JP2003298784A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which has a queue common to all applications to provide a booking list indicating the processing order, together with taken times for jobs queued in the common queue. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus comprises: a plurality of applications for executing different image forming processes; a control service for controlling hardware resources used in the individual image forming processes; and an operating system for controlling the plurality of applications and the control service. A registered job control means for controlling requested printing jobs has a means for instructing an engine control means to fetch a queue. The engine control means for controlling an engine for executing a printing process fetches queues one after another from a commonly used queue means according to an instruction from the registered job control means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention includes a common queue common to all applications, and the time required for each job queued (reserved) in the common queue.
An image forming apparatus capable of providing a reservation list indicating a processing order.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image forming apparatus in which the functions of each device such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a scanner are housed in a single housing is generally known. Such a composite type image forming apparatus is provided with a display unit, a printing unit, an image pickup unit, and the like in one housing, and three types of applications corresponding to a printer, a copier, and a facsimile device, respectively. , The device is operated as a printer, a copier, a scanner, or a facsimile device.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional composite image forming apparatus, print jobs are queued for each of three types of applications corresponding to a printer, a copy machine, and a facsimile machine. Therefore, only the job status of each application is known. That is, when a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) is connected to a composite image forming apparatus via a network, the printer driver of the composite image forming apparatus can know the status of a print job submitted by a printer application. The only thing that can be seen from the PC is the print job submitted via the network. Therefore, it has not been possible to provide the user with the processing order in all the applications including the print job via the network.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a common queue common to all applications, and to provide a reservation list indicating the processing order together with the required time of each job queued (reserved) in the common queue. An image forming apparatus is provided.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a plurality of applications for performing different image forming processes, and a control service for managing hardware resources used in each image forming process. An image forming apparatus having an operating system for controlling the plurality of applications and the control service, the engine controlling means for controlling an engine unit for executing a predetermined process in response to a job request; A registered job management unit that registers a job and manages the job, the registered job management unit being commonly used by the plurality of applications, and a common queue unit that queues the jobs in a request order; The queues are taken out in order from the common queue means, and the engine control means receives the queue. Configured with a job notification means for notifying the drive.

In such an image forming apparatus, since a common queue is provided for a plurality of applications,
Jobs can be managed in the order of processing requests in all applications.

From the perspective of providing job duration, the present invention, as set forth in claim 2, provides:
In the image forming apparatus described above, the engine control means may be configured to have an end result notifying means for notifying the registered job management means of the end result of the predetermined processing. Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 3, in the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the end result may include a status of the job and a print end time. . Further, the present invention provides
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second or third aspect, the job registration unit indicates the identification information for identifying the application and the time when the job is input to the engine control unit. It may be configured to notify the job management means.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, as described in claim 19, a plurality of applications for respectively performing different image forming processes and management of hardware resources used in each image forming process are managed. A user terminal connected via a network to an image forming apparatus having a control service to perform and an operating system to control the plurality of applications and the control service, and a predetermined process related to the image forming process by the user. A process request generating unit that generates a process request to a print Web service that executes a predetermined process according to a predetermined message exchange protocol, and the process transmitted from the image forming apparatus according to the predetermined message exchange protocol. Process response to the request Therefore the processing result, it is possible to have a display format conversion means for converting the viewable display format shown.

As a means for solving the above problems, the present invention may be a storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to perform the display control processing in the user terminal.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention that fuses various image forming functions (hereinafter referred to as a fusion machine)
Has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. 1, for example. Figure 1
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a compound machine that combines various image forming functions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a multifunction machine 1200 includes a black and white line printer (B & W LP) 1201, a color line printer (Color LP) 1202, and hardware resources 1203 such as a scanner and a facsimile.
And the like, and includes a software group 1210 including a platform 1220 and an application 1230, and a multi-function peripheral activation unit 1240.

The multifunction machine start-up unit 1240 is a multifunction machine 1200.
When the power is turned on, it is first executed to start the platform 1220 and the application 1230.

The platform 1220 interprets a processing request from the application 1230 to generate a hardware resource acquisition request, and a control service 1250 shown below, and manages one or a plurality of hardware resources. A system resource manager (SRM (System Resource Manager) 1223) that arbitrates acquisition requests from
It has an OS 1221.

The control service 1250 is composed of a plurality of service modules.
SCS (System Control Service) 1222 and ECS
((Engine Control Service) 1224 and MCS (Memo
ry Control Service) 1225 and OCS (Operation
panel Control Service) 1226 and FCS (FAX Con
Control Service) 1227 and NCS (Network Control)
Service) 1228 and IMH (Imaging Memory Handle)
r) 1229. In addition, this platform 1
The reference numeral 220 has an application program interface that enables a processing request from the application to be received by a predefined function.

The OS 1221 is an operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes each software of the platform 1220 and the application 1230 as processes in parallel. By using the open source UNIX (registered trademark), the safety of the program can be secured, the network can be supported, and the source code can be easily obtained. Further, royalties of OS and TCP / IP are not required, and outsourcing becomes easy.

The SRM 1223 controls the system and manages resources together with the SCS 1222. The SRM 1223 includes an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter, a memory, an HDD file, a host I / O (Centro I / F,
Network I / F, IEEE1394 I / F, RS2
32C I / F, etc.) performs arbitration according to a request from an upper layer that uses a hardware resource such as 32 CI / F, and controls execution.

Specifically, the SRM 1223 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is available. Tell upper layers that wear resources are available. In addition, hardware resource utilization scheduling may be performed in response to a request from an upper layer, and the request content (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by the printer engine, memory reservation, file generation, etc.) may be directly executed. .

The SCS 1222 manages the application (function 1), controls the operation unit (function 2), displays the system screen (job list screen, counter display screen, etc.) (function 3), L
It performs a plurality of functions such as ED display (function 4), resource management (function 5), and interrupt application control (function 6). Specifically, in the application management (function 1), processing of registering the application and notifying other applications of the information is performed. In the operation unit control (function 2), exclusive control of the operation unit use right of the application is performed. In the system screen display (function 3), a warning screen corresponding to the state of the engine unit is displayed according to the request content from the application having the operation unit usage right. LED
In the display (function 4), display control of system LEDs such as a warning LED and an application key is performed. The resource management (function 5) provides a service for exclusive control of engine resources (scanner, staple, etc.) that must be excluded when the application (ECS) executes a job. In the interrupt application control (function 6), control and service for prioritizing a specific application are performed.

The ECS 1224 is a black and white line printer (B & W LP) 1201 and a color line printer (C
color L) 1202, other hardware resources 1203, and other engine units, and performs image reading and printing operations, status notification, jam recovery, and the like.

The MCS 1225 performs memory control, and specifically, performs acquisition and release of an image memory, use of a hard disk device (HDD), compression and expansion of image data, and the like.

The OCS 1226 is a module for controlling an operation panel which is a means for transmitting information between the operator and the main body control, and is a process for notifying the main body control of an operator's key operation event, a library function for each application to construct a GUI Is provided, processing for managing the constructed GUI information for each application, display reflection processing on the operation panel, and the like are performed.

The FCS 1227 is used for facsimile transmission / reception from each application layer of the system controller using the PSTN / ISDN network, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, fusion transmission / reception. API (Application Program Interf
ace).

The NCS 1228 is a group of modules for providing services that can be used in common to applications that require network I / O. The NCS 1228 distributes data received by each protocol from the network side to each application, and Mediates when data is transmitted from the network to the network side.

In this embodiment, the NCS 1228 uses httpd (Hypertext Transfer) among a plurality of protocols.
Protocol Daemon) enables HTTP for data communication with network devices connected via the Internet.
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to control HTTP
Multiple We required for processing specified in request header
b service is invoked by a function call, and multiple W
The processing result by the eb service is notified to the network device by an HTTP response. The Web service performs processing according to a message described in XML (eXtensible Markup Language), for example.

The IMH 1229 maps image data from a virtual memory area (user virtual space) to a physical memory. A system call is performed in response to the activation of the process to map the virtual memory area for the process, and release the mapped virtual memory area at the end of the process.

Application 1230 includes page description language (PDL), PCL, and PostScript (P
A printer application 1211, which is a printer application having S), a copy application 1212 which is a copying application, a fax application 1213 which is a facsimile application, a scanner application 1214 which is a scanner application, and a net file application. It has a certain net file application 1215 and a process inspection application 1216 which is a process inspection application. Since each of the applications 1211 to 1216 can operate and execute using each process on the platform 1220, a screen display control program that performs screen control, key operation control, job generation, etc. is the main component. NCS1
It is also possible to install a new application via the network via the network connected by 228. Further, each application can be added or deleted for each application.

As described above, the multi-functional apparatus 1200 performs the processing commonly required by each application on the platform 1220.
Process centrally.

Next, the hardware configuration of the compound machine 1200 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the compound machine shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-function peripheral 1200 includes an operation panel 13
10, fax control unit (FCU) 13
20, USB (Universal Serial Bus) 1330, IE
The EE13941340 and the engine unit 1350 and the ASIC 1301 of the controller 1300 are connected to the PCI (Peri
pheral Component Interconnect) It is configured to be connected by a bus or the like.

The controller 1300 has the ASIC 130.
1 to MEM-C1302, HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
1303 etc. are connected and this ASIC130
1 and the CPU 1304 are the CPU chip set NB13.
It is connected via 05. In this way, NB1305
The reason for connecting via is that the interface of the CPU 1304 itself is not open to the public.

Here, the ASIC 1301 and the NB 13
05 is not simply connected via PCI, but is connected via AGP 1308. The reason for making the connection via the AGP 1308 is as follows.
Since this multi-function peripheral 1200 controls execution of a plurality of processes forming the platform 1220 and the application 1230 shown in FIG.
This is because the performance will decrease if you connect with.

The CPU 1304 controls the entire compound machine 1200. Specifically, the OS 1221
SCS 122 forming platform 1220 on
2, SRM1223, ECS1224, MCS122
5, OCS1226, FCS1227, NCS1228
And the printer application 1211, which forms the application 1230, the copy application 1212, the fax application 1213, the scanner application 1214, the net file application 1215, and the process inspection application 1216.

The NB 1305 has a CPU 1304 and a MEM.
-P1306, SB1307, is a bridge for connecting the ASIC1301, MEM-P1306,
A system memory used as a drawing memory or the like of the multi-function peripheral. The SB 1307 is an NB 1305, a ROM, and a PC.
It is a bridge for connecting I devices and peripheral devices. The MEM-C1302 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer,
The ASIC 1301 is an IC for image processing applications having a hardware element for image processing.

The HDD 1310 is a storage for accumulating image data, programs, font data, and forms, and the operation panel 1310 accepts input operations from the operator and directs them to the operator. It is an operation unit for displaying.

Therefore, the ASIC 1301 has a ME
A RAM interface for connecting the M-C1302 and a hard disk interface for connecting the HDD 1310 are provided. When inputting / outputting image data to / from these storage units, the input / output destination is R.
It can be switched to AM interface or hard disk interface.

The AGP 1308 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card that has been proposed for accelerating graphics processing, and makes the graphics accelerator card faster by directly accessing the system memory with high throughput.

Next, a print Web service for performing print processing in response to a print request from a client connected to the multi-function peripheral 1200 via a network will be described. Figure 3
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a print Web service. In FIG. 3, the client PC 30 uses HTTP (Hypertext).
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Daemon) 3 for controlling data communication based on Transfer Protocol)
1 and a display unit (not shown) in an HTML (Hypertex
Browser 33 that displays information according to the t Markup Language, and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).
According to l), a tool 5 for processing HTTP requests and HTTP responses. Tool 5 for exchanging messages according to the MFP 1200 and SOAP
(Program) is a client PC from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM in which a program for executing the tool 5 is recorded.
Installed on 30. The recording medium for recording the program is not limited to the CD-ROM and may be any computer-readable recording medium.

Client PC 30 to HDD 1303
When instructing to print the stored document stored in the client PC 30, the client PC 30 sends the job information (JobInfo) to the multifunction peripheral 1.
200 to the print Web service 10 (1). In this case, the print Web service 10 is installed in the net file application 1215. Job information (JobInf
o) is composed of a user name (userName), a document name (docName), a file ID (fileID) to be printed all at once, and the number of copies (setNum).

The print Web service 10 sends such job information to SOAP (Simple Object Access P
It provides a Web service that receives an HTTP request according to the (rotocol) and prints the stored document according to the job information.

Print Web Service 10 of Fusion Machine 1200
Receives the job information, from the job information,
The file ID and the number of copies are taken out, the print job ID uniquely assigned to the print job is added thereto, and the job is entered in the SCS 1222 (2). When a job entry is made in the SCS 122, the SCS 1222 receives the job information (JobInfo), file ID (fileID), and number of copies (setNu) of the job.
m) and the job are collectively registered in the ECS 1224 (3). The print processing itself is controlled by the ECS 1224, and the job status management is handled by the SCS 1222.

Application 1230 is SCS122
Throw jobs only to 2. The SCS 1222 manages the queue and throws the print job to the ECS 1224. ECS1
In step 224, the job received from the SCS 1222 is printed, and the job status and print end time are displayed in SCS1.
Notify 222.

The processing flow in SCS1222 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing example of performing job management in the SCS and notifying display information. SCS
In 1222, entry modules 41 and 42 that receive job entries from each application 1230,
43, a common print queue 50 composed of FIFO (First In First Out), and a job management module 144. The ECS 1224 includes a plotter engine 46, an engine handler 45 that receives a notification from the plotter engine 46, and a print management module 44 that manages print processing. Application 1
As 230, a printer application 1211, a copy application 1212, and a net file application 1215 are taken as an example.

Further, the SCS 1222 is arranged so that each entry module 41, 42 and 43 is arranged so that each application 12
Whether or not queuing is possible for the print request from 30 is determined. If queuing is possible, each entry module 41, 42 and 43 will
When a print job from 30 is entered, SCS122
The print job is registered in 2. Further, the print job status (status) and the print end time (finishTime) are added to the file ID (fileID), the number of copies (setNum), and the print job ID (jobID) passed from the application 1230, and the common print queue 50 is added. register.

Job management module 1 of SCS1222
At 44, the queues are taken out one by one from the common print queue 50 and notified to the print management module 44 of the ECS 1224. The print management module 44 sends the notified job to the plotter engine 46 to execute print processing.
The ECS 1224 receives the notification from the plotter engine 46 in the engine handler 45, and writes the job status in the print job status (status) and the changing end time in the print end time (finishTime). At the same time, the SCS 1222 is also notified. SCS122
2 and the details of the interface between ECS 1224 will be described later. In SCS1222, the print job status (status) and the print end time (finishTime) are
overwritten with me). When the ECS 1224 receives the print end notification from the engine handler 45, the print management module 44 notifies the SCS 1222.

In FIG. 4, each application 123
The FIFOs corresponding to the entry modules 41, 42, and 43 that queue print queues from 0 are print queues 51, 52, and 53, respectively. Implement a conventional queuing method. The print jobs of each application 1230 are simultaneously queued in the common print queue 50 and the corresponding print queues 51 to 53.

In SCS1222, print queue 5
The input A from 1, 52, 53 and the input B from the common print queue are switched based on the print priority function set by the user described later.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the processing in SCS. 5, in SCS1222, each entry module 41 to 43 determines whether or not a print request has been received (step S10).
If the print request is not received, step S10 is repeated until the print request is received. On the other hand, when the print request is received, the process proceeds to step S11, and each of the entry modules 41 to 43 determines whether entry into the SCS 1222 is possible. If entry is not possible, the process proceeds to step S12, and the print request is rejected. On the other hand, if the entry is possible, the process proceeds to step S13, and the print job status (status) and the print end time (finishtime) are added. Then, in step S14, the print job is sent to the common print queue 50.
Queue to. Furthermore, in step S15,
The SCS 1222 takes out the queue from the common print queue 50 and notifies the ECS 1224 of the job.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the processing in the print management module. In FIG. 6, ECS
The 1224 determines whether or not there is a job notification from the SCS 1222 (step S20). If the SCS 1222 does not notify the job, step S20 is repeated until the SCS 1222 notifies the job. On the other hand, SCS
If there is a job notification from 1222, the job is received from the SCS 1222 (step S21), and the print management module 44 requests the plotter engine 46 for printing (step S22). The print management module 44 determines whether the plotter engine 46 has finished printing (step S23). If printing is not completed, step S23 is repeated. On the other hand, when printing is completed, SCS
The end is notified to 1222 (step S24).

Next, job management in SCS 1222 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example for performing job management in SCS. In FIG. 7, SCS1
Since the module 222 manages the entire compound machine 1200, it has various functions other than job management. However, for the sake of convenience of description, only main components are described. SCS
1222 is each entry module 41, 42 and 43
A job management module 144 that receives print job registration information from the ECS 1224 and an ECS handler 47 that receives a notification from the ECS 1224. The print job registration information registered from the application 1230 is stored in the memory in the form of a structure.

In the job management module 44, the registered information, job information (JobInfo) and job ID (job
ID), application ID (apliID), number of pages (pageNum),
A job list structure (JobList) in which the job status (status) passed from the ECS 1224 and the print end time (finishTime) are added to the job submission time (time).
Is stored as one piece of job registration information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the interface between ECS and SCS. In FIG. 8, ECS1224
And function notifications and event notifications are used as interfaces between SCS1222 and SCS1222. The ECS 1224 notifies the SCS 1222 each time the state of the print job changes. The contents of the notification include the job ID (jobID) that identifies the job and the print job status (statu
s) and the print end time (finishTime).

When the SCS 1222 receives the notification from the ECS 1224, the accepted job ID is SCS122.
In step 2, it is checked whether or not it exists in the jobs registered, and if it exists, the job status and print end time, which are the print job registration information, are changed. However,
When the notified status is the end status, the print processing has been completed for the job, so the print job registration information is erased and excluded from the job management targets.

The processing flow of the SCS 1222 after receiving the status change notification from the ECS 1224 will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 9
FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram for explaining the processing of the SCS after receiving the state change notification from the ECS. In FIG. 9, SC
Upon receiving the notification of the status change from the ECS 1224, S1222 determines whether or not the notified job ID is registered (step S32). If the job ID is not registered, no processing is performed and the process enters a waiting state (step S33), and the process ends.

On the other hand, when the job ID is registered,
It is determined whether or not the status is the job end status (step S3).
4). If it is not the job end status, the print job status (status) and the print end time (finishTime) are updated (step S35), and the process is ended. on the other hand,
In the case of the job end status, the job information is cleared (step S36), and the process ends.

Next, the process when the print job list is requested from the client PC 30 will be described. Figure 10
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job list Web service. 10, the functional configuration of the client PC 30 is the same as that of FIG. 3, and the description thereof is omitted. Further, the main functional configuration of the multi-function peripheral 1200 is shown in FIG.

When requesting a print job list from the client PC 30, the client PC 30 sends the job information (JobInfo) to the print job list We of the multifunction peripheral 1200.
b Send to service 11 (1). Client PC 30
Sends an application ID indicating which application requests a print job list. It is possible to select a single application ID or all application IDs. In this case, the print job list W
The eb service 11 is installed in the net file application 1215. The job information (JobInfo) includes an application ID (apliID).

The print job list Web service 11 stores such job information in SOAP (Simple Objec).
It provides a Web service that receives an HTTP request according to the t Access Protocol) and provides a list of print jobs according to the job information.

When the print job list Web service 11 of the multifunction machine 1200 receives the job information, the application ID (apliID) is extracted from the job information, and S
Notify the CS1222 (2). That is, the application ID (apliI
Pass D).

SCS1222 is the application ID
(ApliID) is identified, and the corresponding application ID (apliI) of the jobs registered in SCS1222 is identified.
Find all the jobs of D), and register the job number (jobNum) and the job list (JobList [jobNu
m]) returns all the job list structures composed of and (3).

The print job list Web service 11 uses S
The job number (jobNum) received from CS1222,
Job list (JobList [jobNum]) and client PC
It is transmitted to 30 (4).

From client PC 30 to multifunction machine 1200
Is displayed and the print job list screen is displayed, all jobs that are being printed or are waiting to be printed are displayed. When filters such as copy processing documents, printer print documents, and reprint documents are applied, only jobs executed by the respective applications are displayed. Select a job and click the detailed information key to display the detailed information of the corresponding job.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a print job list screen. In FIG. 11, a print job list screen 60 provided to the client PC 30 by the print job list Web service 11 includes a display area 61 for displaying a screen title and a tab 62 for displaying a job list of all documents by selection. , A tab 63 for displaying a job list of copy processing documents by selection, a tab 64 for displaying a job list of printer print documents by selecting, and a job list of documents to be reprinted by selecting The tab 65 and the button 67 for displaying detailed information. For example, when the tab 62 for displaying the job list of all the documents is selected, the document image 71 of the copy document being printed as the first job is displayed in the display area 66, and the job images of the waiting printer documents are sequentially displayed in the job order. A document image 72, a document image 73 of a waiting printer document, and a document image 74 of a waiting reprint document are displayed.

On the print job list screen 60, when the user of the client PC 30 selects one of the document images displayed in the display area 66 and clicks the button 67, detailed information as shown in FIG. List W
It is provided by the eb service 11. It is assumed that the user selects the document image 71 of the copy document being printed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the detailed information screen of the print job list. In FIG. 12, the detailed information screen 8
0 is a display area 81 for displaying the title of the screen, a display area 82 for indicating the status, a display area 83 for displaying the job number (jobNum), a display area 84 for indicating the number of originals, and a display area for indicating the user name. 85 and display area 86 showing the number of sets
And a display area 87 showing the document name and a display area 88 showing the date and time.
And a display area 89 showing the function and a display area 9 showing the required time
It has 0 and a button 91 for ending the detail screen 80.

In the detailed information screen 80, for example, "detailed information" is displayed in the display area 81, "printing" is displayed in the display area 82, and "101" is displayed in the display area 83. “1” is displayed in the area 84, and the display area 85
"Arami" is displayed in the display area, "3" is displayed in the display area 86, "Document 1" is displayed in the display area 87, and "2002/02/01 14:30" is displayed in the display area 88. Is displayed, and
“Copy” is displayed in the display area 89, and “3 minutes” is displayed in the display area 90.

It is one of the features of the present invention that the required time is displayed in the display area 90 on the detailed information screen 80, which will be described later.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for explaining the processing for extracting the job list structure in SCS. In FIG. 13, when the SCS 1222 accepts the job list request (step S41), the SCS 1222 determines whether or not it matches the application ID of the registered job information (step S42). If it does not match the application ID of the registered job information, it is determined in step S42 whether it matches the application ID of the next registered job information.
Return to. On the other hand, application ID of registered job information
If it matches with, the job list structure is extracted (step S43).

The SCS 1222 determines whether all registered job information has been checked (step S44).
If all of the registered job information has not been checked, the process returns to step S42 to determine a match with the application ID of the next registered job information. On the other hand, if all the registered job information is checked, the job list is returned to the network file application 1230 (step S45).

Next, a method for the ECS 1224 to directly notify the SCS 1222 of the print end time will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event in which the ECS directly notifies the SCS of the print end time. In FIG. 14, the print end time calculated by the print end time calculation processing unit 92 of the ECS 1224 is directly calculated by the ECS 1224.
Notify CS1222. That is, ECS1224
Is the job number (jobID), print job status (sta
tus) and the print end time (finishTime) calculated by the print end time calculation processing unit 92 are notified to the SCS 1222.

Each application 1230 uses SCS1
222, job information (JobInfo), job number (jobI
D), the application ID (apliID), the number of pages of the job (pageNum), and the job submission time (time) are notified in advance. The SCS 1222 generates a display screen by the display processing unit 93 based on the notified information and causes the operation panel 1310 to display the display screen. For example, the required time calculated based on the print end time (finishTime) of each job is displayed in the display area 9 of the detailed information screen 80 of FIG.
Displayed at 0.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the operation panel when the copy function is selected. 15, an operation panel 1310 includes a function selection area 110 for selecting a function and a setting screen 120 for setting details.
And a key input area 130 for key input. The function selection area 110 is a key 1 for initial setting.
01, a selection area 102 for displaying a reservation list, a key 103 for making a copy, and a key 104 for referring to a stored document box (stored document),
It has a selection area 105 for FAX transmission and a key 106 for using the scanner. For example, if the user
When copy is selected, the selected state is displayed in the selection area 103, and detailed information for performing the copy is displayed on the setting area screen 120.

When the user presses the key 101 for initial setting from the function setting area 110, for example, as shown in FIG.
The initial setting screen as shown in is the operation panel 13
It is displayed on 10.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the operation panel when the initial setting function is selected. In FIG.
The same components as those in FIG. 15 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 16, the operation panel 1310 has a function selection area 110 for selecting a function, a setting screen 220 for initial setting, and a key input area 130 for key input. The setting screen 220 is
A display area 221 indicating the title of the setting screen, a button 222 for ending the initial setting, a selection area 223 for initializing the system, and a selection for initializing a copy or document box (stored document) Area 224
And a selection area 225 for initializing the printer,
And a selection area 226 for initializing the scanner. When the user further selects the selection area 223 for initializing the system, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the operation panel 1310.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the operation panel when the system setting function is selected. FIG. 17
The same components as those in FIG. 16 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. 17, the operation panel 1310 includes a function selection area 110 for selecting a function,
It has a setting screen 320 for initial setting and a key input area 130 for key input.

The setting screen 320 includes a display area 321 showing the title of the setting screen, a button 322 for ending the system initial setting, a tab 310 for displaying basic settings by selection, and a tab for displaying paper settings by selection. 31
1 and tab 31 that displays time timer settings by selection
2 and tab 3 to display the interface by selection
13, tab 314 for displaying file transfer settings by selection, and tab 3 for displaying administrator settings by selection
15 and. For example, when the tab 310 is selected, a setting area 324 for setting a buzzer sound is displayed as a basic setting display.
And a setting area 325 for setting the warm-up notification sound,
A setting area 326 for setting a sheet counter display, a setting area 327 for setting a print priority function, a setting area 328 for setting a print function transition time, a setting area 329 for setting output during interrupt printing, and Setting area 330 for paper edge setting
And a button 331 for displaying the previous setting screen and a button 332 for displaying the next setting screen.

For example, in the setting area 324, the buzzer sound is "OF.
“F” is set, the setting area 325 indicates that the warm-up notification sound is set to “ON”, and the setting area 326 indicates that the sheet number counter display is “added”.
Is set, the setting area 327 indicates that the print priority function is set to “reserved order printing”, and the setting area 328 indicates that the discharge destination setting is set to “3 seconds”. In the setting area 329, the output during interrupt printing is "10.
The setting area 330 indicates that the discharge destination setting is set to “finish tray 1”.

When the user selects the print priority function of the setting area 327, for example, a screen for setting the print priority function as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the operation panel when the print priority function is selected. In FIG.
The same components as those in FIG. 16 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. 18, the operation panel 1310 has a function selection area 110 for selecting a function, a setting screen 420 for performing a print priority function, and a key input area 130 for performing key input.

The setting screen 420 displays a screen 410 for setting the print priority function on the system initial setting screen 320. The screen 410 has a display area 421 showing the screen title and a button 422 for prioritizing the copy function.
And a button 423 for prioritizing the document box function and a button 42 for prioritizing the printer function.
4, a button 425 for giving priority to reserved printing, a button 426 for canceling the setting, and a button 427 for deciding the setting.

The screen 410 allows the user to select a function of printing each application with priority and a function of reservation order printing. By this selection, the input A from the print queues 51, 52, 53 and the input B from the common print queue in the print management module 44 shown in FIG. 4 are switched (print mode switching).

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the operation panel when the reservation list is selected. In FIG. 19, FIG.
The same components as those in 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 19, the operation panel 13
10 has a function selection area 110 for selecting a function, a display screen 520 for displaying a reservation list, and a key input area 130 for key input.

The display screen 520 has a display area 521 for displaying the title of the screen, a button 522 for ending the display of the reservation list, and a display area 523 for displaying the reservation list.
A button 525 for displaying the details of the print job selected from the reservation list and a button 526 for deleting the print job selected from the reservation list are provided. Display area 5
Items such as a status, a job number, a user name, a document name, an original, a set, and a required time are displayed for each print job. In the display area 521, “printing” or the like is displayed as the status. An item 424 indicates a required time for each print job, which is a feature of the present invention.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the display screen 520 can be displayed on the display unit of the client PC 30 in response to a processing request from the client PC 30 to the print job list Web service 11.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention, a message described in XML according to SOAP can be interpreted by a Web service function that is program developed. Therefore, it is possible to easily develop the Web service function in the image forming apparatus. Further, cooperation with other systems connectable to the image forming apparatus can be expanded.

[0085]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a compound machine that combines various image forming functions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the compound machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print Web service.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing example of performing job management in SCS and notifying display information.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart diagram for explaining processing in SCS.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by a print management module.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example for performing job management in SCS.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an ECS / SCS interface.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the SCS after receiving the status change notification from the ECS.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print job list Web service.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job list screen.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a detailed information screen of a print job list.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart diagram for explaining a process of extracting a job list structure in SCS.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an event in which the ECS directly notifies the SCS of the print end time.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel when a copy function is selected.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel when an initial setting function is selected.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel when a system setting function is selected.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel when a print priority function is selected.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of an operation panel when a reservation list is selected.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 httpd (Hypertext Transfer Protoco
l Daemon) 7 ncsd (NCS daemon) 10 Print Web service 11 Print job list Web service 30 Client PC 300 Web service function (WSF) 1200 Fusion machine, 1210 Software group, 1230 application, 12
20 platforms, 1221 OS,
1222 SCS, 1223 SRM,
1224 ECS, 1225 MC
S, 1226 OCS, 1227
FCS, 1228 NCS, 1229
IMH, 1240 Multifunction machine starting unit, 1300 controller, 1301
ASIC, 1302 MEM-C, 130
3 HDD, 1304 CPU, 1
305 NB, 1306 MEM-P,
1307 SB, 1308 AGP,
1310 Operation Panel 1320 Fax Control Unit 1330 USB, 1340 IE
EE1394 1350 engine section, 1500 network I / F section 1510 printer, 1520 scanner 1530 FAX unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C061 AP03 AP07 CQ23 CQ34 HN04                       HN15                 5B021 AA01 BB01 CC04 CC05                 5C062 AA02 AA05 AA35 AB17 AB21                       AB38 AB41 AC02 AC03 AC35                       AC48 AE15 AF00

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of applications that respectively perform different image forming processes, a control service that manages hardware resources used in each image forming process, and an operating system that controls the plurality of applications and the control service. An image forming apparatus including: an engine control unit that controls an engine unit that executes a predetermined process in response to a job request; and a registered job management unit that registers the requested job and manages the job. And the registered job management means is commonly used by the plurality of applications,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a common queue unit that queues jobs in a request order; and a job notification unit that sequentially picks up queues from the common queue unit and notifies the engine control unit of the jobs. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engine control unit has an end result notifying unit that notifies the registered job managing unit of an end result of the predetermined process. . 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end result includes a status of the job and a print end time. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the registered job management means manages identification information for identifying the application and a time when the job is submitted as job information. Image forming apparatus. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the registered job management unit updates the job information based on the end result notified by the engine control unit. apparatus. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the registered job management unit has an entry control unit that controls entry of the job into the common queue unit. Image forming apparatus. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engine control unit receives a job notification from the registered job management unit and causes the engine unit to execute the predetermined process. An image forming apparatus comprising: an execution unit and a handling unit that notifies the processing execution unit of the end result from the engine unit. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the registered job management means corresponds to each of the plurality of applications and queues the jobs. A plurality of entry control means corresponding to each of the plurality of applications and controlling entry of the job into the plurality of job queue means; and extracting a queue from the plurality of job queue means,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a print execution unit that causes the engine control unit to execute the predetermined process. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the print executing unit is one of the plurality of job queue units or the common queue unit based on print mode switching information set by a user. An image forming apparatus, wherein the queue is taken out from the image forming apparatus. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engine control unit notifies the registered job management unit of status change information indicating that the status of the job has changed. An image forming apparatus having a state change notifying means. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising an operation panel that displays information in response to a user operation, wherein the registered job management unit is configured to perform the plurality of operations based on the status change information. An image forming apparatus comprising: first job list display means for displaying on the operation panel a list showing a state of all the jobs requested by an application. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the registered job management unit creates a list indicating a status of all requested jobs for each of the plurality of applications based on the status change information. An image forming apparatus comprising: a second job list display means for displaying on an operation panel. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the registered job management unit provides detailed information of each job having a required time for the predetermined processing based on the status change information, on the operation panel. An image forming apparatus characterized by being displayed on. 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engine control unit and the registered job management unit are provided in response to a processing request from a terminal connected via a network. An image forming apparatus comprising: a print Web service unit that executes a print process by controlling. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the registered job management means is controlled in response to a processing request from a terminal connected via a network. An image forming apparatus comprising: a job list Web service means for displaying a list of jobs on a display unit of the terminal. 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the job list Web service means is based on the state change information notified by the engine control means from the registered job management means, and the plurality of applications are executed. An image forming apparatus, characterized in that a list showing the states of all the jobs requested by the terminal is acquired and displayed on a display unit of the terminal. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the job list Web service means is requested by the registered job management means for each of the plurality of applications based on the status change information. An image forming apparatus, wherein a list showing all states is acquired and displayed on a display unit of the terminal. 18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the job list Web service means is configured to execute, from the registered job management means, each job having a time required for the predetermined processing based on the status change information. An image forming apparatus, wherein detailed information is displayed on a display unit of the terminal. 19. A plurality of applications that respectively perform different image forming processes, a control service that manages hardware resources used in each image forming process, and an operating system that controls the plurality of applications and the control service. A printing Web that is a user terminal connected to an image forming apparatus including a network via a network, and executes a predetermined process according to a predetermined message exchange protocol in response to a predetermined process request regarding the image forming process by the user. Processing request generating means for generating a processing request to the service, and a display for converting the processing result indicated by the processing response to the processing request transmitted from the image forming apparatus according to the predetermined message exchange protocol into a displayable display format. form User terminal; and a converting means. 20. The user terminal according to claim 19, wherein a list of jobs is displayed according to a predetermined message exchange protocol in response to a processing request for displaying a list of jobs related to the image forming processing by the user. A user terminal characterized by having processing request generation means for generating a processing request to the job list Web service to be displayed. 21. The user terminal according to claim 19 or 21, wherein the display format conversion means converts a list indicating a status of all jobs requested by the plurality of applications into a display format capable of being displayed. A user terminal characterized by the above. 22. The user terminal according to claim 19 or 22, wherein the display format conversion means is capable of displaying a list indicating a status of all requested jobs for each of the plurality of applications. A user terminal characterized by being converted into. 23. A plurality of applications that respectively perform different image forming processes, a control service that manages hardware resources used in each image forming process, and an operating system that controls the plurality of applications and the control service. A storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to perform a process of controlling display of information provided from the image forming apparatus in a user terminal connected to the image forming apparatus having a A process request generation unit that generates a process request to a print Web service that executes a predetermined process according to a predetermined message exchange protocol in response to a predetermined process request regarding the image formation process by the user, and the image formation by the user. List of jobs related to processing A processing request generation unit that generates a processing request to a job list Web service that displays a list of jobs in accordance with the predetermined message exchange protocol in response to the processing request for display, and the image in accordance with the predetermined message exchange protocol. A storage medium storing a program, comprising: a display format conversion unit that converts a processing result indicated by a processing response to the processing request transmitted from the forming apparatus into a display format that can be displayed.