JP5310934B2 - Service processing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a service processing system, and more particularly, to a service processing system 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 is scanned and transferred to a personal computer. Furthermore, a document received by facsimile can be transmitted to a 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 a job template is designated and processing is performed after changing a setting value as necessary.

  For example, a conventional image forming apparatus can store a plurality of output setting data for setting an output format, and can form and output an image in an output format according to the selected output setting data (for example, Patent Documents). 1). Also, an image reading system that has at least one image reading device and transfers a read image from the image reading device to another device has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  In such an image reading system, the image reading apparatus can read an image in accordance with the reading conditions described in the job template, and can transmit the read image file to another apparatus.

JP-A-10-83263 (page 5-7, FIG. 2, FIG. 5) JP 2000-270148 A

  In general, processing that can be performed in a multi-function peripheral has poor expandability because its items and behavior are fixed. For example, in order to digitize a document in a multi-function peripheral, it is also set in the multi-function peripheral to send a document that has been processed under certain conditions set in the multi-function peripheral and is digitized. Processed under certain conditions. For this reason, it is difficult to add a process that is difficult to execute in the multifunction peripheral or to request a process in another apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a service processing system that can flexibly perform various processes without being limited to the apparatus configuration.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention receives a processing result from a first processing device and request means for requesting each processing device to execute processing based on the processing device and processing contents included in the instruction. The processing result is stored as the processing result of the first processing device in the series of linkage processing included in the instruction, and the processing result of the processing requested to the second processing device after the storage is stored in the second processing device. A storage unit is provided that receives the processing result from the processing device and stores the processing result as a processing result of the second processing device in a series of linkage processes included in the instruction .

From the processing unit for executing processing based on the instruction by receiving the results of the processing may be performed flexibly various processes without being limited to the device configuration.

Another invention is characterized by further comprising notification means for notifying the processing result received from the first processing device or the second processing device .

By notifying the result of processing, various processing can be performed flexibly without being limited to the apparatus configuration.

Further, another aspect of the present invention, the indication, by being dragged and dropped into the area to define the order of the respective processes by the user of the icons corresponding to the processes constituting the series of cooperative processing It is generated.

An instruction can be easily created by dragging and dropping an icon of a service corresponding to each process constituting a series of linkage processes to an area for defining a service processing order by a user.

Further, another invention has an approval request means for requesting approval to the approval means based on the instruction , and the processing result received from the first processing apparatus or the second processing apparatus is the approval request It is the approval result from the means.

  It has an approval request means for requesting approval to the approval means, and by receiving an approval result from the approval means, it is possible to specify a process to be executed in the linkage process.

Further, another aspect of the present invention, the instruction includes the storage destination of information of the document to be processed, further comprising an acquisition unit that acquires the storage destination information of the document of the processed described in the instructions, the approval request means is characterized in that a request for approval of the document stored in the storage destination to the authorization means based on the instruction.

  By requesting approval of the document stored in the storage destination, it is possible to specify a document to be subjected to the next process in the cooperation process.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an approval result notifying unit that notifies the storage destination of the document that the approval is completed based on the processing result received from the first processing device or the second processing device. It is characterized by providing.

  By notifying the storage destination of the document that the approval is completed, the processing of the document can be transferred to a processing device that performs the next processing in the cooperation processing.

  According to the present invention, by receiving a service processing status or a service result from a service processing apparatus that executes a service based on instruction data including information related to the processing order of services in a cooperative process, the apparatus configuration is limited. The effect is that various processing can be performed flexibly.

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 100 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 approval workflow processing based on the mutual relationship of each service processing apparatus which comprises a document processing system. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the document management server concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the approval processing apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the cooperation processing server concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process outline | summary in the approval workflow concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process outline | summary in the image processing apparatus concerning Embodiment of this invention.

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

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

  The document processing system 1 is one in which various services and applications are connected via a network 5. Here, a service refers to a function that can be used for a document in response to an external request. 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 having 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, a client An instruction sheet generation server 30 that creates an instruction sheet from information related to service cooperation instructed by the terminal 10, an instruction sheet management server 40 that manages the instruction sheet, and a cooperation processing server 50 that executes cooperation processing of each service according to the instruction sheet. And.

  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 in this embodiment, but a plurality of services may be connected via the network 5. There is no particular limitation.

  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. I / F information includes <Service Type>, <Service Name>, <Service Icon>, <Service Location Information>, <Input )>, <Output>, <Parameter Restriction Rules>, <Service Location>, <Method Name>, <Invoke Method>, < An implicit element (Inclusive Element)>.

  <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 position 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.

  The instruction form generation server 30 requests to transmit I / F information regarding each service from a predetermined service processing apparatus distributed on the network 5 based on <service location information>. 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 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 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 present embodiment, the service search server 20 acquires part of the I / F information (partial I / F information) from each service processing apparatus, but acquires all of the I / F information. May be.

(Approval 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. Here, in the present embodiment, the case where the approval workflow process is executed will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a main part for explaining the approval 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 approval workflow processing, the cooperation processing server 50, the image processing device 61, the document management server 62, the first service processing device 64, and the second service processing device 65 are used.

  In the following description, the first service processing device 64 is described as the approval processing device 64 that executes the approval processing, and the second service processing device 65 is described as the image processing device 65 having the same configuration as the image processing device 61. Further, the document management server 62 includes a storage device 240 that stores document data.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image processing apparatus 61. In the present embodiment, the image processing apparatus 61 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 configuration including the processing execution unit 214 includes various functional units that function as the client terminal 10. The processing execution unit 214 is connected to a display device 220 such as an LCD having a GUI function, and instructions inputted from the outside are inputted via the instruction interpretation unit 210 and the external service specifying unit 212. It is connected to the.

  The external service specifying unit 212 is connected to the execution request message processing unit 218, and the display device 220 and the memory 222 are also connected to the execution request message processing unit 218. A message output unit 216 for outputting a message to the outside is connected to one of the output sides of the execution request message processing unit 218.

  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 240. The storage device 240 is for storing document data, and has an unapproved data storage area 236 for storing unapproved document data and an approved data storage area 238 for storing approved document data. Contains.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the approval processing device 64. The approval processing device 64 includes an approval process execution unit 252 for executing an approval process for requested document data. An input unit 250 to which external instructions and data are input is connected to the input side of the approval processing execution unit 252, and data including approval data indicating approval or non-approval is externally connected to the output side. An output unit 254 to which instructions and the like are output is connected.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the cooperation processing server 50. The cooperation processing server 50 includes a cooperation processing execution unit 262 for executing cooperation processing of document data. An input unit 260 to which external instructions and data are input is connected to the input side of the cooperation processing execution unit 262, and data and instructions including external instructions and requests are output to the output side. The output unit 264 is connected.

(Overview of approval workflow)
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process outline in the approval workflow. This process is a processing flow for obtaining approval for a purchase request form such as purchase of an article requested by a user.

  First, the purchase request form is scanned on the image processing apparatus 61 side (step 300), and a message (instruction form) for calling an approval process as an external service is transmitted from the image processing apparatus 61 side to the cooperation processing server 50 (step 302). . At this time, the image processing apparatus 61 transmits the document data of the scanned purchase request form to the document management server 62. At this time, since the document data is still unapproved, it is stored in the unapproved data storage area 236.

  That is, as described above, by pressing the approval workflow button 115 from the service cooperation process selection screen 110, the instruction sheet is called and the instruction sheet is transmitted to the cooperation processing server 50.

  The cooperation processing server 50 makes an approval processing request to the approval processing device 64 for the approval processing based on the received instruction, and waits for the result (step 304). At this time, the approval processing device 64 executes an approval process in response to a request from the cooperation processing server 50, and returns an approval result. The cooperation processing server 50 receives the approval result from the approval processing device 64 and notifies the document management server 62 that the approval has been completed.

  When the document management server 62 receives this notification, the document management server 62 stores the document data stored in the unapproved data storage area 236 in the approved data storage area 238. The document management server 62 sends this storage end notification to the cooperation processing server 50, and the cooperation processing server 50 transmits an instruction to the second image processing apparatus 65 to execute a service based on the instruction (step 308). .

  The second image processing apparatus 65 receives the instruction from the cooperation processing server 50 and requests the document management server 62 to extract the document data from the storage location (approved data storage area 238) described in the instruction. Receive this and print it according to the instructions.

  As described above, approval is obtained for a purchase request form such as purchase of an article requested by the user.

  Next, processing in the image processing device 61 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Note that the flowchart of FIG. 15 includes a portion executed by the second image processing device 65.

  First, in step 400, an instruction is obtained. In this process, as described above, by pressing the approval workflow button 115 (see FIG. 8) from the service cooperation process selection screen 110, the instruction sheet is called from the instruction sheet management server 40. In this case, the resources of the display device 220 and the process execution unit 214 (FIG. 10) are used. This instruction sheet includes document data storage location (storage location information) and data for calling an external service (partial I / F information).

  In the next step 402, the obtained instruction is interpreted. That is, with reference to the individual instruction information included in the instruction sheet, the service that can be processed by itself (the image processing apparatus 61 or the second image processing apparatus 65) and other services are classified. The processing in step 402 corresponds to the functional part of the instruction interpretation unit 210 (FIG. 10).

  In the next step 404, for the service that can be processed by itself (the image processing apparatus 61 or the second image processing apparatus 65), the corresponding service, that is, the scanning process (or printing process) is executed here. This process corresponds to a part of the function of the process execution unit 214 (FIG. 10).

  In the image processing apparatus 61, the purchase request form is scanned. On the other hand, in the second image processing apparatus 65, document data extraction and printing processing are executed. This process corresponds to a part of the function of the process execution unit 214 (FIG. 10) executed using the mechanism unit 200.

  In the next step 406, the process result execution process is executed. Here, processing corresponding to the result processed in step 404 is executed, and the image processing apparatus 61 transmits document data as a result of scanning the purchase request document to the document management server 62. As a result, the document management server 62 stores the document data in the storage device 240 (unapproved data storage area 236). This process corresponds to the function of the process execution unit 214 (FIG. 10) executed using the mechanism unit 200 and the function of the process execution unit 214 transmitting document data via the message output unit 216.

  In the second image processing apparatus 65, a process of returning the print result to the cooperation processing server 50 is executed.

  In the next step 408, it is determined whether or not an external service is included in the series of linkage processes. This determination can be made from the instruction sheet interpreted in step 402 above. Here, the approval process is applicable. That is, since the approval process cannot be performed by the image processing apparatus 61, the result is affirmed in step 408, and in step 410, the external service, that is, the approval process is specified as the external service in the present embodiment. This process corresponds to the function of the external service specifying unit 212.

  In the next step 412, a message for calling an external service is identified and stored. This message corresponds to the above-described individual instruction information and represents that the approval processing device 64 that is an external device of the image processing device 61 is requested to execute the approval processing. This message can be included in the instructions. This processing corresponds to a function of specifying a message stored in the memory 222 (FIG. 10) by the execution request message processing unit 218 and a function of storing it.

  In the process of step 412 described above, a message can be specified by selecting from a plurality of messages. In this case, a plurality of messages are stored in the memory 222. Then, a message is selected from a plurality of messages according to a predetermined condition. The predetermined conditions include selecting a service processing device that is currently in operation, selecting a service processing device with the shortest processing time, simply requesting a service, selecting a predetermined service processing device, etc. There is.

  Further, the above selection may be made by a user input value using a GUI function. In this case, since the probability that the next user's selection is the same is high, it is preferable to store the input value in the memory 222 and reuse it.

  In the next step 414, an instruction including the message specified in step 412 is transmitted to the cooperation processing server 50. That is, a message (instruction) for calling an approval process, which is an external service, is transmitted from the image processing device 61 side to the cooperation processing server 50. This process corresponds to the function of the message output unit 216 (FIG. 10).

  Thereby, the cooperation processing server 50 requests the approval processing device 64 for the approval processing for the approval processing based on the instruction from the image processing device 61, receives the approval result, and completes the approval to the document management server 62. Then, the document management server 62 can store the document data from the image processing device 61 from the unapproved data storage area 236 into the approved data storage area 238.

  Further, the second image processing apparatus 65 receives the instruction from the cooperation processing server 50 and interprets it (steps 400 and 402), and the storage location described in the instruction (approved data storage area 238). The document management server 62 is requested to take out the document data from the printer, and is received and printed according to the instruction (steps 404 and 406).

  In each of the above processes, an authentication process can be added to continue a process corresponding only to a user having a certain authority, such as a user authentication. In this case, it may be executed by prompting or displaying an input by the user using a GUI function.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, an external service execution request can be made from the image processing apparatus. Therefore, the cooperation processing is smoothly performed without being limited to the functions owned by the image processing apparatus, that is, the service processing apparatus. Can be carried out.

  In addition, since the image processing apparatus can receive a service request from the outside, the functions possessed by the image processing apparatus, that is, the service processing apparatus can be easily used from the outside, and the cooperative processing can be smoothly performed. it can.

  Note that the processing in step 302 and step 414 in the above embodiment corresponds to the function of transmitting request information in the transmission means of the present invention. The message at the time of transmission corresponds to request information. The memory 222 corresponds to a storage unit and a data storage unit of the present invention. The display device 220 corresponds to the input unit of the present invention. Further, when a series of processes constituting the instruction document is broken down into a plurality of functional processes, information indicating the relationship between the functions, interface (I / F) information for calling each function, a series of processes Information for configuring a graphical user interface (GUI) related to processing corresponds to the item information of the present invention, and information indicating the relationship between each function when a series of processing is decomposed into a plurality of functional processing, Information representing a series of processing itself corresponds to processing information of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the case has been described in which the cooperation processing server 50 is used to execute cooperation processing of a plurality of services, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be obtained by sequentially passing through various devices connected in series with document data.

  In this case, each device may be provided with an interpreter that interprets the instruction sheet, so as to execute processing or service according to the instruction sheet. Further, the data transmission between the devices may be performed by transmitting the document data together with the instruction sheet.

  In other words, each device interprets the service processing request contents according to the instruction based on the storage location information of the processing target document described in the instruction (such as the memory location of its own memory or the preceding device). , Acquire the document data to be processed, execute the process (service process) that can be processed by the device described in the instruction for the acquired document data, and send the instruction and document data to the next device Send. At this time, by describing in the instruction sheet that the processing has been performed by its own device, the processing and services that have already been processed are not executed in the subsequent devices.

  As described above, the cooperative processing can be easily executed by sequentially transmitting the instruction sheet and the document data.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the cooperation process server 50 was used and the cooperation process of a some service was performed, or several apparatuses were connected in series and a cooperation process was carried out, this invention is limited to this. Is not to be done. In other words, even when the above-described various devices and services are applied to a composite device having a function as a single device, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Document processing system 61 ... Image processing apparatus 62 ... Document management server 64 ... Approval processing apparatus 65 ... 2nd image processing apparatus 200 ... Mechanism part 212 ... External service specific | specification part 214 ... Process execution part 218 ... Execution request message process part 220 ... Display device 222 ... Memory 232 ... Processing execution unit 240 ... Storage device

Claims (6)

Request means for requesting each processing device to execute processing based on the processing device and processing content included in the instruction;
The processing result is received from the first processing device, and the processing result is stored as the processing result of the first processing device in the series of linkage processing included in the instruction, and after the storage, the processing result is stored in the second processing device. Information including a storage unit that receives a processing result of the requested processing from the second processing device, and stores the processing result as a processing result of the second processing device in a series of linkage processing included in the instruction. Processing equipment. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for notifying a processing result received from the first processing apparatus or the second processing apparatus. The instruction includes a feature that it is produced by being dragged and dropped into the area to define the order of the respective processes by the user the icon for each process constituting the series of cooperative processing The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. Based on the instruction, further comprising an approval request means for requesting authorization for any authorization means,
The first processing device or processing result received from the second processor, information processing apparatus according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the approval result from the authorization means. The instruction includes a storage destination of information of the document to be processed,
Further comprising an acquisition means for acquiring the storage destination of information of the document to be processed, which is described in the instructions,
The approval request means information processing apparatus according to claim 4 which request the approval of the document stored in the storage destination to the authorization means based on the instruction. 6. The approval result notifying unit according to claim 5, further comprising an approval result notifying unit that notifies the storage destination of the document that the approval is completed based on a processing result received from the first processing device or the second processing device . Information processing device.