阅读说明：本技术 信息处理装置、信息处理系统、记录媒体及信息处理方法 (Information processing apparatus, information processing system, recording medium, and information processing method ) 是由 堀江大悟 清水淳一 小林邦彦 于 2020-02-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种信息处理装置、信息处理系统、记录媒体及信息处理方法,所述信息处理装置,其包括：执行部,响应于受理包括数据向外部装置的传送的作业的情况来执行该作业；及控制部,进行如下控制：在正在通过所述执行部执行的第1作业为向外部装置传送处理对象即第1数据并从该外部装置接收处理结果即第2数据的作业的情况下,响应于向所述外部装置的所述第1数据的传送结束的情况使所述第1作业成为中断状态,并使使用在所述第1作业中使用的传送协议的第2作业成为能够执行的状态。(An information processing apparatus, an information processing system, a recording medium, and an information processing method, the information processing apparatus comprising: an execution unit that executes a job including transfer of data to an external device in response to acceptance of the job; and a control unit for performing control as follows: when the 1 st job being executed by the execution unit is a job for transmitting the 1 st data as a processing target to an external device and receiving the 2 nd data as a processing result from the external device, the 1 st job is set to an interrupt state in response to completion of transmission of the 1 st data to the external device, and the 2 nd job using a transmission protocol used in the 1 st job is set to an executable state.)

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

an execution unit that executes a job including transfer of data to an external device in response to acceptance of the job; and

a control unit for performing the following control: when the 1 st job being executed by the execution unit is a job for transmitting the 1 st data as a processing target to an external device and receiving the 2 nd data as a processing result from the external device, the 1 st job is set to an interrupt state in response to completion of transmission of the 1 st data to the external device, and the 2 nd job using a transmission protocol used in the 1 st job is set to an executable state.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

the control section interrupts use of a protocol used in the 1 st job in response to a case where the transfer of the 1 st data to the external device is ended.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

before interrupting the use of the protocol used in the 1 st job, the control unit stores a processing result of the 1 st job before interruption.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the control unit switches between a 1 st mode and a 2 nd mode, the 1 st mode performing control to enable execution of the 2 nd job when there is an interrupted job using the same protocol, and the 2 nd mode performing control to enable execution of the 2 nd job when there is an interrupted job using the same protocol.

5. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

when one of the transfer destinations specified in the 2 nd job matches the transfer destination chain folder name specified in the 1 st job, the control unit performs control to set the 2 nd job to a state of waiting for execution.

6. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

when receiving a notification from the external apparatus that the interrupted processing of the 1 st job has ended, the control unit causes the 1 st job to be restorable.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6,

after the 2 nd job being executed ends, the control section performs control to resume the 1 st job in the restorable state.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6 or 7,

the notification is received via email.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8,

the email is encrypted.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 or 9,

the 2 nd data is appended to the email.

11. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10,

when the 1 st job in the interrupted state is resumed, the execution unit acquires a processing result by the external device and executes the remaining job.

12. An information processing system, comprising:

the information processing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 11; and

and an external device that executes the processing requested from the information processing device.

13. The information processing system according to claim 12, further comprising a storage device that holds a processing result transmitted from the information processing device.

14. A recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to function as each unit of an information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is recorded.

15. An information processing method, comprising the steps of:

an execution step of executing a job including transfer of data to an external device in response to acceptance of the job; and

a control step of performing the following control: when the 1 st job executed in the execution step is a job for transmitting 1 st data as a processing target to an external apparatus and receiving 2 nd data as a processing result from the external apparatus, the 1 st job is set to an interrupted state and the 2 nd job using a transfer protocol used in the 1 st job is set to an executable state in response to completion of transmission of the 1 st data to the external apparatus.

Technical Field

The invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, a recording medium, and an information processing method.

Background

Patent document 1 discloses a workflow generation device for generating a workflow composed of a plurality of processes, the workflow generation device including: an identification unit that identifies whether each execution position of 1 or more processes constituting the process is a device or a cloud; a replacing unit for replacing the processing sequence to collectively call out a plurality of processing identified as the execution position as the cloud end by the identification unit; and a generation unit configured to generate the workflow together with a plurality of processes of the continuous arrangement identified as the execution positions by the identification unit as the cloud end by the result of the exchange performed by the exchange unit.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2014-056488

In an information processing apparatus such as an image forming apparatus having a plurality of service functions, for example, when a request for transfer processing is made, image data is acquired and the acquired image data is transferred to a storage destination. For example, image processing such as character recognition processing may be performed on the acquired image data, and the image data after the image processing may be transferred to the storage destination.

The information processing apparatus may request a part or all of processing such as image processing before transmission to a server on the cloud. Hereinafter, a unit of processing requested by a user to an information processing apparatus is referred to as a "job".

Conventionally, in an information processing apparatus, in order to guarantee a processing result, a 1 st job using a certain transfer protocol is executed while a 2 nd job using the same transfer protocol is not executed. In the case where the processing result of the image processing is fed back from the server on the cloud to the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus cannot start the 2 nd job until the 1 st job ends.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, a recording medium, and an information processing method, which are capable of starting a 2 nd job using the same transfer protocol before a 1 st job received earlier is finished when a job including transfer of data to an external apparatus is received and executed.

An information processing device according to claim 1 includes: an execution unit that executes a job including transfer of data to an external device in response to acceptance of the job; and a control unit for performing control as follows: when the 1 st job being executed by the execution unit is a job for transmitting the 1 st data as a processing target to an external device and receiving the 2 nd data as a processing result from the external device, the 1 st job is set to an interrupt state in response to completion of transmission of the 1 st data to the external device, and the 2 nd job using a transmission protocol used in the 1 st job is set to an executable state.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit interrupts use of the protocol used in the 1 st job in response to completion of transfer of the 1 st data to the external apparatus.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stores a processing result of the 1 st job before the interruption, before the interruption of the use of the protocol used in the 1 st job.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 4 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit switches between a 1 st mode and a 2 nd mode, the 1 st mode performs control to enable execution of the 2 nd job when there is an interrupted job using the same protocol, and the 2 nd mode performs control to enable execution of the 2 nd job when there is an interrupted job using the same protocol.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the control unit performs control to set the 2 nd job to a state of waiting for execution when one of the transfer destinations specified in the 2 nd job matches the transfer destination chain folder name specified in the 1 st job.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 6 is the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control unit is configured to set the 1 st job to a restorable state when receiving a notification from the external apparatus that the interrupted processing of the 1 st job has ended.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 7 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit controls the 1 st job to be resumed in the restorable state after the 2 nd job being executed is completed.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the notification is received by an email.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the electronic mail is encrypted.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 10 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the 2 nd data is attached to the email.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 11 is the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the execution unit acquires a processing result by the external apparatus and executes a remaining job when the 1 st job in the suspended state is resumed.

An information processing system according to claim 12 includes: the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11; and an external device that executes the processing requested from the information processing device.

The information processing system according to claim 13 is the information processing system according to claim 12, further comprising a storage device that stores the processing result transmitted from the information processing device.

A recording medium according to claim 14 has a program recorded thereon for causing a computer to function as each unit of an information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

An information processing method according to claim 15 includes the steps of: an execution step of executing a job including transfer of data to an external device in response to acceptance of the job; and a control step of performing control as follows: when the 1 st job executed in the execution step is a job for transmitting 1 st data as a processing target to an external apparatus and receiving 2 nd data as a processing result from the external apparatus, the 1 st job is set to an interrupted state and the 2 nd job using a transfer protocol used in the 1 st job is set to an executable state in response to completion of transmission of the 1 st data to the external apparatus.

Effects of the invention

According to the 1 st, 12 th, 13 th, 14 th and 15 th aspects, when a job including transfer of data to an external device is received and executed, the 2 nd job using the same transfer protocol can be started before the previously received 1 st job is finished.

According to the 2 nd aspect, the 1 st job being executed can be set to the interrupted state at the timing when the apparatus itself is not performing any more processing.

According to the 3 rd aspect, the processing result before the interruption can be guaranteed regardless of the success or failure of the processing by the external device.

According to the 4 th aspect, the mode can be switched and the job can be executed in the order of receiving the request.

According to the 5 th aspect, when a transfer destination having the same folder name is designated in the 2 nd job using the same transfer protocol, skipping can be prohibited.

According to the 6 th aspect, the timing of resuming the interrupted job can be known.

According to the 7 th aspect, the interrupted job can be resumed at an appropriate segment position.

According to the 8 th, 9 th, and 10 th aspects, even when a firewall is present between external apparatuses, information can be acquired from the external apparatuses.

According to the 11 th aspect, the job in the interrupted state can be executed to the end.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of the information processing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of an image processing server;

fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the transfer process;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a management table for transfer processing;

fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the information processing system as a premise;

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation in the sequence guaranteed mode;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a mode setting screen;

fig. 9 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation in the skip mode;

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing another example of the operation in the skip mode;

fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the information processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of processing of a program according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of "image processing";

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of updating a management table;

fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of the "executable/non-executable determination process";

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of "recovery processing of transfer job";

fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of updating the management table.

Description of the symbols

1-information processing system, 2-system, 10-information processing apparatus, 12-information processing section, 14-operation display section, 16-image reading section, 18-communication section, 19-storage section, 20-image processing server, 22-information processing section, 24-communication section, 26-storage section, 30-document management server, 40-communication line, 42-firewall, 50-communication line, 100-transfer job, 102-data acquisition process, 104-image processing process, 106-transfer process, 200-mode setting screen.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

< information processing System >

First, an information processing system will be explained.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the information processing system 1 includes an information processing apparatus 10, an image processing server 20, and a document management server 30. The image processing server 20 is an example of an external device, and is a virtual server disposed on the cloud. The information processing apparatus 10 and the document management server 30 are respectively disposed in the system 2. The system 2 is a local system such as a private system inside a company.

The information processing apparatus 10 and the document management server 30 are connected via a local communication line 50 such as an intra-company LAN. The information processing apparatus 10 and the document management server 30 are connected to the image processing server 20 on the cloud via a communication line 40 such as the internet and a firewall 42, respectively. The firewall 42 shields communications from the outside that are not allowed for the local system 2.

The information processing apparatus 10 has a transfer function of acquiring image data from a storage device or the like in response to an instruction from a user and transferring the acquired image data to a designated destination. In the present embodiment, an image forming apparatus having the above-described conveying function, a scanning function of reading an image of a document to acquire image data, an image processing function of performing various image processing on the acquired image data, and the like is used as the information processing apparatus 10.

The information processing device 10 receives a request for processing from a user and executes the received processing. The image processing server 20 is an information processing apparatus that provides a service of image processing. Examples of the image processing performed by the image processing server 20 include character recognition processing, file discrimination processing, and the like. The character recognition processing is processing for performing character recognition on image data read from an original. The document determination process is a process of performing character recognition on image data read from a document and extracting a value corresponding to each item using the result of the character recognition.

In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 10 requests the image processing server 20 to perform some or all of the received processing. When requesting image processing, the information processing apparatus 10 transmits image data to the image processing server 20. The image processing server 20 receives a request for image processing from the information processing apparatus 10, and executes image processing on the transmitted image data.

The information processing apparatus 10 acquires the result of image processing from the image processing server 20. For example, in the case of character recognition processing, the result of image processing includes a recognized character string and image-processed image data associated with the character string by region.

The document management server 30 is an information processing apparatus that provides a service of storing and managing an electronic document such as image data. The user can specify the server of the transfer destination based on the IP address or the host name. The user can specify the folder of the storage destination based on the folder name. In the case where the document management server 30 is designated as the transmission destination, the information processing apparatus 10 transmits the result of the image processing acquired from the image processing server 20 to the document management server 30. The result of the image processing is saved in the folder designated as the saving destination.

In the present embodiment, the image processing server 20 is disposed as an external device, but the external device is not limited to a server that provides a service for image processing. The external device may be a server that provides another processing service as long as it is a request destination of a part of the processing received by the information processing device 10.

-information processing means

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of the information processing apparatus.

The information processing device 10 includes an information processing unit 12 as a computer that performs overall control and various calculations of the device. The information processing unit 12 includes a CPU12A, a ROM12B in which various programs are stored, a RAM12C serving as a work area when executing the programs, a nonvolatile memory 12D, and an input/output unit 12E. The CPU12A, the ROM12B, the RAM12C, the memory 12D, and the input/output unit 12E are connected via a bus 12F. The information processing unit 12 is an example of an execution unit that executes a job, and is an example of a control unit.

The information processing device 10 includes an operation display unit 14, an image reading unit 16, a communication unit 18, and a storage unit 19. The operation display unit 14 is an interface for displaying various information to the user and accepting an operation by the user. The image reading unit 16 is a device such as a scanner that optically reads an image recorded on a document. The communication unit 18 is an interface for communicating with an external device. The storage unit 19 is an external storage device such as a hard disk. The input/output unit 12E is connected to each unit (the operation display unit 14, the image reading unit 16, the communication unit 18, and the storage unit 19). The information processing unit 12 controls each unit by transferring information to and from each unit.

In the present embodiment, control programs, which are referred to as "transmission control processing" and "recovery processing of a transmission job" to be described later, are stored in the ROM12B of the information processing unit 12. The "management table" described later is stored in the memory 12D. Various programs and various data may be stored in other storage devices inside and outside the apparatus, or may be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. Also, various programs or various data may be acquired via communication.

Image processing server

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of the image processing server.

The image processing server 20 includes an information processing unit 22 which is a computer that performs overall control and various calculations of the apparatus. The information processing unit 22 includes a CPU22A, a ROM22B, a RAM22C, a memory 22D, and an input/output unit 22E. The CPU22A, the ROM22B, the RAM22C, the memory 22D, and the input/output unit 22E are connected via a bus 22F.

The image processing server 20 includes a communication unit 24 and a storage unit 26. The communication unit 24 is an interface for communicating with an external device. The storage unit 26 is an external storage device such as a hard disk. The input/output unit 22E is connected to each unit (the communication unit 24 and the storage unit 26). The information processing unit 22 controls each unit by transferring information to and from each unit.

The document management server 30 is an information processing device that provides services, and has the same electrical configuration as the image processing server 20, as the image processing server 20 does. Here, the description is omitted.

< management of transfer processing >

Next, the transfer process will be described.

When a job including transfer of data to an external device (hereinafter referred to as a "transfer job") is received, the information processing device 10 executes the received transfer job using a transfer protocol corresponding to the processing content.

The transfer job includes a complicated job that combines the use of the transfer function and other functions, in addition to the job that uses only the above-described "transfer function" of the information processing apparatus 10. The complicated job is, for example, the following processing: image data is acquired, image processing is performed on the acquired image data, and the result of the image processing is transmitted to a save destination.

The transfer protocol is a protocol for file transfer. The transport protocol is a communication protocol specified for the application layer. Examples of the transfer protocol include SMB (Server Message Block), FTP (File transfer protocol), and WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and versioning).

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the transfer job. The transfer job 100 includes a data acquisition process 102 that acquires image data from a storage device, an image processing process 104 that performs image processing on the acquired image data, and a transfer process 106 that transfers the result of the image processing to a designated transfer destination. As described above, there is also a transfer job that does not include an image processing process.

In the present embodiment, the request of the process is performed by a job command. The processing contents are specifically defined by the job instruction specifying means. The job command includes a job identifier (hereinafter, simply referred to as a job ID) for identifying the transfer job. Hereinafter, the processing contents defined by the job instruction are exemplified. This example is an example of the processing contents requested to the information processing apparatus 10.

(1) Image data as a processing target is acquired from a storage device a in which a reading result by a scanner is stored.

(2) The image processing server B performs character recognition processing on the image data.

(3) The image data and the result of the character recognition processing are saved in the document management server C.

Next, the management of the transfer job will be described.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a management table for a transfer job. Upon receiving the request for the transfer job, the information processing apparatus 10 generates a job ID, specifies a transfer protocol used for the transfer job, and registers job information in the management table.

The job information includes, for example, information indicating a job ID, a transfer protocol, a transfer destination, and a save destination, and information indicating an execution state. The transfer operation has a plurality of execution states, such as being executed and waiting to be executed. In addition, in the present embodiment, in addition to the running and the standby, new execution states such as "interrupt" and "standby resume" are added. The interruption and wait for recovery will be described later.

When the transfer job is completed, the job information is deleted from the management table. The information processing apparatus 10 manages the execution state of the transfer job until the job information is registered in the management table and deleted.

The information processing apparatus 10 manages the transfer job with a rule that a plurality of transfer jobs using the same transfer protocol cannot be executed simultaneously. When a transfer job using a certain transfer protocol is "being executed", another transfer job using the same transfer protocol cannot be executed, and the state is "waiting for execution".

Conventionally, the information processing apparatus 10 executes each transfer job under management in the order of receiving the request. In this case, it is necessary to ensure the order in which the requests are accepted, for example, when the subsequent cooperation process is started when the file is stored in the server by the transfer job, and when the processing order of the subsequent cooperation process cannot be changed.

For example, as shown in fig. 5, the information processing apparatus 10 prioritizes each transfer job being managed in the order of accepting requests, and executes the transfer jobs in the order of priority from high to low. If the transmission operation is finished and the operation information is deleted, the priority of other transmission operations is increased one by one.

In the example shown in fig. 5, SMB/FTP is used for the 1 st bit transfer job (ABCDE). Therefore, the transfer job (BCDEF) with the 2 nd bit priority using SMB, the transfer job (CDEFG) with the 3 rd bit priority using FTP, and the transfer job (DEFGH) with the 4 th bit priority using SMB/FTP are not executed, and are in a state of "waiting for execution".

When the transfer job (BCDEF) having the 2 nd bit priority is currently executed, the transfer job (DEFGH) having the 4 th bit priority using SMB is not executed, and the state is "waiting for execution". On the other hand, since there is no previous transfer job using FTP, a transfer job (CDEFG) whose priority order using FTP is bit 3 is executed, and the state is "executing".

Commitment of image processing to cloud

Next, the request for image processing to the cloud will be described.

In the case where the transfer job includes an image processing procedure (refer to fig. 4), the information processing apparatus 10 may delegate all or a part of the image processing to the image processing server 20 on the cloud.

Whether or not to delegate to the image processing server 20 may be determined from various viewpoints. For example, in the information processing device 10, image processing having a function of the device itself may be performed by the device itself, and image processing having no function of the device itself may be requested to the image processing server 20. A function with high added value, such as image processing using machine learning, is disposed outside the cloud or the like because of a large amount of resource consumption, such as a CPU and a memory.

In the present embodiment, a job command received by the information processing apparatus 10 instructs the image processing server 20 to request all or a part of the image processing. The image processing to the image processing server 20 is also requested by a job command. The job command requesting the image processing includes image data to be processed, a job ID, and requested processing contents.

Conventionally, when image processing is performed on the cloud, the result of the image processing is also stored on the cloud. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the information processing system as a premise. As shown in fig. 6, in the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 10 is premised on an operation of requesting image processing to the image processing server 20 on the cloud and acquiring a result of the image processing from the image processing server 20 on the cloud.

As described above, the image processing server 20 receives a request for image processing from the information processing apparatus 10 by a job command, and executes the image processing in accordance with the job command. The information processing apparatus 10 acquires the result of image processing from the image processing server 20. The information processing apparatus 10 generates output data according to the acquired result of the image processing. The information processing apparatus 10 transmits the generated output data to the document management server 30.

On the premise of an action of feeding back a result of image processing, if the order assurance is performed, the information processing apparatus 10 cannot execute the next transfer job using the same protocol until the last transfer job including image processing on the cloud ends. As long as the same protocol is used, a transfer job that does not perform image processing is not executed.

Fig. 7 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation in the sequence guarantee mode. Here, a case will be described in which a request for a transfer job 2 using the same transfer protocol is accepted when the transfer job 1 is executed. The transfer job 1 and the transfer job 2 include processes of data acquisition, image processing, and transfer, respectively. The image processing is performed by the image processing server 20 on the cloud side.

As described above, multiple transfer operations using the same transfer protocol are not performed simultaneously. The information processing apparatus 10 does not process the transfer job 1 by itself until the result of the image processing is received from the cloud after the image processing of the transfer job 1 is requested to the cloud. In the case of performing the order assurance, the transfer job 2 is not executed until the transfer of the transfer job 1 is ended. After the request for the transfer job 2 is received, the waiting time until the transfer job 2 is started becomes long.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user of the management information processing apparatus 10 can select one of the order assurance mode and the skip mode to set the execution order of the transmission job. In the order assurance mode, the transfer job is executed in the order of accepting the request. In the skip mode, the execution order of the transfer job can be effectively switched. Next, skipping of the transfer job will be described.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the mode setting screen. The mode setting screen 200 is displayed on the operation display unit 14 of the information processing device 10, and receives a selection from the user. The mode setting screen 200 includes a button 202 for selecting the order assurance mode, a button 204 for selecting the skip mode, a button 206 for instructing cancellation, and a button 208 for instructing execution. If skip mode is selected via button 204 and execution is indicated via button 208, skip mode is set.

< skipping of transfer operation >

Next, skipping of the transfer job will be described.

In the skip mode, after the request for image processing to the cloud is completed, the information processing apparatus 10 sets the transfer job being executed to an interrupted state. When the transfer of the image data to the image processing server 20 is completed, the request for image processing to the cloud is completed.

Then, a next transfer job using the same transfer protocol as the interrupted transfer job is executed first skipping the interrupted transfer job. Here, bringing the transfer job into the interrupt state means stopping communication using the transfer protocol for a certain period of time and storing the processing contents up to the interrupt time.

Fig. 9 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation in the skip mode. After requesting image processing of the transfer job 1 to the cloud, the information processing apparatus 10 sets the transfer job 1 to an interrupted state. When a request for a transfer job 2 using the same transfer protocol is received while the transfer job 1 is interrupted, the transfer job 2 received thereafter is executed. The standby time of the transfer job 2 is zero. In the case where image processing on the cloud takes time, the standby time of the transfer job 2 can be shortened as compared with the case where the order assurance is performed.

When the image processing of the transfer job 1 is completed, the image processing server 20 notifies the information processing apparatus 10 that the image processing is completed. Upon receiving the processing end notification from the image processing server 20, the information processing apparatus 10 places the transfer job 1 in a state of waiting for resumption. After the end of the transfer job 2, the information processing apparatus 10 resumes the transfer job 1, and returns the transfer job 1 to the state of being executed. Here, resuming the transfer job means resuming the communication using the transfer protocol and executing the remaining processing of the transfer job.

Fig. 10 is a timing chart showing another example of the operation in the skip mode. As shown in fig. 10, when the transfer job 1 is in the interrupted state after the request of the transfer job 2 is received, the transfer job 2 which has been received after the interruption of the transfer job 1 is executed. In this case, the transfer job 2 which has received the request first enters a wait state and then enters an execution state from the wait state.

< transfer control processing >

(action of the System as a whole)

First, an outline of the operation of the information processing system will be described.

The information processing apparatus 10 transmits a job instruction including image data to the image processing server 20 via the communication line 40 and the communication line 50. The information processing apparatus 10 receives the result of the image processing from the image processing server 20 via the communication line 40 and the communication line 50.

In the example shown in fig. 1, a firewall 42 is disposed between the information processing apparatus 10 and the image processing server 20. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 10 sometimes cannot receive the result of the image processing from the image processing server 20 through the communication unit that transmits the job instruction. At this time, the communication means is changed to receive the result of the image processing, such as e-mail reception, content reception from a web server, and the like.

In the present embodiment, the information processing device 10 is equipped with a web browser. The information processing apparatus 10 accesses the URL notified from the image processing server 20 and receives content indicating the result of the image processing from the web server.

Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the information processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, in step S500, the information processing apparatus 10 receives a request for a transfer job. Next, in step S502, the information processing apparatus 10 confirms the processing content of the transfer job.

Next, in step S504, the information processing apparatus 10 generates a job ID of the transfer job. Next, in step S506, the information processing apparatus 10 determines a transfer protocol used for transferring the job. Next, in step S508, the information processing apparatus 10 registers the job information in the management table.

Next, in step S510, the information processing apparatus 10 acquires image data from the storage apparatus. Next, in step S512, the information processing apparatus 10 transmits the image data to the image processing server 20 on the cloud and requests image processing. Next, in step S514, the information processing apparatus 10 sets the transfer job to the interrupt state.

Next, in step S516, the image processing server 20 executes image processing. Next, in step S518, the image processing server 20 saves the result of the image processing in the storage destination. Next, in step S520, the image processing server 20 notifies the information processing apparatus 10 of the end of the processing by email. Even if the firewall 42 is disposed, the information processing apparatus 10 can receive the electronic mail transmitted from the image processing server 20.

The e-mail records the job ID and the success or failure of image processing. The success or failure of the image processing indicates success or failure of the image processing. When the image processing is successful, the email stores the URL of the storage destination that stores the result of the image processing. The content of the e-mail may be encrypted using encryption techniques such as S/MIME. The result of the image processing may be attached to the email as an attachment.

Next, in step S522, the information processing apparatus 10 sets the transfer job in the interrupted state to a state waiting for resumption. Next, in step S524, the information processing apparatus 10 resumes the transfer job waiting for resumption. Next, in step S526, the information processing apparatus 10 accesses the URL of the saving destination, and acquires the result of the image processing.

Next, in step S528, the information processing apparatus 10 generates output data from the result of the image processing. When a plurality of image processes are performed, the results of the plurality of image processes are integrated to generate output data. Next, in step S530, the information processing apparatus 10 transmits the output data to the document management server 30. Next, in step S532, the information processing apparatus 10 deletes the job information of the completed transfer job from the management table.

(transfer control processing)

Next, a transfer control process for controlling the execution sequence of the transfer process will be described.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing of the program according to the embodiment of the present invention. The program of the transfer control process is read out from the ROM12B by the CPU12A of the information processing apparatus 10 and executed (refer to fig. 2). When the request for the transfer job is accepted, the program of the transfer control process is started.

First, in step S100, the processing content of the transfer job described in the job command is checked. Next, in step S102, a job ID of the transfer job is generated. Next, in step S104, a transfer protocol used for transferring the job is determined. Next, in step S106, the job information is registered in the management table.

Next, in step S108, "determination process executable or not" is executed. The "processing for determining whether or not execution is possible" is processing for determining whether or not execution of the transfer job for which the request is received is possible when the request of the transfer job is received. If the transfer job cannot be executed, it is determined as "unexecutable", and if the transfer job can be executed, it is determined as "executable".

Here, a detailed procedure of the "determination process executable or not" will be described.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the "executable/non-executable determination process". First, in step S300, it is determined whether there is an executing transfer job using the same transfer protocol. In the case where there is an executing transfer job using the same transfer protocol, the flow proceeds to step S302. In step S302, it is determined as "unexecutable" and the routine is ended.

In the case where there is no transfer job being executed using the same transfer protocol, the flow proceeds to step S304. In step S304, it is determined whether there is an interrupted transfer job using the same transfer protocol. In the case where there is no interrupted transfer job using the same transfer protocol, the flow proceeds to step S308. In step S308, it is determined that "execution is possible", and the routine is ended.

In step S304, in the case where there is an interrupted transfer job using the same transfer protocol, the flow proceeds to step S306. In step S306, it is determined whether the skip mode is set. When the skip mode is set, it is determined in step S308 that execution is "possible", and the routine is ended. If the skip mode is not set, the order assurance mode is set, and therefore, it is determined that the execution is not possible in step S302, and the routine is ended.

The explanation returns to fig. 12. Next, in step S110, it is determined whether or not to start accepting the requested transfer job based on the determination result. If it is determined that the execution is "possible", the requested transfer job is received. If it is determined as "unexecutable", the requested transfer job is not started.

When the transfer job is started, the process proceeds to step S112. In step S112, the execution state of the transfer job is set to "executing", and the job information of the transfer job for which the request is accepted is registered in the management table. If the transfer job is not started, the process proceeds to step S130. In step S130, the execution state of the transfer job is set to "waiting for execution", the job information of the transfer job for which the request is accepted is registered in the management table, and the routine is terminated.

Next, in step S114, "image processing" is performed. In the present embodiment, the image processing is performed in a plurality of processes. The plurality of processes are respectively executed by the devices designated by the operation instructions. Next, in step S116, it is determined whether or not the image processing is finished. If the processing results are obtained for all of the plurality of processes, the image processing is ended. It is determined whether the image processing is ended until the processing results are obtained for all the processes.

Here, a detailed procedure of "image processing" will be described.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the "image processing". First, in step S200, image data of a processing target is acquired. Next, in step S202, it is determined whether or not image processing is performed in the cloud. If the image processing is not performed in the cloud, the process proceeds to step S204. In step S204, image processing is performed by the apparatus itself.

Next, in step S206, it is determined whether or not there is next image processing. If there is the next image processing, the process returns to step S200. On the other hand, in the case where there is no next image processing, it proceeds to step S208. In step S208, the result of the image processing is stored, and the routine ends.

If it is determined in step S202 that image processing is performed in the cloud, the process proceeds to step S210. In step S210, image processing is requested to the image processing server on the cloud using a job instruction including the image data of the processing target, the job ID, and the requested processing content. After the request for the image processing is ended, the process proceeds to step S212. In step S212, the execution state of the transfer job being executed is changed to "interrupted". Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of updating the management table. As shown in fig. 14, the execution status of the transfer job being executed shown in fig. 5 is changed to "interrupted".

In the case where the transfer job is interrupted, in step S208, the result of the image processing obtained before the interruption is stored, and the routine is ended. After receiving the process end notification from the image processing server, the interrupted transfer job is resumed by "resume process of transfer job" described later.

The explanation returns to fig. 12. If the image processing has ended, the process then proceeds to step S118. In step S118, the result of the image processing is transmitted to the document management server 30. When the transfer to the document management server 30 is completed, the transfer job is completed. Next, in step S120, the job information of the completed transfer job is deleted from the management table.

Next, in step S122, it is determined whether or not there is a transfer job waiting for recovery. If there is a transfer job waiting for recovery, the process proceeds to step S126. In step S126, the execution state of the transfer job waiting for resumption is changed to "being executed". If there is no transfer job waiting for resumption, the process proceeds to step S124.

In step S124, it is determined whether or not there is a transfer job waiting for execution. In the case where there is a transfer job waiting to be executed, it proceeds to step S128. In step S128, the execution state of the transfer job waiting for execution is changed to "being executed". As shown in fig. 14, the execution status of the transfer job waiting to be executed shown in fig. 5 is changed to "being executed". In the case where there is no transfer job waiting for execution, the routine is ended.

(recovery processing of transfer job)

Next, the recovery processing of the transfer job will be described.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the "recovery process of the transfer job". The program of the recovery process of the transfer job is read out from the ROM12B by the CPU12A of the information processing apparatus 10 and executed (refer to fig. 2). When the processing end notification is received from the image processing server, the program of the resume processing of the transfer job starts. As described above, the processing end notification includes the job ID, the success or failure of the image processing, and the URL of the save destination to which the result of the image processing is saved.

In step S400, the transfer job that has received the processing end notification is determined from the job ID. The determined execution state of the transfer job is "interrupt". In the next step S402, it is determined whether there is an executing transfer job using the same transfer protocol. In the case where there is no transfer job being executed using the same transfer protocol, the flow proceeds to step S114 of fig. 12, and returns to the subsequent step of the image processing. The interrupted transfer job is resumed, image data as a processing target of the image processing is acquired, and image processing of the next process is performed.

In the case where there is an executing transfer job using the same transfer protocol, the flow proceeds to step S404. In step S404, the execution state of the interrupted transfer job is changed to "wait for recovery", and the routine is ended. Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of updating the management table. As shown in fig. 17, the execution state of the interrupted transfer job shown in fig. 14 is changed to "wait for recovery". The transfer job whose execution state is "waiting for recovery" is executed earlier than the transfer job whose execution state is "waiting for execution".

< modification example >

The configurations of the information processing apparatus, the program, and the information processing system described in the above embodiments are examples, and it is needless to say that the configurations may be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the transfer control process is realized by software has been described, but the same process may be realized by hardware.

In the above-described embodiment, the interrupted transfer job and the next transfer job using the same transfer protocol are executed first so as to be able to skip the interrupted transfer job, but skipping of the next transfer job may be prohibited under conditions. For example, when the server of the transfer destination specified by the IP address or the URL is the same and the folder of the designated save destination is also the same, skipping of the next transfer job is prohibited.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The embodiments of the present invention do not fully encompass the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. It is obvious that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its applications. Thus, other skilled in the art can understand the present invention by various modifications assumed to be optimal for the specific use of various embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims and their equivalents.