instruction. Each service processing device is called in order to execute cooperation processing. Further, the cooperation processing server 50 stores information on the status of the cooperation processing being executed and the results of the cooperation processing that has been completed, and notifies the status and results of the cooperation processing in response to an external request.

  When the cooperation processing server 50 interprets the instruction sheet and requests each service processing apparatus, the cooperation processing server 50 generates individual instruction information including processing request contents, input parameters, information for specifying a processing target document, and the like. Note that the cooperation processing server 50 may describe the relationship with the processing before and after the processing performed by each service processing device in the instruction sheet, or a unique information exchange format for each service processing device instead of the format of the instruction sheet A processing request may be made at.

  The image processing device 61 is a computer in which a software program for performing an image processing function is installed. The image processing device 61 processes the document based on the service processing request content, the input parameters, and the processing target document information included in the processing request from the cooperation processing server 50. Further, the image processing apparatus 61 notifies the service search server 20 of the partial I / F information at the time of activation. Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 61 transmits I / F information indicating a method for using the image processing service in response to a request from the instruction sheet generation server 30. This I / F information is used when creating the instruction sheet.

  The document management server 62 has a document storage function. Based on the information included in the request from the cooperation processing server 50, the document management server 62 executes storage, retrieval, and reading of documents, change of attributes related to documents, and various processes. Further, the document management server 62 notifies the service search server 20 of the partial I / F information at the time of activation. Further, the document management server 62 transmits I / F information indicating how to use the document management service in response to a request from the instruction sheet generation server 30.

  The document distribution server 63 has a function of storing the acquired document in the instructed document management server, sending an e-mail or FAX to the instructed transmission destination, or performing a print output process to the instructed printer. ing. The document distribution server 63 performs document distribution processing based on a document instructed by the client terminal 10 and information on the distribution destination in response to a request from the cooperation processing server 50. Further, the document distribution server 63 notifies the partial I / F information to the service search server 20 at the time of activation. Further, the document distribution server 63 transmits I / F information indicating how to use the document distribution processing service in response to a request from the instruction sheet generation server 30.

  The first service processing device 64 is a device that performs predetermined service processing relating to a document in accordance with an instruction from the outside. Here, the first service processing device 64 executes the service processing to be executed by itself based on information such as the content of the processing request from the cooperation processing server 50, input parameters, and information for specifying the processing target document. To do. In addition, the first service processing device 64 notifies the partial I / F information to the service search server 20 at the time of activation. Further, the first service processing device 64 transmits I / F information indicating a service processing usage method in response to a request from the instruction form generation server 30. The second service processing device 65 operates in the same manner as the first service processing device 64 except for the contents of the service processing.

  In the document processing system 1 configured as described above, each service processing apparatus such as the image processing apparatus 61, the document management server 62, and the document distribution server 63 is installed with an application program for executing a predetermined service. And it works as follows.

  Service processing devices such as the image processing device 61, the document management server 62, and the document distribution server 63 notify the service search server 20 of partial I / F information including information indicating each service outline and address in the startup processing. .

  The service search server 20 stores partial I / F information transmitted from each service processing device such as the image processing device 61, the document management server 62, and the document distribution server 63. Accordingly, the service search server 20 can execute a search using the partial I / F information when a predetermined service search request is received from, for example, the instruction form generation server 30 or the cooperation processing server 50.

(Creation of instructions)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the client terminal 10 and the instruction book generation server 30 when the instruction book is created.

  The client terminal 10 accesses the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the HTML file generated for the user interface screen provided by the instruction generation server 30 through the installed browser according to the user's operation (step ST1).

  In response to the browsing request from the client terminal 10, the instruction form generation server 30 transmits the HTML file of the user interface screen to the client terminal 10 (step ST2).

  The client terminal 10 displays a user interface screen based on the HTML file transmitted from the instruction book generation server 30 (step ST3). At this time, the user can use the user interface screen displayed on the client terminal 10 to define a desired service cooperation job flow.

  The client terminal 10 determines whether or not the job flow is defined via the user interface screen, and waits until the job flow is defined (step ST4). When the client terminal 10 determines that a job flow has been created, the client terminal 10 transmits job flow information related to service cooperation defined by the user to the instruction sheet generation server 30.

  The instruction form generation server 30 is configured to request each service based on the information related to the service link job flow transmitted from the client terminal 10 and the I / F information acquired from each service processing apparatus, and input parameters. Then, an instruction is defined that defines information for identifying the document to be processed, such as how to link each service, document name, storage location information, and the like (step ST5). Then, the instruction sheet generation server 30 transmits an XML-format instruction sheet to the instruction sheet management server 40.

  The instruction management server 40 stores the instruction generated by the instruction generation server 30. The instruction sheet management server 40 stores a plurality of instructions created by the instruction sheet generation server 30 and reads out the selected instruction sheet when there is an instruction sheet selection instruction from the client terminal 10.

(Start / execute linked processing)
The user can select a desired instruction from a plurality of instructions stored in the instruction management server 40 and start the cooperation process. Specifically, it is as follows.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing of the client terminal 10, the instruction book management server 40 and the cooperation processing server 50.

  The client terminal 10 accesses the instruction sheet management server 40 and acquires an instruction sheet list managed by the instruction sheet management server 40 (step ST11).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the service cooperation process selection screen 110 representing the instruction list. The service cooperation process selection screen 110 has buttons 111 to 116 for selecting an instruction for each instruction. The user can select an instruction by clicking a desired button on the service cooperation processing selection screen 110. The button 111 is a button for selecting an instruction when executing service cooperation processing (report submission) according to an embodiment of the present invention described in detail below.

  The client terminal 10 selects an instruction sheet representing a predetermined service cooperation process from the service cooperation process selection screen 110 based on a user operation instruction, and instructs activation of the instruction sheet.

  The instruction management server 40 transmits the instruction specified by the client terminal 10 to the cooperation processing server 50 (step ST12). As a result, the cooperation processing server 50 starts execution of the cooperation processing.

  The cooperation processing server 50 interprets the instruction sheet transmitted from the instruction sheet management server 40 and executes the first service process on the image processing apparatus 61 that is the first process described in the instruction sheet. (Step ST13). Specifically, the cooperation processing server 50, based on the information described in the instruction sheet, the location of the service processing device that requests processing, the input parameter and output parameter format required for the processing request, and the method for processing request Information specifying the name, activation method, and processing target document is extracted, and individual instruction information is created. The cooperation processing server 50 transmits the individual instruction information to the image processing apparatus 61 that is the first processing request destination.

  The image processing device 61 acquires the document by copying the processing target document based on the storage location information of the processing target document described in the transmitted instruction. The image processing device 61 interprets the service processing request contents for the acquired document image, performs image processing such as noise removal and OCR processing, and performs processing for binding with the extracted text document. The image processing device 61 re-stores the document in which the image document and the text document obtained by the image processing are bound to the original storage destination. When such processing is completed, the image processing apparatus 61 transmits processing results such as processing status information (completed), output parameters, processed document storage location information, and the like to the cooperative processing server 50.

  When the cooperation processing server 50 receives the processing result from the image processing device 61, the cooperation processing server 50 manages the first processing request result as a log. Then, the cooperation processing server 50 specifies the second processing request destination based on the instruction, and requests the document management server 62 to execute the second service processing (step ST14). Similar to the first service processing request, the cooperation processing server 50 receives individual instruction information (information indicating that the document is information relating to the processing request, information on the storage destination of the document, and information specifying the processing target document). Transmit to the document management server 62.

  The document management server 62 performs processing for storing the document processed and stored in the previous processing (first service processing) based on the request content of the cooperation processing server 50 based on the storage location information described in the request content. . When such processing is completed, the document management server 62 transmits processing results such as processing status information (completed), output parameters, processed document storage destination information, and the like to the cooperation processing server 50.

  When the cooperation processing server 50 receives the processing result from the second service processing (document storage processing), the cooperation processing server 50 manages the second processing request result as a log. The cooperation processing server 50 specifies the third processing request destination based on the instruction, and requests the document distribution server 63 to execute the third service processing (step ST15). Similarly to the second service processing request, the cooperation processing server 50 receives individual instruction information (information indicating that the document is information relating to the processing request, information on the storage destination of the document, and information specifying the processing target document). Transmit to the document distribution server 63.

  The document distribution server 63 converts the document processed and stored in the previous process (second service process) based on the request contents of the cooperation processing server 50 into the document file based on the information (storage destination information) specifying the document. Read and execute the process described in the request. Here, the document distribution server 63 sends a text document only to a mail address designated as a distribution destination among the documents in which the text document and the image document are bound, and faxes only the image document to the designated FAX number. Send. When the processing is completed, the document distribution server 63 transmits processing results such as processing status information (completion), output parameters, processed document storage destination information, and the like to the cooperative processing server 50.

  In this processing, the document distribution server 63, for example, if the destination is busy in the FAX transmission processing and cannot be connected to the destination even after retrying a predetermined number of times, the status information is “mail transmission: completed, FAX transmission”. : Not transmitted ”to the cooperation processing server 50.

  When the cooperation processing server 50 receives the processing result from the third service processing and determines that the next processing is not described in the instruction sheet, the cooperation processing server 50 notifies the client terminal 10 that all processing has been completed. To complete the cooperation process (step ST16).

  In the above configuration, the service search server 20 acquires a part of the I / F information (partial I / F information) from each service processing device, but acquires all of the I / F information. Also good.

(Report submission workflow)
As described above, in the document processing system 1, various devices are connected via the network 5 so that various services and applications can be executed. In the present embodiment, the case where the report submission workflow process is executed will be described in more detail with the above configuration as a basic configuration.

  In the present embodiment, as the image processing apparatus 61, a multi-function machine in which a facsimile, a scanner, and a printer function are integrated into a copying machine is employed. The image processing apparatus 61 includes the functions of the client terminal 10 and the cooperation processing server 50. In the following description, in order to avoid confusion with the image processing device 61 described above, the image processing device 61 of the present embodiment configured to include the functions of the client terminal 10 and the cooperation processing server 50 is described as an image. The processing device 60 is assumed.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the main part for explaining the report submission workflow processing based on the mutual relationship between the service processing devices constituting the document processing system 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). In order to realize the report submission workflow process, the image processing apparatus 60, the document management server 62, the document distribution server 63, and the instruction sheet management server 40 are used. A plurality of client terminals operated by the user are connected to the network 5. The plurality of client terminals can be configured by the same computer apparatus as the client terminal 10 described above. However, in this embodiment, a computer that executes processing related to report creation may be used, so that mistakes are avoided. As shown in FIG. 9, they are represented as computers PC-1 to PC-n (n is an integer). Further, FIG. 9 shows a case where the report submission destination is a computer and an example thereof is connected to the network 5 as a computer PC-X, although details will be described later.

  The document management server 62 includes a storage device 62A that stores a report created by the user as document data.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image processing apparatus 60. In the present embodiment, the image processing apparatus 60 includes a mechanism unit 200 for various image processing that functions as a multifunction peripheral for copying and printing images. The mechanism unit 200 includes a printing mechanism unit 202, a copying mechanism unit 204, a scanning mechanism unit 206, and a facsimile machine rear unit 208.

  Further, the image processing apparatus 61 includes a process execution unit 214 that controls the mechanism unit 200. The processing execution unit 214 has a computer configuration, and functions as the client terminal unit 212 for causing the image processing apparatus 60 to function as the client terminal 10 and the cooperation processing server 50 together with the control of the mechanism unit 200. This function is configured to include a function for controlling the cooperation processing unit 210. Connected to the processing execution unit 214 is a display device 220 such as an LCD having a GUI function, and is connected to a memory 222 that stores data 216 input / output data to / from an external device and a table that will be described in detail later. Has been. Further, the processing execution unit 214 is connected to an authentication processing unit 218 for authenticating a user when permitting access to the image processing apparatus 60.

  FIGS. 14 to 17 show examples of tables stored in the memory 222. A table stored in the memory 222 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 14, a user information database (hereinafter referred to as a user information DB) that is a table for recording various types of information on each user has a user ID, user name, password, age, and affiliation for identifying the user. It consists of a record for each user including at least a field. In the present embodiment, a monthly report is taken as an example of the report, and a field indicating whether or not a monthly report needs to be submitted is added.

  As shown in FIG. 15, a link information table (hereinafter referred to as a report submission destination TB) that records a report submission destination such as an affiliation manager, is a affiliation within the organization using this system, a user ID, It is composed of records of affiliation units including at least fields of superior name, e-mail address, and facsimile number. The fields of the e-mail address and the facsimile number are data according to the form of submission to the destination, and there are position data representing the position such as an address, a postal code, a telephone number, and url other than the examples. The report submission destination TB shown in FIG. 15 can be linked to the user information DB of FIG. That is, all the content values of the belonging field in FIG. 14 exist in the belonging field in FIG. Therefore, the affiliation length of each user in FIG. 14 can be specified by referring to FIG.

  In addition, there may be a plurality of heads under the affiliation within the organization. In this case, the affiliation may be subdivided for each group in which the length exists, and as shown in FIG. 16, a field of the position and its abbreviation may be provided.

  As shown in FIG. 17, a link information table (hereinafter referred to as a document storage location TB) that records a storage location of a report created by a user includes a user ID indicating a user who owns document data, a storage location, It consists of a record for each user including at least a file name. The submission destination field is not essential, but may be added. For example, the submission destination of document data such as a report can be determined by referring to the report submission destination TB, but if the submission destination is fixed for individual document data, the user ID of the user of the submission destination May be specified by providing a field for storing. You may add the above job title and its abbreviation (see FIG. 16) to this user ID.

  The above table is registered in advance in the memory 222 in the image processing apparatus 60 of the present embodiment. Registration of this table is preferably prohibited from being changed by the user in order to suppress erroneous operations, and is preferably registered in advance by an administrator who manages the image processing apparatus 60. However, if it is desired to set each user individually, such as the file name or storage location of the document storage location TB, it is preferable to set it freely for each user, so that it can be changed.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the document management server 62. The document management server 62 includes a process execution unit 232 for executing management control of document data. An input unit 230 to which instructions and data from the outside are input is connected to the input side of the processing execution unit 232, and an output unit 234 to which instructions and data are output to the outside is connected to the output side. ing. In the present embodiment, the document management server 62 includes a storage device 62A. The storage device 62A is for storing document data created by the user, and is provided with a data storage area for each user. Therefore, the position of the document data and the target document data for each user can be specified by the position of the document management server 62, the data storage area in the storage device 62A, and the file name of the stored document data.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the document distribution server 63. The document distribution server 63 includes a distribution processing execution unit 242 for executing distribution processing of requested document data. An input unit 240 to which external instructions and data are input is connected to the input side of the distribution processing execution unit 242, and data and instructions including document data to be distributed to the outside are output to the output side. The output unit 244 to be connected is connected.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the instruction book management server 40. The instruction sheet management server 40 includes a process execution unit 252 for executing management control of instruction sheet data. An input unit 250 to which instruction data from the outside is input is connected to the input side of the processing execution unit 252, and an output unit 254 from which instruction data is output to the outside is connected to the output side. . In addition, the instruction book management server 40 includes a storage device 40A. In the storage device 40A, instruction data created by the user is stored.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the instruction data stored in the storage device 40A includes instruction data in standard data in a data format that can be individually changed by the user.

  FIG. 18 shows an example of the main part of the instruction sheet data as a conceptual image of the instruction sheet configured in the XML format according to the present embodiment stored in the storage device 40A of the instruction sheet management server 40. The instruction data stored in the storage device 40A will be described.

  The instruction form data shown in FIG. 18 is a corresponding part (<flow>) of processing until the monthly report created by the user is transmitted to the superior of the user by e-mail in the report submission workflow.

  Specifically, it is an element that describes report submission processing, <job type> for describing the outline of the service, <user information> for describing information about the user, and information about the document data to be transmitted <Document information> for describing information and <transmission destination information> for describing information related to the transmission destination. <User information> is composed of elements of <User name> and is a standard instruction here, and therefore a predetermined symbol “*” is described therein. <Document information> includes <Document type> describing the type of document data, <Store destination> describing the storage destination of the document data, and <File name> describing the name of the target document data. Here, since it is a standard instruction, a predetermined symbol “*” is described. <Destination information> is <Personal name> describing the name of the destination to which the document data is sent, and information according to the transmission format when sending to the user of <Personal name> ), Which is a standard instruction, and a predetermined symbol “*” is described.

(Overview of report submission workflow)
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process outline in a report submission workflow executed in the image processing apparatus 60. Here, a case where the user 01 transmits a report by e-mail to the user 11 who is the upper manager will be described.

  Before the report submission workflow shown in FIG. 20 is executed, the tables shown in FIGS. 14 to 17 are created in advance and stored in the memory 222, and the instruction data shown in FIG. 18 is created and stored in advance. It is assumed that it has already been stored in the device 40A.

  First, in step 300, user authentication for enabling a user to access the image processing device 60 is executed in the authentication processing unit 218 using the GUI function of the display device 220. The process of step 300 is a so-called login process, and is a process of determining the validity of the user ID and password with reference to the user information DB by the process execution unit 214 and the authentication processing unit 218.

  In the next step 302, the service cooperation process selection screen 110 (instruction list) shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display device 220, and the selection instruction input by the user is awaited. Here, when the button 111 is pressed by the user, the report submission workflow is selected, and in the next step 304, the instruction is acquired, that is, the instruction management server 40 is requested for instruction data, and the instruction management server 40 Standard instruction data for report submission is received from the storage device 40A. In the next step 306, the instruction data received in step 304 is interpreted, and the position in the instruction data of the standard data “*” embedded in the instruction data is specified.

  In the next step 308, a table including a field corresponding to the element of the standard data identified in step 306 is selected, and the logged-in user data is read from the selected table. Here, the user information DB in FIG. 14, the report submission destination TB in FIG. 15, and the document storage location TB in FIG. 17 are selected, the record of the user ID “user_01” in the user information DB in FIG. 14, the report in FIG. The record of the user ID “user_11” of the submission destination TB and the record of the user ID “user_01” of the document storage location TB of FIG. 17 are read.

  In the next step 310, an individual instruction for the user 01 is created from the standard instruction (step 304) and logged-in user data (step 308). That is, the individual instruction data for the user 01 is created by embedding the data recorded in the table in the part where the standard data “*” is embedded in the standard instruction.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, <user information> corresponds to the user information DB, and <user name> in which the symbol “*” is described includes the user name “user 01” in the user information DB. Embedded. Also, <document information> corresponds to the field of whether to submit a monthly report in the user information DB and the document storage location TB, and "monthly report" is embedded in <document type> in which the symbol "*" is described. The storage location “serverA: / user / user_01 / report /” is embedded in <Store Destination>, and the file name “report.doc” is embedded in <File Name>. In addition, <Destination Information> corresponds to the report submission destination TB, the <person name> in which the symbol “*” is described, the superior name “user 11” is embedded, and the <e-mail address> An email address “boss_A@domain.jp” of “user 11” is embedded.

  When the individual instruction data is created as described above, the process proceeds to step 312 and processing is executed in accordance with the individual instruction created in step 310. As a result, an instruction for user 01 is created from the standard instruction, and the report of user 01 is attached and sent to user 11 who is the senior manager by mail. That is, the image processing apparatus 60 processes the document distribution request toward the document distribution server 63.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the data to be embedded in the standard instruction sheet is stored in the image processing apparatus 60 in advance, so that the user only logs in to the image processing apparatus and selects a workflow. The user can complete the process by creating an individual instruction in which individual user data is embedded. Therefore, it is possible to smoothly perform the cooperation process automatically for each user without creating an instruction for each user.

  Note that the processing of step 300 and step 304 of the above embodiment corresponds to the processing of inputting an instruction sheet and the function of inputting identification data in the input means of the present invention. The authentication means that can be included in the input means of the present invention corresponds to the authentication processing unit 218, and its function corresponds to step 300. The memory 222 corresponds to the storage unit of the present invention. Of the individual data stored in the storage means, the position data corresponds to the storage location data in the table shown in FIG. 17, and the address data corresponds to the e-mail address data in the table shown in FIG. The individual instruction creation process in step 310 corresponds to the function of the generation unit of the present invention. Furthermore, the processing of step 312 corresponds to the function of the execution means of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the image processing device 60 includes various functions such as the cooperation processing server. However, the cooperation processing of a plurality of services may be executed using various devices such as the cooperation processing server 50. Good.

  In the above embodiment, a part of the basic configuration is included in the image processing apparatus 60. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, even if the various devices and services are provided as functions in at least one device and applied, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

1 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a document processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the mutual relationship of each service processing apparatus which comprises a document processing system. It is a conceptual diagram which shows schematic structure of I / F information. It is an image figure which shows the instruction creation screen which is a GUI screen for defining a job flow. It is an image figure which shows the instruction document comprised by the XML format. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the client terminal at the time of instruction creation, and an instruction creation server. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a client terminal, an instruction book management server, and a cooperation processing server. It is an image figure which shows an example of the service cooperation process selection screen showing an instruction list. It is a block diagram of the principal part for demonstrating the report submission workflow process concerning this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the image processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a document management server. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a document delivery server. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of an instruction document management server. It is explanatory drawing of the table which records the various information regarding each of a user. It is explanatory drawing of the table which records the submitting place of reports, such as an affiliation manager. It is explanatory drawing of the table which provided the field of the title and its abbreviation. It is explanatory drawing of the table which records the storage location of the report produced by the user. It is explanatory drawing of a standard instruction document. It is explanatory drawing of an individual instruction document. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process outline | summary in an image processing apparatus about the report submission workflow concerning embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Document processing system 40 ... Instruction management server 40A ... Storage device 60 ... Image processing device 62 ... Document management server 62A ... Storage device 63 ... Document distribution server 200 ... Mechanism part 212 ... Client terminal part 214 ... Process execution part 218 ... Authentication processing unit 220 ... display device 222 ... memory

Claims (9)

A standard that predetermines individual data to be specified individually for each user as description instructions describing a series of processing procedures and processing contents in the service in order to execute a service for performing predetermined processing on document data on the network. An input means for inputting identification data for identifying a user as well as an instruction written as data,
Storage means for storing a table representing user data including correspondence between the identification data and the individual data for each user;
Generating a user-specific instruction by converting standard data included in the input instruction into individual data corresponding to the standard data based on user data in the table corresponding to the input identification data Means,
Execution means for executing processing according to the user-specific instructions;
An image processing apparatus.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the individual data includes position data indicating a position of the document data owned by the user on a network and address data indicating a destination to which the document data is provided. .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input unit includes an authentication unit that authenticates a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data. An image processing method executed in an image processing apparatus included in a service processing system that performs processing on a network in cooperation with a service that performs predetermined processing on document data,
In order to execute the service on a network, an instruction sheet describing individual data to be specified individually for each user among the description contents as an instruction sheet describing a series of processing procedures and processing contents in the service. As well as identification data to identify the user,
Pre-store a table representing user data including correspondence between the identification data and the individual data for each user,
Based on the user data in the table corresponding to the input identification data, the standard data included in the input instruction is converted into individual data corresponding to the standard data, and a user-specific instruction is generated,
An image processing method comprising: executing processing according to the user-specific instruction.   5. The image processing method according to claim 4, wherein the individual data includes position data representing a position of document data owned by the user on a network and address data representing a destination to which the document data is provided. .   The image processing method according to claim 4, further comprising a process of authenticating a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data. An image processing program that is executed in an image processing apparatus included in a service processing system that performs processing on a network in cooperation with a service that performs predetermined processing on document data,
In order to identify the user while inputting the instruction describing the individual data to be specified individually for each user among the description contents as the instruction describing the series of processing procedures and each processing contents in the service An input process for inputting identification data of
The user data of the table corresponding to the input identification data is read from a storage unit that stores in advance a table representing user data including correspondence between the identification data and the individual data for each user. Based on user data, a generation process for converting standard data included in the inputted instruction into individual data corresponding to the standard data to generate a user-specific instruction,
An execution step of executing processing according to the user-specific instructions;
An image processing program comprising:   8. The image processing program according to claim 7, wherein the individual data includes position data representing a position of document data owned by the user on a network and address data representing a destination to which the document data is provided. .   9. The image processing program according to claim 7, wherein the input step includes an authentication step for authenticating a user who is permitted to access the apparatus based on the identification data.

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